A really nice looking netbook, this one has a smoky blue coloured lid that immediately attracts attention, especially since it’s finished in glossy material. The display bezel is black, while the palm rest and the region surrounding the keypad is dark grey – very good colour combinations used – kudos to BenQ for getting the looks spot-on. The lid design is also funky with a circular rear portion. The display bezel is narrow. The trackpad, while small, is reasonably accurate though the mouse buttons feel a little clicky. The keypad is slightly bigger than the U130, obviously, owing to the larger screen (11.6-inches), and this makes it much easier to use, even more than the ASUS’ keypad, despite the fact that it had a larger screen. Key feedback is reasonably positive and feedback is firm, the keys are also well laid out. The last row of keys on the right has the Home/ page up / page down keys, typically placed as function-activated keys on the directional arrow keys – two currency symbols – representing the US dollar and Euro are also present, though we see little use for them.

The Z520 Atom CPU and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM mean its performance is no scorcher, on par with the ASUS 1201HA. From the design it’s evident that the U121 Eco has been designed for a 6-cell battery as there’s no protrusion of any sort. This battery is good for 4 hours and 17 minutes of video playback, which is very good. The speakers give out pleasant sound, bass shy (as usual), but they pick up some of the nuances. The warranty provided by BenQ is pretty sterling – 3 years, when all other vendors just cover you for a year. Which brings us to the con, and there has to be one – its price. At Rs. 33,000 the Joybook Lite U121 Eco, will not be a joyful proposition to spend on, particularly since the likes of Acer’s Timeline series are priced similarly and they have better hardware and will obviously perform better as well. Not recommended for the price tag, which is astronomical by netbook standards.

A really nice looking netbook, this one has a smoky blue coloured lid that immediately attracts attention, especially since it’s finished in glossy material....