Acer Aspire 1355XC
www.acer.co.uk
The first notebook in our test, the Acer is also the biggest and heaviest, weighing a hefty 3.5kg. There are advantages to its larger dimensions, though, not least of which is the 15in TFT screen and a full-size keyboard with well-spaced keys.
The system is also crammed with features and an impressive line-up of internal components, considering its price tag. For starters, there's an AMD Athlon XP-M 2600+ processor powering the system - the mobile version of a processor you'd find in a desktop system, with special modifications to save battery life - and 256MB of memory, of which 64MB is set aside for graphics processing.
The Aspire's overall system performance was good, which makes it more than capable of handling basic office tasks and internet browsing. The battery ran out after two hours and 14 minutes, which is better than average when compared with the other notebooks on test.
The storage space on offer isn't the most generous here. The 30GB hard disk will quickly fill up if you're planning on saving digital images or video on the system. On the right-hand side of the unit, you'll find a combined DVD/CD-RW drive capable of writing and rewriting CDs and reading DVDs.
Just next to this are two Type II PC Card slots, which provide additional, removable-storage potential, and would allow you to fit a PC Card wireless adaptor if you wanted to connect the notebook to a wireless network.There is no wireless networking built into the notebook, but this would be an unexpected bonus at this price.
There's also a mini FireWire socket to connect peripherals such as a digital video camera, microphone and headphone sockets and an infrared port. If you still use floppy disks, you'll find the floppy disk drive an added advantage. The back of the notebook has network and modem connections, a TV-out socket, a VGA port to connect a monitor, a parallel socket and four USB 2 ports.
Price: £699
Evesham Voyager X3 CM14
www.evesham.com
The Evesham Voyager X3 CM14 is a plain-looking unit housing a system built around the mobile version of the 1.4GHz Intel Celeron processor. This is coupled with 256MB of memory, of which 32MB is shared with the graphics processing system - you can change this setting if you're not going to be doing much graphics work, though. There's also a 40GB hard disk drive.
It's not the most powerful system, but it is capable of dealing with most Office-based tasks, and its overall performance in our tests placed it second in this group. You will struggle to play all but the most basic games, though.
On the right-hand side of the unit is a combined DVD/CD-RW drive, so you can both write and rewrite CDs, and read DVDs. The connections on offer on this notebook are a little thin on the ground, with no FireWire or parallel connections to connect a digital video camera, for example, or an older printer that doesn't feature a USB connection.
There are, however, four USB 2 ports on the left-hand side, which would allow you to connect a number of other peripherals at one time. Also on the left-hand side you'll find a single Type II PC Card slot, network and modem connections and a VGA port to connect up a monitor if you tire of using the 15in TFT screen.
Battery life was fair at two hours 20 minutes, which should be adequate if you're only occasionally going to take this unit out and about. A copy of Microsoft Works 7 is included, and Evesham has thrown in a copy of eTrust's EZ Antivirus software, so you have some protection as soon as you set up the notebook for the first time.
Price: £700
Hi-Grade Notino C5514
www.higrade.com
The silver lines of the Hi-Grade Notino C5514's case house a 1.3GHz Intel Celeron M processor, a slightly slower processor than that in the Evesham. Like the Evesham, the Hi-Grade also features 256MB of memory, but has a slightly smaller 30GB hard disk. You can use the DVD/CD-RW drive on the right of the unit to back up data and files to CD, increase storage capacity and watch DVDs.
The keyboard is a good size, with well-spaced keys that make it easy to type on. All the Windows and menu keys are located in their normal positions, unlike on many notebooks where they are moved to inconvenient or unfamiliar locations. There are a couple of shortcut keys for fast access to the internet and email just below the 14in TFT, which is the smallest screen of any of the notebooks in this group.
All the ports you would expect to find on a notebook are organised along the left-hand side and the back of the Hi-Grade. There's an audio-out socket on the left-hand side to connect up speakers and network and modem ports, as well as a FireWire socket and a single PC Card slot. At the back there are two USB 2 ports along with a TV-out socket, a parallel port, a VGA socket to connect a monitor and infrared ports.
We were impressed to find that, at this price, Hi-Grade includes wireless networking as standard on this model. This is also the lightest notebook in this test, weighing in at 2.75kg, and at three hours and 38 minutes it had the longest battery life by far, so you could easily take advantage of its wireless networking features to connect to the internet and check email while you're on the move.
Overall system performance was a little below par but, as a basic system for the home office and for browsing the internet, it should easily be up to the job.
Price: £699
Packard Bell EasyNote F5 280
www.packardbell.co.uk
Lurking inside the Packard Bell's dark grey and silver exterior is a line-up of internal components that sounds pretty impressive on paper, at least. There's a 2.7GHz Intel Celeron processor at the core of the EasyNote F - a faster processor than that of any other system here - with 256MB of memory, and a 40GB hard disk. In our tests, however, the Packard Bell failed to truly shine, although it is still more than capable as a second home system.
The 15in TFT screen gives bright, clear image quality and, like most of the other systems here, the Packard Bell features a DVD/CD-RW drive for saving files to CD, creating audio CDs and reading DVDs. There are four USB 2 ports on the side and back edges of the unit but no FireWire, which might be a problem if you want to connect a digital video camera or an iPod.
There is a modem and a network socket, but there's no wireless networking built in, so you'll have to buy a wireless adaptor if you want to connect this system to a wireless network. As battery life was very poor, running out of juice after just over an hour, and bearing in mind that the EasyNote is also one of the heaviest notebooks in the test weighing 3.45kg, this system is definitely better suited for use as a desktop replacement.
There is plenty of useful software included with the EasyNote: Microsoft Works 7, Word 2002, CyberLink PowerCinema and PowerProducer and Norton Internet Security 2004.
Price: £699
Tiny PowerLite C725 XS
www.tiny.com
The PowerLite C725 XS is unique in this group test, with a widescreen 15in display, which you'll appreciate when watching movies on the system. We were very surprised to find that, at this price, the system features a DVD rewriter, so you can not only watch DVDs, but also write and rewrite them as well as creating CDs.
The notebook is built around Intel's Centrino technology, which should make it more portable. There's a 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M processor at the heart of the system, which may sound slower than the processors in other systems we've looked at here, but in our tests put the Tiny significantly ahead of the competition in terms of system performance.
At 12MB, the system also features twice as much memory as any of the other systems in the test, and there's a 40GB hard disk. You'd be hard pushed to play many games on this system, as graphics processing is not its strong point, but at this price you can't really expect more.
At the front of the notebook there's a memory card reader for Media Stick, Secure Digital and Smart Media format memory cards, and a mini FireWire socket. Nestling between these is a set of audio sockets, and the Tiny is the only notebook to have a line-in socket for recording stereo sound, as well as the standard headphone and microphone sockets.
The left-hand side has a single Type II PC Card slot, network and modem sockets, a TV-out socket, a VGA port and a single USB 2 socket. There are two more USB 2 sockets at the back.
Price: £699
Toshiba Satellite A60-3200
www.toshiba.co.uk
Possibly the most stylish notebook in the group test, the Satellite A60-3200 is also one of the more powerful, built around an Intel Celeron 2.8GHz processor coupled with 256MB of memory and a 40GB hard disk. You can expand the storage space on offer by using the DVD/CD-RW drive on the left-hand side of the notebook to store files, digital images and music tracks on CD rather than storing them on the system.
There's a shortcut to a digital version of the user manual on the Desktop of this system, so it's easy to get started once you turn it on for the first time, and Microsoft Works 7 is pre-installed so you can get to work straight away.
The Toshiba offers a good range of sockets and ports, with FireWire, a total of three USB 2 sockets, a parallel port, a VGA socket to connect a monitor, a network socket and modem socket, and a TV-out connection. On the right-hand side of the unit, you'll find audio-in and audio-out sockets and a volume control dial. You can use an infrared device with the sensor at the front.
While there is no wireless networking built in to this system, it would be possible to add a wireless networking adapter using the Type II PC Card slot or one of the three USB ports.
One piece of software that makes the Satellite very attractive for students is Microsoft OneNote 2003. You can use this program to write notes and it will record audio at the same time, which is a great aid if you want to take this system to lectures or meetings.
Price: £699
Expanding capacity
The biggest drawback of most notebooks is the limited hard disk space that these systems offer and the fact that you cannot upgrade a notebook to include a second hard disk, for example. The answer is external storage using a spare USB 2 or FireWire socket to connect up an external hard disk drive.
You can save files and folders to an external hard disk as well as installing software on it. Take a look at our round-up of six external hard disk drives that all offer large amounts of space at comparatively little cost, with cost per GB of storage ranging from less than a penny to up to just over five pence.
Of the systems tested here, only the Tiny features a DVD writer, so if you want to save a home movie or photo slide shows to a DVD, check out our round-up of the best external DVD writers. Most connect to a computer via USB 2 and, with a dual-layer drive, you can save up to 8.5GB of data on a dual-layer disc.
Connecting to a wireless network
Adding a wireless network to your home makes it easy to share music and files between computers. We've already looked at setting up a wireless network in the home, but if you're just looking to buy a wireless adaptor for a notebook, you can pick one up for as little as £16.
Other wireless technologies that can be used to connect a notebook to other devices include Bluetooth, which is suitable for short range connectivity with a maximum range of about 10 metres. It is normally used to connect to printers or mobile phones and Bluetooth adaptors cost around the same price as Wi-Fi adaptors.
Petite power
Even just a few years ago, a budget of £700 wouldn't have got you very far when shopping for a notebook, and we were pleased to find such a great range of features on offer in the notebooks in this group. In particular, we were impressed by the Hi-Grade's huge battery life and built-in wireless networking features.
Ultimately, though, the Buy It award goes to the Tiny PowerLite C725 XS for offering an incredible system specification at this price. The screen is the biggest here, and the wireless networking features combined with the Tiny's light weight gives a degree of freedom that you just don't get from some of the other systems here. The memory card reader is also great if you have an MP3 player or digital camera, and makes transferring music and image files to and from the system a doddle. It's a shame that the version of Office bundled with this system is only a trial version but, at this price, you can't complain.
Today, opting for a notebook computer over a desktop does not have to mean settling for a huge leap in price, and it is well worth considering if you need a second computer or are buying for a student about to go to university.
Computeractive
CD Rom 10 
Ultimate
Guide to PC Troubleshooting 
Computeractive
Back Issues
Reader comments