Packard Bell EasyNote R8720

More and more notebooks are proving that a desktop computer isn't the only way to enjoy multimedia features such as television and video. The Packard Bell EasyNote R8720 is a good example, created with a powerful specification and the Windows Media Center-styled CyberLink PowerCinema.

The EasyNote R8720 is an Intel Centrino notebook with a 1.6GHz Pentium M processor. This specifically designed mobile processor may be slower on paper than Pentium 4-based notebooks, but this did nothing to hold the EasyNote back in our performance tests. Its impressive capability was, no doubt, in part due to the generous 512Mb of memory.

The 60Gb hard disk is a little less charitable and will quickly be eaten up if you use the EasyNote to record television, which leads us nicely to the EasyNote's main selling point: the bundled AverMedia TV card.

In conjunction with the CyberLink PowerCinema software, you can record, play and pause live television. A VCR or camcorder can also be connected using the composite input. The software allows you to listen to music, view photos or watch video stored on your hard disk. The PowerProducer software lets you copy videos to CD and DVD. Not bad, for a computer you can slip into a cupboard when not in use.

Graphics are good too, with the 64Mb ATi Mobility Radeon 9700 which doesn't share any system memory and subsequently improves the notebook's graphical and system performance. The 15.4in widescreen TFT is very sharp in image quality both in Windows and movies. However, the shininess of the screen can reflect light, which sometimes makes things harder to see.

The recordable DVD drive can write to both plus and minus disc formats as well as CD. Wireless networking allows you to connect to the internet without needing cables and both major standards are supported. There are three USB 2 ports, a mini FireWire socket and a 4-in-1 memory card reader.

Additional software includes Microsoft Works 7 and Word 2002. There's also a trial of Norton Internet Security, which is OK but we'd like to see longer protection included. There is a useful instruction video from the Internet Watch Foundation that informs on how to stay safe online. The notebook also comes with a one-year, collect-and-return warranty.

If you want a space-saving computer that has the power to watch, play and record television, the Packard Bell is a very good system. You'll need to connect a set of external speakers and a bigger screen to enjoy media to the full, but both of these can be easily remedied.

Contact:
Packard Bell
www.packardbell.co.uk

PC World 0870 242 0444
www.pcworld.co.uk

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