The good: Inexpensive; built-in Webcam; a generous serving of four USB ports; good audio output.

The bad: Design may be a little far out for some users; few dedicated buttons; thick chassis.

The bottom line: If you want a 13.3-inch notebook cheap, then take a closer look at the BenQ JoyBook S32. It takes no prisoners when it comes to features despite the low price tag. Then again, with its rather unique design, you may prefer to step back a little and appreciate this JoyBook via its spec sheet instead.

Read full review of the BenQ JoyBook S32 »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Sep 24, 2007

Ever since the Apple MacBook, 13.3-inch seems to be the new de facto standard for thin-and-lights. Do you feel that ultraportables sacrifice too much with their underpowered processor, while 14.1-inch screens are an overkill? Then get a 13.3-inch model. The BenQ JoyBook S32 is impressive in that it manages to squeeze almost all consumer feature sets into a light albeit thick chassis. In trying to grab a piece of the pie from the likes of the Apple MacBook, NEC Versa S3200 and Sony Vaio VGN-C22, it went for a two-prong approach--price and design. One of them hits the mark, while the other is more a hit and miss.

Design
When we reviewed the larger but more powerful JoyBook S41, we were not too hot on the polka-dot texturing on the top cover. Hence, when we heard that the S32 comes with the same design in white, we did not expect to go gaga over the look. But BenQ gave us a surprise. Instead of the white edition, our review unit came with what BenQ refers to as a "stunning 3D metallic shading" cover. We feel it's more accurately described as a deep blue turquoise look which, though unique, seems to be more comfortable in an antique jewelry store than as a piece of high-tech equipment. Though the official product page declares that this JoyBook is crafted from aluminum, the glossy cover is made from plastic and requires a little maintenance to keep those nasty fingerprints away.

Though nine out of 10 in our unofficial poll said they didn't really like the new look, you may be sure of one person who feels a certain kinship with it. Even then, unless your office has a hip culture, whipping this out while presenting your latest findings in court will certainly elicit some stares, not all of it good. The insides, thankfully, go with a more conventional black design with nice silver trimmings.

Despite its rather thick 30mm body, it weighs in at a reasonable 2.16kg, more than the NEC Versa S3200 but quite a bit lighter than the MacBook and Sony Vaio VGN-C22. As we will see later, it's footprint of 334 x 227.5mm holds more connectivity ports than its nearest competitors. The latchless design opens smoothly, while the integrated Webcam with a mirror finish is set above the display. The touchpad even incorporates an attractive wave look. Those with a fetish for dedicated buttons will be sorely disappointed as the S32 has only discrete keys for the SRS Surround Sound, Webcam and wireless function.

Features
Priced at S$1,899 (US$1,370.43), the JoyBook S32 is a clear target for the budget user. Despite its low cost, we were pleasantly surprised that it has one of the most complete feature sets in its class. More expensive 13.3-inch units with discrete graphics cards like the Asus W7S and Dell XPS M1330 may offer slightly more in the form of security features or HDMI output, but they cost well above the S$2,500 (US$1,804.14) mark.

The BenQ S32 is certainly generous with its USB 2.0 ports, offering a total of four connectors. With the exception of the Asus W7S and NEC Versa S3200 with their three USBs, all the other notebooks mentioned in this review hold only two. ExpressCard slot and mini-FireWire port fleshes out the JoyBook's external connectivity. For accessing external media, the S32 holds a DVD Super Multi Writer, while a 5-in-1 memory card reader grabs from SD/MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and xD-Picture Card standards. Wired networks go through the built-in Gigabit Ethernet and modem ports, while Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g/n radios are also available. Not bad at all for a unit that goes under the hammer for below S$2,000 (US$1,443.31).

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