Benchmark performance
The Fujitsu Siemens' faster Intel Core 2 Mobile processor - a T5600 operating at 1.86GHz and with a 667MHz FSB - is the main catalyst for better performance in our number-crunching test.
Converting 700MiB of WAV files - roughly an album's worth - into 192kbit/s MP3 takes almost 30 seconds less on the Fujitsu Siemens T4215. Again, though, that advantage is largely attributable to the faster CPU.
In our multi-threaded CINEBENCH test, the Fujitsu Siemens provides more-than-adequate performance, too. As a comparison, a single-core AMD Athlon 64 3500+ returns 325 CINEBENCH marks.
Gaming performance is, well, poor. 3DMark05 renders like a slideshow. Even running Quake 4 at 640x480 with minimum detail results in barely playable framerates - and Quake is hardly the most taxing of engines. In short, the GMA950 is not a graphics processor suitable for gaming.
Battery life
The battery-life test is simple enough. The T4215 UMTS was charged to maximum and then a DVD (one hour and 47 minutes) was set to run in full-screen mode from the laptop's DVD drive, with screen brightness turned down to medium, battery mode set to maximum efficiency and all forms of wireless connectivity switched off.
We wanted to see just how much battery life was left at the end of the DVD. Not the most technical of evaluations but real-world nonetheless.
We found that the battery still had a 41 per cent charge once the DVD was complete, suggesting that you'll be able to watch practically any DVD without battery considerations coming into play.
