Along with the Dell XPS M1330, this is the only laptop on test this month that creeps below the £1,000 mark. Not by much, though, with the Satellite P300 coming in at a still-pricey £907 (exc VAT).
Compare the two cheapest machines on test, though, and it's clear that the Toshiba is the more striking of the pair. There's a large 17in screen, and a glossy finish to the chassis that includes a row of white LED lights above the keyboard and dramatic lines across the wristrest.

The P300 also includes the best speakers we've laid ears on this month. Provided by audio specialist Harman Kardon, they provide more bass and clearer treble than anything else on test.

Toshiba also takes a different approach to the keyboard, with the keys having a high-gloss finish that makes them feel a little odd to type on. The 17in screen offers acres of space, with a comfortable 1,440 x 900 resolution, but it lacks the VAIO's vibrancy.

Inside, there's an Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, which runs at 2.5GHz. It propelled the Toshiba to a score of 1.11 in our 2D benchmarks - but it's some way behind the fastest laptops here. And for playing games, the Toshiba also lags behind its rivals with a score of 15fps in our medium-quality Crysis benchmark.

Intel Chipset Driver Windows XP
Size: 2.07 MB
Download: Chipset_Intel.zip

Intel AHCI SATA Driver Windows XP
Size: 19.82 MB
Download: AHCI_SATA.zip

Intel Graphics Display VGA Driver for Windows XP
Size: 19.12 MB
Download: Intel Display.zip

ATI Mobility Radeon HD Graphics Driver for Windows XP
Size: 170 MB
Download: VGA-ATI Part1 & Part2 (download both parts, extract using winrar)

Audio Driver for Windows XP
Size: 7.48 MB
Download: Audio.zip

Touchpad Driver for Windows XP
Size: 33.79 MB
Download: Touchpad.zip

Ethernet Lan Card driver for Windows XP
Size: 23.01 MB
Download: LAN_Ethernet.zip

Card Reader Driver for Windows XP
Size: 1.64 MB
Download: Card Reader.zip

Modem Driver for Windows XP
Size: 1.82 MB
Download: Modem.zip

Atheros Wireless WLAN Driver For Windows XP
Size: 5.95 MB
Download: Atheros Wireless.zip

Intel Wifi Wireless WLAN Driver for Windows XP
Size: 5.90 MB
Download: Intel Wireless.zip

Realtek Wireless WLAN Driver for Windows XP
Size: 11.04 MB
Download: Realtek Wireless.zip

Webcam Driver for Windows XP
Size: 21.24 MB
Download: Camera.zip

Configuration Utilities for Windows XP
Size: 52.40 MB
Download: Config-Utl.zip

Hotkey Utilities for Windows XP
Size: 6.81 MB
Download: Hotkey.zip

Fingerprint Reader Driver for Windows XP
Size: 23.03 MB
Download: Fingerprint.zip