17. Office Applications: SYSmark 2004 SE

The SYSmark 2004 SE benchmarks concentrate exclusively on performance: battery life is irrelevant here, and the tests assume that the computer is plugged into a wall socket. As with MobileMark 2005, SYSmark 2004 SE also uses real applications in its test suite. Scripts that emulate typical user behavior run automatically to spur system activity throughout each individual test.

Tests in the SYSmark 2004 SE suite are divided into two distinct scenarios: Internet Content Development and Office Productivity. Within the Internet Content Development scenario there are three groups of tests: 3D Content, 2D Content and Web Publication. The Office Productivity scenario likewise includes three groups of tests as well: Communication (e-mail, calendar, and Web browsing), Document Creation and Data Analysis.

As in the MobileMark 2005 overall performance value, all measurements in the SYSmark 2004 SE build on average response times. They are stated in comparison to a standard reference system equipped with average components, to which a 100 point score is assigned. That said, we should point out that Office Productivity values from MobileMark 2005 and SYSmark 2004 SE are not comparable.

In the charts that follow, you can see the SYSmark 2004 SE benchmark results for the Lenovo Thinkpad Z60m, as well the four other comparison systems. Our discussions of these results, and conclusions drawn from them, appear in the section immediately following.