The Amilo Mini UI 3520 is Fujitsu Siemens’s take on the mini-notebook, a cheap and cheerful cut-down laptop that’s designed for web, email and office tasks such as word processing.

For a first attempt it’s not bad, but it is pitched against some seriously good products that offer better options for little more money, such as the Samsung NC10 (keep an eye out for its successor the N110, which we’ll be reviewing soon).

Under its sturdily built exterior the Amilo Mini UI is very similar to other so-called ‘netbooks’: there is an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of memory, wired and wireless network connections and a 60GB hard disk, which is a little on the low side when compared with its current competitors as 160GB hard disks seem to be the norm for 2009. As usual the pre-installed operating system is Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3 installed.

There’s a nice surprise when it comes to the ports and sockets Fujitsu Siemens has built into the Amilo Mini UI 3520. All the usual suspects are there: two USB ports, headphone and microphone sockets, wired network and VGA (to connect the notebook to an external monitor) ports, and an SD memory card reader.

The surprise comes in the shape of a 34mm Expresscard slot which can be found on larger laptops but is something not often seen on a computer this small. The Expresscard slot can be used to fit a mobile broadband card for access to the internet on the move, or a number of other accessories.

Like many mini-notebook screens the 9in model here suffers from a certain amount of grain (a light pattern against the screen) which is particularly noticeable on light backgrounds such as Word documents. It’s off-putting but we soon got used to it. A webcam is built into the screen’s bezel.

Because the small display dictates the size of the computer itself, the keyboard felt cramped when we were using it, but in fairness it’s not the only mini-notebook that’s guilty of this. It didn’t help that the keyboard doesn’t extend right to the edges of the case, which is a bit of a waste of space.

If you have large fingers you’ll find it a bit of a struggle and must be prepared to correct a lot of typos until you get used to it. The touchpad was nice and responsive but is placed in such a way that the only place for the mouse buttons was on either side, which again presents a problem until you get used to finding them there.

The computer’s build quality is up to the high standard we’ve seen before in Fujitsu Siemens notebooks, with hardly any bendiness to the lid. The satin white finish made a nice change from the shiny fingerprint-magnet finishes that are more common.

For those who don’t want a white computer there is a range of coloured plastic snap-on lids. The one that came with our review unit was red-brown, but there are more colours available and it’s even possible to design your own using the company’s website.

Battery life was average, giving between two and a half and just under four hours depending on usage.