Ultra-light notebooks

David Bayon | Aug 16, 2006 5:21 PM
We test three of the latest ultra-portable laptops
Products in this Group
Mention the word ultraportable and people will tend to conjure up images of sleek, slim and lightweight notebooks. But the likelihood is they’ll also think of under-powered CPUs and a lack of features. Show them a modern machine like Samsung’s diminutive Q35, though, and doubts will be quashed: the latest processors allow dual-core power to be crammed into the tiniest of chassis, while ultra-slim optical drives mean you don’t have to carry a separate box around with you.

And, thanks to the Core Duo’s power efficiency, batteries last longer than ever: Lenovo’s eight-cell unit let the ThinkPad X60 run for ten-and-a-half hours on a single charge. This is more convenient than others that come with two batteries, and will let you get through a whole working day without
mains power.
At the end of each review, we give four star ratings. These include Performance, Battery life, Features & Design and an Overall rating. We don’t just pluck these figures out of the air: they’re calculated using a complex array of benchmark results, objective scores and subjective quality ratings.

Performance
We put each machine through its paces in a rigorous series of tests using real-world applications such as Word, Access, Photoshop and CorelDRAW, using the same tests for PCs and notebooks.

The overall 2D result is relative to a score of 1 from our reference PC – a
dual-core 3.2GHz Pentium D 840 system with 1GB of PC3200 RAM, a 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor hard disk and an Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT graphics
card. If a machine scores 1.10, it runs 10% faster than our reference machine overall.

Battery life
We run three tests to measure battery life. In our light-use test, we run a simple timer application until the battery runs out; in the intensive test, we push the processor to its limit with our multitasking benchmark. Finally, we measure the time each machine takes to recharge to 95% from empty while switched on and idle.

Features & Design
The Features & Design score is calculated using a huge number of scores given to each machine based on objective measurements, such as the range of interfaces, hard disk capacity and the capabilities of the optical drive. We also give scores for software bundles, but importantly points are given for the amount and type of warranty, as well as each company’s performance in our Reliability & Service Awards.

We sent every notebook off to Intertek Research & Testing Centre to find out how noisy they are. Testing is carried out in an acoustically treated listening room using a precision sound-level meter with an “A-weighted” audio filter.

Intertek also measures temperatures after forcing the notebooks to run at
full power for a length of time. The measurements are all taken at the hottest point on the base. The results are detailed in the technical report, which can be found on the cover disc, and they’re also factored into the Features & Design score.

Weight and bulk are particularly important in an ultra-light notebook, so lighter, smaller models are given extra points here. The rating also includes some subjective scores, which are decided by a panel of PCA Business judges to help overcome any bias resulting from one person’s taste. The subjective scores cover all those items that can’t be measured objectively, such as the build quality, style and design of the chassis.

Value for Money
While not shown in each review, we still calculate a Value for Money score, which is based on a weighted average of the Performance, Battery life and Features & Design scores; we then factor in exactly how much each machine costs (including delivery) to give a bang-per-buck result.

Overall
The Overall rating is a straight average of the Performance, Battery life, Features & Design and Value for Money scores.