CyberpowerPC's Compal NBLB2: Affordable Gaming
by Dustin Sklavos on December 21, 2010 5:50 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- AMD
- Intel
- CyberPowerPC
- Compal
Conclusion: You Can Make a Case for It
When we reviewed the competing Clevo B5130M from AVADirect (and also offered by Cyberpower), the conclusion was fairly clear cut: it'd be an easy sell if Dell's XPS 15 didn't exist. That was reasonable enough then: the two are comparable in spec, but Dell offers a better screen, better build quality, and better battery life. With the Compal NBLB2 in the mix, though, things get murkier.
Shopping around can get you an NBLB2 for $899 or better, which automatically places it above the B5130M because the 1080p screen is standard as opposed to an upgrade. Compal does well on the insides, too: the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650 often comes out ahead of the GeForce 420M/425M that the Clevo and Dell notebooks use, so if gaming is high on your list of priorities there's a strong case to be made for going with this notebook over the competition. You still won't be running most games at high quality settings—and certainly not at high quality and 1080p—but medium quality and 1080p is still within reach, especially if you tweak a few of the settings to get above 30FPS. Clearly, AMD had a great design when the HD 5650 launched, and it has held up well over the past nine months.
Unfortunately, getting decent gaming performance means a fairly large trade-off. The Compal notebook's design is horrendously outdated, and while the battery life is fine in and of itself it's still lagging behind our editor's choice-winning Dell XPS 15, thanks to NVIDIA's Optimus Technology. The Dell notebook also offers the potential for an even better screen than the already impressive one in the NBLB2. [Update: Well, at least it did when the 1080p upgrade was available; that's currently missing, presumably because of insufficient supply.] You'll have to contend with Dell's customer service instead of the more personalized service you'd get from a smaller boutique vendor, but we have to wonder if the trade isn't worth it.
Mercifully, at the end of the day the NBLB2 doesn't feel like a complete "also-ran." While the Clevo B5130M found itself butting squarely up against Dell's incumbent, the NBLB2 presents a viable alternative for those looking to get as much gaming performance as they can out of a 15.6" notebook. At $899 from Sager or $945 from CyberpowerPC the price isn't too steep, either. It's not competing with the freak deals Acer periodically throws into the wild for a couple months, but the Compal has a much nicer screen and a better keyboard. If gaming is a top priority but you don't want to break your back with a big notebook (or your wallet with a big budget), the NBLB2 is very nearly as good as it gets.
Of course, besides the build quality and aesthetic problems, there's one other item this Compal notebook has to contend with: Sandy Bridge is coming next month, along with some other hardware updates from the various parties. We can't go into performance specifics any more than Anand did in our preview, but Core 2010 and the HD 5650 are both due for replacement in the near future. When Compal inevitably updates the NBLB2 yet again, hopefully they can make a break with some of the current design points and deliver a product that's better on all fronts.
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rangerdavid - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
Love your articles and site in general, but please: When using your DSLR to take a gallery of photos, tighten that aperture down four or five stops from wide-open, as you currently take your photos (probably necessitating a slow shutter speed and a tripod). Yes, some shots lend themselves to nice blurry depth-of-field effect, but not everything.Keep up the great work and Happy Holidays to you all.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
I think you've got it backwards... I prefer to shoot at a 14 f-stop and ISO 400, since the low f-stops give you the depth-of-field effect. They let in a lot more light, but I prefer a good flash over the blur. But otherwise I agree; Dustin needs to figure out the pictures better. (Sorry, Dustin, but it's true! At least he's no longer using a point and shoot.)Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
Oh believe me, I know. I'm getting there. Give me a video camera and I'll make it sing, but still photography utterly escapes me for some odd reason.rangerdavid - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
Note: NOT Trying to start a flame war....but I believe I had it right - yet it's confusing and I may not have been clear. A "wide" or "open" aperture is definitely a SMALLER number. This is a bit counter-intuitive. I should have said "tighten that aperture UP a few stops," even though I usually uses the phrase "tighten down" in common speech. I suppose both are common. The point:
Higher f-stop = narrower aperture opening = greater depth-of-field = more of the laptop in focus.
So I agree: Shooting at f/14 is a better choice than the wide-open f/3.5 or whatever he's using now. For more info:
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=depth_of_field
Deinonych67 - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
You were correct using the term "stopping down" in reference to reducing the aperture size.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_down
Stuka87 - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
I actually got a kick out of the isometric shot that is on the main page. It basically has a tilt shift effect on it, making it look like something you would buy for your daughters barbie dolls.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
Since it appears that high quality screens are available almost exclusively in glare finishes these days, could you do a review comparing the out of the box quality of the screen with the results after applying a filter to it? Mwave.com and Viewguard.com both sell filters in many sizes, so finding on to fit shouldn't be that difficult.hybrid2d4x4 - Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - link
I second this request. I don't like the dull low-contrast screens any more than any of the others who regularly complain about these things, but I hate glossy screens even more. When I saw the picture of this laptop on the AT front page and saw the reflection of the keyboard, and that glossy plastic on the bezel, my gut reaction was: "Aw, FFS...".Meaker10 - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
Notebook manufacturers typically use different internal coolers for the quad core models, thicker heatpipes and better fans are usually used.Dont assume just because your dual core version was comfortable that it impacts how the quad core model may fare.
CreateAccount - Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - link
looks like a samsung or toshiba.reflective surface, who started this trend? It's never been cool.
what happen to the brushed metal or the touchy plastic surface like the bottom case of the notebook? Bring those things back. That will cut the cost of the notebook. We don't need a notebook to looks pretty, we buy it to WORK! "WORK" that's the main purpose of it. Let those pretty stuff for A*ple, we don't need it.