I
never before had
the opportunity
to use a Xi
computer, but I
had seen their
advertisements
and read reviews
of the hardware
in CAD
magazines, all
of which scored
the units very
well, and so
highly
recommended
them. While out
of town at a
client’s
location for a
week-long
project, I
received
confirmation
that a Xi
PowerGo 15/7
Notebook demo
unit ($1,839
base price,
$2,675 as
tested) had
arrived back at
the office.
Needless to say,
I was to get
home so that I
could unbox the
engineering
laptop and put
it to the test
(see figure 1).
 |
Figure
1: Xi
PowerGo
15/7
Notebook
rendering
an image
of a
robotic
work
cell |
When I arrived
back at the
office, I got
worried, for I
saw the box,
clearly marked
"Fragile,"
looking worse
for the wear.
Upon opening the
box, however, I
was relieved to
see the unit in
one piece, as it
has been
carefully and
well packaged.
Inside the
packing box, I
found the
notebook in its
own cardboard
box, along with
accessories in
boxes of their
own -- with
sturdy cardboard
and foam spacers
all around.
Inside the
notebook’s box I
found another
level of careful
packaging: a
fabric sock to
protect the
monitor, clear
plastic strips
on the plastic
housing around
the keyboard and
speakers.
Opening the
accessories box
revealed a
couple of nice
surprises. Not
only were all
the standard
cords and
software disks
supplied, but
also a nifty
carrying bag, a
Xi-branded mouse
pad, and four
balsawood
airplane kits,
stamped with the
Xi Computer
logo! A very
nice touch, in
my opinion, as
clever marketing
strategies can
make a
difference in
how customers
perceive you and
your products.
First
Impressions of
the Body
After unboxing
everything, it
was time for me
to plug in the
PowerGo and open
it up. I noticed
two things right
away. Firstly,
there was no
locking
mechanism to
secure the
monitor lid to
the chassis,
which concerned
me initially,
but further
inspection
proved that the
lid stayed shut
tight on its
own. (Several
rubber nubs to
help keep the
lid and chassis
from damaging
each other while
in transport.)
Secondly, the
visual design
and general
appearance of
the notebook
jumped out at
me. I've owned
and used a lot
of computers
through the
years, and I
have to say this
is the first one
I've encountered
where it seemed
like its style
was actually
thought out
during the
design process
-- in addition
to the
performance. Xi
used multiple
textured and
brushed
plastics, as
well as multiple
glossy finishes,
some of which
look almost like
chrome.
Chamfered
corners and
edges provide a
sleek look and
make the unit
seem smaller
than the other
boxy
sharp-cornered
units on the
market.
The chassis
slopes from back
to front to make
the unit seem
smaller, and the
keyboard easier
to type on than
the flat chassis
models. Two
large silver
speakers sound
great thanks in
part to the
addition of a
small subwoofer
on the bottom of
the chassis; the
Cinema sound
controller is
from Sound
Blaster. While I
would never
sacrifice
performance for
stylish looks, I
must admit it's
cool to have
both.
A
couple other
features worth
mentioning: the
full-color
programmable
backlit keyboard
(provided by
SteelSeries)
that includes a
number pad and
Quick Launch
Buttons. One of
these is user
definable for
opening any
program I want.
Since I often
work into the
evening, the
backlit keyboard
is awesome. I
programmed the
user defined
button to open
AutoCAD, saving
me a little time
each morning.
Ports ’Aplenty
As far as
functions and
connections on
the exterior of
the notebook, in
the front middle
I found status
LEDs for
Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi, battery
level, sleep
state, and hard
drive activity.
The right side
of the unit has
two USB 2.0
ports and houses
the CD/DVD
burner (see
figure 2). But
don’t worry,
there also are
USB 3.0 ports.
 |
Figure
2: USB
ports on
the
right
side of
the Xi
PowerGo
15/7
Notebook |
The left side
includes a vent,
three USB 3.0
ports, SD card
reader, and
audio connectors
(see figure 3).
It is rare to
get this many
audio connectors
in laptops
today:
Yellow
-- headphone out
and SPDIF out.
Not only is it
for headphones,
but it provides
digital audio
transmission to
external
speakers through
a fiber optical
cable
Red
-- microphone
input
Blue
-- line in
connection for
external audio
devices
Cream
-- line out for
fixed-volume
output, such as
to an amplifier
 |
Figure
3: Ports
on the
left
side of
the Xi
PowerGo
15/7
Notebook |
The back of the
notebook is
where I found
the Kensington
Lock for
anti-theft
protection,
power connector,
RJ-45 ethernet
connector, VGA
display port,
mini-DisplayPort
connector, and
HDMI port. So
lots of display
options; VGA is
useful for
connecting to
older external
monitors and
projectors (see
figure 4).
 |
Figure
4: The
backside
of the
Xi
PowerGo
15/7
Notebook |
The bottom of
the notebook
accesses the
removable
battery, and has
additional vents
and the
subwoofer.
Additional items
a built-in 720p
webcam, and the
sound system
with Dynaudio
Premium
Speakers.
The rechargeable
high-capacity
Li-ion battery
is replaceable,
which comes in
handy if your
battery fails or
becomes damaged,
or if you just
want to use an
additional
back-up battery
if you’ll be
away from AC
power for an
extended time.
Replacement is
easily
accomplished by
unlocking the
battery lock
button and then
activating the
battery release
button.
Assessing the
CPU Power
While it’s nice
to lug around an
esthetically
pleasing
computer, it’s
the power inside
that counts for
engineers and
designers.
Performance and
reliability are
what I need to
evaluate when
choosing a new
system.
In this case, my
PowerGo 15/7
packed plenty of
punch with the
newest 22nm 4th
generation Intel
Core i7 with 8MB
L3 Cache. As Xi
says, "This
mobile
workstation can
easily handle
the most
power-hungry
CAD, graphic,
and number
crunching
applications at
speeds rivaling
desktop
workstations."
And so the unit
I reviewed came
with 16GB of
1866MHz DDR3
RAM, but can be
expanded to
32GB.
(The model
number 15/7
refers to the
two monitor
sizes available:
15" with Quadro
K2100, or 17"
with Quadro
K3100.)
The display is
17.3"
diagonally, at
the hi-def
resolution of
1920x1080. It is
an LED backlit
display with
anti-glare
coating; I found
it definitely
lights up the
room! The screen
is powered by
NVIDIA’s Quadro
K3100M graphics
board with 4GB
VRAM. This is a
Kepler GPU and
offers Optimus
Technology to
switch between
power-hungry and
power-saving
modes
automatically.
The hard drive
is a 250GB
solid-state
drive from
Samsung, which
makes drive
performance much
faster than
traditional hard
drives. The
other drive is
the 8x DVD±R/RW
burner that can
handle
double-layer
discs. To top
things off, its
"green"
construction is
lead-free,
halogen-free,
and Energy
Star-compliant.
Windows 7 is
ready to go, and
so I did not
need to wait for
it to first be
installed, as
can occur with
other computers.
Benchmarking the
PowerGo
After booting
the computer, I
immediately
tested the
PowerGo 15/7
with the Windows
7 Experience
Index (no longer
available on
Windows 8,
unfortunately).
The computer
scored an
impressive 7.5
out of the
highest possible
score of 7.9
(see figure 5).
Overall, a great
score; the only
thing holding it
is the graphics
card. But when I
tested it later
with large and
complex 3D files
and renderings,
it ran well.
(For those that
need more speed
from the system,
the laptop can
be upgraded to
the Quadro
K4100M.)
 |
Figure
5:
Results
from the
Windows
Experience
Index |
In addition to
the Windows
Experience
Score, I
benchmarked the
system in
SolidWorks. For
this I used the
SolidWorks
Performance
Benchmark test,
which compares
your computer’s
operations with
others. The test
pushes computers
hard and so
gives us a good
comparison of
the CPU
performance. For
the comparison,
I used our
company’s
comparable
laptop (see
figure 6 on the
left) against
the PowerGo 15/7
(results shown
on the right).
It blew our
office machine
out of the
water, running
9x faster
overall and 27x
faster in
RealView mode!
(The office
machine is a
Dell Precision
M6500
workstation with
a 1.73Ghz
quad-core CPU,
8GB RAM and an
ATI FirePro
M7820 graphics
card.)
 |
 |
Figure
6:
Results
from the
SOLIDWORKS
Performance
benchmark
test |
Conclusion
The proven
benchmark
performance of
the Xi PowerGo
15/7 Notebook is
remarkable, and
so features such
as widescreen
display (for
full Web page
viewing),
super-long
battery life,
backlit
keyboard, great
sound system,
and a sleek
looks are all
icing on the
cake.
When our office
evaluates mobile
CAD workstations
for purchase, we
plan to include
Xi, as everyone
in the office
who had a chance
to use it loved
it. I am not,
unfortunately,
looking forward
to shipping the
unit back and
being forced to
return to my
"normal" system.
This is a
remarkably
speedy computer
for 3D MCAD
designers.
System
Configuration of
Xi PowerGo 15/7
Notebook, as
Reviewed
Part# |
Description |
Price |
00034 |
Xi® PowerGo™ 15/7 (Base Configuration) |
$1,839.00 |
01935 |
Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ 2.8/3.8GHz-1C Turbo Boost- 6MB
Cache
Quad-Core/8
Threads
4th Gen.
22nm w/Artic
Silver®
5
Thermal
Compound
|
Incl. w/ Base |
02278 |
16GB DDR3 @1866MHz SO-DIMM Dual Rank Interleave
|
$159.00 |
04493 |
NVIDIA® Quadro® K3100M 4GB GDDR5 VRAM Kepler™ GPU w/Optimus™
Technology
(This
video
card
implies
the
17.3"
LCD
display)
|
$449.00 |
05195 |
15.6" or 17.3" 1920x1080 Full HD (16:9) LED-Backlit LCD
Anti-Glare
Display
(Screen
size and
total
weight
accordingly
to video
card
selected)
|
Incl. w/ Base |
03183 |
250GB Solid State Drive Samsung® 840 EVO™ SATA 6Gb/s
540/520MB/s
Seq.R/W
<.3ms
seek
Shock
Resistant
1500G.
|
$159.00 |
06060 |
8X DVD±R/RW Burner with 4X Double Layer Write Capability
|
Incl. w/ Base |
12038 |
Built-in Bigfoot® Killer™ Gigabit LAN & Integrated
Killer™
N1202
Combo
(a/b/g/n)+BT4.0
|
Incl. w/ Base |
13029 |
Built-In Keyboard Only |
Incl. w/ Base |
14019 |
Built-In Trackpad only |
Incl. w/ Base |
16084 |
Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional Edition
64Bit on
DVD
(32Bit
avail.
on
request)
|
$69.00 |
18021 |
Total of 2 Years System HW Warranty, w/Shipback Parts
Replacement
&
Installation,
P&L. FOB
Xi
|
Incl. w/ Base |
47002 |
NEMA 5-15P to C13 Wall Plug, 125 Volt, 16AWG, 5 Feet.
Standard
Computer
AC US
Power
Cord or
other
major
countries
standard
Power
Cord
(AU/CH/DE/FR/IT/NZ/UK)
|
Incl. w/ Base |
47004 |
Standard carrying bag/case for laptop (accordingly to
the
purchased
model)
|
Incl. w/ Base |
|
Sub
Total: |
$2,675.00 |