Prestigio Nobile 1590W / Uniwill 259EA1 Review (pics, specs)

by Ivan Kovac, Zagreb, Croatia

Overview and Introduction:

ThePrestigio Nobile 1590W notebook is sold in Europe and can be found on thePrestigio websitewhere it is descrbedin the following way:

"Notebook Prestigio Nobile 1590W has 15.4" WSXGA wide screen display with 1680x1050 resolution and external MXM video card and based on newest Intel Centrino chipset. This slim designed model has wide range of features as Bluetooth, Intervideo InstantOn, remote control and Intel High Definition Audio (Realtek ALC880, 7.1 Multi-channel compatible through S/PDIF). "

The Prestigio Nobile 1590W notebook is actually based upon the Uniwill 259EA1 barebones model notebook(many manufacturers will use a barebone notebook made in Taiwan by such Original Design Manufacturers as Uniwill and then configure and resell the notebook under their own brand, so Prestigio is therefore the Original Equipment Manufacturer -- OEM). There are actually other notebooks that use this Uniwill barebones model platform(Nexoc, and some Forcebook models). The advantage of the Prestigio Nobile 1590Wmachine is that you can configure the notebookto serve as a midrangebusiness orientedmachine by switching it to integrated graphics mode or a gaming beast by switching to using theMXM type 2 card inside (an ATI X700 card in this case). A simple switch on the notebook allows you to flip between integrated and dedicated graphics. ThePrestigio 1590W comes with the following standardspecs:

• Intel Alviso-G i915GM chipset (with GMA900 VGA)
• Realtek RTL8169/8110 Gigabit Ethernet
• Motorola SM56 modem
• DVD-RW TSST TS-L532A Optical Drive
• Realtek ALC880 sound.
• 15.4" WSXGA+ screen
• Multicard reader
• Firewire
• 3 powered USB 2.0 ports

At the time the below options could be configured and wereleft to my choice:

• Pentium M 750J @ 1,86 GHz
• Memory 2x1GB Kingston (max. configuration)
• Wireless Intel ProWireless 2915a/b/g
• MXM ATI X700 128MB (MXM type I)
• MSI Bluetooth dongle inside on the internal USB
• HD Toshiba 60GB 5400 rpm.

Reasons for Buying:

I used to havean old Asus M6800N and was very happy with it. I work for a small IT company that does a lot of work with databases, localization of web pages and programming. A friend of mine and a programmer needed a new machine for his C/C++ programming,so I figured it was a good idea for me to let him have the Asus asI was searching something new for myself. I wanted to buyanother Asusnotebook or maybe try an Acer-- but I was open to any brand that had a desktop replacement for a reasonable price. I wanted the Intel915 chipset and adedicated graphics card.Since I amin an IT companyI have an access to distributors and can choose what to buy. That is how I found this notebook modelthat (at the time) was the only available platform with answitchable graphic card for that price. That was the reason I purchased it. In fact, there was no other option for me once I saw the specs and got the price I wanted!

Where and How Purchased:

I bought my notebook a few months ago at a Croatian Asbis dealer. It is sold over here as a barebone machine that can be configured to your needs. That includes being able to configureCPU, Memory, Hard Drive, Wireless, Operating System, Graphics Processing Unit, stickers etc. My configuration was around $1,700 USD, including 22% VAT (tax), which is way cheaper in comparison to the closest competitors over here. It didn't have an OS installed, but this was not a problem asmy company is already a Microsoft partner and we have access to their software.

Build & Design:

Prestigio Nobile 1590W / Uniwill 259EA1 notebook front view (view larger image)

This notebookis built quite strongly. The case uses sturdy plastic and it is overall well made. Thedesign is silver combined with black and this looks decent -- there is no poor finish anywhere on the body of the machine. I didn't buythis notebookfor the looks though, for me it'swhat's inside that is great.

The screen frame is solid, and I didn't see any effects of bending ortwisting of the frame or of any lid opening problems. The screen hinges are pretty firm and there is nowobble.

Underside view of thePrestigio 1590W(view larger image)

In the above view is a picture of underside of the 1590W you can see 9 screws on one plate open the whole interior. There are 3 screws to access the external VGA card, 4 for theCPU compartment,1 additional for theHD, 1 for Bluetooth module and finally 1 for the optical drive. This is by far the easiest opening case I have ever seen.

This notebook hasa built in microphone on top of the widescreen, which is a nice feature to have. I carry the notebook around in a backpack and with a battery it weighs around 3.2 kg (7.05lbs).

Screen:

(view larger image)

The screen is excellent! The resolution isWSXGA+ (1680x1050). That's better than most other notebooks on the marketthat are much more expensive than this one. I found no dead pixels on my screen, although I have heard about some problems regarding this with the same model. I would recommend checking the screen at the store before buying if you can. The back lighting for the screenis even and bright and the viewing angle is respectable. The lid can be pushed back around 120 degrees from the closed position. The screen is good for gaming and there is no colour or luminosity changes in the corners. The brightness can be adjusted between6 different levels and the overall color contrast is good.

Speakers:

The speakers are small and locatedunder the screen. They are covered in a textile fabric material. Overall the speakers are not so good in a comparison toother built-innotebookspeakers I have heard, but they do produce decent middle and high frequencies. The amount of bass is too weak, but this can be partly fixed through the ALC880 equalizer. On a scale 1-10 I'd give the speakers a 6. I recommend buying external speakers or headphones to get better audio. This notebook has the ALC880 HD audio system and can be connected to a 7.1 system through the digital SPDIF connector.

Processor and Performance:

This notebook offers very good performance in both basicWindows usage and Office applications along with games.Theprocessor I got in this notebook is an Intel Pentium M 1.86 GHz that can be overclocked to 1.96 GHz in BIOS. Ittakes about 45 seconds to boot up and load all services and drivers. The fact the notebook is configured with2GB of RAMhelps to speed things along alot in my work. I usually have an allocation of 1.3 GB of RAM. When not using the notebook I'll usually put it into hibernate 99% of the time instead of shutting down,that way it needs only 25 seconds toget back up and working. With the processor and amount of RAM I have the notebook hasnever shown any sign of lack of resources or power in my usage. I play games like FEAR on it with decent frame rates on high at 800x600. On medium-high I can play it at 1024x768. Older games are just great on high at 1280x800 or even 1680x1050.

Benchmarks:

Below are the results gained from running Super Pi (ftp://pi.super-computing.org/windows/super_pi.zip), a program that forces the laptop's processor to calculate Pi to 2 million digits of accuracy. I timed it when on normal processor speed settings and when overclocked:

Notebook	Time
Prestigio Nobile 1590W (1.86GHz Pentium M / overclocked @ 1.96GHz)	1m 41s / 1m 34s
Dell XPS M140 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 41s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
IBM ThinkPad Z60m(2.0 GHz Pentium M)	1m 36s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000(1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
HP DV4170us (Pentium M 1.73 GHz)	1m 53s
Sony VAIO S380 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s

Below are the results gained from running 3DMark05 on thePrestigio (using default CPU speed, GPU, voltage settings):

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Prestigio Nobile 1590W(1.86GHz, ATI X700 128MB)	2296 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m (2.0GHz Pentium M, ATI X600 128MB)	16593DMarks / 3426CPUMarks
ThinkPadT43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics)	727 3DMarks / 3414 CPUMarks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)	2530 3D Marks / 3749 CPU Marks
Quanta KN1 (1.86 GHz Pentium M, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 128mb)	2,4863DMarks / 4106CPUMarks
HP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)	2536 3D Marks / 3557 CPU Marks
Dell Inspiron XPS 2 (2.0GHz Pentium M, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra with 256MB)	5112 3D Marks /NA

Everest Results (version 2.20) default settings / enhanced performance setting

Memory read: 2693 MB/s | 3065 MB/s

Memory write: 745 MB/s | 824 MB/s

Latency: 110.4 ns | 99.0 ns

Heat and Noise:

This notebook is very silent -- the fan turns on at 56 C, following speeds at 60, 65, 70, 75 C. The normal working temperature is around 54 C. Using the Intel GMA900 integrated graphicsis better forusing Office applications, DVD playing and Windows work on battery. When using the integrated graphics the fan almost never turns on. Using the ATI X700 is of course far better in modern 3D games at the cost of increased temperature and less battery time. Temperature inside is around 50 C and that produces evenly warm upper surface of the notebook after few hours of work. Sometimes I findthis warmthunpleasant. When playinggames the right side gets quite warm without a cooling pad. The fan is positionedon the bottomand it takes the air in there so I don't believe it can be used well in the lap as this would block the vent. The Disk is silent and never goes over35 C (and that's after extended use and without using a cooler pad). The optical drive is reasonably quiet.

During gaming with theATI GPUthe notebook canreach temps around 85 C. Here you can see the effects of under and overclocking on the ATI x700.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

Prestigio 1590W / Uniwill 259EA1 top row buttons on the keyboard (view larger image)

The keyboard is a standard full-sized keyboard, it is available in US English only. It has an FN button that is located before the left Ctrl. Overall the keyboard is stable and well built, but I find that thearrow buttons sometimes make squeaky sounds, like something is not in place right.The keyboard does not bend or flex except for the upper right corner. I have spoken to another person that bought this notebook who confirmed the same issue with flex in the upper right corner.

At the top of the keyboard are three shortcut buttons -- Internet, Windows Media Player and Wireless on/off. There are also three LEDs -- Wireless, Sleep and Battery.

The Pointing device is good, but it lacks horizontal scroll. There are left and right mouse buttons, no "wheel" button. The On/off power button is blue whenyou're usingGMA900, and green when using the external graphic card. Some functions that can beperformed with the FN button are: Sleep, Speaker on/off, LCD/CRT, Volume up and down, Brightness up and down. I would really like a touchpad on/off button, but there is no such thing on this notebook.

Input and Output Ports:

MIC in, Line in, Spdif/Speaker out. Multicard reader (view larger image)

PC Card (with a XD reader inside on this picture), Firewire, 3 powered USB 2.0, Power, S-video out (view larger image)

VGA, and the battery can be seen in the middle (view larger image)

1Gbit Ethernet, 56K modem (view larger image)

Wireless:

I have an Intel 2915a/b/g wireless card inside this notebook, so it is a true Centrino machine. I used to have problems with it -- all the usual stuff,but I finally solved the problem. It is a quite aninteresting story. The first 2915 card Ihad didn't work oneither my notebook or on the same barebone notebook that a friend of mine has. I thought the card must therefore be broken. Then I took a 2915 card from my brothers notebook - the same brand, manufacturer, and series (only the production date was different) and put it into my notebook. Guess what? It worked. Now here isthe funny part --I put myold Intel 2915 into my brother'sPrestigio 13" screen notebook and the card works flawlessly! Very strange.

Bluetooth is solved with an inside USB dongle.The BlueTooth dongle is made byMSI and comes withthe excellentBlueSoleil software. There is no infrared built-into this notebook.

Battery:

The battery life is not so good, it uses a4400mAh Panasonic Li-Ion battery. It lasts around 2.5 hours when using the integratedIntel GMA900 mode and doing simple windows work, and around 1:45when using the dedicatedATI graphics card. This is just enough time to watch a whole DVD on it. I think it is a 4 cell battery, and a better battery with more cells can be purchased. The standard battery slots in completely and does not stick out of the back.

Operating System and Software:

You can choose to take Windows XP Pro with this notebook. I didn't because I already have my own version of Windows XP Pro(my company being a Microsoft partner). There are no system restore disks, no hidden partitions (it is obviously a power user notebook). Instant ON software, and drivers are included.

Customer Support:

I really can't say much about what the support is like because it is sold through distributor channels. The warranty is two years. I will soon know more about the dead pixel policy. Upgrades are available with a delay. Service on the notebookis handled through another company -- they were quite good and professional when I called for some information.

Conclusion:

After the all mentioned above I would like to point out some more interesting details:

• The notebookhas the Instant ON ability for playing multimedia without booting into Windows. It works well except that it cannot access any partitions besides the primary and optical drive. It can be usedvia remote control. I actually purchased an additional IR remote control for $20 USD. It fully supports Instant ON and many controls in Windows. It looks very good though and can even be placed inside the PCMCIA card slot for storage! The Prestigio 1590W notebook has no IR port as I mentioned before, but with this remotecomes a little USB IR sensor on a cord. The good thing is it can be usedon desktops and other notebooks too!
  
  
  Remote purchased to work with Prestigio 1590W -- it comes with its own IR receiver
  
  
  The remote can be easily stored in the PCMCIA slot!
  
• BIOS has an option called "Enhanced performance" that actually overclocks FSB speedto140MHz, making the CPU speed 1.96GHz. It doesn't produce much extra heat when doing this (I didn't notice any) and performance is better. Especially in memory marks. The good thing is the overclockingautomatically turns off when on battery!
• There's a switchfor external (dedicated) or internal (integrated)graphics. You can flip the switch, but you have to reboot for the change to take effect. Beware of hibernating and then changing the graphics adapter used as you can't recover from hibernate on a different graphicsconfiguration!
• This notebook has the High definition audio based on Intel ICH6 with Realtek ALC880 as an interface. Line in makes wonders for my electric guitar hum, and effects that I use have 1ms delay which is excellent. It is possible to have even a 7.1 system through the digital spdif connector.

Note: My marks points out of10are at the end of each statement.

Complaints:

• Not a very attractive design, but I don't mind 6/10
• Not the best battery and I do mind 4/10
• There is no button or FN combo for the touchpad on/off -- I really don't see the reason why 1/10
• Can be warm after long gaming without a cooling pad, fan is below 6/10
• Puny speakers for such audio potential behind 6/10

Praises:

• Excellent WSXGA+ screen 10/10
• Good and strong build 9/10
• Possibility to upgrade and install even MXM type II cards 10/10
• 3 powered USB ports + 1 internal 9/10
• 2 VGA cards and external VGA switch 10/10
• HD audio, line in and digital SPDIF out (up to 7.1 surround) 10/10

This is thebest purchase I have ever made. The price of the notebook is comparable tomuch weaker models. It always has at least one better component orcompletely outclasses its competitors in the same price class, at least here in Croatia.

It is absolutely recommended for the future upgraders, gamers and power users. Paired with a cooling pad it can be overclocked to yield 30% better marks (over 3100 3dmark05) and undervolted to deliver it at 10 C lower temp. Now that makes it a very good gaming machine too.

You can read more about my experience in overclocking and undervolting this machine by going here: http://www.thegamebooks.com/notebook-reviewrestigio-nobile-1590w-t88.html. There are also pictures of the inside and an Ati x700 BIOS for download.

The Uniwill 259EA1 is aknown platform and many brands are using it and make it quite popular in Central and Eastern Europe. The names known to me under which it is sold are Forcebook and Nexoc. Isee that manyof these models also come with 1280x800 screen and are thus cheaper.

 

It's always interesting to me to see what brands and types of laptops are available and popular in other parts of the world. This Prestigio model is certainly very unique with the ability to switch between dedicated and integrated graphics options, obviously the benefit being when you want to save battery life and just use a laptop for basic functions its more power efficient to use the Intel integrated graphics. I can't think of any notebook on the American market that has this feature. The internal USB port is rather interesting too, never seen a notebook with that.

Thanks for this great review Ivan, very interesting and nicely done!

 

I blieve there is an alienware pc that does that. And some new ones are going to be in the US that do the same from different manufactures

 

i think uniwill makes one here in the US that switches between the integrated graphics and a 6600go. i think. i would've expected better battery life tho. at 2:45, that is pretty weak but then again its a small battery.

 

Excellent! Nice benchmarks, nice to see those.

Thumbs up to Uniwill for making an MXMII notebook - very nice to have for future upgrades.

Cheers

 

Loaf, yeah they make the Uniwill 259EN3 that is very similar...I've seen it on rawpowerpc.com and probably other places, has the great switching option.

 

Hi Loaf,
It is an 50000mWh battery. I don't know if it is 4 or 6 cell battery. Now they offer 6-cell batteries as an additional purchase. Again, I rarely use it on battery - 99% of the time it is on main power.

Cheers,

 

Nice review! Where did you purchase the remote from?

 

Hi aphirat,

The same distributor. They actually ordered it for me. And I am still playing with it. It actually controlls many things:

In Windows Media player: Almost all controls: play, pause, next, previous, volume up and down, page up/down (next screen of songs) etc....

On DVDs: main menu, root, and all similar to above...

In windows explorer: Arrows, enter, search, favorites...

In Instant ON: all controls (it was its primary usage)

In all text fields: arrows, enter, print, favorites???, find.

ETC....

I'm still finding the usage possibilities. It is surely a very interesting gadget.

Cheers,

 

sounds cool.
But isn't MXM a technology developed by nvidia ?

 

I just completed a review of my new ibupower.com battalion 101 ML Turbo. It is a uniwill 259EN1/3. Should be up anytime.

 

Hi ivoloos,

Yes MXM is a technology from nvidia, but actually ATI was welcome to use it. The pictures of it are here: http://www.thegamebooks.com/prestigio-1590w-(inside)-+-mxm-x700-128mb-t25.html

Cheers,

 

Ahh..., I didn't know that.

 

Just to inform you that a new BIOS 2.02 was released. You need the real DOS boot (from an USB for example, or Win98 install disk) and flash app and BIOS image.
Besides different logo position I didn't see any difference so far. There is no readme or anything.
It is interesting that bios file is 255ei.202 and ROM ID is also 255EI0008 - that looks like Uniwill code numbers to me. But it is maybe just a coincidence.

Cheers,

 

New User manuals (Croatian, Slovenian and Czech) are available here: http://www.prestigio.com/products/show.cfm/notebooks/Nobile/Nobile_1590W/Down

Cheers,