The BenQ Joybook 7000 v07 is a multimedia PC with some MCE-like abilities. It comes loaded with QMedia Center - another MCE clone - and a PCMCIA-sized remote. QMedia operates much like MCE in that there is a main page – coloured BenQ purple of course - from which the usual Pictures and Videos icons enable navigation of the user’s media files. There are no multimedia buttons on the notebook itself, meaning you need to use the mouse if you lose the remote.
The casing is an attractive metallic blue/purple and houses the usual 4 USB ports, DVD-RW, LAN/modem, flash memory reader and video outs. There is also adequate cooling, with side ventilation giving the user a glimpse of the large copper heatsinks inside. The keyboard and touchpad are quite good, but there is no scrollbar - making navigation through long pages a little trickier than a modern mouse. There is also a button on the side that enables the wireless card to be turned off - which can help reduce battery usage.
The 14-inch widescreen has 'unsurpassed brightness' according to the documentation, and is indeed quite bright - good for watching DVDs. But the effect can get a little too much – meaning the loss of contrast and causing off-axis viewing to be a little ghosted.
The Joybook performed poorly on the synthetic PCMark test, with a score of 3291 Marks, which is mostly due to its lowly specified 1.6Ghz processor. But it did surprisingly well in the games tests with 15.9 fps in Doom 3, and scored a total of 10234 3DMarks. The Mobility 9700 would help in this regard, by providing some much-needed muscle for games.
The Joybook is another jack-of-all-trades with nothing specific making it stand out in this field - apart from its slightly lower price of $3299 and light weight (only 2kg). This notebook would suit portable multimedia use on train trips or some light gaming. Not for hardcore gamers or those looking for a rugged notebook.