6. Tecra M7, Continued

On the left of the photo, after the security lock slot and cooling vents, is another USB 2.0 port; in contrast, the A8 has all of its USB ports on the rear. Then we've got the IEEE-1394 (FireWire) port, and next to that a five-in-one flash media card reader that supports SD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD and MultiMedia card formats. You'll remember that the A8 only takes SD cards.

The right side of the M7 also has something that the A8 lacks - in the next photo we take a closer look.

In addition to the Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-841S, Toshiba has added a slot for the M7's stylus (left of the optical drive) and a USB 2.0 port to the right side of the optical drive. This brings the total number of USB ports on the M7 to four; the A8 has three, all on the rear of the unit.

If the M7 doesn't have all the ports you need, simply plug it into a Toshiba docking port to make the "complete" desktop replacement.

The specifications for the M7's hard drive (as tested) are the same as those of the A8: SATA 5400 RPM with a capacity of 100 GB. For the M7, though, Toshiba has put in a Hitachi Travelstar 5K100; the A8 has a Fujitsu drive.

Just in case you were wondering, the M7 has a modem too, for those times when dial-up is all you've got.

The specifications for the M7's RAM (as tested) are the same as the A8's at 2 x 512 MB 533 MHz DDR2. Though the A8 used Samsung branded RAM, the M7 has Hynix RAM. As with the A8, maximum memory is 4 GB.

The AC adapter is rated at 75W. The battery is a 10.8V 4700 mAh Li-Ion unit.