17. Conclusions

This computer is for office applications. Gamers, graphics and video professionals, and others who need lots of computing or graphics power should stay away from the WinBook X610.

The X610 is a decent, modestly capable portable laptop computer. It offers a sufficient combination of smaller size, lighter weight and basic computing power that make it a reasonable choice for those seeking the most portability for the least expense - especially if they can tolerate the unit's lackluster graphics performance, its only fair display and its very short battery life.

The X610 is attractive, with a slim and pleasant design. The case is also tough enough to stand up to regular travel and schlepping about. Its 1.6 GHz CPU gives it an edge over slower 1.2 GHz laptops when running office applications.

The WinBook X610 suffers slightly from the kind of crowded keyboard and layout that a smaller form factor inevitably imposes on its users. Though the keyboard has a nice touch and firm keys, it's cramped enough that touch typists must adjust to its layout and may have to slow down a bit to achieve acceptable typing accuracy. The touch pad is reasonably well laid out with large enough mouse buttons to be usable. The on-off switch for wireless networking is a nice touch that can help reduce power consumption when no wireless networks are available or needed.

The X610 is graphically weak. Its Intel i915GM chipset provides very limited graphics performance, rendering the computer incapable of supporting gaming and video editing applications. The X610's display suffers from a combination of problems. Its brightness and contrast ratio are relatively low and brightness is not very even across the display. All of these characteristics make it difficult to adjust the display for best visibility in brighter environments.

The small battery that WinBook includes with the X610 is a definite minus that buyers should consider carefully before investing in this machine: the 94 minutes that users can expect for typical office productivity or the 101 minutes for reading and browsing (which is also pretty representative of its abilities for note-taking in the classroom or in meetings) isn't long enough to get students through a day at school, or professionals through the occasional marathon meeting. A larger, more powerful battery would increase the unit's weight, but would also greatly extend its untethered usability. Keeping a second charged battery on hand represents a possible and not-too-expensive alternative, as soon as aftermarket batteries become available, probably some time in Q1 2006. According to WinBook, an optional 5-hour battery should soon be available for this unit, and may even become standard.

The X610 is only available from WinBook. You can buy it at winbook.com.