We’re actually looking at two "fairly" similar computers in this review. When we say fairly similar, they’re both advanced laptops offering incredible features.

The biggest difference is one is a "big brand name" at or near the top of the price pile; the other was sourced from a supermarket at a (much!) lower price tag.

Once, not so long ago, laptop computers were significantly more expensive than desktop models and suffered badly in performance comparisons as well.

They’re still more expensive – but now the margins are nothing like as wide – and the gap in performance has reduced to the point where for most users it doesn’t matter too much, if at all.

Throw in the convenience factor of laptops and it’s small wonder they have become the computer of choice for a wide range of users – everyone from business people on the go to students replacing notebooks with . . . notebooks!

At SILICON CHIP, when we review equipment such as computers, we’re not so much looking at degrees of performance; we’re more interested in the overall picture, what readers would be interested in, what you get for your money and how well the equipment works in the real world.

We generally leave A-B-C comparison tests, particularly when it comes to PCs, to those who are best set up to conduct them.

You can find such tests in any of the myriad of computer magazines available in Australia (both local and imported) – or you can also scan the ’net and find report after report.

A word of caution on the latter: you need to read these reports carefully because you usually don’t know if the reviewer has a vested interest to report a certain way. The way some reviews read it would appear that there might be some consideration. Of course, there are also straight-up-and-down reports on the ’net; just be picky and choosy what you read!