Clevo makes a decent-looking bookend

YOU MIGHT NOT know Clevo as a brand, but you have very likely used one of the firm's notebooks. They are one of the big laptops laptops makers that let others rebrand their products.

D900F i7 laptop

You have probably heard about the X58 based Core i7 laptop a few companies have been touting, that one is made by Clevo. It is called the D900F, and uses desktop components. The battery life will be measured in minutes, maybe double digits if you turn the screen brightness down, but that isn't the point.

The point is that it is a portable gaming rig that you can fire up in a car if you REALLY need to. It has a 17.1-inch 1920 * 1200 monitor, a 2MP camera, and space for three HDDs. There is also a TV tuner and HDMI out. Basically, this one will do most everything a desktop will.

Two other gamer oriented laptops bracket the D900F, the 18.4-inch M980NU and the 15.4-inch M860TU. The 860 has a 1920 * 1200 screen, but the 980 is only at 1920 * 1080. It has a Core Number Numeral Quad, an MCP79 chipset, and a 2MP video camera. The 980 also supports three HDs, Dolby surround, fingerprint reader, HDMI, and a 2MP camera.

The 860 uses the Intel PM45 chipset, loses the support for 3 HDs, and also doesn't have a fingerprint reader. On the plus side, it adds HSPDA capabilities, something I would trade a TV tuner for any day. Of the two, the 15.4 inch model seem a lot more useful.

In an interesting twist, Clevo has two models with SiS chipsets. It is good to see they are still around, and if you want low cost, they can do it for you. The 15.6-inch W760S uses a SiS M672 and the 17-inch M770SU has an SiS 671DX. Both use Core 2 Duos and come with varying levels of features.

Ruggedized white boxes are a reality now

If you have been craving a lightly ruggedised notebook but don't want to pay a premium for a toughbook, the Clevo R130T is for you. They call it 'business rugedised', which probably means it can take a the trunk of a car or a run through an airport luggage system. It won't take bullets or an avalanche, but if you try, send us the video when you get out of the hospital.

In any case, or in a business ruggedized case, it has a 13.3-inch 1280 * 800 screen, and uses a Core 2 ULV CPU with a GS45 chipset. Battery life should be pretty good with all these low power components and smallish screen. The unit has GPS, a 2MP camera, TPM, a fingerprint reader and bluetooth. It is a decent machine for off the beaten path computing, just not too far off that path.

To be perfectly honest, Clevo tends to be the last place you look for innovation, but they have the best netbook of CeBIT. No, the best netbook we have seen at CeBIT and CES combined. That Sony toy, which we have used, is pretty sad in comparison. Anyone who complains about Clevo build quality has never used one, and also doesn't own a Sony.

Is it a book or a netbook?

The netbook is the M810L, technically it isn't much different from any Eeee or One out there as far as hardware, but looks far different. Every one out there, with the exception of the ludicrously priced and underpowered Sony looks like the original Eeee. If you scrape the stickers off of them, even the designers would have a rough time telling them apart.

It looks like a book, but it is a M810L

The M810L does stand out, because it looks like a book. This may sound stupid, but the styling is pretty darn nice, and the materials are much better than one would expect. And it does look very bookish. It has an Atom CPU with a 945GSE chipset, a 10.1-inch screen, 1.3MP camera, bluetooth and HSPDA. Everything else is dirt standard netbook fare.

It should be available at the end of the month, and it will cost what all the others in the class do, but think more on the low end, Clevo is good at that. Instead of silver, the production M810L will be more of a titanium colour, but the styling will be the same. Best of all, there are no holes on the bottom, so it will be blanket/rug safe, everyone should do this.

I want one. µ