Mobile Buyers' Guide, December 2009
by Jarred Walton on December 6, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Mobile Workstations
If you're looking for a truly powerful mobile workstation, there's really nothing else that can match the CPU power offered in the Clevo D900F. It will accept the fastest desktop Core i7 Bloomfield processors, giving you up to 3.33GHz of steady number crunching prowess. The D900F is a beast, weighing nearly 15 pounds and delivering an hour of battery life, but as a transportable workstation it will outperform any mobile CPU by a significant margin. Companies like Eurocom even support up to 24GB of memory if you need lots of RAM for a mobile server.
If you're looking for something less bulky, Dell's Precision M6400 is very nice and even has (or at least had?) a matte LCD option. The M6500 is the new Core i7 version of the M6400, with a higher base price. Both models have four SO-DIMM slots and support up to 16GB of RAM, or 8GB via four SO-DIMMs without breaking the bank. These notebooks are truly intended for workstation use, though, as they come with either NVIDIA Quadro or ATI FirePro GPUs, and they have a 3-year warranty standard.
Designer Laptops
If you're more interested in aesthetics than performance, look at the HP Envy and Dell Adamo laptops. We've already mentioned the HP Envy 15 as a gaming option, so we'll confine our discussions here to the Envy 13. Also note that the base model Adamo actually comes in at $1500, but any upgrades will bump you into the "high-end" territory.
At their core, Adamo laptops (including the XPS) are essentially CULV designs, but with an emphasis on being thin. The standard Adamo laptops ship with Core 2 SU9400 CPUs (1.4GHz, 3MB L2, 800FSB) - it's marginally faster than the Pentium SU4300 found in significantly less expensive laptops. Adamo battery life is listed as 5+ hours with a 40Wh battery. The Adamo XPS is a more exotic design with a fold-down keyboard, and it comes with a 128GB SSD and a 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM with a starting price of $1800. The newer Adamo is available in black (onyx) or white (pearl), and it's available in two basic configurations. The $1500 "Admire" model has the same SU9400 and a 128GB SSD, but it ships with 2GB DDR3. The $2300 "Desire" ups the ante significantly, with 4GB DDR3, a 256GB SSD, and a Core 2 SL9600 CPU (2.13 GHz, 6M L2, 1066FSB). The SL9600 is a 17W TDP vs. 10W TDP for the SU9400, so battery life may also be slightly lower in that configuration.
The HP Envy 13 is similar in many ways, but with a bit more in the way of customization options as well as some higher performance accessories; specifically, HP includes a discrete ATI HD 4330 GPU on all Envy 13 models - good for graphics performance, but bad for battery life, but thankfully it's disabled and you use the IGP by default when unplugged. You can get the Envy 13 with SL9400, SL9600, or SU9600 CPUs (the latter two add $100 each, with the SU9600 actually providing the lowest performance but best power characteristics). Envy comes with 1GB DDR3 soldered on the motherboard and either 2GB or 4GB in the SO-DIMM slot. For the hard drive, HP lets users choose between a standard 250GB 5400RPM HDD, or you can upgrade to a 160GB SSD. That means unlike the Adamo, you're actually getting what we consider to be the best current SSD. HP also gives you a choice between a 13.1" 1366x768 LCD panel, or a 1600x900 panel for $100 more. Last, we'd look at adding the extra capacity 6-cell battery (which you can only get by purchasing the standard 4-cell with the 6-cell).
All told, the Envy 13 with the upgrades listed above will price out to $2475 ($2350 without the extra battery), and in terms of specs it looks to be better than the Dell Adamo. Having used neither one in person, we can't say which has the better feel, but there are numerous complaints about the Envy 13 touchpad and we recommend caution before taking the plunge. Honestly, while both laptops look nice, we'd still recommend saving a bundle of money and dropping down to something a little less stylish and a lot more affordable - any of the CULV laptops we mentioned earlier should suffice.
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fyleow - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
The Studio XPS 13 is a better comparison to the MBP than the Studio 14z IMO. The XPS 13 and MBP both have the same screen size, optical drive, and better build quality.JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
It's a different comparison which is more favorable towards the MacBook pricing, but the XPS laptops have always been a premium part. Given the price, I'd actually take the 14z, but some will prefer the XPS 13 with the slot-load DVD.It looks like you get about the same features for the same price, but Dell will get you 4GB plus the ability to upgrade quite a few other parts. I'd imagine the XPS 13 will need the 9-cell battery to match the MacBook battery life.
LCD quality I can't say, since I haven't had a chance to look at either laptop in person. I'm guessing the XPS 13 is better than the 13" MacBook and possibly the 13" MacBook Pro. I know the other XPS laptops have generally had decent LCDs at least.
Drag0nFire - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the article. Clearly a lot of thought went into the recommendations at each price point.For future reviews, I was wondering if it might be practical to do a review of tablet technology? I evaluated the options a few years ago and decided it wasn't worth it. But Win7 brings some exciting new opportunities...
Thanks!
jabber - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Got mine delivered a few weeks ago. 1.3Ghz CULV works a treat, really slick and teamed with 4GB of ram, a 320GB 7200rpm HDD and a Geforce 105M grahics it zings. Joy of joys it has a decent sized screen and a DVD burner. Ran it yesterday at work for 7 hours and it still had 2 hours+ left to run when I got home.Playing Eve online I get around 40FPS at high quality settings and 60+ at mid settings.
CULV is the way to go.
Mk4ever - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Since their release, I haven't heard a word about them at Anand's.Do you hate them? Are they stealth to your radar?
The HP Smart Touch tx2 has a lot of features that are not available on anything else. And afaik, it still has the best IGP/GPU on a Tablet PC.
Popular, cheapest tablet, small size, good balance of performance/options...
Are you willing to look into it?
JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the comment. Tablets are certainly something to mention, and I'll see about updating post-conclusion tomorrow.Personally, I've never been sold on the tablet concept. I've used a couple and came away unimpressed... it's not a feature I feel I need. So yeah, I pretty much overlooked the category.
Getting the price down is certainly a bonus, and the tx2z is about the cheapest I've seen for a tablet. I'm not sure if having a better GPU really makes a difference, but the HD 3200 is certainly 2-3 times faster in graphics tests than the GMA 4500MHD. For under $1000 for a reasonable configuration, it looks good for those that want a tablet PC.
At least one review (CNet) for the tx2z says that the tablet input is sluggish, and battery life is mediocre with the default 6-cell battery (around 3 hours). The 8-cell battery can get about 5 hours of battery life, but it juts out the bottom of the chassis and that's not a good feature for a tablet IMO.
At present, I don't know that there's much more to be said. If HP offered to send one, I'd look at it, but they haven't sent much of anything to us (the HP Mini 311 came direct from NVIDIA).
Mk4ever - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
All the points you mentioned are absolutely valid. I'll add some points from my experience.I decided to get a small notebook with good IGP a bit more than a year ago. My best option was a ATI 3200 IGP, and I wanted a 12' notebook max. My only option at the time was HP tx2510us. It was a tablet. I didn't like that fact, but it was my only option. It was offered for around $950 back then.
The tablet part turned out to be a great bonus indeed, that I can not overlook in a future purchase. I still rarely use the touch, but it is really useful when using Adobe Illustrator, and for commenting on word documents or solving math problems without a calc (to train my lazy brain) or taking notes. Also flipping the screen alone adds to the portability of the PC, as you can handle it easier when you are standing up or walking, or even wanna read a pdf or a file like how you would hold a book while reading.
The thing is, for the price, the flipping screen and the touch part can be considered as a free bonus. It can be really useful. If you don't like it, simply don't use it, and it is still a great notebook.
I agree with the abysmal battery life, but to tell the truth, and from my experience, it is in line with what most low/midrange laptop batteries offer. And my battery life saw an improvement with Win7.
The HP tx series is popular. When my friend got me my tablet (I live in Middle east where the model wasn't available, he bought it for me from Circuit City or Wall Mart I guess), he told me he saw 2 other people buying the same tablet at that moment. Reviews of how convenient it is for guys in colleges fill the internet. They like the portability of it with the screen flipped to take notes during lectures.
Also, HP tx2 series is especially interesting to review for 2 reasons: One of the few that support multi-touch ( Windows 7 finally supports that feature, and I guess it's worth reviewing this feature on a Technology website, whether it's bad or good, so we know what to expect), and because it has an AMD Turion Ultra, which I haven't seen reveiwed on Anadtech ( it should at least be compared to regular Turions, to test energy savings and battery performance claims to say the least, don't you think?)
I hope you will consider reviewing an HP tx2, if you get the chance.
JarredWalton - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
Thanks for the feedback. Multi-touch on tablet might make it more useful, though I honestly don't like the idea of touching my screen... fingerprints, bad! :) I've actually tried (several times) to get a laptop with a Turion Ultra. Now I'm looking for Turion II Ultra. I'm hoping AMD can help out, but HP I think is one of the few currently making laptops with Turion II Ultra CPUs, and the big OEM thing can be a problem. We'll keep at it, though....MrMom - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Any matte screens available for under $1k? All this glossiness makes my head hurt!IlllI - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
here http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...">http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...don't limit your options just b/c of the screen