Product Reviews

Like Dell's XPS M1530, reviewed opposite, Rock's Pegasus 680 is a 15.4in laptop that aims to take care of all your entertainment needs. You may be baulking at the price, but the 680 is equipped with one of the latest Core 2 Duo processors, a 1,680x1,050 widescreen LCD and Windows SideShow.

SideShow is a small secondary LCD screen embedded into the laptop's lid. In conjunction with navigation controls, it lets you access information when the laptop is switched off, such as emails, appointments, wireless networks in range and battery power. You can listen to music stored on the 160GB hard disk, play a game of solitaire, or download one of the free SideShow gadgets from http://gallery.live.com.

The Core 2 Duo T8300 processor is based on Intel's newest 45nm design and is seriously quick. The laptop's overall benchmark score of 199 is marginally faster than AMD's quad-core Phenom, so even demanding applications such as video editors should run quickly. Rock has also thoughtfully used a 2GB RAM module, leaving

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a spare slot for adding more memory in future.

Our test model came with an HD DVD-ROM drive, but you can specify a read-only Blu-ray drive when ordering. Pricing of this option is still being finalised but Rock expects it to be similar to the HD DVD-ROM drive.

Vista Home Premium's Media Center is perfect for most entertainment needs and, unlike most laptops, the Pegasus has an integrated hybrid TV tuner. This means you can choose between analogue or Freeview broadcasts and pause, rewind or record shows. The mini aerial isn't much good for watching TV on the move, though, and Rock doesn't provide a remote control like Dell does.

Rock has chosen the same graphics card as Dell, but with 512MB of dedicated memory. It didn't help in Call of Duty 2, where the 680 managed only 20fps. Unless you're happy to reduce quality settings, don't think about gaming at the screen's 1,680x1,050 resolution.

HD movies look great at this resolution, but the weedy battery won't last long enough to watch a whole film on the move. Under light use, it lasted only one hour and 31 minutes. It's good to see a wide range of ports (there are four USB ports and an HDMI output) plus useful components such as a webcam, Draft-N and Bluetooth.

Build quality isn't up to Dell's standard, but we like the insurance-backed three-year warranty. If you think SideShow is a gimmick, Rock offers an identical Pegasus without it for £70 less. Even then, the 680 is expensive. If it's speed you're after, PC Nextday's 4-6640, reviewed in Labs on page 72, is even faster but costs just £769 including VAT.