14 DAY TRIAL // It would seem that the 13.3-inch notebooks are gaining ground, as an increasing number of PC vendors are rolling out their latest notebooks with this form factor. The latest company to announce its own such system is Maingear, which has just rolled out the new mX-L portable PC. Designed to take advantage of one of Intel's latest mobile platforms, the new mX-L comes in an ultraportable form factor and offers an option for a custom laser engraving on the back of the lid.
According to the available specifications on the company's website, the new mX-L has been built on Intel's GM45 and ICH9M chipset combo, offering support for some of the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, with clock speeds ranging from 2GHz to 2.8GHz. On the memory side, the laptop is ready to provide support for up to 8GB of DDR2 667/800MHz memory modules. The familiar integrated Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics solution comes with support for DirectX 10 and is ready to deliver the required support for the display's 1280x800 resolution.
On the storage side, the mX-L offers a choice for either an Intel 160GB X25-M solid state drive (SSD), or a higher-capacity 500GB Western Digital traditional hard disk drive. On the connectivity side, the ultraportable notebook comes with one D-Sub connector, three USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, S/PDIF, Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 and one modem RJ-11. Equipped with a 4-cell battery, this system is said to weigh 4.45 lbs, which is approximately 2.02Kg.
An entry-level model starts at US$1,100 and is powered by a Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-FI and DVD burner, which can be upgraded to a Blu-ray combo unit. The system is already available for ordering on the company's website.