Sony has virtually defined the market for slimline notebooks with its Vaio range — its continually expanding brand covers almost every possible portable configuration. Compaq’s Evo N400c is similar in many ways to its Vaio counterparts: it’s small, light, thin, capable and a bit expensive. But is it any better?
Like most slim portables, the N400c is a bare-bones system when it comes to peripherals. CD-ROM and floppy drives have been sacrificed for portability. It’s still packed with all the usual connection options: network and modem ports; USB, parallel and serial ports; and VGA and RCA-video out for presentations.
The system is lightweight and looks great. The keyboard and Point Stick device are responsive and pleasant to use. Its only real fault is that the keys on the top row are exceptionally small.
Cashing in on the current trend towards wireless, the N400c comes wirelessready. The MultiPort (a shielded slot inside the notebook’s lid) will allow users to upgrade to wireless simply by slotting in either a BlueTooth or an 802.11 module.
Unfortunately, neither was available locally al the time of writing, although they had been released in the US. A minor bonus is that the Evo supports Windows’ ability to estimate the remaining battery life in hours and minutes with a measure of accuracy. This is an incredibly useful feature, and one lacked by almost all the notebooks we looked at.
It’s impossible to do a direct performance comparison between the Vaio and the Evo, due to the fact that most Vaios refuse to run the standard benchmarks. Based on overall cost and system specs, a Vaio costs slightly less than an Evo with a similar configuration. Previously, we looked at the Vaio PCG-R505CT (APC August, page 26). It has comparable specs to the Evo, but features an 850MHz Pentium III processor, and comes with a DVD and CD-RW-equipped docking bay. The R505 costs around $800 more than the N400c at $5,899. However, with the addition of a CD-RW-enabled docking bay (without DVD capabilities), the Compaq comes in at over $6,300. A DVD drive will set you back a further $500 or so.
As a no-frills system, the N400c operates quite well and had very reasonable benchmarks, given its system specs. Full test results can be found on this month’s cover CDs. Most users with access to a networked environment could do without the Hoppy drive or CD-ROM. it’s still a little overpriced, though, especially considering the other options available at present.

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