Features & Specifications
The Hypersonic AG2 features a 12.1-inch glossy screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800. The CPU in my test machine is a very powerful lintel Core 2 Duo T9300 running at 2.5 GHz. The system has 4GB of RAM and runs the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. Other features include 802.11n networking, a built-in DVD burner and Bluetooth. Base level machines stat at $999 and the price as tests for my review unit was $1599.

Hypersonic offers several color options for the Hypersonic AG2 including blue, yellow, pink, black and white colors. My test unit was a metallic navy blue and the paint quality was top notch. The keyboard and touchpad are black on all but the white systems. The white machines get white keyboards and touchpad’s.

The weight for the Hypersonic AG2 of 4.14 pounds makes it very portable and if it was a few ounces lighter it would be a major force in the ultraportable category. Watching a movie on the glossy screen was fantastic. The colors are sharp and vivid and no ghosting or tearing of images was noticed. The same glossy screen can be a drawback in some environments though thanks to lots of glare.

Performance & Use
As you might expect on a 12.1-inch notebook, the keyboard is rather cramped with an A4 size but it offers good typing feel and works fine. The track pad is well placed and accurate with buttons that operate easily. Connectivity options on the machine include a VGA D-sub out, Ethernet jack, modem jack, FireWire port, and a trio of USB 2.0 ports.

The Hypersonic AG2 has amazing performance with one of the fastest dual-core processors you will find in a thin-and-light notebook. In fact the processor performs better than many processors found in low cost gaming machines. The Hypersonic AG2 scored 837 in Cinebench 9.5 and racked up 645 3DMarks in 3DMark06. A gaming machine it’s not, but with Intel integrated graphics you don’t expect it to be.

If there is one significant flaw in the Hypersonic AG2 it’s the poor battery life. If you turn the settings down to conserve power you can squeeze a few hours out of it, but other notebooks in the class can get 2 or 3 times as much battery life. Poor battery life is the tradeoff of a 4-cell battery and a high performance CPU.

Battery life will be a non-issue for many users since many of us simply need a small notebook that is lightweight to transport between locations where an AC outlet will be available. However, if you are a road warrior that works away from an electrical outlet for most of the day, the Hypersonic AG2 may be too big on performance for your battery life needs.