Processor battle: 10 high-end notebooks tested

Specifications

Product Acer TravelMate 804LCi Acer Ferrari 3000LMi AOpen B165 Dell Latitude D505
Vendor Acer Acer AOpen Dell
RRP (test configuration inc GST) AU$4499 AU$3299 AU$2499 AU$2655
Phone 1300 366 567 1300 366 567 1800 803 802 1300 303 263
Web www.acer.com.au www.acer.com.au www.bluechipit.com.au www.dell.com.au
Warranty 1 year RTB, 2-hour express service 1 year RTB, 2-hour express service 2 years 1 year international next business day onsite
System weight including battery (kg) 2.7 3 4.5 2.8
Processor model installed/max Intel Pentium M 1.7GHz AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz Intel Pentium M 1.4GHz
RAM installed/max (MB) 512MB/1024MB 512MB/2048MB 1024MB/2048MB 512MB/2048MB
Hard drive capacity (GB) 60 60 160 30
Display size in inches 15 15 15 15
Native resolution 1400 x 1050 1400 x 1050 1024 x 768 1024 x 768
Graphics processor & memory ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 128MB nVidia GeForce4 Go 440 64MB Intel 855GM 64MB (shared)
Connectors (USB/ parallel/ serial/ PS2/ DVI/ VGA/ video /firewire) 4/1/0/0/0/1/1/1/1 4/1/0/0/0/0/0/1 5/1/1/1/0/1/1/1 2/1/1/0/0/1/1/1
Peripheral slots (PCMCIA/SD-MMC/CompactFlash/Memory Stick/SmartMedia) 1/1/1/1/1 1/1/0/1/1 0/0/0/0/0 1/0/0/0/0
Optical drive 8x DVD, 24/10/8x CD-RW Up to 4x DVD+/-RW, 24/16/10 CD-RW 8x DVD, 24/10/24x CDRW 4/2/8x DVD+RW, 16/10/24x CD-RW
Integrated modem 4 4 4 4
Integrated wired network 10/100 10/100 10/100 10/100
Integrated wireless network 802.11b 802.11g 8 802.11g
Integrated Bluetooth 4 4 8 4
Operating system Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home Windows XP Professional Windows XP Professional

Product IBM ThinkPad G40 2388BBM Pioneer Powerbook AMD 8355 QDI Alacritas 520-K8
Vendor IBM Pioneer QDI
RRP (test configuration inc GST) AU$2475 AU$2999 AU$3395
Phone 1800 289 426 02 9690 2888 1800 660 280
Web www.ibm.com.au www.pioneercomputers.com.au www.qditech.com.au
Warranty 1 year 1 year onsite parts & labour, 3 years labour 2 years onsite
System weight including battery (kg) 4 3.6 3.4
Processor model installed/max Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon64 3200+ AMD Athlon64 Mobile 3200+ DTR
RAM installed/max (MB) 256MB/1024MB 512MB/1024MB 1024MB
Hard drive capacity (GB) 40 60 60
Display size in inches 15 15 15.1
Native resolution 1024 x 768 1400 x 1050 1400 x 1050
Graphics processor & memory Intel Extreme Graphics 64MB ATI M10P/9600 64MB ATI Mobility 9000 AGP 64MB
Connectors (USB/ parallel/ serial/ PS2/ DVI/ VGA/ video /firewire) 4/1/0/0/0/1/0/0 4/1/0/1/0/1/1/1 4/1/0/1/0/1/1/1
Peripheral slots (PCMCIA/SD-MMC/CompactFlash/Memory Stick/SmartMedia) 1/0/0/0/0 1/0/0/0/0 1/0/0/0/0
Optical drive 8x DVD, 24X/10X/24x CD-RW DVD, CD-RW DVD-RW, CD-RW
Integrated modem 4 4 4
Integrated wired network 10/100 10/100 10/100
Integrated wireless network 802.11b 8 802.11g
Integrated Bluetooth 4 8 8
Operating system Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home Windows XP Home

Product Sony VAIO PCGGRT40ZP Toshiba Tecra M2 TPG Widescreen Notebook
Vendor Sony Toshiba TPG
RRP (test configuration inc GST) AU$5999 AU$2915 AU$1447
Phone 1300 720 071 13 30 70 1300 360 855
Web www.sony.com.au/vaio www.isd.toshiba.com.au www.tpg.com.au/online
Warranty 1 year 1 year international; includes pick up and return service 1 year RTB
System weight including battery (kg) 3.7 2.3 2.9
Processor model installed/max Intel Pentium M 3.06GHz Intel Pentium M 1.5GHz AMD Athlon 2000+
RAM installed/max (MB) 512MB 256MB/2048MB 256MB/512MB
Hard drive capacity (GB) N/A 40 30
Display size in inches 16 14.1 15.4 (widescreen)
Native resolution 1600 x 1200 1024 x 768 1200 x 800
Graphics processor & memory NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 nVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 64MB ATI 64MB
Connectors (USB/ parallel/ serial/ PS2/ DVI/ VGA/ video /firewire) 3/1/1/0/0/1/1/1 2/1/0/0/0/1/1/1 3/1/0/0/0/1/1/1
Peripheral slots (PCMCIA/SD-MMC/CompactFlash/Memory Stick/SmartMedia) 2/0/0/1/0 2/1/0/0/0 1/0/0/0/0
Optical drive 2x DVD+/-RW, 24x CD-RW DVD, CD-RW 8x DVD, 24x CD-RW
Integrated modem 4 4 4
Integrated wired network 4 10/100/1000 10/100
Integrated wireless network 802.11g 8 8
Integrated Bluetooth 8 8 8
Operating system Windows XP Professional Windows XP Professional Windows XP Home
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Talkback 3 comments

    I'm surprised that in a 'high- ...Anonymous -- 30/04/04

    I'm surprised that in a 'high-end desktop replacement notebook' category Dell didn't think to submit their new Inspiron 9100.

    To quote from Reuben Lee, ZDNet, 04 March 2004

    'The Inspiron 9100 is probably one of the best notebooks around that can truly replace the desktop PC, offering speed and excellent 3D graphics performance.'

    Having just purchased one I would have to agree.

    I would have truly liked to have seen this cat set amongst these pigeons.

    What was Dell thinking?

    Hi... great review... althoug ...Anonymous -- 24/05/04

    Hi... great review... although a little thin on specific details. I'm just wondering if it is really fair to strip any additional memory if (for the indicated price) that is what is included in the package. In the end, are we not buying the laptop for the package and performance as the manufacturers provide and intend to?

    Also, I'm very interested in the new LG/IBM Xnote series laptops. Are there any specific reasons as to why LG didn't provide you with their latest laptop? Could it be due to the lack of supply (as I have learnt that they have all but been sold out)? Could you please do a review on the LG laptop, separately, and verify their claim of having 10 hours of battery life?

    Thank you!

    I've just bought the A-open B1 ...Anonymous -- 06/07/04

    I've just bought the A-open B165 and am very happy with it. This system can be bought without an operating system, with any size 3.5" hard disk (E-IDE or SATA), any Pentium IV Celeron or Northwood processor and any combination of RAM modules. The Optical drive is removable and can be replaced with a DVD-writer, and the monitor can be removed (for those who just want to carry their work system off-base every night and take it home to plug into an external CRT/LCD). All up, it's an extremely flexible platform and suits my needs very well. As for the lack of Infra-Red, Bluetooth, PCMCIA and Compact Flash: why be paying for these 'feautures' if you're not going to use them? It does have a parallel printer port, Firewire and 5 USB 2.0 ports and that suits me just fine.

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