WinBook XL2

WinBook XL2

If you work in a typical office, you've probably sat through your share of boring presentations, and maybe even nodded off a few times. WinBook's newest notebook, the XL2, could change all that.

What's remarkable is not that WinBook produced a portable with almost every conceivable high-end presentation feature, but that the company did it while keeping the XL2's cost down to a reasonable $3199.

The WinBook XL2 has a big, crisp 14.1-inch active-matrix screen. You also get an ATI Rage Pro LT graphics chip set with a 2X Accelerated Graphics Port bus, giving you enough speed to handle video and other sophisticated graphic elements.

The XL2's sound, however, is another matter. Notebook speakers are generally tinny at best, but this laptop produces some of the feeblest audio we've heard.

You can store your presentations on the XL2's LS-120 SuperDisk, a floppy-compatible 120MB removable-media drive that WinBook included in lieu of a floppy drive. And the XL2's DVD-ROM drive delivers sharp, smooth images quite unlike the jagged, jumpy ones we've been seeing on other notebooks.

The WinBook XL2's PC WorldBench score of 164 establishes a new high-water mark for Pentium II-300­based systems. Part of the boost comes from the XL2's whopping 128MB of RAM--twice what the typical PII-300 notebook offers.

Taking your presentations on the road? Better make it a short trip: Tipping the scales at 8 pounds, the XL2 borders on heavy, and its 2.4-hour battery life won't let you work away from a power outlet for long. And because it lacks a modular bay--all the drives are fixed--you can't use two batteries at once.

While the classy-looking XL2 seems generally well constructed, there's considerably more flex under the entire keyboard and surrounding case area than we've seen in previous WinBooks. The touchpad and eraserhead respond smoothly, but unlike many notebooks, the XL2 has no applet to tweak pointing-device sensitivity or turn off the touchpad's tap feature.

WinBook's poor support policies keep the XL2 from debuting higher in the chart. The company offers 13 hours of toll-free phone support on weekdays and Saturday, but Sunday remains strictly a day of rest.

SUMMARY

PRO: Multimedia features including superb DVD playback and AGP graphics CON: Abysmal speaker sound, too much keyboard flexibility, a tad heavy