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The Toshiba Portege 2000 is the slimmest (14.9mm) and lightest (1.2kg) notebook PC that we've seen. In a brushed aluminium and black case, it has a very stylish look as well as some interesting and highly useful features.
It's based around a 750MHz low-voltage Intel Pentium III-M processor. This has 512KB of Level 2 cache and is accompanied by 256MB of PC100 SDRam, which can be expanded to a maximum of 512MB.
The hard disk drive, a 1.8in Ultra ATA/100 20GB Toshiba unit that spins at 4,200rpm, is the only built-in drive, as there's no room for an optical or floppy disk drive.
This is an industry first, as the hard drives usually fitted into ultra-portable notebook PCs are generally 2.5in models. Smaller drives have until now offered reduced capacity, so the fact that Toshiba's new drives have capacities between 10GB and 20GB is a step forward.
Despite its diminutive size, the Portege 2000 still has room for many features often only found on larger notebook PCs. It has both an integrated 10/100Base-T network interface and built-in 802.11b wireless, via a pre-installed Toshiba wireless local area network mini-PCI card.
To turn the wireless connection on, all you need to do is flick the switch on the right-hand side of the chassis. There are a row of LEDs by the screen hinge, one of which lights up when the wireless connection is enabled.
Should you want to install any additional hardware, the Portege 2000 also has a Type II PC card slot, an SD card slot, two USB ports and an external VGA connector that will drive an external monitor up to 1,600 by 1,200 pixels.
Because of its reduced size the Portege 2000 only comes with a 12.1in. TFT that has a native resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels. This is powered by a Trident CyberALADDiN-T graphics processor with 16MB of video memory. However, the screen isn't very bright, which could prove frustrating in brightly-lit environments.
Even though it has a compact chassis, it manages to provide a full-sized keyboard that's well laid out and easy to use. There's even room to rest your hands comfortably while typing.
Unlike most Toshiba notebook PCs, the Portege 2000 has a trackpad, rather than a trackpoint, for cursor control. This is a matching silver colour and is very responsive with left and right click buttons.
You might think that because of size restrictions, the size of its battery would result in poor battery life, but that isn't the case. When we tested it using BatteryMark 4.0.1, it recorded a time of exactly two hours, even with power-saving assistance turn off.
For those who require more battery power, Toshiba offers an additional clip-on battery for £169.99 (ex. VAT). Even with this attached, the Portege's weight is still only 1.5kg.
The clip-on battery also raises it up slightly so that it sits at a more comfortable height for typing as well as allowing air to circulate underneath for improved cooling. You can also replace the PC Card CD-Rom drive with a CD-RW drive for £319.99 (ex. VAT).
If you're looking for an ultra-portable notebook PC that's extremely thin and light, Toshiba's Portege 2000 is one of the most stylish models we've seen.
Price: £1,699 (ex. VAT)
Specifications:
OS: Windows XP Professional
Processor: 750MHz Intel Pentium III-M
Memory: 256MB of PC100 SDRam
Graphics chipset: 16MB Trident CyberALADDiN-T
Hard disk: 20GB
Optical drive: External CD-Rom drive
Display: 12in. XGA
I/O: Two x USB, 10/100Base-T, SD card slot, serial, infrared, 802.11b, Type II PC Card slot, VGA.
Contact: Toshiba 0870 444 9844
www.toshiba.co.uk
See also:
The Portégé 3500 can be used as a tablet PC or as a standard laptop and boasts wireless LAN and Bluetooth connectivity 15 Nov 2002
It's JVC's first attempt at a notebook - and from where we're standing, this minute model shapes up well. 30 Oct 2002
JVC's first foray into the notebook PC market is a pretty impressive product. 29 Oct 2002
The fastest notebook PC we've ever tested and also one of the best looking. 20 May 2002
All Notebooks & Tablets PCs
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