The Znote 6214W Gaming Notebook From Zepto

The Znote 6214 is a zinger for being one of the first original laptops from Zepto. Dan Hunke over at Notebook Review has stated that the Danish manufacturer previously had been rebadging Compal notebooks and repackaging them with their Zepto name. But the 6214W proves that Zepto isn’t just some notebook hack. The beauty of this Znote is that it’s nearly a half a grand cheaper than rivals with similar capabilities. We’re talking around $1,500 for the Zepto, instead of two Gs for gaming laptops from some big brand notebook makers.

The sad part of the Zepto for us North Americans is that we probably won’t ever see one of these guys sold over here. Fly over to the Continent if you want one. Just remember to leave your liquids home. That being said, the Znote 6214W is almost worth the flight. It is a gaming and graphics laptop for those of us who don’t want to drop their life savings for a hard-core gaming notebook. Its power comes thanks to an Intel Core Duo T2500 microprocessor that runs at 2.0 GHz, and 2048MB DDR2 of memory. The graphics are provided by the nVidia GeForce Go 7600 with 512 of its own MB.

Zepto also fitted the Znote 6214W with the finer things in life, like integrated Bluetooth, Realtek HD 7.1 audio system capabilities, and a respectable 14.1-inch display (albeit with regular matte finishing). This notebook is also Vista ready, meeting all of the recommended specs for running Microsoft’s next generation operating system.

Now, I know: my favorite mantra as of late has been that you don’t get something for nothing. That if something seems too good to be true, then it ain’t true. But I am not ashamed to admit I don’t know everything, and that I sometimes can be wrong.

And in the case of the Zepto Znote 6214, I may be wrong. It delivers on all its promises, at that low price. Sure, there are some minor reported issues, like a hard drive (80 GB) that sounds like a lawnmower, a battery that doesn’t make it past 2.5 hours, and a chassis that is far from as strong as a ToughBook.

Still, the Zepto should stick with this new trend of making its own laptops-and start selling in America.

By Matthew Brodsky – Laptopical

Thursday, August 24, 2006