Packard Bell EasyNote TS45-HR-965UK review

With such a large disk to fill up, we were disappointed to see that the TS45 has dropped the USB3 port found on the TS44. Instead, you get three USB2 ports, and they’re placed towards the front of the case where they might interfere with an attached mouse. The rest of the TS45-HR-965UK’s port selection is fairly standard, and consists of VGA and HDMI video outputs, a pair of audio ports, a Gigabit Ethernet network port and a four-in-one memory card slot.

Most impressive of all is the screen, which is one of the best here. It has an even, bright backlight with no hint of a cast. Vertical viewing angles are a problem, as are reflections cast by overhead lights on the glossy finish, but once you’ve adjusted the tilt of the screen carefully you’re rewarded with great contrast and bold, accurate colours.

With its massive hard disk and great screen, the TS45 is ideal for those who like watching movies or taking lots of hi-res photos, which makes the inclusion of full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Premiere Elements 9 all the more convenient. However, the TS45’s Core i3 processor isn’t really fast enough if you’re doing lots of photo or video editing work; Asus’s powerful X53E would be a better choice for that.

Overall, the Dell Inspiron 17R is better value for money because of its 17in screen and better choice of expansion ports, but for the sheer convenience of it (a massive hard disk, plus free photo and video-editing software) the TS45 is quite unique, as long as you like pink.