3. Assessing The B6110D's And R200's Features, Continued

The plastic outer cases on the Fujitsu and Toshiba laptops feel substantial, though we don't recommend dropping them on hard floors from anything more than a few feet. Even then you can expect some damage. The heavier Lifebook B6110D case has a more solid feel than the Portege R200's.

The fit and finish of the cases on both computers is very good, befitting laptops in their price range. The Toshiba R200 doesn't have a catch to hold the two parts of the case together when the computer is closed. However, the hinge provides enough resistance to keep the case closed. We actually prefer this method to the sliding lock mechanisms found on almost all laptops and notebooks and we encourage all mobile computer manufacturers to consider it.

With their smaller size neither of these laptops allows for much flexing or twisting of the part of the case that holds the display, while the Fujitsu flexes less than the Toshiba. Flexing the display part of both cases produced limited distortion of text and images. What little flexing the cases allow certainly should not lead permanent display damage.

The layout of connectors and card slots on both computers is affected somewhat by their small size and by the inclusion of a PCMCIA card slot. The Lifebook lacks a line in connector. Fujitsu recommends using the microphone input for line in, which is not a perfect solution. The Portege has no microphone or line in jack and the two USB ports are so close to each other that we were just barely able to plug in a USB DVD/CD player and flash memory stick at the same time.

The USB connectors on the Toshiba Portege R200 are so close it is barely possible to plug in a USB DVD/CD drive and a flash memory stick

Though PCMCIA cards are still useful for a number of applications, almost all of the functionality available in these cards is now available in the Compact Flash form factor and the ability to attach most peripherals, formerly a real strength of PCMCIA, is now covered by USB 2.0 connectors. We would rather have seen a Compact Flash slot on the Portege R200 with the space gained by removing the PCMCIA slot used to put a little more distance between the USB connectors and for microphone and line in connectors. The Lifebook already has a Compact Flash slot. So we would prefer that Fujitsu remove the PCMCIA card slot, juggle the space freed up and add a line in connector and an SD card slot to the B6110D. For the record the Toshiba already has an SD slot.