Mobile Buyers' Guide, December 2009
by Jarred Walton on December 6, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
AMD Laptops
Outside of sales - and there are many sales going on right now - laptops with AMD processors will mostly fall into this price bracket. The performance offered is good, though certainly there are faster laptops. One of the big selling points for AMD laptops is that they have good integrated graphics (ATI HD 3200) that can run many games, though usually only at low resolutions and detail settings. AMD-based laptops are really a question of priorities, and if you value performance and cost over battery life they are a very compelling option.
The latest AMD CPUs are now being built on a 45nm process and have architectures based off of K10 instead of the aging K8 design. All of these CPUs bear the Roman numeral "II" in their name, so look for the Turion II M500, Turion II Ultra M600, and Athlon II M300 CPUs. These CPUs should improve battery life and performance relative to older mobile Athlon/Turion designs, though it's unlikely they will be able to match Core 2 CPUs. Unfortunately, we're still trying to get a laptop for testing, so we can't provide a definitive answer at this time. We tried to find more information, but the best we could do is a note of "5 hours 15 minutes" with an HP dv7 at BestBuy - that's a 17.3" notebook with an 8-cell battery.
Ultimately, AMD-based laptops will typically cost around $100 less than Intel-based laptops with similar features, but they generally offer less battery life and performance. Given the features and performance available in the ASUS UL80Vt, we would recommend staying closer to the lower end of the price spectrum if you're looking at AMD laptops. The overclocked SU7300 CPU should offer close to the same performance as a ~2.0GHz AMD "II" CPU (i.e. the Athlon II M300/M320, slightly slower than the Turion II M500), and the G210M should offer about the same level of performance as the HD 3650/4570. You'd want a laptop with an HD 4650 or a GeForce G120M/G220M (9600M GT) and a Turion II Ultra (Pentium T4300) to surpass the UL80Vt performance, but there's still the topic of battery life.
The HP dv6z and dv7 are two of the few laptops that currently offer the latest AMD 45nm processors. With prices starting at $550 with the current $150 rebate - $630 with 4GB and a high capacity 6-cell battery - it's an interesting laptop but not our top recommendation. Depending on how much weight you place on battery life, graphics performance, and laptop size, you may disagree. In that case, have a look at the HP Pavilion dv6z (we're not sold on 17" laptops, so we'll pass on the dv7).
Intel Laptops
On the CPU side, Intel has had a clear lead over AMD since the launch of Core 2 several years back. In fact, on mobile solutions it would be difficult to suggest that AMD has ever enjoyed a lead over Intel. Ever since Banias in 2002, Pentium M and Centrino delivered what was arguably a better mobile solution for most users than anything AMD offered; Athlon 64 laptops in the Pentium 4 era were mostly of interest to the high performance crowd.
The CULV processors are great for battery life, but even the ASUS UL80Vt with its overclocked CPU doesn't offer nearly the performance available in other Core 2 mobile offerings. The Pentium T4300 (2.10GHz, 1MB cache) is very inexpensive and it should match most mobile AMD CPUs. Laptops start at around $500, but the GMA 4500MHD IGP is clearly inferior to ATI's HD 3200/4200. The P8400 and P8600 take clock speeds up to 2.26GHz and 2.40GHz, though you'll be hard-pressed to keep costs under $850 with such CPUs. If you want better gaming performance, look for a lower end Core 2 CPU with a discrete GPU or a better IGP like NVIDIA's 9400M.
Our favorite pick right now for Intel Core 2 laptops in this price bracket is the Dell Studio 14z. Maximum battery life is around six hours with the 8-cell battery, and the combination of Core 2 with the 9400M results in a good blend of performance. In gaming tests, the GeForce 9400M is around 50% faster than the ATI HD 3200, making it the current king of IGP solutions as far as performance is concerned. The base model Studio 14z comes with a Core 2 T6600 (2.2GHz, 2MB, 800FSB), 3GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, 1366x768 LCD, 56Wh battery, and Win7 Home Premium. $800 will get you the larger battery, and $850 will allow you to upgrade to the 1440x900 LCD - both upgrades are highly recommended.
Atom Laptops?
While there are plenty of Atom-based offerings in this price range, we feel Atom is a much better fit at the lower end of the price spectrum, and we would recommend against spending more than $400 (perhaps $450) for such a laptop. Regular Core 2 laptops are more than three times as fast (even for the low end CPUs), and CULV laptops are still twice as fast while offering similar battery life. Atom is really about keeping costs as low as possible at the expense of performance, and we can't recommend such laptops in the high price segments. As mentioned already, we also place the VIA Nano laptop (Samsung NC20) in this same category; priced at over $500, there are just too many other compelling options.
If you want a viable Atom netbook for around $500, we'd recommend the Lenovo S12 with 2GB. It's around $520, but we didn't like the HP Mini touchpad or keyboard enough that we'd spend the extra on the IdeaPad S12. About the only thing it can do without difficulty that CULV systems struggle with is 1080p Flash video, but that's at least something.
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fyleow - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
The Studio XPS 13 is a better comparison to the MBP than the Studio 14z IMO. The XPS 13 and MBP both have the same screen size, optical drive, and better build quality.JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
It's a different comparison which is more favorable towards the MacBook pricing, but the XPS laptops have always been a premium part. Given the price, I'd actually take the 14z, but some will prefer the XPS 13 with the slot-load DVD.It looks like you get about the same features for the same price, but Dell will get you 4GB plus the ability to upgrade quite a few other parts. I'd imagine the XPS 13 will need the 9-cell battery to match the MacBook battery life.
LCD quality I can't say, since I haven't had a chance to look at either laptop in person. I'm guessing the XPS 13 is better than the 13" MacBook and possibly the 13" MacBook Pro. I know the other XPS laptops have generally had decent LCDs at least.
Drag0nFire - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the article. Clearly a lot of thought went into the recommendations at each price point.For future reviews, I was wondering if it might be practical to do a review of tablet technology? I evaluated the options a few years ago and decided it wasn't worth it. But Win7 brings some exciting new opportunities...
Thanks!
jabber - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Got mine delivered a few weeks ago. 1.3Ghz CULV works a treat, really slick and teamed with 4GB of ram, a 320GB 7200rpm HDD and a Geforce 105M grahics it zings. Joy of joys it has a decent sized screen and a DVD burner. Ran it yesterday at work for 7 hours and it still had 2 hours+ left to run when I got home.Playing Eve online I get around 40FPS at high quality settings and 60+ at mid settings.
CULV is the way to go.
Mk4ever - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Since their release, I haven't heard a word about them at Anand's.Do you hate them? Are they stealth to your radar?
The HP Smart Touch tx2 has a lot of features that are not available on anything else. And afaik, it still has the best IGP/GPU on a Tablet PC.
Popular, cheapest tablet, small size, good balance of performance/options...
Are you willing to look into it?
JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the comment. Tablets are certainly something to mention, and I'll see about updating post-conclusion tomorrow.Personally, I've never been sold on the tablet concept. I've used a couple and came away unimpressed... it's not a feature I feel I need. So yeah, I pretty much overlooked the category.
Getting the price down is certainly a bonus, and the tx2z is about the cheapest I've seen for a tablet. I'm not sure if having a better GPU really makes a difference, but the HD 3200 is certainly 2-3 times faster in graphics tests than the GMA 4500MHD. For under $1000 for a reasonable configuration, it looks good for those that want a tablet PC.
At least one review (CNet) for the tx2z says that the tablet input is sluggish, and battery life is mediocre with the default 6-cell battery (around 3 hours). The 8-cell battery can get about 5 hours of battery life, but it juts out the bottom of the chassis and that's not a good feature for a tablet IMO.
At present, I don't know that there's much more to be said. If HP offered to send one, I'd look at it, but they haven't sent much of anything to us (the HP Mini 311 came direct from NVIDIA).
Mk4ever - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
All the points you mentioned are absolutely valid. I'll add some points from my experience.I decided to get a small notebook with good IGP a bit more than a year ago. My best option was a ATI 3200 IGP, and I wanted a 12' notebook max. My only option at the time was HP tx2510us. It was a tablet. I didn't like that fact, but it was my only option. It was offered for around $950 back then.
The tablet part turned out to be a great bonus indeed, that I can not overlook in a future purchase. I still rarely use the touch, but it is really useful when using Adobe Illustrator, and for commenting on word documents or solving math problems without a calc (to train my lazy brain) or taking notes. Also flipping the screen alone adds to the portability of the PC, as you can handle it easier when you are standing up or walking, or even wanna read a pdf or a file like how you would hold a book while reading.
The thing is, for the price, the flipping screen and the touch part can be considered as a free bonus. It can be really useful. If you don't like it, simply don't use it, and it is still a great notebook.
I agree with the abysmal battery life, but to tell the truth, and from my experience, it is in line with what most low/midrange laptop batteries offer. And my battery life saw an improvement with Win7.
The HP tx series is popular. When my friend got me my tablet (I live in Middle east where the model wasn't available, he bought it for me from Circuit City or Wall Mart I guess), he told me he saw 2 other people buying the same tablet at that moment. Reviews of how convenient it is for guys in colleges fill the internet. They like the portability of it with the screen flipped to take notes during lectures.
Also, HP tx2 series is especially interesting to review for 2 reasons: One of the few that support multi-touch ( Windows 7 finally supports that feature, and I guess it's worth reviewing this feature on a Technology website, whether it's bad or good, so we know what to expect), and because it has an AMD Turion Ultra, which I haven't seen reveiwed on Anadtech ( it should at least be compared to regular Turions, to test energy savings and battery performance claims to say the least, don't you think?)
I hope you will consider reviewing an HP tx2, if you get the chance.
JarredWalton - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
Thanks for the feedback. Multi-touch on tablet might make it more useful, though I honestly don't like the idea of touching my screen... fingerprints, bad! :) I've actually tried (several times) to get a laptop with a Turion Ultra. Now I'm looking for Turion II Ultra. I'm hoping AMD can help out, but HP I think is one of the few currently making laptops with Turion II Ultra CPUs, and the big OEM thing can be a problem. We'll keep at it, though....MrMom - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Any matte screens available for under $1k? All this glossiness makes my head hurt!IlllI - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
here http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...">http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...don't limit your options just b/c of the screen