Fujitsu-Siemens (FSC) has equipped the Amilo Mini Ui3520 with an 8.9 Inch WSVGA non-glare display with a maximum resolution of 1024x600 pixels. For its processing unit, FSC has chosen the N270 Atom CPU from Intel clocked at 1.6Ghz. Furthermore the manufacturer has provided the Ui3520 with 1GB of DDR-2 RAM, a 60GB hard drive from Toshiba and an onboard GPU from Intel, all accommodated in very compact housing. Various connections also make an appearance, whose distribution will be seen shortly. For the operating system, Fujitsu-Siemens relies on the tried and true Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3 from Microsoft.

Presumably in order to keep the weight and price of the Amilo Mini Ui 3520 as low as possible, the case is constructed from plastic. This means that the case noticably warped when pressure was applied to certain points, occassionally emmitting a creaking noise. Nevertheless, the case was sufficiently sturdy to use on the road without hesitation.

Due to its reduced size and weight, it was no problem picking up our test machine by one side using just one hand. Even in open position, grabbing the display and lifting proved to be no challenge for the Ui 3520. Despite the small size of the monitor, its reverse side was, like much of the rest of the case, very sensitive when it came to applying pressure. The reverse of the display lid, like that of many larger notebooks, was easily deformed without any considerable resistance. Above all, it would be important to take this into consideration and take steps to protect the device during transport in a ruck sack or other bag.

The small matte 8.9 inch display is held in place solely by one large hinge. This means the manufacturer has done without a dedicated closing mechanism, which for a display of its size probably isn't necessary anyway. In the same vein, the display of our test sample closed and stayed closed quite effectively. Also, opening the display lid was performed easily and simply by one hand without too much effort. Thankfully there was no squeaking or creaking noise to be heard here.

The aesthetics and colouration of the Amilo Ui 3520 have been kept relatively plain and simple. Furthermore the netbook has been provided a smooth finish (not high gloss!), which could work well in its favour when cleaning the device. The combination of black and white elements is visually quite successful and lends the notebook a discreet yet defined appearance. Whether or not it suits every user however lies of course with individual taste.

On the reverse of the white display lid, there is the central Amilo emblem in large and clear grey font, as well as the Fujitsu-Siemens logo further up in smaller writing. In its opened state the netbook is above all dominated by shades of black, particularly in the area between the keyboard and display where the loudspeakers are situated, as well as in the areas framing the display. Only the keyboard and palm rest along with the touchpad and mouse buttons are shaded white, while the keyboard labels themselves are again black. The interplay between black and white is not hugely innovative but nevertheless made an impression on us visually.

There are also optional replaceable add-on covers in various colours available for the Amilo Ui3520. Similarly there also is an optional external optical drive running on USB2.0 that comes with the Nero Software Suite. For added mobility an optional 6 cell battery can also be purchased.

Despite the small proportions of the Amilo Mini Ui3520, it isn't difficult to be impressed by the range of included connections.
At the front, there is a 4in1 card reader for SD, SD HC, MS, MS Pro and MMC cards. Right next to that are the audio connections for Mic and Headphones.
On the left hand side there is an Express Card Slot 34, followed by a USB Port, LAN connection and power jack.
There isn't much of mention at the back, just the access shaft for the long battery.
On the right hand side remains only the VGA-out and a second USB port followed by the ventilation shaft for cooling.

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 also includes an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, situated centrally above the display. Just a few centimetres to the right of the camera is the integrated digital array microphone for internet telephony or, thanks to the webcam, for video conferencing with friends and relatives.

Besides its LAN connection (Realtek RTL8102E Family PCI-E Fast Ethernet NIC), the netbook also provides a WLAN adapter, an Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter, allowing cable-free connection with other computers or to the internet. The same thing applies to the on-board CSR Bluetooth USB Adapater included.

In comparison to the Eee PC 901, the Amilo Mini Ui3520's display brightness is quite a bit better. With an average brightness of 182.63 cd/m² and a maximum value of 194.4 cd/m², the Ui3520 remains, thanks to its matte non-glare display which considerably reduces distracting reflections, quite comfortable to use in outdoors environments (provided the screen is shielded from direct sunlight).

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 takes its performance from an Intel Atom N270 CPU with a 1.6 GHz clock speed, one gigabyte of DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM (1x1024MB stick), and an integrated GMA 950 on-board graphics solution, also from Intel. Given this configuration, this netbook is definitely not designed for 3D gaming or intense graphics work. The hardware is just too meek.
Like the Asus Eee PC 901, the Ui3520 is quickly pushed to its limit and has great difficulty keeping up with the computing power of a dual core notebook. The strengths of the Amilo Mini Ui3520 lie in its very manageable size, its mobility and its value price.

In order to better illustrate the performance capabilities of the Ui3520 and to make a better comparison to similar devices, we reverted back to the tried and true Cinebench R10 and the PCMark05 benchmark test. We also ran the somewhat outdated 3DMark01 and 3DMark03 to test the netbook's graphics capacity.

We started with Cinebench R10. On this test the Amilo Mini Ui3520 achieved a Single CPU rating of 531 and 829 for Multicore, while Cinebench rated the netbook's onboard GPU at 271 points. Comparing these values to those produced by the Asus Eee PC 901 shows that the netbooks' Cinebench ratings are more or less indentical.

PCMark05 gave our test sample of the Amilo Mini Ui3520 1363 points putting it just a hairwidth ahead of the Eee PC 901 on this test. This small performance advantage was probably due to the Ui3520 internal hard drive, whose burst rate performance was twice as high as the SDD included in the Eee PC 901.

In 3DMark01 the Ui3520 performed pretty much as expected with 2884 points, again landing it marginally in front of the Eee PC 901. A run through of the 3DMark03 test suite produced a result of 719 points.

Noise

Thanks to the energy efficient Intel Atom N270 processor, the Amilo Mini Ui3520 in idle state is pretty much inaudible at an average of 31.2 dB (max 33.3 dB) making it a truly quiet companion. The only irritating component is the internal hard drive, which, when accessing data, emits a clattering noise (measuring 35.4 dB). This noise is quite noticeable and casts a bit of a cloud over the otherwise very amicable Ui3520.
Under load the netbook makes itself both seen and heard. While the fan does reach a quite audible maximum of 36.1 dB, due to the very constant fan noise, it never seems obtrusive or irritating.

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 also offers a "silent mode" via key combination, which is supposed to reduce the device's noise emissions by lowering CPU and GPU performance. In practice, activating this mode only reduces the fan revolution speed by an negligible amount. Given the regular clattering noises upon hard drive access, this feature is well intentioned but insignificant.

Using the included 4 cell battery the Amilo Mini produced a quite satisfactory result in the Battery Eater Readers Test (idle, all features off, min brightness, no WLAN, energy saving on), clocking 208 minutes run-time. On the Battery Eater Classic Test (all features on, max brightness, full load), the netbook scored a similarly pleasing 134 minutes. Surfing the internet via WLAN with practical settings allowed almost three hours (171 minutes) away from the power socket.

With its Amilo Mini Ui3520, Fujitsu-Siemens is expanding its Amilo product series with an 8.9 inch model, marking its entrance the ever expanding netbook market. With a weight of just one kilogram and measurements of 23.3 x 17.5 x 3.58 centimetres, the Ui3520 holds quite a good figure and keeps up quite well with its netbook colleagues.

Fitted with an energy saving Intel Atom Processor N270 at 1.6 GHz, one gigabyte of DDR2 RAM, 60 to 80 GB of hard drive space and an Intel GMA 950 integrated GPU, the Amilo Mini Ui3520 easily holds its own in terms of hardware compared with its competitors.

One minor shortcoming (in our opinion) is the strangely situated mouse buttons, which find themselves to the left and right of the touchpad respectively. The buttons nevertheless do meet their purpose quite well, they just need a certain time to get used to: something we still hadn't gotten a  complete handle of by the end of the testing period.

In terms of connectivity the Amilo Mini offers pretty much all the common interfaces found on even larger notebooks. LAN, WLAN and Bluetooth are all available on board inside the unit's compact housing. The case also accomodates two USB 2.0 ports, an analogue VGA output, a cardreader and an Express Card Slot 34.

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 is available for 399 Euros and comes with a 24 month warranty (collect and return) and is delivered preinstalled with Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3.