A Compaq AMD

As detailed in our review of the AMD Turion 64 powered MSI S270, AMD has proven that their latest mobile platform is able to yield notebook designs that are small yet fast enough to compete with Intel for the dollars of price conscious consumers. From a performance standpoint, there's no denying that AMD still has much ground to cover before its Turion 64 Mobile Technology or any other mobile technology can even rattle Intel's leadership in notebook technologies, especially where battery life and performance are concerned. Of course, those well-tuned qualities come at a price and that's where AMD's Turion 64 comes in with its own interesting proposition.

With that said, desktop replacement (DTR), budget business and consumer notebooks are a couple of categories where AMD can tempt consumers away from the more pricey Intel offerings with its own blend of features. One such product is in the form HP's Compaq nx6125, a 15-inch business notebook for the budget minded that is built on the same chassis as the more expensive nx6120 Intel Centrino notebook.


At first glance, the nx6125 does appear to have a rather intimidating presence with its fairly large footprint and serious business shade. Matching its chunky dimensions is a heavy mass of 2.72kg, which immediately suggests that the nx6125 is far from being a lightweight computing companion for frequent travelers. There is however a good reason why it has such a stout and weighty physique, and that's because of the notebook's tough bodywork.

There is no hiding that the HP Compaq nx6125 is a budget business notebook and because of this need to keep production costs low and the fact that it needs to support a 15-inch LCD panel, the chassis and bodywork had to be fabricated out of strong, thick and tough ABS plastic. Adding to its sturdy outlook is its industrial styling where straight/sharp lines, angles and obtrusive exhaust vents are evident all around. Nevertheless, the build quality is solid and despite its plastic housing, the nx6125 doesn't look cheap at all.

Front – (left to right: Left speaker, Status LEDs, 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader and Right speaker.)

Left Profile – (left to right: Analog VGA port, Mini-DV FireWire-400 port, 2 x USB 2.0 ports, MIC-in jack, Earphone jack, ExpressCard slot and Smart Card reader.)

Right Profile – (left to right: Optical Disc Drive and RJ-11 Modem Phone jack.)

Rear – (left to right: Kensington slot, Power jack, RJ45-Ethernet jack, USB 2.0 port and S-Video TV-out.)