Nokia Booklet 3G

MORE: Click here to watch our video review of the Nokia Booklet 3G

Nokia’s first laptop (with the exception of a short-lived series of computers in the 1980s) is an impressive device.

It’s encased in a brushed aluminium case and is slim enough to draw glances when you open in up in public.

Despite its slimness (its height is less than an inch when closed) the Nokia Booklet 3G is heavy. It’s not hard to carry but heavier than we had expected from a laptop of this size. Its Intel Atom Z530 processor provides the same level of power as the average netbook processor and it has 1GB of memory and a 120GB hard disk.

While netbooks sell for £300, though, the Booklet costs over twice as much. The build quality is very high. The metal case makes it tough and sturdy, while the keyboard and touchpad were small, well designed and comfortable to use. Likewise, the screen is high-quality, bright and clear.

One of the main benefits is the long battery life. In our tests the Booklet managed six hours of fairly heavy use (it will be more if you stick to email and office tasks, and switch off the wireless networking and Bluetooth).

That is more than almost any other similar computer we have looked at. It also includes a GPS sensor, making it useful for satellite navigation (a holder is available to attach it to a car dashboard).

Besides connecting to standard wireless networks and Bluetooth devices, the Booklet 3G can connect to 3G mobile networks to transfer data. Pop your Sim card into the slot on the side and you can go online.

That kind of data transfer can be expensive, though, so check with your mobile phone provider how much it will cost and whether you are allowed to use your Sim in a device that is not a phone.

Annoyingly, the Booklet cannot connect directly to wired networks because there is no network socket. So if you want to do so you will need to buy a separate adapter. Similarly, there is no CD or DVD drive – on similarly priced small and slim notebooks we have looked at, an external drive is usually included in the box, but not with this one.

In fact, the contents of the nicely presented box is quite sparse. It only contains a laptop and power supply. That theme is continued on the computer itself. On the sides are three USB ports, a pair of speakers, a headphone socket, HDMI connection for flat-panel TVs (standard computer monitors will require another special adapter), along with an SD memory card reader.

Apart from the Windows 7 operating system there is little software installed. It comes with the Nokia Ovi software which can be used to connect a Nokia phone, but apart from some free trial editions of other programs, that’s it.

MORE: Click here to watch our video review of the Nokia Booklet 3G