NEC’s Versa S9100 is a lightweight ultraportable laptop that offers respectable performance, even under Windows Vista, and could prove a hit with business travellers needing a PC for productivity while on the road.

Available since April, the Versa S9100 weighs just 1.25kg, yet has an impressive specification that includes a built-in DVD-RW drive - ­ a rarity on an ultra-portable.
While the system has a smaller screen than some standard corporate laptops, mobile workers happy with a 12in display should find the Versa a capable workhorse that lasts for several hours even on its standard battery pack.

This makes the Versa better suited to mobile business users than most of the mini-laptops we have seen. With a full-size keyboard and decent screen, it makes fewer compromises than ultra-small systems, yet is actually lighter than HP’s 2133 Mini-Note PC.

One minor drawback, though, is that NEC has shipped all Versa S9100 models with a US-International keyboard layout, and this lacks a UK currency symbol. This probably rules out the system for anyone working in the finance sector.

The Versa has a magnesium alloy chassis for strength and feels rugged enough for a life on the road. Its hard drive is also protected by G-Force Shock Protection technology, which detects any sudden motion and moves the drive heads away from the disk surface to prevent damage.

The Versa is based on an ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo U7600 processor, clocked at 1.2GHz, and ships with 2GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. With this specification, the system acheives a score of 2.4 with Vista’s built-in performance rating tool, the Windows Experience Index (WEI). This is about average, but the overall score was pegged to the performance of the embedded graphics, while the processor, memory and hard disk subsystems all came out with decent scores.

However, NEC has also equipped the Versa with 1GB of Intel Turbo memory, a feature of Intel’s refreshed Centrino laptop platform that uses Flash memory to cache the hard drive.

This is designed to boost the performance of Windows Vista and it did make a difference, as the Versa is one of the most responsive systems we have used under this version of Windows.

During tests for battery life, we used the S9100 to edit documents and browse the web using a Wi-Fi connection. After two and a half hours, the six-cell lithium ion battery pack still had nearly half its charge, suggesting that four or five hours is realistically achievable. NEC quotes the battery life as up to six hours.

Although the Versa has only a 12in display, we found this delivered an excellent quality image using NEC’s own SuperShine technology. At 1,280x800 pixels, the display ought to provide sufficient room for word processing and spreadsheets to meet most workers’ needs.

When the Versa is used on your lap, it can be pushed back for convenient viewing without the tendency to tip over, which we have experienced on some other laptops.

Despite its low weight, NEC has managed to squeeze in a DVD-RW drive, located on the right-hand side of the case. An on-screen control in the Windows notification area allows users to turn off power to the DVD to save on battery life.

There does not appear to be a desktop docking station available for the Versa, possibly because the system already has functions such as the DVD-RW built in.
The Versa is also reasonably well-equipped with ports, featuring two USB ports on the right side of the case, while the left side has a VGA output for an external monitor, Ethernet port and audio jack sockets.

There are also two slots, one for Flash memory SD Cards and one for Type II PC Card adapters. For wireless connectivity, the Versa has 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi and also supports Bluetooth.

For customers looking to use Vista’s BitLocker disk encryption, the Versa has a built-in trusted platform module (TPM) chip to securely store keys. It also has a built-in fingerprint swipe scanner just above the keyboard, and ships with a supplied copy of Upek’s Protector Suite QL to provide fingerprint login.

Other software on the system included a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 and Norton Internet Security 2007 with a 90-day subscription.