Presentation
Note: Packard Bell gave us an Easynote MB89-P-013 for testing. But this one is currently available... nowhere. On the other hand, there is an Easynote MB89-P-031. Two elements differ: the size of the hard disk and the processor. The ''our'', the 013, offered the Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 CPU (2,5 Ghz) and was content with 250 GB. The 031 goes up to 320 GB and integrates the Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1 Ghz). You will find the link in the price table above.
Update 23/06/08: after
The Packard Bell Easynote MB89 is a multimedia laptop with a 15.4-inch glossy screen with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The aesthetics of this computer is what marks the most at first glance. With its round touch zone and white color, it stands out from its rivals.
Ergonomics
Packard Bell has bet here on a stripped down aesthetic without multimedia keys. All control commands for the sound or the brightness of the panel are done via the usual shortcuts: function + F10, etc. As mentioned in the introduction, the touchpad is round. This choice brings a touch of exoticism to the device that will delight more than one. Under the pad, a bar, hard to press, is used for the ''right'' and ''left'' mouse clicks. We appreciate in passing the presence of a numeric keypad on the right and the respect of the dimensions of the Enter keys, etc.
Connectivity level, there are 4 USB, 1 E-Sata, 1 mini FireWire, 2 HDMI and DVI digital outputs, 1 Ethernet and 2 mini-jack outputs.
|
|
|
| The texture on the back | The pad: original, aesthetic, not at all impractical |
|
|
|
| Please Love Orange | The keys: white |
Multimedia office
How to read: higher score = better
All throughput and speed measurements are compared and brought to an index of 100 based on the performance of the Asus M50Sv.
On the side, the card reader is one of the main black points of the device. Its speeds are simply catastrophic and invite the acquisition of an external player. It's better from an external hard drive: the transfer rate climbs to 25 and 36 MB/s on average for large and medium files, respectively via USB and e-Sata. I there is something better for the second format, but we are still far from the potential 80 MB/s of our device. The webcam integrated (1.3 Mpixels) produces a barely decent image. She tends to overexpose the lighted areas, which gives a white halo to the faces. At the sound level, if you disregard the parasites, the atmosphere is rather well rendered.
In bulk afterwards, whether for software installations (ex: 9 minutes for Photoshop), file compression times (5 min under Winrar with our test files) or video (1 min 26 to encode our HD video) , image processing in Photoshop (56 sec. for our series of filters), the Easynote MB89 systematically ends up in the front runners of the moment.
A point on theautonomy to finish. After activating the panel's eco mode, which increases the depth of the blacks on the way, the Easynote laptop held 1 hour and 38 minutes with its 6 cell battery. This is a rather disappointing score compared to the 2h10 of the Acer 6920G.
Player
On paper, the Nvidia 9500M GS and 8600M GT graphics cards (with which this model is equipped) are strictly identical. Same number of calculation units, frequencies, etc. In practice, this holds true. Performance in games is very decent and even allows you, with some sacrifices, to play the latest games.
Screenshot of Crysis with graphics settings at maximum, unfortunately unplayable.
Screenshot of Crysis with settings optimized for gaming.
Crysis : if you can tolerate some lag you can play with 2X antialiasing, native resolution and all other settings at minimum. To ensure perfect fluidity, however, you have to accept the staircase effects and abandon antialiasing.
Oblivion : The game is old enough not to be a problem for the machine. It is possible to play with antialiasing and most of the details pushed to the limit.
NFS : you can play with native resolution, AA2X and most options set to minimum. Warning, do not use the latest patch if you are using Vista, it bugs the machine.
A point on the sound to finish. It is provided here by a single enclosure located under the device. As a whole, it is rather flat and its maximum power barely covers a medium-sized room. Note, if you want to fall back on the headphone jack, that it suffers from parasitic sounds that are largely attenuated if you have very good quality headphones.
Highlights
Weak points
Autonomy 1h38
A single weak speaker, weak SD reader
Insufficient black level
Only 1 year of warranty (Asus offers 2)
Slow to boot (just over 2 minutes)
Conclusion
Note globale
Aesthetics is the point that will probably attract buyers to this model. Its white appearance and round touch zone make it stand out. In terms of performance it is equivalent to the Asus M50SV with a short head start on the processor.
Read more
