Reviews / Pegasus 330 - PC Format
» PCF says 90%

A laptop with a high-end processor that doesn’t weigh a ton? Surely not…

90% PCF says… "Dual Core joy in a sleek, compact and bijou form."

When purchasing a laptop, it’s probably wise to check the load-bearing weight of your knees, given the morbidly obese ‘portable PC’s’ currently being bandied about. Those desktop replacements are anything but portable unless you’ve been spending a lot of time at the gym. It’s time clearly, for some notebooks you can comfortably use on your lap. The Pegasus 330 is the sort of laptop that you’d look forward to opening up on a crowded train. Businessmen will turn green with envy as you lay this beauty on your knees. Its sleek lines make for a sexy little notebook, and one that inspire a little commuter-envy.

DO YOU DUO?
The centrino Duo processor will eat almost everything you can throw at it, and there’s even a 5% overclock in the BIOS that doesn’t void your warranty. With the integrated graphics, however, you’re not going to be playing the latest 3D games but then you shouldn’t really expect to when you’re paying a shade les than £900. the 512MB of system memory does seem a little low but for an extra £50 you can have 1GB fitted.

The InstantOn function, bypassing the Windows boot in favour of a teeny Linux OS, brings you pretty much all the media centre capabilities you could wish for. It enables you to watch DVD’s, listen to your MP3 library and even watch digital TV thanks to the packaged USB DVB tuner. Using the keyboard to set up music playlists can be laborious, but otherwise it works very well. The silent mode also improves power consumption, so fairly long periods sans leccy shouldn’t be a problem.

The XVGA widescreen is crisp and clear, though the native resolution of 1280x768 seems a little low it’s still easy on the eye. The only issue is the smallish hard drive and the dead-flesh, Spectrum keyboard feeling of the trackpad buttons. If you’re having to look this hard for faults though you know you’ve got quite a machine on your hands.

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