Wireless connection to the Internet may have revolutionised the way we use laptops - especially with the growth of 'hot spots' in cafes, airports, etc. - but until recently one main frustration remained unresolved.
That, of course, is the problem of battery life.
How many times have you been on a train or in a 'borrowed' office or public area and had the warning pop-up tell you your power is about to be cut off in the midst of that vital document, presentation or computer game?
It's this bugbear that notebook manufacturer Rock has addressed in the new Pegasus T12. The use of Intel's Core 2 Duo means smarter battery performance, as the processor is able to transfer power only to those areas of the processor that need it, plus its enhanced voltage efficiency supports cooler and quieter systems.
The Pegasus T12's main body is silver, slim and sleek but to make sure you can have over seven hours of continuous unplugged operating life the company has added a 10,000mAh extended battery which clips on the back.
Unfortunately this battery weighs half as much as the notebook itself and is very bulky, but as this machine is geared towards schools and colleges as well as towards business people on the road, it should still find plenty of favour despite the inconvenience.
So how does it live up to the claims?
Well, after a full charge, we subjected the battery to some heavy-duty action time on F.E.A.
R. while keeping the Net open throughout, writing some documents and listening to music. It didn't finally give up the ghost until seven hours and 15 minutes had elapsed.
In every other respect this is a pretty conventional laptop, with a DVD writer, four USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections and so on, including the frequently-repeated annoyance of having the half-size 'Del' key at top right of the keyboard where it's both inaccessible and hard to hit cleanly. When will companies take a leaf out of Acer's book and place it bottom right and full size?
A Celeron version of the Pegasus T12 is available for 649 plus VAT and both machines can have up to 2GB of RAM, hard drives ranging from 80GB to 120GB and a 15.4-inch widescreen display.
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