Other pages in the review
HP Compaq nx6325
Like the nc6400 the HP Compaq nx6325 is totally black. It is the only AMD powered machine in our line-up. The screen is 15in with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and a standard aspect ratio. The large standard screen means that the machine is larger overall than the HP Compaq nc6400, and it has a cleaner less cluttered appearance around the keys.
The CPU is a 2.0GHz AMD Turion 64 X2. There is no pointing stick (touchpad only). Dual speakers sit in the front panel, separated by a multi-purpose card reader which handles SD, MemoryStick, MMC, SmartMedia and xD. It compares favourably with its brother in terms of interoperability but does fall behind on warranty and performance.
Of all the machines supplied only the nx6325 came with a true docking station, rather than a port replicator. Naturally the dock is quite large as it contains an empty optical drive bay and an Express card slot. Hot docking and undocking does not seem to disturb the laptop and locating the machine on the dock is straightforward and similar to that of the nc6400. The dock also adds powered USB, two PS2 ports, serial and parallel ports as well as composite and DVI video. The docking station is simply a more advanced version of the port-replicator supplied with the nc6400.
The MobileMark performance score for the nx6325 was the lowest of all of the machines we tested. While it would be hoped that this would be reflected in an exceptional battery life it didn’t. We noted it only performed an average four hours and 21 minutes. With its AMD Turion processor we had hoped for more. We did find that memory bandwidth was far higher than for any other machine, however, in the Sandra Pro 2005 test both integer and floating-point calculations were exceptional (they were unaffected by the presence or absence of the dock or mains power).
Its Winstone performance was just below average. It would seem from the mixed results that this machine will come into its own when paired with more modern software better able to take advantage of the processor’s 64-bit architecture. (We think it would be interesting to see how it performs under Vista.)
The nx6325 appears to have everything on board including large 100GB hard drive, a full 1GB of RAM and 64-bit processor. Performance may be a little lower than the Toshiba with its 2.0GHz Intel processor, but we would expect that the tables would be turned if running 64-bit software. At $2944 (including docking station) this machine looks like a really good deal, although the standard warranty is only for 12 months (extendable). This is a very pleasant machine but not the greatest in terms of screen resolution and graphics performance.
Lenovo Thinkpad T60
Lenovo was founded in China is 1984 under the name Legend. Since then it has grown into a multinational company; Lenovo took over IBM’s personal computing division in May 2005 and now possesses a lion’s share of the growing Chinese market.
Very clearly the all-black Thinkpad has the usual IBM branding retained by Lenovo, including red TrackPoint (supplemented by a touchpad) and blue “enter” key. Having a 14in, standard 4:3 ratio, 1024 x 768 resolution screen emphasizes its traditional design.
The screen bevel has the usual lip which offers extra protection to the screen when it is locked down and the small speaker grill is on the underside of the case. Not so traditional is the 1.83GHz Centrino Duo processor, allowing this machine to easily keep up with its contemporaries. The T60 sports a fingerprint reader and PCMCIA slot. Wireless and Ethernet networking are also supported.
The T60 comes with an easy-to-use port-replicator with clear markings indicating the method for docking and undocking. There is a simple push-button release and a clearly marked corner piece guides the notebook into proper alignment. When docked only the power socket is obscured. The dock adds only a single PS2 port to the Thinkpad’s repertoire of ports; it is simple and effective in both purpose and design. Computer use continues smoothly through hot-docking and undocking procedures.
The T60 came fourth in the MobileMark performance test and third in the battery life test. Memory bandwidth and floating point math performance were very similar to that of the other two machines featuring 1.83GHz processors (the Fujitsu Lifebook and the HP nc6400). The Business Winstone score of 19.3 is dead on the average for the current notebook line-up.
The T60 is a fairly basic machine, though sturdily built. There is no SD or other memory card slots, though both PCMCIA and Express cards are supported. The port replicator is very basic, having no serial or parallel ports and only one PS2 port. There is no DVD write capacity. This machine comes with a three-year warranty (12 months on battery). Despite lacking some features this is a well built machine and it is the lowest priced of any we tested at $2899.