The Sager 1280 is a well-designed and solid computing platform, wrapped in a brushed steel blue case destined to turn heads. Unlike the current bumper crop of black boxes and slim silver machines, the 1280 is a bold injection of style into an otherwise staid market. Consumers are responding.

Of course keen housing design means little if what's under the hood doesn't measure up. The good news is that Sager has listened to its customers and loaded up its whole new line of notebooks with Pentium M processors and multiple media drives. The 1280, kindly priced though it is, still manages to pack in a combo drive that plays DVD and burns CDs at or near industry-topping speeds.

The Right Stuff

The mobile computing community is slowly splitting into two very different groups. On the one hand are the graphics mavens and multimedia buffs who demand the very latest rip and burn hardware to feed their habits. On the other are mobile professionals who want a solid workstation that can handle media loads but will be comfortable with demanding numbers, surfing and word processing tasks.

If you fall into that latter category, you may find Sager has budget notebooks that make sense to you. The 1280 is earning raves for its compact design, stellar screen and built-in videocam capabilities. If you are looking for a no-nonsense machine with a lot of juice, you may want to compare prices on this well-made item.