LG P1 Express Dual Review (pics, specs)

by Mohammed Al Khorafi, Kuwait

LG P1 Express Dual Review

LG are really doing a good job with their notebook line up. Their notebooks have great specs, great looks, good build quality and excellent screens. The LG P1 Express under is a multimedia notebook that can be configured with an ATI X1600 graphics card and a Core 2 Duo processor. The model under review however has an ATI X1400 card and older Core Duo processor. The P1 is light to carry compared to the competing 15.4" Toshiba Tecra with the same specs.

Quick Specs of reviewed model:

• Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 2.0 GHz
• Intel 945PM/GM
• 80GB HDD
• 1024 DDR2 (667GHz, Dual Channel Support, Up to 4GB)
• ATI MobilityTM Radeon X1400 (up to 512MB *HyperMemory)
• DVD Super Multi Dual Layer

(view large image)

Keyboard,Touchpad and Buttons:

LG P1 Keyboard (view large image)

Now this is what I call a keyboard! There's no flex and the key travel feels just right. As a bonus, a numeric keypad compliments the keyboard, useful for those accounting types. The keyboard is not white like the S1 keyboard, so you won't need to wear gloves to keep the keyboard looking clean. The touchpad is big enough and the two buttons are just where you would want them to be. Apart from the screen, the P1's keyboard is probably its strongest asset.

To the right side of the keyboard, there is a finger print reader that comes along with pre-installed OmniSoft software. The finger print reader is easy to use and efficient for logging in. Furthermore, you can use it to remember your password for website logins, replacing the need to manually type in a password each time. All 10 fingers can be set and you can use any one of them to login.

For security purposes, people are advised to use their left hand thumb, since that is the least used finger (knowledge picked up from working in a bank).

Screen and Speakers:

LG is well known for their nice LCD and Plasma screens, and following suit, this is one good looking screen. The 15.4" screen is crystal clear. As with any other laptop, you can adjust the screen display brightness. I found that a couple of notches less than full brightness is enough for any task.

A look at the LG P1 Express default wallpaper(view large image)

With SRS TruSurround XT, SRS WOW XT, 5.1CH Dolby Digital, XTS Pro, 24bit High Definition Stereo Speakers (3W) you will never need external speakers. The sound quality from the built-in speakers is pretty awesome.

Battery and Power:

The battery fits snugly at the back of the P1 and the power adapter is portable enough. Fully charged, the battery is worth about 2.5 to 3 hours of charge. I would definitely take this with me on a flight, you could enjoy a movie or even do some gaming.

Input and Output Ports:

Left side of LG P1 (view large image)

Right side of LG P1 (view large image)

Rear of LG P1 (view large image)

The ports and wireless setup on the P1 is the same as the S1:

• 3USB ports
• VGA monitor out
• RJ11
• RJ45
• S-Video
• IEEE 1394
• Mic-in
• Line-in (S/PDIF).

Given the selection of ports, I think this laptop is even qualified as a Desktop replacement.

Performance and Benchmarks:

The P1's performance exceeded my expectations really. With a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo, 667MHz speed RAM and an ATI X1400; maybe I was expecting too little.

The P1 can serve as a gaming laptop if you get the X1600 card in it. But even with the X1400 card in this one I was able to play Battle Field 2 with med/high settings just fine.

All benchmarks were taken on stock settings with everything running normally.

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
LG P1 Express Dual (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 256MB)	2,386
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7400 256MB)	2,090
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB)	3,542
ASUS A8Ja (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 512MB)	3,850
Dell Inspiron E1505 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 256MB)	1,958
Dell XPS M1710 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX 512MB)	8,524
Lenovo T60 (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 64MB)	1,045
Lenovo Z61t (2.00GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA950 Integrated)	582
Toshiba Satellite P100-222 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS 512MB)	6,214

Notebook	3D Mark 06 Results
LG P1 Express Dual (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 256MB)	1103
Apple MacBook Pro (2.00GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 128MB)	1,528
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB)	2,183
ASUS A8Ja (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 512MB)	1,973
Dell XPS M1710 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX 512MB)	4,744
HP Pavilion dv6000z (1.8GHz Turion X2 TL-56, nVidia GeForce Go 7200 256MB)	674
Sony SZ-110B in Speed Mode (1.83GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7400 256MB)	794
Toshiba Satellite P100-222 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS 512MB)	3,534

Conclusion:

LG deserves a big round of applause. Their products not only look good, they are also of superb quality. The P1 is one of the better laptops I've used. While I don't own this laptop being reviewed, I would certainly buy it if I didn't already have my 17" Toshiba P105 gaming laptop. I recommend the LG P1 to anyone that wants a desktop replacement power equivalent notebook, but not the large 17" screen size weight.

Pros:

• Superb screen
• Core Duo dual core processor
• 667GHz ram.
• Finger print reader.
• Good pre-installed software.
• Slim and lightweight.

Cons:

• ATI X1400 not X1600 in this particular review model
• Silver or black coloring would have looked better

 

Does the MR X1400 have 256MB dedicated or is it 128MB with the rest HyperMemory? Also, does it come with Bluetooth?

 

No, it's actually 128mb deticated and upto 512mb hypermemory.
Yes it does come with BT.

 

Al Lugha al Arabiyyah!

 

How about the "Heat and Noise" part? Since this laptop has low-end desktop replacement-level power, I bet a lot of people would like to know if it runs cool and quiet.

 

Thanks for bringing up this point, I agree it is an important issue. I might of forgotten to bring this up because heat and noise is not a problem with this notebook. I used this notebook for watching movies and playing 3d games for hours on end. If it wasn't it's performance, you wouldn't know that this machine packs an ATI x1400 under the hood.

I hope this answers your question, no screenshots though. Sorry.

 

Good review! Its nice to see a 15.4" notebook with a separate number pad.

 

I'm really impressed with the separate number pad as well. I always thought that only 17 inch notebook carried a separate number pad.

 

Great review! Nice system.

Can you give us an idea of the price-range for this system?

I know the S1 is expensive and was wondering about this one.

 

In Kuwait, this setup would cost around 1600$ compared to 2200$ S1. So I guess it would cost 30% less than the price of an S1 from where you are.

 

The P1 brochure lists display resolution options of WXGA+ (1440 x 900) and WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050). Which resolution did you get? Is everything readable or did you have to make some adjustments?

John

 

This model has the WSXGA and everything is readable.

 

So just how heavy is it?
Also there's no webcam, right?

 

You are right, there's no webcam and it weighs approximately 2.8 kilograms with the regular 6 cell battery.

 

nice review. I just got the same laptop with the core2duo, but your review pretty much sums up my thoughts of it as well.

 

Great review. Ive been using one of these (its my sisters) myself for a month now while i wait for my S1. The number pad is a definate plus...pretty much exclusive

Sorry but just to point out something...
In ur review you stated that ur processor was a T2400 running at 2.0 GHz. The T2400 is actually clocked at 1.86GHz (have it in my system) and the T2500 is the one clocked at 2.0 GHz. Unless u overclocked it ofcourse..

 

Thank you for pointing that out. You are right, it is 2.0 t2500. Another thing, the reviewed machine had 1 GB worth of ram not 512. Andrew please arrange to ammend these 2 points, and please excuse me guys.

Thanks

 

Good review. Looks like a nice machine. Love that keypad.

Did it come with a lot of bloatware? Looks like it has about 20 items in the system tray.

 

It does seem that way, but no. Actually, a;; of the icons on the system tray were installed later on. Like Daemon tools, paltalk, norton and so on. Almost nothing is pre installed, except for the drivers and LG's intelligent update which can update any new software that LG launches.

 

Hey there, great review I've been searching for reviews of the P1 and this is the only one I've come across.

Just a query about the keyboard, you said that it "is not white like the S1 keyboard" what do you mean by that? And do you think that it would go yellow, like the macs, over time?

 

The keyboard reference was regarding the color of the base and the keys in general. The P1 has a silver base and keys, while the S1 has a white colored base and keys (white as in macbook white)

 

Oh k, because in the pictures it looked white, but know i see that it has a tinge of silver.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for covering for me AP27.