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Notebook computers have traditionally performed like the proverbial dog when it comes to 3D gaming. But, with ATI and nVidia developing faster, more powerful mobile graphics chips, it's now possible to experience the kind of visual quality usually reserved for desktop computers. However, to fully benefit from such power, the rest of the notebook will need to be just as mighty.
The AJP D500E is what is known as a desktop replacement. This means it's designed to be powerful yet compact more than portable and, thus, isn't really suitable for carting around. It's not impossible to carry it, but 3.7kg is a heavy load to have under your arm.
Inside the chunky chassis is a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 processor, a walloping 1Gb of memory and an 80Gb hard disk. This makes for the fastest notebook we've seen to date, and it performed admirably in our system tests. Suffice to say, this will cope with anything you throw at it. However, its muscle means the battery life isn't great - only two hours.
As it's a machine built for gaming, the graphics chip is integral. The D500E uses a 128Mb ATi Mobility Radeon 9700, which is up there with the best of them, allowing for very high frame rates and large screen resolutions.
In essence, this means you can play all the latest 3D games quite comfortably. We were able to run Doom 3 at its highest quality setting with very little slow down or jittering, which is an excellent testament to this notebook's graphics proficiency.
Gaming aside, the D500E has some other nice features too. There's a dual-format recordable DVD drive that can write to plus and minus formats, a floppy disk drive (in case you still use one) and a broad array of ports and sockets. There's also a nifty 'DJ' unit on the front of the notebook that allows you to listen to CDs without having to load Windows first.
Like most new notebooks, Wi-Fi is built in and the trackpad has extra buttons for scrolling up and down documents or web pages.
The only downside to this otherwise excellent notebook is the 15in TFT display. Although it's bright, it suffers from a poor viewing angle, which is especially apparent when watching moving images either on a DVD movie or game. It means that you have to face the screen completely front on to get the optimum picture. The notebook also gets very hot, so it's advisable to rest it on a desk, rather than your lap.
Bundled software with the AJP D500E includes Windows XP Home and Panda Platinum Internet Security, with free updates for a year. There's also a free leather carry bag and a three-year, return-to-base warranty.
Contact: AJP 020 8208 9744
www.ajp.co.uk
Also consider:
Acer Ferrari 3200. £1,499. Not as graphically adept but still a very powerful notebook.
See also:
A bulky but powerful desktop replacement with built-in wireless and Bluetooth 24 Dec 2004
All Notebooks & Tablets PCs
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