Could a Notebook Be Best for Your Desk?

Ever since Compaq Computer brought out the first notebook PC in the late
1980s, the goal of the design has been mobility. And the demand for mobility
continues to drive a notebook market that now features powerful PCs that weigh
under 3 lb. and are less than an inch thick. But one of the fastest-growing
segments of the notebook industry today consists of products that seem to defy
all historical trends. They’re big and heavy and offer short battery life,
often under two hours.

The secret of these products is that they are mobile in name only. Generally,
buyers who choose them are looking for a computer that will spend most of its
time living on a desktop but can be closed and tucked away when not in use.
Portability is a bonus, not a driving force. Recently, designers of these
laptops have gone the logical next step and substituted a Pentium 4 processor
designed for desktops for the substantially more expensive Pentium 4-M chip
designed for notebook use. Industry sources say using the desktop chip knocks
about $100 off the cost of materials, though recent Intel price cuts have
narrowed the gap.

This
means that the retail cost of a laptop using the desktop Pentium 4 is likely to
be $150 to $200 less than a similar product using a mobile chip. The WinBook J4,
I tested starts at $1,599, including a high-resolution 15-in. display. There is
a price to be paid, though. The desktop chips lack the circuitry that reduces
the power consumption and heat output of the chips designed for laptops.

The short battery life of these mostly stationary notebooks is not a huge
issue. The WinBook achieves decent battery life of about three hours by using a
massive 23-oz. battery. But getting the heat out of the tight confines of a
laptop’s case is a major engineering challenge. At 45 watts, the desktop
Pentium 4 generates about 50% more heat than the mobile chip. Keeping the
insides of the notebook from overheating requires lots of cooling. The fans used
on the WinBook, including a unit with a diameter of about 21/2-in. located just
above the keyboard, make the J4 a lot noisier than most laptops, although still
quieter than a typical desktop. It’s also not a laptop you’ll want to use on
your lap. Between the weight and the toasty bottom of the case, resting it on
your knees quickly becomes unpleasant.

Some relatively obscure Asian and European laptop makers started the notebook
Pentium 4 trend about a year ago. At the time, Intel was not yet making a mobile
version of the chip, and the performance gap between desktops and portables had
grown to the widest point in recent years. Intel, which gets much healthier
margins on the mobile chips than on their desktop counterparts, tried to
discourage the practice. But the company failed to stop Toshiba from becoming
the first top-tier manufacturer to introduce a laptop with a desktop processor.
Now, every major maker of notebooks either offers such models or plans to
introduce them soon. Choices range from sub-$1,500 models to $3,000-plus
machines designed to appeal to gamers and serious power users. When shopping,
the sign of a desktop chip is that the "Intel Inside" sticker lists
the processor as a Pentium 4 rather than a Pentium 4-M. Intel still doesn’t
like the practice. "I don’t recommend using desktop processors in mobile
products," says Don McDonald, director of worldwide marketing for Intel’s
mobile programs. "Realistically, the reason manufacturers are doing it is
pricing." McDonald estimates that 20% of consumer notebooks contain desktop
processors. "Buyers are less educated about the difference, and they are
seeing these products from big brand names." Rival Advanced Micro Devices,
whose market share in portables is less than in desktops, is more enthusiastic
about the practice. "There are applications, like home notebooks, that a
45-watt processor is just right for," says Pat Moorhead, vice-president for
consumer advocacy.

Are these computers right for you? I would think that lugging a 9-lb.-plus
notebook too big to fit in most briefcases to the office and back would get old
fast. But if you want a compact, hideaway PC for home or a small office, one of
these desktop-based notebooks could be just the thing.

By Stephen H Wildstrom
in BusinessWeek. Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc