Because of NaturallySpeaking's high system requirements, until now, only expensive gaming computers were ideally suited for serious speech recognition use. When M-Tech approached us with a notebook computer designed to run NaturallySpeaking in the $1000 price range, they piqued our interest. And… when they asked us to test their new M6650 quad core Ivy Bridge i7 3610QM 2.3 GHz notebook computer with 16 Gb of RAM, solid-state hard drive, and pricing starting under $1000, we jumped at the chance. The short answer is that the M6650 turned out to be a speech recognition workhorse but if you'd like to view our more extended review, click KnowBrainer M6650 Notebook Review

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Lunis,

To make a really fair, objective, more meaningful comparison of this M-Tech laptop and your Lenovo laptop, it would be best to test/compare using Rudiger's Performance Testing Tool. Those results would be very interesting and informative. Please do this if you would be so kind and report back. If you do not have Rudiger's tool, I am sure he would be happy to make a copy available to you.

MDH

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Mark,

 

I don't think it is really worth the trouble. You may want to look at the benchmark comparison provided by the link below, which I find to be realistic, based on my subjective experience as well as measuring, and please note that I use both the i7-2600 (in my desktop in the office) and the i7-2670QM (in my notebook at home) on a regular day-to-day real-world basis.

 

As an aside, I recently bought a top-of-the-line Asus 17 inch notebook, with the processor referred to above and 4 GB memory built-in, for about 800 Euros (including 19% TVA) in Germany, and bought another 4 GB of RAM for less than 25 Euros later on, in a local store down the road.

 

Due to specific technologies being used in the notebook, it is extremely silent and has an absolutely cool (in the true sense of the word) surface. - And so far, I have never run out of RAM.

 

Rüdiger

 

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-3610QM+%40+2.30GHz

 

PS: having just looked at the current exchange rate, I found €800 to be equivalent to $1,000 incidentally. So, for another cross-comparison, I would like to add that the difference in performance between the two processors I use (as mentioned above) boils down to be as much as 20% - 25%. Whether or not it would also manifest in a gain in productivity of that amount, in turn may be illustrated by using an analogy at best.

 

As you may have heard, there is no general speed limit on the German Autobahn (although in fact there is most of the time). So you may imagine yourself riding at about 150 km/h or more when there is no heavy traffic around, for longer distances. To what degree would you perceive a difference between that and going at 180 km/h then? - Possibly some. So that's basically the touch and feel when using Dragon on those two processors, and as long as there is nothing obstrusive coming your way.

 

However, more realistically, there is a lot of stop-and-go even on the German Autobahn, and it keeps increasing every day, so you hardly ever have a chance to go that fast at all, even when you are allowed to.

 

And that's just pretty similar to using Dragon as far as I am concerned, but going by the comparison I have mentioned above you may get an idea of what you get for the buck when buying and using a machine equipped with any of those processors.

 

 

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Well, it's past the point where we can make any changes in the code, but we can still make changes to the Easter Egg!

For a 2 lb notebook, look for a a lap top with the Ivy Bridge: Intel Core i7-3520M vPro CPU (2.90GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.60GHz) Level 3 cache size 4 MB

I own a 2 lb laptop with the previous Sandy Bridge Version: Intel Core i7-2640M 2.80GHz (TurboBoost up to 3.50GHz) Level 3 cache size 4 MB Passmark Score 4078. These lightweight machines are very expensive but since I have pinched nerves and cannot handle a 4 pound lap top, it is my only practical mobile choice. Only the Intel 35 watt TDP chips can get decent performance at 2 lbs. The other Intel chips require more power and that pretty much means a three/four pound minimum laptop

For just dictating to Word or email the small machine is quite workable and it is my travel machine. Note the Passmark Score for this process or is only about 50% of the machine Rudiger has. My desktop is an over clockedIntel Core i7-3960x with a Passmark score of over 16,000, however, as a "Dragon Dictaphone" the small machine  works fine. For complex documents and heavy concurrent workloads you will need a beefier machine.

 

Phil Schaadt

 

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DNS12 Pro BM V Large Vocabulary plus KB or Voice Computer running Win7 64 bit machines with i7-2640M to i7-3960x and i7-3770K processors plus a Sony VAIO Windows 8 machine. DBX Audio Gate with Allen&Heath mixer/USB Audio; Andrea PureAudio USB  usually with Airline 77 or Audio-Technica but also Sennheiser MD431 II, theBoom, et. al.

The most important thing I want to know about this new notebook is how much it weighs (not stated in your review nor in the description on the company's Web site). I have been frustrated for years that laptops and notebooks seemed to be made for people who don't actually have to carry them for any distance. My dream: a notebook weighing less than 2 pounds with 16 GB of RAM and an adequate processor for voice-recognition software. I'm fine with a 6 inch by 6 inch screen, no fancy graphics, no bells and whistles, just give me full-powered word-processing power and light weight.

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Crohn's News Blog: www.crohns-news.net

Scribe, we should've included the weight which is just an ounce or 2 under 6 pounds. We know that everyone's looking for the perfect 2 to 3 pound sleek MacBook look but when you need real mobile processing power, you really have to consider 6 pounds. At least that's half the weight of our previous notebook desktop computer replacements

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Well, your shoes weigh 2 pounds, so good luck.;) Just kidding.


You might want to take a look at the new, and coming to a theater near you, Ultrabooks. There are some that are already out that are set up with the third-generation Ivy Bridge processors and more are on the way. Many of them weigh less than the MacBook air.


Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one." -  Chinese Proverb

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Lunis,

... when they asked us to test their new M6650 quad core Ivy Bridge i7 3610QM 2.3 GHz notebook computer with 16 Gb of RAM, solid-state hard drive, and pricing starting under $1000, we jumped at the chance...

I found the price for the M6650 with the above specifications to be almost twice the price you mentioned.

Tee

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Tee, you make a good point. Prices begin at $911but by the time we upgraded from an i5 to an i7, upgraded to 16 Gb of RAM and added a more realistic 256 Gb solid-state hard drive, the price was over $1700 but we also like some of the options including not having to order an operating system. Our test unit included 16 Gb of RAM and the i7 processor but we wouldn't recommend going with an 80 Gb SSD.

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Click KB 2012 REV D to Download a 30 Day Evaluation of KnowBrainer 2012 

 

 

 

Lunis and Chuck,

I have a beautiful little handheld computer, a MobilePro 750C, that I bought in late 2000 or early 2001. The screen is 8 inches by 3 inches and it is tiny enough (about 1.5 pounds, I think) that I would sit it on my lap to type notes from books held in a little stand on the table. Unfortunately, I soon realized that my arms were going to have to be treated to full-time and not just part-time voice-recognition use and therefore I couldn't use it anymore, but its weight and compactness remain my dream (with speech recognition built in). I should have mentioned it's not just being lazy about carrying something heavier, but old injuries that affect the amount of weight I can haul around. I'll have a look at those Ultrabooks.

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Crohn's News Blog: www.crohns-news.net