Mossberg Reviews New Affordable Laptops Ideal for In-Flight Work

Walter Mossberg compares the H-P Compaq NC2400 and the Lenovo 3000 V100. Both are small (4 lbs or so, 12 inch diagonal screen) laptops with DVD drives, and coincidentally cost $1,649 in a full-featured configuration. Here are some key differences he cites:

“Based on “speeds and feeds,” the raw specs of a computer, the Lenovo offers much more than the H-P. But based on the key components of road-warrior mobility — weight, size and battery life — the H-P crushes the Lenovo.”

“The H-P also has a smaller footprint for a desktop or airline tray — 11.1 by 8.38 inches vs. 12 by 8.9 inches for the Lenovo.”

Using his “harsh” battery test (all power-saving features off, and keeping the hard disk working, Mossberg found that the Lenovo’s battery lasted two hours, 41 minutes while the H-P Compaq nc2400 “blew away” the Lenovo with a life of four hours, 27 minutes. Mossberg thinks that in a conservative power usage scenario, H-P could allow you to work for six hours straight without a recharge.

The extra battery life is likely attributable to the slower processor used in the H-P (an Intel Core Solo processor running at 1.2 gigahertz,) but Mossberg didn’t find the H-P sluggish at the “typical, mainstream tasks” he threw at it.