Best laptops for travel

If, like us, you're always on the go and barely have time to slurp your latte in between meetings, you'll want to avoid travelling around with a massive laptop. But you'll also need a machine that's powerful enough to plough through all your work. Here, we've rounded up four great laptops for a life on the move. Note that we've chosen regular laptops here, rather than smaller and less powerful netbooks.

The first thing to consider is size. A massive 18-inch gaming laptop hardly qualifies as portable. At most, you should be looking for a machine with a screen size of 15 inches, but 14 or 13 inches would be even better. The laptop should also be as slim as possible, so it can slide into a backpack, and doesn't need its own carrying case.

If the laptop's going to withstand a life on the road, it's going to need to be as tough as possible. A laptop with a metal chassis will survive a rough and tumble lifestyle far better than one with a flimsy plastic case. Some of the plastics used on the better models are made to withstand a good battering, though.

Don't be afraid to give a laptop a good poke and squeeze before you part with your cash. If the shell flexes and creaks under pressure, then it's not likely to take knocks and bumps too well.

Note that hard-wearing, metal-shelled models usually weigh more than plastic machines. We think it's worth accepting the extra weight for the knowledge that the laptop will probably survive your various excursions. We find that anything under 2.5kg is light enough to carry around for a while.

How much power you'll get depends on how much money you can afford to spend. Intel's top Core i7 processors provide a serious amount of power but will drain the laptop's battery -- and your bank balance -- more quickly than lower-end CPUs. Core i5 chips provide a more balanced option. If you don't need a huge amount of power, a Core i3 chip can be yours for a much more reasonable price and will allow your battery to last longer away from the mains.

In terms of RAM, we'd suggest a minimum of 4GB in order to handle multitasking well. If you can stretch to it, 6GB will be a worthy investment, increasing the chances that your laptop will handle demanding applications that are yet to be released.

We've selected four of the best portable laptops, but don't forget there are plenty more in our laptops review section. Make sure to have a good old butcher's before you splash your cash.