Last year Alienware triumphed in this category with the M11x. This isn’t its so much its successor as its bigger brother.

Price: £1499.99 | Alienware

The M17XR3 in Base Stealth Black, to give it its full name, is the third generation of the M17x series, a gaming laptop that defines ‘new and improved.’ Just about everything is better than its predecessor: battery life has been boosted to over three hours (very impressive, given the specs), the redesign makes it more usable and better looking, the keyboard’s been given an overhaul, and it’s also cheaper than its predecessor.

3D performance sets a new high, and it’s about as moddable as they come. Packing in Intel’s Core i7 2630QM at 2GHz, 4GB of RAM, a zippy, 256GB SSD drive, and 1.5GB GeForce GTX 460M graphics card, this baby’s ready to play, and is taking no prisoners; Call of Duty: Black Ops runs 1080p at 36fps, or 32fps in 3D!