A Look At Our Test Candidates
Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. A Look At Our Test Candidates
- 3. Acer TM8103WLMi
- 4. Integrated Security Concept
- 5. VGA And TV Outputs
- 6. Audio
- 7. Expandability
- 8. Dell Inspiron 6000d
- 9. Case And Connections, Continued
- 10. Display: Brighter, Better Contrast, And More Torsion-resistant Than What Acer Offers
- 11. Keyboard And Displays
- 12. A Modest Audio Quality
- 13. Gateway M460XLb
- 14. Display: Not Enough Torsion Resistance
- 15. Keyboard And Displays
- 16. Audio
- 17. Benchmarks And Settings
- 18. Open GL
- 19. Direct X9
- 20. Video
- 21. Applications
- 22. Synthetic Benchmarks
- 23. Battery Testing
- 24. Battery Life/De-charging Times, Continued
- 25. Battery Life/De-charging Times, Continued
- 26. Charging Times
- 27. Charging Times, Continued
- 28. Displays: Maximum Brightness And Contrast
- 29. High Definition Video On PC: WMV HD
- 30. Conclusion
2. A Look At Our Test Candidates
We asked the vendors to send us their latest notebooks that had a 15.4" widescreen display, a dedicated PCIe graphics chip and a Pentium-M CPU. Notebooks with this mix of equipment are well-suited for a broad spectrum of usages. Whether the device is to be used as a desktop replacement for everyday work, as a portable video player or for gaming - depending on the graphics chip - this class of devices is a jack of all trades.
Prices range from $1,500 for a Gateway M460XLb, to $1,600 for Dell's Inspiron 6000 on up to a hefty $1,900 for the Acer TM8103WLMi. In the following report we will see what the differences are between the devices and whether the price differential is justified.
| Manufacturer
Model |
Acer
TravelMate 8103WLMi |
Dell
Inspiron 6000 |
Gateway
M460 |
|---|---|---|---|
| URL | www.acer.com | www.dell.com | www.gateway.com |
| Type | 2-Spindle / Modular | 2-Spindle / All in one | 2-Spindle / Modular |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 14.37 x 1.57 x 10.43"
36.5 x 4 x 26.5cm |
14.09 x 1.69 x 10.39"
35.8 x 4.3 x 26.4cm |
14.17 x 1.49 x 11.3"
36.0 x 3.8 x 28.7cm |
| Weight (unit + battery) | 6.75lbs
3063g |
7.22lbs
3279g |
7.29lbs
3311g (battery I + II) |
| Weight (battery) | 0.96lb
439g |
0.83lb
378g |
1.37lbs/622g - 0.66lbs/299g (battery I - II) |
| Weight (charger + cable) | 0.87lb
398g |
0.93lb
425g |
1.102lbs
500g |
| Weight (drives) | n/a | n/a | 0.459lbs
208g (DVD-Drive) |
| Weight all | 7.72lbs
3502g |
8.16lbs
3704g |
8.86lbs
4019g |
| Battery I Capacity | Li-Ion 8 cells (14.8V,4800mAh,71Wh) | Li-Ion 6 cells (11.1V,4800mAh,53Wh) | Li-Ion 12 cells (14.4V 6600mAh 95Wh) |
| Battery II Capacity | n/a | n/a | Li-Ion 6 cells (10.8V 3600mAh 39Wh) |
| AC adapter | 65W | 65W | 90W |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad | Touchpad | Touchpad + Stick |
| Display and Graphics Controller | |||
| Display Size | 15.4"
39.1 cm |
15.4"
39.1 cm |
15.4"
39.1 cm |
| Display Resolution | 1680 x 1050 | 1680 x 1050 | 1280 x 800 |
| Graphics controller | ATI Radeon X700 | ATI Radeon X300 | ATI Radeon X600 |
| Core clock | 375.75 MHz | 216 MHz | 398.25 MHz |
| Memory | 128 MB GDDR3 | 128 MB GDDR3 | 128 MB GDDR3 |
| Memory clock | 297 MHz DDR | 216 MHz DDR | 249.75 MHz DDR |
| System | |||
| BIOS: | 3C19 (03/01/05) | A05 (02/23/2005) | 60.1 (01/13/2005) |
| CPU: | Intel Pentium-M 750
(1.87 GHZ, 2 MB L2-Cache, FSB533) |
Intel Pentium-M 740
(1.73 GHz, 2 MB L2-Cache, FSB533) |
Intel Pentium-M 750
(1.87 GHz, 2 MB L2-Cache, FSB533) |
| Chipset (Northbridge) | Intel 915 PM (Rev. 3) | Intel 915 PM (Rev. 3) | Intel 915 PM (Rev. 3) |
| Chipset (Southbridge) | ICH6-M (82801FBM) | ICH6-M (82801FBM) | ICH6-M (82801FBM) |
| Memory: | 2x 256 MB DDR2-400 (Dual Channel)
Micron (CL 4.0-4-4-12) |
2x 512 MB DDR2-400 (Dual Channel)
Micron (CL3.0-4-4-4) |
2x 256 MB DDR2-400 (Dual Channel)
Samsung |
| Drives | |||
| Hard drive: | Hitachi | Hitachi | Hitachi |
| Model: | IC25N080ATMR04-0 | IC25N080ATMR04-0 | HTS548080M9AT00 |
| Size: | 80 GB | 80 GB | 80 GB |
| Performance: | (P-ATA / 4200 rpm/ 8 MB/ 12 ms) | (P-ATA / 4200 rpm/ 8 MB/ 12 ms) | (P-ATA / 5400 rpm/ 8 MB/ 12 ms) |
| Optical drive: | MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-831S | NIC DVD+-RW ND-6500A | QSI SDW-082 |
| DVD (DVD/+R/+RW/RAM/+DL): | (8x/4x/4x/4x/2.4x) | (8x/4x/4x/4x/2.4x) | (8x/8x/8x/8x/4x) |
| CD (CD/R/RW): | (24x/24x/16x) | (24x/24x/16x) | (24x/24x/8x) |
| Floppy Drive | none | none | none |
| Hard drive bay | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height |
| Card-Reader: | O2Micro (Chip-Card),SD, MMC, MS, MSPro | SD, MMC, MS, MSPro | SD, MMC, MS, MSPro |
| Connectors | |||
| PS2 Mouse/Keyboard | none / none | none / none | none / none |
| USB 2.0 | 3x (R) 1x (L) | 2x (R) 2x (B) | 4x (R) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1x (L) | 1x (R) | 1x (R) |
| Serial COM Port | none | none | none |
| Parallel LPT Port | none | none | none |
| Microphone | yes | none | yes |
| IR port | yes (F) | none | none |
| Bluetooth-Radio | yes | yes | none |
| VGA / DVI out | 1x (B) / 1x (B) | 1x (B) / none | 1x (B) / none |
| TV out | 1x (B) S-Video | 1x (B) S-Video | 1x (R) S-Video |
| AC Power | yes (R) | yes (R) | yes (B) |
| PC-Card Slot(s) | 1x (L) | 1x (R) | 1x (R) |
| LAN Cable | Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx GBit | Broadcom 440x GBit | Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx GBit |
| LAN Wireless | Intel Wireless Pro 2915ABG | Intel Wireless Pro 2915ABG | Intel Wireless Pro 2200BG |
| Audio | Mic (F) Headphone (F)
Realtek (High Definition Audio) |
Mic (F) Headphone
Sigmatel C-Marjor |
Mic (F) Headphone (F)
Conexant AMC |
| Modem | 1x (L)
SoftV92 Data Fax Modem High Definition Audio Bus |
1x
Soft Conexant D110 MDC V9.X |
Soft Data Fax Modem |
| Software | |||
| OS | Windows XP Professional | Windows XP Professional | Windows XP Professional |
| Software | Norton AntiVirus 2004
NTI CD Maker Power DVD Plantinum Secret |
Microsoft Works 7.0
Paint Shop Pro 8 Mc Afee Firewall, Virus, Security Sonic DVD Record NOW |
Power DVD |
| B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side | |||
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