DESKTOP REPLACEMENT

GROUP TEST

When WL was first launched five years ago, the desktop replacement was seen as the most desirable of laptops. Often costing well in excess of £2000, it had the flexibility of a desktop PC, but in a package that offered, if not mobility, a certain degree of portability.

Larger laptops are still in favour with many users – they still constitute 80 percent of the market – particularly those who don’t need their system in a mobile capacity. The price has also fallen considerably and in all but a few cases, the cost is now just over the £1500 mark.

At one time, a laptop could only truly be called a desktop replacement if it came as a three-spindle machine, consisting of a hard drive, optical drive and floppy disk drive. This was because most desktop systems came with this set-up and it was thought that IT buyers would only move over to the mobile platform if it offered the same degree of flexibility as a desktop PC.

However, the capacity of a floppy disk drive is minimal in comparison to the latest removable storage, such as CD-R or memory key, and so these drives are seen as less desirable. Even so, there are still a number of designs that support the older technology. In the past year, Intel’s Centrino technology has promoted the idea of portable computing, but this strategy has been to promote thin and light designs, and not those needing raw performance. To this end, the desktop replacement remains the largest sector of the market, in both performance and sales. In this group review we investigate what constitutes the modern desktop replacement.

AJP D500P
Dell Inspiron 8600
Elite Group ECS Green736
Elonex Soliton ProWire/150
NEC Versa P520
Samsung M30 HWM 3060
Systemax TourBook 5107
Watford Aries Precision 2736-Pro2

REVIEW CO-ORDINATOR:
Roger Kirkwood

REVIEWS:
Michael Browne
Roger Kirkwood

PHOTOGRAPHY:
Adrian Lyon