Review: Packard Bell Easynote 17in notebook computer

Notebooks are becoming similar to desktop PCs in the level of power they offer, with the same high-end specifications and media features.

Described as a desktop PC replacement, the Easynote 17in notebook from Packard Bell is one example of the trend.

Although the Easynote is designed to replace a desktop PC, its weight and bulk still come as a surprise. It's impossible to take it out of the house unless you happen to be a muscle man, and in most cases we would be disappointed to be stuck with it indoors, but this notebook’s dodgy design makes that a blessing in disguise.

The Easynote we looked at has a sparkling white 'limited edition' case that looks like it belongs in a Christmas grotto, and it looks a little out of place now the festive season is over. Its exterior could be excused if the insides were better, but they're not.

The 17in widescreen, which initially looked promising, is disappointingly grainy and made our DVD movies look like pirate copies. The screen, which doesn't have anti-glare coating, suffers so badly from reflections in bright light that it could double as a mirror.

Another complaint is the space allotted to the bottom half of the notebook that houses the keyboard, a round trackpad and the mouse buttons. The chassis is big but the keyboard is tiny, cramped and stuck right at the top, and although the keys are nice and springy, making it nice to type on, it is uncomfortable and cramped overall.

This wouldn’t be so bad were the rest of the space used for something important, but that's not the case. Instead, users are left with a gaping white space that is only broken up by an illuminated strip on the wrist rest.

The round trackpad is so far away from the keyboard that even those with large hands would have trouble spanning a hand across to it from the keyboard. This - unsurprisingly - makes it very uncomfortable to try to type and use the mouse at the same time, and it slows things down as the user has to keep moving their hands from the keyboard to the trackpad and still further to the awkward mouse buttons.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The Easynote has 2GB of memory and an Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor, which makes it perfect for word processing and some less recent games. The 160GB hard disk is big enough for most media collections and it comes with built-in wireless networking and a webcam, a nice collection of ports including four USB sockets and HDMI for connection to high-definition TVs.

The notebook comes with Windows Vista Home Premium (which includes all the most useful parts of Vista, including Media Center). It also comes with Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 (which can be used for editing music, pictures and video), Norton 360 security software and Packard Bell’s Home Cinema software for watching DVDs and listening to music.

Available at PC World shops and online, the Packard Bell Limited Edition Easynote 17in costs £700, but we'd resist buying it in favour of a desktop PC that might be a little bigger but will certainly offer better features for the price.

Vista compatible: Yes

See also:

Review: Shuttle XPC SG31G2 desktop computer

A small and desirable PC with plenty of power for most tasks  11 Dec 2007

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