NEC Versa M500

NEC's latest addition to its Versa range of notebooks is the M500, a low-cost twin spindle Centrino model aimed at the "price conscious" segment of the business user market.

Powered by a 1.4GHz Intel Pentium M, backed by 256MB of PC2100 memory and Intel's 855 chipset, the M500 has sufficient performance to please most business users. As a Centrino model it features integrated wireless LAN and a reasonable battery life. It also comes with a multi-format card reader as standard. Its black and silver finish looks stylish, but it's a chunky beast that weighs 3kg, so it's not recommended for the frequent traveller.

It comes with an unusual choice of hard drive, a Seagate Momentus ST94011A. This 40GB Ultra ATA/100 drive has a spin speed of 5,400rpm and an 8MB buffer. The optical drive is a Matshita UJDA750, a 24X/24X/24X/8X DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

The keyboard is of a better quality than that found on many notebooks - it is well laid out and has a responsive typing action. The three-button trackpad is also a pleasure to use. At the front edge of the notebook there's a four-pin FireWire port, two audio ports and the 4-in-1 memory card reader. This useful device supports SmartMedia, SD, MMC and Memory Stick Flash cards.

The graphics may seem a little disappointing, but in order to achieve the low price point NEC has used the integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 solution, which shares up to 64MB of system memory, rather than a more powerful third-party solution such as one of ATI's Mobility Radeon family. Output from the graphics chip powers a 15in XGA+ TFT display that has a native resolution of 1,024 pixels by 768 pixels at 60Hz. The display casing is quite rigid, with only a limited amount of flexing. Combining Centrino technology with a 6000mAh battery gives the M500 an excellent life of 4hrs 32mins when tested using Bapco's MobileMark 2002 Productivity suite, rising to 4hrs 48min with the less demanding Reader suite.

Connectivity is quite good, with a 10/100BaseT Ethernet port as well as the integrated 802.11b Wi-Fi solution. There's also V.90 modem and a single Type II PC Card slot. You'll need two of the four USB ports for a keyboard and mouse as there are no PS/2 ports.

Overall, though, it's what you get for the price that makes this a great product for the budgetconscious buyer.

Contact: NEC (0870) 010 6329
www.nec-online.co.uk

Specifications:

• Weight: 3.0kg
• Dimensions: (DxWxH) 27.7x31.8x2.2cm
• CPU: Intel Pentium-M 1.4GHz
• Chipset: Intel 855
• Memory: 256MB PC2100 (maximum 1GB)
• Graphics: Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2
• Display: 15in. SVGA TFT
• Wireless: connectivity Integrated Intel Wireless Pro 802.11b
• I/O ports: 4xUSB 2.0, 2 x audio, 1 x 4-pin FireWire, S-Video, modem, LAN, VGA
• Hard drive: 40GB Seagate Ultra ATA/100
• Warranty One-year collect and return

See also:

Multivision Solus 1015

This space-saving desktop replacement is great value for money.  09 Mar 2004

Emachines M5116

Fast wireless networking on a capable widescreen performer.  08 Mar 2004

IBM Thinkpad G40

ThinkPad G40 pulls its weight.  01 Mar 2004

Intel Centrino

Examining Intel's Centrino technology for portable computing  25 Feb 2004

Sharp Actius MM1110

It's small, even for a notebook, but a great desktop companion.  22 Jan 2004

eMachines M5116

A decent, well-designed, widescreen notebook that offers good value for money.  09 Jan 2004

Acer Aspire 1356LMi

A solid notebook computer that aspires to replace your desktop machine.  05 Jan 2004

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