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• The introduction of the Acer Ferrari 4000 in August 2005 continued the tradition that the 3200 model started last year. As the name Ferrari is meant to suggest - and it's been properly licensed from the Italian firm, Scuderia Ferrari, for that very purpose - this is a fast, well-designed notebook with ample power for graphics and applications. The case is large, at 14.3 x 10.5 x 1.4 (36.3 x 26.7 x 3.6 cm), but it's also quite attractive. It does a nice job of combining tough, shock-resistant rubberized surfaces where it counts - corners and edges, and on the dashboard inside - and slick, smooth surfaces where it doesn't - on the top of the clamshell, for example. The actual case composition is of strong, rugged carbon fiber, which should hold up to years of abuse. At 6.7 lbs (3 kg), it's neither a lightweight nor a hulking brute, and even the 1.4 lb (.6 kg) power supply brick doesn't up the total weight much past 8 lbs (3.6 kg). The Ferarri 4000 is a little more understated than its all-red predecessor, but a good-looking laptop nevertheless. The Ferrari 4000 comes equipped with an AMD Mobile Turion processor; ours included a 1.8 GHz ML-34, while the 2.0 GHz ML-37 is available as an added-price option. On the graphics side, the unit uses an ATI Mobility Radeon X700, with a 344 MHz GPU and 358 MHz video RAM. The display is a 15.4" Samsung TFT LCD. The unit also includes two 512 MB Hyundai PC2700 (166 MHz) DIMMs, with timings of 2.5-3-3-7. A 100 GB 5,200 RPM Seagate 2.5" drive is standard, which offers a decent amount of storage for a notebook like this one. Rounding out storage is a dual-layer, slot-feed Panasonic DVD±RW optical drive. The mobile comes complete with ports and connections galore: four USB 2.0, FireWire, microphone and headphone jacks, built in Bluetooth and IR ports, one PC Card slot, wired Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11g wireless networking (using Broadcom chipsets), and a built-in Agere fax/modem. Video outputs include VGA, S-Video, and DVI. It even has a built-in memory card reader that can handle the SD, xD, MS, MC Pro, and MMS form factors. You can disable Bluetooth and WLAN connections on the front through easily accessible push buttons. Any way you look at it, this baby's fully-loaded! Benchmarks on this system (see our full review of this notebook for the details) show that this system is decent for gaming, and also very well-suited for typical office productivity applications. Both the Turion process and the ATI Mobility Radeon X700 have useful battery-saving capabilities; AMD's PowerNow! energy saving technology in the CPU, and a similar technology called PowerPlay in the GPU. These augur well for overall battery life, especially if the Ferrari isn't run under a constant full load. At an MSRP of around $2,000, this notebook is a good buy, offering a great combination of power, performance, price and looks. About the only thing it lacks, in fact, is the bevy of software that so many other laptops include: aside from PowerDVD and a few utilities, there's not much here that Microsoft doesn't provide with Windows XP Professional. The most glaring omissions are the lack of anti-virus, anti-spyware, and add-on firewall and security software.

• The black KT-424 that we received for evaluation pays homage to several other designs we have seen. The KT-424 does not break new ground, but it does try to do things differently to attract potential buyers. The inside of the KT-424 is very nice. We would have preferred that Kingwin add a second 80 mm fan to the rear of the case, which would improve the airflow in this case. The construction of this case is first rate; it is all aluminum and very light. With the case empty, it is relatively easy to handle. The edges inside the case are nicely rolled. However, several of the edges, especially the vertically rolled edges on the 5-" and 3-" bays, were slightly sharp. They weren't sharp enough to cause a cut, but they have serious skin scrape potential. The case exhibited some bend and a small amount of twist, considerably less than the KT-11 Series case that we reviewed above. Overall, the inside of the case has a polished aluminum finish that will nicely reflect cold cathode lighting, if it is installed. The KT-424 features a slide-out, removable motherboard tray for easy installation. The inside of the case is roomy; with a full system configuration, it might get crowded rather quickly, however. Another nice feature of the 424 Series is that it provides the ability to hide cables behind the bays, which will make the cabling installation look considerably better. If the cabling is done properly, it is conceivable that very little of it will be seen save the normal power connectors. The 424 Series cases also offer a channel located in the case top, an ideal hiding place for cold cathode lights in the front of the case. This is a feature we have used previously in other Kingwin cases, and we like it. We still wonder why other case manufacturers have not adopted this approach of leaving more space available in the top of the case for lighting installation. The KT-424 has a beautiful, aluminum, matte jet black finish with an attractive, shiny black, carbon fiber looking accent that runs across the top bezel. The case includes a 4" x 5" grill in its front for air intake, which is protected by a removable and washable filter. After looking at the grill size and the density of the filter material, this case is an obvious candidate for two 80 mm, lighted fans to replace the typical, nonlighted, 80 mm fans included with the case. The KT-424 has three total fans: two in the front for air intake and one in the rear for air exhaust. These three fans provide adequate airflow through the case; however, the case may not be suitable for overclockers due to its lack of additional fans. During our testing, we found the airflow to be good and above average. The front two fans offer a hidden fan speed control that is located inside the case. The fan speed control is accessed by removing the front bezel from the chassis and turning the knob, which offers an adjustable range of settings. It is possible to dial in your fan speed to tone down the noise. This is a good feature; however, it should be used with some caution since insufficient airflow could cause the system to overheat. Most fan bus devices that are being released now have a display that allows the user to monitor both fan speed and temperature to provide a more exact reading of the inside temperature and fan RPMs.

• Style While Asus’ U2E might be perfect for a leather-loving, fancy-pants executive, Sony’s Vaio TZ is also designed for an executive powerhouse, but its elegance is conveyed with a knowing understatement. Perhaps Sony is saying: "real power-brokers and road warriors don’t need leather, they just need good design." The TZ 298 is one of the highest-end configurations of the ultraportable TZ, and it compromises nearly nothing. Because it includes both a 250 GB hard drive and a 64 GB solid state drive, there’s no room for an optical drive—that’s the reason I said "nearly". Sony does include an external optical drive with this computer, though. The TZ is dressed in a mix of executive blacks. There’s the matte black shell and underside, the brushed carbon lid-piece that looks almost maroon—and contrasts nicely with the mirrored-silver Vaio logo in the center—and the slightly-indented piano black chassis piece that the keyboard sits upon. Other than a shockingly slim screen lid and a completely spherical hinge—into which attaches a fairly beefy battery that raises the computer up off its surface about half an inch—there are no notable design flourishes. The machine is available in other colors, like gold and red, for those who need a bit more flash in their computers. Though the screen is just as thin as, if not thinner than, the Toshiba R500, it’s somewhat more stable. The rest of the chassis is far hardier than the R500’s; it is simply made from heavier material. Size and Weight The fact that Sony manages to keep the TZ as thin as it is (it ranges from 0.8” to 1.2” thick) using these sturdier materials is an accomplishment, even without the optical drive. These materials also give the computer a tad more weight than the other non-optical drive ultraportables: it weighs 2.7 lbs, where the Lenovo U110 weighs 2.4 lbs. At least the Sony TZ has the smallest power brick (0.6 lbs). In the hand, the TZ feels extremely light, especially since it has a great, grippy handle in the form of that round hinge. Ports Starting on the left, Sony hides some of its most delicate and, perhaps least used, ports behind a rubberized covered compartment. Peel back the casing to find the protected Gigabit Ethernet, modem and FireWire ports. After resealing the hatch, you’ll find a fan vent, and then a subterranean ExpressCard slot and two USB ports. The front of the TZ is covered with ports and buttons: from left you’ll find the headphone jack, microphone jack, "MagicGate" slot for Sony’s proprietary memory formats and SD slot. There are also LED lights indicating whether the "MagicGate" is in use, the status of the battery and status of the hard drive. Further along to the right is a Wi-Fi on/off switch and six metallic bead buttons for multimedia use that we’ll get to in the Usability section below. On the right side is one more USB port, with a VGA port toward the back. There are no actual buttons or ports on the back of the machine, though at either end of the spherical hinge is a spot for (on the left) the power plug and (on the right) a clear plastic power button that blinks orange or stays a solid green. You can’t see it, but this computer is the only one in the group with a built-in broadband card: Sprint’s EVDO. Unfortunately, Sony didn’t give us access to this feature on our review unit, so we were unable to test it for data speeds. Style score 4.5 Usability Display Sony’s XBRITE screens have a reputation for being reliable and super sharp; even in this incredibly thin incarnation, the lack of glare and the rich colors put it a cut above the average ultraportable screen. Sony’s TZ battery benefits from the LED-backlit screen, too, since it was able to sustain itself the longest in this roundup. The bezel holding the display in place is just as flimsy as the one on the Toshiba R500. It would be a pleasure, however, to watch a movie on this notebook’s screen, as long as the movie was stored on disk (since there is no optical drive). Keyboard Sony’s keyboard is smaller than standard laptop size, but for me it was the easiest to type on of all the notebooks. That’s because its keys are of that distinct separated variety that show up in every Apple MacBook made since 2006. My personal notebook happens to be a MacBook, and so I was right at home with the feel of these keys. Though they are situated in a shiny piano black chassis, the keys have a slight grainy feel to them, and make virtually none of the clickety-clackety noise that accompanies nearly all keyboards. There are tiny speaker slits on the left and right sides, above the keyboard, but out of them comes a surprisingly big sound. In this audio-visual sense, the Fujitsu P8010 and the Sony TZ are unparalleled—the other three notebooks in this roundup can’t compete. Trackpad and Buttons The trackpad feels a little bit slimy; it’s just not different enough from the wristpad, and it glides too smoothly. The buttons are about a centimeter below the trackpad, and are of the barely-clicks variety: they feel even in terms of clickability from side to side, but they just don’t depress very much, so you wonder if you’ve hit them correctly. In between the two buttons is a fingerprint scanner—again, I’d rather it be off to the side than between the buttons. On the edge of the front lip of the computer, just below the mouse buttons, are those six multimedia buttons I mentioned earlier: AV Mode, Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, Fast Forward, and S. I think the only two that need explanation are the AV Mode button, which allows your computer to launch DVDs, other videos, music, or pictures without booting up the computer, and S, which in this case means "eject." These buttons would probably be a bit more useful with a built-in optical drive; I found them pretty much ignorable during my use of the machine. On the plus side, they are tiny and relatively flush with the machine, so I did not hit them accidentally. Noise and Heat In our testing experience, this machine got rather hot while running benchmarks and battery tests. It also emitted a low hum at all times, regardless of whether the drives were spinning or the computer was active. And here’s some bad news: this computer and 73,000 other units like it were recalled by Sony in September. The culprit? According to the company’s warning to consumers: "Irregularly positioned wires near the computer’s hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge can cause a short circuit and overheating. This poses a burn hazard to consumers." The good news is that a short-circuit did not occur during our brave testing of this machine. Aren’t you relieved? We were. So while this computer did get hotter than any of the others in the roundup, it didn’t seem unsafe. Even so, we are sending this machine back to Sony post-haste, so that we can receive a newer unit: the Vaio TT. Usability score: 4