Product Reviews

The concept of the desktop replacement notebook - where king-sized laptops swap portability for all-round performance - has proved quite successful for the likes of Dell, Toshiba and Sony. It might seem, therefore, that Novatech's X4 range is just the next logical step: a notebook that is quite literally a desktop replacement, sold without a battery and requiring mains power at all times. Mobile users can stop reading now.

Even if it could run under its own steam, the X4 wouldn't be the commuter's best friend. It's big and slightly ugly, and at 3.2kg too heavy to carry around. But size always has its advantages, and on notebooks these usually include a large screen, plenty of connectors and a comfortable keyboard.

The 14.1in 1,024x768 TFT display isn't bad by any means, with even lighting plus strong colours, contrast and definition. As bulk and portability aren't problems though, I would have like to see a 15in display. That extra inch makes a big difference.

Compensation comes in the form of great connections. The rear of the case has the standard stuff: 10/100BaseT Ethernet, S-Video, Parallel and infra-red ports, along with audio inputs and outputs, while the left-hand side hosts a 56K modem. On the right, nestled behind the eight-speed DVD-ROM, you'll find 4 USB 2.0 connections and a single FireWire port. The only thing missing is any sort of PC Card slot, but then it's difficult to think of a card that would prove useful with so much already onboard.

Unfortunately, the keyboard is a horror. Sure, the keys are very large, flat and sensibly laid out, but the action couldn't be worse. The keys have a fiendish, inconsistent springiness to them.

Having heard

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some notebooks with high-quality sound systems and built in subwoofers, it's disappointing to note that the audio here is nothing special. There's a touch more volume and body to the sound than you'd usually expect from internal stereo speakers, but hi-fi buffs will feel quickly compelled to buy some new speakers. Stereo will be the only option, though, as there's no 5.1 surround sound audio output.

Of course, the most important thing for a desktop replacement is that it should have the sort of power that you'd expect from a regular PC. The X4 certainly pushes some of the right buttons, with a mobile AthlonXP 1500+ teamed up with 256Mb of PC2100 DDR SDRAM. By default, 32Mb of this memory is used by the graphics processor. If your games need more, you can up this to 64Mb.

Some SiS notebook chipsets offer 3D performance that's next to useless, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. A score of 1380 at 1024x768 in 3DMark 2001 isn't going to set the world alight, but you could play some recent games at playable speeds. Future titles could pose a problem, so if you're looking to play those on a notebook you'll need to pay extra for something with Mobile Radeon or GeForce4 Go graphics. The 2D performance isn't quite at desktop standards either, but a score of 714 is ample for simple, everyday software and even a spot of video editing.

Our review machine only had a 20Gb IBM hard disk, but production models will have a 30Gb drive. If that's not enough, it's easily replaceable, sitting in a module under a screwed-down flap in the base. Sadly, upgrading the RAM - hidden under a flap near to the front of the case - would force you to ditch the existing 256Mb, as there's only one DIMM slot.

While fiddling under the case I was also concerned about the amount of heat coming from the machine. The vent on the left dishes out plenty of hot air, but the base also gets very warm indeed.

At £917, the X4 is reasonably priced, but while the whole concept seems fine, the execution has its flaws. It doesn't have any significant advantages over some similar, conventional notebooks at similar prices - unless you have some strange aversion to batteries - and you lose the easy portability. If you want a desktop replacement notebook, go for Dell's Inspiron 2650 instead.