Notebook comparison setup
| System name | Novatech Centrino 2 X20mv Pro | Dell XPS M1330 | Toshiba Satellite Pro A300D-14O | Toshiba Satellite A300D-15B | HP Pavilion TX2520EA | Dell Inspiron 1721 690G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 1,066MHz FSB, dual-core) | Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB, dual-core) | AMD Turion Ultra ZM-80 (2.1GHz, 2x 1,024KB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Turion Ultra ZM-80 (2.1GHz, 2x 1,024KB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Turion Ultra ZM-80 (2.1GHz, 2x 1,024KB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 (2.0GHz, 2x 512KB L2 cache, dual-core) |
| Motherboard | Clevo M720T (Intel GM45 + ICH9M) | Dell 945M | Toshiba Pro A300D | Toshiba A300D | Quanta HP 780G (780G+SB700) | Dell RS690M (690G+SB600) |
| Memory | 2GB (2x 1GB) PC5300 | 2GB (2x 1GB) PC6400 | 3GB (2GB + 1GB) PC6400 | 4GB (2GB + 2GB) PC6400 | 3GB (2GB + 1GB) PC6400 | 2GB (2x 1GB) PC5400 |
| Memory timings/speed | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 667MHz | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 667MHz | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 800MHz | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 800MHz | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 805MHz | 5-5-5-15-1T @ 665MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | Intel GM45 IGP X4500MHD | NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS (discrete) | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3100 IGP | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 512MB (discrete) | ATI Radeon HD 3100 IGP | ATI Radeon X1270 IGP |
| WiFi | Realtek 8187B 802.11b/g | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | Realtek 802.11 b/g WiFi | Atheros AR9281 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | Broadcom 4322AG 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi | Dell1395 WiFi |
| Disk drive(s) | Hitachi 200GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Toshiba 160GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Toshiba 250GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 250GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 250GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 120GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | TSST SN-S083A DVD | Matsushita UJ-857G DVD | HL GSA-T50N DVD | Pioneer DVRTD08A | HL GSA-T30L DVD | HL GSA-T21N DVD |
| Battery size | 35WHr | 85WHr (9-cell, upgraded) | 43WHr | 43WHr | 65WHr (8-cell) | 56WHr |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Business SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Basic, 32-bit |
| Price, including VAT | £599 | £599 | £521 | £622 | £679 | £450* |
| Benchmarks | HEXUS.transcode - 200MB 1080p clip to iPhone (480x272, medium quality) HEXUS.photofix - 152MB photos auto-fixed - 25 images HEXUS.squeeze - 205MB photos compressed into one file HEXUS.PiFast - calculation to 10m places HEXUS.hd - QuickTime 1080p clip (H.264) playback load HEXUS.gaming - Quake 4 v1.3 custom-recorded netdemo at 1,280x800 0xAA 8xAF medium HEXUS.battery - battery life after 60m of Batman Begins DVD |
|---|
* now discontinued.
Notes
A number of similar-priced notebooks are included in the performance comparison, ranging from a Dell XPS M1330 featuring Centrino technology and a discrete graphics card through to a Toshiba Satellite Pro harnessing AMD's Puma platform.
Windows Vista took around 10 minutes to install from first switch-on, down from the 30-45 minutes for the Toshiba notebooks.
Benchmarks were run three times and the scores averaged, apart from the time-consuming battery-life test. The sole gaming test is the venerable Quake 4, run at 1,280x1,024 medium-detail settings. The engine scales well with power, and we expect laptops with discrete graphics cards and up-to-date IGPs to cope with it.
All tests, bar the battery-life, were carried out with WiFi set to on.
