Final thoughts
That blurred line I spoke about earlier between desktop PCs and their DTR laptop counterparts has just become more blurred today. Ask yourself exactly what it is you require from a PC, funds permitting, and evaluate if a desktop-replacement can't fulfill almost all of your priorities. Performance-wise, there was very little difference between MV's Ixius 3.6 and a well-tuned equivalent desktop system in 2D benchmarks. The lack of performance deviation is simple to explain; MV uses a number of desktop parts in its goliath of a system.Build quality was excellent throughout and the 17-inch widescreen was a joy to use. General ergonomics were also excellent. In fact, you become so accustomed to the Ixius' dimensions and aspect ratio that going back to a regular laptop just seems plain wrong. Two aspects that a DTR laptop never does well in are weight and battery life. That's to be expected given the nature of the beast (no pun intended). Tipping the scales at around 5kg and bumping that up to nearly 6kg travel weight, only the hardy and strong of back would use it in true mobile form. However, if you want a thin-and-light laptop, you shouldn't really be looking at this type of machine to begin with. Battery life is also predictably poor. The 6600mAH battery was fully discharged by just over 50m gaming. Again, battery life concerns should be near the bottom of your priorities list if a true desktop-replacement laptop is what you hanker for.
£1750 is a serious amount of money but you're compensated by a seriously powerful laptop that fits the term desktop replacement like a glove. Looking at the specifications' list for the first time makes one wonder if it's a laptop or high-end desktop PC. I can't see a better validation of its intended purpose than that. MV has taken Clevo's all-new D900T chassis and launched a laptop that just begs you to sell your present desktop PC and invest in some DTR fun. It's also quiet, nearly silent in battery mode and registering nothing more than a low hum when run via the mains. Quiet enough to be used as a multimedia centre in your lounge.
Part of that extra fun is down to NVIDIA's GeForce 6800 Go. It takes the best bits of NV40 power and turns them into the fastest current mobile graphics adapter, period. Massive 12-pipe pixel-pushing power is matched by a 256-bit memory interface that produces almost 20GB/s of juicy bandwidth. It's leaps and bounds faster than the incumbent GeForce FX Go 5700 and at least as good as desktop GeForce 6600 GT or Radeon X700 PRO cards, and if my basic overclocking tests is anything to go by, the core has plenty of headroom right now. The MXM form factor, when introduced, is another nice feature that will appease the enthusiast who has previously shied away from power laptops due to a lack of end-user upgradeability.
NVIDIA has taken the word compromise out of mobile graphics with its GeForce 6800 Go 256MB. Recent gaming titles run a treat in high-quality mode and AntiAliasing/Anisotropic Filtering can be used without fear of turning a game into a slideshow. 256MB of onboard memory is a first for NVIDIA's consumer-level mobile parts, and it genuinely helps out at higher resolutions. The onus is back on ATI's shoulders to continue the game of mobile one-upmanship. It looks like it will soon counter with its M28 mobile part, but we've yet to get our hands on a sample. Given a choice today and funds permitting, I wouldn't look at anything other than a GeForce 6800 Go 256MB for mobile gaming at its very best.
Bottom line is that desktop-replacement laptops have just moved up another gear, so if you can justify spending £1750 and want a do-it-all laptop, MV's Ixius 3.6 is a good a bet as any right now.