Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo L7300 review

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Verdict:

This system scores well on features and its DVD writer is terrific. Unfortunately, too many sacrifices have been made elsewhere. The lack of RAM, outdated chipset and slow processor cripple its performance. To fit an additional 256MB of memory you would have to send the notebook back to the manufacturer. In any case, the battery life and build quality alone make this one to avoid.

Review Date: 17 May 2005

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 2 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

The Fujitsu-Siemens system has an excellent DVD drive, but its poor performance and battery life reduce its usefulness.

FEATURES

The Amilo L7300's speckled grey finish lends it a businesslike air, but the plastic that surrounds the screen and keyboard feels flimsy. Although the keys have a decent click to them, the keyboard is raised in the middle and flexes awkwardly when typing. The touch pad is also woefully inaccurate and frustrating to use.

The screen is bright but suffers from poor viewing angles; the contrast changes drastically when the screen is not viewed head on. There are USB2.0 ports on the side and rear of the chassis, as well as D-sub and S-video outputs for external displays. The system also has the best optical drive in this round-up. The double-layer DVD writer is unusual in a notebook at this price. Wireless networking is also built in. At 2.75kg, this system is certainly portable, but the poor 106-minute battery life is hopeless for working on the move.

PERFORMANCE

Even though the Amilo's Celeron M processor is only slightly slower than that of the HP system, it uses an older chipset. This difference is starkly illustrated in the benchmark scores. Its score of 2,173 in PCMark04 is the lowest in the test, and 38 in the Shopper benchmarks is one of the worst scores we have ever seen.

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