Rock Xeno-M

With notebook PCs, power often has to be sacrificed for the sake of portability. After all, packing all of a PC's components into a tiny case is a difficult job.

Rock is bucking this trend with its Mobile Pentium 4 equipped Xeno-M notebook. At 25mm, Rock claims this is the slimmest P4 notebook on the market. We're not entirely sure about that but the tough, plain case will sit easily in a bag.

The small size doesn't mean you lose out on hardware, though. Internally, there's 512MB of memory backing up the 2GHz processor. Throw in a 40GB hard disk and you've got a machine that's a powerful workhorse. Graphics are powered by an on-board SiS 650 chip, which unfortunately is not a great performer.

The graphics are configured to use 32MB of system memory, leaving 480MB available for applications, so playing the latest games is definitely out, although it is fine for office applications.

The built-in modem, network, Wi-Fi and FireWire connections means you can always get connected, and there are three USB ports and a PC Card slot.

With a notebook PC this powerful, the odds are that you are going to want to use it in place of a desktop PC at home. Rock has thought of that and includes a mouse/keyboard connector and a standard connector for an external monitor.

You can even hook it up to a TV and play back movies using the DVD-Rom drive that doubles as a CD-RW drive.

Packing so much is bound to have its drawbacks. The unit gets very hot during operation so you wouldn't want it on your lap for long and a single battery only provides about two hours' use.

Rock also doesn't provide any software other than McAfee VirusScan. It's a shame as the great spec and price, backed up by a three-year warranty, make this a worthy, powerful notebook.

Price: £1,607 (inc. VAT)
Contact: Rock Direct 0870 990 9090
www.rockdirect.com

Also consider:Packard Bell IGO 3091
Stylish, fast and with plenty of software. £1,699