DVD viewing is made possible by the Sony combo drive. Though CD burning will take some of the load from the hard disk, if you need a DVD burner you can upgrade to an NEC ND6500A dual-layer burner for an extra £49 – a good idea if you plan to stick with the standard 40GB disk. AJP offers a range of hard disk upgrades as well; the 4,200rpm 60GB disk for £29 offers the best value for money.
The battery at the rear precludes any rear-mounted ports, but they’re sensibly arranged around the three sides. Modem, VGA out and 10/100 network ports are on the left, along with a single Type II PC Card and mini-FireWire port. On the right the three USB ports are easily accessible, with the optical drive further back. The front-mounted media card reader will be useful if you’re a regular user of SD cards or Memory Sticks.
The keyboard is well laid out. The 303mm width lets AJP use full-sized keys, with the Delete key well placed in the top-right corner. Aside from the placement of the Function key where we’d expect Control, we had no complaints. The touchpad complements this by being responsive and smooth.
The G220 Traveller has much in its favour: the sturdy yet stylish casing, a built-in combo drive, the reassurance of a well-established name (AJP supplies and supports notebooks for several UK computer manufacturers), plus a decent specification all make this laptop impressive value for money. Unfortunately, the G220 is let down by its light-use battery result, while any upgrades push it beyond the price of the Mobeus.
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