Verdict: Ready and waiting for Merom
If you think that gaming laptops should have a snazzy paint job, illuminated alien heads and neon under-lighting, then move along because there's nothing to see here. The Evesham Voyager C720DC is a sober desktop replacement for those who want a laptop that offers simplicity and mobility as their main PC, but still want the power to play the latest games. The Evesham's lid sports a plain grey-blue design, which is sophisticated rather than exciting, and the wedge-shaped chassis is the same understated, businesslike model used by Rock for its Xtreme CTX series.
At the heart of the Evesham is a Core Duo CPU in the shape of the 2GHz T2500. While this is a familiar chip to us, by the time you read this review, the Evesham will be available with the chip known as 'Merom', the mobile version of the Core 2 Duo. The Core architecture has so far been a revelation - just look at this year's Dream PCs for proof.
To satisfy the demands of gaming fanatics, Evesham has paired the CPU with a GeForce Go 7900 GTX equipped with 256MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 600MHz (1.2GHz effective) and a GPU clock speed of 500MHz. Evesham has told us that this will be upgraded to a 512MB version of the 7900 GTX, as seen in the Dell XPS M1710, by the time this review goes to press.
Rather than being orientated solely towards gaming, the Evesham aspires to be a complete home entertainment centre. Our review system came with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, which provides a user-friendly interface for watching and recording TV programmes, as well as making a variety of media files easily accessible using a remote control while sitting on the sofa. With this in mind, it's disappointing that the Evesham isn't bundled with a TV tuner or the MCE remote control. However, the 1,920 x 1,200 17in widescreen panel can accommodate wonderfully sharp, top-end 1080p HD video, and there's also an optical S/PDIF audio output at the rear, so you can hook up some serious surround-sound speakers, such as the Elite-listed Logitech Z-5500s.
The display is similar to the panels that we've seen in gaming laptops from Rock and Dell, so we found its rich, vibrant colours and spot-on contrast pleasantly familiar. Like its competitors, the Evesham's display suffers from distracting reflectivity at times, due to its Sony X-black style surface, but the pay-off is that in a room with soft lighting, films and games look stunning, thanks to the deep blacks and increased contrast that the coating provides.
The Evesham has 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, which is a reasonable amount. However, Battlefield 2, EverQuest II and F.E.A.R. all benefit significantly from 2GB of RAM, so you may want to consider including this upgrade when configuring your build-to-order system - it will cost an extra £125 though.
As for the rest of the spec, the Evesham has everything that you'd expect to find in a high-end laptop, including a 100GB 7,200 S-ATA hard drive, Bluetooth, a six-format memory card reader, Gigabit LAN, a 56k modem, 8-channel Intel HD Audio, four USB 2 ports, FireWire, a DVI-D output, a TV out and, although few manufacturers actually make products for it, an Express Card slot.
Although the Evesham becomes noticeably warm, it doesn't get as uncomfortably hot as some laptops. The 2GHz CPU means that the fans spin up to tame the heat, and can become loud.
PERFORMANCE
The Core Duo is an excellent chip, but it has its limitations. Essentially, it's a dual-core Pentium M, and its super-short pipeline and lack of optimisation mean that it suffers when it comes to media encoding. This is something that Merom seeks to change, as the design attempts to retain the best characteristics of the Pentium M, while providing it with more power.
As you can see from Download, Intel has shown Merom-based laptops to the press, but at the time of writing - and until the end of August - the company isn't willing to reveal all the details. Still, the performance of desktop Core 2 Duos proves that Intel's bold talk about its new chips is backed up with plenty of silicon substance. This means that, clock for clock, Merom will certainly be quicker than its predecessor, so you can expect to see the Evesham's overall score of 1.13 with a 2GHz Core Duo beaten, even by slower-clocked Merom Core 2 Duos.
The Evesham's score of 1.13 is a fraction behind the 1.16 that the Rock Xtreme CTX scored, a laptop that had a marginally quicker 2.16GHz T2600 Core Duo fitted. If you want to save a little money, it's clearly worth refraining from buying the absolute fastest chip out there, as you don't gain so much from the small speed premium.
In terms of gaming, the Evesham is a great performer. It's asking a lot for a single graphics chip to render games at 1,920 x 1,200 though. Need for Speed: Most Wanted is chock-full of modern shader effects, but the Evesham just about managed a playable frame rate at the native resolution of the screen, even with some anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled. With high AA and high AF, it averaged 32fps but, with a minimum of 22fps, it didn't feel smooth enough to be playable. Still, if you drop the AA and AF to lower levels, the machine feels more comfortable, with an average of 38fps and a better minimum of 25fps. When it comes to gaming, it will be interesting to see if the Core 2 Duo makes much difference; we usually find that the graphics card carries out the bulk of the work, while the CPU doesn't contribute much, so you shouldn't expect marvels from Merom in this regard.
CONCLUSION
It's difficult to pass a final, authoritative judgement on this Evesham in its current state, as you'd be mad not to wait until the beginning of September for Merom to arrive. Pricing is another aspect of the chip that hasn't been finalised, but the £1,500 you pay for the Evesham with a high-end Core Duo will certainly get you a machine with a low- to mid-spec Merom. Aside from the CPU, the rest of the system's features are becoming de-facto parts for gaming laptops. Not for nothing is the GeForce Go 7900 GTX the GPU that pairs up to make the GeForce 7950 GX2 - it's an absolutely cracking product. The 1,920 x 1,200 resolution of the screen is a bit optimistic though; while the system can currently cope with gaming at that setting, this won't be the case in a year's time. Add in 2GB of RAM and the system would be near-perfect. Although it's noisier, and lacks the lights and unique design of the Dell, it's cheaper. If you're looking for a performance laptop but don't want to break the bank, the Evesham should be on your shortlist.
