Packard Bell EasyNote E5138

The high cost of notebook computers has often seen them labelled as luxury items, leaving most of us to plump for desktop PCs instead. However, with notebooks dropping in price and manufacturers creating portable powerhouses with special features and additional frills, we are starting to be spoilt for choice.

The EasyNote E5138 from Packard Bell is an attractive Centrino notebook with a black and silver casing that looks very smart. Weighing 2.8kg, it isn't the lightest notebook we've laid hands on but it's still portable enough to carry around without needing an extra gym workout. Centrino technology means users can benefit from built-in Wi-Fi and connect to wireless networks and hotspots. Centrino also means extended battery life and the EasyNote doesn't disappoint, offering four hours and 35 minutes of use before needing a recharge.

While the EasyNote looks great, it's a different story behind the pretty exterior. The 1.3GHz Intel Pentium M processor is standard fare for a Centrino notebook of this price but we would have liked more memory than 256Mb, especially as a quarter of it is shared with the integrated graphics.

The same could be said of its 20Gb hard disk, which is quite small, even for a notebook.

Its overall performance was adequate in our tests, which means no foreseeable problems for Windows applications. Poor graphics performance, however, means 3D games will struggle to run, especially as many new titles are demanding in their technical specifications. Having said that, Centrino notebooks are not designed with games in mind, but more for office work.

The EasyNote has a recordable DVD drive, which for a notebook under £1,000, is excellent. Using the supplied Power DVD and RecordNow DX software, you can watch DVD films and create music CDs and DVD movies. The 15in TFT screen looks sharp at its standard resolution of 1024 x 768. There's no surround-sound output though, and the tinny stereo speakers are only really suitable for basic Windows sounds. For better results, plug in a set of external speakers.

If you have lots of external peripherals, you'll be able to attach them to the four USB 2 ports or the mini FireWire port. There's also a PC card slot for further expansion if needed. Another notable feature is the memory card reader, which reads four types of card. This is great to have if you own a digital camera, as it means you can quickly transfer your images without having to connect a USB cable.

The keyboard is comfortable to use but has less hand-rest space next to the trackpad than other notebooks we've seen.

While the hard disk and graphics have been sacrificed in exchange for useful mobile features, the EasyNote still represents good value for money, especially when you're also getting a recordable DVD drive. It comes installed with Windows XP Home and a long list of other software, including Microsoft Works 7, Photo Express 4 and Norton Internet Security.

Contact: Packard Bell 0870 901 3000
www.packardbell.co.uk