The latest model in Toshiba's popular line of stylish and slimline Portégé sub-notebooks, the 3480CT, comes in at the top of the range and is based around a 600MHz Pentium III chip and an 11.3-inch screen. Despite its thin size, it feels solid and well constructed.

The keyboard has been well built and comfortably positioned, and both the mouse buttons and the trackpoint are easy to use and have a positive feel. However, one of the drawbacks of the 3480CT's thin design is the lack of built-in ports. There is only room for a VGA port, a single USB port, the proprietary port (for either the I/O adapter or the Media Docker), two audio ports, an infrared port and a port for the V.90 built-in modem.

To get around this Toshiba includes a compact, lightweight LAN I/O adapter with the system. This provides serial, parallel and VGA ports, as well as an audio port and single USB and PS/2 ports, plus the LAN port. A USB floppy drive and PC Card-based 24-speed CD-ROM drive were also part of the review package.

The rear-mounted 3000maH lithium ion battery offers a battery life of two and three quarter hours, and a second battery can be fitted on to the underside of the 3480CT. Toshiba's Power Saver is installed to help you configure the correct power settings for your user profile. Our review machine came with Windows 98 installed, but no bundled application software

The Portégé 3480CT is a well-built system that is easy to use and has a fairly good battery life. But you need to carry the LAN I/O adapter with you to get the most out of it.