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Now That%squots Thin: Sharp%squots Svelte Actius Notebook

Sleek new Pentium MMX-233 notebook PC is the thinnest of the thin.

By Laurianne McLaughlin, PCWorld   

NEW YORK--Sharp%squots newest portable PC makes other ultrathin notebooks look like they need to go on a crash diet. Monday at PC Expo, Sharp unveiled a new form factor for ultrathin notebooks. The new Actius A100 weighs 2.98 pounds and measures 10.2 by 8.1 by 0.8 inches. It fits easily into a woman%squots purse; it%squots smaller than most magazines--and yet it%squots a full-featured Windows notebook with a Pentium MMX-233 processor and a good-looking, 11.3-inch-diagonal active-matrix screen. Its keyboard is comfortable and larger than those of subnotebook devices such as the Toshiba Libretto. Shipping in late August or early September, the Sharp Actius will sell for about $2499.

Housed in a sleek-looking, lightweight magnesium case, the Actius makes an intriguing alternative to Windows CE 2.0 devices, which are about half the size of regular Windows notebooks but don%squott offer their flexibility. The Actius will handle Windows 98 and any and all productivity software.

The Actius comes with 64MB of RAM, a 3.2GB hard drive, a software-based 56-kbps modem, a USB port, a fast infrared port, and a PC Card slot.

As for battery life, it will last up to 2.5 hours with the internal lithium-ion battery, says Stephen Wain, general manager of Sharp%squots corporate sales division. An optional second battery snaps onto the back of the notebook for another 8 hours of juice.

Sharp%squots price includes a port replicator with printer port, a second serial port, a modem port, and monitor ports.

Sony also introduced a new ultraslim notebook at the show Monday--the Vaio 505GX, shipping in July for $2699. It runs on a Pentium MMX-266 processor, but its 10.4-inch active-matrix LCD display is noticeably smaller and dimmer than the Sharp Actius%squots display. Notably, the Sony is one of the first portables we%squotve seen with a FireWire port.

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