Comparison system setup and notes
| System | Packard Bell Imax Mini | ASUS Seashell 1005HA(M) | HP Pavilion dv2-1030ea | ASUS U20A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Atom 230 (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 | PB MCP79 | ASUS (i945GSE+ICH7M) | HP 690E | ASUS GS45 |
| Memory | 2GB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 | 2GB DDR2 | 3GB DDR2 |
| Memory timings and speed | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 800MHz | 4-4-4-12-2T @ 533MHz | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 639.4MHz | 6-6-6-18-2T @ 800MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | NVIDIA ION (GeForce 9400M) | Intel GMA 950 | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 512MB (550MHz core, 1,000MHz mem) | Intel X4500MHD |
| Screen size and native res | N/A | 10in - 1,024x600 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 |
| WiFi | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11b/g/n | Broadcom 802.11b/g | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Disk drive(s) | Hitachi 160GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 160GB, 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) | N/A | 48WHr | 55WHr | 47WHr |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 | Windows HP Home | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit |
| Weight | 741g | 1,293g | 1,668g (without optical) | 1,822g |
| Current price (as tested) | £299 | £309 | £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 the performance of the nettop PB Imax Mini to a
recently-reviewed ASUS U20A netbook and a further couple ultraportable
notebooks
from AMD and Intel. The Atom N230 is practically identical to the N270,
save for a higher TDP - 4W vs. 2.5W - and provision for 64-bit
extensions. Both feature Hyper-Threading.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 nettop(s)/laptop(s) set to high-performance mode.
