MALIBAL's Lotus P150HM: GeForce GTX 485M Gets Its Game On

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Using the latest advances from Intel and Nvidia, MALIBAL attempts to prove that portability and performance are no longer mutually exclusive. Can a fully-loaded Lotus P150HM meet the needs of performance enthusiasts and gamers at a more reasonable price?

Power, Efficiency, And Battery Life

Intel’s latest mobile CPU is designed with efficiency in mind, but that’s not necessarily going to put a notebook with class-leading GPU on top.

The above chart appears to show that Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 485M has lower idle power, in spite of its higher full-load consumption. Perhaps its improved performance will still allow the Lotus P150HM to have higher efficiency?

Lower idle power should also help in our battery life test, since Battery Eater Pro has fairly-light CPU and GPU loads.

Though road warriors would likely sacrifice any gaming capability in exchange for longer battery life, a gaming notebook that can last at least an hour and a half away from the wall gets this editor’s approval. Gamers will still need a wall outlet to enable the unit’s full performance, but at least they can use it for typical notebook tasks when AC power isn’t available.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • cable4
    Sweet laptop!
    Now all I have to do is plan a bank robbery to afford it ;)
    Reply
  • Crashman
    cable4Sweet laptop! Now all I have to do is plan a bank robbery to afford itI think you can save around $1500 and still keep the good graphics card if you're willing to give up the fast processor, SSD, and extra RAM :)
    Reply
  • lee3821
    CrashmanI think you can save around $1500 and still keep the good graphics card if you're willing to give up the fast processor, SSD, and extra RAMGood point.
    With that taken off price, it looks really appealing, honestly.
    Size+Wieght+Power+Price+Battery=great!
    ...if I wanted a gaming laptop.
    For me, the HD6550M and i5 480M serve me well enough at 1366x768 until I can get back to my kickass desktop.
    Reply
  • Bigmac80
    I have a pretty good gaming laptop Asus G73. I remember when i bought it i was thinking to myself that this can really change everything because of how fast and how portble it was. But even though i have a fast laptop i still prefer gaming on a desktop.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    Too bad you made no comparisons to desktop midrange systems. So we still don't know if it's worth going for only a laptop like this, or getting a cheap i3 laptop for the road and a proper gaming system for stationary use.
    Reply
  • Maziar
    Impressive results. 1:38 is quite good for a gaming notebook like this.
    to neiroatopelcc
    GTX 485M performs between desktop GTS 450 and GTX 460
    Reply
  • bhaberle
    I wouldn't say only seven pounds mate. That is on the heavier side for notebooks. =) But I am glad that laptops are finally not going to be a huge compromise.
    Reply
  • oz73942
    The batterly life on the review is no where close to what owners are getting. 3 hours under typical daily use ;)
    Reply
  • WyomingKnott
    Am I just stupid? What is "Clevo?"
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    WyomingKnottAm I just stupid? What is "Clevo?"
    Most of the brands you heard of don't actually make any laptops. The vast majority of laptops on the market are manufactured by a small handful of Original Design Manufacturers (ODM).

    Major relationships include:

    * Quanta sells to (among others) HP/Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, Acer, NEC, Gateway and Lenovo/IBM - note that Quanta is currently (as of August, 2007) the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world.
    * Compal sells to Toshiba, HP/Compaq, Acer, and Dell.
    * Positivo Informatica sells to Samsung, Sony, Siragon, Toshiba, HP
    * Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to HP/Compaq, Dell, IBM, NEC, Acer, and Lenovo/IBM.
    * Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP/Compaq, NEC, and Dell.
    * Itautec sells to Siragon, LG, Samsung, Sony
    * ECS sells to IBM, Fujitsu, and Dell.
    * Asus sells to Apple (iBook), Sony, and Samsung.
    * Inventec sells to HP/Compaq, Toshiba, and BenQ.
    * Lanix sells to Sony, Compaq, Toshiba, Siragon, Itautec
    * Uniwill sells to Lenovo/IBM and Fujitsu & PC World UK own brand Advent.
    * Clevo sells to known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, Xoticpc, Prostar, etc.

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

    They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs
    .
    Reply