Whether you think they're a passing trend or a genuine response to the need for increasingly mobile computing, netbook sales are soaring and there's now an enormous amount of choice.

A third choice now faces consumers who were traditionally used to making a decision between laptops and desktops: all-in-one computers with all of the components bundled inside a screen.

Everybody has their own definition of the perfect laptop computer, but it often boils down to the age-old compromise between performance and portability.

Essential component for fluid 3D gaming, choosing a new graphics card isn’t always easy to do. 3D, energy consumption and noise levels as well as size and temperature, which model scores highest?

The CPU is the brains of your computer, and the faster it goes, the faster you'll be able to get on with whatever it is you're doing. But should you go for AMD or Intel? Mono, dual, triple or quad-core? What do you need for gaming, office work or multimedia?

The CPU is the brains of your computer, and the faster it goes, the faster you'll be able to get on with whatever it is you're doing. The market is dominated by two big manufacturers, Intel and AMD, but the decisions don't stop there--is a dual-, a triple- or a quad-core processor best for you? And if you're upgrading, how do you know that a new processor is compatible with your existing hardware?

Are you little bit lost in the Product Face-Off for Processors? Don't panic, here's a summary of the performance of all the models we've tested using our latest procedures …

Various manufacturers allow us to use their hardware to complete our CPU tests. This is a list of the components we use for these tests.

When you look at a 3D card, you look for gaming performance, sure, but it's also crucial to evaluate energy consumption, noise levels, HD decoding and so on.

We test each card across 9 games in 3 resolutions, with and without texturing filters activated. To this you can add temperature readings, noise levels and energy consumption, at idle (2D) and in intense 3D. In total 60 tests are carried out on each model we get sent through.

For those who don’t want a laptop or a large desktop, here’s the solution: mini PCs. Often based on laptop components, these machines don’t take up much space and offer all the functionality of a standard PC.

With capacities rising all the time, the cost of hard drive storage keeps on falling. Today, every gigabyte you buy costs only a matter of cents--but that doesn't mean that all of today's hard disk drives are a steal ...

Three tables at three different resolotions. Each table shows the 3D performance indes for each card tested.

A good heatsink has to strike the balance between keeping your computer's processor nice and cool and working as quietly as possible. Different manufacturers have tried new ways of juggling these two factors with the hope of finding the perfect compromise.

For some people, the idea of replacing the hard drive inside their computer is as intimidating as changing a part inside their car. But don't panic--it's very simple, as we hope this walk-through will prove.

This page looks at some of the different components that contribute to the performance of your laptop. As well as explaining some of the technology involved, we've also tried to give recommendations based on four different ways of using a laptop:

A 3D card’s worth is its speed in game, but not only. We also look at power consumption, noise levels and HD decoding...

Small text in big tests Each product presented on our site is tested on its technical characteristics and in practical use. We use the results from these tests to make a product profile with its pluses, minuses and to give it a final grade.