In the past several days, we have received requests to compare the Envy M:855 to something to the likes of a Pentium 4 800FSB based Sager desktop replacement, Additional requests have been made on the use of the most current desktop NVIDIA drivers, when we benchmark something the likes of a Dell Inspiron 8600, which happens to use the GeForce FX Go5650.
While Sager doesn’t make their own notebooks (they ODM though Clevo), we have in fact been welcome to the idea of a Sager notebook, as we have looked at one in the past. We have sent our own inquiries to Sager and NVIDIA (*separate cases*), so the lack of addressing these topics aren’t for our lack of trying.
We recently did our own scouting and contacted the folks at DriverHeaven about their Mod Tool, which is a program that modifies ATI desktop drivers for mobile and IGP use. Due to qualification issues, we wanted to ensure and oversee the modification process used to convert desktop drivers to mobile drivers first hand. For ATI, we have seen what modification takes place, and have no problems using self-modified drivers for benchmarks, as the Mod Tool is nothing more than a script that automatically edits lines in three driver files for mobile use.
On the other end, we were trying to find the NVIDIA equivalent for DriverHeaven’s Mod Tool, but there doesn’t seem to be one. Additionally, modifying desktop NVIDIA drivers seems to be a more complicated process, due to LCD issues, which were cited by those that have gone through the trouble of doing so.
Getting back to part 2, the Voodoo Envy M:855 is the highest end notebook offering from Voodoo, and is intended to be of the desktop replacement class. Voodoo is also offering three other alternative desktop replacement notebooks based on Pentium 4: M:600 (800FSB), M:700 (533FSB), and M:750 (800FSB). All three are ODM from Clevo; though, the M:700 is from an older model, which has already gone through a refresh for the Intel Pentium 4 800FSB processors. Voodoo is going to be releasing their M:750 tonight, which is basically M:700 with a new chipset to support the 800FSB Pentium 4 processors. The M:750 will also be sporting the Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB of video memory, which will effectively make it the replacement for the M:700. At least for now, the M:855 clearly out classes the M:600, M:700, and M:750. To top it off, it surprising comes with a lower starting price point than the M:700, $3000 to $3100 respectively.
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spawnocula - Friday, November 21, 2003 - link
It would be nice if Anandtech would review the ALIENWARE AREA-51m, Voodoo Envy 855, Sager 8890, and Hypersonic Aviator GX6 or 8, to see which is better of the bunch and has longer upgradeability.spawnocula - Friday, November 21, 2003 - link
alexruiz - Thursday, November 20, 2003 - link
I am quire sure MOST of the available Athlon 64 laptops are based on the MITAC 8355. Clevo doesn't have an Athlon 64 design. The other 2 Athlon 64 laptops are the hyped Arima A520-K8 that is nowhere to be seen (mobility radeon 9000 only though). The other is the Uniwill 766 that employs the SIS 755 chipset, still not seen yet.So, I am 95% confident all the machines available are based on the MITAC design.
Alex
Madcat207 - Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - link
#3&4-Im not sure why the article says there is no DDR400, but Uniwill and Clevo both have good DDR400 supplies. I cant speak for Uniwill, but Clevo ships Apacer PC3200, CL2.5, which can be OCed (with some register editing) to CL2. Also, this ram is commercially sold to end users..
#6-
Hypersonic's A64 laptop is the EXACT same as Voodoo's, since they both get thier laptops from from the same ODM..
mrbdm99 - Monday, November 17, 2003 - link
Hypersonic has a 64 notebook as well, I'm sure it's from Clevo as well.ssamurai26 - Sunday, November 16, 2003 - link
OK, thanks for the clarification.Andrew Ku - Saturday, November 15, 2003 - link
FishTankX - Yes, that would be mighty speedy. :)gordon151 - Well only one score from each actually, a typo, which has been fixed. Thanks!
ssamurai26 - The Alienware 51M systems most likely use Kingmax, but the problem still remains to be supply. SODIMM DDR400 modules are very very rare. The highest speed that is actually available to the general consumer still remains to be DDR333.
ssamurai26 - Friday, November 14, 2003 - link
"While the K8T800 supports DDR400, SODIMM modules are still limited at DDR333, which is why Voodoo had to go with this memory speed."Out of curiousity, why is it then that the Area 51M ships with DDR400 sodimms?
gordon151 - Friday, November 14, 2003 - link
Someone wanna email and tell Andrew Ku he mixed up the "Content Creation Winstone 2003" scores with the "Business Winstone 2002" scores =/?FishTankX - Friday, November 14, 2003 - link
Wow! That Insperon 8600 is running mighty fast at [b]MHz/b].