Eurocom M590K Emperor laptops

Reviewed by: Justin Jaffe
Edited by: Matthew Elliott
Reviewed on: 04/26/2006
Released on: 04/17/2006
While it's not the first laptop we've heard of that features a 19-inch display and two graphics cards running in a scalable link interface, the Eurocom M590K Emperor is the first such laptop we've laid hands on. And we like both marquee features very much: the laptop offers one of the most impressive gaming experiences money can buy. That said, as with most products equipped with new technologies, the M590K Emperor is particularly expensive even for a high-end gaming laptop--and especially in light of the fact that you can get almost as many frames per second from far less expensive systems, though only a few other niche vendors offer 19-inch models at this time (original equipment manufacturer Clevo is said to have built a similar model for Sager and SavRow). We recommend the M590K Emperor only to deadly serious, mobile gamers who are willing to spend top dollar for a system that's more portable than any desktop PC gaming rig.

The M590K Emperor is the largest laptop we've ever seen: It runs just shy of 19 inches wide, approximately 13.5 inches deep, and more than 2 inches thick. Weighing 14.7 pounds on its own, and 17.7 with its immense AC adapter, you do not want to make a habit out of carrying this laptop around; that said, the M590K Emperor is far more portable than even the smallest desktop PC gaming rigs from Alienware, Shuttle, and Falcon Northwest, with which it is intended to compete. On the other hand, there are other gaming laptops that offer comparable performance in a smaller package: the 17-inch XPS M1710 weighs less than 9 pounds. We found the M590K Emperor to be a bit rickety; the hinges creaked a bit when we moved the lid, though the lid itself seemed fairly sturdy.