W hen Tedd Fox, a desktop engineer at the virtualisation software company Citrix, wanted a new laptop for work, instead of contacting his IT department, he went out and bought exactly what he wanted. It was a new Mac Book, with a fast processor and extra memory. "My computer is my digital hub," he explains, "and has all my pictures and music on it. Previously, I had one computer for work and one for home and it was very confusing."

Shawn Genoway, Citrix director of Americas IT service delivery, went for something rather different - a muscular HP laptop with a 17-inch widescreen, HDTV and Blu-Ray. The graphics and music specification were perfect for watching videos and gaming in his free time: "I have been much more content having a laptop that has all the bells and whistles that I wouldn't have in a corporate standard."