Power users: When a majority of notebooks have more processing horsepower than your desktop, it’s time to replace some of the hardware in the ol’ workstation. In the case of Hypersonic’s Avenger, outpacing most stationary PCs isn’t difficult, though. The diminutive shell is based on Clevo’s M72R series, but Hypersonic makes the design its own by painting the chassis with an attractive, flashy, automotive paint finish. The Avenger plays host to an Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor based on the 45nm Penryn microarchitecture. It’s not the fastest mobile chip that Intel sells, but at 2.5GHz and armed with 6MB of L2 cache, you get solid multitasking and plenty of muscle. It’s amazing that the power plant is rated at a scant 35W TDP.

Almost everything about the Avenger is snappy. The GM965 mobile chipset is top-of-the-line mobile fare from Intel. Hypersonic loads that platform with 4GB of OCZ’s DDR2-667 memory. There’s also a 7,200rpm, 200GB Hitachi Travelstar SATA drive attached to the chipset’s ICH8-M (which is loaded with features). Wired Gigabit Ethernet and wireless 802.11a/g/n round out the notebook’s suite of performance-oriented features.

If there’s one area where the Avenger does come up short, graphics performance is it, which is understandable given a chipset with integrated graphics. On paper, the Intel GMA X3100 is actually respectable. Shader Model 4.0 helps the engine qualify as DirectX 10-capable, while MPEG-2 hardware acceleration improves video playback performance. Intel seems to be lagging with its drivers for the integrated core, which is why you see holes in our PCMark Vantage results. When Intel releases its much-anticipated DX10 update, the Avenger’s performance and compatibility should improve substantially. At press time, even Half-Life 2, a moderately demanding FPS, ran below 10fps at 640 x 480 with the detail settings turned down.

Nevertheless, you don’t buy a lightweight notebook with a 12.1-inch display expecting high-impact gaming. The Avenger is a productivity play. Combining a fast dual-core processor, lots of memory, and a 7,200rpm hard drive is a recipe for excellent performance in Office apps, Photoshop, and even Windows Media Encoder. Although it’s much more difficult to quantify the general computing experience, we were sitting on the Vista Desktop 40 seconds after powering up the Avenger. Browsing around in IE, navigating network resources, firing up and shutting down desktop apps—it all happened lightning-fast.

A host of little extras complement the Avenger’s beefy guts. For instance, there’s an integrated Web cam, three USB 2.0 ports, and one FireWire port. An RJ-45 Ethernet port and RJ-11 modem connection handle communications; built-in Bluetooth and 802.11 are available for wireless access. You’ll also find a VGA output, front-mounted audio hookups, a 7-in-1 card reader, and an ExpressCard slot.

Hypersonic also arms the Avenger with a DVD±RW burner and a copy of CyberLink’s PowerDVD decoder, so we were hoping to see the system make it through an entire DVD movie on one charge. We got about 80 minutes through “Cruel Intentions,” though, before an audible warning signaled that our 4-cell battery was sitting at 5%. Anyone anticipating long stretches between wall sockets should definitely grab the optional 8-cell Li-Ion battery. Otherwise, you’ll get around 2.5 hours or so of online browsing before it’s time to plug in.

By no means is the Avenger an all-purpose powerhouse. It’s a sleek, light, attractive laptop with the latest mobile technology finessed into a 21.1-inch shell. If you’re tired of hauling around desktop replacements, this thing is a breath of fresh air and a definite attention-getter.

by Chris Angelini