Time for your best meal yet, and on the platter are dual B&O speakers, a supermassive 18.4 inch, 1080p screen, dual multi-touch-pads, one on each side of the keyboard. A fiery Intel Core i7-820 QM quad-core processor powers the NX 90 on the inside.

You get over a terabyte of storage space and 4GB of DDR3 memory, upgradable all the way upto 12GB. Playing the latest bleeding edge games at full pump on the NX 90 is a no nonsense job, thanks to the Nvidia’s GeForce GT335M graphics card.

High definition video playback (HD 1080p, Blu-Ray equivalent) can also be handled by the processor alone or the dedicated NVIDIA graphics card. We do however advise you to use the excellent video decoding capacities of the graphics card. For that, you’ll just need software that supports the graphics card hardware decoding. This is the case with Power DVD 9 or Media Player Classic HC for example. The processor is then totally freed up, which reduces energy consumption and makes it available for other tasks.

Specifications:

• 18.4? display @ Full HD 1080p (1920×1080 pixels)
• Intel Core i7 740QM (6M cache, 1.73 GHz, 4 cores, 8 threads)
• Turbo Boost to 2.93 GHz
• nVidia GeForce GT 335M 1GB DDR3
• 6GB DDR3 RAM
• 2 x 6400GB HDD (1.28TB)
• Bluray/DVD+RW combo
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 6-cell battery

The VX1 comes in two flavours: black, and the more traditional Lamborghini yellow. Both are attractive, but our yellow review sample makes an instant retina-searing impression straight out of the box, making it the more suitable poser’s accessory. Asus says the laptops use the same paint finish as the iconic cars, incorporating subtle golden paint flecks that catch the light of the sun, as well as the famous Lamborghini logo.

Unusually, Asus has opted not to use a widescreen 16:9 display on the Lamborghini VX1. Instead, you get a 15-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,400×1,050 pixels. This is fine for everyday use, but its 4:3 aspect ratio limits the number of windows you can view side by side, and means you get a letterbox view when playing 16:9 widescreen movies. Some may take exception to the screen’s glossy coating, which is a tad too reflective to use in direct light, but aside from this, we were very impressed with the image quality. Colours were recreated faithfully, and the screen was able to accurately display the subtle tonal differences.

he remarkably slender Asus Lamborghini VX1 measures just 1.1 inches thick, 13 inches wide, and 10.8 inches deep, making it smaller than another recently reviewed 15-inch laptop, the Lenovo 3000 C200. Like the Lenovo, though, the Lamborghini is quite a bit boxier than thin-and-lights with wide screens, such as the Acer Ferrari 5000 and the Dell Inspiron E1505. At 5.8 pounds, the Lamborghini VX1 undercuts all three competitive models when it comes to weight, though its chunky AC adapter adds nearly a pound to the package.

Though the Lamborghini VX1 features a sturdy brushed-aluminum keyboard deck, its plastic case is so thin that it seems just a bit fragile. The optical drive, for example, feels like it could be crushed with a strong squeeze. Fortunately the lid, often a point of weakness on thin laptops, flexes very little and does a good job of protecting the screen.

Acer’s Ferrari 4005 WLMi laptop is the latest in a line of high-end gaming notebooks bearing the Italian motor company’s signature. You don’t have to be a Ferrari fan (I’m partial to Sato myself) to appreciate this notebook’s features though… Starting with the AMD Turion Athlon64 mobile processor purring away at 2GHz, the Ferrari 4005 WLMi represents the state of the art in notebook technology, including its own carbon fiber panel and Ferrari emblem.

This laptop walks a fine line between being a desktop replacement and a portable powerhouse. It’s not a small device at 6.3 lbs, and boasting a large 15.4″ LCD screen, but it is still vaguely portable and less demanding of battery power than it might be due to AMD’s Turion64 processor power-saving technology. The Acer Ferrari 4005 also looks great, whether you like Ferrari or not.

The Acer Ferrari 4005 WLMi notebook is powered by an AMD Turion64 ML-37 processor running at 2.0GHz (with 1MB of level 2 cache memory), 1GB of DDR-333 system memory, an integrated ATI Mobility Radeon X700 video card with 128MB of dedicated video memory and a large 15.4″ LCD screen. Storage comes care of a 2.5″ 5400 RPM 100GB hard disk. Network connectivity goes in four directions, with a Gigabit Ethernet adaptor, 802.11G wireless, Bluetooth and a 56K modem all available to the user.

The Acer Ferrari 4005 WLMi measures 14.29″ x 10.46″ and about 1.36″ thick. Without the battery it weighs in at 6.3lbs. Part of the top cover is made of real carbon fiber, lending the notebook a unique appearance and putting it in touch with its Ferrari heritage.

The most notable change from the larger Thrive is that of a DVD writer rather than Blu-ray drive, and there’s no option to upgrade. For most, this won’t be an issue.

Connectivity is a little light with only two USB ports; however, other areas are decently catered for with S-Video, VGA and HDMI out, FireWire, Express Card 54, and a built in 56Kbps modem port, the age of which is evidence of how far Australian broadband has to go. HP has opted to cut out gigabit Ethernet, opting for a 100Mbit port — although if you don’t operate a gigabit network at home or work, this is unlikely to fluster you. Finally, the front lip offers a manual switch for turning wireless on and off, an IR port (for the remote that’s designed to handily fit in the Express Card slot), microphone jack and dual-headphone jacks.

Following HP’s now classic chassis design, with the wave-like speaker grill rolling into the strong monitor hinge and the silky smooth touchpad, the Pavilion dv2840TX Artist Edition differs in a few not so subtle ways. The most glaringly obvious is the heavily Japanese-influenced illustration laid against a mustard-coloured lid, and the continuation of that illustration through to the wrist rest. While our first reaction was “eesh, that’s loud”, over time we’ve grown used to it, and taken a little pride in the stares it attracts as you pull it out of your bag. The fact that it was designed as part of an international competition by a Portuguese artist Joao Oliveira makes it that little bit cooler, although it makes us wonder if HP’s next step is true self-customisation, and the mess that would entail.

Product Features

• Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
• 14.1″ WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
• 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• NVIDIA 128MB 8400M GS Video Card
• HP Imprint (Artist Edition) Finish + Webcam + Microphone
• Integrated Altec Lansing stereo speakers
• Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
• 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• Dimensions (with 6-cell battery): 13.15″ (L) x 9.33″ (W) x 1.02″ (min H)/1.54″ (max H)
• Weight: 5lb 7.4oz
• 65W AC adapter

Sony Vaio VPCEA16FG supports Genuine Windows® 7 Home Operating System and Intel® Core™ i5-520M Processor. It comes in fluorescent and black colors. It also features High Speed USB 2.0, Bundled media player and High Speed USB 2.0.

The entire area of the keyboard is in black, which provides a nice contrast to the pinkishness of the device. However, it is not backlit, which may be a cause for concern for people who are working in areas where ligh is scarce.  Battery life is excellent, as it ran for two hours on a full charge with only 30% of battery drain. On to the ATU Radeon Premium Graphics card, it is just right for a suer who needs high-resolution video gaming.

Sony Vaio VPCEA16FG features:

• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 Graphics
• Bundled media player “Media Gallery” & creation software “PMB VAIO Edition”
• High Speed USB 2.0