NEC Versa C180

Codenamed Thoroughbred, AMD's latest revamp to its Athlon XP range makes its first appearance on these shores as a 1600+ mobile chip that clocks in at 1.4GHz.

With a 200MHz clock and 256Kb of Level 2 cache to its name, this chip also uses 0.13micron technology, something Intel adopted late last year.

NEC is the first company to get its hands on AMD's latest chip. This pre-production notebook comes with a new chassis, called the Mangusta.

Its 14in TFT screen is pretty impressive to look at, but can only handle resolutions of up to 1,024 x 768. Graphics are onboard and fed by 32Mb of the 256Mb of system memory, so are nothing to write home about.

The hard drive is adequate at 30Gb, and the eight-speed CD-RW/DVD combo drive is an excellent inclusion considering the overall cost. The rather odd absence of floppy drive is made up for by four USB ports and a Firewire connection. Modem, network and Type II PC Card slots are also supplied.

Even despite the hindrance of SD-Ram over the more often favoured DDR SD-Ram, we expected this chip to fly. But initial indications showed that it would be a little slower than a 1.6GHz Mobile Pentium 4 chip; disappointing but more than adequate.

However, this model is almost as well equipped as Dell's P4 system and around £500 cheaper and, as such, is a real bargain.

Our main concern here though was the battery life. AMD's Powernow power management software was missing so the scores obtained were appalling.

This omission will be rectified by the time the notebook is released, and we can only hope that it can make enough of a difference to make this a practical, portable option.

Price: £1,056.33 (£899 ex VAT)

Specifications:

• AMD mobile Athlon XP 1.6GHz processor
• Via Twister-K KN133 chipset
• 128Mb PC133 SD-Ram
• 30Gb hard drive
• CD-RW/DVD combo drive
• S3 Savage4 graphics
• 14in TFT XGA screen
• Weight: 3.4kg

Contact: NEC 0870 0106 322
www.nec.co.uk

See also:

Toshiba Satellite 1100-Z3

The Satellite 1100-Z3 is good value for money.  16 Oct 2002

Rock Quaddra

A new desktop replacement from Rock with a powerful Pentium 4 processor and plenty of features.  15 Oct 2002

Hi-Grade Notino 2200

The Notino's design and attention to detail make all the difference.  19 Sep 2002

Tiny Mediabook Extra 1200 CD-R

Tiny by name but not by nature - a notebook with an impressive range of features.  16 Sep 2002

Toshiba Satellite 3000

The Satellite 3000 scores in all the right places.  02 Aug 2002

Iridium Starbook 505

Cheap notebooks are great, but cost cuts can go too far.  23 Jul 2002

Rock Agenda Si

A nippy notebook with a 1.2GHz Athlon 4 at its heart.  03 Jul 2002

Fujitsu Siemens P2020

You get a lot of hardware for little cash with the Lifebook P2020.  02 Jul 2002

Hewlett Packard Pavilion ZT1151

A fairly priced notebook with great battery life and a good selection of software.  28 Jun 2002

Hi-Grade Notino 2200

Among the Notino 2200's attractions are a DVD drive and a very reasonable price.  04 Apr 2002

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