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» MEDIA (17) Classic business looks One of the best keyboards on the entire market USB, card reader, enthernet, modem and PS2 connectors Two more USB, headphones microphone jacks, DVD-RW and VGA One of the thinnest 15.4\" notebooks on the market Super fine high resolution screen X1600 @ 1680x1050 Battlefield 2 Battlefield 2 Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 Counter-Strike: Source Counter-Strike: Source The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Company of Heroes Company of Heroes

Introduction

For most gamers, the desktop configuration is the ideal choice for gaming since it’s more likely to build a comparatively more powerful gaming computer for less money. Coupled with the easier upgrade ability and customizability, it’s not hard to see why most hardcore gamers have gone for desktops. But what if you are a professional that travels a lot; or a student that needs portability, but don’t want to totally give up the performance to game, and at the same time want good battery life and a nicely sized display without making it too heavy?

Overview

Enter the HP nc8430, a 15.4” high performance business class laptop with an excellent build quality, a superb keyboard and very fine display (1680x1505 native resolution). The nc8430 is often overlooked by many gamers due to its business class status. The mainstream offerings from Dell, HP and Sony often become the ideal choice for gamers because they are easy to buy, and has many customizable options But many of the mainstream laptops don’t offer any high performance video cards and often have slower hard drives and low resolution screens. For those that do incorporate these things that gamers care about, weight becomes an issue and weight is the number one enemy of portability.

Where to buy

There are multiple vendors to purchase the nc8430 from. The one being reviewed today was purchased from HP’s own online store and sports a lofty price-tag of $3400, it is one of the most top-end configurations with 4GB of RAM (the RAM option itself was a $1200 upgrade). A slightly lower configured one could be purchased from Newegg. It has all the essential specs required for a serious gamer and costs only $1600, which makes it a very viable option for many gamers and an incredible value for money.

Specifications:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.16 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 4 MB L2 Cache)
Windows XP Professional w/ SP2
4096MB (2x2GB) 667MHz DDR2 (Samsung branded)
100GB Hard Drive @ 7200 RPM
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
ATI Radeon Mobility X1600 256MB
56Kbps Modem & 10/100/1000 NIC
8 Cell Primary Battery
Dual Pointer Devices
Intel 802.11a/b/g & Bluetooth
Embedded TPM 1.2 & Fingerprint Reader
3/3/0 Year Onsite Warranty in US

Design/Construction

The design of the nc8430 is that of a usual business class laptop. The cover of the laptop on both the exterior and the interior are made up of very stiff and sturdy plastic. The design is simplistic with a small HP log on the back cover of the screen, and only a few extra buttons on the interior besides the keyboard itself. A high quality touchpad with three solid rubber buttons is offered together with a very traditional nub mouse in the middle of the keyboard for those that are more comfortable using the nub. The nub itself, however, isn’t of the highest quality and the sensor could be more accurate. It’s also one of the thinnest 15.4” laptop around, which makes it much easier to carry.

The construction of the laptop itself was also very solid. Lifting the unit itself at one corner, or pressing down on any part of the laptop produces no flex, thanks to the magnesium alloy construction of the chassis. Pressing on the back of the LCD cover lid produces no ripples unless a lot of pressure is used. And all of this great construction quality weighs in just under 5.9 lbs with the standard 8-cell battery attached, which makes the nc8430 one of the lightest 15.4” laptops on the market.

Keyboard/Screen

The keyboard on the nc8430 is one of the best keyboards on the market, period. Be it desktop or laptop, the keys are responsive, firm yet supple enough to not induce any finger cramps after long periods of usage, which is something that MMO players will greatly appreciate. The only other comparable keyboard offering in laptops is the IBM Thinkpad keyboard.

There are two screen options for the nc8430, either the WXGA(1280x800) or the WSXGA+(1680x1050). If you are thinking of purchasing the nc8430, do yourself a huge favor and get one with the WSXGA+ screen, because you will not be disappointed. The high resolution of the screen together with the matte non-glossy surface produces one of the finest screens on the PC market. It is simply beautiful. Most mainstream laptop offerings do not come with any type of non-glossy screens whatsoever, and many of them only comes with low resolution screens. On top of that, most of mainstream laptop’s screens produce significant backlight leakage at the edges of the screen, which is very annoying. The nc8430’s screen, on the other hand, produces minimal backlight leakage and not visible unless it is completely dark. Even then, the backlight leakage is so subtle that it’s hard to tell.

Among gamers, the priority of displays is not nearly as high as video card or memory. But it is often forgotten that a good display can make the entire gaming experience so much better, and that is the reason why the nc8430 makes such a wonderful portable gaming machine despite not having as much power as an equivalent desktop. Having such a high resolution screen in such a comparatively small size means you can turn down the resolution of a certain game, and still have a beautiful picture on the screen even though it’s an LCD. The nc8430 absolutely excels in the visual department, running games at lower resolutions simply does not mean crappy graphics on this laptop, which happens a lot with other LCDs on the market.

Game Performance

Instead of giving the traditional benchmarking with different resolutions and FPS numbers, an analysis will be given for what is a playable (having FPS around 30 and above) for two older games and two newer games. Keep in mind that the testing environment is similar to a typical user’s environment, where there might be a few simple applications running in the background and some internet applications as well. If you decide to buy from Newegg, the purchase of another 1GB of RAM is highly recommended for optimal game performance.

It should also be stated that the X1600 in the nc8430 will play many older games at the highest settings.

Half-Life 2 / CS: Source:
Extremely playable at high settings at 1680x1050. Everything was set at high with no AA or AF, FPS rarely dropped below 50. Very good performance. For CS all the original maps without HDR will play at the same settings without breaking a sweat, on newer maps with HDR if HDR is turned on the resolution should be dropped to 1280x800 for optimal accuracy in aiming. At 1680x1050 FPS will hover in the low 20s.

Battlefield 2:
Playable at high setting at 1680x1050, no AA or AF. Good performance through all maps and situations, FPS rarely drops below 30.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
This game can bring some of the most powerful rigs down to their knees before the arrival of the new king 8800GTX. Very playable at 1280x800 with no AA or AF; HDR on; distance rendering on; no grass; fade level at 50%; interior and exterior shadow both at 50%; no self, grass or tree shadow; shadow filtering on high; water detail on normal and blood decals on high. FPS hovers in the mid 20s to low 30s in cities and drops to low 20s in the wilderness. It must be said that since this is a laptop, there is no lag between the screen itself and your mouse, therefore even when FPS is in the low 20s the game is very playable and does not feel bogged down or laggy.

Company of Heroes
One of the prettiest RTS to have graced the game industry. Playable at 1680x1050 with most options on medium except for model and shader quality on high. FPS does drop during huge firefights but the effects are worthwhile for that bit of performance dip, and the super fine screen of the nc8430 just makes this game that much more enjoyable at 1680x1050. Playable at 1280x800 with most settings on high.

The super fine screen on the nc8430 does a fantastic job of hiding image blurring issue when running an LCD in its non-native resolution, therefore does not interfere with the actual gameplay. For most games released before 2006, the X1600 will simply dominate them. As for newer games, running at native resolution with all settings turned up high might not be a realistic thing to do, but turning down the options a bit or switch down to 1280x800 will solve most performance issues. When taking into consideration the quality, price and portability of the laptop, it is simply amazing value for money.

Heat & Noise

Cramming such a powerful PC into such a small frame will undoubtedly create heat. This is definitely not a laptop that you want to have plugged in, while playing some graphic-intensive game on your lap. But during normal everyday tasks there is very little heat generated, and is on par with other mainstream offerings’ level of heat output. When doing intensive work or playing games, the bottom of the unit can get fairly hot, and the fan will speed up to blow hot air out of the vent on the left side of the unit. The fan itself can get quite loud if you are in a quiet environment, but during normal gaming sessions with volumes up it is not noticeable and does not affect the overall gaming experience negatively. While unplugged, the power management will automatically scale down the speed of both the CPU and the GPU to save battery, and to prevent the bottom of the unit from getting too hot to be comfortable seated on your lap. The 7200rpm HD does produce more noise than its 5400 counterpart, but unless you are in a very quiet environment, it cannot be heard. Overall the nc8430 is slightly noisier than mainstream offerings and runs hotter under intensive applications. But again, taking into consideration of every thing this laptop offers, it is not bad at all.

Battery Life

This is the big one. There are several ASUS, Compal and Sager notebook PCs out on the market that offer similar performance and size, but they all have a critical drawback: poor battery life. Extended batteries are either unavailable, or even if they are, they are often expensive, bulky and heavy. The nc8430, however, has a standard 8-cell battery that provides excellent battery life. With wireless off and screen brightness set at 50%, the battery lasted almost 4 hours doing some light word processing. With wireless on and doing the same work, the battery lasted a bit more than 3 hours before getting to 5% remaining. With all sorts of power management off, unplugged and playing graphic-intensive games, the battery lasted exactly 1 hour. It's bad at all for the type of hardwares in the unit. Recharge is fast, with HP claiming to be able to charge to 90% within 90 minutes if the computer is off, actual experience is not as good but similar.

Miscellaneous

The notebook has all the modern connectors a student or traveling professional needs, USB ports, card reader, VGA output, headphones and microphone jacks, serial ports etc. A DVD-RW drive with dual-layer capability is also standard. Another important thing about purchasing a business class notebook is that it will not come bundled with a bunch of useless junkwares that gamers simply do not need. And the customer service response is a lot more professional and quicker than the typical mainstream customer support.

Conclusion

It is without a doubt that desktops will still dominate the market as far as gaming is concerned, but for the gamers whose lifestyle cannot permit them to have desktops, the nc8430 provides an excellent alternative. Its classic good looks, along with its sturdy construction and durability makes for a professional tool that you will not hesitate taking to formal settings with you. Its relatively small size for a 15.4” coupled with its light weight and superb battery life, means that you will have an easier time traveling with it. Its gorgeous screen, powered by the X1600 video card, fast hard drive and comfortable keyboard, means that no matter where you are, gaming is always going to be a viable and enjoyable option. Put that together with a 3 year standard warranty and a more than fair price, the nc8430 becomes one of the very best option for anyone looking for a sensible and portable laptop that can do it all. More importantly, it makes for an excellent choice for any serious gamer that has to wave goodbye to their beloved desktop. Fear not fellow gamers, as long as you have an nc8430 with you, the portable side of gaming might turn out to be better than you thought!