After spending a long time deliberating over which notebook to buy, I happened upon the BenQ JoyBook 8000 second hand & can't believe how packed with features it is.
Appearance
With a brushed steel effect cover & the Q Media buttons on the front, the JoyBook 8000 really is a classically stylish machine. The keyboard is very slightly translucent with deep blusih-grey keys, whilst there is a brass coloured strip around the edge of the case to stop it from looking too surgical.
Screen Resolution & Clarity
Despite being a couple of years old already, the Joybook's screen is a sharp & crisp 15.2" TFT active matrix widescreen, allowing for a startling clear picture.
Connectivity
I was astonished by the number of ports on this: 4 USB, 2 firewire (IEEE 1394), ethernet, modem, S-video out, RCA connector, parallel port, VGA & a PC card slot. In addition to this it boasts wireless connectivity and a dual drive (CD-RW & DVD
Ease of use
The front of the laptop offers a "Q Media Bar" which allows you to switch on music even when the Joybook is switched off, alter the volume & the standard CD controls (such as play, pause, forward, rewind, eject) Through the clever use of a function key the keyboard also has function keys allocated on the F buttons and if that's not enough there are 2 more customisable buttons on the keyboard.
Performance
With a 2.2G P4-M chip as standard, 512 Mb of RAM, Windows Xp, 60G HDD & an NVIDIA display chip, this machine is incredibly fast & responsive. Programs which would slow down my computer work like a dream on the Joybook without even a slight sign of lag.
Conclusion
A stunningly stylish looking machine with loads of functionality packed in, the speed is impressive whilst the screen quality is excellent. For a machine manufactured in 2003 there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet - with the ability to upgrade to a total of Igb memory and all the ports this notebook does seem to still have a good life span in front of it.
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