Sitting at the lower end of the sub-notebook price range, the AJP M722 may lack a little in build quality, but makes up for it with its performance and, in particular, its battery life. Fitted with a Mobile Pentium III 750MHz chip and 128MB of main memory, the M722 is no slouch in the performance stakes.

Despite the price, the M772 has an excellent, crystal clear 12.1-inch TFT screen, powered by a 4MB ATI Rage Mobility chip, which gives the display a native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. You also get a 12GB hard disk; a 56Kbps modem and Ethernet adapter built in, while proprietary and USB connectors are used for the 24-speed CD-ROM drive and the floppy drive respectively.

But what lets the M722 down is its keyboard. It doesn't seem to be particularly well built; the whole of the keyboard deck has a lot of flex and isn't particularly responsive. On the plus side, the backspace key is a decent size, and there are five programmable 'Easy Start' keys placed above the keyboard. Windows 2000 Professional is installed by default, and you also get a copy of Microsoft Works 2000 pre-installed.

The AJP M722 comes with a high-capacity battery, which gives it a very respectable working time of nearly three and a half hours. This larger battery does, however, increase the weight of the system, taking it up to the 2kg mark. This is a small sacrifice compared to the gain in battery life, though.

Despite its poor keyboard, the M722's processing power and battery life make it worthy of serious consideration at this price.

AJP - M722 price

£1,585 + VAT