Mid-sized Dothan Notebook Roundup: Dell, Gateway, and HP/Compaq
by Andrew Ku on September 30, 2004 1:09 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Final Words
If you place the notebooks side by side, they each have a distinct form. The D600 is the most compact and smallest of the three. The material for the Latitude D600 is stronger than the casing on the M320XL, but it seems more malleable than the casing material for the NC6000.The M320XL makes its mark as the thinnest, but somewhat flimsy. It seems to be partly due to the materials used and in part, due to the thin profile. Either way, the M320XL and D600 feel more mobile than the NC6000, which is the bulkiest, thickest, and sturdiest of the three.
Top to Bottom: Dell Latitude D600, HP NC6000, Gateway M320XL
Click to enlarge.
For a fully decked out system, the HP Compaq NC6000 takes the crown. It is catered specifically for the business user, most notably with its instant log out and presentation buttons. If you tack on the modular battery option along with an 8-cell primary battery, you are looking at a whopping 9 hours and 35 minutes of battery life. This is long enough to withstand the bore of some of the longest of flights (a flight to Taiwan is about 14 hours) or those who don't run by an AC outlet too often in the day. Its limitation is that it is heavy and is somewhat bulky.
Gateway's M320XL is nice and slim, which makes it reminiscent of a few of the thin Sony VAIO notebooks that I have used. Though, the casing material of those notebooks was of higher quality. In our use, we found the rubberized coating by the hand rests and the keyboard to kind of peel when it came in contact with semi-sharp objects, stuff as simple as our mechanical pencil. It doesn't come off in large chucks or anything, but rather, it just chips off at the impact area.
The bottom line is that the M320XL is not a business notebook, nor does it fare well in that respect. Its low native resolution makes it hard to multi-task, and it lacks an integrated microphone, Gigabit Ethernet support, and Bluetooth. All three of these options are available on the D600 and NC6000, both of which provide a comfortable 1400 x 1050 native viewing resolution.
So, we don't have a clear winner of the three. The M320XL seems more mobile, but its weakness is in its construction material, as it's easier to scuff.
Price Tags (systems used in the roundup - includes the extra battery cost):
- Dell's Latitude D600 - $2,544
- Gateway's M320XL - $1,799
- HP/Compaq Business Notebook NC6000 - $2,786 (this is with 2 x 256MB memory modules)
The D600 is the most compact, but compared to the extended battery life capabilities of the HP NC6000, it is left in the dirt along with just about any notebook. The NC6000 is a top of the line notebook, but its price tag doesn't let you get a sense for its weight nor its bulkiness. Though, we should note that this is far less bulky than the Inspiron XPS, notebooks with 15.4" widescreen displays, and our older Compaq Presario 1500T. Each notebook has something for everyone. If HP could get their NC6000 closer to the feel, form, and weight of the D600, we could actually have a clear winner. This goes the same for the D600, where Dell needs to provide some serious extended battery capabilities to compete with HP. It's too bad that the M320XL can't be configured to order like our NC6000 and D600, but if Gateway wants to compete seriously in the business notebook market, it needs to up the ante with some of the small things (microphone, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth), and most importantly, a display with a higher native resolution.
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Monkeydonutstick - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
You can't be serious about comparing a Powerbook G4 to any of these. Powerbooks were owned by P3’s for Christ sake.plewis00 - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
I just wanted to point out as an nc6000 user that you didn't mention it's speakers (which as any Compaq user will know) are some of the best on any laptop - very rich with reasonable bass and strong volume, it easily rivals small stereos.Secondly, I don't think it's quite clear how much tougher the HP is than the Dell. I had both and pressing slightly on the Dell logo on the D600 would flex it down by about 3-4mm with very little pressure; the HP is far more robust, so it's size isn't that much of an issue (but the Dell is a bit of a headturner, the HP definitely isn't).
Also (only a small point) but given the Dell's and HP's graphics cards, a small 3D-based test (3DMark2001 SE?) wouldn't have gone amiss [that's the reason I had these machines for their size and graphics]. In seriousness, with that Gateway, what are you going to do with a 1.7Ghz Dothan CPU if not game sometimes, or that you couldn't do with a Pentium III-M 850Mhz?
manno - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
ksherman- "wheres the Macs? As far as im concerned, the Powerbook owns all these in terms of performance, size, weight, looks, and battery life... Its apparently even in the same price range as these "mid-sized" laptops... Bring on the Mac articles AT!"I have no clue about the technical aspect of the powerbooks size, weight, and battery life. But I do know you couldn't be more right about the looks... PLUS there's a Quake I... and I think a Quake II software renderer for Macs also... nudge nudge wink wink.
manno - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
SOFTWARE renderer origianl "Half-Life" or "Quake 2". Preferably Half-Life. Their software reneder is more taxing than Quake 2's. Old school, yes, but it's not biased tward desktop, or laptop video cards.peace on!... Crakers!
AndrewKu - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
#4 - Hopefully, we will get to that real soon.AndrewKu - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
#6 - Well, I hope we didn't knock it too much in the overall sense. But we are talking about the business user market segment, and we were putting more emphasis on the display more so than the other nic nacs.YaBaBom - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
I'm not a Gateway fan, but I think it's kind of silly to knock the Gateway laptop in the ratings because it doesn't have gigabit ethernet. Gigabit ethernet is nothing but a sales pitch as far as laptops are concerned, since the hard drives just arent capable of supplying data at gigabit speeds. I can tell you from experience that a D600 with gigabit doesnt transfer any faster than a C640 with 10/100 ethernet.brainwave64 - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
Great review! Very informative. It's hard to find good reviews of laptops that take into account things other than performance - like ergonomics, LED locations, battery life, weight, size, etc.--paperboy164
ksherman - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
wheres the Macs? As far as im concerned, the Powerbook owns all these in terms of performance, size, weight, looks, and battery life... Its apparently even in the same price range as these "mid-sized" laptops... Bring on the Mac articles AT!AndrewKu - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - link
#1 - A64 based laptops, at least so far, are those best reserved for the DTR market, and thus are focused on the performance aspect of the notebook market. If you want mobility, get a P-M based notebook.As for half-life or other gaming applications, one of these notebooks uses Intel's integrated graphic's system, so that wasn't something that was practical, and of the other two that use discrete GPUs, one uses a DX8 mobile graphics part.
#2 - Well... As far as weight and the general specs go, I think the whole market is becoming more and more grey. We will be back with a thin and light side of the Dothan market.