Dual-core Athlon 64 X2 Laptop Reviewed 173
Steve from Hexus writes "Dual core finds its way inside a laptop (albeit a not-so-portable DTR) in the form of Rockdirect's Xtreme64. The DTR features an Athlon 64 X2 4800+, two 7200rpm hard drives and a GeForce Go 6800 Ultra GPU. HEXUS.net has a review of the laptop, one of the most powerful we've seen hit the market to date." From the article: "Rather than change a formula that works, Rockdirect has opted to stick with the Clevo D900-based chassis that its other performance-based laptops use. The obvious downsides are bulkiness and weight, with the laptop sitting almost 5cm high and weighing in at 5.7kg. It's a desktop replacement in the truest sense of the words, and with an 8kg travel weight (including charger and supplied carrying case) and relatively poor battery life, it's about as portable as a concrete slab."
Tax advantage (Score:5, Insightful)
At my workplace we can salary sacrifice laptops but not desktops. This means you pay for the system out of your pre-tax income, which can make a good laptop cheaper than an equivalent desktop system.
Its a silly rort, but it leads to people buying systems like this one because its portable.
Re:Tax advantage (Score:4, Insightful)
It's also most likely sounds like a vacum cleaner due to fans needed to cool components in that constrained space.
Re:Tax advantage (Score:2)
I owned one, too. Survived flipping off the table in a small earthquake. [wikipedia.org]
You are a fool. (Score:1, Flamebait)
At my workplace we can salary sacrifice laptops but not desktops. This means you pay for the system out of your pre-tax income, which can make a good laptop cheaper than an equivalent desktop system.
You're spending your own hard-earned money so that the owners of your company will become wealthier?
Please tell me that you have a substantial shareholder position in this enterprise.
If not, then repeat the following 500 times a day: "I am not a slave, I am not a slave, I am not a slave."
Re:You are a fool. (Score:3, Informative)
In the past I've saved thousands this way.
Re:You are a fool. (Score:3, Informative)
The laptop is his, bought through a scheme which means that he effectively gets it cheaper than retail by the rate he pays income tax at. Thus if he pays income tax at 25%, he gets a £2000 laptop for £1500.
The idea is that the company benefits because having a PC at home helps to increase the PC-literateness of its employees, and the government benefits because having a (more) PC-literate population potentially giv
Re:You are a fool. (Score:2)
Unless you're a tax lawyer and can cite specific court cases that make such a think legal, I suspect you're very wrong.
The company is buying the laptop with pre-tax dollars, and they own it. If they're turning around and give the laptop to the employees and no-one is paying any taxes on the transaction, someone is going to go to prison.
Re:You are a fool. (Score:2)
I'm sure corporations have various legal ways of reporting the purchase so that they get a little kick-back themselves. Where the employee would have paid $500 tax, the corporation might pay $350 tax
Re:You are a fool. (Score:2)
Despite that this is insanely unethical, I'll grant that the politicians of many countries have probably made it legal. But again, unless someone is citing specific court cases where this was found acceptable, I'm going to guess that in most places people doing this are risking prison.
(Of course, I'm not saying that avoiding taxes is unethical. I'm saying that tax laws that create such blatantly unfair and uneven tax burdens are unethical.)
Re:You are a fool. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:No, YOU are a fool. (Score:3, Insightful)
You must still be very young. Because the older I get, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that the vast overwhelming majority of humans have already gladly, of their own free will, chosen slavery over freedom. This includes you, and it certainly includes me.
Re:No, YOU are a fool. (Score:2)
Re:You are a fool. (Score:2)
Just Wait (Score:5, Funny)
Yes actually (Score:2)
-M
Re:Just Wait (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Just Wait (Score:2)
Today's laptops are way beyond Oracle specs for hosting giant DBs.
It has a parallel port (Score:5, Interesting)
And then it skimps on firewire by only giving unpowered slow firewire 400
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2, Funny)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:1)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Did these new laptops not have USB or ethernet ports? Plenty of companies, from Belkin to brand X, make USB and ethernet to parallel for printers, scanners, or whatever legacy device you have. These exceptionally handy devices are not at all expensive if you shop around. You save the aggrevation of getting a laptop that isn't the model you want but have to get for its
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:1)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Just last week.... (Score:2)
Tune to last week: My son got his picture taken with Santa and the professional photographer had a nice digital camera hooked up to a small computer/printer combo box. Pretty cleaver, really. On the back of this box connected to the parallel port, which couldn't have been more than six-months old, was... a key dongle
Re:Just last week.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Just last week.... (Score:2)
Re:Just last week.... (Score:2)
The smaller things caused headaches.. the dongles had a high failure rate and blanks were expensive and had to be bough
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
The Multi-ICE [arm.com] JTAG debugger from ARM is parallel port only. I recently had a colleague who had to buy a port replicator for his laptop just to get a parallel port to use with the Multi-ICE.
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
My company recently got me a new IBM T43p laptop, which is excellent on the whole... except for the freakin' parallel port on the back that takes up a HUGE amount of space! To add insult to injury, there's no space for a DVI port (which you have to buy their docking station to
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2, Informative)
You can't expect anybody to take you seriously. Parallel was the high-speed interface of the past, before USB came along.
If you'd been in the industry 20 years, you aught to know what a great deal HP printers are. I bought an HP laserjet 4P at the thrift store for $10 a few months back, they have the drum inside the toner cartridge, so a new toner cartridge is essentially a brand new printer, and I can buy them for $25, among the c
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
The reason for my personal lack of encounters with parallel ports: I worked primarily on Macintosh systems prior to the mid-90s... thus all my connections were Appletalk based. (AFAIK no Mac has *ever* come with a parallel port standard, except maybe for the Lisa-based Mac XL)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Umm... whatever.
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
10 years ago was the end of 1995. USB did not exist, Firewire did not exist. You would be pretty hard pressed to find a computer or a printer that DID NOT have a parallel port in 1996. The only exception would of been Apple, who were using some propriety connection back then for printers. Until USB became popular (around 1998-1999), there lots of parallel accessories - the Zip drive, some rare external harddrives. Until ethernet, U
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Even if modern printers don't do LPT any more, my postscript printer of 10+ years is still chugging and I'm glad to be able to keep using it for quick preview/markup jobs. For this reason, I'm glad they haven't gone away. (Don't refer me to parallel-to-USB adapters, they're all crap, I've tried three from three different brands.)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
The only issue I've run into is that if you move the unit to a new USB port, it causes problems. Luckily I keep it wired to a desktop, or to a specific USB port on my laptop's docking station.
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
Re:It has a parallel port (Score:2)
I won't buy a computer without an EISA expansion bus.
These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:3, Interesting)
This isn't exactly the kind of system I would want to lug with me into a coffee shop either--it might break the damn table!
The only practical application of such a portable system (give the cost) that I can think of would be somewhere in the applied sciences "out in the field." However, these specs barely conform to those that many such scientists would require.
I'll admit this, though: I would love to take this bad boy to a LAN party! Perhaps that's the target market they've been looking for.
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:2)
What's the battery life of a goldfish?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:1)
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably about as long as an African swallow can carry a coconut.
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:1)
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:2)
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:3, Informative)
Some of us have access to electric power while travelling[1], but porting along a desktop is much harder.
[1] AC power supply in a train. This might not make sense to most Americans who drive or fly.
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:2)
Probably not to most Americans since trains aren't used very much for travel at all, at least not away from the east coast. I don't know how it is in Europe, but train travel in the western US is horribly slow. It may be more relaxing than driving but it will take 2 to 3 times as long, and of course 10x as long as flying. It's also expensive out here, train tickets often cost as much as plane tickets, unless you w
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:2)
People who don't want to deal with all the hassle and crap you have to put up with just to get onto a commercial airliner nowadays? Though really, I would just drive.
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:3, Funny)
I had a goldfish pond, and the cats used to fish them out, but usually walk away. Hours later, I would put the fish back in the pond, and after a while, it would recover. Big rain storms would wash some of them out, same result and cure.
Winter brought ice to the pond, I just took a rock and broke the ice every morning, so they could get oxygen from the surface of the water. The cold water did not harm them at all.
Kind of like a good car battery that starts the car at 5 degr
Re:These specs are indeed impressive... (Score:2)
Who buys these? (Score:1, Interesting)
I don't understand the market for these sort of laptops. At almost 6kg, this is approaching the portability level of my desktop PC, especially since with its battery life of one hour you're still effectively tethered to power supplies anyway. And for this 'privilege' you pay far, far more than you would for an equivalent desktop system. So, where's the market? I can see basically two possibilities: video editors who need a rendering setup that's just about portable, and gamers who want the highest-specced l
Re:Who buys these? (Score:4, Insightful)
One assumes it's easier to lug this laptop around than a desktop and a monitor and its specs make it desktop comparable, thus the moniker DTR. Using the same machine at home as you do at work makes life easier, as does taking said machine on the road. If they seldom are used without their umbellical power cords, battery life is a nonissue. This isn't a "work on a plane" laptop, clearly.
As for why it has to be this beefy, well simply because it can. The majority of machines today are overkill for what people use them for. Video editing requires certain specs, but for most people the limits of a machine never come into question. If you've decided your laptop won't be used that often away from a desk, and you make a purchasing decision based on the most bang for your buck, and if this is being paid for by your employer, then why not get the most powerful one? That's what they're banking on.
Re:Who buys these? (Score:2)
Such laptops are good for contractors dealing with CPU/graphics intensive applications and in need of mobility. I'm doing dome 3d graphics contract job, and product mostly for mid-high end machines,so for me is very important to be able to bring my machine into the office, for installations, configurations, and then problem arise with different hardware - I able to run my laptop side-by side with problematic desktop. Some other users of such systems
Re:Who buys these? (Score:2)
Re:Who buys these? (Score:2)
TONS of people do [long] (Score:3, Insightful)
Alienware sells a comparable laptop using the same chasis + a custom lid. They definitely arn't hurting buisness wise.
I in fact bought one such laptop, mostly because I had the spare money and could, but also because I travel between two cities alot (my hometown and where I go to college).
I don't like unplugging all my desktop stuff (and I prefer leaving my desktops always on) and h
Re:Who buys these? (Score:2)
The weight discrepency is likely the power supply. It gives new meaning to
Re:Who buys these? (Score:2)
It would of been great in college. All the power of a good desktop, but still have the ability to grab it and take it home on the weekends, or to a LAN party. I had no desire to take a laptop to class on a daily basis (pen and paper is simplier and easier 99% of the time), so I wouldn't of been hauling it around that much.
Though in reality, I would of never been able to afford it in college. I got by with my decent but inexpensive AMD desktop comput
Dual core... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dual core... (Score:2)
Not the MSNBC story but your concise description of same.
I went the other way this year and bought a 3.3lb Sony Vaio. I used to have a 9lb Toshiba Satellite which was big and fast and, well, big.
Now I can play two DVDs and MP3s all night on a single charge and carry it to meetings and use it a hell of a lot more than I did the Tosh.
My next purchase is a strong and lightweight replacement for my very heavy Targus leather PC bag (9lbs).
New Year's Resolution
Re:Dual core... (Score:5, Funny)
What an ugly piece of hardware (Score:2)
Until then I'm sticking to my 12" iBook and a little envy of my friends Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P with 15 hours (!) of battery time. And the size of an OReilly Camelbook.
Re:What an ugly piece of hardware (Score:1)
£2,500? (Score:1)
I guess you might need this if you spend your day in different rooms inside your luxurious mansion and you want your computer with you all the time to stay connected to WoW and check your various stock prices all the time.
But carrying this thing outside?
You would need to hire another butler just for that!
Swinging testicle. (Score:1)
It's too big/heavy to be particularly portable, it gets uncomfortably warm in normal use, it burns lots of power, so battery life is worthless.
Trying to jam a high-end Desktop into a laptop has resulted in a system not well suited to replace a desktop or a laptop particularly wel
Re:Swinging testicle. (Score:2)
Keeping in mind that I agree with you so far as the laptop is concerned...
A couple years back I picked up a highly impracticle car. It was a Toyota MR-2... a 2 seated mid engined double-trunked (both worthless) pocket rocket.
Man how I loved that car, it was so fast....turbochar
Re:Swinging testicle. (Score:2)
I have one of those moster HP laptops. I get maybe an hour on battery. Big screen, full size keyboard with separate keypad, giant screen, regular desktop processor. Over 10 lbs and huge.
The think is so big as to almost not open correctly in coach on planes. Good thing the bat only lasts 45 minutes. If you can find a plug in the airport it is awesome to work with.
Get a bigger bag and hit the gym you little
Re:Swinging testicle. (Score:2)
I have big fat fingers so I like having the full sized keyboard. I just wish they would make a laptop with full depth keys, not just full width. The extra depth makes a difference, but I learned to type on a manual typewriter back in the day. Maybe newer kids don't mind key travel so much.
over 4000 dollars (Score:1, Insightful)
Duplicate Slashvertisements? (Score:2)
Forgive me for wondering, but if you feel the need to post how thinkgeek, newsforge, etc are all owned by your parent company in every story that comes from those (and the rest) of the sites. Then why don't you mention that this company may not be paying you, but did give you something to inspire you to talk about them so well on a website?
I guess I'm just lost here ... you want full disclosure, most of the time?
This thing is not a monster laptop, it's a portable all in o
Laptop? (Score:1)
That's no laptop... (Score:1)
This is not a laptop, at best... (Score:2)
However, I even find 'notebook' arguable. If the difference between a notebook and a desktop machine is a built-in display, keyboard and pointing device - then sure, it's a notebook.
If the difference is that a notebook is meant to be able to be relocated with sufficent ease that it can be frequently done- i.e. between home, work, off-site locations - then
Parallel port???? (Score:2)
Jeebus! Look at all those fans! (Score:2)
If you're a video editing mobile ninja, yeah ok. (Score:2)
so light! (Score:2, Funny)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x\ * \ / *
x \ * \ / * / x
x \ * \ / * / x
x | * | x
x / * / \ * \ x
x
Re:so light! (Score:1)
Rockdirect (Score:2, Interesting)
touchpad only? (Score:2)
Great Systems (Score:1)
I have a Sager 9860 (same casing as this). I take it to client sites every day. It's heavy, but not too much for just walking from the parking lot. And it has a lot of power. I typically run an application server and a database while I'm working, in addition to my IDE, various office apps and music player. If you need the performance,
XP Home? And what's "Bullguard"? (Score:2)
Re:XP Home? And what's "Bullguard"? (Score:2)
You Get Used to the Weight (Score:2)
I prefeer a Tadpole Bullfrog Dual Processor (Score:2, Informative)
- Dual 1.2 GHz UltraSPARC® IIIi processors
- Up to 16GB DRAM
- Large 17.1" SXGA TFT LCD Display
- Full Length, 66 MHz, 64 -bit PCI Expansion Slot
- Dual 2.5" High Performance Disk Drives
- Integrated DVD/CD-RW Drive
I'd change the operating system for a GPL one though.
Young whipper snappers, you complain about 8kg? (Score:2)
You young whippersnappers have it so easy.
Complaining about only 8 kg? (Score:2)
Re:Complaining about only 8 kg? (Score:2)
Clevo D470K experience (Score:2)
Don't be suprised if the ethernet fails after 6 months and you have to use ethernet over 1394, the keyboard drops a lot of keypresses, and the touch pad is over sensitive due to the high heat.
Other than that, it's held up better than the Dells and Sonys due to its size. Of course, there is no Linux support on this chipset for AGP, po
Solution: Lose 8 Kg of fat (Score:2)
Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!
Re:Does it matter? (Score:2)
Looks like PC zealots like you have already started
Apple did dual processor laptops 10 years AGO in 1996.
Go find another drum to beat.
Re:Does it matter? (Score:2)
Re:Does it matter? (Score:1)
Who cares? Anyone with a fucking clue, that's who. I've got an old dual CPU Pentium motherboard with two 75Mhz chips on them, THEREFORE THEY ARE DUAL CORE JUST AS THE TERM 'DUAL CORE' IS USED TODAY! How about you re-evaluate your perception of reality and get back to us when you aren't a fucking retard.
Re:Does it matter? (Score:4, Informative)
AMD's processors are dual-core as they connect via an on-chip arbiter, the SRQ. They then connect to the rest of the system via a HyperTransport link. AMD's next core revision, the F-Step, will have 4 core connections from the SRQ, allowing for future quad-core processors.
Intel's current 'dual-core' processors aren't really dual-core as they connect to the FSB independently. Indeed Intel's latest Presler processors have separate dies on the processor packaging. In practice however it doesn't really matter that much, so they get away with calling it 'dual-core' when it is technically SMP on a chip. Yonah will be Intel's first true dual-core processor because the cores are connected at the L2 cache level, which they share.
So now people defined the number of cores a processor has by the number of cores per socket in the system. In your system you have one core per socket, so the processors are single core, the system is dual-processor. In the reviewed laptop there are two cores in one socket, for the system is single-processor, but the processor is dual-core. Quite simple really.
Re:Does it matter? (Score:1)
The poster didn't say it was a Mac, merely a dual processor laptop.
Hell, Apple could have sold dual-processor G4 based [17"] Powerbooks for the last couple of years if they cared about their customers to make up the performance difference. At least the G4 is quite low power, and Apple gets them quite cheaply - they should have tried something to jazz up the glacial speed increases of that processor line.
Anyway I wouldn't call this a laptop, not if it i
Re:Does it matter? (Score:2)
Not to mention Powerbook 5600's had woeful battery life as bad as the machine in this article. When new it was rare for users to get the full 1.5 hours quoted with just one hour the norm. Those two 604's ate up more power relative to battery capacity than even the beast in the review here.
No Macintosh OS and bad
Re:Does it matter? (Score:1)
Re:Twice the machine, twice the posts! (Score:1)
Re:Twice the machine, twice the posts! (Score:2)
Now, compare this to the photo of the notebook [hexus.net] reviewed today.
No doubt the insides vary. Yay. Two identically-clad notebooks, both with dual-core AMD two 7200 RPM hard drives, minor differences in screen, etc. I hate to be pedantic, but it's just the same story.
Dual core AMD != 3.66ghz P4 (Score:2)
Re:Printer Friendly page (Score:2)
To view the printer friendly version you need to be logged in, which requires that you sign up (for free) to MyHEXUS (top right of every page there's a link). The pages aren't broken down purely for ad revenue. Stupidly long pages are... stupid, plus it makes locating a particular part of an article easier, and breaks it down so you don't get bored - which can happen if you trawl through one long page.
As for ads, it's amusing that people complain about them, especially when Slashdot has ads t