NEC LaVie N Notebook

by Victor Chen on May 6th, 2004

NEC has released a new 12” somewhat sub-notebook called the LaVie N series. I’m pretty excited about this. The reason is that I’m thinking that 12” is the perfect size for sub-notebooks as it’s the perfect trade-off of size and performance. It’s small enough to be portable but big enough to be pretty usable. Of course, there are 12” models already on the market but most of them aren’t widescreen. Let’s face it…widescreen is the future and it’s inherently much more usable than 4:3 based screens. It also makes DVD viewing much more nice.

The new NEC LaVie N LN500/9DW has the following specifications:

- Pentium M 1.5 Ghz
- 256MB DDR PC2700 Memory Standard (2GB maximum capacity)
- 12.1” Widescreen WXGA 1280x768 “SuperShine” technology for brightness and low reflection
- Integrated Graphics using Intel Extreme Graphics 2(855GME) with up to 64MB of shared graphics.
- 802.11b/g built-in wireless
- 60GB hard disk standard
- Slot loading DVD super multi-drive (DVD-RAM, 2.4x DVD+R/RW, 4x DVD-R/RW)
- Triple memory slot (SD/MS/xD)
- 1 x PC Card slot
- 3 x USB 2.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45, 1 x RJ11
- 1 x IEEE1394 Firewire (4-pin)
- 1 x microphone input
- 1 x headphone output (also used as line output and optical minijack/SPDIF)
- 1 x s-video output
- 1 x VGA output
- Includes an optical mouse
- Includes a stand that with a charge function and a bottom cover that hides the screws and lines and makes the bottom almost all smooth and aesthetically pleasing.
- Standard battery life 4.7 hours (3 hours to fully charge battery)
- 4.4lbs (2.0kg)
- 298 x 199-202 x 37.9 (W x D x H) mm

Ok, there’s a lot to like about this notebook. One of the first thing that jumps out is the Quickstart button which allows you to use DVDs and CDs without starting Windows. Yes, that’s no typo. That’s awesome and looks to be a killer feature.

There are 3 buttons on the top that automatically control the power management abilities. So, you can configure them or leave them be with DVD/Game mode, Music Appreciation mode, and Maximum battery mode.

The screen should be pretty nice in outdoors since NEC has developed pretty good transflective properties on their LCDs. It has a 19mm keyboard pitch so it’s almost full sized keys for comfortable typing.

The system is nice and looks a lot like the Sony TR series but it has a nice Frosty Pearl White finish. It also comes in a Misty Blue Black color. So, it really is a beautiful looking system although the very close styling to the Sony TR. It looks like NEC has developed a nice system with their own touches. It should be interesting to see what other companies release in the 12” range. Hitachi has the Prius series already but we’ll have to see what the larger companies come out with…especially Sony.