Back to the Roots. Without distraction from tablets or netbooks in September, we were able to focus on powerful gaming notebooks, capable allrounders, low priced office companions and ultra-mobile subnotebooks. The winners boast over the top dual GPU's, combine performance with run-time, tinkle with high quality keyboards and defy the scale with very low weight.

Beauty hurts. The first steps towards a stronger design were made with the XPS 15z, and now the more compact 14-inch version is the logical progression. Like its larger brother, the Dell XPS 14z hopes to win over the hearts of customers with its good looks. It also has solid hardware, but that’s by the by...

Hot spec wearer. Toshiba launches another 17 inch notebook, called Satellite P775-100 3D Vision that makes 3D feeling possible at home. Equipped with a powerful Intel CPU and an Nvidia graphics, the laptop can also convert 2D material in 3D - but it's only visible with shutter glasses.

Blu-Ray player. Sony introduces another all-round notebook from the EH series with the Vaio EH1Z1E/B. The highlight is the Blu-Ray player, but the 6 GB of RAM and the 640 GB hard disk are also impressive. Can the notebook convince with only that?

The first Ultrabook. Designed to directly tackle the MacBook Air for hundreds of dollars less, the Acer Aspire S3 has a lot to live up to. Find out here if this early Ultrabook has what it takes to take the ultrathin category crown away from Apple.

A wolf in sheep's skin Coming from Samsung, we have a potent 17 inch mid-range entertainment notebook with a plain case. Samsung attracts entertainment customers with an Intel quad core CPU and Nvidia's Optimus GPU switching technology. This promises long battery life paired with strong performance when needed. Does the concept live up to its billing?

Video artist. The Prestigio Multipad PMP5080B tablet comes with an 8 inch multi-touchscreen (800x600 pixels), Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Google Android Market and Rockchip RK2918 and costs 199€.

Fast boot times. The 17.3 inch G770 Lenovo notebook is equipped with Enhanced Experience and VeriFace, both of which are intended to improve the performance of the Windows 7 operating system. With EE Boot Optimizer the G770 accelerates from zero to one hundred in under 35 seconds. Only Vettel & Co. are faster than this.

Worthy successor? Asus is now offering the P42JC's successor, the P43SJ. Apart from a new processor and a new graphics card not much has changed at first glance. But what does it look like in practical use?

Slim and sexy. Though it's not the manufacturer's ultrabook, it convinces with its slim silhouette, its velvety yet hard aluminum case, its battery life and, above all, its swiftness via SSD.