I think the Acer 3242WXMi now has some competition after I took this one out of the box last night. At this very moment, it’s sitting on the desk running on batteries, with all the screensavers and power saving options turned off so I could time how long it takes till it dies.
NEC Versa M350 1704DW specs:
Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz, 2mb L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
15′ XGA SSV TFT Display
256mb DDR Ram
Mobile Intel 915GM Express Chipset
60gb HDD 5400rpm
Integrated 24x10x8x24x Combo Variable Speed Combo Drive
56k v.92 Modem + 10/100/1000 LAN
802.11 b/g
Bluetooth and Finger Print model
Windows XP Home Edition bundled
Infrared
What I like so far
At P77k SRP (and P2k less than the Acer), it offers Fingerprint scanning security, 4 USB ports, a 1394 port and a Port Replicator (for which purpose I’m not sure of yet), Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth along with other standard stuff. (The Acer however, offers 512mb, which is a big diff.)
My fave observation is probably the very good tactile feel of both the keyboard and the touchpad area, which is a big improvement over the Asus, Acer and the Amoi. So far this has the best feel of the bunch. Additionally, the Function (FN) button, a constant bane for all notebooks, is well placed after Ctrl key on the lower left side of the keyboard, so there is less need to relearn your key placements. This is very good.
Finally there are two heat related features, one a fan at the rear (which is best) and a heatsink underneath, plus two extendable legs like keyboard stands to allow you to put some air between it and your desk. Hopefully this’ll keep the thing cool.
What I don’t like
So far, nothing’s stood out that I don’t like. The port replicator is something I don’t understand yet, and might be useless but we’ll see. I’m also not too sure if there are a lot of folks excited about 1394 either. The IR port is in the back, so if you want it to talk to your phone that might be awkward.