The 10.1-inch Booklet 3G is mobile-phone maker Nokia's belated attempt to join the netbook party. Like its rivals, it's designed for casual Web-based tasks. Nokia has, however, used its experience of creating mobile devices to fit the Booklet 3G with additions that help it stand out from the crowd. The most significant of these include battery-friendly internal components and an integrated HSDPA modem, which allows users to surf the Web wherever they can find a 3G mobile signal. It's available to buy now for around £680.
A mini MacBook
The Booklet 3G may be late to the party, but it's easy to see why -- Nokia's designers have spent plenty of time ensuring it's one of the best-looking netbooks on the market. Our review sample's lid is swathed in the usual glossy black plastic (a white version is also available), but the main body of the device is finished in aluminium and sports a contrasting black keyboard and glass-clad black screen bezel, all of which give it the look of a miniature Apple MacBook. The extra metal doesn't make the Booklet 3G very heavy, either -- it tips the scales at 1.2kg, and it's exceptionally thin, at just under 20mm thick.
Old school beats new school
While newer netbooks are making use of the latest Intel Atom N450 CPU, Nokia's effort pairs 1GB of RAM with an Atom Z530 -- a chip launched almost two years ago. Before you mentally cart Nokia's engineers off to the lunatic asylum, bear in mind that the Z530 was only less popular than the once-ubiquitous N270 because it had several enhancements that made it more expensive. Importantly, its thermal design power (TDP) of 2W is noticeably lower than the 2.5W TDP of the N270, meaning it uses less battery power and doesn't require a fan to keep cool.
Nokia has been equally clever in the selection of the Booklet 3G's chipset. It uses the Intel SCH US15W, rather than the more traditional Intel 945GSE Express used in netbooks circa 2009, or the newer NM10 Express, used in most 2010 models. Again, this has power-saving benefits. The US15W itself has a maximum TDP of 2.3W, which compares favourably to the 6W consumed by the 945GSE. The US15W even compares favourably to the newer NM10 chipset's 2.1W TDP. All things considered, the Booklet 3G's components gives it a TDP of 4.3W, which is more impressive than the 8.5W TDP of an N270-based netbook, or the 7.1W TDP of a modern N450-based machine.
That's not a battery -- this is a battery
Nokia's choice of components makes the Booklet 3G less dependent on mains power, but that hasn't stopped the Finnish company installing a mammoth battery anyway. The supplied Nokia BC-1S battery has a 3,840mAh, 57Wh rating from a whopping 16 cells. Compare that to the 4-cell, 4,400mAh batteries that feature in the current crop of Atom N450 netbooks and you'll start to appreciate just how much juice this machine has at its disposal. The unit is pricey, however. If the BC-1S goes wrong, you'll have to pay a whopping £80 to replace it -- roughly twice the price of a standard battery in something like an Asus Eee PC.
Performance art
Most netbooks run at approximately the same speed. The Booklet 3G is no exception. Despite using a relatively old CPU and chipset, its PCMark05 score of 1,418 is on a par with just about every other Atom-based netbook we've come across.
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Priyank Sharma 13 May 2013
Good: Very easy to carry around
Bad: RAM and hard drive capacity
Comment: With the launch of the Nokia Booklet 3G, If you think Nokia is trying to enter the laptop market in a race to compete with other brands, then you might be wrong. Nokia has been in this very market since the late 1980s (just that it was never really active until now). Ever heard of the MikroMikko 3? It was supposedly a state-of-the-art MS-DOS machine with 1MB of RAM and 20 megs of hard drive capacity. So it would be rightful to rephrase the statement and say that Nokia "re-enters" the laptop market with its very first netbook (which surely doesn't disappoint).
What I think of it
Reviewers all over are comparing its looks to the Apple MacBook Pro. But I'd like to disagree with them. Any laptop with an aluminium chassis doesn't automatically make it a mini MacBook Pro. There is more to this booklet!
It's a delight to carry it around and when compared to other netbooks, this one definitely stands out. It's a lot thinner than the others and sports a great screen resolution of 1280 x 720 which gives ample screen space for those who like to scatter their desktop with files and unnecessary junk! Or those who multi-task all the time. The finishing is fantastic and it's convenient to use the booklet in any position you can think of, be it sitting upright or placing it on your stomach while lying down in your comfort.
The one thing that really put a smile on my face was the 10-hour-long battery life (when used under optimum power settings). This is a boon for those always on the move. Gone are the days when your laptops shut down midway through that important presentation/meeting. The Booklet 3G also comes with an HDMI port which gave it more credibility as I was able to connect it to my 47" LG Scarlet and watch videos on the big screen.
Downers
Every great device comes with a few drawbacks and so does this amazing little booklet. It comes installed with the Starter Edition of Windows 7 which is not the full-fledged OS version. Hence, Aero is missing. :( Also, the amount of RAM is a standard 1 GB. Anything less than 2 gigs seriously affects your productivity.
Verdict
I'm thoroughly impressed by this booklet, nonetheless. It makes for a perfect travel companion. And it's just too easy to carry around and use it for long hours. Nokia has definitely created a great product and by increasing the RAM and hard drive capacity, I'm sure this booklet will be on its way to the top.
Ernest Anthony 26 January 2013
Good: Well it looks good, very potable, having built in modem is a good thing
Comment: Very disappointing performance speed. You open a file says not responding, some times turns blue giving comments like crush was prevented needs to shut down and so on.
Power preservation very good. Good looking pc.
Ernest, Tanzania-Morogoro.
Justin Bilton 13 October 2012
Good: It is a very positive piece of kit, the internet browsing is as quick as a pc, the graphics are great for youtube and after placing a pay as you go sim into the built in port it has become a completely different mobile device. No need to search for Wifi hotspots or worry about sharing connections, just top up the sim, which seems to be very reasonable and surf anywhere there is a mobile phone signal.
Bad: It struggled to download films and allow me to watch them at the same time via the hdmi port, maybe the memory just isn't quite big enough for that task.
Comment: I bought one of these, brand new, off Ebay for £130 and having the built in sim card port just makes it a completely different mobile device, apart from struggling to watch a film via the hdmi port on my television I have found everything about this netbook as good as any other make or model out there.
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