Advent 5511 review

You may have noticed the 'Intel Centrino 2' stickers that now adorn many new laptops in the shops.

You could be forgiven for assuming it's a new processor from the leading chip maker. The truth is that Centrino isn't a chip, or indeed a specific technology at all, but more of a marketing strategy. That's not to say it does nothing; in fact, it has a very important function. To qualify for Centrino 2 status, a laptop has to incorporate a certain set of hardware from a permissible range. The idea is that choosing a model that supports this standard reassures the customer that it's up to the job.

With this laptop, Advent has carefully targeted a particular portion of the Centrino 2 sector: the bottom. The 5511's specifications are almost the minimum allowed. But this is no bad thing, as it's reflected in the price. Advent claims this is the cheapest Centrino 2 system on the market. So if you're looking for a budget portable, but want some reassurance that it's not going to let you down as soon as you start trying to do anything useful, the 5511 could be an attractive option.

Having said that its components are relatively modest, the Advent doesn't look underpowered. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is a modern dual core chip running at a sprightly 2GHz, and it comes with a sensible 2GB of RAM. Scoring 161% in our 2D benchmarks, this laptop has more than enough oomph to handle any everyday non-gaming task: word processing, web browsing and photo processing should pose no problems. With a 250GB hard disk, there's also more than enough storage for most people's mobile needs.

Unsurprisingly, serious gaming is not this system's forte, but it did no-where near as badly in our 3D benchmark as some otherwise decent portables. With a score of 42%, you're not going be able to play the latest games, and even last year's will need their settings turning down, if you can get them to work at all; Call of Duty 2 ran at an unplayably jerky 12 frames per second with our usual options. But less demanding titles are a possibility.

Viewing pleasure

On such an affordable machine, the Advent's screen came as a welcome surprise. It's a decent 15.4 inch panel with 1280x800 pixels, and we found colours vivid and the picture sharp. There are also plenty of ports on offer. HDMI lets you connect up to an HDTV or monitor with ease, and an eSATA port means you can add the fastest external hard disks, leaving USB ports free for other peripherals.

Unfortunately, the keyboard and trackpad were slight let-downs. The keyboard promises a lot, with an unusual slope to each row of keys that has the potential to offer extremely comfortable typing. However, the designers have failed to follow through, and each key rocks around on its central support, making it hard to type quickly. The otherwise decent trackpad is also undermined by a mouse button bar, incorporating both buttons in one unit, that's extremely hard to press.

As far as performance goes, the Advent can't play games, but few laptops can, and it's more than adequate for general applications. It also can't be faulted on price. Less good is its exterior. Besides the input problems, the case, thoughsleek at first glance, is rather plasticky when you get close up. These superficial failings undermine what's otherwise an excellent laptop.