Anyone who's ever worked in a Japanese business will know that Panasonic 's Let's Note laptops are the PC of choice for staff on the go, particularly salesmen (yes, they are always men).
That's because there are plenty of small models to choose from and the maker's support is generally excellent, so the guys in suits will be pleased to see this refresh of the entire line-up.
The Let's Note 4 Series consists of four new models, ranging from the 930g R6 to the 1.5kg Y5. All models come with a choice of Windows Vista or the older XP to cater for firms that don't wish to support the new Microsoft operating system.
In terms of hardware, all four are powered by Intel Core Duo CPUs, with a choice of clock speeds from 1.06GHz to 1.83GHz, 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive. As expected, there's Wi-Fi but no Bluetooth, which isn't terribly popular in business settings here anyway.
Otherwise, the main differences are in the battery life - from 8 to 14 hours - and in the screen diagonal. The smallest PC, the road-warrior favourite R6, has a compact 10.4-inch XGA display, while the Y5 sports 14.1 inches of screen real estate, making it suitable for those sales-team leaders who prefer to stay warm back in the office. J Mark Lytle
