There are of course several reasons why anyone would want a laptop with 1TB of storage space — music and videos. In terms of movie playback and overall display quality, the M70 sports a WUXGA display capable of 1920x1200, giving users the full "1080" HD resolution. For those who want to connect their laptops to a home theater receiver or a larger display, the M70 also sports a HDMI port. The HDMI port itself supports delivery of audio signals and the M70 is able to output a full DD5.1 signal to a receiver or decoder/pre-amp.
It’s clear that solid-state drives (SSDs) are not yet the norm, with prices still way up in the sky and out of reach for the majority of users. Besides being out of reach, capacities are still very limited compared to platter-based hard drives. Apple for example makes available a 64GB SSD upgrade for customers who are looking at the ultra-thin MacBook Air. But being on the edge of technology commands a price premium, and the 64GB SSD option from Apple is a whopping $1000 upgrade. Obviously it’s entirely possible to buy a SSD drive from another reseller and upgrade a MacBook Pro after the fact.
If you’re still hungry for storage, you can attach an external USB HDD. But thanks to an e-SATA port, users have the option of buying e-SATA drives and enjoy superior performance vs. USB.
Other specifications for the M70 include:
- Intel Core 2 Duo running up to 2.5GHz (T9300) with base models using the T8100 (2.1GHz)
- Intel PM965 Express Chipset
- Supports up to 4GB of DDR2 667MHz SDRAM
- 17-inch WUXGA LCD panel (not LED)
- Blu-ray drive with DVD burning
- Intel HD Audio chip (Azalia)
- GigE Ethernet
- Intel 4965AGN WiFi (PRO/Wireless 3945ABG optional)
- Built in 1.3MP camera
- Built in 4 Altec Lansing speakers (with 1 subwoofer)
- Support for Dolby Home Theater
- HDMI out
- DVI out
- e-SATA out
Now the M70 actually comes in two flavors, the M70Sr and the M70Sa. The difference between the two is in the graphics chip. The M70Sa uses an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 with discrete 1GB of memory. The M70Sr uses a slower Mobility Radeon HD 3470 with 256MB of discrete memory. The Radeon 3650 has 120 stream processing units while the 3470 only has 40. The Radeon 3650 also has twice the memory bandwidth (128-bit GDDR4) of the 3470 (64-bit GDDR3).
