Top 10 best and worst of Computex 2011

Around 36,000 people were expected to make their way to Taipei this week to visit Computex in its 31st year.

More than 1,800 exhibitors and 5,000 booths makes it by far Asia's largest tech trade show and second only worldwide to CeBIT in Germany.

As predicted, there were a stack of announcements from most of the world's biggest names in technology, and quite a few from vendors who we'd frankly never heard of. This is V3.co.uk's pick of the best and worst of the show, in no particular order.

BEST:

Miss Computex (x3)
Yes, it's terribly un-PC and not particularly classy, but every tech trade show needs a moment of light relief. Thankfully we got it to the power of three at Computex, as the lucky girl(s) to have been awarded the prestigious crown, and their glorious pink PVC miniskirts, were paraded before the assembled journalists with a selection of winning devices. To be honest, we can't really remember much about what they were carrying.

Enthusiasts
It probably says a lot about the pre-eminence given to science and technology subjects in this part of the world, but the show and its satellite events were always full of enthusiastic students. Whatever they're doing, they're doing it right in Taiwan, which has been at the centre of technology and component manufacturing for decades.

You'd be lucky to fill a small bandstand with the number of tech graduates interested in an IT conference back in the UK. Actually, if some numbers are to be believed, you'd be lucky to fill a bandstand with technology grads full stop.

No chips here
We love a bit of exotic food at V3.co.uk, so it was good to see the on-site catering refusing to pander to Western tastes. The press room was sadly exempt from any complimentary nosh, but we did manage to get involved in some dim sum and noodles most days. Sadly, the beer served during a pre-show afternoon "tea break" for the press proved to be a one-off.