Top rated products: MacBook Air, HTC Mozart, Sony Reader

October was a busy month, with Microsoft launching its all-new mobile operating system and Apple releasing a refresh of its most popular devices. Here are our top five products for October 2010:

Best laptop: Apple MacBook Air
We reviewed a number of laptops in October, but it was Apple's latest update of its MacBook Air that caught our attention the most. It's still expensive, but Apple has now packed in more under the hood, with powerful 3D graphics and a speedy solid-state flash drive for storage. Of course, it's also just as slim, light and eye-catching as the previous versions.
V3.co.uk rating: 4 stars (read the full Apple MacBook Air review).

Best mobile phone: HTC Mozart
Hoping to regain a foothold in the mobile market, October saw Microsoft launching a totally revamped operating system in the form of Windows Phone 7. We looked at two handsets, and it was the HTC Mozart that impressed us the most. With a 3.7in touch screen and an easy-to-use interface, the Mozart managed to achieve a higher overall score than Nokia's long-awaited N8 handset.
V3.co.uk rating: 4 stars (read the full HTC Mozart review).

Best peripheral: Sony Reader PRS-350
The e-book reader market continues to expand, and Sony's latest effort is its most compact to date. Measuring just 104 x 145 x 8.5mm and weighing only 155g, it's perfect for business users looking to catch up on PDFs and other documents while travelling. There's no built-in Wi-Fi or 3G, as seen in the high-end Kindle from Amazon, but its compact design and intuitive nature won us over.
V3.co.uk rating: 4 stars (read the full Sony Reader PRS-350 review).

Best network hardware: Netgear ProSafe GS110TP
With its low price, the ProSafe GS110TP from Netgear is a switch aimed at smaller businesses looking to improve their network infrastructure. It's compact, quiet and even comes with power-saving features to cut down on energy bills. Support for Power-over-Ethernet is also built in. Best of all, it's easy to use thanks to some excellent documentation.
V3.co.uk rating: 4 stars (read the full Netgear ProSafe GS110TP review).

Best software: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011
Microsoft might be a predominantly PC-focused company, but it still has one eye on Mac users. The 2011 version of Microsoft Office for Mac makes big improvements over the previous release, and sees the Entourage email client replaced with a brand new Mac version of Outlook. Combined with many other new features, it's bound to tempt more than a few Mac users.
V3.co.uk rating: 4 stars (read the full Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 review).