Labs

Buying a Webcam

How we tested

We wanted to see how these machines coped with real tasks, which is why we tested their performance with our standard 2D benchmark tests (see p56 for full details on how these work). We also checked how well they worked with 3D games by running the graphics-intensive 3DMark 2001 SE.

If you're planning to take one of these notebooks with you on your travels, you'll also need to know how long the battery is going to last. We put the machines through two tests: one to see how they would last under light use, giving you an idea of the maximum you could expect under normal conditions. The other is a rather more gruelling affair, aimed at seeing the very least you could expect.

The latter test runs the processor at full pelt using our benchmarks, and belts the screen brightness up to full. For the light-use test, we just run a timer that writes to the hard disk every minute, switch on any suitable power management options and turn the screen's brightness down (keeping it readable).