News 

The 9212 weighs just 1.9kg, and while it's not as slender as the Eee PC, it is still easy to carry around. The base feels sturdy, but the screen flexed a little under pressure. However, we were disappointed to find that it lasted just two and a half hours in our tests, which is poor for an ultra-portable laptop.

We weren't impressed with the keyboard either. Although the keys feel responsive, and are larger than those found on the Eee PC, the layout could perplex touch typists - as the shift and cursor keys are rather narrow. Even worse, the insert and delete keys take up the position usually reserved for the right control key,

ADVERTISEMENT

so you could accidentally overwrite or delete your work when trying to activate a keyboard shortcut.

The 12.1in widescreen display has a resolution of 1,280x800 pixels and looks bright. Viewing angles are tight though, and so you have to look at it straight on to see accurate colours.

Unsurprisingly for a laptop this cheap, there's no built-in 3G broadband modem, but there is an ExpressCard/54 slot so you can add a 3G modem later. The 160GB hard disk is capacious and the 2GB of RAM and Core 2 Duo T5450 processor should be powerful enough to handle most tasks. Windows Vista Home Premium is pre-installed.

We had high expectations of the Advent 9212, but the poorly laid out keyboard and short battery life means we can't recommend it for regular travellers. Acer's Aspire 2920, the Budget Buy winner in our ultra-portable laptop labs in Shopper 244, is a better choice if you want an ultra-portable laptop on a budget. It's considerably more expensive at £600 inc VAT, but it lasts over four hours in our battery life test and has a more spacious 250GB hard disk.

If you want a closer look at the Advent 9212, then it's available exclusively from PC World, Dixons and Currys for £450 while stocks last.