Small notebooks with powerful processors

Carlo Abarth was famous in the 1950s and 1960s for his small sports cars. He squeezed into the tiny bodies of a Fiat 600 or 850 high-engine engines with up to 200 hp, which would not give even bigger and stronger cars the chance of a Ferrari on a winding track.


For business and gaming


A powerful machine in a compact chassis: the five notebooks in this comparison test. They are all based on an Intel Core i5 or Core i7, and part of the devices in an ultra-low-voltage version with a lower clock frequency.


Alienware with Optimus graphic


But also so are the processors significantly faster than the usual ULV Core 2 Duo CPUs. Compared to an atom, they are even more powerful. Cheap are the small notebooks with the strong processors but not: for the lightweights you have to create up to 2000 euros.


On the safe side


The test field includes notebooks from Acer, Alienware, Fujitsu, Lenovo and Panasonic with display diagonals between 11.6 and 14.1 inches. The weight of the notebooks ranges from 1.3 kg with the ThinkPad from Lenovo up to almost two kilograms with the Acer TravelMate and with the Alienware M11x. This means that all devices are well equipped for mobile use.


Family group


Except for the Alienware, the devices are classic business notebooks with integrated graphics and matte displays. The application ranges here from sophisticated Excel tables with elaborate calculations over project management up to software development. In the latter case, strong processors are needed above all for fast compiling the program code.


The devices from Acer and Fujitsu are also equipped with 3G hardware for mobile work, while an internal 3G module is optionally available at Panasonic.


The Intel HD graphics integrated in the processor is not enough for separate graphics chips from AMD or Nvidia, but is still noticeably more powerful than the Intel chipset graphics for Core 2 Duo devices, not to mention the Atom graphics. The liquid playback of HD videos is also a problem with the test candidates with integrated graphics. So you can drive the time on the train or on the plane, if you do not have to work.


The Alienware M11x is supported by an Nvidia GeForce GT 335M, which is connected by Nvidia's Optimus technology. In contrast to the previously customary switchable graphics, the integrated Intel graphics unit is also used as a display controller when the Nvidia chip is active. This makes the switching faster and the flicker when changing is avoided. Optimus does not need manual selection of active graphics.


The driver detects itself when a game or application is started that needs the discrete chip. Otherwise the Nvidia chip is deactivated and the economical Intel graphics takes over the representation. The necessary profiles for recognition are automatically updated via the Internet. If necessary, you can also assign the preferred graphic in the driver dialog of an application.


Precisely on business notebooks store confidential data. Therefore, some of the manufacturers have integrated various security components into their notebooks. A TPM chip that is useful for hard disk encryption by BitLocker can be found in all devices except the two notebooks from Acer and Alienware. Acer, Fujitsu and Lenovo also equipped their notebooks with a fingerprint reader. This is missing in the Lenovo test device, but it is normally present.


Fujitsu also offers theft protection for the Lifebook P770, which can be blocked, deleted and even localized via remote access. The Panasonic CF-F9 offers a very special kind of security. It is part of the business ruggedized category and keeps falls from 70 centimeters high, even when it is switched on. The Acer, Fujitsu and Lenovo devices also offer a splash-proof keyboard.


The Core i5 and Core i7 processors in the five notebooks in the test all belong to the Arrendale family. They have two cores, hyperthreading, graphics integrated in the CPU, and the Turbo Boost function. The CPU consists of two chips on a common processor housing: a 32-nanometer-which houses the actual cores, a 45-nanometer-the memory controller and the graphics unit.


In addition to the more power-tuned CPUs with 35 watts of TDP, which bear only one M as the name, there are also low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage versions with 25 and 18 watts of TDP. These lower-clocked processors can be identified by the LM and UM identifiers.


Power supplies and power saver