Eurocom Racer: Why the Radeon HD 6970M Rocks
by Jarred Walton on March 17, 2011 3:00 AM ESTOne of My Favorite Laptop LCDs of Recent History
If you’ve been following our laptop reviews for any length of time, you’ll know that we’re suckers for a good quality LCD. What makes a good LCD? Well, first we really need at least a 500:1 contrast ratio, and higher is always welcome. Next, we’d like good viewing angles, but we’re generally disappointed in this regard as just about everything uses TN panels (with HP’s IPS DreamColor LCDs being the rare exception). We understand some people prefer glossy LCDs because they like the increased contrast, but I think everyone here at AnandTech would prefer a good quality matte LCD to anything glossy (emphasis on good). Having a large range of brightness levels is also desirable. Finally, good color accuracy and color gamut round out our wish list; since most of us tend to work in the sRGB color space, all we really need is about 65 to 70% of AdobeRGB, but we’re okay with slightly higher gamuts (particularly if the laptop includes an option to select your target color space). So, how does the panel in the Eurocom Racer measure up to this list? Let’s see….
Clevo P150HM Gamut
The Eurocom Racer misses out on viewing angles, as it’s still a TN panel, but as the images below show it’s not quite as bad as some of the competition. The contrast and colors are good, and we’re very pleased to get all this with a matte LCD. The only other area where we’d like to see improvements is backlight intensity. 240 nits is reasonable for indoor use, but we’re prefer at least 300 if not 400 nits.
There are definitely better LCDs out there—like HP’s DreamColor panels—but this is a good and reasonably priced panel. We’re still floored that it’s actually more expensive for the glossy 1080p panel, but to each his own. I’d rate the panel overall as a competitive solution to Dell’s XPS 15 and some of the other good 1080p LCDs we’ve seen in the past six months, but for me the matte coating pushes it ahead of the competition. Now if only the bezel matched the LCD….
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Metaluna - Friday, March 18, 2011 - link
JMicron makes GigE controllers now? That's not quite a deal-breaker on a laptop, but still, yuck. Oh well, at least the wireless card is Intel, which might be more important to mobile users.Marwan - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
I just don't understand why do you even waste your time reviewing $2K systems with TN panels. You are just as bad!Get it?
JarredWalton - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
Please point me to a single sub-$2000 notebook with a non-TN panel.Menty - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
Just had a quick question - should the Racer noise levels be roughly comparable to the ones from the old "Gaming Laptop Roundup" from Summer 2008? (http://www.anandtech.com/show/2607/13) I have an Alienware m15x, and from the numbers it seems like the noise levels are roughly comparable with the Racer.I can definitely live with the noise if it's the same as the older machine, and am in the market for a new 15" gaming laptop :).
JarredWalton - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
The testing is similar but not quite the same... I used to measure at 24", and now I'm down to about 18". I also used slightly different programs, but that shouldn't matter too much. It's usually a difference of around 2-3dB if you're 6" closer, so overall it looks like the M15x of old is about as loud as the P150HM.Menty - Monday, March 21, 2011 - link
Ah, thanks a lot :). Might give serious consideration to this laptop then!Owned a MBP 2011 for a grand total of 11 days before returning it due to the banshee wail of the fans and the temperature of the casing while gaming! Not too keen to repeat that :)
yohannest - Saturday, March 26, 2011 - link
Sweet new stuff always makes me happy!