X-bit labs

Samsung Q30 Plus Notebook: Minimum Weight and Maximum Performance (page 7)

Category: Mobile

by Alexander Britvin

[ 01/11/2006 | 02:27 PM ]

Configuration

I mentioned above that the Samsung Q30 Plus uses the most power-economical processor from Intel’s Pentium M Ultra Low Voltage series. The Pentium M 753 has a clock rate of 1.1GHz, is based on the 90nm Dothan core, and has 2MB L2 cache and 400MHz FSB. Like the entire Pentium M series, this model supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology that permits the software and the notebook’s BIOS to adjust the CPU frequency multiplier and reduce it when the CPU load is low.

Unlike the older version of this sub-notebook (without the “Plus” in the model name), the Samsung Q30 Plus is an implementation of the second-generation Centrino platform, codenamed Sonoma. The small notebooks oriented 915GMS chipset features a more advanced integrated graphics core than in the 855GME and also supports a number of hot technologies like DDR2 SDRAM, hard drives with the Serial ATA interface, PCI Express and Express Card interfaces, and Intel High Definition Audio.

The graphics subsystem integrated into the 915GM and 915GMS chipsets – Graphics Media Accelerator 900 – provides power-saving features and delivers two times the speed of the integrated graphics solutions of the previous generation. Here are some basic characteristics of GMA 900: hardware DirectX 9 acceleration, Pixel Shader 2.0, 133-320MHz graphics core frequency, four pixel pipelines, and support of up to 214MB of graphics memory. A more detailed comparison of Extreme Graphics 2 with Graphics Media Accelerator 900 can be found here.

The combo-drive included with the sub-notebook is the Samsung Type 5 External IEEE 1394 SBP2 Device with the following speed formula:

• 24x CD read speed
• 16x CD write speed
• 10x CD rewrite speed
• 8x DVD read speed

The Samsung Q30 Plus uses a 1.8” Toshiba MK4004GAH hard disk drive with a spindle rotation speed of 4200rpm and a storage capacity of 40 gigabytes.

Diagnostics utilities report that there are two memory slots in this sub-notebook, but the specification mentions only one which is occupied with a 512MB module (the maximum supported memory amount is 768MB and I’d be curious to see a memory module of that capacity). So it seems that you can’t increase the memory amount any further.

The computer remained very quiet and cold during my tests even though it lacks any ventilation. I measured the temperature of the hottest spots on the notebook’s surfaces with an infrared thermometer after 30 minutes of work in the Classic mode of Battery Eater Pro 2.60 (the ambient temperature remained at 23°C during this test) and got the following numbers:

• LCD panel – 30°C
• Keyboard – 36°C
• Bottom panel – 36°C

The next table summarizes the technical characteristics of the Samsung Q30 Plus and compares them with those of the Sony VAIO VGN-T2XRP/S: