After reviewing the 7" Eee and MSI's 12.1" Crystal edition PR200, it was about time to give our strained eyes some well deserved rest and review a notebook with a more spacious screen instead. IT Computers, our Bosnian shop around the corner, received a shipment of FSC's Amilo Li2727 notebooks, fresh from the factory and this SKU is still unavailable in many parts of Euroland.

Fujitsu Siemens' Li2727 is an affordable 15.4" notebook, listed at €550-€600 in the EU, but this doesn't mean it's underpowered, on the contrary. It's built around Intel's dual core T2370 at 1.73GHz, which, along with 2GB of memory, 250GB of storage and Intel's X3100, promises more than adequate performance.



It weighs 2.7kg, but thanks to its relatively slim, no nonsense design, it looks quite elegant, unlike some rather obese, similarly priced 15.4" notebooks. On the downside, its design is a bit unexciting, somewhat cold and sterile, but we still like it. Think of it as a German or Japanese compact car: no thrills on the outside, but well engineered under the skin. We have to admit that the latest generation of Amilo notebooks, including the Li2727, looks much better than some previous FSC notebooks which were too often, for lack of a better word, hideous.



The keyboard is good and FSC used some rather rough (and tough) plastic on the rest of the body. It feels rigid and sturdy, which is not always the case in this price segment. Its touchpad is huge, the buttons feel great, but the touchpad itself could have been a bit better. Its sides aren't cluttered by numerous connectors. Four USBs and the power connector are on the left hand side, while the optical drive and Kensington lock are on the right, and that's it. Oddly enough, it hasn't got a memory card reader, which is quite a surprise in this day and age.

That's all we have time for at the moment, stay tuned for the full review which should be done within a week, weather permitting, of course.