1. HP's Compaq Nx6125

HP's Compaq nx6125

HP's Compaq nx6125 marks the first thin-and-light notebook launch from the PC OEM giant that is based on AMD's mobile Turion 64. Setting its sights on small- and medium-sized business customers, HP seeks to appease demand for top-rate performance, robustness and reasonable battery life specs. But despite its numerous high-end features such as a fingerprint sensor, a substantial security suite and integrated WLAN and PAN modules, the nx6125 stands out by wearing a relatively moderate price tag. The nx6125 we tested had the product code PY417ET and featured an 80 GB hard drive, and costs around €1,200 in Europe (MSR); online shops offer it for €1,000. In the U.S., you're looking at paying around $1,400 for an nx6125 (PZ222UA) equipped with one gigabyte RAM and a 60 GB HD, according to HP. In the virtual notebook shops, you'd shell out around $1,300. This portable PC could well be a good choice for consumer uses, as well.

The Turion 64 logo on the outside means that Turion 64 is on the inside.

All Compaq nx6125 laptops come equipped with Turion 64 ML series AMD CPUs. With its 34 watt Thermal Design Power (TDP), The Turion 64 ML model series is not as energy efficient as the Turion 64 MT series. The maximum energy consumption of the MT series is around 35% less than that of the ML, with a TDP of 25 watts.

In some European countries, the nx6125 is also available with the mobile Sempron processors, which are more affordable but don't have the same performance. All CPUs used, without exception, feature "Powernow" energy saving technology. AMD's technology partner ATI contributes the chipset to the laptop. The device we tested was based on a Turion 64 ML 34 and the RADEON XPRESS 200M (Graphics by) chipset.

The nx6125 is equipped with an AMD Turion 64 ML 34 with a maximum core clock rate of 1.80 GHz.

As the name suggests, the chip set comes with an integrated graphics engine. The core of this engine is the X300, which ATI conceived for use in mainstream thin and light notebooks. The graphic engine uses a part of the main memory for processing image data, which is normal for chipsets with integrated graphics cards. The graphics sub-system in the nx6125 borrows up to 64 MB of the DDR memory. Of course, a notebook with an integrated graphics card will have poorer 3D performance than a system with a dedicated graphics chip and additional VRAM. However, for standard applications and for the occasional game during the lunch break, the capacity of this type of system architecture is more than enough to meet demands. Incidentally, you'll find details of the individual AMD Turion 64 models in the article The Turion 64 Inside Story .