According to Fujitsu-Siemens, the Lifebook C1320 is an all-purpose notebook computer aimed at the casual and professional user equally. But at first glance it doesn't appear to be the kind of notebook you'd want to carry around with you.

This is mostly because of its large 15.4in widescreen display, which contributes to the notebook's overall width of 36cm. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't too heavy. Its 2.7kg frame proved quite manageable, even when compared to notebooks with a smaller screen.

Inside the Lifebook C1320 is the fastest Intel processor designed specifically for notebooks: the 2GHz Pentium M. Although many desktop computers now use processors running in advance of 3GHz, Intel's mobile version has a lot of its own onboard memory, which allows it to easily keep up with its rivals.

Add this to the 1Gb of memory and you've got a powerful mobile computer that performed admirably in our system tests.

However, the Lifebook did suffer in graphics performance. Its integrated graphics card is fine for photo editing, office applications, browsing the internet and watching DVDs, but it won't run the latest 3D games. However, it can display a maximum screen resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels, so you can run two or more programs side by side.

The C1320 also features Wi-Fi for connecting to hotspots and Bluetooth for synchronising with your mobile phone or connecting to other Bluetooth peripherals.

It has a large 80Gb hard disk and a DVD writer that will write to all formats (single and double layer) apart from the fairly rare DVD-RAM.

The Lifebook C1320 has an exceptional battery life. It lasted four and a half hours while running ordinary office tasks, and four hours when watching a DVD movie. Unlike many notebooks, this means you can watch more than one film in a row without connecting it to the mains.

On the whole, the C1320 is an admirable notebook in the portability sense. Like many notebooks, its 3D gaming prowess is fairly useless but it's very powerful and will survive on its battery twice as long as many other notebooks we've seen at this price.

The only other downside is the lack of office software. Open Office can be downloaded for free but if you prefer Microsoft Works 8, this can be bought online for about £40.

Also consider:
Evesham Quest Roma T37