Product Reviews

If you need to carry a notebook everywhere you go then Toshiba's Portégé R500-106 will certainly be of interest to you. Billed as the world's smallest and thinnest notebook, it weighs just 1kg and measures 26mm at its thickest point, down to 20mm at its thinnest. Surprisingly, Toshiba has managed to fit a DVD writer, so you don't need to carry an external drive when you travel.

The chassis feels fairly rigid despite its compact dimensions. The plastic casing creaks a little when you pick up the notebook, though. More concerning is the way the lid flexes alarmingly under pressure. It doesn't fold flat either, stopping at around 45. This can be annoying if you are sitting somewhere cramped with the notebook on your lap, like on a plane, as it becomes hard to get a clear view of the display due to the tight viewing angles.

Those tight angles are probably due to the use of a trans-reflective display. A reflective layer built into the screen lets it use light from external sources such as the sun. The backlight is made up of LEDs and is controlled automatically to make up for any shortfall in reflected light. Consequently, the display is working with the external light sources rather than trying to outshine them. The effect can be varied across the screen, so shadows that are cast partially across the display are compensated for automatically. It's a subtle but impressive technology, and it helps when you're working

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on the move.

The keyboard takes up almost the full width of the chassis, so there's plenty of space and no annoyingly small keys. The action is excellent, with fair depth of travel and good feedback. It's also spill-resistant, so you don't have to worry about a single cup of coffee destroying your notebook. The touch pad is big and accurate, although its small buttons feel cheap. Between these is a fingerprint reader, so you can secure sensitive files without the constant hassle of entering passwords.

A 120GB hard disk provides a generous amount of storage and it has shock-protection to safeguard your data. This notebook has an optical drive, too, so making backups isn't a problem, and you can even watch DVDs on the train. As well as the optical drive, there are plenty of ports around the Portégé R500-106's edges, with three USB2 ports, FireWire and an SD card reader.

There's no space for a CardBus or ExpressCard expansion slot, which might be an issue for some users as there's no built-in 3G. Fortunately, Vodafone is now selling a USB 3G modem that would be compatible, if not as neat. The built-in wireless adaptor supports the latest Draft-N standard for quick wireless access.

The Portégé R500-106 uses an ultra-low voltage processor that runs only at 1.2GHz. It is dual core, though, so it's fast enough to deal with Windows plus multiple office applications. Battery life was respectable at nearly four-and-a-half hours, although we were hoping for a little more given the processor's low power usage. You'll need to carry a second battery with you to get a full working day from it.

The R500-106 is ideal for computing on the move in style. Your shoulder will quickly appreciate its low weight and you won't need that big notebook bag anymore. If you want an optical drive and widescreen display in a tiny notebook, this is the perfect choice, plus it's very fairly priced. It's quicker, lighter and has a better battery life than our previous favourite, the ThinkPad X60s.