HP/Compaq nx 9110 notebook 

The nx9110 is 3.65kilos but has everything built in. The dimensions are 36x28x4.5cm and the screen is 38cm wxga (1280x800) in 32bit colour. The ATI 128MB mobility Radeon video is quite capable of driving an external screen as well.

This notebook has 512MB of RAM with a 60GB (55.8GB) hard disc and a P4 3.2GHz processor. There is a DVD+RW drive (reads CD's fine) and 16bit sound. For those who need dial up a 56k modem is provided, as well as the 10/100 network port.

It has a port replicator but as it has almost all ports this is unlikely to be required. There are three USB2 ports a FireWire and a Parallel port. Headphone and microphone sockets and a TV out (s-video). The only thing missing is a serial port.

This a powerful unit at a keen price of not much difference to a desktop equivalent and this has the advantage of being able to run on batteries. This model does not have the ability to burn CD's but it is around £134 cheaper than one that does and this has a 50% larger hard disk. So if you need to burn CD's buy a USB2 CD writer and plug it in.

The screen even when run on batteries was excellently bright and while this unit will never break any records for battery life someone can get a powerful unit for office use and the ability to run on batteries when required. Lots of more modern trains have power points so take the power block with you on your travels.

Among the extras I attached was an external CD-RW drive and a USB TV card but naturally this was while the unit was tethered to the mains.

Shutdown was a very respectable 10seconds while boot up was just over a minute. Return from suspension was very quick and in use a lot of people like this mode.

I found the hard disc a little noisy on spin up but the whole unit was otherwise almost silent. I tried using it on my knee but although I managed it for a short period I would not say it was comfortable and I always felt as if the unit wanted to slip off. A table (on that modern train) would be fine. In an office environment it was perfect and certainly a desktop replacement. I put several software packages on it and it ran them just as well as a desktop machine but then again with a 3.2GHz processor so it should.

If you need to travel occasionally with your notebook then provided you have good muscles this is for you. The alternative (assuming getting larger muscles is not an option) is a desktop in the office and maybe a ultra small notebook or a PDA. The price of this unit even at the HP price of £1199 is inviting. I could probably cobble together a desktop machine with the same power for a few hundred less but by the time a PDA is added the differential would be small. If you went for a small notebook and a desktop they you would certainly be in the red.

Link : http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF06b/21675-283229-283229-283229-297845-3703179-8302119.html