PACKARD BELL EASYNOTE R5175

IN BRIEF: Packard Bell keeps the flag flying, with a laptop ideal for both home and office

As the consumer arm of NEC Computers, Packard Bell has continued to maintain a strong position throughout Europe, as one of the more recognisable brands on the market. With a respected name, as well as a reputation for providing quality products, Packard Bell stays a popular choice for home users and small businesses requiring reliable performance. Marking the new Packard Bell R Series is the EasyNote R5175 (£999 inc. VAT), which ships with an Intel 1.7GHz Pentium M 735 processor, and a healthy 512MB DDR RAM memory support. Fully Centrino certified, the R5175 packs a 60GB hard drive into its slimline frame, and sees its graphical abilities demonstrated by a 64MB shared Intel 855 chipset. Finally, a 15.4-inch TFT WXGA display provides the visuals, with a 1280 x 800-pixel resolution allowing plenty of space for desktop tasks, all conveyed with a crisp resolution and vibrant colours.

With such generous specifications, hopes were high for the R5175 to perform well in our benchmarking tests. An impressive MobileMark 2002 score of 181 more than lived up to expectations, and ensures that the system is powerful enough for a wide range of tasks; from business to multimedia. In use, the R5175 proved responsive and quick, allowing programs to be opened and operated with ease. We found that multiple programs ran comfortably side-by-side, with little to no conflict arising. Unfortunately, less remarkable was the Packard Bell's graphical performance, with a paltry 2516, which is fine for general day-to- day applications, but simply won't cut the mustard when it comes to running 3D games, such as Doom 3.

GET CONNECTED
In a bid to ensure maximum compatibility with the latest technological formats, the R5175 comes packed with enough ports to guarantee a good shelf life. All sockets can be found on the front and left-hand side of the R5175, and consist of the standard Ethernet and modem connections, alongside three USB 2.0 ports, an S-Video out and a 4-in-1 media card reader, supporting Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia Card (MMC), Memory Stick (MS) and Memory Stick Pro (MS PRO) formats. As a final touch, due to DVD's phenomenal success, is the inclusion of a multi-standard DVD burner, supporting DVD+RW as well as DVD-RW. Comfort and ergonomics are equally well ride, with a nicely laid out, sturdy keyboard providing painless interaction with the system. Just as functional are the touchpad and mouse ration and designed for ease of access. Only a couple of negative points hinder the R5175, the first concerning the keyboard. A certain degree of heavy-handedness was required in order for the buttons to register. Also, the system tended to heat up quite a lot, requiring the fan to run frequently and produce a distracting level of noise from the left side of the system.

Regardless of these minor bumps though, the EasyNote R5175 performed more than adequately and proved an able machine, capable of achieving a variety of tasks for both home and business users. Although by no means a powerhouse system, the R5175 will fulfil most mid-level requirements and provide a stable system for an assortment of needs.

PRICE £850/£999 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR Intel Pentium 735
MEMORY 512MB DDR SDRAM
HARD DRIVE Hitachi 60GB
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 15-inch TFT
DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1280 x 800 pixels
GRAPHICS CARD Intel 855
DIMENSIONS 355 x 250 x 32mm
WEIGHT 2.9kg
PC CARDS (TYPE II/III) 1/0
WIRELESS LAN 802.11g
ETHERNET Yes
USB PORTS 3
FIREWIRE 1
STANDARD WARRANTY 1 yr RTB
WARRANTY UPGRADE none supplied
CONTACT 01628 512456 www.packardbell.co.uk

VALUE FOR MONEY 7
FEATURES 7
MOBILITY 7
BUILD QUALITY 7
OVERALL 7

BATTERY LIFE 152 MINUTES
MOBILEMARK 2002 181
3DMARK 2001 2516