SIGMA SI

Honourable Mention Award
PC Pro (September '01)

This issue’s Rock Sigma keeps up the screaming performance of its entry in our business notebook group test (see labs issue 81 p110). In fact, its score of 2.23 made it the fastest laptop on test.

Intel’s 866MHz Pentium III is the brains of the operation, helping to prop up SiS integrated chipset. Only 8Mb of the 128Mb SODIMM is drawn off by the 6305 video chip, and the CPU brings the machine to forth place in our 3D testing with 949 3D marks. This indicates passable 3D acceleration, although more RAM would help this and any other machine for leisure purpose.

Despite the £462 price difference between its business counterpart and this model, the FireWire port is retained alongside the pair of USB ports. One of the few signs of the price drop is the halving of the hard disk back to the 10Gb. If this isn’t enough, the FireWire port is a ready option for adding more via external disks, and you can upgrade the supplied DVD-ROM drive to a CDRW for £100.

There are plenty of connectivity options included as standard. The modem port doubles up as a 10/100 network port, so business connection needs aren’t totally ignored. However, PC Card fans should beware the single slot, and there’s no docking station port – just a port replicator for £149

The port replicator will be handy if you frequently use the Sigma away from the desk. However, its battery life hovered around the 85-minute mark, which was solidly dependable rather than being in the plus-100-minute area of excellence. At 3.2kg, it isn’t the lightest notebook here either, but rockdirect.com is kind enough to include a carry case.

Our panel of judges rated the 14.1in TFT as average. Still, with a 1,024 x 768 resolution we don’t expect many complaints. The keyboard gained similar rating. It only gives minimal tactile feedback, but doesn’t sink into the case like some of its rivals.

There’s no office software provided to add value, although the one-year, collect-and-return warranty is welcome. But what lifts this notebook into awards territory is its range of hardware features and sheer speed. Although the Dell undercuts rockdirect.com by £50 and maintains its build quality to win, the Sigma is aworthy alternative.

PC Pro Honourable Mention Award

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