Features
The Ultra-Portable Alternative
With lightweight notebooks now available under three pounds
and some much less, are they an alternative to a handheld?
Edited by Kirk Linsky
Even
the most dedicated handheld computing fans among us occasionally
need a notebook or a desktop PC. Sure, I used to go to major tradeshows
with just my Apple Newton MessagePad, furiously taking handwritten
notes which I later uploaded into my Mac for editing, but that
was before notebooks became small enough and powerful enough to
take along on a trip. But with Windows pretty much ruling the
world, what if you decided to expand the definition of ãhandheld
computingä a bit and included the latest generation of ultra-portable
notebooks? I am not talking the traditional ãthin and lightsä
here÷those can weigh as much as six pounds and not be very thin
either. What I mean is full-function Windows notebooks weighing
three pounds or less. That's still a bunch compared to the six
ounces or less that your average PDA weighs, but it's certainly
manageable.
Interestingly
enough, you won't find a true ultra-portable at Dell, HP or Gateway.
In fact, of the major US vendors, only IBM has one that weighs
less than three pounds, and that is the ThinkPad X40. All the
rest come from Japanese companies: Fujitsu, Panasonic, Sharp,
Sony and Toshiba.
That's
actually not entirely accurate as we included two US devices that
defy categories. Both the OQO model 01 and the yet to be released
FlipStart Vulcan are the size of conventional PDAs and weigh a
pound or less.
So
what are you giving up when you decide to spend the $1,200 to
$2,400 for an ultra-portable? Surprisingly little. Screen sizes
vary from unusual wide-screen formats (like Fujitsu's 10.6-inch
1280x768) to conventional 10.4 inch and 12.1 inch displays. Hard
disks are generally in the 40GB range, enough for a Windows Home
or Windows XP installation. Most perform adequately well with
Intel M processors running at a gigahertz or perhaps a bit more,
and some use Transmeta Crusoe and Efficeon chips. RAM is not a
problem, with most offering 256 to 512MB, or more. All have built-in
WiFi, mostly 802.11b/g. And several even have internal optical
drives (including DVD burners) in their lithe bodies. Amazing.
Overall,
there is more variety in size, features, and form factors than
you find in the larger commodity notebooks. Which means you need
to do some research and figure out what you need and expect from
an ultra-compact.
For
example, if you simply want an extra small notebook to do your
usual Windows work, pick a machine with a 12.1-inch display and
an internal optical drive.
If
you want to watch movies, see if one of the wide-screen models
appeals to you. They can replace a portable DVD player (but make
sure they have good audio!).
Battery
life can be a real issue with such small machines, and there is
a huge range in battery size in this class. The 2.8 pound Panasonic
W2 has a massive battery that lasts five to six hours. Toshiba's
superslim Portege R100 is at the other end of the spectrum.
One
thing to look out for is the size of the keyboard. Some ultra-portables
have full-scale QWERTY layouts whereas others needlessly stick
you with a shrunken layout that can be quite annoying. Check our
specification table on page 34!
If
you just can't be without a touchscreen, Fujitsu and Panasonic
offer them in some models, and the tiny OQO and FlipStart devices
do as well. Note, though, that having a touchscreen doesn't mean
you can run Microsoft's Tablet PC Edition of Windows XP. For that
you need an active digitizer.
Speaking
of the latter, we still consider them experimental devices. Yes,
they have proven that a full Windows XP machine can be the size
of a PDA, but whether Windows XP is a good OS to have on a PDA-sized
device is another story.
As
you scroll down we present reviews of some of the representative
machines in this class. This will give you an idea of what's available
out there.
HP
Compaq Tablet PC tc1100
The full-size PDA experience
ãHe would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information
circuit and scan the latest reports from Earth. One by one he
would conjure up the world's major electronic papers.ä From 2001:
A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1968.
Remember
the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey when the two astronauts are
eating dinner while looking at a pair of thin, letter-sized vertical
displays? These are Newspads, and they have arrived (just a few
years late) here in the real world. When Hewlett Packard subsumed
Compaq, they inherited the lovely Compaq tc1000, the most innovative
of the first batch of machines to use Microsoft Windows XP Tablet
PC Edition. That was a good machine, but the updated tc1100 is
an absolute knockout. I'll try not to bore you with feeds and
speeds, but it is fully buzzword-enabled and has all the features
you'd expect from a top-shelf modern laptop. Best new feature:
a gorgeously bright BEO Hydis display that is viewable without
dimming at up to 160 degrees off axis. As my editor once wrote
in one of his many dissertations on Tablet PCs, ãYou won't believe
the difference between this display and a standard LCD until you
see it.ä
So
what, right? You can buy a serviceable laptop at Wal-Mart these
days for way less than a grand and one of those sleek, elegant
ultra-portables for just a bit more. Why would you want to spend
close to twice that on a tc1100? Snap off the keyboard and it
becomes a three-pound slate ÷ essentially a touchscreen display
with an invisible but powerful 1.1GHz Intel Pentium M 733 processor
inside. With its low mass, built-in wireless LAN (802.11b/g),
and three-plus hour battery life, you can tote it around your
house like a book or newspaper. This is the most couch-friendly
computer ever made, and I include my beloved Apple PowerBook G4
in that equation. (Sadly, Apple doesn't yet make a tablet Mac.)
There
is nothing quite like interacting with a computer with a pen ÷
well, except writing on real paper of course ÷ when you don't
want to assume the typing position. The handwriting recognition
on the latest Tablet PC 2005 update is superbly accurate and requires
zero training. Just write as though you were writing a note to
hang on the door for the FedEx guy and it just works. If you want
to enter paragraph after paragraph of text, then snap on the keyboard
and have at it. Around the house, a slate computer can't be beat
for sheer naturalness. For browsing your favorite blogs, reading
an ebook, checking your email, light web research, and other low-impact
computing, an ultralight machine like the tc1100 is a real joy.
In 2002, Microsoft tried to launch a class of device they called
Smart Display, which was essentially a wireless monitor for the
desktop PC in another room. It failed miserably, but using a tc1100
can do all that Smart Display promised and so much more because
it is a fully equipped laptop computer ÷ just one that has a removable
keyboard, a touchscreen, and a sleek design.
There
are only two things I don't like about the tc1100: it's a Windows
machine instead of a Mac, and it's pricey at $1,649 for a base
model to $2,199 for the one you want, and then you should have
the MultiBay docking station with DVD drive bay and so on. But
if you are looking for an ideal office/home portable computer
with a terrific pen interface and you can stomach Windows XP,
the HP Compaq Tablet PC tc1100 is a delightful machine. It probably
comes closer to providing the full PDA experience in a larger
platform than anything else.
öDavid MacNeill
www.hp.com
Sharp
Actius MM20
An ultra-thin notebook with plenty of features
The
Japanese build the most elegant ultralight notebooks in the world
but usually keep the very best of these little jewels for themselves.
What few machines have flown this way are rare birds indeed. It
has been this way for years, but forward-looking companies such
as Sharp and Sony see the potential for these machines to become
popular in the West. Sony's PictureBook line led the way to the
USA, followed by some of the smaller VAIOs introduced over the
past couple of years. Now Sharp is taking the exact machine they
created for the Akihabara crowd (the Mebius MM20) and is offering
it to westerners as the Actius MM20. They built on the design
of the moderately successful MM10, making substantial improvements
in battery life and overall performance.
The
Sharp Actius MM20 was also the first machine to reach these shores
powered by Transmeta's Efficeon microprocessor. What the fast
and battery-friendly Intel Pentium M chip did for second generation
tablets, the Efficeon will take one step farther. Transmeta completely
re-engineered the Efficeon chip, using everything it learned from
their earlier Crusoe chips while adding in some remarkable improvements
derived from Intel Pentium 4-class microprocessor technology.
One guiding design goal for Transmeta was to make sure their chip
drew less than seven watts, since systems at this level require
no fan. Theoretically, an Efficeon can run 200MHz faster than
a Pentium M at the same power draw. Along with other, mare arcane
improvements involving power leakage, ãspeculative executionä
of code blocks, and the improved LongRun2 power conservation settings,
the Efficeon is the chip to beat in mobile computers.
How
small is the MM20? Photos don't do it justice. You need to pick
one up to appreciate just how light 1.99 pounds really is. The
cool matte black and silver metal casing is stiff and fitted well,
with cutlines (the tiny gaps between body panels) on a par with
current PowerBooks ÷ which is to say, utterly superb. Even the
power adapter is tiny and weighs almost nothing. Carrying the
MM20 around the house or office is like carrying a magazine or
small sheaf of papers; you barely even notice it until you need
it ÷ which is, of course, as it should be.
Some
may grouse about the 83%-sized keyboard, but I found it easy to
adapt to after a few minutes of use. The 10.4 LCD is gorgeously
bright and crisply detailed, with excellent off-axis viewability.
Sharp is a world leader in LCD technology, so all their notebooks
have excellent screens. This MM20's display quality makes up for
the small size. It seems bigger than 10.4 inches and denser than
1024x768. I found it superior to any other LCD in our current
stable, including my personal PowerBook G4 15".
We
found the MM20's performance to be quite respectable for this
class of machine. The 1GHz Efficeon TM8600 processor is the more
capable of the two Efficeons currently offered to computer makers,
offering up 1MB of fast cache ÷ twice that of the TM8300. Comparisons
with the Pentium M are inevitable, and benchmark numbers show
it to be a close enough race that it really doesn't matter except
to statisticians and obsessives. Using the standard 1.8 amp-hour
battery, run time is between two and three hours in typical use.
Sharp offers a stylish extended battery pack that triples this
to a whopping eight to nine hours÷PDA territory. Long distance
travelers will definitely want one of these in their briefcase.
The
unit we tested shipped with only 256MB or RAM, but the models
offered for sale in the US all feature 512MB standard. Drive size
is limited to 20MB due to the ultra-slim mechanism they use, so
don't plan on making this your main video-editing computer.
In
the connectivity department, the littlest Actius doesn't disappoint:
integrated 802.11g WiFi offers compatibility with both 11Mbps
and 54Mbps wireless LAN variants. There is also a standard RJ45
wired Ethernet jack on the right side. Sadly, there's no Bluetooth.
This is easily fixed with Socket's excellent Wireless LAN card,
an almost invisible device that slips into the PC Card slot and
protrudes just a few millimeters beyond the casing.
As
with all such ultralights, optical drives are external USB devices;
Sharp sells a matching combo drive (CD-R/DVD) for $99, an option
we strongly recommend you order with your MM20. Speaking of USB2
ports, the MM20 sports one on each side of the machine for easy
access.
First
seen on the MM10, the new Actius comes with a very cool vertical
docking cradle. The machine slips into it like bread into a toaster,
where it charges the battery while displaying the charge with
a curved, colored LED window across the front. But the cool doesn't
stop there: the dock has a DirectHD switch which allows a shut-down
MM20 to mount as an external hard drive on another PC via the
included USB2 cable. Once mounted, special sync software from
Iomega allows you to designate folders for automatic bidirectional
synchronization. This is the best solution for two-PC sync I've
ever seen, making the little Actius the ideal mobile counterpart
to a desktop Windows system.
Spend
a little time with a machine this compact and you begin to wonder
about the long term viability of Palms and Pocket PCs. Why take
a subset when you can take it all? With mobile phones becoming
more like PDAs every month and notebooks as svelte as the $1500
Actius MM20, where will that leave the $700 full-function handheld
computer in, say, 2007?
öDavid MacNeill
www.sharpsystems.com
Fujitsu
B3020
A unique, compact notebook with a touchscreen
Fujitsu
has many years worth of experience making pen tablets and they
are also one of the leading Tablet PC vendors, both slates and
convertibles. Looking at the little B3020, one might be tempted
to call this a ãmini Tablet PC,ä but it is not, nor was it ever
intended to be. Fujitsu has been making these little B-series
LifeBooks for several years now, and they've always included a
passive, resistive touchscreen. ãRealä Tablet PCs has electromagnetic
digitizers.
Passive
touchscreens, of course, are the kind of technology used on all
PDAs and smartphones, are therefore dear to our hearts as editors
of Handheld Computing Magazine. Problem is that Microsoft decreed
you must have an electromagnetic digitizer in order to license
the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition with all its goodies. Without
this pen-enhanced version of the OS, a notebook with a touchscreen
is a bit of an odd bird. However, on small screens like the B-series
sports, it makes sense as a mouse replacement, since you can reach
from the displays side bezel all the way to the middle of the
screen without resting your wrist on the display. This is obviously
necessary, else you'd be scattering your pointer all over the
place with contradictory touches.
From
the first B we reviewed, we liked them enormously. For a long
time, they were the only touchscreen computer you could buy as
a non-corporate consumer. Fujitsu's Stylistic line of tablets
were not sold to the general public; that is the domain of the
LifeBook line of consumer notebooks. The B sort of straddled the
two lines and has been employed in a variety of interesting ways,
but with the recent wave of Tablet PCs, the B series is looking
a little like a dying branch on the evolutionary tree. It is neither
substantially cheaper than some of the latest Tablet PCs, nor
is it overwhelmingly smaller or lighter.
That
said, the B3020 ($1699) we review here does have that unmistakable
LifeBook charm. This company makes capable, attractive, well-supported
mobile computers with a proven track record of customer satisfaction
and reliability. Survey after survey proves this out.
In
previous reviews of the B series machines, we've noted that such
subnotebooks are common in Japan but extremely rare on this side
of the ocean. Fujitsu essentially has the whole niche market to
itself ÷ I can't think of a single competitive device you can
buy without going through a custom importer such as Dynamism.com.
The
B3020's has a 10.4-inch display that is clear if not extremely
bright. The viewing angle is par for the course in this category
of machine ÷ in other words, pathetic compared to the glorious
Hydis of the Fujitsu T4000 and HP Compaq TC1100 Tablet PCs. To
be fair, it's not like you are going to crowd around the B and
watch a movie; like all subnotebooks, they are essentially giant
PDAs that are used by a single person.
Performance
is decent with and ultra-low voltage Pentium M running at 1.1GHz,
a 400MHz front side bus, and 1MB L2 cache. Though it is not, strictly
speaking, a Centrino machine, it does have built-in WiFi at both
B and G speeds, so you won't be able to blame any slowdowns to
your home wireless network on this little sweetie. (The presence
of a single 802.11b device on an 802.11G network can slow all
traffic down considerably; it's better not to mix B and G if you
can avoid it.)
Another
thing that makes this machine not a Tablet PC is that there is
no·you know, tablet. You can lay the display flat but you can't
really write on it or curl up with it like a book, as you can
with real Tablet PCs. There is no handwriting recognition support,
though you could probably kludge something in if you had to but
I wouldn't recommend it. If you want a cheap Tablet PC, buy the
competent Averatec for around the same price. If you want a solid,
3-pound ultra-portable from a world-class company and you are
partial to touchscreens, a LifeBook B3020 may be just what you
are looking for this side of the Pacific.
öDavid MacNeill
www.fujitsupc.com
Panasonic
W2
Tough
little cookie with DVD-CD-RW
Truth be told, the Panasonic Toughbook W2 has been around for
a while. And it isn't even the smallest or lightest model in Panasonic's
lineup. That would be the Toughbook T2, and even that is a bunch
larger than the minuscule 2.2 pound Toughbook R1 that Panasonic
test-marketed in the US before concluding stateside hands needed
something a lil' beefier. However, where else can you get an ultra-portable
that's not only amazingly compact and light, but also carries
the prestigious ãToughbookä name and has a DVD-CR-RW drive built
in? And no, that doesn't come at the expense of battery power.
I watched a DVD movie on it and by the end the battery was still
over 80%.
What
you get here is an all-magnesium machine that's part of Panasonic's
vaunted line of durable notebook computers that ranges from elegant
devices like the W2 all the way to armored and hardened beasts
you can run a tank over. And Panasonic has done a nice job keeping
the technology up-to-date. The W2's original 900MHz chip has been
upgraded to an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M Processor 713 running
at 1.1 GHz, and you also get all the other Centrino Technology
goodies, including the integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN module.
Still,
the most amazing part here is how Panasonic managed to build a
full DVD-CD-RW drive into a machine that measures 10.6 x 8.3 inches,
weighs just 2.8 pounds, and is just over an inch thick. It's actually
easy to miss the optical drive. I must admit that I had to take
check the manual before I even found it! That's because it doesn't
have a tray that slides out from the side or the front. Instead,
to open it you push a spring-loaded switch that flips open the
left side of the wrist-rest in front of the keyboard, including
the round touchpad, to provide access to the DVD/CD drive.
To
power all this technology, Panasonic equipped the W2 with a sizeable
52 watt-hour battery that attaches to the backside of the computer,
adding a ãpower bulgeä that adds a bit of thickness but also acts
as a keyboard stand and provides airspace under the unit which
aids cooling. That's quite a bit more than most of the ultra-light
competition. Six hours of battery life is not unusual for this
machine, and that places it squarely into Pocket PC territory.
Like
all Panasonic Toughbooks we've seen, design and build quality
are near perfect. Like all other Toughbooks, this one is made
of magnesium, though its design and lines are lithe compared to
the rugged models. Here you get elegant brushed surface treatment
and a very fine powder finish. Thanks to the miserly Pentium 713
chip there is no need for a fan, but there is a heat vent at the
bottom to keep things cool. The touchpad has an unconventional
round design that works very well and it's beautifully integrated
into the unique design of the optical drive cover. You can't help
but marvel at the talent of the engineers who designed this machine.
Unlike
some of the truly tiny ultra-portables, the W2 has plenty of onboard
connectivity. On the right side a SD/MMC card slot is sitting
on top of a PC Card Type II/III slot which, thanks to the built-in
wireless LAN, stays free for whatever use you might have for it.
Next to those two card slots are an RJ-11 jack for the internal
V.92 modem and a RJ-45 jack for 100BaseT wired LAN. On the left
side are two USB 2.0 connectors, stereo out and microphone jacks,
and a VGA interface that supports up to 1600 x 1200 external video.
Along the front is a battery of seven annunciator LEDs. Like more
and more notebooks, the W2 doesn't have an IR port. I miss it
because I like to sync my PDAs with IR. On the software side,
the CF-W2 you get Windows XP Professional, a number of Panasonic
utilities and online manuals, InterVideo WinDVD and B's Recorder
Gold 5.
The
one thing that amazed me with the W2 is that despite its tough-guy
heritage it didn't feel quite as solid and tight as I thought
it would. There were some rattles, and the shiny body look as
if it could easily dent or scratch. I also found the display hinge
to be too loose, and the latch didn't hold the display against
the body as closely as it should. In those areas, the slightly
lighter Toughbook T2 actually scores better and you can get the
T2 with a touchscreen There is no such option for the W2÷unusual
for Panasonic which has been making more and more of its models
available with touchscreens.
Still,
anyone looking for a notebook that's small in size and weight
but not in build and quality should take a look at the CF-W2.
The internal DVD/CD-RW drive and a very powerful battery make
the speedy and almost completely silent CF-W2 a very complete
computer.
öKirk Linsky
www.panasonic.com
OQO
model 01
A full Windows XP computer roughly the size of a Pocket PC
The
machines we featured on the preceding pages, small and light though
they are compared to your average eight pound notebook, are all
huge compared to the unique OQO model 01. How's this:
A
Hewlett Packard iPAQ hx 4700 Pocket PC measures 5.1 x 3.0 x 0.6
inches÷a marvel of miniaturized design and engineering, but one
that still is just a Pocket PC without keyboard and without much
in terms of onboard interface connectivity. The OQO model 01 measures
4.9 x 3.4 x 0.9 inches, barely larger than the iPAQ, and it is
a full-fledged, full-function Windows XP computer with a 1GHz
processor, a 20GB Toshiba hard drive, a full keyboard, Bluetooth
and 802.11b WiFi and significant connectivity. The OQO even has
a larger screen÷5 inches diagonal and 800x480 pixels versus 4
inches and 480x640 pixels for the iPAQ÷and uses a genuine Wacom
electromagnetic digitizer instead of just a touchscreen. That's
just plain amazing. A full Windows machine the size of a small
PDA! This is what a lot of people always wanted: full Windows
functionality in a device small enough to put in your pocket.
How
did OQO do it? Through clever design, by taking advantage of some
of the latest miniaturized technology, by making some design decisions,
and by optimistically assuming that somehow it would all work.
Among
the design decisions OQO made was to use a novel sliding screen
approach as opposed to the conventional clamshell. I am not sure
why as this leaves the sensitive display surface unprotected and
won't let you angle the display for best viewing, but it sure
looks attractive. Also, the OQO is so small that any functional
comparison to a clamshell notebook is moot. You operate it more
like a Blackberry device with its thumbtype keyboard, holding
the little thing with both hands and using your thumbs to type.
That still sounds funny after all these years, but the Blackberrys
and all their imitators have proven that thumbtyping works.
The
keyboard itself is not some minimalist affair, but a full, albeit
tiny, QWERTY layout, a separate numeric keypad, and even a tiny
little pointing device you can use instead of, or in addition
to, the pen. The QWERTY layout is only about 37% scale, but that
doesn't matter. It works well, and the little keys actually make
clacking noises so you have some sort of feedback.
The
screen is bright, sharp, and extremely high res, which means you
have to fiddle with the size of icons and text until you find
something that's small enough to allow the use of Windows' many
functions but large enough to read.
OQO
chose a 1.0 GHz Transmeta TM5800 processor for its balance of
speed and energy efficiency. With Transmeta going out of the processor
hardware business, OQO (and several others) probably wish they
had gone a different route. As is, the OQO performs fairly well,
although its default processor setting seems geared more towards
battery life than speed.
Installing
software is no big deal. You simply connect a FireWire CD or DVD
drive. Likewise, if you're tired of looking at the little screen,
you can use the OQO docking cable to hook up a big screen and
a real keyboard.
Initial
response to the OQO was mixed. People loved the design and small
size, but many complained about weak WiFi signal, imprecise digitizers,
excessive heat generation, breaking power supplies, and disappointing
battery life (2.5 hours or so). Some felt the product had been
released too soon and before some relatively basic problems had
been resolved.
Still,
any way you look at it, the $1,899 ($1,999 with XP Pro) OQO is
a compelling device that is far more than just a proof of concept
that you indeed can run Windows XP on a PDA-sized computer. Whether
or not such a small (and expensive) Windows machine fills a real
need or just the demands of gadget freaks remains to be seen,
just as the jury is still out on the niggling problems the first
batch of OQOs was bedeviled with.
öKirk Linsky
www.oqo.com
Sony
U750P
So they took away the CLIƒ and gave us this instead
It is Casio who uses the ãExpect the Unexpectedä slogan, but as
far as we're concerned, it applies to Sony as well, if not more
so. You can always count on Sony to come up with a delightful
assortment of brilliant and unusual stuff without neglecting the
business side of things with many solid, workmanlike products.
It's the former that's of interest to us, of course. That's why
we loved all those ingenious (and sometimes quirky) CLIƒs and
why we're still mad at Sony for yanking them off the US market.
However, with Sony there's always something new and interesting,
and the Vaio U-Series of ãsuper-portableä PCs certainly fits into
that category. Initially, the U Series was only available in Japan,
but the Japanese U71 model is now available as the U750P in the
United States.
Unlike
OQO and FlipStart, Sony decided against equipping the little U-Series
tablet with a keyboard. Instead, you use an external foldable
89%-scale keyboard as shown in the picture to the right. The Sony
is also a little bit larger than the OQO and the FlipStart. ãLargerä
is relative though÷the U750P measures just 6.6 x 4.25 inches and
is an inch thick. And it weighs 1.2 pounds. The display is an
ultra-sharp 5-inch transflective LCD using the conventional 800-x600
SVGA format. However, you can easily go beyond that resolution
for a scrolling desktop, or rotate the display to view web pages
in portrait format. Both functions are handled via hardware buttons
to the left of the screen. There is a touchscreen with a funky
stylus, but you can also navigate with the pointing stick (upper
right) and mousebuttons (to the left of the display). Or you can
use an onscreen keyboard or try the ritePen handwriting recognition
system developed by the same people who dreamed up the original
Newton recognizer and the one that is now used as Transcriber
in the Pocket PC. And if all that is still not enough, the keyboard
also includes an eraser-style pointer and mouse buttons, or a
regular mouse.
Unlike
some of the competition in the featherweight class, Sony wisely
banked on Intel to power the little U-Series tablets. The 71 model
has a very grown-up 1.1 GHz Pentium M processor, 512MB of (proprietary)
RAM, integrated 802.11b/g and a 30GB disk, all specs that would
like quite good on a standard notebook. There's also a Memory
Stick slot and one for CF Cards, something the other two don't
have. And since this is Sony, you also get a cool remote control
with headphones. And a dock to place the little tablet in. The
dock complements the sole USB port on the device itself and adds
4 USB ports, LAN, iLink (Firewire) and video-out (up to 1600x1200).
About the only thing that doesn't come with the U71 is the optional
DVD/CD-RW drive. The standard battery, which makes up the whole
back of the device, is good for about 2.5 hours, a bigger/thicker
one (5.5 hours) is available but very costly ($349) as are all
of the optional accessories.
So
what you get here is a full-function Windows XP computer with
all the necessary cables, stands, and peripherals, except for
the optical drive. The big foldable keyboard makes it easy to
enter text. One annoying thing here is that the keyboard doesn't
lock, so when you put it on your lap it folds. As it usually does,
Sony includes a bunch of useful utility and application software
that really shows off the capabilities of this marvelous little
machine.
In
many ways the Vaio U750P is really more a miniature Tablet PC
than a PDA-sized laptop. How-ever, it's a rather flexible machine
and you can use it both as a standard desktop replacement as well
as a handheld computer with full Windows XP power. However, a
replacement for a CLIƒ it's not. We used to think that some of
the CLIƒs were on the pricey side, but compared to the U750P's
$2,399 pricetag, the CLIƒs were bargains.
öKirk Linsky
www.sonystyle.com
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