December 25, 2012 at 10:32MicroXperts MXP U400 Ultrabook Review
Another review of the next ultrabook will be a bit unusual. In Russia, they rarely produce their own products, preferring to sell finished products. The process of own assembly from imported components can be called production, and if so, then this review will be devoted to the ultrabook of Russian production MicroXperts MXP U400-02. Instead of a boring story about a stylish white cardboard box in which an ultrabook is packed, I’ll tell a little about the manufacturing company. The MicroXperts brand has been on the market for 25 years. Initially, it was registered in the USA and in 1993 one of the first assembly plants in Russia was opened in St. Petersburg. In the 90s, MicroXperts personal computers were sold with might and main in the largest stores of the Northern Capital. Many large government and commercial institutions were corporate customers of the brand. History is silent about the reasons for the decline in the company's activities, but a new round of development began in 2009 after the acquisition of the brand by Yulmart. A wide range of manufactured computers has recently replenished with portable devices, which will be discussed.
I'll start, perhaps, with the technical specifications.
| CPU | Intel Core i5 3217U (1.8 GHz), 2 cores, 3 MB L3 cache, NT, TDP 17 W |
| Chipset | Intel HM76 Express |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz in single-channel mode (one 8 GB bracket) |
| Video card | Intel HD Graphics 4000, the core frequency is dynamically changed from 350 MHz to 1150 MHz |
| Network devices | Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet |
| Storage System | SSD: Intel SATA III 120 Gb |
| Integrated devices | Webcam 1.3 MP, microphone |
| Ports for connecting devices | Two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, one HDMI port, one combo audio jack (headphones and microphone), one Gigabit Ethernet port, one VGA port, 1 SDXC / SDHC / SD / MMC card reader |
| Display | 14.0 ", resolution 1366 * 768 |
| Battery | 6-cell, Li-Ion, 7800 mAh |
| Weight | 1.76 kg |
Externally, the ultrabook is not wide, rather even strict, since it is made entirely in black. The design is non-unique, the platform is manufactured by Lengda and is called the X300V. The diagonal of the monitor is 14 inches.
The top cover, or surface A, is made of aluminum. Right in the middle, with the help of laser engraving, the MXP logo is applied.
The island type keyboard, no backlight, the keys are located quite conveniently. It is worth noting the full-sized cursor keys, because often in comments habrayuzers complain about the small size of the cursor buttons. Russian and English letters are applied in one color - white. It’s hard to say whether this is a plus or a minus, because the MacBook also has the same letter color. The buttons move soft, but the clicks are clearly audible.
The following ports and connectors are located on the right side of the ultrabook: combined audio, USB 3.0, HDMI, LAN, a socket for connecting a power adapter. The LAN port is closed with a rubber plug, a bit strange decision, because the ultrabook does not pretend to be “protected” and the other connectors are not covered by anything.
The left side of the UltraX MicroXperts MXP U400 contains a VGA connector, two USB 2.0 ports and a card reader that can read SD / SDHC / MMC.
The back side is reserved for ventilation holes through which the cooling system emits hot air.
The underside of the ultrabook is made of a single piece of plastic, and you just won’t get to the insides. In total, the cover is attached using 18 (!) Screws of different lengths. When assembling / disassembling, it is very important not to confuse them in places, otherwise the plastic of the surface C, the one where the keyboard is located, can significantly swell.
The delivery kit is very modest: user manual and charger. Nishtyak lovers have nothing to profit from, but this is not reflected in the price of the product.
The power supply is not ideal in terms of size, but is already close to the best samples.
Poking around inside. A good half of the insides is occupied by the battery. This fact gives hope for a good battery life.
The system has an SSD drive from Intel. No compromise or hybrid storage, just pure performance.
The battery capacity is 7800 mAh. Another hint of survivability.
The front panel is studded with LEDs like a Christmas tree. There is a power indicator, and an indicator of hard drive activity, and a charging indicator, and Caps Lock, and NumLock, and even an indicator of wireless connection activity.
The cooling system consists of a heat pipe common to the chipset and processor, and a fan manufactured by SEPA. This is where the minus lies - at high speeds, read when the load on the processor, the roar of the fan becomes very noticeable.
An 8 gigabyte DDR3 memory module is installed in the only dedicated slot on the motherboard. I'm not sure if it makes sense to install more than 8 gigabytes of RAM in the laptop, but with the advent of 16 gigabyte slats, the owners of the MicroXperts MXP U400 will have a chance to try to double the amount of memory.
We climbed inside, collected, now we will check the visually obtained knowledge with the help of software.
The Intel Core i5-3317U processor belonging to the Ivy Bridge family is capable of operating at frequencies up to 2.6 GHz in TurboBoost mode. The maximum heat dissipation is - 17 watts.
The chipset on which the motherboard is built - Intel HM76, has a maximum heat dissipation of 4.1 W, that is, in general, the system emits 21.1 W of heat, a very modest indicator, but not a minimum.
Intel's SSD drive works in SATA II mode, the presence of a hidden drive R: allows you to talk about the preinstalled Windows OS recovery system.
The graphics core of Intel HD Graphics 4000 is well known, as it is found in all ultrabooks with integrated video.
A comprehensive screenshot with the characteristics of the MicroXperts MXP U400.
Well, let's go test what is there in terms of performance?
The standard test of Windows 7 suggests that the worst in ultrabook is the situation with graphics and puts a rating of 4.7. Recall what was on other ultrabooks: Toshiba Portege - 5.2, ASUS ZenBook UX31A - 5.9, Acer Aspire M3 -5.7, Samsung 900X3A - 4.7, Sony T13 - 4.5, HP Folio 13 - 4.7. All ultrabooks with a score lower than 5.0 have a single-channel memory mode, which negatively affects the performance of integrated graphics.
And here is the confirmation of the above, only 10060 MB / s when reading from memory, the “dual-channel” ASUS ZenBook has a similar indicator of almost 17000. The
SSD shows good numbers, but not maximum due to the fact that it does not work in SATA III mode ( platform design feature).
I will continue to test complex performance with the tests of PC Mark Vantage and PC Mark 7.
Due to the high performance of the storage system, in these tests MicroXperts MXP U400 is ahead of models even with external graphics, but with a hybrid storage system. Only ASUS ZenBook on SanDisk and ADATA high-speed SSDs are ahead.
The temperature regime is not the strongest place, not only does the fan make noise, but the processor heats up. 82 degrees - such a maximum figure was recorded in the process of passing the tests.
And here’s the sweet one: the battery life by PowerMark is 3 hours 39 minutes. Only the Acer Aspire M3 Ultra and HP Folio 13 are larger. Excellent results.
Final thoughts, or instead of a conclusion.
Firstly, this ultrabook has a significant advantage - the price. In Yulmart, you can buy such a device for 26,090 rubles with Windows 8, 26,490 rubles with Windows 7 HP and the version is a bit simpler with 4 gigs of memory for 25,990 rubles . Secondly, a unique feature - 3 years warranty, even Sony and ASUS do not have this, not to mention other Apple and HP. Thirdly, the domestic manufacturer, for some, a dubious moment, but someone will be pleased to work on a Russian ultrabook. Yes, the device turned out not without flaws, but according to insider information, there will soon be new ultrabooks from MicroXperts, in which I hope the cons will be completely absent.
PS. But many are rooting for Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest, on football fields and hockey venues, let's cheer for Russian companies that are trying to do more than just resell.
