Top 10 notebooks of 2006

by Darius Chang |
It had been an interesting year to say the least. AMD and Intel went dual-core, with the latter throwing out not one, but two iterations of its Centrino Core platform in a mere 6 months. Apple, despite years of resisting and holding out with its PowerPC processor, went over to the Intel side of the Force and hence we have the first true dual-boot Macs, courtesy of the Boot Camp software.

But at the end of the day, what is inside is as important as what's on the outside. Asus came out with the first leather-bound S6F portable, while Fujitsu and Sony produced almost comically-small portables, LifeBook P7120 and Vaio VGN-TX37GP, respectively, which would have looked like toys if not for its undeniable drool factor.

HP has gone from fugly boxes to the industrial-designed HP Pavilion dv2000 multimedia notebook. Dell, as always, comes up king in terms of value-for-money offerings, with its Inspiron 6400 offering the latest technology as low prices.

Without much further ado, we present the top 10 portables in 2006.

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1.  Dell Inspiron 6400 (Core Duo T2400 Processor 1.83GHz, 512MB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 7 out of 10
The good: Comfortable keyboard and touchpad; adequate display; solid collection of basic multimedia features; excellent multimedia controls; wide array of configuration options; competitive base price.
The bad: Too heavy for regular travel; lacks a Type II PC Card slot.
The bottom line: The Dell Inspiron 6400 makes a good basic home or small-business laptop and has a solid set of multimedia capabilities, though comparable models can be found at slightly lower price points.

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2.  Asus S6F (Core Duo L2400 Processor 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 9 out of 10
The good: Ultra-small, lightweight chassis; excellent keyboard; great screen; wireless connectivity.
The bad: Relative lack of power; limited number of IO ports.
The bottom line: The S6F is an almost-perfect combination of style and substance. Its distinctive leather finish, small form factor and long battery life make it a joy to take on the road, and its powerful components allow it to keep up with the fastest of PCs. It's also tremendous value for money.

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3.  Fujitsu LifeBook P7120 (Pentium M Processor ULV 753 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM)       
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.5 out of 10
The good: Very portable; long battery life; economy mode conserves battery; good speaker position; wide range of display brightness; strong security features; fanless design.
The bad: No ExpressCard slot; integrated graphics chipset; no Gigabit Ethernet.
The bottom line: For users unwilling to sacrifice features and yet demand a diminutive notebook, the Fujitsu LifeBook P7120 fits the bill perfectly.

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4.  HP Pavilion dv2000 (Core Duo T2400 processor 1.83GHz, 1GB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10
The good: Laminated scratch-resistant body; discrete graphics card option; Integrated Webcam; HP QuickPlay function; stylish touch-sensitive buttons.
The bad: Thick chassis; below average battery life.
The bottom line: HP's new line of entertainment notebook not only delivers in features, but also goes the extra mile to redesigning the chassis to appeal in those with unconventional tastes.

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5.  Sony Vaio VGN-TX37GP (Core Solo U1400 Processor 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 8.8 out of 10
The good: Portability; integrated DVD drive; fingerprint reader; battery life.
The bad: Position of mouse buttons; limited memory card compatibility; few USB ports.
The bottom line: A terrific petite laptop, the TX37GP is light, stylish and has a prodigious battery life--it's perfect for using on-the-go. Clearly, it's not meant for playing modern games, but for day-to-day mobile computing you'll have to go a long way to beat this.

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6.  Toshiba Satellite A100 (Core Duo Processor T2400 1.83GHz, 512MB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.8 out of 10
The good: Available in several colors for the fashion conscious; full set of connectivity options which includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared and Gigabit Ethernet; fingerprint security scanner; innovative dual-mode touchpad; plays CDs without booting into Windows; excellent audio output.
The bad: Speaker muffled when laptop is closed; poor battery life.
The bottom line: The Toshiba Satellite A100 with its sunlight copper color is sure to turn heads. However, it's not all looks and no brains as this notebook is chock full of features for work and play.

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7.  Asus A6J (Core Duo T2500 Processor 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.3 out of 10
The good: Powerful graphics performance; tough carbon fiber exterior; plays music discs without bootup; integrated Webcam; DVI port; wide array of connectivity options.
The bad: Thick and heavy; poor speaker position; no easy access USB ports; no ExpressCard slot; stiff touchpad buttons; no security features for a business notebook; poor battery life.
The bottom line: The powerful performance, as well as the wealth of connectivity features, make this notebook suitable for almost any computing work. However, the lack of security features and ExpressCard slot are glaring omissions that mar an otherwise impressive business machine.

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8.  Dell Inspiron 630m (Pentium M Processor 750 1.86GHz, 512MB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 7.3 out of 10
The good: Ample multimedia control buttons; bright widescreen display; power indicator on the battery; good speaker position.
The bad: Heavy and bulky; no pre-boot DVD play; integrated graphics chipset.
The bottom line: The cheapest configuration is adequate only as a basic computing machine. Fortunately, Dell offers upgrades, at a price, to power users looking for a multimedia notebook.

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9.  Compaq Presario V3000 series (Core Duo T2400 Processor 1.83Hz, 512MB RAM)
 
CNET Asia rating: 6.9 out of 10
The good: Strong set of specs for the price; solid performance and battery life; bright 14.1-inch display; includes most of the ports and connections home users need.
The bad: Putting pressure on the case above the optical disc drive results in buzzing noise.
The bottom line: The HP Compaq Presario V3000 delivers a strong set of components--plus a choice between AMD and Intel processors--and a decent set of basic features for a competitive price.

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10.  HP Compaq Business Notebook nx6320 (Core Duo T2500 Processor 2.0GHz, 512MB RAM)

Outlook
It may not be the prettiest model in the market, but the HP nx6320 knows what it does best and goes for it. It has fingerprint sensor, TPM security chip and harddisk protection to ensure that private data stays confidential. The unassuming chassis is laminated with a scratch-resistant coating to prevent disfiguring scars from everyday use. Coupled with its reasonable price and options to use either Intel Core Duo or AMD Turion X2 processors, the nx6320 definitely gives the competition a run for their money.

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Darius Chang
About the author

Tracking laptop and PC trends since 2005, Darius Chang may have been knee deep in bits and bytes but is certainly not a binary person. Under that big and soft exterior holds a marshmallow core which dotes on his god-daughters and nephew. Suspected of ADD, his interests span disparate fields such as sustainability studies, diving, sports, politics, etc. A true jack of all trades, but master of one (maybe two).

Darius Chang, Senior Writer

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