The LiveStrong is named such because of its endorsement and ties from seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Indeed, Armstrong’s signature appears on the dark blue chassis of the notebook. We also found peripheral bags and the signature LiveStrong yellow bracelet in a solidly constructed package. While it is not a specialized rugged laptop, the LiveStrong notebook feels like it can take a fall or two without any problems.

For those who are not aware of the LiveStrong brand, it is a program created by the Lance Armstrong Foundation in the summer of 2004 to raise money for public health, advocacy, research and education initiatives for people with cancer. Fifty dollars from each LiveStrong notebook sale will go towards this goal. AMD alone has made a two-year commitment to generate a minimum of $4 million for the Lance Armstrong Foundation from this initiative. HP and AMD are the first computing companies to develop a LiveStrong branded product in this fashion.

Running on Windows XP SP2 Home, we booted up the computer to a general suite of home oriented productivity applications pre-installed with the laptop including: Microsoft Works, Norton Internet Security 2005, Microsoft Money 2005, Intervideo WinDVD, Sonic MyDVD, Apple iTunes, muvee AutoProducer 4.0 SE, and a sixty day trial of Microsoft Office 2003.

In terms of performance, the LiveStrong had no problems launching any of these applications thanks to the Turion 64 processor. Response time from general use in Windows was snappy. No doubt the 1 GB RAM that came with our model helped out. What is most striking about the LiveStrong notebook is its 14” WXGA widescreen LCD. Text is crisply rendered on the screen and colors are vibrant without any signs of wash out. The response time is adequate so there’s no sense of ghosting happening. In combination with a widescreen setup, this means superior playback quality for DVD movies. Audio is loud and clear through the Altec Lansing speakers on the LiveStrong laptop. In fact, we could hear movie playback at default volume levels from the next room over.

Speaking of DVD, the laptop comes with a built in DVD+/-RW drive with support for dual layer and CD read/write capabilities too. Using the Sonic MyDVD suite, we were able to write DVDs while surfing the net without any interruption to the recording process. The LiveStrong also comes with a flash card reader that will read SD/MMC/MS/SM/XD cards found in MP3 players, digital camcorders and cameras. A capacious 100 GB 4200RPM drive will be able to hold any type of material you want to edit including DVD videos.

Similar to other charity LiveStrong products, fifty dollars of the purchase price you pay will go towards the Lance Armstrong Foundation to support the foundation’s initiatives. The basic model goes for $899 US, so the LiveStrong notebook is accessible to all buyers including students and buyers on a budget. The fifty dollar donation is interesting too and reminds us of Ethos water, which is another brand that embeds a price premium with charitable intentions. Information and technology, according to Armstrong himself, empowers cancer patients and their families.