Quaddra
XT - What Laptop
(Mar '04)
Gold Award
Verdict:
A highly usable laptop that has sufficient power for every task
but is better suited to the desktop that to life on the road.
The
Rock Quaddra XT 2.8 (£998 inc VAT) shares the same appearance
as the AJP D410E and Nethighstreet.com WPC900, but with its mix
of silver and dark blue it has a more attractive look than the
pale machines. The Quaddra is sturdy, particularly the hinge
supporting the screen to the main chassis. The screen is also
supported by a toughened back-plate to protect the display in
transit.
FAN
ACTIVITY
The Rockdirect is a large machine, weighing in at 3.5kg and is
intended for life on a desktop rather than as a mobile machine.
To support this theory, Rockdirect has fitted the Quaddra with
a desktop processor, in this instance the 2.8Ghz Intel Pentium
4. One downside of using such a processor in a laptop is that
the fan is often active. While the fan of the Quaddra did not
run constantly, we found that it would run for long spells then
stop.
The
system is supported by 512MB of DDR SDRAM and a 40GB Fujitsu hard
drive. Under test, this configuration scored a mobile mark of
158, which was the second highest in the group test. We found
the Quaddra to be a powerful machine that did not hang when saving
or loading applications.
The
15-inch TFT supports a resolution of 1400 x 1050 pixels and is
bright and clear with no dead pixels on the screen. In comparison
to the AJP machine, the Quaddra did not seem as bright, with a
slight yellow tone to some white areas. This did not hinder how
we worked on the system, though, and was nothing more than a minor
complaint against an otherwise good display.
DIGITAL
IMAGE
Fitted with a webcam in the lid, users will be able to send images
of themselves over Instant Messenger services with ease.
The
screen is supported by the ATi Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics adapter,
which is fitted with 64MB of its own video memory. This adapter
is now beginning to show its age, having been superseded by the
9600 and the imminent arrival of ATi’s next generation processor.
That said, it is capable of running DVD Movies and multimedia
applications in an office environment. This is borne out by a
3Dmark 2001 score of 6844, which was the highest in the group
test after WPC900.
The
keyboard of the Quaddra is fitted to the rear of the main body,
which means that the user needs to reach over the chassis in order
to type. Due to the placement of function keys on the right-hand
side of the keyboard, the board is not central, resulting in the
typist’s left hand not being fully on the palm rest. Once
again this is more a minor complaint than a flaw and does not
hinder the usability of the machine.
Rockdirect
has opted to install Windows XP Home Edition on the Quaddra and
has bundled the standard array of applications with the system,
including Ahead Nero and InterVideo WinDVD for use with the Sony
DVD/CDRW combination drive. For protecting against viral attacks
the Quaddra comes pre-installed with Panda Anti Virus.
The
Rock direct Quaddra XT 2.8 is a powerful and all-round usable
laptop. While its components are not strictly cutting-edge, and
it is rather heavy, this budget system is in keeping with what
is available at this price point. We found that it is more than
capable of handling our tests, offering good features and performance
at an attractive price.
| VALUE
FOR MONEY |
 |
|
|
7/10 |
| PERFORMANCE |
|
|
|
8/10 |
| FEATURES |
|
|
|
8/10 |
| MOBILITY |
|
|
|
5/10 |
| BUILD
QUALITY |
|
|
|
7/10 |
| OVERALL |
|
|
|
8/10 |
