Affordable Desktop-Replacement Laptop: Acer TravelMate 6592

The Acer TravelMate 6592 is an affordable laptop that should suit anyone looking for a capable, mostly desk-bound, system. Although it's fairly basic, the webcam is a handy extra, while fingerprint recognition is fast becoming a 'must-have' feature for business users.

The TravelMate 6592 is a desktop replacement model. The TravelMate 6592 is nominally a 'thin-and-light' laptop, but its relative bulk means it's functionally a desktop replacement. At 2.9kg you're unlikely to want to carry it very far or very often, and if you do make it a travel companion you'll need a pretty capacious bag. It plants a footprint 360mm wide by 275mm deep. At its maximum, the TM 6592 is 37mm thick.



This laptop's color scheme is no great surprise: it has a slate-gray lid section, and black innards with gray highlights that are slightly lifted from the humdrum by a few emerald-green accents.

A solid dual-action clasp keeps the lid and keyboard sections together when the laptop is not in use, and build quality is generally very good. The lid section, in particular, feels reassuringly solid. All this bodes well if you do choose to carry this laptop around.

The keyboard is distinctive because of the five-degree curve on which the keys rest. This places the outer keys nearer the screen than the inner ones, encouraging you to hold your wrists at a slightly wider angle than usual. Acer says this helps with user ergonomics, and we can confirm that this design does indeed feel more comfortable for touch typing than standard laptop keyboards.

The spread of keys is wide, with a row of two-thirds-height function keys sitting atop a row of full-sized number keys. When it comes to cursor movement, Acer offers two options. The touchpad has two enormous mouse buttons beneath it, with a central navigation pad for vertical and horizontal scrolling. Alternatively, there's an emerald-green mini joystick nestling between the G, H and B keys. A second pair of mouse buttons, with emerald green accents, sits above the touchpad for use with the pointing stick. The fingerprint sensor sits between this second pair of mouse buttons.

Above the keyboard there's space for four shortcut buttons. Two are preconfigured to launch Outlook Express for email and Internet Explorer for Web browsing. You can change these settings and also program a third personalized launcher button. The fourth button opens Acer's Empowering Technology utilities, a set of tools for managing things such as presentation mode settings, backup, security and password management.

For processing power, our TravelMate 6592 review sample had a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, backup by 1GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB). Wi-Fi (802.11a, b, g and n), Bluetooth (2.0+EDR), infrared, Gigabit Ethernet and a 56Kbps V.92 modem are all built in.

Graphics were handled by a discrete ATI Mobility Radeon X2300-HD module in our review sample, although other configurations are available. The hard drive, a 160GB unit spinning at 5,400rpm, can be downgraded to 80GB or 120GB if necessary. The optical drive sits in a modular bay that can also accommodate a second battery or a second hard drive.

Acer's Crystal Eye webcam, which sits above the screen. The camera captures stills and video at 640x480 and 320x240 pixels. The TravelMate 6592 is reasonably well kitted-out with ports and connectors. However, there are only three USB 2.0 ports, two side-by-side on the left edge, and one at the back on the right. The left-hand side also houses a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port, an ExpressCard/54 slot, a PC Card slot, a SmartCard reader and a flash card reader that accepts SD, MMC, Memory Stick and xD media.



At the back, you'll find S-Video, DVI-D, VGA and serial ports, along with modem (RJ-11) and Ethernet (RJ-45) connectors and the power jack. The front houses microphone, headphone and line-out jacks and the infrared port. There are also two mechanical slider buttons here: one toggles Wi-Fi on and off, the other Bluetooth. The TravelMate 6592 is a comfortable laptop to work with, both in terms of general responsiveness and as far as the keyboard is concerned.

Acer says the standard six-cell battery will deliver 2.5 hours of life. You can extend this to 4.5 hours by adding an optional second battery in the media bay. Alternatively, an eight-cell main battery pack will deliver a claimed 4 hours' life with another 2 hours available from a second battery in the media bay.

Specifications:

• Processor type: Core 2 Duo T7100
• RAM installed: 1024 MB
• Max supported RAM: 4 GB
• RAM technology: DDR2 SDRAM
• Hard drive size: 160 GB
• CD / DVD type: DVD±RW (±R DL)
• Serial: 1
• USB: 3
• Firewire: 1
• PC Card: 1
• ExpressCard: 1
• Ethernet: Yes
• Infrared: Yes
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Wireless networking: Yes
• Other: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam
• Graphics processor: ATI Mobility Radeon X2300-HD
• Display technology: Colour TFT
• Display diagonal size: 15.4 in.
• Maximum resolution: 1280x800 pixels
• Soundcard: Intel High-Definition Audio
• Audio inputs/outputs: Microphone
• Built-in speakers: Yes
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 360x37x275mm
• Weight: 2.9 kg
• Included accessories: Docking station, media bay battery, media bay hard disk, 8-cell main battery

Luxury Flash-Based MP3 and Video Player: iRiver B20

iRiver's new DAB-sporting B20 pulls into shore with a high price. With only 4GB of memory makes it one of the most expensive flash-based players we've ever seen, and £80 more costly than a video-playing 8GB iPod nano. Slightly cheaper 1GB and 2GB version are available as well.

The big question is: Does the inclusion of DAB radio make this player worth such a premium over iRiver's 2nd-gen Clix?




Well, if you liked the look of iRiver's new Clix -- the Clix 2 to some people -- then there's a good chance you'll like the B20. It's basically a fatter version of the Clix. The innovative four-way Direct Click control lets you browse the player by physically clicking the screen. It's a nice feature, but a rough hand could pull the screen away from the player.The plastic-coated 56mm (2.2-inch) screen has a glossy finish and because of the Direct Click controls, fingers frequently touch the screen. Despite this, greasy fingerprints aren't as noticeable as they are on the iPod touch.

The 170mm telescopic aerial swivels 360 degrees and folds away to the rear. Scattered around the player's edges are physical volume controls, a proprietary USB port and a mini-USB socket.

The B20 supports MP3, WMA (protected/unprotected), OGG and Audible.com audiobooks, but it won't play WAV, lossless WMA, FLAC or AAC -- a big shame, especially considering the player's price. MPEG-4 video with 320x240-pixel resolution is compatible, though, and software comes with the player for handling video conversion. Images suffer few restrictions -- as long as your photos are in JPEG format, they'll load painlessly on the B20.



In DAB mode you're given an alphabetical list of available stations. Typical DAB data -- signal strength, radio station genre, show title, etc -- is displayed along the top and bottom of the screen. FM works in much the same way, though no show data is available. Both FM and DAB broadcasts can be recorded and a range of recording options are available. It's also possible to save recordings to miniSD.

iRiver has built in a great voice recorder, flash games (including Sudoku!), an alarm clock and a text file viewer.

For those who crave a bit of customization, the B20's advanced option menu lets you choose a variety of options. For example, it's possible to use connected earphones as the radio antenna instead of the telescopic aerial. Playback speed is adjustable, too -- good news for audiobook fans. There's also a tiny built-in speaker for out-loud listening. It's quiet, but potentially useful.

Navigating the attractive and intuitive menus with the Direct Click controls is really simple. Grandparents and technophobes, take note: even you'll be able to use this player.

No matter how slinky menus are, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, in the sound quality. Overall, it's generally pretty decent. Video playback is as smooth as a George Clooney chat up line and high-quality MPEG-4 videos look great. The B20 offers good viewing angles, though the glossy screen can produce a bit of glare. JPEG photos look just as good -- we even got good results with a 2,304x1,728-pixel photo compressed into the B20's 320x240-pixel screen.

DAB performance is excellent and even worked well on the move. During a 20-minute commute on a train, signal didn't drop once, though obviously this will vary from area to area. Battery life is rated at 22 hours for audio, six for video or seven when listening to DAB.

There's no question that this is a superb player. Every feature is well implemented, using the player is exceptionally simple and sound quality is terrific. However, unless DAB radio is your crucial requirement, we really don't feel the huge price tag for the 4GB is justified.

Specifications:

• Product type: Flash
• Capacity: 4 GB
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 99x49x15 mm
• Weight: 71 g
• Colour: Black
• Mfr battery life (audio): 22 hours
• Mfr battery life (video): 6 hours
• Included cables: USB
• Included accessories: Earphones; Software
• Supported digital audio standards: OGG, MP3, WMA
• Additional features: Flash games; text viewer; alarm clock; internal speaker; telescopic aerial; Audible support
• Display type: QVGA TFT LCD
• Display size: 61 mm
• Resolution (W x H): 320x240 pixels
• Display colours: Colour
• Backlight: Yes
• Image display: Yes
• Supported image formats: JPEG
• Tuner: FM, DAB
• Antenna: Telescopic
• Input type: Microphone
• Built-in microphone: Yes
• Output mode: Mono
• Headphone type: 3.5mm

Stylish iPod Dock, CD Player and FM Radio in ONE!

The Philips DCM230 is a stylish CD player and iPod dock station. The DCM230 isn't about streaming media, however, it's all about iPods. It's a bit pricey, but a couple of stand-out features could justify the cost.

There's nothing questionable about the DCM230's design. It has an exceptionally modern image, complimented by a solid build. A self-loading CD drive sits within a highly reflective front panel beneath an LCD display. The display itself is quite pleasant and functional.




A bunch of buttons sit on top and provide only some of the functionality you'll need -- you'll need the remote for the rest. And while it's fairly understandable to place a USB port on the top, sticking the auxiliary input there is not. We're not fond of scarring the face of an eye-pleasing setup with an unsightly cable. More unusual still is that the headphone socket is right around the back -- these two sockets should've been switched around.

Philips has opted for a solid speaker grille to protect the front-mounted speaker drivers. In many cases a solid speaker grille can interfere with sound, since it physically blocks the movement of air. But the DCM230's grille is perforated with thousands of tiny holes, allowing air to move relatively freely. Choosing this grille suggests elegant design was of paramount importance to Philips, but its implementation is satisfactory.

First, the DCM230 is an iPod dock. But it'll also play CDs -- both audio and MP3/WMA discs -- and MP3/WMA files stored on memory sticks. There's no support for protected WMA content or any lossless audio format, such as WAV, WMA lossless or FLAC. AAC would've been a terrific inclusion but, sadly, that's nowhere to be seen either. Navigating USB contents is tedious: it's just a case of skipping through the alphabetically organised folders, and ID3 tags aren't displayed either. Nonetheless, it's handy for quickly cueing up 2GB of music at a party.

Any iPod with a dock connector works fine with this system, including the new classic, touch, nano and iPhone, and functionality is great as long as you use the lovely supplied remote control. With it you're able to fully browse iPod menus, navigate playlists, and even add items to the 'On-The-Go' playlists. As a token of gratitude, your iPod gets charged while it's docked, even if the system's on standby. Also crammed into the reflective chassis is an FM/AM radio, a sleep timer and an alarm clock. Setting these up isn't particularly fun. The screen is dominated mainly by massive text, all upper-case and generally scrolling from right to left.

We earlier highlighted two points about the DCM230's navigation: firstly, it's very enjoyable to browse with an iPod; but secondly, when browsing USB contents or setting timers, it's anything but. So it's safe to say this is a nice system if you're an iPod owner. Our hope was that we'd hear great performance from the two 15W speakers, each backed up by reflex ports and Philips' Dynamic Bass Boost option.

With a slick design, great build and intuitive integration with iPods, the DCM230 pretty much justified its £200 price tag. There's nothing particularly outstanding here and audiophiles will immediately criticize the sub-hi-fi audio performance, which is very average. But for the casual listener and music fan, there's not much to complain about.

It's not the single most enjoyable system to operate, but with a little practice and a less critical ear, the DCM230 has the potential to please many.

Specifications:

• Color: Silver
• Included accessories: Dock adaptors; remote control
• Supported digital audio standards: MP3, WMA
• Radio Tuner: AM, FM
• Input type: Line in
• Output type: tereo
• Headphone type: 3.5mm
• Equaliser factory preset qty: 4

Tiny, Super Affordable Laptop: Asus EEE PC 701

Meet the Asus Eee PC 701 -- an ultraportable laptop that's very affordable. The three 'e's represent Asus' vision of it being "easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play". The Eee PC is one of the smallest laptops on the market. At 225 by 35 by 165mm, it's about the size of a hardback book, and weighs 920g. Its petite dimensions give it a toy-like appearance, but this is countervailed by the pearl-white finish, which gives it a touch of sophistication. Ultimately, the Eee PC looks equally at home on the catwalk or in a child's playpen -- it is what you make of it.

Because it's so small, some sacrifices have been made. The keyboard is exceptionally tiny and the keys are very closely grouped. Whereas keys on a standard desktop keyboard have an approximate 5mm gap, the gap between those on the Eee PC is less than 1mm so it's easy to make mistakes.




There are plenty of ports scattered around the machine. There are two USB ports on the right, a third on the left, plus a D-Sub video output port for those who want to use an external display. You also get a memory card reader on the right side that supports SDHC memory cards (currently as large as 32GB). The modem jack on our review sample was blanked out, as there's no internal modem, but there's an adjacent Ethernet port so you can connect to a wired network.

Narcissists or video conferencing addicts will be pleased to note the webcam sitting above the screen. Speakers sit either side of the display, but the microphone is strangely mounted on the underside of the laptop, which affects audio quality slightly. You can, however, connect an external mic or external speakers to the audio jacks at the left side of the laptop. One final note about the design -- the Eee PC's power adaptor is proportionally as tiny as the laptop. It looks more like a mobile phone charger than a laptop charger, which is great since you don't have to lug an enormous power brick around.

The Asus EEE PC uses an Intel Mobile Celeron-M ULV 900MHz CPU, which is designed for long battery life rather than hardcore number crunching. The Asus version ships with 512MB of RAM as standard, though other resellers such as RM offer versions with 256MB of RAM. If you intend to tinker heavily with the machine or install Windows, we'd recommend getting the 512MB model. One of the machine's biggest selling points is the fact it uses a solid state hard drive (SSD). The largest model Asus supplies is 4GB, 33 per cent of which is already in use when you buy the machine. The Eee PC comes with an integrated Wi-Fi adaptor that supports 802.11b/g wireless networks.

The Eee PC doesn't use a Microsoft operating system, which is part of the reason it's so inexpensive. Instead, Asus supplies its own Linux-based graphical user interface. The laptop also ships with some 40 applications, which is arguably more than you'd get with a standard Windows laptop. It includes Firefox, Skype, OpenOffice and SMPlayer for video playback. Obviously, it being a Linux machine, users can download any amount of open source software -- so long as it'll fit on the hard drive. The Eee PC is theoretically fast enough to run Windows XP, which is great news for those of us without beards.

The Eee PC isn't as quick as most laptops but its 900MHz CPU and 512MB of RAM are just fast enough. Applications generally open a couple of seconds after clicking and it's powerful enough to edit photos without becoming a cause of frustration. It generally boots up in about 30 seconds, which is quicker than most Windows-based laptops. The Eee PC is in no way designed as a gaming machine, but it ships with a couple of Flash-type games, and runs these well.



Battery life was quite impressive. Asus claims it will last approximately 3.5 hours depending on what tasks you're performing, and this was in line with our own experience. With very light use, the machine lasted as long as four hours, though your own mileage may vary.

It's hard to fault the Eee PC, mainly because of its price. It can be difficult to use because of the cramped keyboard, but it's better than similar-sized laptops like the Toshiba Libretto. If you're in the market for a second PC, or looking for something you can take with you almost anywhere, the Eee PC is definitely worth buying.

Specs:

• Processor type: Mobile Celeron-M ULV 900MHz
• Processor manufacturer: Intel
• RAM installed: 512 MB
• Hard drive type: Solid State
• Hard drive size: 4 GB
• USB: 3
• Ethernet: Yes
• Input devices: Keybaord; mouse trackpad
• Display diagonal size: 7 in.
• Maximum resolution: 800x480 pixels
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 225x35x165mm
• Weight: 0.92 kg

Sneak Preview of the Thinnest Laptop Ever: Apple Macbook Air

The Apple MacBook Air is the thinnest laptop ever made. At its fattest end it's still thinner than the nearest competitor's thinnest.The Apple MacBook Air is sturdy and doesn't feel like it's going to snap or bend. Also bear in mind that the 4mm-thick part is right at the edge. The rest of the system gets gradually thicker towards the 19mm edge at the rear. At its thickest edge (towards the rear) it's a mere 19.3mm, while at its thinnest its just 4mm. It's got a 13.3-inch glossy screen, a full-size backlit keyboard, built-in iSight Web camera, microphone and stereo speakers, and -- oh yes -- a multi-touch trackpad.




The most fun element is this multi-touch track pad. Zooming in and out of images was great fun and uses the 'pinch-and-stretch' technique adopted in the iPhone and iPod touch. If you can imagine rotating a physical photograph with two fingers on a table, you can have a pretty good guess at what it's like to rotate a photo on the Air, since it works in exactly the same way on the touch pad. You can even zoom into areas of the MacBook's desktop environment with multi-touch and navigate with two fingers -- again, just like on the iPhone.

Although it's an exceptionally thin laptop, it's not sized like an ultraportable. The keyboard is as large as the new iMac keyboard, so typing on it is instantly comfortable, with no need to adjust to tiny keys.

But not everything is positive. Jobs was probably correct in saying that most people in the market for this sort of laptop won't miss the optical drive, but few will be happy with a single USB socket. When it comes to ultraportable laptops, optical drives are rather cumbersome. So Apple got rid. Instead, a piece of software inside the Air -- along with a bundled app for Macs and PCs -- lets you connect to another computer's drive wirelessly. Or you could buy the MacBook Air SuperDrive -- a tiny USB-toting external DVD R/W drive. It costs £65.



Another thing missing is a microphone socket. It may not seem like a big deal, but it will be for some. Wired connectivity comes in the form of a single USB 2.0 socket, a single Micro-DVI socket and a headphone socket. Because the machine is so light and portable, it's great for podcasters on the go. Apple includes GarageBand and promotes the ease of podcasting with a Mac, but don't expect to use that slinky condenser mic, because you'll have nowhere to plug it in. You'll have to make do with the internal microphone. There's also no Ethernet port, although 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 are present.

So there are good points and bad. Obviously an external hard disk, DVD drive, USB microphone and USB hub will be essential tools for some people to carry around, somewhat defeating the object of having something so easily portable. If that's you, just get a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Relocate to the Moon if you want these heavier options to weigh the same as the Air. And don't forget the massive price tag: from £1,199 -- or more than five times as much as the Asus Eee PC.

Standard Specifications:

• 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with 4MB of L2 cache
• 2GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
• 80GB 1.8-inch hard disk with Sudden Motion Sensor
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
• Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking
• Bluetooth 2.1

HP Compaq 2710p: Stylish Ultraportable Laptop

The HP Compaq 2710p has an attractive design; available with Windows Vista or XP Tablet PC edition. It has excellent screen/keyboard light. The HP Compaq 2710p stands out by virtue of its stylish design. It's not the lightest ultraportable, though, and many mobile professionals will want to specify the 3G option. The lack of an optical drive and a touchpad may also bother some potential buyers.

The first impression of this laptop is one of stylishness. Even when it's closed, this laptop has a certain elegance thanks to its rounded corners. The lid is a dark silver/gray color, while the main system unit is black and has a rubberized finish that helps to stop it sliding around on a desk or lap.




The lid and system unit are held together with a single strong clasp. The same clasp holds both together when the screen is rotated 180 degrees around its central hinge and laid flat facing outwards to work in Tablet PC mode. Build quality is very good indeed. The lid is robust and has little give, affording the screen good protection.

As befits a member of the Ultra Light range, the HP Compaq 2710p is small and lightweight. It has a footprint of 290 by 28 by 212mm. At 1.6kg the 2710p isn't as 'ultraportable' as some laptops we've seen, but it's still perfectly feasible as a regular traveling companion. The display is a relatively small 12.1-inch active touchscreen with a native resolution of 1,280x800 pixels. The stylus, which you won't want to lose, is housed at the top on the right-hand side when the screen is in (outward-facing) tablet mode and the system held in portrait orientation.

The keyboard, which is the same dark silver/grey as its surroundings, is comfortable to use and we had no difficulty touch typing at speed. Above the number row is a half sized row of function keys plus six further keys offering page up, page down, home, end, insert and delete functions. Above the keyboard is a similar touch-sensitive strip to those we've seen in HP's other new laptops. This gives access to volume controls via a sliding bar, as well as a mute button. What's different here is that the buttons are backlit (in a blue-green colour) when touched. The caps lock and num lock keys also have associated LEDs next to them.

The HP Compaq 2710p comes in several configurations. Our review sample had at its heart a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 processor and 1GB of RAM, upgradable to a maximum of 4GB. You can specify either Windows Vista Business, which came on our review sample, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It can also be configured with FreeDOS, a free open-source operating system.

Graphics are handled by the Intel GMA X3100 module built into the Mobile Intel GM965 chipset. This can use up to 384MB of shared system memory dynamically as required.

Specifications:

• Clock speed: 1.2 GHz
• Processor type: Core 2 Duo U7600
• Processor manufacturer: Intel
• RAM installed: 1024 MB
• Max supported RAM: 4 GB
• RAM technology: DDR2 SDRAM
• Chipset type: Mobile Intel GM965
• Hard drive size: 80 GB
• Maximum resolution: 1280x800 pixels
• Weight: 1.6 kg

Sexiest Laptop Ever: Lenovo IdeaPad U110

The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 has a colored, textured lid that sports an intricate floral pattern that's rough to the touch, and beautiful to the eye. This sort of thing could have gone horribly wrong, but Lenovo's designers have pulled it off in a way that should appeal to men and women alike. Thus, it is seen as the sexiest laptop ever made so far.

Another good news with the U110 is that it's incredibly easy to carry around at only 2.4lbs of weight. It was simple to hold and palm in the hand for the purpose of taking pictures for instance.




Inside, there's one of the prettiest keyboards in the known universe. It's piano black, so it'll pick up more fingerprints than an entire series of CSI, but you can't help but love the look. Above it, there's a row of touch-sensitive buttons, but these have a floral appearance, so once again, it's the prettiest implementation we've ever come across.

Even the underside of the laptop is gorgeous. We'd have forgiven Lenovo for just including a bunch of holes for expelling hot air, but the designers have chosen to slap them with the pretty stick, and throw in some extra floral loveliness for good measure.

It's not just a pretty face. You get an 11-inch display, the option of a 64GB solid-state hard disk or 100GB 1.8-inch laptop drive, Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs from 1.8GHz and above, 2GB of RAM, and a webcam with face-recognition technology for logging into Windows Vista Ultimate. It'll be available from April 2008 onwards, and will have a starting price of $1,800 (£900).



Further evidence of hotness can be found underneath. There are cute vents, floral pattern at the top right corner, and cute rubber feet. The floral pattern extends to the shortcut buttons above the keyboard. Each is touch-sensitive and can be used for launching often-used applications and adjusting the system volume. The integrated webcam analyses the shape of your face, distance between your eyes, nose and so on, and uses this data to authenticate logins. Lenovo says it's impossible to fool the system even if you grow a beard, change your hairstyle, or pull a funny expression. The system automatically locks itself when you move away from the laptop, and if anyone else tries to log in, it takes a snapshot of the potential 'hacker' so you can beat him up later.

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is extremely thin and light for on-the-go people who like to carry the best.

Basic Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Low Voltage
• Screen: 11.1” Glossy widescreen WXGA ( 1366x768)
• Video Card: Intel X3100 (up to 256MB shared)
• HD: 160GB 1.8” or 32GB - 64GB SSD
• Webcam: 1.3MP
• Sound: two speakers, 1.5W
• Network: 10/100 Ethernet, Intel 4965AGN wireless, Bluetooth
• Warranty: 1 year system/1 year battery
• Battery: up to 8 hours
• Weight: 2.3lbs
• Depth: 0.7” deep
• VeriFace face recognition security
• Dolby® Home Theater™ audio

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC XO-1) - Is it Achievable?

The OLPC XO-1 is a cyber-hippy's dream come true: a simple, practical wireless laptop packed with cool new technologies and stuffed with open-source software. It's currently not available for sale to consumers, although Negroponte has said that the UK is in line for a 'Give 1, Get 1' donation program during 2008.

The XO-1's primary audience is children, who'll love the bash-it-about ruggedness, textured plastic housing and comfortable built-in grip -- no need for a poncy laptop sleeve here. There are dozens of smart design touches, from the show-off -- flip-up Wi-Fi rabbit ears that also lock the keyboard in place -- to the simply sensible -- the three USB ports are in different orientations to suit different devices and cables.




Open up the 7.5-inch screen and you're faced with a splashproof ZX Spectrum-like rubber keyboard that's definitely on the squashed side for adult fingers. The keys need a good firm press to work, but are very well laid out in a PC style, with dedicated volume and brightness buttons -- but no Caps Lock.

The screen itself has gaming controls on either side -- a direction pad and four action buttons. There's also a button to flip the screen's orientation, as it can rotate through 180-degrees like a tablet, and fold back in over the keyboard. In normal use, the screen is a decent full-color affair that's fine for Web browsing. But pull the brightness down to its minimum level and the LCD transforms into an ultra-sharp mono display that looks fantastic in full sunlight -- and saves power, too.

A modest 433MHz processor has to handle operating system, software and graphics all on its own, with just 256MB of RAM to work with, and a mere 1GB of Flash memory storage. Multimedia features are pretty good -- a built-in VGA webcam can capture video at up to 30fps, and the stereo speakers are loud, if tinny.

Forget Vista or even XP -- the XO-1 struggles to run Linux under a super-minimalist GUI called Sugar. Supplied as standard are basic word processing, paint, calculator, chat, RSS and games software. The browser, based on Firefox, is great, and an open source Flash player (Gnash) even lets it work with some rich content Web sites (although none that use Java).



Creative tools are especially well represented. The TamTam music creation suite includes easy to use composition, sequencing and even synth tools, and there are numerous programming/scripting gadgets to introduce kids smoothly to computing.
It's easy to download new software from OLPC's online library, and the selection of titles (all free and open-source) is growing daily. Loading software and switching between packages isn't seamless however: there are delays and crashes.

Because there's no hard drive, the XO-1 is completely silent in use and doesn't get hot. Battery life is a healthy three hours, depending on multimedia use, thanks to clever new controllers that power down a large portion of the chipset when it's idle.

In short, this is a device for people who want to interact with the world beyond their keyboard. In an era when downloading other people's creativity accounts for 80 per cent of all Internet traffic, that can only be a good thing.

Specifications:

• Processor type: Geode LX-700
• Processor manufacturer: AMD
• RAM installed: 256 MB
• RAM technology: 133MHz DRAM
• Motherboard Chipset type: x86 compatible processor with 128KB cache
• Hard drive size: 1 GB
• USB: 3
• Wireless networking: Yes
• Input devices: VGA camera
• Display technology: Dual-mode TFT (mono/colour)
• Display diagonal size: 7.5 in.
• Maximum resolution: 1200x900 pixels
• Soundcard: Integrated
• Audio inputs/outputs: Headphone out, microphone in
• Built-in speakers: Yes
• Estimated battery life (mfr): 3 hours
• Operating system: Linux

Lowest Priced Lenovo 3000 N200 Laptop

Small businesses on a budget--as well as home users in search of a straightforward productivity machine--will love the rich features, decent performance, and rock-bottom price of the 14.1-inch Lenovo 3000 N200.

The small-business-focused Lenovo 3000 line has long been one of the best deals going if you want to buy a laptop built on the latest Intel processors and platforms. Its primary competition, performance-wise, came from a Sony VAIO CR120 built on many of the same components, which kept pace with the Lenovo on all but one of our tests. But the slickly designed Sony incorporates a number of media-friendly features destined to appeal to entertainment-minded home users.




The Lenovo 3000 N200 doesn't feel quite as tank-like as its ThinkPad cousins, but its case (silver on the outside, dark gray on the inside) features sturdy metal hinges and an overall solid construction.

As with all Lenovo laptops, the Lenovo 3000 N200 features a roomy, comfortable keyboard reminiscent of the board found on higher-end ThinkPads. Its touch pad is passable, and the mouse buttons provide satisfying tactile feedback. Three volume controls above the keyboard constitute the extent of the N200's media controls, not surprising given that Lenovo targets small business with the N200 and the rest of the Lenovo 3000 line. The N200 includes handy port labels along both sides of the keyboard deck to help you immediately find where to plug in peripherals.

Though not as expansive as the larger size, this 14.1-inch screen provides adequate room for working in spreadsheets and documents as well as watching the occasional movie.



Because the Lenovo 3000 line is aimed at small-business users who aren't likely to have an IT department or loaner systems at their disposal, the company preloads the N200 with a helpful suite of utilities called Lenovo Care. Based on the company's robust ThinkVantage suite for ThinkPads, Lenovo Care helps users quickly access support information, set up network access, schedule backups and system maintenance, and configure data security.

The Lenovo 3000 N200 includes a good selection of ports and connections. As might be expected from a primarily business-oriented laptop, the N200's speakers emit tinny, soft sound.

The Lenovo 3000 N200 comes backed by a yearlong warranty. In addition to the Lenovo Care suite mentioned above, the company's support Web site includes the expected troubleshooting topics, driver downloads, and user guides. The site lacks interactive features such as customer forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.

Specifications:

• Processor - Intel Pentium Dual Core T2330 / 1.6 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• RAM - 1 GB (installed) / 3 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300 ( 1 x 1 GB )
• Hard Drive - 120 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
• Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Screen - 15.4" TFT active matrix 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
• Optical Drive - DVD-Writer - integrated
• Graphics - Intel GMA X3100
• Bluetooth - Yes
• Warranty - 1 year warranty
• Built-in Devices - Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial, Bluetooth aerial
• Embedded Security - Fingerprint reader
• Card Reader - 5 in 1
• Supported Flash Memory Cards - SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card
• Notebook Camera Integrated - 1.3 Megapixel

A Powerful Smartphone Packed with Memory: Nokia N95 8GB

The Nokia N95 8GB is an updated version of the best-selling original N95 and while it's still rather chunky, there are a few serious changes to it that make it a significantly better mobile phone than its predecessor. The 8GB Nokia N95 brings a plethora of on board memory to an already powerful smartphone.

Packing a larger screen than the original N95, we really enjoyed viewing content on the N95 8GB, particularly watching videos and browsing the Web. The navigation keys at the bottom of the screen, although smaller, seemed easier to press too. Overall, the interface felt snappier to use and the N95 8GB's boot-up time was far quicker.




At the back of the N95 8GB, the fiddly camera cover is gone. The advantage of not having a cover is that you no longer have to worry about the camera accidentally being activated in your pocket, which regularly happened on the original N95.

But the N95 8GB's greatest improvement over its predecessor is, obviously, the 8GB of on-board storage for all your music and photos -- or any other data you want to tote around. The extra space makes it a multimedia mammoth, and importantly, lets you install many more applications.

At first we thought the double slider was a cool feature, but it's worn off now and we would prefer not to have it. When you're pulling it in and out of your pocket the slider mechanism can move up and down, activating the phone.


Similar to the iPhone, the 8GB of on-board memory is non-expandable, which has its limitations. The main issue is that unlike a removable memory card, you have to use the USB cable and can't use a card reader.

If you're a road warrior with a need for a smartphone that has a lot of memory, say hello to the 8GB Nokia N95. The all-black mini storage machine features a larger, 2.8-inch QVGA non-touch screen (compared to the old N95's 2.6-incher) and also comes sans camera lens cover to make way for a larger battery. In addition, the Symbian device continues to offer integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 5-megapixel camera, and dedicated music controls. The 8GB Nokia N95 is available now unlocked for a pricey $780.

Specifications:

• Form factor: Slider
• Size (W x H x D): 53 x 99 x 21 mm
• Weight: 128 g
• Talk time (mfr): 240 min
• Standby time (mfr): 215 hours
• 3G: Yes
• HDSPA: Yes
• Ringtones: Polyphonic, Real music
• Display Resolution: 240x320 pixels
• Camera resolution: 5 megapixels
• Supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, M4A
• On-board memory: 8100 MB
• Memory card type: microSD

Mini Laptop for Students: Intel Classmate PC

With a 7-inch display and solid-state hard drive, the Intel Classmate PC is clearly designed to withstand greater wear and tear, with a thick ruggedized plastic shell. While the Classmate isn't currently available to individual consumers, the technologies reflected here will likely filter down to consumer systems, leading to cheaper, smaller laptops for everyone, although likely not directly from Intel, which wants to stay out of the system-selling business.

This mini laptop shares many physical traits with the $399 Linux-based Asus Eee PC. The Classmate starts at $225, and for around $350, you can get one set up like our review unit, preloaded with Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003--both software packages specially configured to fit onto the tiny 2GB flash hard drive.

The Classmate PC looks more like a toy than a laptop computer, with a thick, plastic chassis with rounded corners that's designed to keep important parts far from the outer edges of the machine. The keyboard is water-resistant, and the entire body felt solid and unyielding. Even the back of the lid, which is covered with a thin, flimsy piece of plastic on many laptops, felt rugged. The system has a removable snap-on cover, made of thick leather, which doubles as a handle.

Typing is comfortable for little hands than those of a grown adult. The round touch pad is unusual but easy to use but you couldn't use the edge as a scroll zone. The 7-inch display, again like the Asus Eee, has a resolution of 800x480.

The Classmate PCs come with the client software, while a teacher with a full-featured laptop runs the host software. From the host laptop, the teacher can monitor the students' work, send text messages directly to the Classmate PCs, transfer work on one student's screen to all the other systems on the local network, or even remotely "silence" the Classmates, turning off their screens.

Ports and connections are spare on the Classmate. You get two USB ports, an Ethernet jack, headphone and mic jacks, and that's about it. Surfing the Web was a breeze, but opening multiple Web pages and office documents at the same time will slow the system down a bit.

The Intel Classmate PC is aimed at students in developing countries. It is an intriguing attempt at a low-cost laptop. We love the rugged design, but the small 2GB hard drive doesn't leave a lot of room for growth.

Specifications:

• Recommended Use: Education
• System Type: Notebook
• Built-in Devices: Keyboard, Touchpad, Microphone, Stereo speakers
• Processor: Intel Celeron M 353 / 900 MHz
• Installed RAM Size: 256 MB
• Hard Drive: 2 GB
• Display Type: 7 in LCD passive matrix
• Max Resolution: 800 x 480
• Audio Input: Microphone
• Input device type: Keyboard, Touchpad, Digital pen

The Most Affordable Sony Vaio Laptop: Sony VAIO CR120

Its shiny finish, with touches of chrome and decorative LEDs, the Sony VAIO CR120 certainly looks more expensive than its actual price. It has a sleek design and glossy finish with LEDs that you can program to glow even when the laptop is switched off. It measures 13.1 x 10 x 1.3 inches, weighs just 6.1 pounds and sells for $1000. The laptop comes in four colors with silver interiors.



The keyboard is well designed with spacious keys that are concave and make typing easy. The touch pad is wide enough and facilitates easy navigation. The media control keys for playback, pause, stop, forward and rewind are at the base of the touch pad and you can use them even when the lid is closed. There is a set of buttons above the keyboard to regulate the volume, to start the media player even without booting the laptop, a webcam and a button to switch off the display when the laptop is not in use.

The VAIO CR120's memory card reader only recognizes MemoryStick and MemoryStick Pro formats. Sony has branched out and incorporated a separate SD card reader. The included ExpressCard and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi radio are welcome additions that should help the VAIO CR120 age well as these new technologies become more widespread.

As regards performance, The CR 120 is ahead of its competitors when it comes to multitasking and encoding iTunes. However image processing using Adobe Photoshop takes a long time due to the small capacity 1 GB RAM. It is also loaded with bloatware.

The Sony VAIO is a good buy for home users who appreciate good looks and don’t bother with minimized performance.

Specifications:

• Platform Technology: Intel Centrino Duo
• System Type: Notebook
• Built-in Devices: Wireless LAN antenna
• Width: 13.1 in
• Depth: 10 in
• Height: 1.3 in
• Weight: 5.3 lbs
• Installed RAM Size: 1 GB / 4 GB (max)
• RAM Technology: DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz
• Hard Drive: 120 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
• Display Type: 14.1 in TFT active matrix
• Max Resolution: 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
• Graphics Processor / Vendor: Intel GMA X3100
• Video Memory: Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 - 128 MB

Best Ultraportable Laptop: Toshiba Portege R500-S5002

Incredibly thin and light, the Toshiba Portege R500-S5002 manages to squeeze a 12-inch display into a package even lighter than Sony's 11-inch VAIO TZ150. The laptop has excellent battery life and includes an optical drive. Cast in a matte silver, with an ultrathin LED backlit display, the R500 is impressively small, especially for a system with a built-in optical drive.




The R500 manages to fit in a decent-sized keyboard which made for comfortable typing, and even avoids the annoying ultraportable trap of eliminating important keys, squeezing in separate page-up and page-down keys (always important for laptop Web surfing). A fingerprint reader sits between the two mouse buttons, but there's no Webcam.

The 12.1-inch display has a native resolution of 1,280x800. The R500 had a matte screen, which we generally prefer, but the antiglare coating made for terrible off-angle viewing. There is only an SD card slot, instead of the multifunction card readers found in most laptops. But the main complaint of most users was the lack of a mobile broadband antenna, or even the option for adding one.

While we love the idea of solid state hard drives--less heat, no moving parts, low failure rate--they are still too expensive to be taken seriously, adding $550 for swapping in a 64GB SSD drive. But next to LED backlit displays, the move to solid state hard drives is clearly the next big thing in laptop development.

The Portege R500's battery was especially impressive.

Toshiba's much-anticipated Portege R500 may be the best ultraportable laptop available right now, but mobile broadband is conspicuously absent.

Specifications:

• CPU and Memory Processor Brand Intel
• Processor Class Core 2 Duo
• Processor Speed 1.2 GHz
• Mobile Technology Intel Centrino Duo
• Installed Memory 1 GB
• Maximum Memory 2 GB
• Memory Technology DDR II SDRAM
• Cache Size 2 MB
• Storage Hard Drive Capacity 120 GB
• Included Drives DVD+RW / DVD-RAM
• CD Write Speed 24 X
• CD Rewrite Speed 10 X
• CD Read Speed 24 X
• DVD Read Speed 8 X
• DVD Write Speed 8x (DVD+R)
• Display and Graphics Display Type TFT active matrix
• Graphics Processor Intel GMA 950
• Resolution 1280 x 800 pixels
• Battery Battery Type Lithium ion
• Communications and Networking Bluetooth Yes
• Network Support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g
• Software Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Business
• Connectors Interface Provided VGA, Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T
• Warranty Warranty Information 3 years warranty
• Base Warranty 3 years warranty
• General Product Info Input Devices Keyboard, Touchpad
• Included Sound Card Sound card
• Chassis Color Aluminum silver
• Weight 2.4 lbs
• Also known as Toshiba Portege PPR50U-00V01W, Toshiba Portege, Toshiba PPR50U-00V01W, Toshiba R500-S5002, Toshiba Portege R500-S5002
• Manufacturer Part No. PPR50U-00V01W
• Dimension 1 in x 11.1 in x 8.5 in (HxWxD)