ABS Mayhem G3 review
Specs:
AMD64 3400+
1 Gig 400Mhz memory
40 Gig 7200RPM Hard Drive
ATI 9700 GPU
2X DVDRW+
I didn’t have much time to play with the new machine so this page will be updated as I use the G3 more. What I was able to do was run 3Dmark2001 and 3dMark 2003 as well as to a battery rundown test. I will do game instillations and testing later. I plan to install KOTOR and turn to the Dark side of the Force.
UPDATE: I installed KOTOR and it ran great. The grafics were top notch and the gameplay was very smooth. I used a hack to get it to play in the widescreen format and you can download it from the widescreen gameing forums.
ABS Service:
I called in the order to ABS to order the G3 on a Friday. A guy named Louis helped me configure my system. It was straightforward and soon my wallet was lighter and oddly enough I was happy about it. Louis was polite and courteous the entire time. I got a e-mail confirmation of my order on Monday. And my order shipped out on Wednesday and arrived the following Tuesday. During that time I called Louis about the status of my order and we was always polite and checked for me. In all ABS service left me with a smile and feeling of security.
Build Quality:
The outer case of the G3 is made from a silver plastic that has a solid feel to it. There is no flexing to the case what so ever. Even the screen feels sturdy when opening and closing. It has a nice clean look overall. It is heavy though coming in at 8 lb with out the power supply. But I got a back pack for it so carrying around isn’t an issue.
The screen is excellent. Bright and good viewing angles horizontally, the 15.4” 1200 x 800 wide screen was dead pixel free and showed no ghosting when running through the benches.
The keyboard on the G3 has a ‘clicky’ feel to it. It feels of mediocre build quality and if you are a heavy handed typer then there is a slight flex to the upper portion of the board near the f1-f12 keys. It doesn’t have the solid tactile feel that I get when I’ve used IBM’s or Sony’s keyboards on their notebooks. I still have to get a feel for the board though so I’ll and how well it can take multiple keystrokes so I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: I have used the keyboard more and it has proven to be responsive. I can type up to 60 words a minute and the input was accurate even with multiple keystrokes. It still has a clicky feel to it but is adequate for any type of use.
The Speakers are average on the notebook. Nothing special but nothing horrible either. On DVD playback the sound was overly quiet. This might be because of the DVD or the speakers themselves. I’ll test this more with games and other disks. I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: The speaker are working well. I tried game play and they were loud and clear as as good as any i have heard on a laptop. Also popped in a music cd and i was also good.
Noise:
The G3 isn’t a loud machine but it isn’t quiet either. The fans are always on but give a low amount of noise so it doesn’t bother me. Under load the fan speed increases but still I’m not bothered by it. I can compare it to the white noise I hear at the office where everyone’s desktops is always on.
The 2X DVDRW is also quiet. On the initial speed up of loading a disk you can hear it, but after it reaches speed it’s a non-issue. I loaded up a DVD and watched it. I couldn’t hear the DVDRW spinning and I was sitting 3 feet away from it.
The hard drive access is silent. I can’t hear it over the fans with the only indication of it being accessed being the led indicator.
Heat:
During DVD playback the G3 ran warm on the lower left palm rest. It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means just warn. During benchmarking I ran 3Dmark2001 and 3Dmark 2003 back to back. The lower left armrest became increasingly hot as well as the touch pad in the center. In a totally un-scientific test I took a digital cold thermometer and held the tip to the case of the palm rest. The measured temperature was 106 F. It was very uncomfortable to touch and I don’t recommend resting your wrists there.
Battery Life:
The listed specs on ABS page has 3 hours of battery life. At full charge I stuck in a DVD and pressed play. The G3 lasted 1 hour 30 minutes before the battery warning light came on. I will condition the battery further and see if I can get an improvement. This was done with PowerNow enabled and battery settings on Laptop mode.
Performance:
The Mayhem G3 is an adequate desktop replacement. The wide screen makes media viewing enjoyable while the AMD64 3400+ and ATI9700 can handle the current games you can throw at it. The tests were run on stock drivers and on default settings. The benches speak for themselves so here they are:
UPDATE: Added Aquamark scores.
Conclusion:
This machine is a powerful and fast notebook. But the heat could be the deal breaker. If the G3 heats up that much after running two benchmarks then I’m fearful of what will happen with a 3 hour gaming session. The battery life is also a let down since I was hoping for around 2 hours minimum.
For people who are want a good desktop replacement with 64 bit capability and an excellent vid card, the G3 is a good choice. But i'f you are wary of heat issues and want longer batterylife then this it not for you. As for me, i'm still up in the air about the computer and my feelings are mixed.
Luckly ABS has a 30 day return policy so i'll use my time to get a better feel for the notebook. If no'm not happy with the results i'll just ship it back and try something else. What ever doubt i have about the computer they are releaved by the service ABS has so kudos to them.
UPDATE:
After using the system for a few days i have come to the conclusion that the Mayhem G3 a very powerful desktop replacement which can handle today's current games and then some. Unfortunately the price to this is heat. After playing KOTOR for less than two hours i just couldn't bare the feel the heat eminating from the lower left palmrest. While a notebook cooler or gel strap could have helped the problem, it just didn't seem worth while for my needs. And so i'll be sending the G3 back to ABS.
Once again my faith in ABS has been confirmed. I called up their service number and after a 15 minute wait i told their reps that i wanted to send the G3 back. The simply asked if there was anything wrong with the machine. I said that it just wasn't for me and didn't meet my needs. 5 seconds later they gave me an RMA number to write on my box when i ship it back to them. They said that it will take a week after they recieve the G3 for them to credit back my credit card. All done.
And so i begin my search for a new notebook. I'm looking at the Ferrari 3200 now and all the owners seem to love them. With the low powered chips i shouldn't have a problem with and heat issues.
UPDATE:
Just a final update on my notebook purchase and return. ABS has finally refunded my Mayhem G3 that i returned. It took them 4 working days to do it after they recieved the notebook back. They e-mailed me my refund statement so now i'm out of the hole and can go computer shopping again.
In all i'm extremely satisfied with ABS's service. Their shipping was fast, their customerservice was nice and friendly and they didn't give me any hassle about returning the computer when i wasn't happy with it. I would buy from them again if they offered a notebook that would suit my needs.
So that's it from me and my little adventure. Now i have to go notebook hunting again. Rustican signing off.
Special thanks to Faredegyn for going through the trouble of sending me the benchmarking utilities!
Specs:
AMD64 3400+
1 Gig 400Mhz memory
40 Gig 7200RPM Hard Drive
ATI 9700 GPU
2X DVDRW+
I didn’t have much time to play with the new machine so this page will be updated as I use the G3 more. What I was able to do was run 3Dmark2001 and 3dMark 2003 as well as to a battery rundown test. I will do game instillations and testing later. I plan to install KOTOR and turn to the Dark side of the Force.
UPDATE: I installed KOTOR and it ran great. The grafics were top notch and the gameplay was very smooth. I used a hack to get it to play in the widescreen format and you can download it from the widescreen gameing forums.
ABS Service:
I called in the order to ABS to order the G3 on a Friday. A guy named Louis helped me configure my system. It was straightforward and soon my wallet was lighter and oddly enough I was happy about it. Louis was polite and courteous the entire time. I got a e-mail confirmation of my order on Monday. And my order shipped out on Wednesday and arrived the following Tuesday. During that time I called Louis about the status of my order and we was always polite and checked for me. In all ABS service left me with a smile and feeling of security.
Build Quality:
The outer case of the G3 is made from a silver plastic that has a solid feel to it. There is no flexing to the case what so ever. Even the screen feels sturdy when opening and closing. It has a nice clean look overall. It is heavy though coming in at 8 lb with out the power supply. But I got a back pack for it so carrying around isn’t an issue.
The screen is excellent. Bright and good viewing angles horizontally, the 15.4” 1200 x 800 wide screen was dead pixel free and showed no ghosting when running through the benches.
The keyboard on the G3 has a ‘clicky’ feel to it. It feels of mediocre build quality and if you are a heavy handed typer then there is a slight flex to the upper portion of the board near the f1-f12 keys. It doesn’t have the solid tactile feel that I get when I’ve used IBM’s or Sony’s keyboards on their notebooks. I still have to get a feel for the board though so I’ll and how well it can take multiple keystrokes so I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: I have used the keyboard more and it has proven to be responsive. I can type up to 60 words a minute and the input was accurate even with multiple keystrokes. It still has a clicky feel to it but is adequate for any type of use.
The Speakers are average on the notebook. Nothing special but nothing horrible either. On DVD playback the sound was overly quiet. This might be because of the DVD or the speakers themselves. I’ll test this more with games and other disks. I’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: The speaker are working well. I tried game play and they were loud and clear as as good as any i have heard on a laptop. Also popped in a music cd and i was also good.
Noise:
The G3 isn’t a loud machine but it isn’t quiet either. The fans are always on but give a low amount of noise so it doesn’t bother me. Under load the fan speed increases but still I’m not bothered by it. I can compare it to the white noise I hear at the office where everyone’s desktops is always on.
The 2X DVDRW is also quiet. On the initial speed up of loading a disk you can hear it, but after it reaches speed it’s a non-issue. I loaded up a DVD and watched it. I couldn’t hear the DVDRW spinning and I was sitting 3 feet away from it.
The hard drive access is silent. I can’t hear it over the fans with the only indication of it being accessed being the led indicator.
Heat:
During DVD playback the G3 ran warm on the lower left palm rest. It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means just warn. During benchmarking I ran 3Dmark2001 and 3Dmark 2003 back to back. The lower left armrest became increasingly hot as well as the touch pad in the center. In a totally un-scientific test I took a digital cold thermometer and held the tip to the case of the palm rest. The measured temperature was 106 F. It was very uncomfortable to touch and I don’t recommend resting your wrists there.
Battery Life:
The listed specs on ABS page has 3 hours of battery life. At full charge I stuck in a DVD and pressed play. The G3 lasted 1 hour 30 minutes before the battery warning light came on. I will condition the battery further and see if I can get an improvement. This was done with PowerNow enabled and battery settings on Laptop mode.
Performance:
The Mayhem G3 is an adequate desktop replacement. The wide screen makes media viewing enjoyable while the AMD64 3400+ and ATI9700 can handle the current games you can throw at it. The tests were run on stock drivers and on default settings. The benches speak for themselves so here they are:
UPDATE: Added Aquamark scores.
Conclusion:
This machine is a powerful and fast notebook. But the heat could be the deal breaker. If the G3 heats up that much after running two benchmarks then I’m fearful of what will happen with a 3 hour gaming session. The battery life is also a let down since I was hoping for around 2 hours minimum.
For people who are want a good desktop replacement with 64 bit capability and an excellent vid card, the G3 is a good choice. But i'f you are wary of heat issues and want longer batterylife then this it not for you. As for me, i'm still up in the air about the computer and my feelings are mixed.
Luckly ABS has a 30 day return policy so i'll use my time to get a better feel for the notebook. If no'm not happy with the results i'll just ship it back and try something else. What ever doubt i have about the computer they are releaved by the service ABS has so kudos to them.
UPDATE:
After using the system for a few days i have come to the conclusion that the Mayhem G3 a very powerful desktop replacement which can handle today's current games and then some. Unfortunately the price to this is heat. After playing KOTOR for less than two hours i just couldn't bare the feel the heat eminating from the lower left palmrest. While a notebook cooler or gel strap could have helped the problem, it just didn't seem worth while for my needs. And so i'll be sending the G3 back to ABS.
Once again my faith in ABS has been confirmed. I called up their service number and after a 15 minute wait i told their reps that i wanted to send the G3 back. The simply asked if there was anything wrong with the machine. I said that it just wasn't for me and didn't meet my needs. 5 seconds later they gave me an RMA number to write on my box when i ship it back to them. They said that it will take a week after they recieve the G3 for them to credit back my credit card. All done.
And so i begin my search for a new notebook. I'm looking at the Ferrari 3200 now and all the owners seem to love them. With the low powered chips i shouldn't have a problem with and heat issues.
UPDATE:
Just a final update on my notebook purchase and return. ABS has finally refunded my Mayhem G3 that i returned. It took them 4 working days to do it after they recieved the notebook back. They e-mailed me my refund statement so now i'm out of the hole and can go computer shopping again.
In all i'm extremely satisfied with ABS's service. Their shipping was fast, their customerservice was nice and friendly and they didn't give me any hassle about returning the computer when i wasn't happy with it. I would buy from them again if they offered a notebook that would suit my needs.
So that's it from me and my little adventure. Now i have to go notebook hunting again. Rustican signing off.
Special thanks to Faredegyn for going through the trouble of sending me the benchmarking utilities!
sounds like an awesome notebook, since I'am also a AMD whore lol but anywayz from your quick review sounds like a fast notebook but did you ajust the "powernow " setting for the batt? Well have fun FRAGING till the break of dawn!! oh and maybe you should use a notebook cooler when playing.
Sigh...
