X-bit labs

14" Widescreen: Most Optimal Solution? 10 Contemporary Notebooks Roundup (page 13)

Category: Mobile

by Vasily Melnik

[ 06/07/2006 | 10:56 PM ]

The keyboard is good, too:

There are no reduced-size keys here; the arrow keys are separate from the rest of the keyboard. A special row of keys for text navigation is available. The only small problem is that the brightness adjustment keys are in the right part of the keyboard making it impossible to adjust this setting with only one hand. Some user may also find the special solution from LG – combining Insert and Delete in one button – inconvenient.

There are only four additional keys here:

Besides the Power-On button designed in the traditional LG style, these are volume controls and Mute. The touchpad follows the classic design:

There’s nothing superfluous here – just two keys and a vertical scrolling zone – but it is a real pleasure to use this touchpad. There’s a fashionable glossy coating on the display but its parameters are not very good: a not very high maximum of brightness, average viewing angles and average response time. The color reproduction is quite good, though. You shouldn’t take this too seriously because such drawbacks are typical to some extent of all the participating models and even of all notebooks at large. The LW40’s display is good enough for work in office applications and watching video.

The bottom panel looks like this:

There are three covers to access the main system components and a vent opening in a very improper place – you are sure to block it if you place the notebook down on your knees.

The battery is the same for all LG notebooks:

The power adapter is unified, too:

So, the LW40 isn’t going to give up its market positions. Combining an adequate price with good quality, it is the company’s main offering in this sector – the competitors are challenged to beat this combination if they can. You should definitely put this one into your “to consider” list.