BenQ Joybook Lite U121 ECO

BenQ, a name that resonates these days in the realm of monitors and notebooks, mainly due to their consistent improvement over the years. But the market for netbooks is almost dystopian where survival of the fittest is martial law. Thus we just have to take unbiased looks at each offering by each brand, including the ones that have impressed us in the past. Today we have BenQ’s Joybook U121 netbook, so let’s see how fit it is...

Form and ergonomics
The netbook we received had a gloss finished, metallic blue lid. The internals were similarly finished but hued in dark grey or lead. The touchpad button is continuous and camouflaged with the wristrest, though the pad itself is a darker shade of grey. Below the pad are the LED indicators - 6 of them in all. The power button is top right, with a blue LED. The looks overall are classy.

Ergonomics wise we have a very nice keyboard, visible straightaway as advantageous due to its end to end, near 100% size. The Shift and Enter keys and arrow keys are full sized, basically nothing is cramped. NO space in between keys, and touchy feely wise the user typing experience is even better than the Dell netbooks.

The tactile feel is firm yet light in flex, and normal sized keys facilitate in faster and more accurate speed typing. The touch pad has no scroll zone, nor is is dual touch response capable. Normal Response and surface friction wise it’s fine though.

The software available are WinXP3 OS, a 60 day MS Office trial, Adobe Flash and Reader, and Norton Internet Security.