OCZ gambles on top spec notebooks

DIY DESKTOP PCS have been around for a long time now. The first no name PC clones appeared in mid-eighties. You got the 'bare bone' stuff from Taiwan, and filled in the rest to your own (dis)liking, depending on how much dosh you had, and what combination of components actually worked.

While at that time generic boxen covered nearly every market segment, from budget to the highest end, the increased competitiveness of big names and massive economies of scale behind them led to DIY PC retreating into the top end 'enthusiast' realm.

There were no serious attempts to create a high-quality, top-notch DIY notebook platform, where you could do a full custom approach in choosing what to put in, without compromising the core component quality - for instance, full HD screen and a keyboard that actually feels comfortable for heavy typing.

Until now, that is. OCZ has taken that bold step and provided the hard core "enthusiasts" and power-hungry professionals with their own full-custom, tunable notebook engine.

The core assembly of the OCZ Montevina GM47-based 17-inch DIY notebook platform looks good: the Computex sample we had a look at has sturdy casing plus a good tactile-feedback keyboard with plenty of key travel space. The display is Full HD at 1920x1200 resolution - a perfect 16:10 'golden ratio' match for both computer and multimedia use, as even their integrated graphics can run the Vista AeroGlass or Mac OS GUI at full performance at that resolution.

Some users find this a far better choice then elongated 16:9 ratio 1920x1080 displays which are fine for HD video (5 per cent of the usage time), not actual PC work (95 per cent of the usage time) where the pages are, well, usually, vertical! What's the point of helping LCD panel vendors save a few dollars of space efficiency if you lose your productivity by having to scroll non stop.

If you don't feel satisfied by the integrated graphics - some surely don't - there are two MXM2 slots in there, supporting either twin ATI GPUs in Crossfire, or a single Nvidia 8800M module. Too bad Nvidia didn't extend its Nehalem SLI support to the Montevina, huh?

The usual two-spindle configuration features like tri-band 802.11n wireless, hi-def sound, 2Mpix webcam, speakers and such are there. We'd like some colour options to be provided as well, since it is meant to be a customisable - read personalised - notebook, after all.

Anyway, a good move, but we're sure OCZ will have quite a few competitors on this soon: some Taiwan vendors may start thinking of a similar model, since they control the design and manufacturing chain anyway. OCZ has to keep the lead by offering standard features above those usually seen in typical fully configured OEM notebook units.

Another competing group are the likes of biggie Tier1-backed Alienware and VoodooPC, whose desktops already compete against OCZ's recently acquired HyperSonic brand. How will these OCZ DIY's perform? Can they top this 'cream of the crop'?

More in an upcoming review. µ