Packard Bell iGo 3491

Packard Bell desktop computers don't conform to the big white box curse that afflicts so many PCs. Instead, Packard Bell opts for altogether more stylish designs to adorn the shelves at PC World. The same is true of its notebook range but competition in the pretty portables market is fierce.

One of the style leaders is Apple, but Macs aren't compatible with Windows software. Packard Bell's iGo 3491 is a thinly veiled attempt to mix Apple style with PC function.

Initial impressions of the iGo are favourable. The first thing we noticed is the inclusion of an AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Mobile processor. Intel's mobile processors are very commonplace while those from AMD are playing catch-up in terms of market share. Its performance impressed us and the Athlon performed well.

Like Intel mobile processors, the AMD has special technology to preserve battery life on the move. PowerNow reduces the amount of power going to the processor when it isn't needed. Battery life was average for a powerful notebook and we had few complaints.

The 30GB hard disk in the iGo is ample, although after the 32MB of shared graphics memory has been taken into account, the 256MB of DDR memory looks a touch stingy when the otherwise high specifications are considered.

One of the most interesting aspects of the notebook's specification is the inclusion of the ATi IGP 320M graphics chipset. Whereas the large majority of notebook PCs have lamentable 3D performance, notebooks using this chipset perform well enough to warrant games playing.

Although many Intel notebooks have demonstrated good 3D video, the Packard Bell performed better than any other AMD-equipped notebooks we have seen. This was particularly apparent during DVD movie playback, as the ATi is designed to take some of the work decoding the movie away from the processor, resulting in clear playback free of jerks or jumps in the action.

All this is watched through either the nice 14in TFT screen or on your television connected using the S-video port.

A DVD-Rom drive is fitted as standard, but the fact that it is actually a combination drive incorporating CD-RW functions as well is very welcome indeed. When style is considered by notebook designers, it is unusual to find a floppy disk as well but that is what we have here.

Connectivity is excellent, featuring three USB ports, mini-FireWire, both a modem and a network adapter, plus two PC Card slots. Serial, parallel and standard monitor ports are also available.

Packard Bell offers a selection of software options with the iGo and our model came loaded with Norton Internet Security, which means owners can go online safely straight away. AOL's software is also preloaded if you don't have an internet account to transfer to your new machine.

All in all, the iGo is a very pleasant notebook. The sleek, silver looks are attractive and, despite the obvious Apple-aping, it is aggressively priced. The specification is very good, although we would probably look for a memory upgrade when buying to iron out the system's only shortcoming of note.

DETAILS
Price: £1,199

Contact: Packard Bell 01628 512400
www.packardbell.co.uk