Verdict: Core duo makes its pc debut
The Evesham Voyager C550 might look boring, especially compared with the brash blue Alienware m7700, but inside the C550's case is Intel's new 1.83GHz T2400 Core Duo CPU. This is the same much-hyped CPU that convinced Apple to go with Intel, and a big step up from Pentium M.
The Core Duo keeps the Pentium M's short pipeline but adds a second core, 2MB of cache and support for DDR2 memory. The second core means that the Core Duo outputs more heat than a Pentium M, especially as the C550 uses a full-blooded 'T' model, rather the 'L' or 'U' low-voltage versions. The CPU HSF contributes greatly to the C550's weight; although it's thin, the C550 weighs a hefty 3.25kg. Add in the half-kilo power pack, and the C550's travelling weight fattens to 4kg.
The keyboard is solid and spacious. However, the Caps Lock key isn't indented, so you could accidentally clip it while playing games that use a 'WASD' key configuration.
There are four USB 2 ports at the back for plugging in peripherals, and if USB isn't sufficient for your needs then you can always use the FireWire, PCMCIA or three-in-one memory card slot instead. The C550 also has 802.11g WiFi, Gigabit LAN and a 56k modem.
If you can't get online, you could always watch a movie instead. The C550's Panasonic UJ-841S DVD writer was quiet during testing, and provides up to 8x writing on DVD-Rs, and 2.4x writing on DVD-R9s. There's plenty of space on the 100GB hard disk for storing media, and the 1GB of DDR2 RAM is a welcome sight too. The integrated HD Audio provides good sound, so long as you use headphones, and there's a good-quality 640 x 480 webcam and microphone built into the lid.
The C550 we tested was an early sample, so its 15.4in screen had an insanely high 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, as opposed to the 1,280 x 800 panel that will ship with production models. This lower-resolution panel is a far better fit for the Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU, which runs at 450MHz and has 256MB of RAM running at 350MHz (700MHz effective).
Regardless of the panel's resolution, though, you'll have to be careful not to damage the screen, as we found the lid to be rather flexible. The rest of the C550's chassis was far more solid, although the silver finish looks cheap.
The performance of the 2GHz Core Duo we tested last month was excellent, outscoring our 2.8GHz Pentium D reference PC in all three of our Media Benchmarks. The C550, with its 1.83GHz Core Duo, also performed very well, beating the reference PC in both the image editing and multitasking tests, despite running almost 1GHz slower in terms of clock speed.
The C550 scored 1.01 in the image editing test, which is roughly the same as a 1.86GHz Pentium M 750. Clearly, the Core Duo's big advantage is its second core, and when it isn't being used, there's little difference between the Core Duo and the Pentium M. When the second core is used, as it is for video encoding, the Core Duo is streets ahead. In our DVD encoding test, the C550 delivered an impressive score of 0.92, which is a touch slower than an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (0.98), though way ahead of the Pentium M 750 (0.44). This is despite using desktop components to test both of these CPUs. The C550 absolutely hammers other laptops in multithreaded or multitasking tests.
In games, the C550's Mobility X1600 GPU powered Battlefield 2 to a respectable average of 30fps at 1,280 x 1,024 with 2x AA and high AF.
Battery life is poor, though, lasting only 1 hour and 45 minutes while playing a DVD continuously.
CONCLUSION
While the C550 isn't very attractive or a hardcore gaming machine, the balance of components is good. It's far more powerful than its £1,200 price tag suggests, thanks to the Core Duo chip and 1GB of RAM. Evesham has backed this up with a good hard disk, decent optical drive and DirectX 9c graphics. If you don't mind its looks then the C550 will be a worthy travelling workhorse.
