Sharp Actius MM1110

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

Price: £1099

Manufacturer: Sharp

Ratings

Overall rating:

Rate this product

Verdict

Pros:

Size; docking station.

Cons:
Not very powerful; few extras.

Verdict:
It's never going to replace your main PC but as a complementary portable it behaves well.

David Ludlow, Personal Computer World 22 Jan 2004

There are few products with the wow factor that makes you want to rush out and buy them, but the Sharp MM1110 is one of them. Little bigger than an A5 jotter and, impressively, weighing just 0.9kg, it's hard to believe that Sharp has managed to squeeze an entire notebook PC into the case.

But flip open the case and hit the power button, and the 10.4in screen springs to life, with the familiar site of Windows XP Home soon filling the display. Despite the small screen the picture is top-notch. Colours are vibrant and the picture is crisp. Even the keyboard is easy to type on. So how has Sharp pulled off this little wonder?

To start with, the company worked out exactly who it was aiming the notebook at: home and business users who want an ultraportable for work applications that complements their main workhorse PC.

So, under the bonnet, instead of the usual Intel or AMD processor we find a Transmeta Crusoe 5800 running at 1GHz, backed up by 256MB of DDR Ram. While the Crusoe is not as powerful as its competition, it consumes less power and is smaller, hence the size of the MM1110. Our system tests reflected this and, while the scores are quite poor compared to other systems, it is more than adequate for word processing, email and Internet access, which is what it's built for.

The onboard Silicon Motion Lynx 3DM graphics, which use 24MB of shared memory, follow a similar pattern. It's functional enough to work with, but incapable of running any games or complex 3D software. In fact our 3D tests wouldn't even run due to a lack of video memory.

The final space-saving move comes from the 15GB hard disk, which has a tiny footprint and keeps the size of the case down. That's not a lot of storage by today's standards, but is plenty for simply storing work files.

What Sharp has achieved, though, is to work well with these limitations, which could hamstring another product. First, and most inventive, is the docking cradle. Similar in concept to those provided with handheld computers, the cradle lets the MM1110 stand vertically next to a PC while it's charging.

A USB2 lead connects it to a PC and, with a quick flick of a switch on the front, turns the MM1110 into an external hard disk. Files can then be copied to and from the notebook over the fast link, so you only really need the MM1110 to store files that you are working on.

This connection can be used for copying new applications and drivers, as you don't get an optical drive in the box.

When you're away from your PC and the docking station, you can revert to more traditional methods of communication, with the onboard network or wireless connections providing all you need.

Other than this, the MM1110 is rather bare of ports, as the chassis size means there's only room for two USB2 ports and a PC Card slot. There's a VGA connector, although you'll need the supplied dongle to connect it to an external monitor.

One of the most important aspects of a notebook like this is battery life. Our tests gave us a time of just under two hours, which might not be Centrino beating but the MM1110's battery is very small. Longer computing times are at hand with the optional long-life battery, which should easily give you around six hours of use.

The MM1110 is always going to be a niche product, and not for mass consumption. But knowing these boundaries, we think Sharp has done a good job. It might not win any power awards, but it's good enough for work applications, and works well in conjunction with a main desktop PC. For these reasons we'd gladly ditch a more powerful but heavier notebook in favour of the MM1110.

Contact: PC World 08705 464 464
www.pcworld.co.uk

Specifications: