Winbook XL3
Knowing I had a Winbook XL2 for quite a while and I was very pleased with it, my best friend asked me to assist her in buying a gift of a laptop computer for her husband. Well, I of course chose a Winbook.

Determining the primary use for the computer for him was simple. He needed a portable desktop computer. That is to say he needed a computer that would be as powerful as his Pentium III 500Mhz desktop, yet portable. My friend wanted the DVD player so she could rent DVDs and watch them using the computer. The Winbook XL3 fit the bill.

Basic Specifications
The model selected came with a 650 Mhz Pentium III™ processor, 128mb of ram, and a 12 GB hard drive. Disk drive features include a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a LS240 combination 1.44MB floppy and 240MB Superdisk™ drive that is compatible with the 240 and 120MB media. This is very handy for storage of JPEG files from a digital camera. I have a Kodak 2 Megapixel digital camera and the files can be quite large and the 120MB media can hold about 150 of the highest resolution pictures.

Connecting to TV and Audio Equipment
With the DVD drive, the computer has also on the rear, an S-video port and a composite video RCA jack to allow the connection to a VCR or Television monitor. The sound connections are on the side of the computer and include headphones, line input and external microphone input. All of the audio connections are of the mini-phono type. Cables to connect to your video and audio equipment are readily available at your local Radio Shack™ store.

Connecting to the Internet
There is a telephone jack on the left side of the computer for typical dial up connection to the Internet or for e-mail. With the addition of a PCMCIA network card they were able to connect to their Roadrunner™ router when they were at home. There are two slots for a PCMCIA card one on each side of the computer.

Other Connections
There are additional ports and connections furnished on the computer. These include an infrared port located on the right side of the computer. On the back in addition to the video ports I mentioned, there is a printer port, a VGA monitor port, a PS2 keyboard port, a serial communication port, and an USB port. When my friends are at home they use a regular sized keyboard, an external mouse and a printer.

Software
The Winbook we got was furnished with Windows 98™ and if you are given the choice this is the operating system I would opt for as the Windows 2000™ have reported many problems and NT is too big for most laptop duty. Knowing that all of those operating systems will work fine on the computer is nice, however. Speaking of working just fine, I have far less crashes on my Winbook than I do on my desktop and this is true for my friend as well. There is something to be said about a narrow selection of components that are used in laptops so that the drivers are better tested and in my opinion more reliable. Desktop units on the other hand can have different video cards from unit to unit, which may or may not work well with some of the other components installed. On laptops, for each model the same video, communication ports, disk drives, DVDs and so forth will be used for every unit produced. They are tested as a system and the software bugs caused by driver conflicts are found and eliminated before they are shipped.

Screen
The screen on the XL3 is a 14-inch TFT high contrast display and it is possible to view it even in bright daylight. I have gotten to prefer the Winbook screen to my Gateway 2000™ monitor I use on my desktop computer. Add a separate keyboard and mouse and the Winbook is everything you need in a home computer, but with a built in battery backup!

Speed
The speed of the XL3 is phenomenal. The ability of a laptop manufacturer to put only the fastest and smallest hard drives along with fast RAM and 650 MHz processor make this a system hard to beat. The hardest jobs just fly along on this baby. I am so jealous. Want a great test of computer speed? Try a full file edit on an .mp3 audio file in CoolEdit™. Change the pitch and watch what happens. The Winbook XL3-650 makes short work of it.

Buying the Winbook
We went to the www.winbook.com website and placed our order. The shipment came within the specified time frame and every thing worked fine right out of the box. The hardest thing is the need to charge the battery for 24 hours before using the computer. There it sits charging with you wanting to watch a movie.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2499
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 14
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: SuperDisk
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20