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While they are costly, multimedia systems suit users who refuse to sacrifice performance
Multimedia applications are taking to the road as notebook PC vendors roll out a new wave of notebook computers with Pentium processors and multimedia extensions (MMX) technology. Nocompromise MMX notebook systems are available with 166 MHz, 200 MHz, and 233 MHz processors that offer desktoplevel performance in portable machines. They have biggerthan-ever color LCDs with deep resolutions, multiple gigabyte hard disks, and fast CD-ROMs for grabbing audio and video. In terms of performance it's getting harder to tell the difference between a high-end notebook and a desktop PC.
Notebooks with MMX technology make it possible to dial up colleagues on the Internet with video conferencing equipment, hold meetings, share video files, review or create presentation graphics, and share applications. MMX notebooks can be costly, but they are the ticket for users who refuse to sacrifice performance for the sake of convenience.
In this version of PC Digest, NSTL examines seven MMX Pentium notebooks with 166 MHz, 200 MHz, and 233 MHz CPUs. The majority of the laptops utiliz the 166 MHz Pentium chip.
The Fastest For Multimedia
The Sceptre Soundx 5500 Notebook is the fastest system in the review. Multimedia notebooks inelude support for Zoomed Video and the CardBus, and some support MPEG hardware acceleration for play-in fullscreen video smoothly at 30 frames per second (which resembles television video quality).
Some new trends we saw in NSTLs labs were the inclusion of USB ports on notebook systems, and the fact that integrated modems are becoming a standard for highend notebooks. This may not make PC card vendors happy, but it is a benefit to users who must stay in touch while on the road.
The systems - which weigh about seven pounds, on average - have broken ground in portable computing with 12.1- or 13.3inch active-matrix color displays, and have maximum internal resolutions of 1,024 by 768 pixels in many instances. More than half of the laptops that NSTL tests still have maximum internal resolutions of 800 by 600 pixels, but vendors like Sceptre, Hewlett-Packard and Hitachi have made it clear that 1,024 by 768 pixels will soon be the defacto standard resolution for portables.
Other breakthroughs include huge hard...