Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Review: Systemax $999 Laptop


Review: Systemax Pursuit 4155

If you’re shopping for a laptop that has power, style, features and affordability, then you should look at the Systemax brand of laptops. These are entry level laptops boasting an Intel Core Duo T2250 (1.73Ghz) processor and Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate for under $999. The Systemax Pursuit 4155 is sleek, stylish and loaded with features. Whether you are business traveler, home user, student, or multimedia enthusiast, you’ll find this laptop can handle multiple roles and multiple tasks with ease.



On first look, it resembles Dell’s Inspiron laptop line with the same type of color, case profile and dimensions. However, under the hood, there is quite a difference. This multimedia media powerhouse is loaded with features including 1GB of (PC4200) memory, 15.4” WXGA widescreen lcd, 60GB 5400 rpm SATA hard drive, DVD/CDR Combo Drive, Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2, an integrated 1.3 Megapixel camera, Intel 3945 ABG wireless, and a variety of port/plug-in options; (3 USB, 1 Firewire, RJ45, RJ11, VGA, and SVideo Out) and a 6 cell battery. It also has a 1year warranty.
Out of the box, Vista has to be configured and registered, but that’s quickly completed. A Windows Vista cd is included, although you should use the built in recovery options first. Failing that, you can use the included Vista cd. The widescreen display is a nice feature and this screen was bright and crisp. What really impressed me were the additional memory card slots for your SD and flash memory cards. I find this lacking in many brand name laptops and only seems to be catching on in certain brands. The audio is high definition which was a nice surprise, not only in sound clarity, but also in power. The Pursuit 4155 has the power to pass as a general purpose audio player for the bedroom or living room. Not many laptops have the power to do this. Battery life seems to run about 3.5 hours with average web surfing. Of course expect less if you are playing games, or accessing the dvd drive.

If you’re looking for benchmarking, here is how it stacked up;
Windows Vista Experience rating was 3.0
Bapco Mobile Mark (2005, v 1.0) performance rating was 240


Product Name: Systemax Pursuit
Price: $999 US
Manufacturer: Systemax
More Info:
http://www.systemax.com/

A “better than most in entry level” laptop, and a great all purpose laptop. Unbeatable price for a Core Duo processor with Vista Ultimate!