One of the heaviest SpeedStep notebooks at 3.6kg, the Inspiron is also the most obviously intended as a desktop replacement, with its 650MHz SpeedStep PIII chip, 128MB of SDRAM as standard, large 12GB hard disk, 6-speed DVD-ROM drive and 15-inch screen. The main case is robustly constructed, but there was quite a bit of give in the plastic lid surface, which really needs to be strengthened to ensure that the screen is properly protected.

This is an all-in-one build, but the main bay can be used for a variety of options such as a CDROM, LS-120 or second battery pack. Also, the hard disk is removable and there's a spare memory socket for upgrades which should make for trouble-free basic maintenance, which in turn helps to keep the cost of ownership down.

We took an instant liking to the spacious keyboard with its desktop-like layout, large keys and firm, quiet action. There's no doubt that the keyboard benefits from the Inspiron's larger than average footprint, but intelligent design and quality of manufacture have also played a key part (pardon the pun) in elevating it above the average. The screen is also a pleasure to use thanks both to its large 15-inch diagonal which improves readability, and to the relatively bright backlight, often a weakness of notebook displays.

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Overall performance was impressive, and not far off what you can get from a business-orientated PIII/600 office system. The desktop-level performance and large screen didn't kill the battery as we'd feared - in fact the Inspiron will run for around 3.5 hours with SpeedStep enabled. Once again however, we noticed that turning SpeedStep off only extended the running time by about 20 minutes.

This is an impressive mix of performance, features and battery life that shows what can be done when manufacturers try hard to create a decent desktop replacement. It's a heavy machine, as you'd expect, but definitely one of the gems in this round-up.