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By Jonathan Blackwood
You'd think it was a new gold rush. A number of overseas computer manufacturers are comin' to America to mine the North American market. Italy's Olivetti is the latest to join the stampede, with its Echos line of modular multimedia notebook computers; Fujitsu and Hitachi are among the other newcomers.
I spent a day with two Olivetti units, the $4,799 Echos P133S and the $2,499 Echos P100C. These very pleasant computers are essentially the same, except for the processor and screen. The P133S sports a 133MHz Pentium processor and an 11.8-inch active-matrix color screen. The P100C is identical but for a 100MHz Pentium processor and an 11.3-inch dual-scan passive-matrix screen. In between these two models in the series are two units that I did not examine-the Echos P120E, which carries a price tag of $3,799 and comes with a 120MHz Pentium and an 11.3-inch active-matrix screen; and the Echos P100E, priced at $3,199, with a 100MHz Pentium and a 10.4-inch active-matrix screen. All models in the line come with 256KB of level 2 cache, a PCI system bus, a 1.3GB hard drive and a modular bay that can house a 6X CD-ROM drive, a floppy disk drive or an optional second battery.
There's the full complement of ports: monitor, serial, parallel, PS/2, IRDA and port replicator. The jack for the power cord is in the back, out of the way of disk drives. Two PCMCIA slots are vertically stacked on the left side; the external speaker and microphone ports are also on the left. The modular bay is on the right side. The floppy disk drive can be attached to the parallel port with a provided cable while the CD-ROM drive or the second battery occupies the modular bay, a nice touch. Both computers measure 1.9 by 11.1 by 8.9 inches; the P133S weighs in at 6.5 pounds, while the P100C weighs 6.2 pounds.
The pointing device is a Synaptics touchpad, one of the better touchpads available. The keyboard was well-spaced and had a very nice touch to it. However, there are no Win95 keys and I found myself wishing the Function and Control keys were reversed. Also, the Shift key is too small and too close to the up-arrow key.
An LCD panel on the hinge displays the status of the battery, when the disk drive is in use and so on, but it's not visible when the lid is closed. The power cord requires a grounded (three-pronged) plug, which can be a nuisance since you never know whether you'll be able to find a grounded outlet on the road. Two small speakers are located above the keyboard, below the screen. They're perfectly functional, though you wouldn't want to listen either to Beethoven or Metallica through them. There's also a built-in microphone. Oddly for a notebook, the machine doesn't turn itself off when exiting Windows.
On our WINDOWS Magazine Wintune 95 benchmarks, the P133S racked up an average of 228MIPS, an average 1.8MB-per-second uncached throughput for its hard disk, and 6MPixels per second for the video. Average times to execute our Word and Excel macros were 30.67 and 27.0 seconds, respectively. Performance is relatively similar on the P100C: an average of 180.67MIPS, 1.5MBps average uncached disk throughput, and 4.77MPixels per second average output for the video subsystem. The Word macro executed in an average time of 39 seconds, while the Excel macro took an average of 30.33 seconds to complete.
The performance scores on our benchmarks are in the average range for notebooks with these processors. Compare the application benchmark scores of the Echos P133S to those of the 133MHz Pentium Dell Latitude LM notebook (see review in this issue), and you'll find the Latitude is 46 percent faster on the Word macro and 44 percent faster on the Excel test. Since both machines have PCI buses, the difference seems to be the Dell unit's faster hard disk and 128-bit NeoMagic video controller. Olivetti's choice of a nickel metal hydride battery means you should expect about two hours on a charge, unless you spring for the cost and weight of an additional battery.
Olivetti has chosen not to introduce separate "value" and "performance" lines of notebooks, which gives its product line coherence. Initial assembly of these units is in Taiwan, with some components assembled in Italy and final configuration in Spokane, Wash. When Olivetti adds a lithium ion battery and beefs up the video performance, the Echos machines will run with the best on the market. As is, they're competent, if not outstanding. If you can get a good discount, they're worth considering.
Info File
Olivetti Echos P133S
Price: $4,799
Pros: PCI bus; construction; 6X CD-ROM
Cons: Nickel metal hydride battery; relative performance
Olivetti Personal Computers USA
888-465-4838, 512-310-2555
WinMag Box Score: 4.0
Info File
Olivetti Echos P100C
Price: $2,499
Pros: PCI bus; construction; 6X CD-ROM
Cons: Nickel metal hydride battery
Olivetti Personal Computers USA
888-465-4838, 512-310-2555
WinMag Box Score: 4.0
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