Touted as the last “book” you need, this particular model is actually targeted at students, with the claim that graduates will find the laptop adequate in serving their needs even after they leave school. I’d say this is an innovative marketing idea, since the student population is a sizable target audience. I bought this machine during the Sitex exhibition where obviously the “last book” tagline doesn’t apply. Instead, it is highlighted as being a “portable all-rounder”.
At 1.95kg, it is not exactly lightweight, especially when you try holding it with one hand. If you were to carry it in a laptop bag though (the one that comes with your purchase is a rather nice one), you’ll find that indeed it is a lighter load than the typical 14″ entry-level laptops. Battery life is pretty good too, easily giving you 4 hours or more of moderate usage (e.g. surfing) if you’re on wifi (instead of mobile broadband) and tone down the screen brightness. The performance coming from the Core i5 processor is also sufficient for more demanding tasks like photo processing or software development, though booting up is a bit slow, as are launching programs. I eagerly await the day when i swap the HDD for an SSD, which should make instant program launch possible. The screen has above average sharpness and average colours. The trackpad button requires too much force – half the time you’ll have to press it twice.
Overall, it does live up to being a “portable all-rounder” without costing you an arm and a leg.
