WATFORD ARIES PRECISION 5553

IN BRIEF: If you’re on a tight budget then the Precision 5553 has a lot to offer, but also comes with a mixed bag of compromises

The Watford Aries Precision 5553 (£703inc. VAT) is currently one of the cheapest Centrino-based laptops in the UK, and for any user on a strict budget, it should offer a workable compromise between cost and usability.

SAVINGS

At such a price point you won’t be getting cutting-edge of technology, but considering that Centrino still carries with it a certain cost, we were more than satisfied with what the Precision 5553 had to offer. At its heart is a 1.4GHz Pentium M processor, which is the slowest clock speed in the range, excluding the Ultra-Low Voltage rocessors. However, we found that its benchmark scores and general use do not suffer too drastically with the use of this chip. This is especially the case in the real world, where the owner is more likely to use their laptop for writing documents or giving presentations. Keeping the cost to a minimum involves reducing the memory to a mere 256MB.Although this is sufficient to run the laptop with no signs of lag, a larger amount would allow for an improved system response. Watford has also opted for a smaller capacity hard disk, in the form of a Seagate 20GB drive that has a spin speed of 5400rpm, which is good as we were expecting the slower 4200rpm variety. When it came to benchmarking this system, we found that the limited memory allocation meant that the MobileMark 2002 of 76 was to be expected, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. However, adding extra memory to this laptop would be a simple matter, and a single slot is available on the underside of the machine.

Buyers looking to make the most of the mobile processor for prolonged battery life will be disappointed with the Precision, as the use of a low capacity battery meant that under test the system lasted for a disappointing 94 minutes. This may be satisfactory for short meetings, but doesn’t offer anything near the usability demanded by mobile professionals.

SET UP WITH EASE

The 14.1-inch TFT panel on our review machine had a good amount of protection behind the panel. The screen displayed no signs of wear and had an even contrast across its width. Graphics are handled by the Intel 855chipset, which offers reasonable performance in a 2D situation, but lacks the performance of a dedicated graphics processor. The benchmark of 2301 reflects this, but interestingly, the use of333MHz memory allows for an improved score over systems using 266MHz memory. There were, however, problems with the Precision 5553 that we felt let the system down, most notably the keyboard. This proved to be far from responsive with the user requiring to firmly strike the keys for them to register. Although the touchpad is of a good size and responsive, the keys of the mouse buttons let the quality down.

At this price point the DVD/CD-RW combination drive is to be expected and has a maximum16x write mode. This is slower than the32x found on the latest drives, but it’s more than usable. This system comes pre-installedwith Roxio 6 and CyberLink PowerDVD for use with this drive.
When it comes to buying an extremely affordable Centrino laptop there are sacrifices to be made. Unfortunately, with the Watford Aries Precision 5553 there were too many faults. In the end, it seems that you do indeed pay your money and make your choice.

PRICE: £599/£703 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: INTEL PENTIUM M 1.4GHZ
MEMORY: 256MB DDR SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: SEAGATE 20GB
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE: 14.1-INCH TFT
DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1024 X 768 PIXELS
GRAPHICS CARD: INTEL 855
DIMENSIONS: 325 X 265 X 30MM
WEIGHT: 3.3KG
PC CARDS (TYPE II/III): 1/0
WIRELESS LAN: 802.11B
ETHERNET: YES
MODEM: YES
USB PORTS: 2
FIREWIRE: 1
STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 YR RTB
WARRANTY UPGRADE: NONE SUPPLIED
CONTACT: 0870 027 0900 WWW.SAVASTORE.COM  

RATINGS AND TEST RESULTS

BATTERY LIFE: 94 MINS
MOBILEMARK 2002: 76
3DMARK 2001: 2301

VALUE FOR MONEY: 8
PERFORMANCE: 5
FEATURES: 5
MOBILITY: 6
BUILD QUALITY: 6
OVERALL: 6