Velocity's Micro NoteMagix M57 Ultra gaming notebook reviewed

Although the hardest-of-hardcore gamers will likely scoff at any laptop that isn't SLI-enabled these days, PC Mag's review of Velocity's 17-inch Micro NoteMagix M57 Ultra shows us that even a solo graphics card combined with a zippy single core processor and a generous helping of RAM can deliver excellent 1,920 x 1,200 fragging performance. The M57 is powered by a 2.26GHz Pentium M 780 -- which gives it only decent productivity benchmark scores compared to a dual core machine -- but the fact that Velocity throws in 2GB of RAM along with the high-end mobile nVidia GeForce Go 7800GTX card and a 7,200 RPM hard drive allowed the rig to best PC Mag's previous champ, the Dell XPS M170, in all-important 3-D and framerate testing. Even better, the faults here are few and far between --  a rather-hefty 9.3-pound weight, lack of software for the built-in TV tuner, and separation between mouse buttons are the only knocks in this review -- so non-SLI snobs should feel safe in dropping their $3000 on what is judged to be a "Very Good" laptop.

[constant @ Apr 16th 2006 12:13PM]

This half year old Clevo machine is on its way out already.

[blogsmith @ Apr 16th 2006 1:03PM]

cool!

[Harvis @ Apr 16th 2006 1:04PM]

A pentium M in a gaming machine???????

[Udayan Tripathi @ Apr 16th 2006 1:23PM]

This may be a nice machine and all but I am always wary of buying from a name I haven't heard of before which may be elitist but I like the brand security. On the otherhand my Dell(s) suck.

[gilo @ Apr 16th 2006 1:45PM]

FOR THE LAST TIME ,

stop buying those painted ODM "branded" laptops , just buy the orignal clevo and configure it to suit you , it will cost you about half as much .

[cookiemonster @ Apr 16th 2006 2:04PM]

pentium m * 1.7 == p4 proc;
xps m1710 which is coming out sometime before june will have a core duo proc coupled with either the 7900gtx, or the 7900gs [both with the "go" moniker]

[Travel Europe @ Apr 16th 2006 5:15PM]

It looks kind of weird but the pemtium M is even more strange.

[TheChaz @ Apr 16th 2006 8:05PM]

I think I'm going to introduce a new acronym in the vein of RTFM and IMHO. YACR: Yet Another Clevo Rebadge. Now, whenever you guys post about this or that company's "new gaming notebook," you can throw that in the headline and we'll all know what's being talked about.

[Pal @ Apr 16th 2006 8:44PM]

I was considering on buying one of these last summer from PC Torque (Sager 5720-V). I just checked and it's under $2800 for the same configuration.

[YupYup @ Apr 17th 2006 10:51AM]

I have what is probably a dumb question all thanks to Intel and their Core Solo and Core Duo chips (and the host of others out there). Which is "faster" or "better" the single or duo? For example a 1.8GHz Solo or a 1.5GHz Duo? I know there are other variables to consider, but for this example both laptops are identical in hardware and software.

Thanks in advance :)

[Matt @ Apr 17th 2006 1:05PM]

The name of the company is actually Velocity Micro (www.velocitymicro.com). The system is just NoteMagix M57 Ultra, not Micro NoteMagix.

[gba.link @ Apr 18th 2006 4:11AM]

Dell XPS M170 DOES come with a DVD Burner and every other option. I got mine with everything for $1,800 with the coupon code. It is better than Alienware in a lot of benchmarks, where some it isnt. It is a great laptop.

[WhyNot @ Apr 18th 2006 12:36PM]

#13 where did you buy that rig? I went to Dell's website and found an XPS M1710 but no M170. Without upgrading the M1710 system it's $2600 so my next question is what coupon code did you use to get $800 and can you please point me in the right direction.? Thanx.

[Zeligg @ Apr 19th 2006 9:57AM]

They just removed the m170 and replaced it with the m1710 within the last day or two. I ordered a m170 on Sunday evening and was taking my friend to Dell's site to show him last night, and it had already beenr eplaced. I thought about canceling my order and going with the m1710, but it starts at almost $1000 more than the 170. I decided to keep the m170 and am waiting for it to be shipped.