noTebook faceoff

But the 5738Z is no regular laptop. With a 15.6 1366215;768 LED Backlit screen and two Dolby optimised surround sound speakers which have been augmented by the 3rd generation Dolby Home Theatre audio enhancement,this is a movie buffs dream. For a change,you have laptop with speakers good enough for watching movies with the subtitles safely turned off. However,if you wont stop short of being psyched by the shrill shrieks of blood-fest movies just plug in a good headphone to feel what Dolby is all about. I nearly fell off the sofa when I check out my iPod earplugs at full volumedont try that at home. The knockout dope for multimedia junkies,however,is the Arcade which bring all your movies,music,online media and pictures on a single platform.

But youd be thinking about the power needed to sustain such performance,well the six-cell Li-ion battery claims to have 3.5 hours of juice in it,more if you use the Acer Powersmart option,which comes with a dedicated button.

The multi-gesture touchpad supports circular motion scrolling,pinch action zoom and page flip,though the last option needs some practice to master. The keyboard is very user-friendly,though Im not sure the gap between the keys is ideal for dusty Indian conditions. I also found the Bluetooth and Backup Manager buttons very handy.

The 5738Z comes preloaded with Windows Vista Home Premium and touts specs like 360GB storage,3 GB DDR3 1066Mhz memory,a Intel Core2 Duo Processor T6400 2.0 GHz,a decent 1.3 Mp webcam with built-in microphone. It has a DVD-Super Multi double layer drivethe 4x Blu-ray disc option has not made it to India yetand a 5-in-1 card reader.

The dampener,however,is 2.8 kg that all this adds up to. But I guess you can lug around a bit of excess baggage after all.

Acer Aspire One D250: And the small one

Theres not much to write about the new Acer Aspire One D250 netbook,not because this little work-as-you-move netbook is no good,but because it still as good as the old Aspire One. This one is slimmer thoughwith thickness of one inch and a 10.1 LED LCD screenand cheaper at about Rs 21,000. This David still packs a punch with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor,1GB DDR2 RAM memory and 160GB hard drive.

However,the keyboard is not for flat-fingered users like me who will end up typing M along with N,and R along with E every timemaybe it is time for some lessons from the neighbourhood piano teacher. There are no dedicated keys here and most keyboard characters are multi-taskingI think its the price you have to pay for going size zero.

The webcam though with the same feature as that of the Acer Aspire 5738Z,just doesnt do the same trick in low light. Though it carries an Energy Star tag,the battery wont last you more than a couple of hours. And I still dont know how this can be a primary computer for anyone without a DVD drive. But for those looking for a second,smaller laptop to take to the coffeshop,or read RSS feeds in the loo,look no further.

Sony Vaio NW: The power tool

It is stylish,it is trendy,and can be called the Hummer in its category,but it is anything but an exceptional multimedia machine as it is touted to be. However,at Rs 37,990,what the Sony Vaio NW can do is give its competition a run for its money.

Though the 15.5-inch screen adds to the movie viewing experience,the built-in speakers are a huge disappointment,as it is in most laptops. And like other TFT screens,a lot of adjusting goes behind getting the viewing angle right. A big screen usually makes machines a tad too heavy,but the NW weighs a manageable 2.7 kg. And thanks to the HDMI output,you have the option of viewing movies on a larger screen.

When it comes to design,the NW scores pretty well with a unique and subtle texture. Being a longtime HP user,the textured trackpad was something I was longing to use. Reminiscent of the Apple MacBook,the isolated keyboard is also very comfortable. But they could have added backlit touch sensitive-buttons,a must in multimedia machines in my book. And since the media playback buttons are not placed separately,you will have to resort to the Fn button.

The battery life is a major put off though and it took almost 3.5 hours to get a full-charge. It seems Sony knows this weak spot,for it has incorporated a Display Off button to switch off just the screen and save power.

However,the NW does not sacrifice on processing speed and runs on a T4200 2GHz processor,with 2GB RAM. But being a multimedia machine it could have added a dedicated video memory.

The machine also boasts of some exclusive Sony applications,among them the SonicStage Mastering Studio which can record songs from a cassette tape though a fairly simple procedure. Similarly,the Vaio Content Exporter provides you with easy-to-use interfaces for creating optical disc media with data from a wide variety of digital equipment and storage devices,including a hard disk drive,a flash memory device or even a DV tape.

For aspiring disc jockeys,the Vaio Music Box automatically sorts audio files into predefined music channels.

Just like the HP Pavillion series,this machine too comes with a Vaio HDD Protection Utility,which helps you customise your settings for protecting your hard disk drive from shock hazards. It even allows you to select the sensitivity level of the built-in shock sensor.

There is also the Rescue Data and Data Restore tools thrown in for good measure. The former allows you to make a backup copy of your data stored in the hard disk drive when the operating system fails to start,while the latter help you restore this and other data.

Though not what we have come to expect from VAIO over the years,the NW is certainly value for money.