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Dual-core Athlon 64 X2 Laptop Reviewed
Steve from Hexus writes "Dual core finds its way inside a laptop (albeit a not-so-portable DTR) in the form of Rockdirect's Xtreme64. The DTR features an Athlon 64 X2 4800+, two 7200rpm hard drives and a GeForce Go 6800 Ultra GPU. HEXUS.net has a review of the laptop, one of the most powerful we've seen hit the market to date." From the article: "Rather than change a formula that works, Rockdirect has opted to stick with the Clevo D900-based chassis that its other performance-based laptops use. The obvious downsides are bulkiness and weight, with the laptop sitting almost 5cm high and weighing in at 5.7kg. It's a desktop replacement in the truest sense of the words, and with an 8kg travel weight (including charger and supplied carrying case) and relatively poor battery life, it's about as portable as a concrete slab."
At my workplace we can salary sacrifice laptops but not desktops. This means you pay for the system out of your pre-tax income, which can make a good laptop cheaper than an equivalent desktop system.
Its a silly rort, but it leads to people buying systems like this one because its portable.
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One assumes it's easier to lug this laptop around than a desktop and a monitor and its specs make it desktop comparable, thus the moniker DTR. Using the same machine at home as you do at work makes life easier, as does taking said machine on the road. If they seldom are used without their umbellical power cords, battery life is a nonissue. This isn't a "work on a plane" laptop, clearly.
As for why it has to be this beefy, well simply because it can. The majority of machines today are overkill for what people use them for. Video editing requires certain specs, but for most people the limits of a machine never come into question. If you've decided your laptop won't be used that often away from a desk, and you make a purchasing decision based on the most bang for your buck, and if this is being paid for by your employer, then why not get the most powerful one? That's what they're banking on.
Probably about as long as an African swallow can carry a coconut.
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
Wow an people say PowerBooks cost a lot.
Let me think. Acer I do believe sells a comparable laptop using the same chasis. They don't appear to be hurting buisness wise.
Alienware sells a comparable laptop using the same chasis + a custom lid. They definitely arn't hurting buisness wise.
I in fact bought one such laptop, mostly because I had the spare money and could, but also because I travel between two cities alot (my hometown and where I go to college).
I don't like unplugging all my desktop stuff (and I prefer leaving my desktops always on) and having to lug it back it forth. I'm also a geek and a gamer. I want to be able to play battlefield 2 perfectly wherever I am before bed.
I also have a couple of friends who have bought such laptops because that's what they wanted: they wanted a more slim/portable machine that was also as powerful as most desktops.
I don't use such a laptop for long battery life. Nor does anyone else I know. But the battery is still useful! Ever try moving your desktop from your living room to your bedroom then back 5 times fast? Or using your desktop from the sofa while watching TV? Yeah.
Also, my laptop in that chasis isn't that heavy and i'm quite a small person, so that's really no big deal. Sure I wouldn't want to carry it around all day, but it's NOT that kind of laptop.
Lastly, the bottom ventilation I find to be pretty important. Putting these laptops on a flat hard surface (read: no cloth!) greatly reduces heat and strain on the fans. There is a very small air path underneath it that is amazingly important. I also find I CAN put it on a cloth surface without serious heat problems if i put a cold/heat (you know, one of those gel packs, it need not be cold though) right underneath the graphics card area.
Having room for two hard drives with a SATA/raid controller, two optical drives, and four SODIMM (read: RAM) slots in my beast is just a nice plus too.
Oh yeah (sorry for the rambling, it's early). There ARE some serious downsides to this specific chasis that seems so popular. First it's plain ugly and the component layout is near retarded (most ports on mine plug in...upside down!). It just screams cheap high production taiwanese product. Most importantly, and something I find many laptops lack, is a good power connecter. There have been multiple reported problems both on the motherboard and adapter plug itself from most vendors who use this chasis (so it appears they mostly use the same power adapter too). Also the fans working with most of the heat are right by the power connection. Well this baby will put out some pretty hot air. Hot enough that it probably does some serious damage to your sperm count. Combine that with plastic cable and wire and possible laptop movement moving the wire around more to get a situation asking for the cable to die a slow and painful death.
With better thought and design put into the product, I could see such laptops being used alot more frequently. As it is I doubt many owners of one will buy another anytime soon and not just because of the large price tag. If you pay alot of money for a product, you expect everything to be near perfect (read: like a mac) and I have yet to see a laptop using this chasis be just that.
I thought that's what this laptop was for!
You know, the older I get, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that, if given the opportunity, the vast, overwhelming majority of humans will gladly, of their own free will, chose slavery over freedom.
You must still be very young. Because the older I get, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that the vast overwhelming majority of humans have already gladly, of their own free will, chosen slavery over freedom. This includes you, and it certainly includes me.