Packaging

The A70z comes in a box not much bigger than standard laptop packaging.

The A70z comes wrapped in this cloth sack, in case you want to, umm, take it on a picnic or something.

The clean-looking front panel, constructed of classic ThinkPad-like matte black plastic, resists fingerprints. The 19" TFT screen is also matte in its appearance.

The left side of the machine (looking at it head-on) houses the vertically oriented DVD drive.

The right side holds three readily accessible USB 2.0 ports and the headphone & mic jacks. Towards the top, we find two buttons that control the screen's brightness.

One the back, we see the bulk of the machine's I/O. 3xUSB 2.0, serial port (remember, this is a business-class machine), and Ethernet. There are no Firewire or USB 3.0 ports on the A70z we tested.

Also on the rear, a plastic lip juts out from the panel to form a carrying handle, and the somewhat awkward to use kickstand connects just below it.

Our test unit came with a wireless full-size keyboard and a mini mouse, as well as batteries for both.

System documentation consists of a "Safety and Warranty Guide" (not to be confused with an owner's manual), a regulatory notice, and a single-sided quick start guide.