We heard some good news a while ago: Axioo, the local Indonesian notebook brand, would be among the first to launch mobile Sandy Bridge platforms to the market. Axioo had also participated in the CES 2011 exhibition at Las Vegas on January. Not long after that, we received the Neon HNM from Axioo. This notebook is powered by a quad-core Core i7 platform based on the new Sandy Bridge architecture. The rest of its specification is no less impressive. We eagerly put it to the test to see how it would perform in our benchmarks.
In spite of the known defect on Intel’s series 6 chipset, we decided to continue the regular testing procedures. After all, this known bug would only affect performance after prolonged use, so it’s safe to say that our initial results could at least show you how a Sandy Bridge would perform. Regarding this, we have previously carried out a full test of the Sandy Bridge mobile platform where the Axioo Neon HNM was used as the baseline system. You can read the article here. In this article, we will focus more on the Neon HNM notebook itself.
The Neon HNM is covered with smooth, black piano-finish across most of its surface, most notably on the back of the LCD and on the handrest section. We like the glossy surface because it gives the notebook some attractive looks. On the other hand, the glossy casing is a fingerprint magnet so you’ll have to clean it regularly to keep the notebook shining.
Neon HNM’s 14-inch LCD screen has a native resolution of 1366×768. On the inside, it’s powered by a combination of Intel Core i7 2630M processor and 2 GB or DDR3-RAM. The processor’s integrated Intel GMA 3000M graphics core is put into full use here. According to Intel’s claims, the IGP should be powerful enough for “casual 3D gaming”. It also provides support for DirectX 10.1 features. As for the storage, a relatively large (for a notebook system of its class), 750 GB hard drive gives plenty of storage space. In fact, Neon HNM’s hard drive is, by far, the single largest storage unit that we’ve seen on a notebook.
Features and Connectivity
Neon HNM’s I/O ports are located on the right and left side of the notebook. The eSATA connector can double as an additional USB 2.0 port when needed. We noticed that the rubber cover on the card reader slot is a bit hard to open up. Other than that, the connectors are easy to access.
Neon HNM’s chiclet-style keyboard is relatively comfortable to use, but we don’t like the piano finish that covers the gap between the buttons because it easily gets smudged by our fingerprints when we were typing on the keyboard. You’ll need some extra efforts to keep this part clean and shining.
In the middle of the hard rest section, you will find Neon HNM’s hexagonal touchpad. It supports multi-touch gesture and is both comfortable and responsive during use. The power button, as well as several shortcut keys, can be found on the upper part of the keyboard.
Performance
SysMark 2007
From the SysMark 2007 preview ratings shown above, you can see that the Intel Core i7 2630M platform (including the Axioo Neon HNM) is clearly superior compared to its Arrandale predecessor (The Core i7 7xxM/ 6xxM). The top position is occupied by another Sandy Bridge notebook that relies on the same processor, but has the advantage of using a discrete graphics card.
MobileMark 2007
Neon HNM’s 4400 mAh battery provides enough power to sustain the notebook for 226 minutes or close to 4 hours, according to our MobileMark 2007 test. Quite remarkable for a quad-core Sandy Bridge notebook that provides plenty of processing power.
Performance: Intel GMA 3000
The on-CPU graphics is also quite powerful for an integrated solution. Updating the motherboard driver to version 2266 further improves the speed. With this kind of performance, you can expect the notebook to be able to run some lightweight 3D games at decent frame rates. For more details on how it would perform in real-life games, refer to our mobile Sandy Bridge article.
Conclusion
It’s fast alright. From the performance standpoint, the Axioo Neon HNM is clearly a winner. Even better, at just Rp. 7.000.000 (around US$ 780) it is also relatively affordable for a notebook of its class. That price will get you one of the most up-to-date mobile systems today. In our opinion, the Axioo Neon HNM offers a nice balance between price, performance, and technical specification. If not for the Sandy Bridge bug, this notebook could’ve made it to the top of the shopping list indeed.Even though the bug does not seem to affect its performance in our test, there’s no denying that it’s present in current Sandy Bridge systems. So, would you make the purchase now, or would you rather wait for a revised version? The choice is yours.
Axioo Neon HNM
Pros
- High performance
- Relatively affordable for a notebook with a quad-core Core i7 CPU.
Cons
- Let down by the Sandy Bridge defect
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