ROCKDIRECT QUADDRA TI 3.4
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Desktop replacement laptops remain the most popular segment of the market, offering everything a desktop PC has in terms of performance, but in a space saving package. The Rockdirect Quaddra Ti 3.4 (£1938 inc. VAT) is a classic example of what the buyer can expect as it features 802.11g Wi-Fi, integrated Bluetooth, a hard drive that runs at 7200rpm and takes advantage of Gigabit Ethernet. The company is pitching this system at those users who are looking for the most in performance and power from their laptop. At its heart there is a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 processor, which includes Hyper-Threading. This is a desktop, rather than mobile, processor, but the larger chassis is capable of handling the extra thermals with ease. It also allows for a Front Side Bus of 800MHz – faster than is currently available from mobile-based chipsets. What this means is that the Quaddra is able to handle high-end processing tasks with ease.
The 17-inch TFT screen dominates the look of the laptop and makes for an impressively sized chassis, which weighs 5.1kg. The screen has a widescreen aspect that equates to a native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels. This means that standard office documents appear small on the screen until you resize them. Although games are stretched to fit the display, we didn’t notice too much in the way of distortion hen playing. And with a 3DMark 2001 score of 11595 the Quaddra has the processing power to play the latest games with ease. The reason behind this is Rockdirect’s choice of graphics adapter, namely the ATi Mobility Radeon 9700 with 256MB of onboard memory – currently the fastest mobile-specific GPU on the market.
The quality of the screen itself is also impressive, with the widescreen definitely being an appealing buying choice. Above the display is a built-in VGA camera for using as a webcam rather than as a digital camera. The chassis is large enough to house five speakers, two on the front of the case, one either side of the keyboard and a sub-woofer on the base of the system. Supported by 5.1 DTS surround sound, in terms of quality, this is as good as it gets on a laptop-based system. Not only did we find that the Quaddra sounded good without the need to add speakers when playing games, but it was also acceptable for listening to music for short periods of time.
The right-hand side of the chassis does not sport any ports, but the left-hand side more than makes up for this by housing a slot-based DVD SuperDrive, which supports the three current DVD formats. There are also separate slots for Smart Media, Memory Stick, Secure Digital cards and even a Micro-Drive. While this may seem a case of overkill for the average user, it does cover all the bases. Battery life will be low on the list of priorities for those choosing the Quaddra. However, under test it lasted for 94 minutes, meaning the system will be fine for the occasional trip away from mains power.
The Rockdirect Quaddra Ti 3.4 is a good example of what can be achieved when the need for mobility is taken out of the equation.
RATING: 8
PRICE: £1649/£1938 (EX/INC. VAT)
PROCESSOR: Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz
MEMORY: 1024MB DDR SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: Hitachi 60GB
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE: 17-inch TFT
DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1440 x 900 pixels
GRAPHICS CARD: ATi Mobility Radeon 9700
DIMENSIONS: 393 x 280 x42mm
WEIGHT: 5.1kg
PC CARDS (TYPE II/III): 1/0
WIRELESS LAN: 802.11g
ETHERNET: Gigabit
MODEM: Yes
USB PORTS: 3
FIREWIRE: 1
STANDARD WARRANTY: 3 yr C&R
WARRANTY UPGRADE: NA
CONTACT:
www.rockdirect.com
08709 909090
VALUE FOR MONEY: 7
PERFORMANCE: 8
FEATURES: 8
MOBILITY: 4
BUILD QUALITY: 8
OVERALL: 8
BATTERY: 94 MINS
MOBILEMARK: 167
3DMARK: 11595
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