The nuts and bolts of the U2E are nothing outstanding, but for a laptop this size, and the applications that are most likely going to be used on it, they are more than adequate. An Intel Core 2 Duo U7500 at 1.06GHz is joined by 1GB of memory, a DVD/RW optical drive and a 30GB solid state hard drive. The latter is both a coup and a drawback. While it can be argued that it’s only meant to be used out and about and therefore you don’t need a significant amount of storage, 30GB these days doesn’t even make the ‘insignificant’ category. There will be a lot of people wanting to store music and movies on this laptop to avoid having to pack a separate MP3 player on their travels. On the other hand though, the solid state hard drive can take bumps and bashes, has no moving parts (which makes it faster), is lighter and won’t use up as much battery power.

Business users will enjoy the 11.1-inch screen that, for its size, is easy to use over long periods of time and combats glare well. The built-in thumb scanner also provides added security in case you leave this little lappie behind (which is more than likely if you’re not careful given its size). Another great protective feature is the Smart Logon Face Recognition which uses the built-in webcam to scan your face and grant you access to the laptop. Here’s hoping you don’t have any serious accidents during your business trip that require a face reconstruction. For power users who need to get the last drops of juice of the battery, there is also a shortcut button to switch between power modes with one touch. You can squeeze almost five hours out of it with the six-cell battery.

What isn’t as impressive is the keyboard. There is a lot of give in the board which makes it slightly uncomfortable to type with, especially if you are used to solid desktop keyboards. The keys can also be clumsy to use due to their small size.