At just 1.7kg, the Nfinity weighs about the same as
Samsung's Series 5, the only other 14in Ultrabook we've seen, although the
Series 5 manages to squeeze in an optical drive. Novatech has made sacrifices
in other areas in order to reach such a low price, most notably with the build
materials. Most Ultrabook are built completely from aluminium, but only the
Nfinity 2367’s lid is covered in metal; the rest of the chassis is moulded from
plastic.
Novatech Nfinity 2367
Connectivity has taken a hit, too. Although the Nfinity has
three USB ports, none of them supports the faster USB3 standard. It does have a
full-size Ethernet port, a multiformat card reader and a combination audio
jack, though.
Typing isn’t a pleasant experience, mainly because of the
huge amount of flex in the keyboard tray, which is noticeable even when
applying minimal pressure. We were also irritated by the half-height Enter key,
which frequently produced spelling errors. The keys are fairly bouncy and
sensibly spaced, though. The decently sized touchpad feels responsive enough in
everyday use, but its plastic construction feels cheap and there’s no native
support for multitouch gestures.
We were also unimpressed by its 14in screen. Its 1366x768
resolution is typical, but viewing angles are appalling. Even when we sat in
the right position, images lacked contrast. A glossy finish also means light
reflections are a problem, and there’s very little screen tilt.
We were also
unimpressed by its 14in screen. Its 1366x768 resolution is typical, but viewing
angles are appalling.
Performance from the low-voltage Intel Core i3-2367M
processor is average. It’s a dual-core chip running at 1.4GHz, but it doesn't
have Turbo Boost to increase its clock speed. Its score of 29 in our multimedia
benchmarks means you'll be able to run most everyday applications, but more
intensive tasks will slow it down Intel also provides the graphics power,
courtesy of the GPU integrated into the i3-2367M CPU. We had no trouble playing
high-definition video at 720p on the laptop or 1080p on an external display
over HDMI, but we struggled to play games. Our Dirt 3 test crawled along with
an average to older titles to get playable results.
Of course, the advantage with this setup is increased
battery life. The Nfinity lasted seven hours in our light-usage test, which
means you should be able to get through a full working day without having to
reach for a charger.
Even factoring in the price of an operating system, which
isn’t included in the basic configuration (the price quoted here includes
Windows 7 Home), the Nfinity is incredibly cheap for an Ultrabook. It’s
available in a range of different specifications, so there should be something
to suit your needs if you need more memory or storage space than our review
unit had. However, the screen resolution and connectivity stay the same
regardless of which model you choose. Acer’s Aspire S3 and Samsung's Series 5
are its closest competitors, and these both cost around $125 more, but in terms
of construction, image quality and usability, we think it’s a premium worth
paying.
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Info
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Price
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$651
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Details
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www.novatech.co.uk
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Summary
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Verdict
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The Nfinity 2367 looks great value but it's a false
economy, and better-built Ultrabooks are worth paying the extra for
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Ultra-portable laptop
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1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, Intel HD
3000 graphics, 14in widescreen LCD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit,
18x333x230mm, 1.7kg
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