Mid-sized Dothan Notebook Roundup: Dell, Gateway, and HP/Compaq
by Andrew Ku on September 30, 2004 1:09 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Gateway M320XL: In the Field
FanBecause this is the only notebook in this roundup to use something lower than a 2.0GHz Pentium-M Dothan processor, it wasn't a surprise to find that noise was less of an issue. It is very hard to hear the fan if you are just typing away at the office, but in a dead silent room, you can make out the low pitched whirl if you are paying real close attention. Otherwise, in a slightly noisy office, you would have to stop typing and put your ear close to the notebook to hear anything. Compared to Dell's D600 and HP/Compaq's NC6000, it is much quieter.
Heat
Likewise, as the result of a lower clocked CPU, the thermal emissions are lower for this notebook. It gets slightly less warm than the NC6000 or D600, but it is still warm enough to melt an ice cube if you gave it enough time. We aren't saying that the NC6000 and D600 would melt an ice cube fast, nor should you test this out; but rather, just a little quicker than the M320XL.
Keyboard
Click to enlarge.
The quality of the keyboard is shy of what we had with Dell's D600, which means that it is designed more for an average consumer-end notebook or lower. Our main problem is that the amount of tactile feedback that we are use to getting from business notebooks like the ThinkPad series isn't there. If you haven't used a large variety of notebooks, you probably won't notice the lower tactile feedback level. Even in our use, we grew accustomed to it after some time.
The control key and function key are located in the correct spot: control key at the bottom left corner and the function key to the right of it. The M320XL has dedicated page up, page down, home, and end keys, but unlike most notebook keyboards, they are arranged vertically on the right end. It just takes a while to get use to if you are jumping over from a desktop or a keyboard scheme similar to that of the D600 or NC6000.
TouchPad & Buttons
Click to enlarge.
The touchpad and its buttons are spaced reasonably well, and we have no qualms about it. However, we would have liked to have seen more texture to the touchpad, like we have seen on other business notebooks. Additionally, the way the LEDS are positioned, it is near impossible to see them, if you are using the touchpad. They should be relocated to the space above the keyboard. There is a picture on the next page that shows them lit up. In the picture above, they would be seen in the translucent black piece of plastic.
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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.