Advent 5511 review

Centrino 2 has been with us for a couple of months now and, suffice it to say, it's hardly set the world on fire. We've seen some great laptops bearing the logo, and some distinctly average ones, too, just as we did before the launch.

Nonetheless, that discrete sticker does offer a bit of reassurance: "This laptop will connect wirelessly to new routers, run the latest applications, if not games, and last you for at least a year or two," it says to wary and confused consumers. This is precisely the low-end market that Advent, PC World's own brand of notebook, is aiming for here with the 5511.

The company claims its 5511 is the cheapest Centrino 2 notebook on the market today, and at just £451 (exc VAT), it's not hard to believe it. Predictably, at such a low price, the Advent squeezes in at the bottom end of the specification band that Intel requires from Centrino 2 laptops, with a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7350 processor, an adequate 2GB of RAM and a par-for-the-course 250GB hard disk that gives enough room for most users.

Equally, the Advent's 15.4in panel is nothing out of the ordinary, but it is rather fine for a budget model. The native resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels may come as little surprise - few budget 15.4in laptops offer anything else - but its the image quality which proves impressive. Colour reproduction is even, if a little dull, and although the glossy finish increases its reflectivity it also lends images an alluring vivacity.

On the outside of the case there are three USB ports, and a couple of surprises for such a low cost machine. An HDMI port offers up HD output, although as there's no BluRay drive, it exists only to make light work of hooking up to a suitably-equipped HDTV, monitor or projector. Another more welcome bonus is the eSATA port, which provides a blazingly fast connection for external hard disks, and also helps to free up one of those three USB ports.

Aside from the brief excitement afforded by the HDMI and eSata ports, the exterior, like the component specification, fails to get the heart racing. The glossy black lid is covered with grey concentric rings, but the only thing that stands out after a couple of days use is a mess of greasy fingerprints. The sides and bottom of the chassis don't match up, decked out in standard matt black plastic. Open the notebook up and yet more different finishes emerge; plain glossy black for the screen surround, matt black with gouged concentric rings around the keyboard, and a silver coloured plastic highlighting the edge of the bottom half. Despite the fact that there are no media centre buttons or other similar clutter such as fingerprint readers, this laptop looks busy.

The keyboard is also rather unusual, with large, flat keys, small gaps between rows, and a very slight slope towards the front of each row. This is the first time we've seen this, but unfortunately the ergonomic benefit is offset by the fact that each key rocks a huge amount when pressed anywhere except its centre. This is more than a little unsettling, and stopped us from hitting our usual speedy stride when typing.

The trackpad is also undermined by a small design flaw. While the pad itself is smooth and accurate, the mouse buttons are formed of a single plastic bar, which means you need to press at the extreme edge in order to get a click, or push down with all the might your thumb can muster towards the centre. Despite these problems, Advent has a decent chassis; it may not be the lightest, or the most ergonomic, but the screen is well protected and all the ports are easily accessible.