Evesham Voyager X4

The most noticeable trait of this budget notebook, aimed at those who need a low-cost option for working on the move, is its white chassis, reminiscent of Apple's Ibook.

A 1.6GHz Pentium M CPU is slightly docile by today's standards, but 512MB of memory is a decent amount for an ultraportable. This combination produced an average Sysmark performance.

Similarly, the onboard Intel graphics adapter is fine for handling standard desktop applications, but its 32MB of memory is shared with the system Ram and lacks the power needed to run many of today's top games. However, the machine is more than adequate for day-to-day office tasks and its 1,280 x 768 widescreen display is easy to work with.

Evesham claims the battery lasts up to two and a half hours, but it only ran for one hour and 35 minutes in our, admittedly intensive, Labs tests.

Storage options are a mixed bag. The CD rewriter and DVD-Rom combo drive is fine for installing software and watching movies, but the ability to back up large files is limited without a DVD writer. Fortunately, the 60GB hard drive means you won't run out of space in a hurry.

The keyboard is good, but the touchpad is positioned slightly to the right of centre, so it is easy to accidentally hit it when typing, resulting in random repositioning of the cursor.

This is an attractive notebook and at £850 it's also good value for money. If you can look past the shortcomings, it's certainly worth considering.

Contact:
Evesham 0870 160 9500
www.evesham.com

Specifications

• Pentium M 1.6GHz
• 512MB DDR333
• 60GB hard disk
• Integrated graphics
• 802.11b/g
• CD-RW/DVD-Rom drive
• Windows XP Home
• Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD SE, Studio 9 SE
• Weight: 2.2kg