 |
|
WinBook X1Innovative aluminum-bodied 1Ghz thin-light notebook (July 2001 issue)
I'm sure glad I decided to attend that meeting. WinBook has taken a refreshingly
new, highly innovative tack. The prototype X1 blew me away, pushing all the right
buttons. This svelte, aluminum-bodied beauty sported a smoking-fast 1GHz Pentium
III with SpeedStep, 320MB of RAM, a 20GB drive, integrated DVD, a bright and
color-accurate 13.3-inch XGA display, and all the ports anyone could want except
for IR and FireWire (IEEE 1394.)
My test machine came loaded with Windows 2000 Professional, CyberLink PowerDVD
software, and the handy Tray Utility from SiS. The X1 can also be ordered with
Windows ME installed, but I don't know why you'd want to bother. As I've reported
previously, Windows 2000 is a rock, particularly on late-model notebooks. Until
Windows XP ships later this year, I strongly recommend not wasting your time on
anything but 2000. You are going to want to run Windows XP eventually and, based
on my testing of XP Beta 2, the upgrade will be much smoother from 2000 than from
ME.
An operating system, the necessary drivers, and a couple of utilities; that's all
you get. WinBook doesn't go in for bundling software with the X1. The kind of
buyer this machine is intended for probably already has all the software they
need. The executive types who are the primary buyers of thin-light notebooks are
not first-time computer owners.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the X1 is the BMW-like feel of solidity. Some
thin-light notebooks in my experience have a sort of flexiness that always
worries me. WinBook used aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, the first in the industry
to do so, in order to increase the stiffness and lessen the flex of plastic.
This is a classic thin-light, with dimensions of 11.63 x 9.42 x 1.12 inches and a
weight of 5.3 pounds for the model with the 13.3-inch display. Weight with the
supplied AC adapter is 6.15 pounds, though you can optionally order the US$119
Targus ultra-slim AC adapter for a total travel weight of only 5.7 pounds.
Battery life is excellent for a gigahertz machine. The X1 features a 45 watt-hour
lithium-ion power pack that snaps solidly into the bottom front of the chassis
for easy swapping. With all power management disabled, hard drive spinning and
backlight on full, I was able to achieve an impressive three hours of continuous
use. Intel's SpeedStep technology, of course, helped here by automatically
downshifting to ÒonlyÓ 700MHz when on battery power. Though the unit was beeping
about its low battery by the time the credits rolled, I was able to view a
full-length DVD movie without having to plug into the wall socket. DVD video and
audio performance, by the way, was silky smooth; no complaints here. A DVD/CD-RW
combo drive will be available in the X1 by June 4 for the same price.
Speaking of the X1's low battery beeping, I found it annoying and unnecessary Ð
particularly when viewing the last ten minutes of a DVD. It can be disabled in
the Volume application. Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar tray, then
select Open Volume Controls. Click Properties in the Options menu, check the box
next to PC Beep so its volume slider will be visible, then check Mute underneath
it.
The aluminum case, from oblique angles, has a subtle opalescent sheen--a delight
for the eye. The microphone is placed just to the left of the touchpad, the
better to avoid electronic noise from the LCD electronics, where the mic is
usually located on notebooks. The wrist rest section below the keyboard is not
excessively deep, as you'll find on many notebooks with 13.3-inch and larger
displays. Why is this important? It keeps me from scraping my metal watchband
against the wrist rest when typing. WinBook wisely placed the speakers,
ventilation grilles, and some status LEDs and program launch buttons up top to
fill the space. Not one, but two latches hold the lid securely closed. The bottom
of the case, even against bare legs, does not get more than warm -- an impressive
degree of heat management for such a fast machine. I worked for hours this way
without any discomfort. The X1's LCD display is as good as any 13-incher I've
seen: bright and sharp, with pure whites, crisp shadow detail, and superb
off-center viewing. The unit has a USB port both in the back and on the left side
towards the rear, a very handy layout I would like to see on more notebooks.
Keyboard layout is straightforward and uncluttered. Some reviewers have grumbled
about having the Home, Page Up, Page Down, and End keys stacked vertically, but I
have no problem with it. There is a standard inverted-T cursor cluster, and every
key falls to the fingers naturally and comfortably. Layout is full-size at 19mm,
with a pleasant 2.7mm travel and perfect tactile feedback. The X1 is perhaps the
most comfortable notebook for typing that I have used.
Anyone working with a graphics application will be grinning manically when they
experience the performance of the X1. Rendering several 135MB images in Photoshop
5.5 was satisfyingly brisk in my informal testing. I got the feeling that the X1
wasn't even breaking a sweat. The 20GB drive in my top-end configuration turned
out a stellar performance, mating well with the 100MHz system bus and speedy
video RAM architecture. My unit came with 320MB of RAM, of which 64MB is
allocated to the video subsystem. If you want more system RAM, you can choose a
lower color depth by allocating less RAM to video. Though initially I was
skeptical about this unfamiliar (to me) design, in practice it works splendidly.
The graphics chipset, an SiS 3D 4X AGP, delivers 32-bit color depth at the XGA
resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.
Among Windows notebooks, there are a few marginally faster machines out there,
but they are all far less classy than the X1. In the thin-light category, nothing
else comes close to its blend of durable beauty and class-leading performance. At
US$3098 for the fully-loaded version with Win 2000, the X1 is a winning product
that deserves your serious consideration. -
CONTACT: www.winbook.com
-
|
|
|
[Homepage] All contents ©1995-2001 Pen Computing Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. |
Having seen hundreds of WinBook ads over the years, I had fixed in my mind that
this established, Ohio-based company made rather conservative, boxy, desktop
replacement laptops at attractive prices. Late last year, I almost didn't respond
to their invitation to see their next generation machines. I'm interested only in
metal-bodied, thin-light and ultraportable notebooks and knew WinBook had nothing
like this in their line.