Systemax Epic

In this era of sexy, sleek notebooks, the pricey Systemax Epic is a bit of a curiosity. Despite its silver casing and jet-black keyboard, it's dangerously close to being downright generic-looking. Once we cracked the Epic open, however, we found a solid PC just waiting to be break out of its bland shell.

 

Not that there aren't some good things about the design. At less than five pounds and only 12.4 x 8.8 x 1.4 inches, this system is light enough for frequent flyers. The Epic also feels surprisingly sturdy, thanks to its magnesium alloy frame. The lid has no latch to keep it closed, but the hinge is sturdy enough that it doesn't need one.

 

The 13-inch widescreen display is crisp and bright, with only minor glare issues when viewed from oblique angles. The spacing on the full-sized keyboard felt right, with little to no hand cramping after more than 20 minutes of typing. The keys, however, initially felt slightly stiff, requiring a brief break-in period. We also noticed a hint of lag on the touchpad; it was slow to respond, even on the most sensitive settings.

 

The keyboard features a dedicated S key for the unit's Silent mode. This reduces the fan speed to lower both the noise level and the power usage. A row of LED lights in the lower left-hand corner of the keyboard lets users know when the Silent mode is engaged, as well as the laptop's power, wireless, hard drive, and battery. Next to the unit's power button is a Windows Media Player Quick Key, which means that WMP is always just a button push away.

 

The 2-Ghz Intel Core Duo T2500 keeps the Epic moving at a reasonably brisk clip, notching a MobileMark 2005 score of 204. Thanks to the machine's dual-core processor, we were able to watch an episode of Undeclared while running a thorough virus scan in the background. Neither operation hiccupped in the least.

 

The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA950 earned an expectedly low 3DMark03 score of 1,007. Even though gaming is out of the question for the Epic, this configuration's whopping 2GB of memory means you should be able to handle Windows Vista's graphics-intensive interface when that OS launches in January.

 

The Epic didn't exactly live up to its name when it came to endurance. Its six-cell battery mustered 3 hours and 5 minutes with Wi-Fi off, which is more than 30 minutes below average. With Wi-Fi enabled, the runtime dropped to 2 hours and 58 minutes. Using the system's Silent mode made virtually no difference (it lasted 2 hours and 57 minutes). And you can't configure this system with an extended-life battery. As for the unit's wireless performance, the Epic delivered an impressive data rate of 14.3 Mbps from 15 feet and 14.7 Mbps from 50 feet.

 

The 4-in-1 memory card reader makes transferring images from your digital camera a snap. The Epic also has plenty of ports, including three USB 2.0, FireWire, S-Video, and VGA. An 8X DVD burner will help you make home movies or back up large amounts of files to disc, although the 100GB hard drive provides plenty of storage.

 

The Epic comes preloaded with Microsoft Office Professional 2003, which costs $499 at retail but about $330 when adding it to a configuration on Dell's site. Systemax also bundles a copy of eTrust Antivirus 7.0 , which includes lifetime updates.

 

No one will ever do a double-take when you whip out your Epic at the Delta lounge, but this is a solid dual-core laptop. Just make sure you don't stray too far from a power outlet.