The NBL 5100 is a remarkably solid desktop replacement laptop that comes with a black exterior, black interior, and matte all over. The machine will not offer you an eye candy, but what it lacks in looks, it more than covers in punch. But the NBL 5100 has one grave drawback in the form of its below -per operating system. The machine will set you back to the tune of $1199 -as of november 15th,2010-.

The machine is powered by intel dual -core i7 640M processor with an impressive speed of 2800 MHz. The NBL 5100 comes with a pre -installed 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz memory that is good enough, but Micro Express presses the advantage with an option of beefing it to a maximum of 8 GB. The impressive storage armour is in the form a 320 GB hard disk drive that launches at a top speed of 7200 RPM. The storage facility is armed further by a memory stick, an SDHC Card and an SD Multimedia Card. The machine uses a switchable intel integrated GMA HD graphics chipset, which is supplemented by a more potent nVidia GeForce Optimus technology GT 330M discreet graphics chipset with a memory of 1024 MB.

The machine is seriously dented by its unbelievable use of a 32 -bit Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition, and it is without doubt NBL 5100’S diggest letdown. Micro Express’s assertion that there is a 64 – bit upgrade doesn’t make things any better. The system provides a complete 1080p 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution that is particularly crucial to its near -perfect horizontal viewing angles. But those results are not reciprocated in matters vertical. The machine comes with a battery that can run for an impressive two and half hours, a time that even though limited, is in keeping with its peers. It returns a credible score of 118 on the WorldBench 6 test. The sound is not a big draw as its quiet and seriously lack satisfaction, you will do well if you aquire headphones.

The machine uses 10/100/1000 ethernet and 802.11n Wi-Fi. It also comes ensuite three USB 2.0 ports and a single USB 3.0 port, bundled with video interfaces HDMI and VGA. You will also get eSATA as a bonus. The keyboard offers a pretty solid response, but its springy nature means that it requires a real spanking to depress a key. The only big drawback is the insertion of the allow keys between the numeric keypad and the normal keypad, that makes using the arrow keys when typing quite difficult. The trackpad is accurate and responsive to multitouch scrolling, and is one of the best trackpads around. The NBL 5100 weighs 7.2 pounds when fully packed with accessories, and measures 14.7 inches by 9.9 inches by 1.7 inches in diameters.