The keyboard, coloured totally in white with some fawn elements, matches well to the design of the case. So, it looks nice at the first glance, but, at a closer look an unusual keyboard layout gets obvious.

Let's start with the enter key, which extends only over one row. This might be a matter of taste and many users won't mind. The next difference to a standard layout is the location of the [#] key, which is not in between [ä] and enter key, but above the one-row enter key.
But, that's still not all. The Ins-key is not next to the Del-key, but right beside the space bar  in front of the AltGr key. Due to a somewhat small space bar, typing mistakes are likely at the beginning.

After you got used to the unusual keyboard layout of the Zepto Znote 6324W, you'll realize that it is rather user-friendly. The keyboard seats completely solidly on the case and typing feels nice.

The built-in touch pad has a user-friendly surface. Furthermore, there are no anomalies when using it. Both of its buttons are user-friendly, but, there clicking noise is clearly audible. If you'd like to deactivate the touch pad in order to prevent an unintended mouse pointer control, you can easily and quickly do this by simply striking the key combination Fn+F6.

Zepto promises first-class performance inside a compact 14 inch format with its 6324W 'gamer' series. Rightly, the Znote is equipped with a powerful nVIDIA Geforce 8600M GT video card with 512MB GDDR2 video RAM and an up-to-date Intel Core 2 Duo „Penryn“ CPU with 2.5 GHz. Even inside a 15 inch notebook this would be an equipment of the upper middle class. Inside a 14 inch notebook it is in a class of its own.

Of course Zepto offers a variety of options if you order a notebook. Currently four Penryn processors are possible (T8100, T8300, T9300 und T9500 - here is our comprehensive review) with a clock rate of 2.1 to 2.6 GHz. Also regarding RAM there are some options: They start with 2x1024MB PC5300, the reviewed notebook was equipped with, up to  a maximum of 4096MB. You can also select 800 MHz DDR2 memory modules.

Also regarding hard disk there are a number of options available. 120 to 320GB, alternatively with 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm. Furthermore, also a 32GB Solid State disk is available for 300,- Euro surcharge. This version is nearly completely quiet, has excellent access times and a high data security. Cons are the comparably high price an the low capacity.

Compared to competitor notebooks of the multimedia class the 3DMark 2005 and 2006 benchmark results are very good. The top notebook is still the Dell XPS M1530, which is also equipped with a Geforce 8600M GT video card, but, in contrary to the 6324W with GDDR3 video memory. The results are about equal to the results of the already reviewed Zepto Znote 6224W, which is similarly equipped, but comes with T7300 Merom CPU.

First the performance increase due to the 2.5 GHz Penryn CPU gets obvious in the PCMark 2005 benchmark, whereas it reaches a total of 5450 points, which is  a first-class result.
Also the result of the Cinebench R10 benchmark is good. The Znote 6324W is compared to other notebooks one of the bests.
In both aspects the performance increase of the new Intel CPUs gets obvious. Even though the price is the same, running office applications, which demand CPU power, the performance increase is about 10% compared to equally clocked Merom processors.

Whilst the F.E.A.R. performance test of the Zepto Znote 6324W is not outstanding at all, it clearly wins the Doom 3 benchmark with low and medium details. But, with high or ultra details it is again clearly outperformed by the Dell XPS 1530. Looking at the diagram you can clearly recognize that the advantages of the Penryn CPU is the lower, the higher the demand on video performance.

The Znote 6324W is indeed one of those notebooks which are close to ideal. It provides first-class performance inside a compact mobile 14 inch case, whereas the display is even fit for outdoor operation and an optionally available 12-inch battery increases the mobility.

Although coated in white, the design is rather decent, yet elegant. The haptics of the surfaces is average and hint on the lower price category. Despite some uneven gaps next to the display, the workmanship is nonetheless good.

The input devices are proper for the daily office routine and for occasional mobile work. Whatever, you'd finally like to do with the Znote 6324W, you'll need some time to adapt to the unusual keyboard layout.

The display scores points by a good resolution (WXGA+ 1440x900 pixels) and a matte surface. The brightness of this panel is also alright. However, the viewing angles and the contrast could be better.

Regarding performance the reviewed Znote 6324W, which was equipped with a Geforce 8600M GT video card and Core 2 Duo T9300 CPU with 2.5 GHz, has sufficient reserve capacities. So, it is well equipped for simple office applications, calculation demanding renderings up to computer games.

Depending on the use the noise and the temperature emissions are alright. Only the built-in speakers did not really convince us. But, considering the size of this compact notebook this was no surprise.

The battery runtime of the standard 6-cells battery is definitely not one of the Znote 6324W's strengths. But, the optional 12-cell battery increases the mobility of this notebook.

The Zepto Znote 6324W costs at the time of writing at least 890.- Euro. The reviewed version costs without discounts nearly 1300.- Euro. Considering the provided performance this is still an interesting bundle.