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The massive 3300mAh battery inside the new Motorola Droid Razr Maxx gives users over 8 hours of continued 4G LTE web-surfing, smashing marks set by its competitors.

The Droid Razr Maxx was launched this week with a huge $299 premium on a two year contract with Verizon, leading many to question whether the extra battery power was worth an extra $100.

However, in benchmarking tests undertaken by Laptop Mag the Maxx destroyed all other 4G LTE phones on the market, which have traditionally suffered from web-surfing at the next gen speeds.

The magazine found that the Razr Maxx lasted for 8.25 hours of continuous web-surfing at 40 per cent brightness.

Double time

That's almost twice as long as the original Droid Razr, which only mustered 4.45 hours using the same screen brightness and conditions.

The extra time corresponds almost exactly to the respective battery sizes - the only difference - between the two devices. That original Razr has a 1780mAh cell.

The Maxx's nearest competitor was the Samsung Droid Charge, which lasted for 6.42 hours before it needed, well, a charge, while the Samsung Galaxy Nexus slumped to just 3.40 hours.

This 13.3-inch entertainment laptop is perfect for staving off boredom on the move. The Satellite L730-10G lacks graphical punch, but the compact display is a highlight, while the lightweight body and decent battery life ensure you'll be entertained wherever you roam.

Despite its smaller screen, the Satellite L730-10G still features a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution. The result is a much sharper picture, so images look crisp and clean. It's also a bright and vibrant panel, making this one of the best displays for movie watching.

We enjoyed simply browsing our photo collection and watching films, although the integrated speakers are lacking in power. We recommend you invest in some decent headphones.

Most recent laptops use Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processing technology, but this portable is powered by one of Intel's older Core i3 processors. However, the difference in our benchmarking tests was minimal. If you love to multitask, browsing the web at the same time as you watch a film and chat with friends using messenger applications, then the Samsung can handle it.

Even with a paltry 2GB of memory on board, we witnessed little slowdown while running several tasks at once.

Weak graphics

However, the integrated graphics are quite weak. This means that you can only run the most basic multimedia tasks such as viewing and editing photos, and watching high-definition (HD) films. If you want to mess around with your home movies or play games, you should look at the Acer Aspire 5750G and Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520.

TechRadar Labs

Battery Eater '05: 173 minutes
Cinebench: 7632
3DMark 2006: 1502

The 320GB hard drive provides a standard amount of storage space to carry around your files and media collection. It can hold hundreds of standard-definition films or thousands of albums and photos.

However, some other laptops offer double the space for a similar amount of you hard earned cash. If you need a laptop for the whole family, a larger hard drive is recommended. However, if you need a mobile machine for carrying around all day, the Satellite is a great solution.

With a weight of just 1.9kg, it is technically classed as an ultraportable laptop. Not only is it the lightest machine here, the battery life is also commendable. We watched movies for almost three hours before the laptop shut itself down, and limiting yourself to more basic entertainment such as browsing the web gives you many hours of life.You certainly won't need to lug the charger around on the daily commute.

The more compact body means that features are a little stingy compared to some of the other laptops here. If you want to hook up a television, you'll have to make do with a VGA connection, as there's no HDMI port.

There's also no memory card reader. However, one of the three USB ports supports sleep-and-charge technology, which means you can charge your mobile devices such as MP3 players even when the laptop is in hibernation.

You also get built-in hard drive protection, which pauses the drive if vibrations are detected. This reduces the risk of hard drive failure, which could result in lost files.

While the Toshiba may lack graphical power and lots of storage, it's still a good entertainment machine for regular travellers. The sharp and colourful screen is a good way of enjoying movies, while the reduced weight and decent battery life make it an excellent travel companion.

MSI manufactures everything from individual computer chips to full laptops and the CX640-018UK is a prime example of excellent components combining to form a great all round machine. Only a slight usability issue detracts from an excellent experience.

Intel's Sandy Bridge appears in the form of the Intel Core i7 2410M and provides excellent performance, as with the Dell Inspiron 15R and Lenovo G570. In fact, the MSI was only narrowly beaten by the Lenovo in our benchmarking tests, and this laptop can easily handle everything you throw at it.

Even when multi-tasking with several applications, there's no slowdown. A dedicated Nvidia GT 540M graphics card handles photo and video editing, and you can play the latest games if you turn down the graphical detail.

Benchmarks

Battery life: 333 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 255
3DMark 2003: 13,143

Only the Acer and Sony provide better multimedia performance. If you're doing more basic work, such as browsing the web, the graphics card shuts itself down to preserve battery power.

The resulting battery life is excellent, stretching to five and a half hours. If you want a laptop for the daily commute or to take on trips, this is a great option. The 2.6kg solid chassis is a little bulky, but still fits into most large bags.

Like most modern laptops, the MSI's keyboard has an isolation-style design with keys protruding through individual holes cut into the laptop's chassis. Each key is well spaced from its neighbours, so you're unlikely to hit the wrong key when typing, although the arrow keys are tiny. A strange, blocky font has been used to label the keys, and they prove resistant when pushed, giving it a slightly rough look and feel.

Excellent touchpad

The touchpad is a lot better, with a subtle texture to the surface. A firm metallic bar is used for the mouse buttons, and multitouch gesturing is supported. As ever, we'd recommend trying out the laptop in a store if possible to check the keyboard and touchpad suit you.

With 500GB of storage, you'll have plenty of space for your files, software and media collection.

Movies look good on the colourful 15.6-inch screen, and the built-in SRS speakers are surprisingly powerful, although quality suffers at high volume levels. Features are rounded off by the USB 3.0 ports, which provide speedy data transfer with compatible peripherals.

Aside from a keyboard that lacks the quality we'd like to see, the CX640 has no significant downsides. The combination of excellent performance, long battery life, vibrant screen and solid build makes this a fantastic all-round laptop that will suit a variety of tastes and users. Most importantly, it will handle anything you care to throw at it.

Without doubt the HP Pavillion dv6 dv6-3046sa is one of the best looking laptops around and brings a touch of class where others at this price fail.

The body is a beautiful textured white, as if adorned in carbon fibre, and offset by smooth black keys. It's an instant head turner and, on closer inspection, doesn't reveal a tacky plastic veneer like the Samsung R540.

The dv6 is substantially thinner than the rest of the sub-£399 field and feels a lot more solid as well. Build quality is superb, which helps the keyboard and mouse to feel responsive and sharp. It's this quality that makes the HP stand out from the Samsung R540 and Fujitsu LifeBook A530.

Battery life lasted a meagre 218 minutes of constant use, which is average at best, but still gives you over three hours of good use away from the mains. At 2.6kg, it's no lighter than others in its class, but it's substantially thinner, which makes it a little easier to carry.

Inside the chassis is an AMD Turion II P529 dual-core processor, clocked at 2.3GHz. There's also 4096MB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard drive to boot, matching the Samsung pound for pound.

The difference in specs is clear to see, but the differences weren't quite so tangible in our labs. When performance was tested side by side with its rivals, the dv6 didn't exactly blow them out of the water.

The AMD-based HP Pavillion was significantly slower in benchmarking tests than the Samsung, which we found extremely disappointing. If there is a lesson to be learned about not choosing a laptop based on raw numbers then this is it.

Benchmarks

Battery life: 218 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 159
3DMark 2003: 9781

General performance

Despite falling short in benchmarking tests, you're unlikely to see much real-world impact on performance. Complex tasks will be performed slightly slower than the Samsung, but for general web browsing and emailing, there's little tangible difference.

However, there's a bigger difference in graphics power, which helped the HP stand out from the rest of the sub-£399 crowd. The HP Pavillion features a dedicated graphics card. This comes in the form of an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 chip.

While most other laptops at this price point use a graphics chip that is built into the motherboard, the HP has plenty more power. The result is a laptop which can handle high-definition (HD) video properly, and even stretch to complex browser games, or even older titles such as Half Life 2.

If you're looking for a great looking all-rounder, but not something really portable, then the HP dv6-3046sa is a top choice, and well worth its £399 price tag.

Vodafone has put the HTC Sensation up for pre-order ahead of its launch later this month.

The new 1.2GHz dual-core phone will be available from £25 per month (although you'll need to fork out £199 for the handset) and free if you're willing to part with £35 smackeroos every pay day.

However, the latter will net you 900 minutes of chatting time and unlimited texts, although 'only' 750MB of data - we know that it's more than enough for most people, but we'd love to see a GB of data tickled in there instead.

HTC Sensation UK release date

Vodafone has set the HTC Sensation UK release date for 19 May so if you order now it's unlikely you'll be waiting too long - and we're dying to pitch the new dual-core player against the might of the Samsung Galaxy S2.

HTC has overhauled its Sense UI once more for the Sensation, offering up 3D graphics for the main home screen and the new Watch on-demand movie service.

The phone itself performed fairly poorly in our benchmarking tests last month at the launch event, but we're looking forward to our full HTC Sensation review in the next few days to really put this grunt-nugget through its paces.

Toshiba's Satellite Pro range aims to strike a balance between a work machine and a home laptop. The S500-15W is a strong performer and has an excellent array of features that help it to stand out in the crowd.

At 2.6kg, this laptop is only marginally heavier than the Acer Aspire 5552 and the Zoostorm 3389. It can certainly be carried around if needed, but the Dell Adamo 13 inevitably proves a much slimmer and lighter option.

The chassis is reasonably solid with just a little flex, although the black plastic design looks a little cheap. However, the screen tilts all the way back to horizontal, letting you find your ideal viewing angle.

Although it isn't the brightest display, images are colourful and pleasing to the eye, thanks to the glossy Super-TFT coating. Unfortunately, this also means that it's fairly reflective.

This laptop features an Intel Core i3 370M processor, which provides stunning performance. The Toshiba racked up some high scores in our benchmarking tests, proving it could comfortably multi-task with a number of programs without slowdown.

Despite this strong performance, we managed to use it for 272 minutes away from the mains, which is almost as good as the Dell Adamo 13.

Similarly, while a basic integrated solution has been used for graphics, this laptop almost doubled the performance of the Dell and Zoostorm 3389. While you won't be able to run the latest games, we found high-definition video played smoothly.

Benchmarks

Battery life: 272 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 223
3DMark 2003: 3280

The touchpad is a little compact, but it's also responsive, with two firm mouse buttons. The keyboard is comfortable to type on with well-mounted, bevelled keys and a dedicated numeric keypad.

Damage limitation

You should have enough space for your files on the 250GB hard drive, which features anti-vibration technology to prevent damage during transit. Those with large media collections will, however, be better served by the Zoostorm 3389 and Acer Aspire 5552 machines, which offer 320GB and 500GB storage space respectively.

Networking is speedy, however, with both 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet onboard.

There are plenty of other features, such as a fingerprint scanner for extra security and an ExpressCard slot for upgrading the laptop.

There's also a DisplayPort connection, a VGA port for hooking up to an external display, and one of the USB ports features Sleep-and-Charge technology, for charging peripherals even when the laptop is in sleep mode.

The performance and features of the Satellite Pro S500-15W make it a worthy Silver award winner. Only the Dell Adamo 13's sleek, highly portable form kept this machine from winning the Gold award.

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The Hi-Grade Notino D8000i is aimed at the average consumer who needs a laptop for home and office use, although its limited battery life makes it much better suited to a life at home.

Like most Hi-Grade laptops, a generic plastic chassis has been used. The appearance is cheap in comparison to other laptops such as the Asus P52F, Samsung R440 and Dell Vostro V130, and the silver body flexes under pressure. However, the lid is firm enough to ably protect the 15.6-inch screen.

A glossy Super-TFT finish has been used for the display, and photographs and movies are vibrantly reproduced as a result. The only drawback is increased reflectivity, which hampers use outdoors or in brightly lit environments.

We were impressed by the deep blacks and sharp contrast, although the screen barely folds back past vertical, which makes it difficult to find an ideal viewing angle at times.

The isolation-style keyboard proves perfect for touch typing, with perfectly-sized keys and a separate numeric pad for data entry. The touchpad is sensitive and responsive, and supports both multi-touch gesturing and scrolling for quickly zooming into and navigating through web pages, photos and office documents.

This laptop features an Intel Core i5 520M processor, which should have produced one of the best scores in our benchmarking tests. Unusually this wasn't the case, but we ran further tests and found there's plenty of power on offer, so you can happily run several applications at once with little impact on performance.

Graphically, the Hi-Grade performed well, despite featuring an integrated Intel GMA HD graphics card. The power difference isn't massive, and you won't be able to edit your media or play the latest games easily, but high-definition video plays smoothly.

Benchmarks

Battery life: 187 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 178
3DMark 2003: 3529

Limited portability

Battery life is sadly restrictive for anyone who regularly takes to the road, at just over three hours from each charge. The 40mm chassis is one of the thickest here, further restricting portability.

The Notino fares better in terms of features. The 500GB hard drive provides a huge amount of storage. There's also a comprehensive range of ports including HDMI and eSATA connections, and even an ExpressCard slot for attaching peripherals.

While the Notino D8000i isn't a pretty machine and suffers from limited portability, among other flaws, it's also a strong performer, with a vibrant screen and some excellent features. If you're looking for a reasonably priced home machine, you could do a lot worse.

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We're huge fans of Acer's Aspire Ethos entertainment laptops, which boast incredible amounts of power and some excellent features, but it does have a steep price tag.

The Aspire Ethos 5943G-5464G50Bnss aims to bring the range to the masses with a cost under a £1000 and, despite some sacrifices, we're still highly impressed.

While the previous Ethos model we reviewed had an Intel Core i7 processor and a staggering 16,384MB of memory, this model opts for a Core i5 CPU and 4096MB of memory. Despite this, our benchmarking tests came out with a near identical score. We found we could run several resource-intensive applications at once with no visible slowing at all.

Decent graphics

Graphical performance is also impressive, with the dedicated ATi Radeon HD 5650 graphics card capable of most multimedia tasks. Video editing is a breeze, while gamers can run the latest titles smoothly.

Benchmarks

Battery life: 381 minutes
MobileMark 2007: 257
3D Mark 2003: 21,171

Acer has also included a Blu-ray drive for watching both Blu-ray discs and DVDs, and the built-in speakers do a commendable job, although we would still recommend a separate pair.

Unfortunately, one of the sacrifices made to reduce costs is a lower display resolution. Previous models wowed us with HD images, but this model only manages a 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, so those Blu-ray films don't appear as sharp as they could. Thankfully, you can connect an external display via the VGA or HDMI ports.

The Ethos is a sturdy beast and our only issue is a little flex in the centre of the lid. The strong build quality makes for impressive usability, with a firm isolation style keyboard proving a delight to type on.

We also enjoyed the smooth and generously sized touchpad, which rather slickly converts to a media control panel at the touch of a button, for playing, pausing and skipping through your music and video.

At almost 3kg, this is definitely a desktop replacement machine and not a laptop for taking on the road often. However, 381 minutes of battery life defied our expectations and provides extra freedom when needed.

A fingerprint scanner is built into the palmrest, giving you an extra layer of security and eliminating the need to remember login passwords. You also get a 5-in-1 memory card reader, an eSATA port for attaching an external hard drive, and even a mini FireWire port.

Although Acer has cut back the specification of the Aspire Ethos 5943G-5464G50Bnss to trim the price, we were still highly impressed. Performance hasn't suffered at all and build quality is just as strong, although we were disappointed by the sharpness of the screen.

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The Samsung RF710-S03UK is one of the more expensive Samsung Blu-ray laptops, but the impressive specification offers good value for money.

As with the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G, a quad-core Intel Core i7 720QM processor is used and the power on offer is faultless. The laptop gave the excellent scores in our benchmarking tests and wasn't fazed even when we ran several intensive applications at once.

The dedicated Nvidia GT 330M GPU didn't perform as well as some rival laptops, but can still ably handle professional editing software and the latest games.

The built-in Blu-ray drive won't allow you to create Blu-ray discs like the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G and Asus N73J drives will, but you can still watch high-definition (HD) movies.

Alternatively, the 1TB of storage offers plenty of space for movies as well as games and music. While the 17.3-inch screen isn't quite as sharp as the HP or Acer's, movies still look crisp on the bright display.

The integrated speakers are just as powerful and clear as its rivals, but are no substitute for a dedicated pair.

The 3.1kg chassis is fairly portable, although the 162 minutes of battery life is bettered elsewhere and won't keep you entertained for long on the road, especially as it dips to just 75 minutes when watching a DVD or Blu-ray movie.

Additionally, the solid build suffers a little from an unusually plain design and the lid picks up smudges easily.

Excellent usability

Usability is strong, however, with a well-sized isolation-style keyboard in place. Below it is a wide touchpad that proves smooth and responsive, and the right edge acts as a scrollbar for quickly navigating through web pages and documents.

A short row of media controls above the keyboard allows you to mute the sound, change the volume and toggle wireless networking on and off.

Networking is swift, with 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet available. This laptop and the Acer have Bluetooth 3.0, which allows faster file sharing with compatible devices such as mobile phones.

The SD Card reader allows less flexibility than the multi-card readers in the other laptops, but one of the four USB ports is USB 3.0 compatible, allowing fast data transfer with external storage devices.

An impressive amount of power has been packed into the RF710-S03UK's chassis, and while it lacks the features of the Acer and the 3D wizardry of the HP Envy 17 3D, there's still loads to like here, from the bright screen to the solid usability.

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Lenovo's ThinkPad range is traditionally aimed at corporate users and the ThinkPad Edge 13" is an affordable option designed for small businesses.

Its high-quality ultraportable build and excellent screen are offset, however, by limited performance and a couple of notable design quirks.

At 1.8kg, this is a fairly light laptop, and the robust chassis – which is almost as compact as the Samsung Q330 – is highly portable.

The battery juts out beneath the laptop, adding to the overall thickness, but the ThinkPad will comfortably fit in most bags. The 229-minute battery life is reasonable, although beaten by many others here.

The 13.3-inch display has a reflective Super-TFT coating, which is unusual for a business machine. Images are pleasingly vibrant as a result, with photos appearing sharp and lifelike, although the increased reflectivity limits outdoor use.

Along with the Dell Inspiron M101z, this is the only laptop here without an optical drive, so you can't watch DVDs or install applications from a disc without using an external drive. There are three USB ports, but no eSATA port, and the memory card slot only supports SD cards.

Typically for a machine this size, 320GB of storage is in place and will be fine for most users, while networking is speedy and Bluetooth is also included.

The ThinkPad is powered by an AMD 1.6Ghz Turion Neo X2 L625 processor, but we found that performance lagged behind the competition and only the MSI CR630 scored lower in our benchmarking tests. As a result, you're limited to basic use, such as web browsing and word processing.

We also found multimedia performance to be lacking, with an integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU in place. This laptop scored low in our graphical benchmarking tests and so is only fit for the most basic photo editing.

Excellent keyboard

The isolation-style keyboard is quiet and excellent for touch-typing, with pleasingly firm keys. We didn't like the placement of the Function key in the bottom-left corner, which pushes the Ctrl key inwards, but we found we eventually became used to it.

The touchpad covers a generous area and is both smooth and responsive to use, although we did find ourselves occasionally brushing it when typing, which caused the cursor to skip.

Lenovo's trademark Pointing Stick is present as ever in the centre of the keyboard, as an alternative to the touchpad.

With admirable build quality and a sharp, colourful screen, the ThinkPad Edge 13" is almost an excellent ultraportable laptop for business users and consumers alike. However, the restrictive performance makes it hard to recommend compared to some other laptops.

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