Notebook: ECS I-Buddie XP Review :: The Unit

ECS has been seen venturing into many different market areas in the last two quarters including their latest, the Desknote product line. The Desknote series is an evolving technology which is a part laptop and part desktop hybrid that allows for a high performance system to be contained within a small package.

A few months back we took our first look at an I-Buddie that came to us in the form of their P4 flavored product which was quite a nice little unit. The units offer a variety of feature options for the user to choose from including a CD/DVD/RW combo or just your standard DVD player as well as memory and CPU options depending on your budget.

Encased in a semi-durable plastic outer shell that weighs roughly seven pounds the unit is small enough to carry around and offers many different on-board features that make it a competitive desktop replacement system. The unit can double as a laptop but the external battery is too bulky to truly replace an existing laptop system but it can be used in a pinch.

The on-board video is a SiS 315 based solution that works well for most Direct-3D games but leaves a bit to be desired as an actual gaming unit. This is due to the fact that Open-GL games require a more robust 3-D solution than the 315 offers. Sound is good but not great on this model, when the volume is turned up the speakers distort a bit in their chambers.

The DVD playback quality is top notch as watching it on the fifteen inch LCD panel that has a clear and flicker free viewing area. The DVD player is removable and can be swapped out for other drives offered as replacement units for the I-Buddie series. Removing the peripherals is a simple matter of pulling out the old drive and sliding in the new.

There are four USB 2.0 ports and one IEEE 1394 port which can be used for connecting any external peripherals you may be using including an alternate mouse or keyboard. A 10/100 LAN adapter is included as well as a 56K Modem so hooking up to the web should be easy enough. All the connections are located on the sides and back of the unit making for instant access.

On the back of the unit there is the standard VGA connection along with a single PS2 port and the Microphone and speaker output from the internal sound source. The Infra-red receiver is also located on the back of the I-Buddie but was something I did not test or use for this review.

For the daily interface with the unit the I-Buddie incorporates a Synaptics touch pad with scrolling up/down buttons that takes the place of your standard mouse. The unit also offers a fairly standard keyboard setup that offers the user large keys for easy typing and readability. Overall this is a pretty nifty little unit that has enough features to catch the attention of people that need a small footprint system with the ability to be portable if the need arises.