Reviews / Quaddra T64 - Digit

Quaddra T64

The Quaddra T64 may be the budget option here but offers the best balance of power and portability of any laptop in this group test. Rock has cut a few corners to keep the price down, but this model·s benefits more than outweigh its flaws.

This laptop is the only model here to use an AMD processor, the Turion 64 ML-42, which delivers more processing power to graphics applications than the 2.13GHz Pentium M 770 chip used by the much more expensive Dell and Evesham laptops. We expect that Intel·s new Core Duo chips will usurp AMD·s Turion 64 range, but this is the best option until they do.

However, the Quaddra T64·s Photoshop and Cinebench scores were mediocre. In the MobileMark battery test though, the T64 was again the top-rated model, almost reaching four hours of use. It was only beaten by our unofficial tests on the underpowered PowerBook G4.

The T64 is the smallest and lightest of the Windows-based laptops. Creatives on the move will really appreciate carrying the laptop around, compared to the behemoths from Dell, Samsung, or Sony.

With such a low price, there are some components that we wouldn·t accept from a more expensive laptop. For example, the LCD screen is good, but its 1,400 x 900 resolution is basic. Ethernet connectivity is limited to 100Mbps, and the hard drive is only 80GB in size.

For an extra £150 you could increase the RAM to 2GB (boosting the laptop·s Photoshop performance) and expand the hard drive to the standard 100GB and still have a less expensive unit than its competition.