Comparison laptops
| Laptop | ASUS Seashell 1005HA(M) | MSI Wind Atom | HP Pavilion dv2-1030ea | ASUS U20A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | AMD Athlon Neo NV-40 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | Intel Pentium SU2700 (1.30GHz, 2MB L2 cache, single-core) |
| Motherboard | ASUS (i945GSE+ICH7M) | MSI U-100 (i945GSE+ICH7M) | HP 690E | ASUS GS45 |
| Memory | 1GB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 | 2GB DDR2 | 3GB DDR2 |
| Memory timings and speed | 4-4-4-12-2T @ 533MHz | 4-4-4-12-2T @ 533MHz | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 639.4MHz | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 800MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | Intel GMA 950 | Intel GMA 950 | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 512MB (550MHz core, 1,000MHz mem) | Intel X4500MHD |
| Screen size and native res | 10in - 1,024x600 | 10in - 1,024x600 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 |
| WiFi | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11b/g | Broadcom 802.11b/g | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Disk drive(s) | Hitachi 160GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 120GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 320GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 320GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | None | None | External DVD-ReWriter | 8x DVD ReWriter |
| Graphics driver | Intel 6.14.10.4906 | Intel 6.14.10.4906 | CATALYST 9.1 | Intel 7.15.10.1666 |
| Battery (as tested) | 48WHr | 24WHr | 55WHr | 47WHr |
| Operating System | Windows HP Home | Windows 7 RC | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit |
| Weight | 1,293g | 1,042g | 1,668g (without optical) | 1,822g |
| Current price (as tested) | £330 | £269 | £569 | £799 |
| Benchmarks | 7-zip (7z4.65, 32-bit)
compression of 205MB worth of
photos HEXUS.PiFast - calculation to 10m places CINEBENCH - multi-CPU render VLC 0.9.9 playback of Terminator Salvation 480p, 720p, and 1080p.mov MPC-HC playback of Terminator Salvation 1080p.mov Quake 4 v1.30 - 1,024x600 Battery test -Terminator Salvation 480p movie (VLC or MPC-HC) looping |
|---|
Notes
We're comparing performance up against an MSI Wind that uses the same internal components but costs £60 less.The benchmarks were conducted with the laptops plugged into the mains and set to high performance. In the case of the Seashell, the SHE (Super Hybrid Engine - Fn+Space) permits auto-overclocking of the CPU from 1.60GHz to 1.68GHz, by raising the FSB from 133MHz to 140MHz. MSI's Wind can be BIOS-updated to support overclocking. We chose to benchmark it at 1.60GHz.
In terms of benchmarks, 7-zip is a compression program that's dual-threaded for optimum performance. We're compressing 58 photos into one file and measuring the time taken to do so.
HEXUS.PiFast tests single-core performance and CINEBENCH stresses as many cores as are available.
The video-playback tests take in three resolutions of the Terminator Salvation trailer, as found here. We use VLC player to play a one-minute section - from minutes one to two - on the 480p, 720p, and 108p clips. An average CPU utilisation is then derived from the Resource Monitor. The 1080p test is re-run if the laptop supports GPU-based acceleration via MPC-HC.
A nod towards gaming, venerable Quake 4 is fired up and run at 1,024x600 - the base resolution common to most netbooks.
The above tests are run on mains power with the laptop(s) set to high-performance mode.
Lastly, the battery test involves setting the laptop to power-saver mode, using the 480p Terminator Salvation QuickTime movie on a looped basis, with screen set to mid-brightness (50 per cent) and WiFi/Bluetooth switched off. We time how long it takes for the laptop to go from full charge into hibernation, and should the laptop have a discrete video card that accelerates the content, we run it via MPC-HC, as per the 1080p tests.
