Notebook IRBIS Mobile M51II: the market conqueror
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Date: 07.08.2008 |
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Design, usability
Those users who need a portable PC because "it is trendy these days" should choose a different model (e.g. one made by Apple) because IRBIS Mobile M51II is meant for work and not for image-making. As is should be for a "workhorse", its design of fairly modest. The housing of the notebook is made of black and dark-grey plastic, and although the developers tried to liven up the design with a combination of these two colors, it looks like a business suit for a mid-level manager - strict and reserved. As the tie, the only bright item of a business suit, there are audio connectors on the front panel made of blue, rose, and green plastic. As the pin for the tie, there is a sliding latch of the light-grey lid.
Under the keyboard, there are five silvery programmable buttons, and near them there is a power on-off button made in the same style but of a bit larger size. The four LED indicators are on the rib of the front panel - they are visible with both closed and open lid of the notebook.
From the usability viewpoint, IRBIS Mobile M51II deserves the highest of praises - all the components are positioned in an almost ideal way. On the rear wall of the notebook there are no connectors or ports - they are all positioned on the side and front panels. All the most actively used items - the bay of the optical drive, sockets for the adapter of flash memory cards and ExpressCard expansion boards - are on the right-hand panel. The rarer used connectors - VGA and S-Video outputs, RJ-45, a port replicator -on the left-hand panel. The USB ports are positioned on both the panels - two on each.
Keyboard
The keyboard makes a substantial contribution to the high estimate of the usability. IRBIS Mobile M51II is equipped with a standard (for notebooks) keyboard with 19-mm key spacing. It offers a complete set of function keys, large [Shift] and [Backspace] keys, easy to access [PgUp], [PgDn], [Home], and [End] keys positioned vertically in line from the right-hand side of the keyboard.
Due to a perfect tactile feedback, the blind typing does not bring any discomfort. The keys are distinct to click, and at the same time the keyboard is soft and not noisy at all.
The only shortcoming that we noticed is that the cursor keys (arrows) are not gathered into a separate block. However, that does not create much of inconvenience - the keys are large, located where they should be, so that is no more than a formal shortcoming.
Dimensions and mass
The dimensions of IRBIS Mobile M51II are typical for a portable PC with a 15" LCD - 355x255x35 mm. However, this model may be perceived as large enough - it may even seem that it has a wide screen. At the same time, the housing is thin enough, and the perception is enhanced by the shape narrowed towards the edges.
As regards the weight of the notebook - the manufacturer declared the mass of 2.7 kg. To this mass you should add the mass of a rechargeable battery and the power supply adapter, so the full mass exceeds 3 kg. On the whole, the model can be recommended to those who don't have to often work on the fly (also because of the short time of standalone operation, of which we are talking below). IRBIS Mobile M51II will not bring much inconvenience if used as a permanent portable personal computer, but travelers should choose a more compact model.
Tests
The performance test results did not bring in any surprises - this notebook offers a powerful albeit not a record-breaking configuration, and the level of all the subsystems is high enough. This also applies to the graphic controller - the result demonstrated at 3DMark06 is not bad indeed for a portable PC.
However, the tests have revealed one weak side of the notebook - relatively short time of standalone battery operation. The battery operation time was under 2 hours while running office applications in MobileMark 2007. With the maximum computational load upon all the subsystems (the Battery Eater PRO test), the battery charge was not enough for more than an hour. Also, during the tests the battery sometimes ceased to charge at all and lost the remaining charge completely. It is highly probable that the problem was in the battery of a specific test specimen, but even if the mentioned issues are found in only a single specimen, the capacity of the bundled battery - 2200 mA*hr - is evidently small for such a powerful configuration.
| MobileMark 2007 Productivity, score points |
218 |
| MobileMark 2007 Productivity, hr:min |
1:56 |
| 3DMark06, marks |
1515 |
| 3DMark06:SM2.0, marks |
571 |
| 3DMark06:HDR/SM3.0, marks |
533 |
| 3DMark06:CPU, marks |
1352 |
| Battery Eater PRO, hr:min |
1:05 |
Summary
The goal IRBIS Mobile M51II (as well as other portable computers by "K-Systems") faces is quite challenging: already in 2009 to expel Toshiba from the fifth place on the Russian market of notebooks. These are just the plans the company management are declaring. However, the history of IT industry states that even the most technically advanced solutions were unable to withstand competition. Although the model that we tested deserves a firm "good" mark, it definitely not up to the mark to get an "excellent" mark. What is it that "K-Systems" relies upon, what are the methods for achieving the challenging goal?
Evidently, through the market methods, with attractive prices. From this viewpoint, IRBIS Mobile M51II is fully prepared for competition battles. The cost of this notebook, albeit not offering an outstanding design but distinguished for the perfect and powerful configuration, is just a little bit over 1000$! That is undoubtedly one of the best offerings on the market - you can hardly imagine another model offered at this price and equipped with a 2.4 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, a 250 GB HDD, external graphic adapter, and a complete set of high-speed communication devices.
We only have to hope that in future the IRBIS Mobile notebooks, apart from the combination of low price and powerful configuration, will be complemented by interesting design and various proprietary technologies. All in all, these are compulsory stages towards the way of building a recognizable brand so needed on the market of portable computers.
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