The UK Magazine’s test laptop was a 16-incher with modest specs: 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 5400rpm hard disk, Nvidia GeForce GT240M graphics, and a 32-bit Vista install.

So they were surprised when it almost matched the results of the their top-performing laptop to date: a much higher-specified Dell Precision M6400 Covet with a 2.53GHz Core 2 Quad QX9300, twice the RAM, faster 7200rpm hard disk, high-end Nvidia Quadro FX 3700M graphics and 64-bit Vista OS.

 

PC Pro’s write-up also digs into the i7-820QM’s heat and power saving efficiencies, and sums things up as follows:

Price may yet prove to be a stumbling block, especially for the quad-core models, but going by the reasonable cost of Intel’s desktop-based Lynnfield platform upon which the mobile i7 platform is based, we can keep our fingers crossed that the forthcoming dual-core CPUs will bring all the i7’s benefits – Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading included – to laptops of all prices, shapes and sizes.