By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
22/05/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/notebooks/0,39050488,43407154p,00.htm

One of the first things which popped out of the Versa S9100 press release was the fact that the top cover is able to withstand 300kg per square feet of pressure. Considering that its closest competitor, the Panasonic ToughBook CF-W7, is rated at 100kg, we found NEC's claims mighty impressive.

One might wonder why the Japanese test their semi-rugged business laptops for pressure when no one in their right minds would want to use a several-thousand-dollar investment as a seat cushion. One reason is that the public train system in Japan is so packed during rush hour that station attendants actually push and squeeze commuters through the door much like sardines in a can. So you can imagine the kind of pressure a laptop in a haversack may experience. The Versa S9100 is built to survive such an environment, but you pay a hefty premium for its tough design as well as long battery life.

Design

At 1.3kg, the glossy black body of the Versa S9100 is as light as the ToughBook CF-W7, though significantly slimmer with a footprint of 292 x 214 x 29.8mm despite its rather blocky appearance. Going with the trend, the top cover is coated with a glossy finish which is a fingerprint magnet. We wish designers would stop putting high-maintenance designs on ultraportables which gets manhandled on a regular basis.





As previously mentioned, the Versa S9100 is rated to withstand pressures of up to 300kg per square feet. As such, the build quality is excellent and solid, besides the fact the the machine was designed, tested and manufactured entirely in Japan. The latchless LCD is held in place by the tension of the hinge which feels tight and keeps the screen angled just right. The keyboard is smaller than the excellent version found on the ThinkPad X61, though typing on it is comfortable enough for long emails and documents. We like the black trackpad which fits in with the rest of the laptop, though the silver buttons look a little cheap and smudge easily.

Special mention must be made of an unusually large latch found on the front of the chassis. With its size, we expected this latch to perform a vital or significant function, but all it did was to eject the PCMCIA card. This design element is a little out of place considering that most use a smaller and less obtrusive spring-loaded button.

Features

Despite its high price, the Versa S9100 has an average feature set for a corporate portable. Data security is handled by the fingerprint and TPM security chip combo, while the harddisk is protected with an accelerometer. This detects unusual acceleration and parks the reader head to prevent scratching the magnetic media. Bucking the trend is the omission of an integrated Webcam which some professionals would have appreciated for video-conferencing.



Despite its light weight, a DVD writer hides under the hood and handles any flavor of DVD and CDs save for the DVD-RAM format. The 12.1-inch widescreen display is lit by LED lights, which give brighter output while reducing power consumption. The graphics engine is powered by an integrated Intel X3100 chipset, which is more than adequate for most business needs outside of intensive image or video editing. External displays are handled via the VGA-out port. Unusual in this day and age of multiformat card readers, the memory slot in this Versa can read only SD/MMC cards.



The Wi-Fi radio is able to handle any standard currently in the market (802.11a/b/g/n) for Internet access, while Bluetooth handles short-range communications. There is no modem present, though the more common Gigabit Ethernet port is available. There are two USB 2.0 and a Type II PC Card slot for external peripherals.

Performance And Battery Life

For S$4,099, you get a low-power Core 2 Duo U7600 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 160GB storage space and Windows Vista Business Edition. The unit also comes with 1GB of Intel Turbo Memory which makes frequently used applications boot up faster. For the Versa S9100's feature set and configuration, it is a hefty price to pay considering the Panasonic ToughBook goes for S$3,699 while the ThinkPad X61 can be had for about S$2,500. It would have been a different matter if the Versa came with an SSD drive like the ThinkPad X300.

The Versa S9100 reported a Windows Experience Index of 2.4, with a score of 4.4 for the processor and 2.4 for graphics. This is good enough for working on the move, but hardly a gaming or video-editing machine. NEC claims the S9100 can run for 5 hours 41 minutes. We played a DVD movie on half-screen brightness and the laptop gave up after 3 hours. Considering the drain of spinning and reading an optical drive, as well as rendering the graphics, the Versa S9100 using productivity tools may well run past the 5-hour mark.

Service And Support

For a business laptop at this price, we expected at least a three-year international warranty. However, this Versa comes with only a regional one-year onsite warranty which, though better than consumer models, is a little too stingy for a corporate machine. NEC laptops are supported via its service center, Web site, email and telephone helpline. On its Web site, you can register your warranty online as well as download drivers and patches for the notebook. Simple troubleshooting can be done through the support email or phone. For more detailed diagnosis and repairs, NEC will dispatch a technician to your location and perform the necessary diagnosis and repairs.