To tie in with our annual Christmas Gadget Countdown [1], John Stokdyk sets off on another hardware quest to find the laptop computers that are most popular with AccountingWEB members.

AccountingWEB's Top 10 Printers round-up [2] proved to be a useful exercise, helping members to share their insights about the best machines for small business. The Christmas rush is when a huge proportion of the country's laptop computers get sold, so it seems a good time to repeat our "wisdom of crowds" approach to laptop purchases.

As we reported in August, 2008 lived up to predictions as a vintage year [3] for laptops. The phrase "netbook" hadn't been heard around these parts at the beginning of the year, and now you can hardly move for the profusion of "Eee-toos" such as the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Acer Aspire.

These machines may be good for students and those who want a very basic wireless surfing and note-taking tool, but working accountants may need more capability, screen space and support for Windows-based applications such as the beloved Microsoft Excel. Ironically, while the big manufacturers are moving in on Asus's niche, the Taiwanese manufacturer has ambitions of its own and is taking on more established players with more traditional, large format models such as the Windows-friendly Eee PC 1000.

AccountingWEB's PC coverage this year has focused primarily on PC developments, because they are the machines used by the majority of our members. But it's getting harder to ignore the claims of Apple's MacBook range. It's easy to sniff at the designer pretensions that surround the Mac, but these are very powerful, well built machines that come with good built-in tools, and you can run Windows applications within virtual machine software modules.

Below is a selection of different specification laptops culled from recommendations on AccountingWEB, UK Business Forums and online hardware review sites. If you have had experience of any of these machines, or are familiar with another model that should be included in the line-up, feel free to add your suggestions using the Post a Comment button below. We'll round up the results in the New Year, just in case you are in a position to pick up a bargain in the January sales.

Netbooks and ultra-mobile PCs (£250-300)

Acer Aspire One - Acer's netbook appears to have overtaken the Eee in the internet review and sales popularity stakes, but Acer is on several members' blacklists for hard disk and other reliability issues. Ranging in price from £250 to £300, the Intel Atom-powered Aspire One can come in Linux and Windows XP variations, with a range of hard drive options from a 8GB solid-state drive up to a 160GB spinning disk drive. UK Business Forum member YourStressManager [4] paid £199 for the 120GB. "Internet works like a dream and the Open Office software seems more than adequate for my needs. Lot cheaper than the nearest laptop with all the relevant software already loaded." Do others have similar experiences with this device?

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - It may be chasing Asus in this sector, but Dell's dependable brand carries some weight in a fast-moving market where manufacturers and machines can tend towards flakiness. Starting from £243, the base Mini 9 model is one of the cheapest netbooks around and has a 1.60GHz Intel Atom processor, 8.9in screen, 1MB of RAM and an 8GB solid state hard drive. For £40 more you can get a Windows XP version with a 16GB drive.

Asus Eee PC S101 -"For my money the latest Asus ultra-slim S101 Eee PC is still way ahead of the competition," commented Nigel Harris, who selected the model in his Christmas Gadget Countdown. With a street price around £400-460, the S101 is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom and comes with either 16Gb (Windows) or 32Gb (Linux) of solid state storage capacity.

Toshiba NB100 - Another 9-in Atom-powered model, with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB disk drive (not solid state like the other two models mentioned) and built-in WiFi for around £300. Again, a cheaper (c£260) Linux model is available, but with half the RAM and hard-drive capacity of the Windows XP version. Described as "old fashioned" by one reviewer, the Tosh is pretty much a standard spec netbook.

Do you have any experience of the following "netbook" machines? If so let us know more about them:
MSI Wind
Sony Vaio TT
Toshiba or ULCPC

Laptop workhorses (£300-500)

Dell Vostro 1510 - Another "bog standard" contender in the 15.4in mid-market. But sometimes that's just what you want. Four out of five UK Business Forums members recommended Dells in a recent thread on laptops. Available between £420 - £590 from Dell direct with more powerful Intel Core Duo processors and up to 4GB of RAM. You can also choose between one of the Windows Vista versions, or specify Windows XP. A 160GB hard drive is standard, with options up to 320GB. Includes integral DVD read/write drive

Lenovo 3000 N500 - Still carries some of the ThinkPad DNA that goes back to the days when IBM used to make high-spec PCs, but the 15.4in, WiFi-equipped Levono model is very affordable at around £400-450 (inc VAT) with a choice of Pentium processors and the standard 2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive, plus a DVD writer.

Toshiba Satellite A300 - Traditionally a dependable name for laptops, this "stay at home" model gives you a 17-in screen powered by a 1.73GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1GB of RAM. Performance may not match the other mid-range machines here, but with a street price of £300, who's complaining?

Supermarket sweep

Just like good wine, PCs and laptops have been appropriated as loss leaders by several of the big supermarkets. In September, AccountingWEB member Mark Gauden suggested that PC shoppers check Aldi's site for details of offers on its Medion range (a high spec laptop was on offer for £500 in September) and Lidl, which sells Tectra PCs. Here's what a quick search turned up this December.

Aldi - online options [5] include: Akoya Mini E1210 10-in netbook (1.6GHz Intel Atom, Windows XP, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard disk drive) for £272; or a 12-in S2210 model (Windows Vista Home Premium, Intel Dual-Core processor, 3GB RAM and 320GB hard disk) - encrusted with a butteryfly pattern in fake diamonds! The Medion website has a fuller selection. Gauden likes Aldi in particular because it offers a free 36-month warranty - 2 years' more than you get from most other suppliers.

Lidl - Has a Targa Netbook Traveller 1016 on offer at the moment for £390 (Windows Vista Home, 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1MB RAM, 160GB hard disk). While the chain has been hailed as the country's "best value" retailer, The Register's hardware correspondent Tony Smith [6] took against this particular model. The price is somewhat overinflated for a "bog standard" 10-in netbook and you can buy a largely comparable Advent 4211 for £270 online. "Even more insulting, it costs 369 euros in Germany and Belgium."

Multimedia ego machines

Let's face it, it would demand some very big spreadsheets and complicated presentations (of course you need full 3D animation capabilities!) to justify some of these laptops for business use, but isn't it funny how many you see out in the wild. Any one of these will greatly enhance your standing with the kids - as long as you let them near the machine.

Dell XPS M1730 - Dell's multimedia laptop range checks in at the £1,300-£2,000 price bracket.

MacBook - The prize laptop for posers, Apple's MacBook slimline, aluminium-encased range starts at around £700 for a 13-in, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo model P8600 with 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), a 60GB hard disk (expandable to 200GB) and a read/write DVD/CD optical drive. Then there are the 13-in MacBook Air (from £1,200) and the 17-in, £1,700 MacBook Pro Santa Rosa - effectively a laptop music, movie or design studio.

Samsung M60 - "Strikes a good balance between price, size and power," says PC Advisor [7], which gave it one of their editor's recommendations. Proving that Samsung is a good brand for bargain hunters, this well appointed and fast machine is available online for around £1,270.

Sony Vaio FW - A classy, 16-in widescreen laptop with Blu-Ray-compatible optical drive - so it's obviously useful for watching executive improvement media! "Looks very stylish, nice screen and keyboard," commented Decworld on UK Business Forums. "It's a little more than others but worth it for the quality."

Does anyone have experience of these models?
Fujitsu LifeBook
HP Voodoo Extreme

A word about upgrading your laptop

In a 2006 article entitled How to avoid the hardware upgrade rip-off [8] Stewart Twynham explained that getting the right specification for was important to ensure you got good performance from both Windows Vista and MacOS X operating systems. Manufacturers and retailers know this, and put a premium on higher spec machines and optional upgrades that are more like essential additions. So the prices you see quoted on the net or in press ads will be reflected in the machines' underlying specs. By way of illustration, Twynam quoted prices at the time for adding 1GB of RAM to a 1GB Dell notebook - £100 on the Dell website - with the cost of around £50 for the whole 2GB as a self-installed upgrade. The differential was even higher on a 2GB to 4GB upgrade on a MacBook Pro, costing £480 from Apple direct, but £176 from a RAM supplier.

You need to be reasonably confident (and free of static electricity) around electronic components, but inserting RAM chips and replacing hard disks is a straightforward, though it gets more finicky as you deal with smaller laptops. If you are interested in following Stewart's advice, lots more information can be found online by typing in DIY [RAM, disk] upgrade into a nearby search engine.