Features
Beating away at the heart of the Z600NE is a 650MHz Intel Pentium III mobile processor, featuring Intel's new "SpeedStep" technology, supported by 128Mb of SDRAM, which is upgradeable to 256Mb SDRAM. This is further supported by the substantial 12GB hard disk drive providing sizeable storage for large graphic and audio based files. The screen is excellent, as you might expect being a Sony, the 12.1in is larger than previous Sony offerings and displays in crystal clear resolution of 1024 x 768, this is supported by the NeoMagic MagicMedia 256XL, 128 bit accelerator, with 6MB video SGRAM onboard. The 84-key keyboard is responsive, and considering the shallow dimensions of the casing, the keys are of reasonable size, with the Enter and Backspace keys being slightly larger to ensure an accurate and fast tying rate. A recessed and highly accurate touch pad allows for pain free navigation with ease. In the Z600NE there are no removable spinning media drives, both the 16 speed CD ROM drive and USB floppy disk drive are external. These are just the basics though, what really makes the Z600NE special are the extra features you would normally not expect to get.

On the front right-hand side is a Jog dial, allowing you to scroll through and launch applications by pressing the wheel, using the jog dial utility you can also add any applications you may commonly use, allowing fast and easy access.

To enable you to surf the web the Z600NE comes with a built-in v.90, 56K Flex modem, supported further with a built-in Ethernet 10 BaseT/100 Base-TX for your networking requirements, making the Z600NE a complete connectivity guru.

The system unit carries the now Sony customary i.LINK (IEEE 1394) connector, which if you are a Sony fan will instantly recognise if you have Sony based products. As part of their range this particular port is a welcome feature in their digital video camcorders, as this port will enable you to transfer movies into your Z600NE and allow you to edit them and transfer back without any loss of quality. This feature is an added bonus if you earn your living working with digital movies.

An ingenious design by Sony is the legendary Memory Stick, a solid-state, removable memory that can be found in other Sony products including Sony digital cameras. The traditional way of transferring pictures from a digital camera is through he use of cables and software, not with the Sony, all you need to do is use the Memory Stick in your digital camera, insert into your notebook, drag and drop the pictures on you Z600NE. Smart move Sony, leading from the front.

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