Ultra-lightweight 14-inch mobile "LAVIE NEXTREME Carbon XC950 / DAG" from about 883g

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NEC Personal Computer announced a new model of mobile notebook PC "LAVIE NEXTREME Carbon". While adopting a 14-inch display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, which is the first in the LAVIE series, the lightest model achieves a weight of about 883g, which is less than 900g. In addition, by adopting carbon material for the housing as the product name suggests, it is a full-scale mobile PC that also has excellent robustness. [See another image about this article] This time, I got the opportunity to try the LTE compatible wireless WAN equipped model "LAVIE NEXTREME Carbon XC950 / DAG", so I would like to take a closer look. It is already on sale and the actual selling price is around 277,000 yen. ■ Both lightness and robustness are achieved by using carbon material for the top plate and bottom. The "LAVIE NEXTREME Carbon XC950 / DAG" (hereinafter referred to as "XC950 / DAG") is the highest model in the NEXTREME Carbon series. The main specifications are summarized in Table 1. As introduced at the beginning, the lightest model of NEXTREME Carbon weighs about 883 g, but the XC950 / DAG I tried this time has a built-in LTE compatible wireless WAN function and a large capacity "L battery". The weight is about 937g, which is over 900g. However, it's still light enough that you can actually hold it with one hand. The actual weight of the actual machine was 934g, which was slightly lower than the nominal weight. To achieve this lightness, NEXTREME Carbon uses carbon material as the housing material, as you can see from the product name. Specifically, carbon material is used for the top plate and bottom surface. The carbon material used for the top plate is a new composition carbon developed by Toray, which has excellent rigidity even against local pressure. By sandwiching an ultra-lightweight core agent with a prepreg that uses the highest quality carbon fiber that is also used in artificial satellites and F1 machines, it realizes rigidity that can withstand locally applied pressure in crowded trains etc. It is said that there is. In addition, the bottom surface is made of different carbon materials, which not only have excellent rigidity but also have excellent thermal conductivity and vibration reduction effect. The housing that uses different carbon materials in this way achieves pressure resistance that can withstand a surface pressure of 150 kgf and excellent robustness that clears the drop test from 76 cm. In addition, it has cleared eight types of robustness tests that comply with the procurement standard "MIL-STD 810H" set by the US Department of Defense, and it can be said that there is no complaint about robustness. Even if I actually twist the main body with a little strong force, I get the impression that it doesn't move, and I don't feel any anxiety at all. Moreover, even if you twist only the relatively thin display part, it will not be significantly distorted, and you can strongly feel that excellent rigidity is ensured. If this is the case, you should be able to take it outside with confidence. The impression that the main body design is standard for the LAVIE series. The straight and solid housing, which has a flat top plate and the sides cut off, gives the impression of being "simple and sturdy." Personally, I think it's okay to be a little more playful, but it's true that business mobile PCs don't need that kind of thing, so there shouldn't be any problem. The main body size is 313 x 218 x 17.5 mm (width x depth x height). Considering that NEXTREME Carbon uses a 14-inch display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, it is compact enough and has almost the same size as a 13.3-inch mobile notebook PC. ■ Adopting a 14-inch LCD with an aspect ratio of 16:10 The display is the most distinctive feature of NEXTREME Carbon, combined with its lightness and excellent robustness. NEXTREME Carbon uses a 14-inch LCD with an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a display of 1,920 x 1,200 dots. This is the first time in the LAVIE series that a 14-inch LCD with an aspect ratio of 16:10 is used. Although the vertical resolution has only increased by 120 dots compared to full HD, you can still strongly feel that work efficiency is improved compared to full HD even if you use it for text input or Excel. The type of LCD panel used in NEXTREME Carbon is IPS. Since the panel surface is non-glossy and the reflection of outside light is almost unnoticeable, comfortable visibility can be ensured even for business applications centered on character input. In addition, the viewing angle was wide enough, and even if the viewpoint was moved greatly, no significant change in brightness or color development was felt. Regarding color development performance, although it is mentioned that it corresponds to high color purity display, specific indicators are not disclosed. When I actually displayed photos, I got the impression that the color was a little quieter than the LCD with excellent color development performance installed in PCs for creators. Still, the quality is sufficient for a business mobile notebook PC LCD, and you will not be dissatisfied unless you seek professional-level color development performance. In that sense, it can be said that it has the necessary and sufficient display performance. By the way, the display of NEXTREME Carbon has a narrow bezel specification with 4 volumes, in which not only the left and right but also the upper and lower bezel widths are narrowed. In the LAVIE series so far, even if the bezel width is narrowed on the left and right, there are many models with slightly thicker bezels on the top and bottom, and there was an impression that it was a little old when the display was open. However, with NEXTREME Carbon, such an impression has been completely wiped out. When I measured the bezel width, it was 5.43 mm on the left and right and 8.93 mm on the top. It may be difficult to measure the lower part, but the impression when the display is opened and viewed from the front is almost the same narrowness as the left and right. Of course, it goes without saying that this narrow bezel width contributes to the miniaturization of the housing size. ■ The keyboard is evolving, but there is room for improvement. His keyboard is equipped with an isolation type Japanese keyboard like the conventional model. By arranging the keys to the left and right positions of the housing, not only the main keys but also the area around the Enter key are all secured at a full pitch of about 19 mm. The stroke is about 1.5 mm, ensuring a solid depth. The click feeling is strong, but I personally like the feeling of keystrokes that are not so hard. The key top has a slight dent, which makes it easy to use with your fingers and allows you to type comfortably. And the quietness of the keystroke sound, which was a feature of the conventional LAVIE series, is firmly inherited. Unless you hit it hard, you won't feel the keystrokes are noisy, so it's safe to use in quiet places. By the way, the notation of the key top has been changed from the past, the alphabet is displayed larger in the center, and the kana is displayed smaller in the lower right. Although it is a slight change, the impression of appearance has changed significantly, giving a sophisticated impression. It also has a keyboard backlight, which makes typing in dark places more comfortable. Another change is the function key sequence. In addition to being used as a function key, it can also be used as a "one-touch action key" with functions such as media control, but in NEXTREME Carbon, the standard is a one-touch action key. Of course, you can also use the standard as a function key. At the same time, the button layout has also been changed, and voice-related buttons such as volume adjustment are placed on the left (F1) side, and brightness adjustment and display display switching are placed on the left side. There is also a new microphone ON / OFF button that has never been seen before. These changes are to respond to the increased opportunities for telework and remote meetings due to the Korona-ka. In other words, by placing the volume and microphone-related buttons that have become popular on the left, we have improved usability. The button layout is a part that you can get used to and cover if you use it for a long time, but it is appreciated that consideration is given to ease of use. However, there are still some parts of the keyboard that are of concern. That is the position of the cursor keys. In the previous LAVIE series, the cursor key was placed one step below the Shift key, but from a few generations ago, the ↑ key is now placed next to the right Shift. And unfortunately, it is inherited as it is in NEXTREME Carbon. I personally use the right Shift a lot, but this arrangement is irregular, and I strongly feel that I want the cursor keys to be placed below the Shift key. The pointing device uses a touch pad with an integrated click button. The area is large enough and gesture operations are possible. I would like to have an independent click button if possible, but I am not very dissatisfied with the operability. However, the impression that the click operation sound is a little louder than the keyboard keystroke sound. Since the quietness of the keyboard has been improved, I would like the touchpad to be much quieter. Similarly, the point that the mounting position of the touchpad is shifted to the right from the home position of the keyboard is also a concern. This is because it is placed in the center of the housing in terms of design, but for convenience, I would like it to be mounted in the center of the home position of the keyboard. ■ Equipped with LTE compatible wireless WAN as standard The XC950 / DAG used this time is the top model of NEXTREME Carbon, and the specifications are quite substantial as introduced at the beginning. CPU is Core i7-1195G7, memory is 16GB, which is necessary and sufficient. In terms of timing, I think that I wanted to have the 12th generation Core processor adopted, but in that case there is a high possibility that the release date will be after spring, and in that respect it is said that the 11th generation Core processor was adopted. Conceivable. In terms of specifications, the major feature is that it is equipped with an LTE-compatible wireless WAN as standard. With SIM lock-free specifications, not only nanoSIM but also eSIM can be used, so it is nice to be able to freely select and use SIM. It might have been good to support 5G, but there is a direct sales model available, so if you want to install a 5G compatible wireless WAN, you should select the direct sales model. In addition, the point that it is equipped with a function corresponding to telework is also a part that cannot be overlooked. The Web camera uses a 1080p high-quality camera, and is also equipped with automatic light / dark correction and skin-beautifying correction functions. When I actually tried it, the reaction was that the other party didn't feel much difference. This seems to be a problem for my own subject, but at least it looks clearer than an HD resolution webcam, so it seems to be useful in web conferencing. At the same time, a noise canceling function "YAMAHA Meeting Function" that reduces ambient noise, environmental sounds, keyboard keystroke sounds, etc. is also available. When I intentionally made a slightly loud train running sound and tried it, the reaction was that no noise was heard from the other party. The YAMAHA meeting function can only be used with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Skype. It's a little disappointing that only these 4 apps are supported, so I would like to see other apps support them in the future. The interface on the side has Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4.0 Gen3 x 2) x 2 and a microSD card slot on the left side, and an audio jack, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and HDMI on the right side. Considering that it is for business, it is a pity that there is no wired LAN, but it has a necessary and sufficient interface. The biometric authentication function is equipped with a Windows Hello compatible face authentication camera as standard. This face recognition camera is also used as a Web camera. The camera also has a physical shutter, which is a privacy shutter, and you can protect your privacy by covering the camera when you don't need it. The commercial model XC950 / DAG does not have a fingerprint authentication sensor, but the direct sales model can also have a fingerprint authentication sensor with an integrated power button, which can be installed at the same time as a face authentication camera. In addition, a security application "Glance by Mirametrix" is also available. A webcam is used to detect people in front of the PC, and when the user is no longer out of the seat, the screen is automatically turned off, or a state where someone is looking into from behind is detected and an alert is displayed on the screen. Functions such as displaying are available. I actually tried it, but I felt that it would be convenient to turn off the screen when leaving the seat because the screen turns off instantly by shortening the activation time. The included AC adapter is a USB Type-C connection type USB PD compliant AC adapter that can be used by connecting to Thunderbolt 4. The maximum output is 65W. The size is not so big, but it is a little bigger than the small USB PD compatible AC adapter that has been increasing in recent years. The weight of the AC adapter was actually 223g including the attached power cable. ■ Performance is perfect, but the drive time is a little short, so let's briefly introduce the results of the benchmark test. The benchmark software used this time is UL LLC's "PCMark 10 v2.1.2532", "3DMark Professional Edition v2.22.7336", and Maxon's "CINEBENCH R23.200". The results are summarized below. Looking at the results, we got a score that seems to be a high-end model of mobile notebook PCs. Since the discrete GPU is not installed, the result of 3DMark is reasonable, but considering it as a business mobile PC, this is also a perfect score, and I do not feel any dissatisfaction at all. Even when I actually used it, I didn't feel the weight when using the application, but it can be confirmed from this score that the performance is perfect. By the way, the built-in SSD of XC950 / DAG is a high-speed SSD compatible with PCIe 4.0. Therefore, I measured the access speed using CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4. Then, it was confirmed that the sequential read speed was 6,731MB / s and the sequential write speed was 4,676MB / s, which are extremely high speeds. Whether or not a business mobile PC needs such a high-speed SSD may be controversial, but there is no doubt that high-speed SSDs will increase comfort in various situations when using a PC, and this point is also likely to be a big attraction. Next is battery life. The XC950 / DAG has a very long drive time of about 24 hours (number in JEITA measurement method Ver.2.0) nominally. On the other hand, Windows power saving setting is set to "balance", backlight brightness is set to 50%, keyboard backlight is turned off, wireless WAN is turned off, wireless LAN is set to on, and PCMark 10 Battery test "PCMark 10 Battery Profile" When I measured it using "Modern Office" of, it recorded 9 hours and 26 minutes. Although the nominal 24 hours is the number in JEITA measurement method Ver.2.0, it is quite disappointing that it was less than half of that. It's true that the test settings are a bit harsh, so 9 hours and 26 minutes means that if you go out for a day, you'll have enough battery power. Even so, the nominal time is about 24 hours, so I think I wanted to drive for 12 hours if possible. ■ There are some parts that are worrisome, but the degree of perfection is high and it can be fully recommended. As we have seen, it is also true that the XC950 / DAG has some parts that are worrisome, such as around the keyboard and battery life. However, overall, I feel that the degree of perfection is quite high. The short battery life is a fate for high-performance lightweight mobile PCs, but it can be covered by using a USB PD compatible mobile battery. Above all, the light weight makes up for that point. On top of that, the convenience of adopting a display with an aspect ratio of 16:10 and the fact that it is light but has excellent robustness are great attractions as a mobile PC. The price is reasonably high, but you should be satisfied with the price. I would like to recommend it to those who are looking for a business mobile notebook PC that is lightweight, high performance, convenient, and portable with peace of mind.

PC Watch, Toshiyasu Hirasawa