Sharp Actius UM30W (Sharp-PCUM30W)

WHAT'S NOT: Although well equipped for an ultraportable, the Actius UM30W suffers from some of the woes typical of this notebook class: The 40GB hard drive can't be removed, so you can't easily share the notebook by swapping drives. One speaker centered on the bottom of the unit emits low, buzzy audio.

Moreover, unlike the older UM20W, the unit lacks a docking-station option, so you can't add internal drive bays as you can with most ultraportables. If you must use older serial or PS/2 connections, you're out of luck. And the only optical drive available for the UM30W from Sharp is a flimsy-feeling, lightweight external USB 1.1 6X-10X CD-ROM drive that comes standard. A USB 1.1 floppy drive costs an extra $99.

WHAT ELSE: The UM30W is typically equipped for its class otherwise; it includes ethernet and modem jacks, one PC Card slot, and headphone and microphone ports. A bundled legacy adapter cable now sports both monitor and parallel connections (previously you had to buy a $129 port bar to gain a parallel port connection). The notebook's battery forms the back of the unit. Although it trails the 3-hour average battery life of Pentium III-M notebooks, the UM30W's 2.4-hour runtime is slightly better than the 2.2 hours its predecessor managed. Sharp sells a $349, 0.8-pound, 12-cell replacement battery that the company says will last up to 7.5 hours.

Removing the battery is slightly awkward: You must squeeze two release levers inward while simultaneously tugging the battery. The simply designed keyboard is unchanged from the UM20W. It sports retractable keys that Sharp says pop up to a full 3mm travel distance when you open the lid; it has no hot-launch buttons or Windows shortcut keys. We found typing about the same as on the UM20W--not especially roomy or deep feeling, but something we could get used to.

With all its peripherals in tow, including the power adapter, the USB 1.1 floppy drive, the USB 1.1 CD-ROM drive, and the peripheral cable, the UM30W still comes in well under 6 pounds. Equipped with an 866-MHz/533-MHz Pentium III-M processor--a bump up from the 750-MHz/350-MHz PIII-M chip the UM20W used--the UM30W performed well in our application-based benchmark tests. Running Windows XP Professional (the older Windows 2000 Professional also comes installed as an option), it earned a PC WorldBench 4 score of 91--in the ballpark of some slower Pentium 4 notebooks. Sharp bundles a helpful printed Operation Manual but no electronic references.

UPSHOT: For people whose fetish for traveling light extends to their notebook, the UM30W offers appealing weight, speed, and battery life. Its biggest drawbacks are its limited optical drive choices and its keyboard, which takes some getting used to.