Design
The Elitebook 6930P is exactly what they intended it to be – a sturdy, rugged and portable business notebook. At dimensions of 13.0 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches, it is much more compact than other notebooks of its class, however it is a bit bigger than the Dell Latitude E6400, its main opponent. It weighs about 5.2 pounds which makes it very light and portable compared to others. It features a brushed metal design which is both tough and elegant and exudes a rugged feel. It has a anodized aluminium lid with a magnesium alloy chassis which provide a very strong shell to the notebook. It can easily survive some drops and bumps and emerge unscathed.

Keyboard
One handy little extra is a keyboard light which pops up above the display should you want to type, say, on board a darkened ‘plane. Above the keyboard is a series of touch-sensitive controls for Information, WiFi, Presentation, Mute and a Volume slider, while to the right of the TouchPad is a fingerprint scanner for extra security. f you need a robust, hard working notebook with a decent sized keyboard, multiple WiFi options, several specifically useful business and security options plus easy to use controls, then it may be worth joining the Elite.

Display and Sound
The 14.1-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel display indeed looked bright when we watched an episode of Mad Men. The matte screen offered versatile viewing angles; we could comfortably watch when we pushed the screen forward, which is good for presenters and frequent flyers, and even at a near 180-degree angle from the sides. The speakers, located on the front underbelly of the notebook, delivered surprisingly loud sound.

Performance :
The HP Elitebook 6930P is powered by a Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40 GHz processor with 3 MB L2 cache at 1066 MHZ FSB. It is one of the best mobile processors available today and provides a potent mix of power and power efficiency. It comes with 2 GB DDR2 RAM clocked at 800 MHZ which is enough to run most applications and games. If need be, the RAM can be upgraded to 4 GB. It comes with a 160 GB SATA HDD at 5,400 RPM by default, which can be switched with a 7,200 RPM for increased speed performance. You also have a 8X DVD +/- RW bundled with the notebook. Finally, the base 6930P comes with the Intel GMA X4500 onboard graphics solution which can be substituted with a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 256 MB for increased performance for a nominal cost to obtain much better gaming and graphics performance.

It comes loaded with the Microsoft Windows Vista Business operating system. It boots up in about 1.2 minutes. To instantly access your emails, calendar, tasks and contacts, you can use HP’s Quick Look 2 software before the system boots. In Vista, the performance is great and fluid, with no signs of lags or sluggishness at all. The Elitebook 6930P comes loaded with nifty little utilities by HP like QuickLook 2, SpareKey, HP Privacy Manager and HP File Sanitizer which improve the functionality of the notebook greatly.

Design
With a footprint of 10.2 x 7.0 x 1.5 inches, the U135 takes up about as much desk space as other netbooks of its ilk. However, its battery sticks out the bottom of the system, increasing its thickness in the back to 1.5 inches. While not nearly as egregious as the Wind U110, this protrusion is more noticeable than those on many other netbooks with 6-cell batteries. Weighing 2.8 pounds, the U135 disappeared like every other netbook once inside our messenger bag. When we first opened the lid of the U135, we were struck by the similariries between this system and the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P (Seashell), and with good reason: The two island-style keyboards are almost identical, and both have a single mouse bar as opposed to discrete buttons. While our U135 came in blue, consumers will also be able to get the netbook in silver, red, or black. The wavy line pattern on the lid is also repeated on the touchpad, which adds a nice graphical element to the design. This pattern also does a decent job of masking fingerprint smudges.

Screen and Speakers
The Wind U135 offers a 10” glossy LED-backlit display that rates below average compared to other similarly sized netbooks. On our review model we noticed significant backlight bleed around all the edges when the brightness is near the top of the scale. During the boot sequence this is especially visible when the backgrounds are black. Turning the backlight down to 50-70% reduced the bleed, but it was still slightly visible if you were in a dark room watching a movie. Color and contrast are comparable to other competing netbooks thanks to the glossy screen surface. If the backlight bleed was lessened it would be a great machine to watch movies on while traveling. At peak brightness the screen is easy to read in bright office conditions and outdoors if you are in an area that the sun wasn’t reflecting off the screen. Viewing angles are average with the vertical viewing range spanning 15-20 degrees forward or back before colors started to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, keeping colors looking true even at steep angles.

Speaker performance is average compared to most netbooks on the market, meaning that they lacked volume and any hint of bass compared to a full-size notebook. For most users the speakers are great if you want to watch a quick streaming video clip or listen to some music in the background, but if you intend on watching a movie, headphones are the preferred option.

Keyboard and Touchpad
I really like the chiclet-style keyboard on the MSI Wind U135. It looks much the same as the keyboard on the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, but some of the Fn keys are in different spots. You can hit the Fn key plus a number of other buttons to adjust the volume, screen brightness, toggle the wireless connections, or turn off the touchpad. Hitting FN+ F10, for example will trigger the MSI ECo software, which adjusts your computer’s settings to improve performance or battery life for different situations (such as gaming, or presentation mode).

But back to the keyboard. There is a little flex in the middle of the keyboard if you push down too hard. But honestly, that’s the sort of thing I only notice when I take the time to press on the keyboard and look at it. When I’m typing, it’s not a problem. The keys are flat, with a little space between them making them easy to detect without looking down. I took a typing test and notched a score of about 100 words per minute, which is about average for me.

The touchpad is reasonably wide for a 10 inch netbook. There’s only a single wide button below the touchpad, instead of distinct left and right buttons. While the palm rest has a glossy finish and a smooth plastic texture, the touchpad is a bit rougher, which makes it easy to slide your finger across without generating much friction. But the touchpad doesn’t seem to support scrolling — at all. Most netbooks let you scroll through documents and web sites by either placing two fingers on the touchpad and dragging or by moving your finger up and down the right edge of the touchpad. The Wind U135 I tested doesn’t seem to support either scrolling method.

Performance
Stocked with Intel’s new Atom N450 processor and 1GB of RAM, the U135 performed about the same as the ASUS 1005PE-P. The U135 scored 1,418 on PCMark05, 8 points higher than the 1005PE, but 80 points below the netbook average—which to date has been mostly Intel N270 and N280 processors. In Geekbench, the U135 scored 906, about 70 points higher than the netbook average. We were able to go about our typical netbook activities—surfing the web and watching videos—without any issues. The U135 was a bit more lethargic in the LAPTOP Transfer Test. Its 250GB, 5400-rpm hard drive copied a 4.97GB folder of multimedia in 5 minutes and 6 seconds for a rate of 16.6 MBps, which is 9.8 MBps slower than the 1005PE, but 1.3 MBps above the netbook average, It also took 1 minute and 24 seconds to boot into Windows 7 Starter Edition, almost half a minute longer than average.

Similarly, the U135, which has the new Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics chip, was fairly average when it came to graphics tests. In 3DMark06, the U135 scored 154, nearly identical to the ASUS 1005PE (155), and a shade below the average of 160. When we transcoded a 114MB, 5-minute and 5-second MPG4 video to AVI using HandBrake, the U135 took 30 minutes and 12 seconds, half a minute longer than average. When performing the same task using Oxelon Media Converter, which takes advantage of multithreading, the Ul35 took 6 minutes and 6 seconds.

Design
The T91 MT is currently available in two colours: black and white. We decided on the white variety for the purposes of this review. Because of the glossy surfaces, white has the distinct advantage that the smudges and fingerprints that quickly accumulate do not show up as much. In terms of design, the T91 MT is unobtrusive, with just a few silver elements providing the occasional pleasant accent. Though it is mainly constructed out of plastic, the case still seems of a very high quality, both visually and to the touch. There can be no complaints about the workmanship, with everything sitting well in its place; no sharp edges or other such problems were apparent.

We were not totally convinced by the robustness of the case. The lid is relatively resistant to twisting forces, but putting pressure on the outside of the lid quickly leads to substantial screen distortions. The rest of the casing is surprisingly robust both on the underside and the upper side. The keyboard only flexes a little under heavy pressure. The single hinge, with which the lid can be turned completely around, works extremely reliably and holds the display in the desired position at all times. However one disadvantage is that opening the lid with one hand causes the rest of the case to follow. The T91 MT is tremendously portable with its low weight of only 970g and highly compact dimensions of 225 x 164 x 28.5 mm (length x width x height); there is room for it even when you have very little space to spare.

Ports
Because of its small chassis, the Eee PC T91 has fewer ports than the typical netbook. It comes with two USB ports (rather than the average three), Ethernet, VGA, audio in/out, a 3-in-1 card reader, and a Kensington lock slot.

Keyboard, Touchpad, Touchscreen
The keys are necessarily small, due to the notebook’s small size overall. While the keys on other notebooks are generally around 18mm, the T91 MT’s are only around 15mm. This doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a big difference in practice. If you have less than delicate fingers or are trying to type very quickly you will often hit the wrong key. A couple of keys have been reduced in size still further (the ones with °^ and ‘# on them). Asus has had to play about a bit with the layout too, moving the right shift-key and the ‘# key from their usual places. But on the whole it is easy to get used to the slightly altered layout.

Unsurprisingly, the user will have to do without a separate number pad, but there is a number block integrated into the main keyboard which can be accessed using the function key. We found the T91 MT to be very convincing in terms of the tactile feedback from the keys, and only the noise upon release seemed a little rattly. As already mentioned, the keyboard does flex slightly in places, but this only happens when you apply a considerable amount of force to it.

The touchpad is slightly recessed and can be easily distinguished from the surrounding area due to its silvery colour. It is not especially big, but completely acceptable for a machine about the size of a netbook. While we were testing it the touchpad also proved itself to be extremely accurate. The smooth surface means that your finger glides over it very well. Fortunately Asus has not gone for the dimpled touchpad surface that it has used previously, for example on the Eee PC 1005HA, which is unpleasant to use for long periods. Beneath the touchpad there is a single bar containing both touchpad buttons, which quickly attract fingerprints because of their high-gloss silvery surface. The left-hand button was acceptable in terms of tactile feedback, but the right-hand button seemed to us to have a somewhat spongy feel.

The touch-sensitive surface of the screen works exceptionally well. Whether entering information by hand or with the pen, it is correctly understood every time. The handwriting recognition also works very well for the most part, with only the odd exception here and there. Even if you write very messily, the software converts most words reliably. Unfortunately there is a delay, varying in length depending on how much processing power is free, and this can be a pain, especially during short or time-sensitive tasks. One further shortcoming: it is not possible to rest your palms fully on the display, as this will render the touch recognition either partly or wholly unusable. So after a while some tiredness and tension may start to creep in.

Software
As for software and accessories, you won’t find a whole lot from Asus here. Granted, that’s pretty much par for course when it comes to inexpensive netbooks, but at least Asus does toss in a padded sleeve that works great when trying to keep the T91 from getting scuffed up in your duffle bag. Within the brightly colored box, you’ll find the Eee PC T91, a padded protective sleeve, an AC adapter, an AC plug, a 16GB SDHC memory card, a user CD and a user guide.

The T91 has an easy, 9-point calibration process to get the touchscreen properly responsive. ASUS has also loaded the T91 with some custom-built software — namely the Touch Gate interface. From the regular XP desktop, you can activate the touchscreen interface three ways  via the icon on the desktop, the slider icon at the top of the desktop, or that physical button to the right of the power toggle we mentioned earlier. Hitting any of those brings up the Touch Gate main interface — which is essentially a very simple row of icons that can be rearranged in any order — with up to five icons in the mail row, and others behind it. For now, there is a limited amount of icons on the list — preferences, and four custom-built apps — Fotofun, Memos, Notepad, and Internet Explorer with Touch Capability. We should say that we find the interface to be really clean and pleasing to look at, and the applications are pretty elegantly designed.

Performance
Instead of using the typical 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, ASUS went with a 1.33-GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU for the T91, which we’re assuming was chosen to maintain the small footprint of this device. As we found with the Acer Aspire One AO751h, which uses the same processor, there was a major performance delta between the T91 and other netbooks. The Eee PC T91’s PCMark05 score of 1,226 trails the netbook average by about 160 points, as well as those of its competitors, including the Toshiba mini NB205 (1,496) and the 10-inch Acer Aspire One (1,492), both of which have a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU.

In our everyday usage, the Eee PC T91 felt slow. The system took over 15 seconds to launch the touch-friendly version of Internet Explorer that ASUS includes with its Touch Gate interface; when we opened Internet Explorer while chatting with a friend on Skype, the video dropped out for a few seconds, and again, a few seconds passed before the netbook could overlap these two windows.

The Eee PC T91’s Intel GMA 950 graphics chip delivered a score of 87 on 3DMark06, which measures graphics performance. This mark was a little lower than the netbook average of 97, but, unless you’re planning to play the latest 3D games, you won’t notice a difference. A 720p video clip played smoothly. Using Handbrake, we transcoded a 5:05 MPEG-4 video clip (114MB) to the AVI format in 34 minutes and 45 seconds, which is about 5 minutes slower than the netbook average.

Design
We loved the EliteBook’s sturdy design when we reviewed the 14.1-inch 6930p, but it’s especially apropos in the 2530p, whose 12.1-inch screen makes it ideal for road warriors. The 2530p, too, has a DuraCase lid, made of brushed anodized aluminum and magnesium alloy. The 3.8-pound 2530p feels a bit heavier than other ultraportables, owing mostly to its rugged build. For example, the Sony VAIO Z Series weighs only 3.3 pounds and features a larger 13.1-inch display. Nevertheless, the 2530p is plenty light for travel and is easy to hold in one hand.

On the inside, the palm rest and thin strip surrounding the touch-sensitive keys are a matching gray, but the keyboard is black. Because the keyboard extends to the edges of the 11.1-inch-wide deck, the keys were comfortable to type on, despite the notebook’s otherwise small size. As with the 6930p, the keyboard and touch buttons are quiet, and the rubbery touchpad has a good amount of resistance, but the touch buttons are narrow; HP also includes a pointing stick with its own corresponding set of mouse buttons. The stick was responsive and has a good rubbery texture.

Above the keyboard are touch-sensitive controls for Wi-Fi, volume, mute, HP Info Center, HP Presentation Options, and one to disable and enable the touchpad. The controls were responsive to taps, although the volume controls required a bit more pressure. In addition to discreet increase and decrease buttons is a convenient strip along which you can slide your finger to adjust the volume.

Screen and Audio
The 2530p comes equipped with a 12.1″ anti-glare widescreen with a typical WXGA resolution.  At 1280 x 800 pixels, this display is capable of displaying fine details without making things too small to work comfortably while on the move.  Of course, the resolution might be limiting if you plan to use this notebook as a mobile video and photo editing platform … but most people interested in a 12-inch notebook aren’t editing high-resolution photos on the road.

When viewing the screen from straight ahead, colors are rich and the contrast is excellent. Full-screen movies are look quite good with deep blacks and good viewing angles.  Horizontal viewing angles are particularly impressive so you won’t have trouble showing a presentation to multiple people sitting at a desk. The vertical viewing angle from above starts to wash out at extreme angles and colors begin to invert from below … but the overwhelming majority of users will never view the screen from high above or far below.

Features and Webcam
The 2530p has two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, a VGA port, Ethernet and modem jacks, mic and headphone ports, docking and battery connectors, and a Kensington lock slot. It also has an ExpressCard/54 slot and an SD Card reader. Ideally, we would have liked to see at least one more USB port.

The 2-megapixel webcam captured sharp, well-lit still photos. Our VGA video showed delays, even when we captured video, which doesn’t involve a (potentially slow) Internet connection. When we made a Skype call, our friend noticed some latency around our mouth but, predictably, said the picture became more fluid as she shrunk the window.

Performance
Performance on little laptops, like the EliteBook 2530p, is not about how fast it goes, but rather can it do the job and how long the battery lasts. Our EliteBook 2530p came with the Intel SL9400 low voltage processor, with a clock speed of 1.86GHz, and 6MB of cache. For graphics, HP uses the Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics chip. I don’t expect really high scores, but I do expect that it will be able to complete the tests.

Despite the above statement I still wanted to get an idea of the speed of the machine. As you can see from the numbers the speed is very low. The two tests I used are 3DMark 06 and PCMark 05. In 3DMark the EliteBook 2530p got 875 and in PCMark it did not get an overall score, but you can see the individual scores are low, but okay. These numbers are disappointing, but not surprising, hopefully it does better in the next test. The next test is a battery test and I used MobileMark 2007 for this. MobileMark does a good job testing battery life under working conditions because it runs programs like Office and Photoshop, all while keeping track of the running time. For the first battery test I used the MobileMark 2007 default power settings and I got 5 hours and 27 minutes. One thing I need to give HP credit for is their fantastic system restore disks. Rather than providing one disk that restores the system to factory settings, they provide two disks. The first one will do a clean install of the OS. The second disk has the drivers and applications, but you get to chose which drivers and apps it installs. This is a fantastic system that I hope finds its way into HP’s consumer products.

With the 6000 Series, Fujitsu finally bowed to the pressure of converting to a fashionable 16:10 ratio “wide format” display. While the 5000 Series used the “old” 4:3 aspect ratio, the ST6012 comes with a transmissive 12.1-inch display with WXGA 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. While older Fujitsu slates were usually available with a variety of displays both in size (10.4 and 12.1 inches) and display technology, the 6000 Series, for now, seems limited to the 12.1 inch transmissive LCD. This is an indoor/outdoor-viewable display with a wide 160+ degree viewing angle.

Overall dimensions have not changed much. If you look at the older ST5100 model, you can see that the design already provided room for a wide-screen format. What has changed is some of the ergonomics. Whereas the 5100 Series had all of its hardware controls arranged on the right side (when used in portrait mode), the new model moved the four cursor control keys to the upper left. The overall look has changed as well, with the silver metallic finish of the 5100 being replaced by matte black.

The complete redesign afforded Fujitsu the opportunity to update the Stylistic’s innards with Intel’s latest processor technology. The ST6000 uses a 1.4GHz Intel SU94000 Core 2 Duo processor that provides more punch, but is rated at the same thermal design power of about ten watts, which means battery life of the new machine won’t suffer. The new chip is complemented with Intel’s GS45 and ICH9-M chipset and Mobile Intel GMA 4500M HD circuitry for graphics. For wireless, the new Fujitsu slate is available either with the Intel WiFi Link 5300 or the Atheros HB92, so Fujitsu continues to make WiFi available from either Intel or Atheros.

On the connectivity side, things have changed a bit. There is no longer a modem port, and IEEE1394 FireWire also has gone by the wayside; with USB 2.0 so fast, there really isn’t a need for it anymore for most applications. The PC Card slot has been replaced with an ExpressCard slot, another sign of the times (the model offered in the US lists a PC Card slot), and there is now a 1.3 megapixel integrated vidcam. Else, Fujitsu offers Bluetooth v2.1, 3G/UMTS wide area wireles (three dual band WLAN and two UMTS antennas, according to Fujitsu literature).

As far as the operating system goes, Fujitsu offers a “TwinLoad.” The ST6000 models come with pre-installed Vista Business, but users also get downgrade rights and can easily change to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.
As usual, Fujitsu offers several optional stands and docks and other accessories needed for business or vertical market applications.

Battery life remains impressive: initially listed as up to six hours with the standard 56 watt-hour battery, and up to nine hours with the high-capacity 84 watt-hour battery, Fujitsu upped the estimates to 7.5 and 11.5 hours. 2.5-inch hard disks are shock-mounted and come in larger capacities than ever, ranging up to a 250GB 5400rpm SATA drive. Optionally you can also get a 64GB solid state disk.

As of early October 2008, the ST6000 model was listed on the Fujitsu Siemens website in great detail. As of this update (March 2009), the ST6012 is also on the Fujitsu USA site with minor differences in specs.
There isn’t much information on ruggedness. Fujitsu has a general white paper on testing, wuality and reliability, but it does not show what tests are performed on which product (see here). As is, Fujitsu mentions a shck-mounted hard disk, a Fujitsu Shock Sensor Utility, 41-95 degree operating temperature, but no sealing or drop spec. This information is becoming increasingly important.

The Stylistic ST6000 platform is a reliable, well executed slate computer from a blue-chip vendor that gets the job done. The new models are technologically up-to-date, provide a good balance between performance and battery life, and remain light and handy. Note that the ST6000 and ST5100 lines are now the only remaining full tablet in Fujitsu’s lineup; all other Tablet PC models are notebook convertibles (T1010, T2020, T4220, T5010).

It’s difficult to think of a single major notebook manufacturer who hasn’t also brought out a netbook by now. Unfortunately, in their haste to get on the mini-mobile-PC bandwagon, many of them have sacrificed considerations like ergonomics. Initially, it would appear Toshiba’s NB100 netbook is yet another casualty of this trend, but let’s find out how it actually holds up in this and other regards. Toshiba offers several different versions of its netbook, being available with a choice of Ubuntu or Windows XP Home, 512MB or 1024MB of memory and hard drive sizes of 80 or 160GB. Of course, core components like an Intel N270 Atom processor running at 1.60GHz and Intel integrated GMA 950 graphics remain constants. There’s also a selection of colours available, though unfortunately these are tied to specific configurations.

Design
The design is worse than just starkly utilitarian – it’s old fashioned, like something found in a time capsule buried beneath Toshiba HQ. With its chunky chassis, black plastic panelling and silver plastic trim around the edges the NB100 is an unwelcome blast from the past which shrieks “Hello, 1980s!” and takes us back to the era when laptops could never be more than boring business tools. That’s a huge disappointment compared to the stylish Toshiba notebooks we’re seeing of late. The NB100’s only concession to this is the glossy lid, coated in shiny black and generously flecked with sapphire blue. However we’re worried this would scratch very easily, especially since Toshiba doesn’t even include a slip case or sleeve to protect the netbook between sessions. Opening the NB100 up reveals a mostly matte black interior, with the small power-button and accenting around the sides and touchpad the only exceptions. To be honest, after the classy and relatively attractive exterior, the interior of Toshiba’s netbook looks plain and dull. This is not helped by the thick bezel around the screen with its integrated speaker grille, or the touchpad which thanks to being a slightly different shade of black than the rest makes the whole affair look somewhat cheap and toy-like.

Display
If you deduced from the name of Toshiba’s netbook that it has 10inch display, we must disappoint you with the fact that NB100 has 8.9inch display with resolution of 1024×600 pixels and average viewing angles. This glare type display with LED backlight didn’t make to positive impressions on us but it does its job correctly. The 1024 x 600 screen uses one of Toshiba’s ‘TruBrite’ panels with a glossy high-contrast finish. This makes for crisp and vibrant images when there’s not too much light around, but is otherwise prone to excessive glare. Weight of this netbook is 1.05kg and it is one of the lightest netbooks that we saw so far.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Another negative that becomes immediately obvious when opening the NB100-128 up is that the keyboard has tiny, cramped keys and our favourite bugbear: the right-Shift to the outside of the upward cursor key, just like on the original 7in Eee PC. Somehow, though, Toshiba has managed to make the keyboard even worse, with squishy and occasionally unreliable feedback. Nor is the touchpad much of a step up. It’s quite a bit smaller than the off-black champagne-bordered section suggests and feels just as cramped to use as the keyboard. In a nice touch, Toshiba has made the main left-click button wider than the right one, but goes and spoils it by making both touchpad buttons a little thin and difficult to press.

Port
All up, we found only a few truly noteworthy features on the NB100. Toshiba deserves a tip of the hat for sensibly locating some ports on the rear of the NB100 rather than the sides. The VGA port sits at the far right, to one side of the extended battery booty, allowing plenty of room for the VGA connector and shroud. Ethernet and AC sockets, which you could imagine often being used at the same time, are grouped together on the left. Audio-wise, things take a few steps back again. Not that the speakers on most other netbooks are anything to write home about, but the Asus Eee PC has shown (or made audible, rather) how it can and should be done. Having said that, they’re perfectly adequate for an episode of your favourite TV show and there’s always the option of using headphones.

Performance
At the heart of it all lives the same 1.60GHz Intel N270 Atom processor as found in most other netbooks currently on the market, which is capable of handling everyday tasks but will struggle with things like decoding 720p video and other CPU-intensive tasks. 1GB of memory should be just about enough to keep Windows XP happy, though you will want to avoid heavy multitasking. So as with every netbook we’ve reviewed to date, everyday usage is fine but it obviously won’t keep up with notebooks when the going gets tougher. The 120GB hard drive is average for a netbook, since there are plenty of models on the market that offer 160GB, but then again there are ones that only have 60GB. In terms of networking, Toshiba hasn’t been overly generous. Ethernet is of the non-Gigabit variety, Wi-Fi is only up to 802.11g and Bluetooth is completely absent. One point that’s remarkable is how quiet the NB100-128 stays during use. Most netbooks are fairly silent little things, but the Toshiba is practically inaudible even under load. Despite this, it never gets uncomfortably warm.

Spec
Processor Intel Atom N270 at 1,6 GHz
Chipset Intel 945GSE
Memory 1GB DDR2
HDD [GB] 120
Optical Device none
Graphic Adapter Intel GMA950
Screen 8,9″ (1024×600)
Connectors 3xUSB, VGA, Bluetooth, Wireless 802.11b/g, card reader
Weight 1.05kg

Dell announced the availability of the Vostro V13, a new addition to its small-business Vostro line of laptops. The big news here is that it’s the company’s first ULV thin-and-light for the business sector, an area that seems to be a big focus factor in a down economy when lots of small business entrepreneurs are looking for affordable portables. We had the chance for a quick up-close hands-on look at one, and it’s definitely an attractive little laptop.

The V13 is a collision of high end—the design, angled and thin, heavily echoing the original Adamo’s silhouette, and build quality, as sturdy as any non-unibody laptop we’ve tried to bend—and low rent—the keyboard is straight off Dell’s budget Inspiron line and well, I already told you what’s inside (there’s other spec sparseness as well, like 2GB RAM, VGA out and 2 USB ports, one of which is a combo eSATA number). The 13.3-inch, LED-backlit, anti-glare display is nice enough though, at a resolution of 1366×768. The 6-cell sealed battery is rated for 4 hours and 42 minutes, according to Dell, but expect less actually using it, obviously.For Windows 7 and a Core 2 Duo ULV, the price rises in the range of mid-to-high $600, which is still really good compared with its closest competitors, the HP Pavilion dm3 and Asus UL30A-A1.The Vostro V13 will support up to 4GB of RAM, and can be optionally upgraded with 3G mobile broadband.

An Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU powers the Dell Vostro V13, and its 1.3GHz clock speed and two CPU cores help move things along swiftly. You can multitask, watch high resolution videos or create media-rich presentations without getting bogged down. Helping the CPU are 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 500GB (5400rpm) hard drive and integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics.

In our WorldBench 6 benchmark suite the notebook scored 67. This means that, in terms of overall system performance, the Dell Vostro V13 is over twice as fast as a typical netbook with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom CPU and 1GB of RAM.

In our iTunes MP3 encoding and Blender 3D rendering tests, which primarily test CPU speed, the Dell Vostro V13 was approximately three times as fast as netbook. The hard drive’s performance was also impressive, recording a speed of 35 megabytes per second in our transfer tests. However, it is a big drive and it will inevitably slow down somewhat once you start to really fill it with files.

The Dell Vostro V13 is one of a number of ultraslim laptops to hit the market in recent times, but its design is a little different to the norm. It actually looks a lot like the Adamo by Dell. The screen is mounted almost 1cm in from the spine of the notebook, so its metal hinges are not located directly on the spine itself.

The spine acts as a handle of sorts. The location of the screen gives the notebook more strength and changes its centre of gravity. It feels beautifully balanced; when the notebook is lying flat on a desk, the screen can be lifted using only one hand (it doesn’t have a latch). The hinges have just the right amount of resistance to allow precise adjustments.

Tailored for discriminating small-business travelers, the Vostro V13 combines robust design and ultra-light mobility at a price that aims to keep you on budget.It may lighten your carrying case, but the Vostro V13 has the productivity-empowering features to keep you working at full capacity. Stay in Touch: With the integrated webcam and microphone, you can use your favorite communication software to make Internet calls, conduct video conferences and remotely exchange files. Always Be Connected: Go wireless with a full range of connectivity options: 802.11g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and WWAN mobile broadband (coming soon).When your business demands time, your technology shouldn’t. The Vostro V13 offers a suite ofcustomizable service and support solutions designed specifically for small business.