1. A Dell Novelty: A Desktop CPU In The Notebook

Gericom made it big in Europe by doing it. Toshiba held back for a long time before finally bowing to Gericom's "powers of persuasion." We're talking about using a desktop CPU in a notebook.

Dell took a longer time considering its options. But then in July came the news that, for the first time, the direct shipper would offer customers a notebook with a desktop CPU and - also a novelty - an (almost) fixed configuration. The result, according to the heady texts of the marketing strategists, is "... the perfect companion for almost all conceivable applications..." They add: "... regardless of whether it's multimedia or DVD films, MP3 editing or CD burning, or whether you need intricate presentations, calculations, the Internet or e-mail: Even with modern 3D games, the speeds reached by the 250N are impressive."

A glance at the list of features presented with the SmartStep 250N we tested really does suggest that there's a powerful beast inside this "people's notebook."

The maximum brightness of the SmartStep's 15.1" display was found to be 120 candelas per square meter, with a contrast ratio of 128:1 (black-and-white contrast). The test device screen's brightness distribution is good. All in all, THG gives the SmartStep 250N's display quality a good rating.