Zepto debuts 14-inch Nox A14 gaming laptop

Zepto managed to carve out a tiny niche for itself with its understated Nexus A15 gaming laptop, and it looks like it's now giving it some company with its new Nox A14 model. From the looks of it, this one is mostly identical to its predecessor, with the notable exception of a 14.1-inch 1440 x 900 screen and, consequently, a slightly smaller and lighter form factor. Otherwise, you can expect to get a Core 2 Duo P9500 processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB, up to 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive (or 128GB SSD), a built-in 2-megapixel webcam, and a DVD burner or optional Blu-ray drive. If that's sounds about right, you can order one now for a starting price of £827 (or roughly $1,400), or a good deal more if you want any of those supposed "world's fastest" specs.

[Via PC Launches]

[anykey @ Oct 10th 2008 11:53AM]

The screen reminds me of the electric sheep screensaver...

[Platinum_Skeet @ Oct 10th 2008 11:55AM]

Before anyone asks... Yes it can play Crysis

[voodoo @ Oct 10th 2008 1:01PM]

On medium.

[maveric101 @ Oct 10th 2008 4:19PM]

please, just let it die, don't bring it up...

[Waveblade @ Oct 10th 2008 11:56AM]

A 9600m GT on a 14" laptop?


That's pretty awesome

[pball_inuyaha @ Oct 10th 2008 12:00PM]

This looks good, I've been waiting for laptops to get higher speced and not over 1,500$
When the time comes for a laptop I should have some good options

[Matthew C @ Oct 10th 2008 5:35PM]

The specs, the Price, and so slim for a gaming laptop!

I'm impressed. Now, uh anyone got about $1500 just laying around that they might want to pass my way?

[Canoo @ Oct 10th 2008 12:00PM]

250GB HIGH-SPEED Solid State Disc SATA

^^ Also an option

[dzhiurgis @ Oct 10th 2008 12:07PM]

Battery life - 5 minutes :) more like a UPS :)

[ethana2 @ Oct 10th 2008 12:57PM]

That's most of what I use my battery for anyway.

Do not underestimate the value of a UPS.

[Sheynk @ Oct 10th 2008 12:34PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7tc9pVvYg

[xB Owner @ Oct 10th 2008 1:01PM]

Looks really nice. Anyone able to find the dimensions on this notebook, or a domestic (USA) distributor/reseller for Zepto?

[jtan @ Oct 10th 2008 1:03PM]

1. This DESPERATELY needs US distrbution
2. I will be deciding between this and a new MBP on october 14th

[0megapart!cle @ Oct 10th 2008 1:18PM]

Americans would buy this in droves!!!!

Although I don't think it is a good sign that they don't tell you how much it weighs.

[ZeptoUSA @ Oct 14th 2008 8:26AM]

Ahem, www.zeptousa.com

[Kenny @ Oct 10th 2008 3:02PM]

Wow, i want that wallpaper!

[wootman @ Oct 10th 2008 3:24PM]

Nice, at this price point its hard to argue for buying a desktop with similar performance.

[Mads @ Oct 10th 2008 4:35PM]

Zepto, do you know the brand?
It's a danish company, i have been following their progress since they were a tiny whiny company...

[ToTTenTranz @ Oct 10th 2008 5:17PM]

The laptop 9600GT is just a renamed 8600GT. It's still a G84 with the same 32 shader processors and 128bit bus. It's nowhere near the desktop 9600GT's performance.

Gaming laptop? If this was to be a gaming laptop it would need a recent and powerfull graphics card, not a mid-end GPU that's been on Asus' 14" notebooks for more than a year.


I will be waiting for the mobile version of RV730, Mobility HD4600. That should fit nicely on 14/15" laptops and the performance should be way higher than anything there is right now.

[TareX @ Oct 10th 2008 7:56PM]

Thank you. I too don't understand the 9600GT choice for a "gaming" laptop. Sager still offers the best bang for the buck.

[aeth @ Oct 10th 2008 8:42PM]

Actually, in notebook GPUs, the 9500M GS is closer to the DDR2 version of the 8600M GT.

The 9600M GT is a whole new model; it has performance closer to the 8700M GT; the 9700M GT will have performance greater than that of the 8700M GT.

And yes, they all do have the same bus (128-bit) and same amount of shaders etc. (32).

The 9700M GTS however get a 256-bit bus but that's a graphics card you probably won't see in a 15.4" notebook simply because of the card's size and heat.

9600M GT is about as big as you can get in a standard-sized 15.4" notebook without making the size ridiculous. That and the cooling system would have to be really really good to cool down those high performance GPUs.

So basically:
9500M GS < 8600M GT (DDR2) < 8600M GT (GDDR3) < 9600M GT (DDR2) < 8700M GT ~ 9600M GT (GDDR3) [depends on CPU, RAM etc. but generally 9600M GT is slightly better than 8700M GT) < 9700M GT < 9700M GTS < 9800M GTS < 9800M GT < 9800M GTX.

For reference, the 9700M GT is roughly equal in performance to the desktop version of the 9500 GT (the 9600 GT on the desktop has a 256-bit bus and is much faster).

[Andrew @ Oct 11th 2008 2:56AM]

Wow, this thing can be a beast! It won't be obsolete for weeks!

[Yamikotai @ Oct 11th 2008 6:34AM]

That background is full of win, does anyone know where I can get it?

[dj moon @ Oct 12th 2008 3:02AM]

"A good deal more" for better specs, always the case, eh?
But why are manufacturers always gearing towards gamers?

What about high-performance laptops for the needs of musicians and/or video editors?
Something with more inputs, like all-too-few desktop motherboards have,
such as S/PDIF in, as well as out, both coaxial & optical,
maybe even a MIDI in & out (& through, if needed),
on a portable laptop, without the need to buy extra
expensive, & cumbersome external input devices.

And something with enough power that rendering on say,
Sony Vegas 8 Pro, won't take 9 hours to process.

Just a thought (hope, Wish, DREAM!;)