Killer Notebooks Uchigatana Author:  Jason Jacobs Date:  2007.10.30 Topic:  Notebooks Provider:  Killer Notebooks Manufacturer:  Killer Notebooks

Testing and Use:

Our test system consisted of:

E6600 Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz Processor 2GB DDR2 667 Seagate 160GB 7200rpm Sata Hard Drive 8x DVD/RW Nvidia 8600 GT 512MB 15.4 in screen @ 1680 x 1050

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In our everyday testing of the system we found it ran very warm. Our benchmark loop of 3DMark06 over a four hour session resulted in a thermal exhaust temperature of 135.6 degrees fahrenheit. This is not a laptop you want sitting on your lap for extended periods unless you like blisters. That having been said we also must note that the system survived our 24 hour torture test running 3DMark06 and Prime 95 simultaneously without crashing or any issues and did maintain the same temperature. Accomplishing this level of performance in a laptop without melting the bottom of the casing off and causing nuclear fusion to occur is a excellent feat considering the hardware packed into this system.

The system has a very clean layout when opened with a blue lit LED power key and four function keys across the top. The keyboard is a full standard size which makes for easy touch typing and the touch pad is one of the best we have yet used providing enough response and a nice feel. The right and left click keys are metallic with the biometric fingerprint reader in the center. The addition of the webcam is nice but we have yet to find a practical everyday use for this device that has become almost standard equipment on laptops. It should be noted that while the standard for webcams is 1.3 Mega pixels the included cam on the Uchigatana raises the bar and brings that rating to 2.0 which provides enough resolution to do more than just chat should you need it.

The top of the notebook really must be seen to be appreciated. The clear shiny surface is almost 3D and almost has the look of carbon fiber but is instead a different dotted image in the appearance. There are icons embed into the top that represent power state, wireless, e-mail, and charging with blue leds. Overall the finish and construction quality is well above standard and it feels like a high quality laptop when working with it.

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