External Appearance II
Type-II PC Card slot, slot-loading Matsushita DVD writer, wired network and modem ports and a pair of USB2.0 ports lie on the right hand edge. The PC Card slot is in a standard position, found in the same place on millions of laptops worldwide and the slot-loading DVD writer adds a bit of class, negating the need for the usually flimsy drive tray you see on laptop drives. Personally, I prefer the wired Ethernet port to be on the back of the chassis, but round on the right edge, near the back, isn't too bad. If I were responsible for the next generation of this particular chassis and motherboard design, I'd be getting rid of the parallel port and moving the network and modem ports round to its old position.
A brace of USB2.0 ports round things off, giving you access to some of the high speed peripheral connectivity that the laptop provides.
Immediately round the corner and we come to the other pair of USB2.0 ports and all were configured and enabled out of the box, no BIOS fiddling or driver installation required for either pair. The external VGA output allows you to attach a monitor, projector or other VGA-capable display device to the unit, driving a separate display from the main LCD. With the unit being a proper desktop replacement, its inclusion isn't a dubious one, more a required addition. It'd be nice if it was a DVI port (with convertor of course) in future models, the MR9600 is capable of driving a DVI-connected LCD and another DVI display simultaneously. If you don't fancy using the VGA port, S-Video is also available and a cable is supplied in the box. You can't drive LCD, VGA and S-Video at the same time however, dreams of triple-head running in such a convoluted form should be dashed now, before you get too excited.
A small fan exhaust follows, then comes the utterly useless parallel port, a legacy (in more ways than one) of computing days gone by. The backplane space it occupies has so many more uses, its death and removal can't come soon enough. Past that is the power connector port and some more air exhaust slots, the last features on the rear of the unit. Again, if I can levy any criticisms here, it's that the parallel port needs removing and something else like more USB2.0 and powered FireWire ports put in their place, in future models.
I'd show you the left hand edge of the unit but it's nothing more than exhaust ports for air, along with the section of the unit designated for the quite hefty removable battery. A second battery is an option on the mobile Platina range and being honest, it's a recommended purchase, should you be able to keep both charged in a rotational fashion; battery life isn't brilliant, as you can imagine.
A quick shot of the wireless toggle/indicator lit up, before we open it up and see what the screen and keyboard are like.
