In the past several days, we have received requests to compare the Envy M:855 to something to the likes of a Pentium 4 800FSB based Sager desktop replacement, Additional requests have been made on the use of the most current desktop NVIDIA drivers, when we benchmark something the likes of a Dell Inspiron 8600, which happens to use the GeForce FX Go5650.
While Sager doesn’t make their own notebooks (they ODM though Clevo), we have in fact been welcome to the idea of a Sager notebook, as we have looked at one in the past. We have sent our own inquiries to Sager and NVIDIA (*separate cases*), so the lack of addressing these topics aren’t for our lack of trying.
We recently did our own scouting and contacted the folks at DriverHeaven about their Mod Tool, which is a program that modifies ATI desktop drivers for mobile and IGP use. Due to qualification issues, we wanted to ensure and oversee the modification process used to convert desktop drivers to mobile drivers first hand. For ATI, we have seen what modification takes place, and have no problems using self-modified drivers for benchmarks, as the Mod Tool is nothing more than a script that automatically edits lines in three driver files for mobile use.
On the other end, we were trying to find the NVIDIA equivalent for DriverHeaven’s Mod Tool, but there doesn’t seem to be one. Additionally, modifying desktop NVIDIA drivers seems to be a more complicated process, due to LCD issues, which were cited by those that have gone through the trouble of doing so.
Getting back to part 2, the Voodoo Envy M:855 is the highest end notebook offering from Voodoo, and is intended to be of the desktop replacement class. Voodoo is also offering three other alternative desktop replacement notebooks based on Pentium 4: M:600 (800FSB), M:700 (533FSB), and M:750 (800FSB). All three are ODM from Clevo; though, the M:700 is from an older model, which has already gone through a refresh for the Intel Pentium 4 800FSB processors. Voodoo is going to be releasing their M:750 tonight, which is basically M:700 with a new chipset to support the 800FSB Pentium 4 processors. The M:750 will also be sporting the Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB of video memory, which will effectively make it the replacement for the M:700. At least for now, the M:855 clearly out classes the M:600, M:700, and M:750. To top it off, it surprising comes with a lower starting price point than the M:700, $3000 to $3100 respectively.
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