Dell

Computer manufacturer Dell is the second biggest non-oil producing company in the whole of Texas -- yes, all of it -- and is most famous for its laptops and desktop PCs.

The company was named after its founder, Michael Dell, who at just 27 became the youngest ever CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 1992. While most leather and leotard-clad students of the 80s were busy recreating moves from Flashdance, young Michael was holed up in his dorm at the University of Texas, making upgrade kits for his friends' computers.

Dell produced its first own-brand computer, the Turbo PC, in 1985 and in 1996 the company started selling computers via its website. Throughout much of the late nineties and early noughties Dell was caught up in an epic struggle with Hewlett Packard for the position of world's top PC manufacturer.

When laptops became mainstream, Dell turned its hand to making machines of all shapes and sizes, from petite netbooks to a massive 20-inch monster in 2006, whose practicality we tested by taking it on the London Underground. Around this time, Dell also acquired Alienware, the manufacturer of sci-fi-styled gaming computers, and continues to sell Alienware products today.

More recently, Dell said it will no longer make netbooks -- instead it's likely the company will focus on super-slim, high-performance ultrabooks such as the Dell XPS 14.