We were impressed with the ITC Metabox 740u we reviewed a few weeks ago. However, its extreme power and weight (and price tag) means that it is not a general purpose machine unlike its very capable sibling, the ITC METABOX 730u. This very capable Centrino powered unit is one of the best designed notebooks we’ve seen yet and today we’ll give you our impressions and have some benchmarking results for you of this 17” Chinese Clevo model.

The Clevo 570A based ITC METABOX 730u has the following main specs:
(keep in mind that these machines are custom built according to your specifications and we pretty well went for the top-of-the range as you’d expect from us)

• 256MB Nvidia Geforce Go 7800 GTX PCI Express
• 17.0" Wide-Screen CSV (Super-Glossy) Active Matrix TFT LCD Screen
• (WUXGA 1920x1200 OnScreen Resolution)
• Intel Dothan Pentium-M 2.26Ghz 2MB Cache 533Mhz FSB
• 2GB 200pin DDR2-533 Sodimm Ram
• 100GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA Hard Disk
• Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD+|-R/W 8x+R, 8x+|-R, 4x+|-RW
• Built-in CCD Camera

With these rather heavy specs it’s no surprise that the 730u weighs in anywhere between 4.0 to 5.0 kgs. Battery life will also range between 2.5 to 3.5 hrs, depending on applications run. The huge screen and the graphics power house are two good reasons why the battery endurance is what it is. Quite respectable but not optimum for road warriors.

Our first impression was the high built quality. This is a head-turner: impressive size, sleek form and the separate indicator display at the front with the DVD controls is not only very handy but adds to its overall appeal.
Ergonomically, I haven’t experienced better in a notebook. The sloping keyboard has a natural feel with good rests for the wrists. The oversized keyboard (at least for a laptop) feels very comfortable.
 

The cooling is much better than with the 740, meaning the unit doesn’t get as flaming hot. The extreme heat generated by the Nvidia GeForce GO 7800 GTX on the 740 is dispersed towards the left side and can literally scorch your wrist. None of that in the 730. Very effective cooling (see the plumbing on the accompanying pictures) keeps the unit at a very acceptable temperature level. And quiet too, which is what I love of any machine that I’m bonded to for hours on end…
 

ITC is of course the Australian implementation or brand of this Clevo design. You’ll find essentially the same machine under names as Sager, Rock or Evesham and others. Specs will differ but the core capabilities and design will be the same.

Introduction, Specifications

Test Setup

Benchmarks, Conclusions