Portable Office
The paperless office may have been a myth, but the portable office is becoming more and more a reality every year. Only a couple of years ago, a mobile computer user had to make significant compromise
We take 10 of the best desktop replacement notebooks and run them head to head.
The paperless office may have been a myth, but the portable office is becoming more and more a reality every year. Only a couple of years ago, a mobile computer user had to make significant compromises in terms of features and performance for the luxury of working on the move. These days, however, several major advances in mobile processor, battery and screen technology mean that the portable PC is getting closer and closer to becoming the equal of its desktop brethren.
This month the PC Authority Labs looks at ten of the top desktop replacement notebooks on the market. With the possible exception of the Soyo PW-930, none of them are intended to be considered as ultra-portable, and as such, they are content to make sacrifices in terms of size and weight in order to include more features, like internal CD-ROM drives and larger screens. This means that they are not the best choice for those looking to lug their PCs with them, but they are ideal for people who are constantly moving from place to place, and want to be able to bring the equivalent of their office PC, with all their files and mail, along with them.
Only in February of this year, we ran a notebook Labs, and while those systems were somewhat lighter and more portable than desktop replacement systems, it is interesting to see how far ahead the current crop of notebooks are in terms of performance, features and battery life. While the average processor class in the February Labs was around a Pentium III/366MHz, only nine months later we have an average processor class of a Pentium III/700MHz - nearly double, and with a corresponding increase in performance. Aided by advances such as Intels SpeedStep, battery life has also taken a jump, with systems like the Acer TravelMate 602 TER managing an incredible five hours and 42 minutes battery rundown, compared to the last notebook Labs champion, the TPG 7300 at three hours 37 minutes. So if you fancy being able to take your office with you, read on.
Technical Editor Tim Dean
Labs Assistant Ashok Zaman
Contributors Jamie Dickson, David Hollingworth, David Lin, Philip Luces
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