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We test six super-powered portables-five with Intel's newest 300MHz mobile processor-that can put any desktop to shame
HE NEW CROP OF SPORT utility vehicles has a lot in common with the latest line of notebooks. The early SUVs-epitomized by the original Jeep Cherokeeemphasized off-road maneuvering and rugged handling, but paid little attention to creature comforts. Now you can buy 4x4s from Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz that boast leather seats, sunroofs, and ultra-smooth rides.
Similarly, early notebooks had monochrome screens, bulky cases, poor keyboards, and slow processors. In fact, not long ago, most notebooks had more compromises than actual features. But today's top-ofthe-line notebooks are the Lincoln Navigators of the laptop market, powered by Intel's blazing 300MHz Pentium II processor. With 64MB of RAM and gorgeous 13.3- or 14.1-inch active-matrix LCD screens, you can barely tell the difference between these notebooks and desktop PCs.
And when your work's done, these notebooks are powerful entertainment centers. With built-in audio speakers, stereo controls, and DVD drives, you have a virtual movie theater on your desk or on your airline seat tray during a long flight. Sadly, there's no dispenser for hot buttered popcorn or cold soda.
The Torture Test To get a good idea of how this new generation of portables performs, we analyzed early engineering versions of five notebooks based on the brandnew 300MHz Pentium II: the Compaq Presario 1810, Dell Inspiron 7000, Gateway Solo 5150, Micron TransPort Trek 2, and NEC Versa SX. Because the 300MHz chip was in limited supply, we also looked at a notebook with the fast 266MHz Penum II under the hoodIBM's ThinkPad 600. By the time you read this, IBM will have released notebooks powered by the 300MHz Pentium II. To make our comparisons, we put the notebooks through a battery of tests commonly used at CFG Technical Labs. These included our PowerHour battery endurance test and a performance benchmark based on Symantec's Norton Utilities System Information test that measures processor, multimedia, and hard disk performance. To get a better idea of each notebook's real-world application speed, we also used a Microsoft Word macro that simulates typical word processing tasks and an Adobe Photoshop test, timing a 15-degree rotation of a 1.5MB bitmap image. In addition to these standard CFG...