Let’s be perfectly clear: A desktop replacement laptop computer is not meant for laps. Not unless you want to sacrifice the circulation in your legs. These are hefty contraptions, meant to be portable, not mobile. Yes, fold them up, put them in the car, carry them into your residence and work at home, but don’t delude yourself that galloping through an airport carrying the monster will be a trivial task. The largest in our roundup weighs over 4 kg (9 lb.).
Mind you, what can you expect from a machine with a 17-in. display? No, that isn’t a typo. Some of the systems we looked at rivaled desktop computers in everything but size. They have tons of RAM, generous-sized hard drives, all the ports you’d want, optical drives and both wired and wireless networking. That’s why they’re advertised as desktop replacements.
Some also featured the newest trend in display technology, wide aspect screens.
First seen in ultraportables like the Sony PictureBook, these screens are half the height you’d expect for their width. For example, a “normal” display resolution of 1280 x 800 (1280 pixels wide by 800 high) ends up being 1280 x 400, so the image appears slightly squashed and, on small screens, text can be nearly invisible with default fonts. But it makes monster screens manageable and the results are quite acceptable.
We asked vendors for their desktop replacement machines, without specifying size or weight or anything else, and got quite a mix.
All prices are listed in Canadian dollars. Performance benchmarking was conducted with Futuremark’s PCMark04.
Fujitsu LifeBook N6210
There was a monumental wow factor attached to this beauty. For one thing, it’s huge — over 9.5 lb.
For another thing, its 17-inch screen, with resolution of 1440 x 900, combined with the ATI display adapter (an X600), provides lovely images. The machine is promoted as a multimedia computer that can even play entertainment titles without booting. It even has an LED audio level indicator.
The processor is no barn-burner, at 1.86 GHz, but combined with a gigabyte of RAM and two 80GB hard drives, performance was quite respectable.
Connectivity is via gigabit Ethernet or 802.11 a/b/g wireless (and there’s a hardware on/off switch for the wireless), plus four USB ports, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port, S-video and external monitor connections and audio connections. One PC Card slot, one ExpressCard slot and a 4-in-1 slot for SD, xD Picture or both types of Memory Stick, plus a dual-layer multiformat DVD writer round out the configuration.
There’s a full-sized keyboard, with numeric pad, and you mouse on a generous-sized touchpad.
An included software bundle contains time-limited versions of Microsoft Office Small Business Edition and Norton Anti-Virus, plus full copies of Quicken New User Edition and Microsoft Works. |
HP Compaq nx9600
This one, too, elicited a wow when I hauled it out of the box. It’s another biggie, in all ways. It has a 17-in. screen, driven by an ATI RADEON X600, blazingly fast 3.6 GHz processor, one gigabyte of RAM and 100 GB hard drive.
It offers a full-sized keyboard with numeric keypad and touchpad. However, I found the touchpad awkward to use: The screen is so big, it took a lot of swiping to get anywhere. HP must have thought so too — there’s a button above the touchpad that disables it so you can use an external mouse. There’s also a hardware on/off for the 802.11 a/b/g wireless. Ports include the usual suspects: four USB, VGA, S-video and IEEE 1394, and there’s also a single PC Card slot.
The large a/c adapter gets very hot, as does the PC. The fan, which is loud, has to blast away in an attempt to keep things cool.
In performance this system blew the socks off everything else. |
Lenovo ThinkPad R52
The ThinkPad comes with a 15-in. screen, ATI’s Mobility RADEON X300 adapter and resolution of 1024 x 768. With half the video memory of the bigger systems, graphics performance suffered badly, pulling the machine way down in the ratings.
It has a 1.86 GH CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a 60 GB hard drive. An 8X recordable DVD rounds out the storage. The machine boasts Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11 a/b/g wireless. There’s a parallel port, S-video, VGA, 2 USB, and an IEEE 1394 port. There’s also one PC Card slot and one ExpressCard slot.
Software consisted of a 90-day version of Norton Anti-Virus 2004. |
TTX
TTX’s sleek, silver wide screen unit uses an ATI RADEON 9700 video adapter, whose less than wonderful performance pulled the machine’s overall score down. Its other specs saved the day, though. It has a 2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, a fast 60 GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD recorder, Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11 a/b/g wireless.
It has three USB ports, an IEEE 1394, external VGA and S-video outlets.
There is, of all things, a button to control the fan — I’m guessing it’s to stifle the noise during presentations. This is the only system that came with a carrying case, although a modest one.
A substantial software bundle includes WordPerfect Office, McAfee Anti-Virus 2005, Pinnacle Studio 9 (video editing), World Book 2005, Quicken 2005, PhotoImpact 10 (photo editing), Lash Back Anti-Spam, iClean (Internet cleanup), World Golf Tours, Easy Fax, and Diskeeper (a defrag tool). |
Toshiba Satellite M40
Toshiba opted for an nVidia g-force adapter to drive its 15.4-in. screen, which did wonders for its graphic performance. It’s another multimedia machine, with Harman Kardon stereo speakers and separate CD control buttons and volume wheel.
The processor is 1.86 GHz, with 512MB RAM. DVD burner and an 80 GB hard drive. 802.11 a/b/g and 10/100 Ethernet connect to the rest of the world, and the port and slot collection consists of 3 USB, IEEE 1394, S-video, external VGA, one PC Card slot, and one combo SD/MMC, Memory Stick/xD Picture slot. |
LG LW60 Express
LG does have a 17-in. model, but one wasn’t available for review so we ended up with the 15-in. version, and it’s a thoroughly decent machine. With a 1.73 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, Super Multi DVD recorder and a 60 GB hard drive, it was an OK performer, and the display was driven briskly by the ATI X600.
This is another unit aimed at the multimedia set, and even has a credit card- sized remote tucked into a slot on the side. Connectivity comes as 10/100 Ethernet or 802.11 b/g wireless, and the system boasts four USB ports, IEEE 1394, a parallel port, VGA, infrared, and the usual audio and modem ports. A PC Card slot, ExpressCard slot, and slot that accommodates SD, MMC or either flavour of Memory Stick round out the features.
One wonderful thing LG managed to pull off was to fit a numeric keypad in next to the keyboard and still preserve an uncramped feel.
Sony Vaio FS550
The Vaio was the slowest machine in the roundup, both in specs (1.6 GHz) and in testing. It has 512MB RAM, an 80GB hard drive, a dual layer DVD writer, 10/100 Ethernet, and 802.11 b/g wireless (with hardware on/off switch). It offers three USB ports, IEEE 1394, external VGA, and one PC Card slot and one Memory Stick slot.
The keyboard is wide, with flat, full sized keys; I wasn’t crazy about it, but keyboard preference is a personal thing.
The software bundle consists of Microsoft Works, Quicken 2005 New User Edition, and trial editions of Microsoft Office 2003, Intermute SpySubtract and Norton Internet Security.
Unlike some of the biggies, it runs virtually silently.
The Bottom Line
Sony’s machine has adequate features, but it’s more aimed at the home user. Lenovo suffered from lackluster video performance and lack of a numeric keypad. It’s a workhorse, unexciting but functional. I loved LG’s way of fitting in a numeric keypad while preserving typing comfort. It lost points for short warranty, slower performance (though its video performance was wonderful) and slower Ethernet. Toshiba, although it has plenty of muscle and great video performance, has a slower network adapter and no numeric keypad. TTX’s elegant unit lost points for its wimpy video scores, but won big time for its overall performance, three-year warranty and its amazing software bundle.Fujitsu’s solid performer gained points for its numeric keypad and software bundle, and lost them for the short warranty and slightly slower performance. HP’s performance blew everyone else away. I liked the cutoff switch for the touchpad. But I hated the monstrous brick of an A/C adapter with its industrial-strength cord and massive heat generation. And the one year warranty isn’t enough.
