ABS Zensation Z3 Notebook Review

by Ilya Gavrichenkov
02/25/2004 | 10:08 PM

The appearance of the Centrino platform turned out a kind of catalyst for the tremendous growth of the notebook market. Manufacturers were eager to grasp at the Intel’s bundle including a processor, chipset and wireless network controller. Intel’s Centrino technology is the today’s most advanced solution for the mobile PCs. This solution consists of a special mobile processor, core logic and a chip for wireless 802.11 network optimized and tested for working together smoothly. Besides the wireless capabilities, it allows developing thinner and lighter notebooks that can last longer on their own batteries – that’s a new unprecedented level of mobile performance.

Today we are going to take a look at a Centrino-based solution, the ABS Zensation Z3 notebook. If you haven’t yet heard about ABS Computer Technologies Company as a notebook supplier, I would like to say that this Californian company assembles and sells PCs since 1990. Also note that the notebooks shipped by ABS today are not manufactured by ABS completely. For example, the reviewed notebook is based around the ASUS M3N platform – I guess it is a more popular name among the users. ABS’ warranty covers the notebook at large as well as its components and you can get technical support on a 24/7 basis. So ABS Zensation Z3 boasts a good breeding and the owners of this system won’t find themselves facing technical problems unaided.

Cutting it short, the ABS Zensation Z3 is a mobile computer that combines good performance with elegant simplicity. Its high-performance Pentium M processor, good graphics of the Intel 855GM chipset and integrated WLAN controller come to you at $1359. The company serves this product for young businessmen who value stylish design, high performance, network opportunities and long autonomous work. Let’s now discuss the offer from ABS Computer Technologies in greater detail.

Specifications and Accessories

As ABS Zensation Z3 is based on Centrino technology, let’s take a look at its two constituents: the Pentium M processor and the i855 chipset.

Intel’s Pentium M features a new micro-architecture optimized for mobile PCs and ensuring high performance and low power consumption. In other words, your notebook will work longer on its own batteries. The key points of the new architecture are: Micro-ops Fusion for faster execution, Advanced Branch Prediction for better prediction results and a Dedicated Stack Manager for reducing the total amount of micro-ops. Each of these innovations brings such benefits as higher performance and lower power consumption.

Intel manufactures this 77-million-transistor CPU using the advanced 0.13-micron technological process. Its “mobile” nature shows itself in the power-optimized 400MHz FSB, the power-economical 1MB L2 cache that can disable idle blocks, and other special functions for low overall power consumption. The processor supports streaming SSE2 SIMD-extensions and the improved Intel SpeedStep technology that allows choosing between several operational frequencies and voltages.

i855 chipset family includes two models specifically designed for mobile PCs: the i855PM is intended to work with an external graphics card, while the i855GM contains an integrated graphics core called “Intel Extreme Graphics 2”. The new chipsets also support the improved Intel SpeedStep technology and the Deeper Sleep mode and feature an integrated timer that automatically turns off the chipset’s clock generator when the chipset is idle. Intel 855GM chipset can also switch its graphics subsystem into a low power consumption mode. Both chipsets support the I/O Hub architecture, up to 2GB of DDR266 SDRAM, the USB 2.0 bus and the 400MHz FSB.

And here is the list of the particular characteristics of the ABS Zensation Z3:

• Intel Centrino Mobile Technology;
• Intel Pentium M processor (Banias) with a frequency of up to 1.7MHz;
• Intel 855GM+ICH4 (Montara) integrated chipset;
• 14.1” XGA display (1024x768 resolution);
• Up to 64MB of the system RAM can be allotted for graphics memory (Intel GM Graphics Controller);
• SO-DIMM DDR266 memory expandable to 1GB (max 2 modules, 512MB each);
• Hard disk drive with up to 80GB storage capacity (UltraDMA/100);
• No floppy drive;
• Modular optical drive DVD-R/RW, CD-RW/DVD Combo (8x 24x/10x/24x), DVD-ROM (8x) + “hot swap”;
• Integrated V.90 56K modem;
• 10/100 BaseT LAN integrated wired network;
• Wireless network: Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 or EnGenius Technologies Dual Band Wireless Adapter 802.11g/b;
• I/O ports: 4 USB 2.0, 1 IEEE1394, 1 PCMCIA Type II, IrDA, VGA, SPDIF, headphones, microphone, parallel and one PortBar III (68-pin connector);
• Power-saving technology, ASUS Power4Gear;
• A touchpad with scroll buttons and the lock function;
• AC’97 stereo sound with 3D effects;
• 19V, 3.42amp, 65W power adapter;
• Battery life: up to 5 hours (up to 8 hours with an additional battery);
• 4/2.5hrs battery recharge time (with the notebook turned off/on);
• 309x254x29mm dimensions;
• 2.27kg weight.

This notebook may come in different configurations. The model we received for our tests included a Pentium M 1.6GHz processor, 512MB of memory, a 5400rpm 60GB hard disk drive from Toshiba, a DVD/CD-RW combo from QSI (8x 24x/10x/24x) and an 802.11g/b adapter from EnGenius Technologies.

Besides the notebook, you get the necessary documentation and software: Windows XP Home Edition, PowerDirector Pro and Medi@Show utilities, Ahead Nero Express 5 for ripping CDs, and ASUSDVD for watching DVD movies.

I should mention that ABS Zensation Z3 comes in a handy and capacious bag, which can take in a lot of other things besides the notebook.

Closer Look: the Exterior Design

Although ABS Zensation Z3 is based on ASUS M3N platform, its design differs greatly from the typical design of ASUS notebooks. ABS Zensation Z3 follows another style: white and gray colors, rounded corners, intricate design of the cover. I don’t say I dislike it, but the design seems really strange at first sight. Note also the dark panel with the keyboard, the touchpad that stand out only due to the surrounding frame (otherwise, you wouldn’t notice it at all!) and the huge power button with a shining blue rim when the notebook is on – overall we have something “cool” and “advanced”. I’m sure there will be people who will like this design, and they won’t be conservative, that’s for sure.

The power button with its blue rim hides some secrets. It is usually shining bright-blue, somewhat distracting you from your work. When the notebook is in the sleep mode, the button starts blinking at you. It seems like it’s inviting you to press it for the computer to wake up. That’s it – you can push it (or any key on the keyboard) to return to your full life from the Hibernate mode.

Let’s take a look at the devices and connectors located at the sides of the notebook:

ABS Zensation Z3 has nothing in the front, save for the closing clip:

The back panel of ABS Zensation Z3 carries I/O ports for connecting to a local network or phone line, a connector for an external monitor, a parallel port, a PortBar III connector and four USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, the placement of the USB ports is rather inconvenient (for example, it’s difficult to plug a USB flash drive into the Zensation Z3). Moreover, the USB ports are missing at the side panels. All “not very important” connectors are covered with a lid at the back panel.

We’ve got a standard set on the left edge: a PC Card slot, an IEEE1394 connector, an IR port, and a Kensington lock. This panel looks rather empty, I should say. At least, a couple of USB ports would liven it up somewhat, I think.

There is nothing interesting on the right side of the notebook: an optical drive, audio connectors and a power connector.

The cover of our ABS Zensation has light pipes above the basic indicators, and through these pipes the lights of the indicators come to the surface – you see them with the cover closed. Once again, this follows the overall design of the device.

Although ABS Zensaiton is equipped with a 14” matrix, has good characteristics and works up to 5 hours powered by its integrated battery, its weight doesn’t exceed 2kg, thanks to the Centrino platform. So ABS Zensation Z3 is a high-performance and truly portable computer.

The screen is visually good. The backlight lamps are very bright, but the viewing angles have some issues. Even the smallest deflection from the center of the screen makes the colors fade away. As for the integrated speakers, they are as good as any regular notebook speakers can be. But in fact they are only good for playing the standard Windows sounds.

Ergonomics

The cover hides the usual things: the keyboard and the quick-launch buttons are absolutely the same as in “big” models from ASUS. It is also a bad tradition that the letters on the quick-launch buttons on ASUS platforms are difficult to read, but you quickly learn them by heart.

The ordinary notebook keyboard fortunately has no “thin” keys here – all keys are big, you can’t miss them. A big advantage of ABS Zensation Z3 is its ability to disable the touchpad when you want to work with text or use an external manipulator, a mouse, for instance.

The four quick-launch buttons line up above the keyboard. They serve for launching the browser, for running the e-mail client, for switching between power profiles (it works if you have installed ASUS’ Power4Gear utility) and for disabling the touchpad.

By the way, the touchpad of Zensation Z3 is not an independent device, but just a sensitive area of the case.  This is a very important distinguishing feature of this solution, as you don’t have to bother about damaging the sensitive area anymore.

The touchpad is no match for a mouse in convenience, of course. First, its functionality is not so big: with the standard display resolution of 1024x768, the touchpad is its copy on a very small scale, so you have to shift your finger on the touchpad by a hairbreadth to move the cursor 5-10 characters along the text string. The double click becomes a problem, too. You can do it in two ways with the touchpad: just tap twice the fingertip you move the cursor with or use the imitation of the mouse buttons, which are located below. It’s hard to say what’s more difficult. In the first case, you have to tap your finger at exactly the same place, in the second, the cursor moves away. So you have to use your second hand, too, or place the hand over the imitation buttons before the movement.

This is of course a generic problem of the touchpad as a positioning device, rather than of this particular notebook. Regrettably, the standard accessories of the Zensation Z3 don’t include a mouse, but you can order it separately.

A slight change in the design of the scroll keys (a “rocker” instead of two independent keys) made them less easy to use.

I would like to dwell on the noise level separately. The noise factor is a strong point of ABS Zensation Z3. Considering that we’ve got a mobile processor, it shouldn’t heat up a lot. As a result, the active cooling system turns on only during the boot-up (for about 3 seconds) and in resource-consuming operations. Of course, we can only make guesses at what’s happening inside from the noise we hear. The processor seems to be cooled passively (with only a heatsink). Only when performing complex tasks (in our case, archiving, performance benchmarks, graphical filters functioning, RW-disc burning), the notebook turns on a pretty noisy fan. You can easily get along with it as you are not likely to hear it very often. So this notebook claims to be nearly noiseless.

The first and foremost noise source in this notebook is the DVD/CD-RW combo-drive. The notebook is very new, and the drive is a high-speed (read: noisy) one. If you often use the optical drive, think about installing a programmable speed limiter. Besides making much noise, the drive is vibrating frantically when working at its maximum speed (which is quite logical, though, but not quite comfortable). Moreover, the strange setup of the drive stops the disc after 10 seconds, which is only acceptable during software installations. When you are listening to MP3 music from the CD-ROM, Winamp runs short of the buffered data and accesses the disc and the disc starts spinning up again. We get a per-sample performance with pauses of several seconds between segments and a horrible case vibration. This is hardly any fun, but you can eliminate the problem with the help of an appropriate utility.

Upgrade

Let’s first take a look at the bottom panel of the notebook.

Unscrew two screws and you can get to the hard disk drive, unscrew two more – you reach the processor and memory. The HDD bay has rubber padding for protecting the device from sudden bumps and hits. This is a nice trifle that I have never seen before.

All main vent holes for cooling the notebook are in its bottom panel. That’s why make sure that you don’t place the device on anything soft – this may cause grave overheating of the interior.

ABS Zensation Z3 allows replacing the processor and hard disk drive as well as increasing the memory amount.

The CPU and the cooling system:

The CPU cooling system of ABS Zensation Z3 is based on heat pipes technology. Also, due to the SpeedStep technology, which is actively employed by the notebook, the CPU core clock frequency is reduced to 600MHz and the fan of the cooling system is used on very rare occasions.

The hard disk drive:

The memory slot:

The platform contains two SO-DIMM slots, so you can easily increase the memory amount by inserting another module into the empty slot.

Performance

We tested the ABS Zensation of the above-described configuration in the maximum performance mode. The results are given in the table below:

As you see, this notebook is really fast. In fact, these numbers correspond to a desktop computer with a Pentium 4 2.4-2.53GHz processor and an integrated graphics core. The graphics subsystem is the only weak spot here: the notebook is definitely not for playing 3D games. Well, we didn’t actually expect that from the Intel Extreme Graphics core. If you need high speed in 3D applications, you’d better consider notebooks with integrated graphics chips from NVIDIA and ATI. Sticking to Intel’s graphics core, we win in power consumption, as our tests confirm.

Save the Power

The designers of our today’s hero paid special attention to its power consumption and power saving technologies. ABS Zensation Z3 provides high performance for a long time: that’s an important factor for a notebook. On the one hand, the processor and chipset from the Centrino pack contribute to this. But besides that, the manufacturer also added a special technology for making the batteries last longer. You can control the technology using the Power4Gear utility.

In fact, we have four power consumption profiles and switch between them depending on the power source and your own particular needs. The profiles include:

• Max Performance uses no tricks for saving any power – you get the maximum performance, but only when the notebook receives power from the wall outlet. Otherwise, this profile is unavailable;
• High Performance also gives you enough computational power and you can use it when the notebook works from its own integrated battery. This profile differs from “Max Performance” as it reduces the brightness of the LCD panel by 27% and is more flexible in reducing the processor frequency by SpeedStep technology;
• Medium Performance reduces the screen brightness to 46% of the maximum. Besides that, Windows settings are adjusted so that the notebook could enter the Stand By mode sooner and the LCD panel and the hard disk drive were turned off quicker when the user is inactive. Moreover, the maximum processor frequency in this mode equals 600MHz;
• Max Power Saving features the longest battery life time – over 5 hours on the standard battery. The processor performance and the brightness of the LCD panel are both at the acceptable minimum.

Max Performance and High Performance modes are available for the user when the notebook works from the wall outlet. When the notebook is powered by the battery, you can enable only three modes, save for Max Performance. Again, the Power4Gear utility allows you switching between the profiles; you can also do this by means of hot buttons – they are above the keyboard, next to the browser and e-mail client launch buttons. The utility also allows creating your own power consumption profiles, so the Power4Gear technology is quite valuable.

The standard battery of ABS Zensation Z3 has a capacity of 4400mAh. According to the manufacturer, the notebook can work as long as 5 hours when powered only by this battery.

Let’s check out the performance and life time of the notebook in different work modes:

As you see, ABS Zensation is really capable of working for 5 hours from its own accumulator in the Max Power Saving mode. Although you will have your notebook work for that long only if you do not load it with heavy duties. If the workload is higher, the battery life becomes shorter, of course. Although even in this case the battery of ABS Zensation Z3 lasts for an impressive period of time, I should say.

By the way, when the battery has only 5% of its full charge, the notebook automatically switches into the “save to disk” mode. It allows saving all open documents to the hard disk drive before the computer shuts down completely.

Conclusion

ABS Zensation Z3 is an excellent business notebook: wide network capabilities – phone modem, wired 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11g/b WLAN – allow using this notebook wherever you are. Other characteristics are up to the mark, too. In fact, this notebook lacks only one thing – support of the Bluetooth protocol. This machine boasts the performance of a good office PC, and it works as long as 5 hours powered by its batteries.

One of the definite strengths of  ABS Zensation Z3 solution is four USB 2.0 ports, which add much to the functionality of the notebook, although their placement could have been better. Many notebook manufacturers limit themselves with two ports only, so this is an obvious advantage of the Zensation. Add also the support of the IEEE1394 interface, which is another advantage.

The performance of this notebook may make many desktop computers look crippled: the combination of a Pentium M 1.6GHz, 512MB memory and a 5400rpm HDD is a powerful combination.

I should also stress the fact that the system offers wide opportunities for future upgrade, such as increasing the system memory amount to 1GB or installing a faster processor.

Overall, we were very pleased with the ABS Zensation Z3 and unanimously agreed on awarding it with our Editor’s Choice!