Comparison notebooks
| System name | Acer Timeline 5810T | HP Pavilion dv2-1030ea | MSI Wind Atom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 (1.40GHz, 3MB L2 cache, dual-core) | AMD Athlon Neo NV-40 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) | Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache, single-core) |
| Motherboard | Acer GS45 | HP 690E | MSI U-100 (i945GE+ICH7M) |
| Memory | 4GB DDR3 | 2GB DDR2 | 1GB DDR2 |
| Memory timings and speed | 6-6-6-15-2T @ 800MHz | 5-5-5-15-2T @ 639.4MHz | 4-4-4-12-2T @ 640MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | Intel X4500MHD | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 512MB (550MHz core, 1,000MHz mem) | Intel GMA 950 |
| Screen size and native res | 15.6in - 1,366x768 | 12.1in - 1,280x800 | 10in - 1,024x600 |
| WiFi | Intel WiFi 5100 802.11a/b/g/n | Broadcom 802.11b/g | 802.11b/g |
| Disk drive(s) | Hitachi 500GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 320GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Western Digital 120GB, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache |
| Optical drive(s) | 8x DVD ReWriter | External DVD-ReWriter | None |
| Graphics driver | Intel 7.15.10.1666 | CATALYST 9.1 | Intel 6.14.10.4906 |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, 32-bit | Windows 7 RC |
| Weight | 2,350g | 1,668g (without optical) | 1,042g |
| Current price | £649 (as tested) | £569 | £265 |
| Benchmarks | 7-zip (7z4.65, 32-bit)
compression of 205MB worth of
photos VLC 0.9.9 playback of Terminator Salvation 480p.mov VLC 0.9.9 playback of Terminator Salvation 720p.mov Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5 - 1,024x600 and 1,280x800 Battery test - flvplayer playback of looped HEXUS.tv Flash movie |
|---|
Notes
The Acer 5810T's dual-core processor is the 1.4GHz SU9400. However, under load the chip speeds up to 1.60GHz, according to CPU-Z. It's the only laptop with DDR3 memory as standard.In terms of benchmarks, 7-zip is a compression program that's multi-threaded for optimum performance. We're compressing 59 photos into one file and measuring the time taken to do so.
The video-playback tests take in two resolutions of the Terminator Salvation trailer, as found here. We use VLC player to play a one-minute section - from minutes one to two - on both the 480p and 720p clips. An average CPU utilisation is then derived from the Resource Monitor.
A nod towards gaming, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is fired up and run at 1,024x600 - the base resolution common to most netbooks - and the machine's native resolution. A script sets the game to medium-quality.
The above tests are run on mains power with the laptop(s) set to high-performance mode. The tests are re-run with the same high-performance mode but in mobile mode, on battery.
Lastly, the actual battery test involves setting the laptop to power-saver mode, using a full-screen (HEXUS.tv) Flash movie, via FLV Player, with screen set to mid-brightness (50 per cent) and WiFi/Bluetooth switched off. We time how long it takes for the laptop to go from full charge into hibernation.
