The notebook market has really exploded over the past 5 years. They have become such a popular choice that most people who are upgrading their desktops these days are thinking of replacing them with a notebook. And it makes sense in a way. Nobody needs a big tower taking space and generating heat while eating up watts.

Despite not being the most popular choice among notebook buyers, NEC has recently released it's 15.4-inch LaVie L-series laptops. US and European buyers might not have heard of this family because these models are designed for the Japan market only. The devices feature 15.4-inch displays with a 1280x800 pixel count and come outfit with 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo micro-processors.

As we all know, the latest Windows Vista likes using a lot of memory. For this reason, NEC has equipped these notebooks with 4GB of RAM and 320GB hard drives. And if the former Vista statement has put your mind at work regarding the preloaded OS, yes, it's true, the notebooks come preloaded with Windows Vista.

Other features include the very popular HDMI output, along with the old VGA connector, Gigabit Ethernet, the standard Wi-Fi capabilities, multi DVD burner, ExpressCard and a multi-memory card reader. NEC have also included an Office 2007 Personal license in the package.

One small problem I have with these new notebooks is the below average battery life. NEC states that the battery life is rated at just a little over 1 hour, which is somewhat shameful by anyone's standards. The weight of the LaVie is approx. 3kg.

This series is meant for the fashion oriented users, and is clearly not designed as a portable gaming machine, although it does have some powerful hardware. The LaView LL750 will come in white, red, black and pink flavors and the starting price for any model from the series will be set at almost $2,000.

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