Pioneer Computers Australia CentriNote 805

The CentriNote 805 is a Centrino-branded notebook model. Its core specifications include Intel's new Dothan Pentium M CPU (with 2MB L2 cache and a 400MHz frontside bus) running at 1.7GHz along with 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB Hitachi hard disk and a multiformat DVD writer drive. Its wide-aspect 15.4" display has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800, and is driven by a 128MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics controller.

The front fascia of the 805 is where the FireWire, audio jacks and multi-card reader are located, just near the lid latch and cursor touchpad.

On the left-hand side you'll find a VGA-out connection for an external monitor, S-Video TV-output, a PC Card slot (supporting one Type I/II card) and one USB slot. A 56Kbps modem, Ethernet connection and 802.11b/g wireless networking are also built-in.

The machine's back spine is quite bare with just two USB ports one power port and one Kensington lock port, while the right-hand side simply features the optical drive.

One of this machine's greatest strengths is its slimline design and weight of just 2.9kg. Battery life could have been better (it lasted just 62 minutes in our worst case scenario tests), but its application performance was among the highest you'd find at this price. This notebook is another strong all-rounder from Pioneer, but it has just a one-year warranty (although this includes on-site service and covers three years of labour).