This post was written by Maureen Jones
Panasonic’s Toughbooks aren’t exactly known for their good looks, so to say that the CF-W8 isn’t the most stylish laptop around isn’t much of a surprise. While the CF-W8 has many good points, then – its durability, excellent battery life and competent specification among them – reviewers are unable to give it a whole-hearted recommendation when it’s so uncomfortable to use. The mediocre screen, oddly-shaped keyboard and circular trackpad are certainly an acquired taste, but they’re slightly too awkward for reviewers.
Dell Latitude E4200 eschews the wedge shaped chassis design so popular of late for a more slab-like appearance. Taking a look around the machine, Dell has managed to squeeze on most of the connectivity a business user is likely to need when on the move. It’s a shame there’s no option for a higher resolution, but we’ve yet to see a 12.1in that offers this and all told it garners little complaint. So long as you don’t need an optical drive, the E4200 is an ideal option for the serious businessperson on the move.
In terms of look and feel, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 is a convincing effort. It weighs a very reasonable 1.08kg, with the compact charger only adding another 200g to the figure. The 8.9in screen means that the Mini 9 is a similar size to Asus’ Eee PC 901. Crucially for a netbook that’s going to spend most of its life rattling around in the none-too padded confines of a commuter’s bag, the build is reassuringly sturdy. In fact it’s particularly robust by netbook standards, with a solid lid and a flex-free chassis.
Toshiba – Portégé A600-122 is the slightly heftier brother of the R500 series. It looks pretty good too in its all-silver finish, which is set off by a chrome Toshiba logo on the outside of the lid and inside by the matt black screen surround and chromed mouse buttons. The one thing that is very impressive about the A600-122 is its battery life. Despite its small stature, Toshiba has built in a good choice of optical drive in the form of a DVD Super Multi drive.
Acer’s – Aspire 6935G line-up currently has six models. The 844G32Bn model is a well equipped, stylish, desktop replacement notebook. The performance is good and will cope with the whims of the pre-installed Windows Vista Home Premium OS and any everyday application. Thankfully the audio sub-system helps with the movie watching experience, due mainly to Dolby Home Theatre virtual surround sound technology. In fact the only really disappointing thing about the Aspire 6935G is the battery life, and that’s not such an issue with something that weighs in at 3.8kg.
HP’s Mini 1000′s footprint is nearly identical to that of the earlier HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, measuring slightly wider and thinner, as per CNET review. The actual hands-on experience is the best of any Netbook tested so far, making it well worth a look for anyone interested in jumping into the Netbook arena, especially those who dread spending time typing on cramped keyboards. HP may have arrived late to the consumer Netbook game, but by lifting the generous keyboard from last year’s business-oriented model, the Mini 1000 easily joins the category’s top tier.