Review: Hi-Grade Notino D2200 notebook computer

Hi-Grade just doesn’t get it right with its colours.

After submitting a pink laptop in our budget laptop group test, we’re now presented with a white laptop. Although white designs can be pulled off (Macbooks look good) the fact that the battery is a different shade of white doesn’t do it any favours.

The chassis is an MSI-made MS-1057B which can be bought as a barebones model. On the other models we’ve seen the two silver caps, that sit on the LCD hinge for aesthetic purposes fall off.

We’ve got no issues with the battery jutting out by 17mm, since it sits at an angle and improves ventilation and the angle of the keyboard. It’s a bulky design, but the D2200 keeps its weight below 2kg.

The 12in display isn’t the brightest on test and although the glossy reflective coating lavished on it gives it strong contrast, it also impedes viewing angles. We particularly liked the speaker bar that sits on the bottom of the bezel that produced relatively punchy audio.

The Core 2 Duo T2450, running at 2GHz has the requisite Enhanced Speedstep technology to squeeze out a solid four hours and 46 minutes of battery life, but the 533MHz FSB assisted its slide to the middle of the pack in PCmark05.

The keyboard is soft with a small amount of flex and our trackpad curled up a bit on the bottom right edge, indicating that it has been poorly attached to the chassis. It is large though, with a pleasing texture and the mouse buttons make a proper click.

Vista Home Premium, 2GB of Ram, a 160GB hard disk and DVD rewriter make it great value for money and the two-year warranty is sweetened with accidental damage cover included.

                                          Next>

This article is part of a group test, see also:
1 Introduction
2 The great weight conundrum
3 Acer Travelmate 6292 review
4 Advent 8112 review
5 Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7230 review
6 Hi-Grade Notino D2200 review
7 HP Compaq 2710p review
8 HP Pavilion TX-1260ea review
9 Lenovo Thinkpad X61 review
10 MSI PR200-064UK review
11 Panasonic Toughbook CF-W7 review
12 Samsung Q45-A007 review
13 Toshiba Portégé R500-10U review
14 Performance graphs, page 1 of 2
15 Performance graphs, page 2 of 2
16 Replacement battery costs
17 Conclusion and awards