Sony SZ61MN £1,299.99
(support and protection £13.99 per month)

With Sony laptops, even the business machines look stylish. This model has a very decent 120GB hard drive, so there's more than enough space, and because the laptop has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it's easy to connect to the internet, either via a wireless network or using a compatible mobile phone as a modem. Unlike some business machines, this one has an X-Black screen, which makes movies look better when you watch a DVD in your downtime (you can also record dual-layer DVDs). The Sony SZ61MN has a dedicated 64MB graphics card, so everything looks good. The latest Windows Vista Business software is installed and the 13.3in widescreen LCD is large enough to see spreadsheets and documents clearly, while the 2GB of RAM is enough to keep programs running at speed.

Sony TZ21M £1,799.99
(support and protection £13.99 per month)

This laptop (only available in selected PC World stores) is extremely portable: it has an 11.1in screen and, thanks to a carbon fibre chassis, it's very light (just 1.19kg). None the less, the keyboard is big enough for easy typing. Sony is known for laptops with excellent battery life and this one is no exception, offering up to seven and a half hours of solid work. This model comes with 2GB of RAM, a U7500 processor and a built-in webcam. Despite the small footprint of the Sony TZ21M, there's still room for a large (100GB) hard drive and because there are slots for Memory Stick and SD memory cards, it's a cinch to copy images quickly from many digital cameras. This model is superb for surfing the internet, even when there's no Wi-Fi network available, and is Bluetooth enabled. It's kitted out with an HSDPA sim card slot, which means you can surf the internet at broadband speeds using the 3G mobile phone network

HP DV2630EA £699.99
(support and protection £9.99 per month)

HP's Pavilion laptops are neat mixes of looks and brains. This model has a 14in screen, while HP's BrightView display technology makes it as good for watching movies as surfing the internet. There's plenty of memory (2GB), a powerful Intel graphics accelerator and a huge 160GB hard drive on board. There's even a TV tuner built in, so you can make the most of your leisure time by watching television on your laptop, and a handy remote. A webcam built in to the lid, plus a microphone, means it's easy to shoot videos and still pictures and talk to others in video calls. It's great value, too, especially as it has a built-in wire-less connection that conforms to the latest Wireless N standards.

Dlink Wireless N Router £69.99
Every network benefits from wireless. The latest routers come with the letter N on them, signifying that they offer the fastest connections. Earlier wireless standards (A, B and G) were successively fast, but this latest is up to nine times faster than G. The enhanced signal strength here offers speeds of up to 300 megabits a second and a range of as much as 75m. This model is designed for cable customers, though a router for BT users is available for £20 more.

WD 2.5in Passport 250GB External
Hard Drive £89.99 You must back up your data! Twenty years ago, if you were burgled, your precious collection of family photographs was of no interest to the interloper. Now, those photos are probably stored on your computer and will be stolen along with the hardware. This excellent external hard drive holds 250GB of data, enough for more than 200,000 photographs or more than 350 movies. It's simple to set up and use and automatically switches on and off when your computer does.

Samsung 22in Widescreen TFT Monitor £229.99
(support and protection £2 per month)

No longer does your PC have to make do with a dreary beigeframed screen. This stylish model has a large, 22in screen, so even the most detailed documents and busy-looking websites will be revealed in all their glory. What's more, the screen's two-millisecond response rate means it's ideal for gaming. Enjoy stunning visuals when watching movies thanks to its 3000:1 contrast ratio and 1680 x 1050 resolution. This PC monitor is perfect for your computing and entertainment needs.

Samsung ML 1630 (Logan) Laser Printer £139.99
(support and protection £2 per month)

Laser printers offer pin-sharp results, ideal for documents that really matter. This printer looks cool, with sexy design features. And it's fast enough to make document printing easy, with 16 pages a minute promised, thanks, not least, to USB 2.0 connections. Not every printer has a high-capacity paper tray, but this one can hold up to 100 sheets. And since the printer has a resolution of 1200 x 600 dots per inch, every document should look great. Installation is exceptionally simple all over in fewer than half a dozen clicks and it works whether you have a PC or Mac, even if you use Linux as your operating system.