In August and September this year, we reviewed 34 notebooks, out of which 19
were dual core-indicating that dual cores are definitely 'in' amongst
notebooks. With a number of executives deciding their notebook based on
portability and the 'can it just do what I want it to do, without the burden
of additional and rarely used features?' question, older generation systems
like Centrino and Celeron/ Sempron based notebooks are continuing to be just as
popular. Today single and dual core notebooks sell side-by-side with similar
configuration and price points. Single cores are obviously not done yet-there
are still a lot of applications they can handle smoothly without adding the
burden of the extra core into the cost. Yet, single cores will gradually
disappear over the next year or two, when more and more powerful applications
hit the market demanding the computing prowess of more and more cores.
These notebooks are basic productivity models, with baseline feature sets-a
Pentium M processor, on board graphics, 60 to 80 GB hard disks and a DVD writer.
Interestingly, the DVD writers on board these notebooks are 'dual mode'.
What that means is they can write both plus and minus format DVDs and not that
they can do dual layer discs which is a different thing altogether. Three
portables (out of the four notebooks reviewed here) have 12” TFT screens, with
two of them being wide screens models. By the way, we have not made a mistake
and repeated the visual for the ACi DimiQ 1100 and the Sahara CK66 in the
reviews below-the two are identical in reality.
Multimedia Content Creation Winstone (MCCW) 2003 |
Business Winstone (BW) 2003 |
So what sets them apart? Small variations in configuration (like the type and
speed of CPU and RAM) and a larger price variation.
BW and MCCW Scores BW uses regular productivity applications that use smaller file sizes, while MCCW's applications use larger files. Thus, when the system has a hard disk that performs better with larger files, its MCCW score will be better than its BW performance. That's why Sahara CJ66 and CK66 did much better in MCCW. |
ACi DimiQ 1100
Ultra Portable |
- Good performance, low price
- Small sense-area for touch pad, speaker quality
Powered by an ultra-low voltage Pentium U1300 1.06 GHz and a Gig of RAM, this
white bodied notebook is about style. The top of its lid is silver gray and its
screen is a 11.1” but wide TFT. The screen is shiny like a glossy screen but
it is not a glossy TFT. The speaker is along the ridge-joint with a single
non-programmable button alongside that launches the default media player
installed (WMP, Winamp, etc). The touch pad is of standard size with scrollbars
on the left and bottom edges, but the sense-area for the scrollers are wider
than normal giving you a smaller than usual space for free pointer movement.
SCORES | ||
BW | MCCW | BM |
31.5 | 33.2 | 4 Hrs 35 Min |
Performance is at par with similar notebooks from our August/September
reviews-we ran Business Winstone and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone that
returned scores of 31.5 and 33.2 Winstones respectively. Plus, the battery lasts
you well over four and a half hours-a good performance.
BOTTOM LINE: Its price tag is well worth the configuration and
performance, making it a good investment.
|
Sahara CJ66
Ultra Portable |
- Good performance, very low price
- Horrible battery life
This notebook from Sahara is not the usual rectangle you get to see with
ultraportables, but we decided to call it one because its form factor is fairly
the same as the DimiQ 1100 and the Sahara CK66. Plus, it weighs within the 1.5
Kg limit we have put for this qualification. This all grey notebook has a
Pentium M 1.6 on an Intel 915 with 512 MB RAM. The screen is a 12.1” TFT. The
last line of the keyboard is cramped. The model we received had a couple of keys
repeated and even misprinted, which Sahara claims, have been fixed in store
models.
Its benchmark scores of 36.9 and 27.7 Winstones in MCCW and Business Winstone
respectively are better scores than that of ACi's DimiQ 1100 which has a
better configuration with a 945 chipset. Battery life is just 1 hour and 55
minutes to the whistle. Performance therefore is not chart breaking, but this is
sufficient horsepower.
SCORES | ||
BW | MCCW | BM |
27.7 | 36.9 | 1 Hrs 55 Min |
BOTTOM LINE: For a price tag of under 40K minus taxes, it's worth a
shot if you're willing to negotiate for a better battery.
|
Sahara CK66
Ultra Portable |
- Dual mode writer
- Mistakes on keyboard, very expensive
This notebook is identical to ACi DimiQ 1100 in size, shape, weight, style
and configuration. The first difference you notice, with both of them placed
side by side, is the number of mistakes on Sahara's keyboard. The performance
is a little behind in MCCW but similar in Business Winstone. The battery life is
almost identical at four and a half hours. Then there's a question mark over
its price tag... when the ACi is available at 65K, why would you pay about 80K
for this one? We ask Sahara to sort that out as well.
The notebook has a 12.1” TFT with speakers along the top of the ridge
joint. The lone unprogrammable button next to the speaker launches whatever is
the default media player on the system. The touch pad for pointer control is of
normal size but the area to sense scroll-bar movement is so wide that there is
not enough space left for free pointer movement.
SCORES | ||
BW | MCCW | BM |
28.4 | 31.8 | 4 Hrs 24 Min |
Bottom Line: As compared to ACi DimiQ 1100, we find the price tag on
the higher side, given the lower benchmark scores.
|
Sahara CK76
Rugged |
- Rugged design, sensible performance
- Requires a better processor
The CK76 has a plastic-like black body with no frills. Open the lid to find a
14” square TFT framed with a metallic lining. The dual mode DVD writer is
lockable with a sliding key next to the eject button. Like the other three
notebooks, this one has a single non-programmable button, but unlike them the
CK76's button toggles your Wi-Fi on or off. Luckily the keyboard is spacious
and typing on it is not a problem except for the surprisingly small Enter and
right Shift keys. There is also a volume control dial along the front-edge.
With Pentium M 1.73 GHz/512 meg RAM on a 915 chipset motherboard and on-board
graphics, this Sahara book scored a good 43.1 and 29.7 Winstones in multimedia
and office productivity benchmarks respectively. Battery life with its 9-cell
Li-ion pack is a good 5 hours plus.
SCORES | ||
BW | MCCW | BM |
29.7 | 43.1 | 5 Hrs 02 Min |
Bottom Line: The notebook is rugged, though it is not made for the
typical executive amongst you. We consider the CK76 as a good buy.
|
Dell XPS M1210 Notebook
Feature Rich |
- Good configuration at this price point
- Poor graphics performance
This Core 2 Duo notebook from Dell is aimed at the frequently travelling
power business user. The notebook weighs around 2 Kgs but packs a punch with its
features as well as performance. It comes with a built-in 1.3 Megapixel
swiveling webcam (Logitech Quickcam model) and Skype phone software for IP video
conferencing. A single button lets you quickly take snapshots or invoke the
video recorder. Media player controls arranged along the front edge, which light
up, add not only style but also make it easy to locate the controls in a
darkened flight cabin. Speakers are on the 12.1” widescreen TFT and audio
quality is good enough. The only minus we could find was the Wi-Fi button that
was located right under the side-located heat vent.
SCORES | ||
PCMark05 | 3DMark05 | BatteryMark02 |
4192 | 1988 | 3hr 37 Min |
The notebook scored a decent 4192 PCMarks and 1988 3DMarks in PCMark 05 and
3DMark 05 tests. Gameplay sees around 9 FPS with regular scenery and animation
and this drops to about 5 FPS when you add complex polygons. Considering the
graphics is NVidia GoForce 7400 with 256 MB RAM, this can be better.
BOTTOM LINE: The XPS M1210 is good value for money at this price
point.
|
Lenovo ThinkCentre A60
Business PC |
ThinkVantage Technology
No monitor
This is an ordinary business desktop meant for regular productivity use. It
runs on AMD Athlon64 3800+ at 2.41GHz and comes with GeForce 6100 onboard
graphics. It has 80GB HDD and a DVD ROM but no floppy drive.
The ThinkCentre A60 family is preloaded with ThinkVantage technology software
applications like ThinkVantage Productivity Center, Client Security Solution,
and Rescue and Recovery. For example, the Productivity Center guides you to set
up, understand, maintain, and enhance your desktop.
As for the performance bit, it scored better than other desktops of similar
configurations that we reviewed earlier. But, with Business Winstone 2002 it
gave an average performance. There is one more thing though-you don't get a
monitor bundled even at the 40K you pay for this machine.
SCORES | ||
BW | 3DMark05 | PCMark05 |
35.4 | 661 | 2724 |
BOTTOM LINE: An average PC as compared to other dual cores. There is
no monitor included in the price and the business productivity is average-not
the best buying option.
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