When I left my job, almost tearfully I had to return my cracking £3000 IBM Thinkpad laptop. A hole was left in my heart but now after many months I have filled the void.

After checking my credit card balance and then crying I decided it was time to spend, spend, spend. I wanted a laptop because of the portability, so I can watch DVD's when on the move and for my work. I also wanted something that matched the power and performance of my old £3000 laptop but with a (much) smaller price tag.

I finally parted with my (not so) hard earned cash and placed my order for the Sony PCG-FX501.

The laptop (or notebook - depending on your vocab) boasts some impressive stats:

14.1 TFT Screen
1 Ghz AMD Processor
20Gb Hard drive
DVD Player
256 Meg Ram
8Mb ATI Graphic card (1024 x 780)

Windows XP came preinstalled with the machine along with a whole host of other software (but missing Microsoft Office). Obviously when you purchase a laptop you make concessions on the performance and particuarly graphics compared to a desktop PC. But so far I have had no problems with the quality of the image (although I don't play any games).

The processor speed and memory is more than adequete for most people who want a laptop for work and home user and DVD drives allows you to watch movies and play your CD's. Also the 20Gb hard drive is fast and big enough to store my pretty large collection of digital photo's and of course all the mpegs I collect in Emails.

The size and weight of the machine is pretty standard and you don't have to Mr Universe to carry it around with you. It seems pretty sturdy and has the added option of a 2nd battery pack which allows you to double the time you can use it without plugging into a mains.

In this world where computers are out-of-date the moment you buy them and anything over 2 years old is considered extinct, the advice when choosing a PC or lapt
op is to buy the best you can afford. In this case the laptop cost £950 inc VAT. The spec of the machine is more than enough for 99% of people out there and the 2 USB ports replace the soon-to-be obsolete PS/2 ports, as well as providing connectivity to your digital cameras etc...

As with all computers you can always upgrade (an important factor) and this machine can be upgraded to 512MB, a larger hard drive can be fitted and CD/ROM Writers internal and external are available.

I used to use a machine that cost £3000. So far, the Sony 501 has been superb and works as fast and as well as my old laptop at a third of the price. If your looking for something portable, durable and easy to use (XP was all pre-installed) you can't go wrong with this machine for less the a grand.