Thought you would be interested in this review - note the battery life results.. .
SAGER 5680 REVIEW
LAPTOP MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2004
Configuration:
3.2 GHz P4
XP Home
1 GB SDRAM
60 GB HD
UXGA screen
802.11G
4-year warranty
Price: $2795
Test Results:
MobileMark Performance: N/A
Mobile Mark Response Time: N/A
DVD Battery Life: (wireless off/on): 4:00/3:45
3DMark2001SE: 10221
Wireless Performance Results (10MB file transfer)
Data Rate @ 5ft: 18.27 Mbps
Data rate @ 50 ft: 1.54 Mbps
Did you see the NP5680’s specs? Wondering where all that muscle comes from? It’s Intel’s 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 processor, which differs from earlier P4 chips not only in clock speed, but by virtue of its Hyper-Threading technology. It takes multitasking to a new level, allowing it to behave much like a dual-processor system. Without Hyper-Threading, processor-intensive background tasks such as image rendering can cause foreground operations to slow down and get choppy. The Sager NP5680, by contrast, multitasks as if the processes were handled by two separated systems.
The processor alone can’t be given full credit for this performance. The Sager NP5680 is aided by a whopping 1GB of 400-MHz RAM and a 60GB hard drive that spins considerably faster than those typically found in laptop systems. The result is a system that can handle not only everyday productivity apps with aplomb but also the most demanding full-motion games and video-editing software.
Games, in fact, make more demands on a system’s resources than just about any other type of software, especially when it comes to pumping pixels to the screen. That’s why laptops, even those with fine raw performance, haven’t held much appeal to the hardcore gamer market. The Sager NP5680 changes that perception.
GLORIOUS GRAPHICS
The system’s 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 PRO can go toe-to-toe with today’s desktop graphics cards. It dynamically adjusts clock speed based on the demands of the application, juggling speed, heat, and power consumption to deliver the best performance, even overclocking the GPU when possible. The result is graphics performance that is imply stellar, both to the naked eye (which appreciates photorealistic textures rendered by the device) and in terms of benchmark performance (the Sager turned in an astonishing score of 10221).
Let’s not forget the screen. Running at a native resolution of 1600 x 1200, the 15-inch display presents crystal clear full-motion video from games and DVD movies. The screen’s viewing angle is unusually wide too, allowing a few people to enjoy a flick at the same time. When using a word processing app or writing e-mail, however, the screen’s high resolution results in tiny type. Users with less-than-perfect eyesight will want to play with the display settings to make things a bit more legible.
Our review system’s optical drive was a splendid combo unit capable of burning not only CDs but DVD-R and DVD-RW media. The drive occupies one of two modular bays, the second of which held a floppy drive. We’d be inclined to jettison that drive in favor of a second optical drive. Sager will also fill that space with a second battery or hard drive, or a six-in-one memory card reader. Or, you can buy them all and swap to suit your needs.
The system’s superb communications hardware suite consists of the requisite modem, a gigabit Ethernet adapter, and an 802.11g module. We just wish there was a hardware switch to turn wireless on and off more easily to save on battery life, which did a surprisingly good four hours in our DVD test.
Now that decent mainstream laptops can be had for under a grand, the notion of spending nearly three times that amount might be hard to embrace. But if you aren’t willing to settle for anything less than cutting-edge performance and features, that’s the price of admission. The Sager NP5680 delivers on the promise of its components and is highly recommended.
Sager NP5680 Summary:
Pros: Very fast performance, Hyper-Threading CPU, Fast wired and wireless communications
Cons: Skimpy on software, No hardware Wi-Fi on/off switch
Quick Take: One of the most powerful notebooks money can buy.
SAGER 5680 REVIEW
LAPTOP MAGAZINE
JANUARY 2004
Configuration:
3.2 GHz P4
XP Home
1 GB SDRAM
60 GB HD
UXGA screen
802.11G
4-year warranty
Price: $2795
Test Results:
MobileMark Performance: N/A
Mobile Mark Response Time: N/A
DVD Battery Life: (wireless off/on): 4:00/3:45
3DMark2001SE: 10221
Wireless Performance Results (10MB file transfer)
Data Rate @ 5ft: 18.27 Mbps
Data rate @ 50 ft: 1.54 Mbps
Did you see the NP5680’s specs? Wondering where all that muscle comes from? It’s Intel’s 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 processor, which differs from earlier P4 chips not only in clock speed, but by virtue of its Hyper-Threading technology. It takes multitasking to a new level, allowing it to behave much like a dual-processor system. Without Hyper-Threading, processor-intensive background tasks such as image rendering can cause foreground operations to slow down and get choppy. The Sager NP5680, by contrast, multitasks as if the processes were handled by two separated systems.
The processor alone can’t be given full credit for this performance. The Sager NP5680 is aided by a whopping 1GB of 400-MHz RAM and a 60GB hard drive that spins considerably faster than those typically found in laptop systems. The result is a system that can handle not only everyday productivity apps with aplomb but also the most demanding full-motion games and video-editing software.
Games, in fact, make more demands on a system’s resources than just about any other type of software, especially when it comes to pumping pixels to the screen. That’s why laptops, even those with fine raw performance, haven’t held much appeal to the hardcore gamer market. The Sager NP5680 changes that perception.
GLORIOUS GRAPHICS
The system’s 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 PRO can go toe-to-toe with today’s desktop graphics cards. It dynamically adjusts clock speed based on the demands of the application, juggling speed, heat, and power consumption to deliver the best performance, even overclocking the GPU when possible. The result is graphics performance that is imply stellar, both to the naked eye (which appreciates photorealistic textures rendered by the device) and in terms of benchmark performance (the Sager turned in an astonishing score of 10221).
Let’s not forget the screen. Running at a native resolution of 1600 x 1200, the 15-inch display presents crystal clear full-motion video from games and DVD movies. The screen’s viewing angle is unusually wide too, allowing a few people to enjoy a flick at the same time. When using a word processing app or writing e-mail, however, the screen’s high resolution results in tiny type. Users with less-than-perfect eyesight will want to play with the display settings to make things a bit more legible.
Our review system’s optical drive was a splendid combo unit capable of burning not only CDs but DVD-R and DVD-RW media. The drive occupies one of two modular bays, the second of which held a floppy drive. We’d be inclined to jettison that drive in favor of a second optical drive. Sager will also fill that space with a second battery or hard drive, or a six-in-one memory card reader. Or, you can buy them all and swap to suit your needs.
The system’s superb communications hardware suite consists of the requisite modem, a gigabit Ethernet adapter, and an 802.11g module. We just wish there was a hardware switch to turn wireless on and off more easily to save on battery life, which did a surprisingly good four hours in our DVD test.
Now that decent mainstream laptops can be had for under a grand, the notion of spending nearly three times that amount might be hard to embrace. But if you aren’t willing to settle for anything less than cutting-edge performance and features, that’s the price of admission. The Sager NP5680 delivers on the promise of its components and is highly recommended.
Sager NP5680 Summary:
Pros: Very fast performance, Hyper-Threading CPU, Fast wired and wireless communications
Cons: Skimpy on software, No hardware Wi-Fi on/off switch
Quick Take: One of the most powerful notebooks money can buy.
Thought I'd add a Duff with that as well.
