AJP D480W

The first thing that struck us about the D480W was its sheer size. However, there's little that AJP can do about this, as the case houses a large, 17in wide screen with a built-in webcam. Boasting a resolution of 1440 x 900, you can use it to watch DVD movies in all their glory.

The screen is also great for playing games on and thanks to the 64Mb ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics, the performance is great, even at the high resolution that the screen supports.

The large case means that there's no shortage of space to pack in an assortment of computer treats. First, there's an Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz processor, which is one of the fastest money can buy and is up to any computing task.

It's backed up by 1024Mb of memory, which is a very generous helping and ensures that Windows runs smoothly no matter how many applications you have open at once. Storage is no trouble either, with an 80Gb hard disk installed. This is the kind of capacity that we would expect to find on a desktop PC not a notebook.

Removable storage is provided by a DVD/CD-RW combination drive and, surprisingly for such a modern system, a floppy disk drive. Seeing as there are still a lot of people out there with files stored on floppy disk, we can't really argue with the choice.

Connectivity is good with the D480W. There's the usual range of ports that you'd expect to find on a modern PC, plus digital sound output so that you can connect the notebook to a home cinema amplifier for surround sound.

More surprising is the provision of serial and parallel ports. These are rarely used nowadays and only suitable for people with older peripherals. Even so, you can buy USB adapters for most peripherals so there seems little point in these ports. However, we can't really knock the D480W for providing extra connectivity. If cables aren't your thing then you'll be pleased to note that the D480W comes with Bluetooth, which can be used for wirelessly connecting peripherals to your notebook. You don't get Wi-Fi, though, this is an £81 optional extra.

Surprises are the flavour of the day with this notebook, especially its speakers. Dispensing with the two tinny speakers that accompany most notebook packages, AJP has instead opted for four built-in speakers and even a sub-woofer. It beats every other notebook hands down, although don't expect too much - it's still a notebook.

If sound isn't your thing, the speakers can be dropped in favour of a TV tuner, which also provides video-capture, or a memory card reader. Six types of card are covered and it's useful for anyone with a digital camera or MP3 player.

We found the D480W a lot easier to use than most notebooks we have encountered because of its size. You get a full-sized keyboard, which is a pleasure to type on and it even has a separate numeric keypad.

The only thing that lets this notebook down is the lack of software. Other than Easy CD Creator, WinDVD, Inter Video DVD playback software and Windows XP Home you don't get a bean, so you'll have to splash out on a suitable office suite if you want to do any work.

Other than that, we were very pleased with the D480W. It might be large and a little on the expensive side but it's a superb desktop replacement, easy to use, performs well and is packed full of goodies.

Contact: AJP 020 8208 9700
www.ajp.co.uk