BenQ steps out with the Joybook

Posted on 21 May 2003 at 18:02

BenQ, the new brand from Acer, launches notebook range.

They might slap our wrists for saying so, but BenQ's Joybooks are clearly notebooks, despite the company's insistence that they are digital hubs, the physical form of which is immaterial.

The Joybook 8000, 5000, and 3000 'digital hubs' are marketed as 'lifestyle enhancers' with their sculpted cases, and with all the descriptive giddiness you'd expect from press releases from the Far East - designed for your 'absolute entertainment', with 'powerful expandability' and 'unveiling a new reality'.

Aspirations aside, you'll want to know what your £1,699 inc VAT is buying you, in the case of the 8000. A 2Ghz Pentium-M 4 and nVIDIA GeForce graphics card, along with 256Mb of DDR memory, a 30GB hard drive, a hot-swappable optical bay (filled with the DVD/CD-RW combo drive), a 15.2in TFT screen and interfaces for USB, LAN, PCMCIA, FireWire, SPDIF digital audio out are on offer. The battery has a claimed three hour minimum charge life. It is preloaded with a range of BenQ's multimedia software.

The 5000 has a 14.1in display, but is Centrino-ready, and is based around a 1.3Ghz chip with ATi graphics. Prices have yet to be confirmed.

The 3000 is the most consumer-oriented of the range, with an attractive case, the ability to listen to music while the case is closed and a 15in screen. It costs £1,499 inc VAT.

Author: Matt Whipp

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