Is it just me, or is the way nVidia maps its chips to its model names one of the universes great imponderables? Why did they pare the desktop GF104's, but not the notebook chips? This would seem to give the shaft to anyone who bought the desktop parts.
So the GF114 is a full GF104 "plus enhancements". I'm not entirely sure what the big difference is; I think it's really just a respin of GF104 with some tweaks to improve clocking and power. So in a sense, GF104 and GF114 are much closer than GF100 and GF110. Now, why a 480M or 460M are nothing at all like the desktop 480 and 460 is another matter entirely.
Another peculiar thing. All laptop Graphic Cards have 2-3 times more memory than they need. In this case 1 GB was more than enough but they had to give it 2 GB for marketing.
Is a matte plastic and/or matte paint finish prohibitively expensive? Being super-serious here.
I do not want gloss on my laptop at all. The only place it is tolerable is on the screen. Seriously, the hand-rest area should be entirely matte. That thing looks gross.
The coating (if I'm not mistaken) is a rubberized paint similar to the ASUS G73/G53 series. In person, those smudges don't show up so much, but flash photography does bad things to them. I've got the little brother P150HM and it's a matte plastic (or coated plastic) surface.
The Only thing i have noticed about the finish on my G73 is that it will show white smudges if you get a little something on it and try to rub it off, I touched it with "Cheeto" fingers and once i rubbed off the cheesey goodness it left a little white smudge, besides that however I love the rubberized feel!
The rubberised finish on the palm rests on my g51j is something special, don't know if it's what's on the g53/g73 but it's great. The finish is still factory-flawless when you give it a good rub with a hard cloth and it's still comfortable after hours on end.
All the glossy plastic though makes me postal. Worse though is the double-sided adhesive tape used under the grille at the top of the keyboard. I better not ever get any dandruff...
Glossy on the chassis is tacky, but a glossy screen is a deal-breaker. This fad is the most moronic regression in computing ever.
The sham claims of "deeper blacks" and "richer colors" don't even hold up to common sense. With everything covered in a sheen of reflection, you have anything but those attributes. Even in a totally dark room you have reflections covering the screen, because the screen illuminates YOU.
So unless you're buying a computer to use as a mirror, avoid glossy screens.
Why have you not drawn any comparisons to this unit and the MBPs that use the same processor? Is it because you have not gone through the new MBPs yet?
I can live with some glossy - don't mind the screen being that way if "some" antiglare coating was applied to the glossy part (sort of like camera lenses). But the lack of displayport is a major oversight these days. I bet longer term owners will end up a bit disappointed in this oversight.
And why send a "test" notebook without the 2920 in it? /sigh Well guess it wasn't needed, judging from the scores, but it's what should have happened anyway.
Is it me, or is ther mobile 5870 GPU missing in over 1/2 of the graphs?? Is this by design or is this because the 5870 wasn't tested on the given games listed?? One could consider this a marketing plot or something like that, but just would like some clarification on it before I label this as a marketing stunt.
The last time we had a 5870 was before we added Mafia II, Metro 2033, and (I think) StarCraft II to the benchmarking suite. Anyway, we'll have the 6970M reviewed soon enough....
It would be nice to see this nvidia card inside more notebooks that seem less cheaply made. With the move to a single graphics option I was surprised the new Alienware M17x R3 didn't include an option for the 485m. Its certainly not an issue with cooling. I have a M6500 and it already has a 100W graphics adapter in a similar cooling configuration.
And slightly OT... anyone else see the notebook and think they could slap together a better product with a shorty 1U with a notebook keyboard and monitor slapped on top. Honestly, if you moved the PSU outside, added a battery in its place, and were willing to sacrifice your eardrums, it could be a workable solution in similar brick sized form factor and tonnage.
There a few notebooks I'd REALLY love to see reviewed.
Clevo: P151HM1, W150HN. Both with 1080p screen. The first has the GTX460M and the second has the GT540M. I already have a solid idea of performance with the given parts, but I'm very interested in speaker quality, chassis quality, keyboard quality. Things Jarred, you tend to hit on well. Unfortunately these still aren't available in actual stores so the only way I can find this stuff out is a really good review; or buy it and take that risk.
Compal: I don't know the model number cause I can't find it anywhere anymore but a 15.6" 1080p Compal with the GT540M and Sandy Bridge.
What are the chances of getting these in house for a review? And what kind of time frame would we be looking at? Thanks!
Interesting. I've never heard this before, and honestly it strikes me as one of those areas where the language has changed and the "modernized" usage has become accepted. The thing is, to beg (ask earnestly; entreat) for a question hardly seems to be a clear translation of "petitio principii" (petitioning for a principle point). Honestly, I'm not going to change my usage on this one, simply because I have never heard it used before as "assuming the initial point" -- certainly not by anyone I know! I suppose maybe if I were a lawyer it would have come up before.
I am waiting and waiting for the real high end, ok there is one already there the 17" of apple but i rather have a "normal" windows laptop but then as apple does in a high end 16:10 configuration (1920x1200)
It seems kind of disingenuous to list the starting price but not the configured price. Looking at AVADirect's site the price for the reviewed model is in the $2600 range, a far cry from the 1600 base price.
Powafulest GPU feasible for multimedia performance... check. CPU good enough to run it with room to spare... check. Enough of a thermal solution to keep them both from burning up... check. Great quality LCD panel...
Even if all Clevo focus on is incremental improvement in their products, like remedying the tiny battery of the w8x0cu designs, why would they settle for a mid-range screen on a top-of-the-range laptop...
-1 buyer of this laptop as a result.
Also, just give me manual graphics switching already! I don't care about Optimus and it's performance tradeoffs - to have the same hardware present and capable that cheaper/smaller laptops use to run >5hrs on battery - but no interface to use it - is just silly. I would get great benefit out of this feature, I don't use my laptop just for multimedia.
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28 Comments
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TyphoidMary - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Is it just me, or is the way nVidia maps its chips to its model names one of the universes great imponderables? Why did they pare the desktop GF104's, but not the notebook chips? This would seem to give the shaft to anyone who bought the desktop parts.JarredWalton - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
So the GF114 is a full GF104 "plus enhancements". I'm not entirely sure what the big difference is; I think it's really just a respin of GF104 with some tweaks to improve clocking and power. So in a sense, GF104 and GF114 are much closer than GF100 and GF110. Now, why a 480M or 460M are nothing at all like the desktop 480 and 460 is another matter entirely.blanarahul - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Another peculiar thing. All laptop Graphic Cards have 2-3 times more memory than they need. In this case 1 GB was more than enough but they had to give it 2 GB for marketing.Jambe - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Is a matte plastic and/or matte paint finish prohibitively expensive? Being super-serious here.I do not want gloss on my laptop at all. The only place it is tolerable is on the screen. Seriously, the hand-rest area should be entirely matte. That thing looks gross.
JarredWalton - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
The coating (if I'm not mistaken) is a rubberized paint similar to the ASUS G73/G53 series. In person, those smudges don't show up so much, but flash photography does bad things to them. I've got the little brother P150HM and it's a matte plastic (or coated plastic) surface.Kaboose - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
The Only thing i have noticed about the finish on my G73 is that it will show white smudges if you get a little something on it and try to rub it off, I touched it with "Cheeto" fingers and once i rubbed off the cheesey goodness it left a little white smudge, besides that however I love the rubberized feel!bennyg - Thursday, March 3, 2011 - link
The rubberised finish on the palm rests on my g51j is something special, don't know if it's what's on the g53/g73 but it's great. The finish is still factory-flawless when you give it a good rub with a hard cloth and it's still comfortable after hours on end.All the glossy plastic though makes me postal. Worse though is the double-sided adhesive tape used under the grille at the top of the keyboard. I better not ever get any dandruff...
MobiusStrip - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Glossy on the chassis is tacky, but a glossy screen is a deal-breaker. This fad is the most moronic regression in computing ever.The sham claims of "deeper blacks" and "richer colors" don't even hold up to common sense. With everything covered in a sheen of reflection, you have anything but those attributes. Even in a totally dark room you have reflections covering the screen, because the screen illuminates YOU.
So unless you're buying a computer to use as a mirror, avoid glossy screens.
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2006/10/8022....
DooDoo22 - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Why have you not drawn any comparisons to this unit and the MBPs that use the same processor? Is it because you have not gone through the new MBPs yet?sean.crees - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Not every notebook review needs an apple plug.I'm sure Anand will do a review of the new MBP's soon, and you can see all the comparisons you want then.
7Enigma - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Possibly because this is a gaming notebook?SteelCity1981 - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
ver impressive especially when it goes head to head with the 980x and even beats the 980x in some benchmarks.FXi - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
I can live with some glossy - don't mind the screen being that way if "some" antiglare coating was applied to the glossy part (sort of like camera lenses). But the lack of displayport is a major oversight these days. I bet longer term owners will end up a bit disappointed in this oversight.And why send a "test" notebook without the 2920 in it? /sigh Well guess it wasn't needed, judging from the scores, but it's what should have happened anyway.
2920 and 485m sli would be incredible.
mczak - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
then it'll look much less impressive. Just marginally (if at all) faster, and (afaik) much more expensive.JarredWalton - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
That's coming as soon as we can test it....Lunyone - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Is it me, or is ther mobile 5870 GPU missing in over 1/2 of the graphs?? Is this by design or is this because the 5870 wasn't tested on the given games listed?? One could consider this a marketing plot or something like that, but just would like some clarification on it before I label this as a marketing stunt.JarredWalton - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
The last time we had a 5870 was before we added Mafia II, Metro 2033, and (I think) StarCraft II to the benchmarking suite. Anyway, we'll have the 6970M reviewed soon enough....PlasmaBomb - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
We patiently look forward to that review...carage - Monday, February 28, 2011 - link
Once again, no Express Card slot...jcandle - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
It would be nice to see this nvidia card inside more notebooks that seem less cheaply made. With the move to a single graphics option I was surprised the new Alienware M17x R3 didn't include an option for the 485m. Its certainly not an issue with cooling. I have a M6500 and it already has a 100W graphics adapter in a similar cooling configuration.And slightly OT... anyone else see the notebook and think they could slap together a better product with a shorty 1U with a notebook keyboard and monitor slapped on top. Honestly, if you moved the PSU outside, added a battery in its place, and were willing to sacrifice your eardrums, it could be a workable solution in similar brick sized form factor and tonnage.
Hrel - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
There a few notebooks I'd REALLY love to see reviewed.Clevo: P151HM1, W150HN. Both with 1080p screen. The first has the GTX460M and the second has the GT540M. I already have a solid idea of performance with the given parts, but I'm very interested in speaker quality, chassis quality, keyboard quality. Things Jarred, you tend to hit on well. Unfortunately these still aren't available in actual stores so the only way I can find this stuff out is a really good review; or buy it and take that risk.
Compal: I don't know the model number cause I can't find it anywhere anymore but a 15.6" 1080p Compal with the GT540M and Sandy Bridge.
What are the chances of getting these in house for a review? And what kind of time frame would we be looking at? Thanks!
Hrel - Friday, March 4, 2011 - link
Jarred! Why have you ignored my comment?SimKill - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
"Begging the question" in your first paragraph isn't what you think it means.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Otherwise, a great article!
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
Interesting. I've never heard this before, and honestly it strikes me as one of those areas where the language has changed and the "modernized" usage has become accepted. The thing is, to beg (ask earnestly; entreat) for a question hardly seems to be a clear translation of "petitio principii" (petitioning for a principle point). Honestly, I'm not going to change my usage on this one, simply because I have never heard it used before as "assuming the initial point" -- certainly not by anyone I know! I suppose maybe if I were a lawyer it would have come up before.jcompagner - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
I am waiting and waiting for the real high end, ok there is one already there the 17" of apple but i rather have a "normal" windows laptop but then as apple does in a high end 16:10 configuration (1920x1200)alephxero - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
It seems kind of disingenuous to list the starting price but not the configured price. Looking at AVADirect's site the price for the reviewed model is in the $2600 range, a far cry from the 1600 base price.JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 - link
You're correct, and we usually list the configured pricing. I'll update the table.bennyg - Thursday, March 3, 2011 - link
Powafulest GPU feasible for multimedia performance... check.CPU good enough to run it with room to spare... check.
Enough of a thermal solution to keep them both from burning up... check.
Great quality LCD panel...
Even if all Clevo focus on is incremental improvement in their products, like remedying the tiny battery of the w8x0cu designs, why would they settle for a mid-range screen on a top-of-the-range laptop...
-1 buyer of this laptop as a result.
Also, just give me manual graphics switching already! I don't care about Optimus and it's performance tradeoffs - to have the same hardware present and capable that cheaper/smaller laptops use to run >5hrs on battery - but no interface to use it - is just silly. I would get great benefit out of this feature, I don't use my laptop just for multimedia.