Pegasus Ti

PC Advisor (November '04)

When we first saw the specifications for the Pegasus Ti9, we were licking our lips in anticipation. A Pentium M 755 processor, boasting a clock speed of 2GHz and 2MB of level 2 cache, coupled with 1GB of PC2700 DDR RAM promised much. We expected to see a good result in our WorldBench 4 tests and we weren’t disappointed.

A score of 142 blew our socks off. The Pegasus Ti obviously had the potential to be fast, but this was better than anything achieved by any notebook we’ve tested - including those sporting AMD’s Athlon 64 chips.

Fast out the block
In terms of the overall specifications, the 15.4in screen and 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card is a good combination. The Pegasus will quite happily run office applications as well as the latest games titles. The bundled DVD drive can write not only DVD-R and DVD+R formats but the DVD-RAM standard as well. Though DVD-RAM is a less used format, it’s better suited to data use. DVD-RAM discs tend to be more durable as well.

If you want to hook up to a wireless network then there are 802.11b/g facilities, but you can connect to a standard network as well. In terms of other ports you’ll find three USB 2.0 sockets, on FireWire, S-Video and VGA-out as well as a four-in-one smart card reader.

There’s an office suite in the shape of Ability Office and some all-important antivirus software. A three-year collect-and-return warranty is generous, but considering the Pegasus’ £1,762 price tag we expected much more than this.

Unfortunately, though, there’s an obvious Achilles’ heel. Though the Rock combines some of the best features of a powerful desktop replacement with a relatively compact and lightweight design, battery life is poor at just under two hours. But we weren’t that shocked considering two other notebooks we have seen using this chassis, the Tiny PowerLite C825 and the AJP 8050d, have been similarly disappointing.

Verdict
Poor battery life aside, the Pegasus Ti offers unsurpassed performance and 1GB of DDR RAM will ensure that it runs smoothly no matter what application you use. The keyboard is a good size and comfortable to use. Given the compact design of the rock, it’s just a shame that it won’t be much cop as a travelling companion.

Return to reviews index >>