14 DAY TRIAL // Over the past few months, most, if not all, new mobile computers, be they netbooks, notebooks or workstations, were based on the newest, strongest and most energy efficient central processors from Intel. Willing to offer some variation, Wortmann AG has come forth with, instead a Pine Trail-based netbook or an Arrandale-powered notebook, a new laptop based on an AMD Athlon Series central processor. The freshest mobile computer from the company is known as the Terra Mobile 1745 and is aimed at budget-conscious users.
The PC maker decided to make this machine a purely AMD-based product. It is the newest laptop from the company, weighs 2.9 kilograms and features a 17-inch screen and a maximum resolution of 1,400 x 900 pixels.
The system configuration itself is based on the Athlon 64 TF-20 central processing unit from Advanced Micro Devices. This CPU has a clock speed of 1.6 GHz and is backed up by 2GB of RAM, as well as the Radeon X1200 integrated graphics. 250GB of storage space are provided by a hard disk drive and, for optical disk interfacing, the portable machine also boasts a DVD writer.
As far as connectivity and I/O capabilities are concerned, the new AMD-based Terra Mobile 1745 notebook has 10/100 LAN, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, optional Bluetooth, a seven-in-one card reader, an ExpressCard slot and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. The laptop also features a six-cell battery and FreeDOS. Unfortunately, it is still unclear how long a battery life end-users can expect to enjoy.
It is obvious that the laptop does not have the advanced power saving and performance features of Intel's Arrandale processors, but it could be said that Wortmann's mobile PC makes up for this through its price. The gadget is already available bearing a price tag of 499 Euro.