Is it possible to have beauty, brains and brawn? Mark Prigg enters the arena of the power laptop.
The increasing power of laptops means there’s no longer a big advantage to using a desktop machine, and at every price point there are now powerful, stylish alternatives which will mean you can dump the desktop forever. Here we have tried to cover a range of prices, but with machines that all pack a real processing punch. However, as with all portables, battery life can take a hit if you’re going to be editing video, crunching huge spreadsheets or playing games. If you do need absolute power, don’t expect battery life of over an hour, so it might be worth investing in a second battery if you can – or just never straying far from a power socket. It’s worth being wary of machines with HD-DVD drives in, as they recently lost the format war to the rival Blu-ray camp, so we expect them to become obsolete very quickly as a next generation DVD format. (We have quoted the RRP of the laptops here, but if you shop around, many online retailers offer discounts.)
Apple Macbook Pro
From £1,299
apple.com
Apple’s Macbook Pro is, as the name suggests, its professional line of laptops, and right from the outset the huge 17-inch machine (main picture and above) means business. It’s a big, hefty offering, yet still somehow manages to look slick.
The keyboard is recessed at the back of the base, with a large space for the trackpad. You get used to this quickly but it can cause problems (especially if you have a cast on your wrist, which makes typing almost impossible, as we discovered). However, once you reach it, the keyboard is excellent. The trackpad is also really useful, as it uses the same touch interface as Apple’s iPhone, so you can zoom in on pictures by squeezing your fingers, or scroll by wiping a finger up or down.
Thanks to Apple’s recent move to Intel chips, the Macbook, although obviously supplied with Apple’s operating system, will also run Windows, and run it amazingly well. It’s fast and slick whatever OS it runs, and you can choose at boot-up which you would like.
However, as with all Macs, there are still potentially IT support headaches, so check with your IT department before buying. Saying that, overall this is an incredible machine – it’s fast, easy to use and looks really good.
Performance is superb, even when you have several applications open at once, and we never noticed a slowdown, even when editing video and listening to music at the same time. If you can talk your IT department into it, this is arguably one of the best power laptops out there.
Pros Amazing design and has very slick software.
Cons Limited software.
Toshiba Satellite X200-219
From £999
toshiba.co.uk
Toshiba has produced an excellent, powerful machine in the X200, with a slick look. It’s got a superb 17-inch display, and a built-in HD-DVD drive, although obviously Blu-ray would have been preferable. The images are sharp and crisp, and there’s decent graphics performance, particularly when watching DVDs or playing all but the most intensive games.
The Harman Kardon speakers are excellent and add to the feel of multimedia prowess this machine has. But it’s also got an unfeasibly large power supply (worth bearing in mind if you are planning to travel with it) and, given its battery life of about an hour, it’s not really a good idea to venture far from power sockets for too long, especially given its 3.8kg of weight.
It’s flexible in terms of video connections with HDMI, VGA and S-Video, and there are six USB ports as well, so you’d really have to go some to use them all up. Overall, the X200 is a great little multimedia powerhouse – for under £1,000, it’s a bargain. Build quality, as you’d expect from Toshiba, is great, and it has a real solid feel to it.
Pros Good screen.
Cons Poor battery life.
Dell Inspiron 1720
From £800
dell.com
Dell has long been a force to be reckoned with in affordable business laptops, and this is the top of the range in its business line. It certainly isn’t a light machine, weighing a hefty 4.3kg, but it is reasonably attractive and won’t be out of place in the office – unless you choose one of the more horrible colours, of course. (There’s white, black and six microsatin finishes in Midnight Blue, Bubblegum Pink, Spring Green, Ruby Red, Sunshine Yellow and Espresso Brown.)
Build quality is superb, and this is one of the best machines we’ve seen in terms of its ability to take a knock. The keyboard is also superb and again one of the best around. Power-wise, it’s a reasonably good machine, although there are faster – as with a lot of Dell machines the Inspiron is more about being affordable than being the absolute fastest (if that’s what you’re after, Dell’s XPS range, made for gamers, is probably a better bet).
An Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250 running at 2.00 GHz powers the machine, and built into the top of the screen is a two-megapixel webcam. There’s also no HDMI port, so linking the laptop up to a high-definition TV isn’t possible at the highest resolution – as there is an option of a HD Blu-ray DVD player in the machine, that’s a bit of a shame. However, the 17-inch screen is very bright and easy to read, and films look great on it.
Overall, the Dell is a good solid all-rounder. It’s not going to win any awards for looks or performance, but as an everyday workhorse it’ll crunch even the biggest spreadsheets with no problems at all, and with Dell’s customisable options you can also change virtually any of the components if you want.
Pros Not bad-looking and relatively powerful for the price, great keyboard.
Cons Not ideal for games fans.
Rock Xtreme CTX 770
From £1,300
rockdirect.com
In the case of the Rock, power really does equate to size – this is a big, bulky machine. Its 17-inch screen is superb, particularly when showing high-definition content, and is probably the best performer here for movie buffs (if you can heave around 4.1kg).
Graphics are also a revelation on the Rock Xtreme CTX 770, partly due to its target market of gamers, who are the only people who really push PC graphics to their limit. Thanks to its hugely powerful Nvidia card, the Rock is perfect for gaming, video-editing and other heavy multimedia work. The processor is also an absolute screamer, with options up to a 2.8GHz Intel Core Duo 2, which is pretty much as good as anything you’ll find in a desktop.
The build quality is excellent and the keyboard has a good solid feel to it as well. Despite the rather “uncorporate” looks, this is definitely a machine just as at home with making spreadsheets as letting you take part in the latest alien invasions.
The Rock’s distinctive looks and gaming performance make it an unusual choice for a business machine, but don’t let that put you off – this is a good, well-built product, which is first and foremost a well-specified, capable laptop with incredible power. The fact it will let you indulge your gaming abilities is just a bonus…
Pros Great performance and even copes with games.
Cons Huge and bulky.
Lenovo Thinkpad T61
£1,300
lenovo.co.uk
The ThinkPad line will be familiar to corporate users all over the world and this latest incarnation is no exception to the specifications they adhere to – built like a tank, with looks to match.
There is a huge amount of choice in the laptop you can have; we looked at an Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2GHz model which was very fast, at least for business use. There is both a TrackPoint joystick and a touchpad for getting around, and this does add to the tank-like looks a little – the ThinkPad T61 is definitely a bit on the chunky side. It’s 335.5 x 237 x 27.6mm and 2.34kg, so as with all of the laptops here, you probably don’t want to be carrying it long distances.
The screen is a little disappointing. It’s sharp enough, but at 14.1 inches it’s not massive and has a narrow viewing angle, so there’ll be no showing your holiday snaps to a big audience. Sound is also a disappointment – the speakers are awful.
However, despite these complaints, the T61 is a machine to be reckoned with in the corporate world. It’s solid, reliable and dependable – as the old saying goes, “nobody ever got fired for buying IBM” (although that’s possibly a saying that needs to be updated since IBM sold the ThinkPad line to Chinese maker Lenovo). As an all-rounder that won’t turn heads, but will get the job done, it’s worth a look.
Pros Great build quality.
Cons Poor screen.
Acer 9920G
£1,200
amazon.co.uk
This is a huge notebook in every sense. It’s got a 20-inch screen and weighs 7.7kg, which pushes it into the “luggable” rather than “portable” arena, but the performance does live up to the weight, with a fast 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor making everything fast and smooth.
If a big screen and big power is important, then the Acer is really worth investigating – just remember to find a good doctor if you plan on carrying it around regularly.
The Acer also scores highly on multimedia, and there’s a great remote control and TV tuner built-in, perfect for whiling away the long afternoons in the office. However, these multimedia features do also make the Acer a good machine for presentations, although sadly there’s an HD-DVD drive and not a Blu-ray one, meaning watching high-definition films is a bit of an issue.
Audio is impressive, with great pseudo surround-sound and even a subwoofer to give those floor-shaking explosions, although admittedly this might not be that useful midway through your PowerPoint presentation.
Overall, in reality this is more of an all-round entertainment machine than a corporate laptop. But as a power machine that will double as entertainment in the evenings, it’s a great buy.
Pros Screen size.
Cons On the heavy side.
Sony VGN-AR51M
£899
sony.co.uk
Sony’s Vaio series is nearly always a contender for any type of laptop, and with slick looks and decent performance this machine is no exception. The 17-inch screen is excellent and colours are sharp and clear, particularly in Blu-ray films.
The build quality is excellent, although the keyboard does feel a little flimsy compared with some of the others on test here. As with all these powerful machines, battery life is more than a bit of an issue, and you’ll be lucky to get more than an hour out of this one.
However, as it is pretty hefty, it’s likely you’ll be using it as a desktop replacement anyway. A 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 processor and a generous 2GB of RAM are inside, which make it a nippy laptop, and the Blu-ray drive is a welcome addition to such a high-end machine. A webcam on the screen completes the features.
Pros Slick design and Blu-ray capabilities.
Cons Big and bulky.
Asus F5R
£399
uk.asus.com
Asus has become a name to be reckoned with recently and the F5R is its budget power model, aimed at both home and business users. It looks okay, if a little plain, but build quality is very impressive, although not really on a par with other manufacturers like Lenovo. The 15.4-inch screen is bright and clear, and great for playing back films. There’s also a 1.3-megapixel camera in the screen.
The laptop is powered by an Intel Core Duo T2250 1.6GHz processor, which, although lacking against the faster 2GHz processors in most other machines, is still powerful enough for most corporate tasks.
What the Asus does have going for it is its price – it’s an absolute steal. While it might seem a little underpowered, for those on a budget who still need a power machine, it’s definitely worth taking a look at if price is a big issue.
Pros Good price and decent features.
Cons Needs more memory.
Mark Prigg is the Science and Technology Correspondent of the London Evening Standard
