Sony VAIO and HP Compaq: Two Office Notebooks in Our Lab

We would like to compare two attractive office solutions from Sony and HP: VAIO VGN-FS115ZR and Compaq nx8220. They run office and multimedia applications at high speeds and can handle professional graphics applications, too. They are handy at work and offer you excellent functionality in office as well as on the road.

We took two notebooks of the so-called office class for this review. It means such notebooks must ensure comfortable work in office and multimedia applications in the first place. With performance sufficient for such use, the notebooks are also expected to have small dimensions (so that they could be employed for work “in the field”) and, desirably, an elegant exterior.

This definition of the office notebook class is rather vague, and such computers are appealing to many users and are not limited to office use proper.

The two models we took for our today’s tests – Sony VAIO VGN-FS115ZR and HP Compaq nx8220 (for the sake of simplicity hereafter referred to as the Sony VAIO and the HP Compaq) – fit quite well into our definition of an office notebook. They have similar technical characteristics, but differ in their graphics controllers (the VAIO’s NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 against the Compaq’s ATI Mobility Radeon X600). This makes the comparative testing of these notebooks the more interesting.

Design and Ergonomics

The classic-style exterior of the reviewed notebooks can’t but attract your attention. I think I need to describe each of them at length since their design and ergonomics are quite different.

The Sony VAIO notebook has elegant and exquisite looks. The light-gray case with the manufacturer’s logo and the model’s name in the center of the lid (the letters VAIO made of shining metal) stands out against the majority of unassuming black-and-gray cases so widely available on the notebook market, and thus interests the potential user (and the first impression is the most important, as you know). The Sony VAIO looks compact and small for its rather large LCD matrix (15.4 inches). The rounded corners and the smooth outline create an effect of completeness. The designers have definitely paid attention to every little detail in the exterior of this notebook.

At the top right corner of the top panel, you can see a row of buttons and indicators: a small rectangular Power On/Off button, Num Lock, Caps Lock and Scroll Lock indicators, and two quick-launch buttons (they disable the sound and switch to the external monitor by default, but you can reprogram them on the S Button tab of the Sony Notebook Setup utility to launch any application you want).

Accessories

There’s nothing particularly interesting among the accessories to either notebook. The Sony VAIO is accompanied with such things as a small external power adapter, documentation, a user’s manual, a specification leaflet, a license for Microsoft Works 8.0 with an ID number, booklets with license agreements on using the software and tech support with the addresses of service centers.

The accessories to the HP Compaq include an external power adapter, a phone cable, a splitter for the phone socket, a faceplate for the optical drive bay, documentation, a user’s manual, a booklet with a list of authorized service centers around the world with phone numbers, necessary drivers and utilities, and a disc with Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2.

Preinstalled Software

Both these notebooks come with numerous programs already preinstalled. I think some applications do require a closer look, others I just name.

So, the following applications are already installed on the Sony VAIO:

Adobe Reader 6.0;
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0;
Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 Starter Edition;
Adobe Acrobat Elements 6.0;
Adobe Premiere Standard;
Adobe Acrobat Professional Try&Buy 6.0;
WinDVD äëÿ VAIO 5.0;
Microsoft Works 8.0;
Norton Internet Security 2004;
Norton Password Manager 2004;
Yahoo! Messenger;
Memory Stick Formatter 2.1;
RecordNow! 7.3.

The exclusive utilities from Sony deserve a closer inspection:

DVgate Plus 2.0 is a multi-purpose solution for importing and exporting digital video recordings to/from the notebook. This program is an easy-to-use tool for processing video data.
PictureGear Studio 2.0 is a user-friendly interface consisting of several modules (Photos, Binder, PhotoCollection, PhotoAlbum, PrintStudio). Using it, you can manage and control data from your digital camera, performing such tasks as importing, compressing and printing photos, creating photo collections and albums.
SonicStage 2.1 allows recording and importing audio clips from various locations such as your hard disk, audio discs or the Internet; you can also create a collection of musical compositions with an easy-to-use interface;
SonicStorage Mastering Studio 1.4 is an application for processing high-quality digital audio recordings, taking them not only from digital media, but also from analog devices like the tape recorder.
VAIO Zone 1.2 is an effective integrated tool for listening to music, reproducing videos and viewing photos. You can select one of the following categories: Music (for playing audio files), Pictures (for viewing digital photos from the hard disk or removable media – sequentially, as a slideshow, or one by one), Videos and CD/DVD for playing videos from the hard disk or from CD/DVD discs, respectively. The interface of this program offers the standard controls like play, stop, return to menu, next/previous section, normal or fast forward.

Configuration

The notebooks are both based on the Centrino platform of the second generation. So, it’s the more interesting to compare them between each other since their configurations only differ much in the graphics subsystem.

The following table lists the technical characteristics of the Sony VAIO VGN-FS115ZR and the HP Compaq nx8220.

Both notebooks models represent the latest advances in the notebook industry, being based on the i915PM (Alviso) chipset from Intel. These mobile chipsets use the PCI Express bus that brings such advantages as higher bandwidth and the option of disabling some of the lanes when the load is low or when the system is idle. The Sony VAIO and the HP Compaq use the same model of the central processor. It is Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73GHz frequency, Dothan core, 0.09-micron technology, 2048KB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB). Added the integrated wireless network controller (IEEE 802.11b/g), we really have a Centrino platform here, which is defined as the combination of an Intel Pentium M processor, a mobile chipset, and a WLAN controller.

The Sony VAIO and the HP Compaq use discrete graphics controllers with dedicated memory, the NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 and ATI Mobility Radeon X600, respectively. Both controllers are attached to the PCI Express interface. The manufacturer claims the GeForce Go 6200 supports up to 128 megabytes of graphics memory. In fact, this GPU has 32 megabytes of dedicated memory, but it can also use a dynamically allocated part of the system memory. This innovation is called Turbo Cache. I want to show you a screenshot of the Everest program that reports on all the technical features of this graphics controller.

As you can see, the NVIDIA GeForce Go 6200 has four pixel pipelines and one vertex processor. The dedicated graphics memory is clocked at 598MHz, while the GPU is clocked at 301MHz. A screenshot of monitoring performed with RivaTuner is presented below to better illustrate the point:

The ATI Mobility Radeon X600 supports up to 64 megabytes of dedicated graphics memory. It has four pixel pipelines and two vertex processors. The memory is clocked at 540MHz, and the GPU at 398MHz. Here’s an Everest screenshot:

As for system memory, the Sony VAIO uses two 256MB modules of PC2700 DDR SDRAM (clocked at 333MHz). Thus, the total amount of memory is 512MB, while the maximum supported amount is 1 gigabyte. It would be better to have DDR2 here that has a higher bandwidth than DDR. So, the Sony VAIO has two memory slots (both are located at the bottom of the case under a special cover that is held on screws).

The HP Compaq uses DDR2 SDRAM clocked at 400MHz. This notebook also has two memory slots, both occupied with 256MB modules (the maximum supported amount of memory is 2048 megabytes). One of the slots is at the bottom of the case under a special cover. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the location of the other.

The cooling systems of these two notebooks are quiet enough. The only drawback is that the surface between the keyboard and the edge of the HP Compaq notebook would become too hot at times. I measured the temperatures of the notebooks as they were doing our performance tests:

Sony VAIO VGN-FS115ZR: 35°C top, 41°C bottom, and 39°C at the output of the cooling system
HP Compaq nx8220: 36°C top, 44°C bottom, and 39°C at the output of the cooling system

Testbed and Methods

We perform our tests in the OS preinstalled on the notebooks. Before the tests we disable power-saving and network services, the audio subsystem, antivirus software, and screensavers. The notebooks are tested at the maximum screen brightness setting and at the maximum resolution of the LCD matrix.

We used two power modes in the tests. First, we selected the Always On power mode for the maximum performance and the shortest battery run-down time. Then, we switched to the Max Battery mode for the maximum battery run-down time.

Our tests:

Performance benchmarks: synthetic (SiSoftware Sandra 2005, PCMark 2004), office and multimedia (Business Winstone 2004, Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004), games (3DMark 2003 3.40, 3DMark 2005, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament 2003);
Battery life tests (Battery Eater Pro 2.50).

Performance

First I want to show you the results of SiSoftware Sandra 2005 and PCMark 2004, which are quite high for the class the tested notebooks belong to. As you can see from the table below, both notebooks slow down almost in double (by about 54%) when they begin to work on their own batteries because they automatically switch to the power-saving mode. Below you can see screenshots of the ThrottleWatch 2.0 utility taken on the two notebooks. This utility can keep track of the current frequency and the voltage of the CPU. The screenshots were made as the notebooks were powered from the wall outlet (Always On setting) and from their own batteries (Max Battery).

The voltage and frequency of the CPU in the Sony VAIO in the two power modes

The voltage and frequency of the CPU in the HP Compaq in the two power modes

Thus, the processors of both notebooks step down their frequency from 1729.0MHz to 798.0MHz and voltage from 1.308V to 0.988V when they switch to their batteries. But let’s get back to the results of the synthetic tests.

Conclusion

Sometimes it’s not simple to make a conclusion. The tests I’ve performed today suggest that the separating line between office notebooks and desktop-replacement notebooks is becoming ever thinner. The former can now deliver good performance in graphics applications which you could earlier have with desknotes only.

And still, the Sony VAIO and the HP Compaq belong to the office class rather. They run office and multimedia applications at a high speed and can handle professional graphics applications, too. They are handy at work and offer you excellent functionality. They can also work in the field as well as in office.

The Sony VAIO looks gorgeous and its ergonomic qualities are up to the mark, too. It also features a big hard drive and an optical disc recorder. Its disadvantages are a rather low performance in games due to the graphics controller employed and a short battery life time (it might be better), and the lack of an infrared port.

The HP Compaq features good performance, excellent battery life time, numerous ports/connectors/communications, and a handy touchpad. Its drawbacks are the over-conservative exterior, the not-very-convenient keyboard (but you get used to it after some time) and the eject button of the optical drive.

If we compare these two notebooks (taken at random for today’s review), we see that you have got a choice between the appealing design of the Sony VAIO VGN-FS115ZR and the higher performance of the HP Compaq nx8220 in graphics applications.