Feedback on Intel GMA x4500 & Samsung P210

Hello & much love, brothers!

I'm having the worst dilemma. So I was looking for a small & cheap yet powerful laptop the other day, since my HP Pavilion DV2000 fell off a cliff, and I would say found the best thing ever - Samsung Q210! The thing's got fantastic specs relative to it's size, good battery life also. However, I'd have to stab myself with a pair of scissors before buying another hideous, glossy fingerprinter, if you know what I mean..

Anyways, afterwards I came across the Samsung P210 and fell in love instantly. It's completely matte and the specs are about the same as Q210. Though, the thing is this - I have to say that I am severely addicted to HDTV, so I need a laptop that will have no problem playing 720p and, especially, 1080p Matroskas(.mkv) on big full HD monitors & TVs. And, since P210 is a business laptop, it comes with an Intel GMA x4500, which is probably not the best for the job.. Alternatively, Q210 has Nvidia GF 9200M GS, which should do the trick.

So please people - anyone with either with an integrated x3100 or x4500 or whatever leave feedback: Do your Intel GMA + CPU encode 1080p files smoothly?

I will also be greatful for all the feedback from Samsung P210 users (also Q210/Q310) on general issues of the laptop - build quality, performance, heat, battery etc.

Finally, if there is a laptop that would be even better for me, don't hesitate to suggest.

P.S. I don't give a flying toss about computer games, so no comments on that, please. Also, don't write what you think, just what you know for sure!

Any help is much appreciated.
Cheers!

 

I can't speak from experiance but the CPU alone will be able to deal with 1080p (though you might have difficulty running anything in the background). However the X4500HD is capable of offloading some of the .264 decoding so the P210 should handle 1080p with out any problems.

Sorry for not adding much useful info but trying to make the same decision myself between the p210 and q210 for the same reasons, so interested if you can get any more responses. Seems a shame to pay more for the lower specced p210 but the finish on the q210 would be a nightmarefor traveling with.

 

I saw a video once, though I can't remember where, of two laptops side by side, one with the 4500MHD and the other with the ATI HD3200 (also integrated graphics). The played a bluray movie on both and showed the CPU monitor. THe 4500MHD was staying at 100%, while the HD3200 system was only going to a maximum spike of about 70%, hovering around 50% IIRC.

 

Hi.

This thread might help!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=335217

John.

 

I can't comment on 1080 decode performance but my Dell E6400 with P8600 + X4500 would handle 720 decode without getting out of first gear. As already noted, the Intel GPU includes a built-in h.264 decoder which takes all the effort off the CPU. I don't know whether the .mkv files use that form of encoding, but I doubt if nVidia would be better than Intel in this respect.

John

 

It shouldn't be any problem to play 1080p files.

If it would be a problem, CoreAVC would solve it. Even NC10 (Atom) can playback 720 flawless with Core AVC.