Faster, slimmer, stronger, with bandwidth on the run

But old-fashioned 15-inch laptops are a disaster for travellers, with their shoulder-breaking weight, bag-busting heft and terrible battery life — and this is where slim, small laptops come in.

Typically 11 or 12 inches, these work machines weigh roughly the same as an iPad with a keyboard case.

But they are far more powerful.

Here are five options to consider.

Sony Vaio Pro 11

SONY has always done slimline laptops well. Its latest Vaio Pro 11 — which claims to be the lightest touch-enabled 'Ultrabook' on the market — stays true to this form.

It has oodles of power and is nicely styled. The main question I have is whether you need all of the features it's offering. These include a touch-enabled screen and advanced wireless features such as an NFC-enabled touchpad. (I have yet to find either of Technology Editor Adrian Weckler testdrives devices suitable for executives travelling light and working hard these features being of core value to a working machine.) The laptop's beefy Core i7 processor is a big plus, as is its ultra-slim casing, backlit keyboard, superbly bright screen and 256GB solid state hard drive. If you're looking for something a little more budget-friendly from Sony in this space, its 11-inch Vaio E model — with much fewer advanced trimmings — starts at just half the price (€550) for about another 0.5kg of weight.

Size/weight: 11.2 inches, 0.9kg Price: €1,280

Acer S7

ACER'S machine is touted as a high-end, slimline road-warrior's tool with a few bells and whistles.

The main baubles revolve around its touch-enabled screen, which is currently a (non-fruitful) trend among some Windows 8 laptops.

One of its genuine pluses is that it comes with an additional battery. True, this increases your accessory weight.

But one of the downsides to these super-slim tablets is lower-than-optimal battery performance (the batteries are physically smaller by necessity). So this is a decent extra.

Under the hood it has a good, but not superb, array of horsepower. There's 4GB of Ram memory and an Intel i5 processor. It also has NFC and couple of USB 3.0 ports and a mini-HDMI port (no adaptor). This is a decent machine, but not the best option on the market at present: you'll get more for less elsewhere.

Size/weight: 11.6-inches, 1.1kg Price: €1,250

MacBook Air (top pick)

LIKE the supremacy of its MacBook Pro sibling, Apple's MacBook Air is generally hard to beat.

Beautifully styled and incredibly slim, the computer effortlessly slices through most anything you can throw at it without a fuss.

This is despite an engine (1.3Ghz dual-core processor, 4GB Ram) that compares modestly with most of its rivals in the same price bracket.

The MacBook Air has a best-in-class keyboard and its form factor is generally considered to set the pace for all others. It doesn't boast many connections, but starts up quick as a flash and comes with lots of excellent software.

For business people, it may once have been exotic to switch from Windows to Apple's operating system but it is not so anymore.

One more thing: go for the 128GB model (paying an extra €200 for nothing more than an additional 128GB of memory is a bad deal).

Size/weight: 11.6 inches, 1.1kg Price: From €1,050 (128GB), €1,250 (256GB)

Samsung Chromebook (top pick)

THIS collaboration between Samsung and Google is just about the best-value laptop on the market, with one caveat: you really only get the most out of it if you have a reliable internet connection.

This is because most of its software operates via web apps, meaning you have to be online to fully exploit them. That said, you can use it for basic operations offline, too.

Given the price point, it's not a great shock that the laptop cuts some corners.

Most of these come under the hood: it relies on a modest dual-core (1.7Ghz) processor and 2GB of Ram.

It also skimps mightily on the amount of storage space available: its meagre 16GB is about the same as a standard smartphone.

This would rule the Chromebook out for those seeking to store music or photo collections. For others, it won't matter, given that much of what we do is stored online now.

The Chromebook borrows (very) heavily from the design manual of Apple's MacBook Air. Cheeky? Yes.

Does it work? Absolutely: the Chromebook is an extremely pleasant laptop to use, ergonomically.

Size/weight: 11.6 inches, 1.1kg Price: €280

Microsoft Surface Pro

TECHNICALLY, this is a hybrid between a laptop and a tablet. But it's worth considering as it matches the power and functionality of most laptops on the market.

The basic machine is a touchscreen tablet.

However, it comes with two versions of Microsoft Windows: the newer 'tiles' based system (that has received a bit of flak from users) and the older, traditional Windows outlay.

More than any other tablet, this is designed to work as a laptop too.

Hence, it is almost always sold with a cover that doubles as a keyboard. By and large it works fine, even if it is not quite as efficient or as ergonomically comfortable as a traditional laptop.

The Surface Pro doesn't skimp on power. Its 4GB of Ram complements a decent Core i5 processor and either 64GB or 128GB in a solid state drive. It also has a relatively good screen, although it doesn't give as many USB or connection ports as laptop rivals.

For anyone who fancies the occasional functionality of a tablet on a machine you can work with, this is a good option.

Size/weight: 10.6 inches, 1kg (with keyboard) Price: €880 (64GB) or €980 (128GB)