Portable One SX-N7350 Review

by Kevin O'Brien

The Portable One SX-N7350 is a compact 13.3" notebook built on the Clevo M735T platform. It offers a professional design that could be easily passed off as a business notebook, with a very durable chassis to hold up to the rigors of day-to-day abuse. Inside the notebook packs a glossy LED-backlit display and power-efficient Intel X4500HD integrated graphics. Read our full review to find out more about this notebook and if it deserves a spot on your lap.

Our Portable One SX-N7350 Configuration:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Business (w/ SP2)
• 13.3-inch glossy LED-backlit 16:10 display (1280x800)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
• 250GB Western Digital 7200RPM HDD
• SuperMulti DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
• Intel 5300AGN WiFi, 1Gb Ethernet, Modem
• 4-Cell 14.4V 2400mAh 35WHr Battery
• Limited 3-year standard parts and labor warranty
• Dimensions: LxWxH: 12.125" (w) x 9.125" (d) x 1.3"~1.44" (h)
• Weight: 4lbs 4.0oz
• Price as configured: $1,295.29 (Closest configuration with 200GB 7200RPM HD)

Build and Design
The Portable One SX-N7350 has a very basic exterior look with a rough matte plastic screen cover trimmed by a smooth black and silver trim piece on the top edge. Compared to most notebooks, this top cover is almost perfectly flat, no beveled or smoothed edges; just rounded corners. The plastic inside transitions to a machined metal plate that extends from the top edge around the keyboard, all the way down to the palmrest. The borders of the plate are machined down past the top anodized layer, giving a clean mirror-like finish. Everything about the design of this laptop is simple and elegant.

Build quality is excellent, holding its own against many popular business notebooks. The flat plastic screen cover is very rigid, withstanding strong impacts and flexing without showing any signs of distortion on the display. The screen hinges seem strong and hold the display shut even with the notebook being held vertically. The plastic body feels very durable, with no creaks or squeaks under normal use. The metal palmrests show no signs of flex when pushing down hard or when holding the notebook by the corner with the screen open. The keyboard tray has some give under hard pressure, but nothing that is noticeable unless you really force it.

The rough matte plastic is great for hiding any fingerprints, smudges, or even scratches. Unlike most glossy finishes which are a magnet any imperfections, plain plastic holds its own against abuse. Business laptops need to hold up to being tossed in airport screen bins, and hide any wear and tear from clients and colleagues.

Users wanting to upgrade this notebook will find it very easy with access panels for the hard drive and other system components. The primary panel houses the processor, RAM, and wireless card, leaving the hard drive to a bay of its own. The hard drive bay is secured with coin screws, making it easy to swap out no matter if you have a penny or a standard flathead screwdriver. None of the user accessible components had "warranty void if removed stickers," including the heatisnk on top of the processor.

Screen and Speakers
The SX-N7350 includes a 16:10 LED-backlit panel, which is becoming rare these days as everyone starts shifting towards 16:9 displays. Colors appear bright and saturated, and black levels look good. Contrast appears to be above average, which is also helped by the glossy screen surface. Backlight brightness levels are more than adequate for bright office conditions, but not quite high enough for comfortable outdoor viewing. Viewing angles were average, with a 15-20 degree vertical sweet spot before colors started to shift. Horizontal viewing angles were much better, staying true even at the steepest angles where you could still see the screen.

The speakers were average compared to smaller business notebooks, with very weak midrange and bass. The bottom-firing speakers get muffled when you have the notebook set on your lap or even a soft surface such as a bed or couch. External speakers or headphones would be an excellent accessory if you really want to enjoy music or movies.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard looks small compared to what we have seen on other 13.3" notebooks. It looks like it might feel at home on an 11" or 12" notebook. Even with its condensed size, it was still very comfortable to type on. Feedback from the keys was excellent; with a precise springy action form each key. Key noise was minimal, with a soft muted click emitted when pressed. Support was above average, with very little flex noticed under strong pressure. The left side of the keyboard did show some give under very heavy pressure, but it was nothing you would notice unless you were pounding your fists on the laptop.

This laptop incorporates a spacious Synaptics touchpad which is very responsive and easy to use. Finger tracking was excellent, with no lag seen even under quick movement. The refresh rate was high enough that when I was spinning the cursor in a circle, the motion felt fluid and not jittery. During the review I found that the preset scroll regions needed to be slightly adjusted, since I kept activating the horizontal scroll bar. This may have been caused by the lack of defined lower edge on the touchpad, or just being used to putting my fingers at a different height on this particular notebook. The touchpad buttons were easy to trigger, giving off a soft click when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection seemed average with three USB ports, VGA-out, and audio, LAN and modem jacks. With this being a more performance oriented business style notebook we were hoping to see HDMI or DisplayPort connection to an HDTV or newer projector. This model also includes an ExpressCard/54 slot and SD-card reader for expansion.

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Performance and Benchmarks
Performance was excellent with a fast 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Dup T9400 and X4500MHD integrated graphics, giving it plenty of power for anything that wasn't gaming related. Standard configurations start off with the 2.26GHz P8600 processor, with the T9400 being a $230 bump. System boot and shutdown times were excellent and when installing applications or going about our daily business we didn't find any lag what-so-ever. HD video decoding was no problem for this system, handling 720p and 1080p content fluidly. The 7200RPM hard drive helped keep access times down and transfer speeds up compared to a slower 5400RPM drive. Users upgrading this notebook at the time of purchase might also want to consider a SSD, which would allow it to handle more vibration as well as providing faster speeds.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Portable One SX-N7350 (Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz)	30.075 seconds
Dell Studio XPS 13 (Core 2 Duo P8600 @ 2.4GHz)	31.951 seconds
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26GHz)	34.209 seconds
Toshiba Satellite U405 (Core 2 Duo T8100 @ 2.1GHz)	37.500 seconds
Toshiba Satellite U505 (Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.0GHz)	38.128 seconds
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.0GHz)	38.656 seconds
Apple MacBook Air (Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 @ 1.6GHz)	68.173 seconds
MSI X-Slim X340 (Core 2 Solo SU3500 CULV @ 1.4GHz)	108.530 seconds

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia 9500M GE 256MB)	5,450 PCMarks
Portable One SX-N7350 (2.53GHz Intel T9400, Intel X4500)	5,276 PCMarks
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Nvidia 9300M GS 512MB)	4,920 PCMarks
Toshiba Satellite U505 (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Intel X4500)	4,437 PCMarks
Toshiba Satellite U405 (2.1GHz Intel T8100, Intel X3100)	4,145 PCMarks
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2.26GHz Intel P8400, Nvidia 9400M)	4,136 PCMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	2,478 PCMarks
MSI X-Slim X340 (1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CULV, Intel X4500)	2,337 PCMarks

3DMark06 comparison results against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Dell Studio XPS 13 (2.4GHz Intel P8600, Nvidia 9500M GE 256MB, Hybrid SLI)	3,542 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2.26GHz Intel P8400, Nvidia 9400M)	2,139 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv3510nr (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Nvidia 9300M GS 512MB)	1,865 3DMarks
Portable One SX-N7350 (2.53GHz Intel T9400, Intel X4500)	1,020 3DMarks
Toshiba Satellite U505 (2.0GHz Intel P7350, Intel X4500)	994 3DMarks
MSI X-Slim X340 (1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CULV, Intel X4500)	639 3DMarks
Toshiba Satellite U405 (2.1GHz Intel T8100, Intel X3100)	539 3DMarks
Apple MacBook Air (1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100)	502 3DMarks

HDTune measuring hard drive performance:

Heat and Noise
During the review one thing we noticed was a rather odd cooling system. The cooling fan sounded stressed, even with the system handling mundane tasks like browsing the web or typing documents. The cooling fan is mounted to the rear access panel, and seems like it needs more intake vents around the bottom of the notebook to bring in cool air. The current design only has two small intake vents near the front of the notebook. With the system performing mild tasks such as browsing the web and listening to music, the notebook did form some warm spots. I think a slower processor might have fared better, but simple changes to the cooling system to bring in more fresh air would have helped more. The temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit:

Battery Life
Most small business notebooks generally have good battery life, but the SX-N7350 didn't really impress us in this area with its 4-cell battery. The 4-cell battery has a 35Wh capacity, which is less than half of what we see in most business notebooks. In our battery test with the screen brightness set at 70%, wireless active, and Vista set to the balanced profile the laptop stayed on for 2 hours and 21 minutes. A larger 8-cell battery is offered as an option, so if you plan on using this while traveling, it would be a wise upgrade.

Conclusion
The Portable One SX-N7350 is a well built 13.3" notebook that is best compared to similarly sized business models. It has a simple plastic exterior that holds up very well against scratches and other blemishes, and the sturdy screen cover protects the display from any external impacts. The performance from our configuration was excellent when compared to 12" business notebooks, but not as great when you compare its 3D performance to 13.3" consumer notebooks which have dedicated graphics. The price is high, starting at 1,000, with our configuration reaching $1,300 with its upgrades. For business users it would perform well and with its good looking screen, be perfect for working on documents during the day and enjoying movies at night.

Pros:

• Strong chassis, very durable screen cover
• Keyboard comfortable for continuous typing
• Textured plastic resists blemishes

Cons:

• Keyboard small for the size of the laptop
• Weak battery life on the 4-cell battery

 

Yeah, the keyboard looks kinda small considering that other 13.3" keyboards extend to either sides.

 

Am liking the design.......the cooling system & battery life would give me pause though, esp. for that kind of money.

 

Thanks for the review.

It looks well built but the lack of dedicated navigation keys is a distinct disadvantage which can't be easy fixed. A P series CPU might be the better choice for cool and quiet operation.

John