The price of laptops has dropped so much with the arrival of the new dual core technology that it was only a matter of time before affordable dual core machines appeared on the market.

Evesham has now extended its Voyager notebook series with the C535S and the C515SR, the first to be based on the Santa Rosa platform. The C515SR is the lower spec of the two and boasts a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor with 2MB cache, 1GB DDR II RAM running at 667MHz and an 80GB, SATA, 5400rpm hard drive.

Both models have a 15.4-inch, WXGA, X-Bright, widescreen display with a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 800 but there's a marked difference in graphics quality. If you're more of a serious gamer then you might be tempted to pay a bit extra for the C535S's 256MB NVIDIA 8600 graphics with DirectX 10 support rather than the more pedestrian Mobile Intel 965 Express on the C515SR.

In terms of design, the C515SR isn't going to win any prizes for originality as it has a traditional silver casing, conventional black keyboard and work surface and measures 359 x 255 x 36mm. It isn't bristling with peripherals either, having four USB 2.0 ports, a Dual Layer DVD-RW drive, VGA connection, Ethernet port and Express card. There is, however, a handy built-in media card reader (SD/MS/MS Pro/MMC formats).

In terms of battery life, the six-cell Li-Ion battery will give you around three hours usage and the Intel Centrino Duo Mobile technology is geared towards keeping power consumption exceptionally low. The battery clicks into the back of the base and it's not light, so be prepared to carry nearly 3kg around with you.

Linking to the Net for e-mails, etc., while on the go can be done via the Wireless Mini PCIe 802.11a/g (54Mbps) LAN and both laptops come with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. The other standard software includes Bullguard Internet Security, Roxio Media Suite DVD and Microsoft Works 8.

If you are willing to shell out the extra £200, the C535S will provide a slightly more powerful CPU (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500), the Nvidia graphics card, 120GB hard drive and twice the amount of DDR II RAM.

Unlike several other support packages, Evesham offers a three-year guarantee which promises a first year in-home service and the second and third years return-to-base cover.

If it's time to upgrade to Dual Core technology and you're on a limited budget, the Voyager C515SR is an efficient, no-frills, low-power machine that should match your requirements.