Dell Latitude XT2 Review

The Dell Latitude XT2 is a business-grade convertible notebook, offering multi-touch finger and digitized pen controls. With a slim and boxy chassis it might not look as cool as some consumer tablets, but it ends up being easier to carry and smaller to travel with. With a starting price of $1,929 it is easily one of the more expensive tablets on the market, but it does include some not-so-common features. Is the Dell Latitude XT2 worth the high price tag? Read our full review to find out.


Our Dell Latitude XT2 Specifications:

* Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 1.4GHz (800MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
* Microsoft Windows Vista Business (32-bit)
* 12.1" Premium WXGA (1280 x 800) LED-Backlight Display with Multi-touch
* Intel X4500MHD Integrated Graphics
* 3GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (2GB + 1GB)
* 120GB Toshiba 1.8" 5400RPM HDD
* 8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) through docking station
* Intel 5100AGN WiFi, Bluetooth, and 1Gb Ethernet
* 6-Cell 42WHr Battery
* Limited 3-year standard parts and labor warranty with on-site service
* Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.7 x 1.1"
* Weight: 3lbs 13.6oz
* Price as configured: $2,253

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Gigabyte Booktop M1022 netbook review

If there’s one segment in consumer electronics where it’s hard to stand out, it’s netbooks. The race to the bottom line, together with strict rules from component suppliers regarding maximum specifications, means that the hardware of most machines follows the same, tired pattern. To differentiate, some brands have gone for super-slimline designs, or extended battery life; Gigabyte, meanwhile, have taken a more unusual route. Their Booktop M1022 netbook comes complete with a desktop docking station; our friends over at Mobilx.hu were good enough to send us a review unit to try out.


Docking stations certainly aren’t unusual in the laptop world, and many users – especially in enterprise situations – will have been slotting their notebooks into breakout docks for years now. Docks for netbooks, though, are less common, although the principle remains the same: have a compact machine, in the M1022’s case a 10.2-incher, for travel, then hook it up to a full-sized display, keyboard and mouse with a single connection when you’re back at the office.

Gigabyte have taken the middle-ground with the Booktop’s dock. With three USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, VGA output, power and a line-out socket, it provides more than just keyboard/mouse connectivity, but doesn’t offer anything that the M1022 itself hasn’t got. The netbook sits upright, connected by a proprietary socket, and there are power and battery buttons on the front panel of the dock so that you can control the M1022 while the screen is closed.

Speaking of the M1022, that treads the usual notebook path of an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, paired with the company’s GMA950 graphics, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB 5,400rpm hard-drive. There’s also WiFi b/g, 10/100 ethernet and Bluetooth 2.1, together with a 6-cell battery, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA, audio in/out, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and an ExpressCard slot. OS is Windows XP Home, and the whole thing measures 265 x 180 x 27.2-31.3 mm and weighs 1.3kg.

Build quality is very good, both of the netbook and of its docking cradle. The usual points of concern in budget machines, such as hinges, are sturdy and firm, and we were pleased to see that the M1022 can be opened to almost 180-degrees. Given that you’ll be expecting the dock to support your netbook upright, it’s reassuring that the transparent foot-plate provides plenty of support to prevent side-to-side rocking. Physically dropping the M1022 into the cradle took a while to perfect; the cavity is not a tight fit, meaning there’s some movement in trying to line-up the protruding plug with the netbook’s port, but even after several days of fumbling there was no flex or movement in the plug itself. As long as you don’t get into the habit of slamming the M1022 home, we reckon the dock should hold up to most treatment.

The keyboard feels similarly well put together, and the layout is generally good. There’s a sensibly-placed right-hand Shift key, often a failing of compact netbook ‘boards, though bizarrely there’s a second backslash key to the right of the up-arrow. As for the trackpad, that suffers for the shallow palm-rest and puts its clunky, thudding buttons either side rather than underneath as we’d prefer. Still, there’s little flex, even in the center of the ‘board, and there are various useful shortcuts across the function key row for brightness, volume, and independent Bluetooth and WiFi toggles.

Looking up to the display, and while it’s a glossy panel it’s nowhere near as reflection-prone as on other recent notebooks we’ve seen. The upside, of course, to a glossy screen coating is that it can make colors seem richer, and the M1022 certainly does a decent job at that. Running at 1024 x 600 resolution, like most netbooks, there’s the usual balance of size and webpage zooming, but it’s a reasonably crisp and satisfactory panel.

Should you prefer a bigger display, however, hooking up the M1022 to a desktop setup is far more straightforward than for most netbooks. Thanks to the docking station you can leave your LCD, keyboard mouse, wired network connection and speakers all plugged in, and connect to them with far quicker than dealing with separate wires. It’s also tidier, allowing you to route all the cables neatly out of the way, and of course you can plug in a USB hub should you require more than the three ports on offer. Since the M1022 is closed when you dock it, there’s no multiple-monitor confusion to overcome; you simply have a new (we’re presuming larger) display to use.

We can’t help but think that Gigabyte has missed a trick with the Booktop M1022 dock, however. There are no extra ports that the netbook itself doesn’t offer, and you’re still limited to 10/100 ethernet rather than gigabit. More than that, though, we’d have liked to have seen a USB-peripheral port on the dock, which could be used to turn connect the M1022 up to another computer and treat it as an external drive. That way, copying documents and other files across would be a case of plugging in a USB 2.0 cable. Still, we’re pleased to see that the M1022’s ExpressCard slot is still accessible even while the netbook it docked, which means you can continue using a 3G data card plugged in there.

The biggest argument about the Gigabyte Booktop M1022, though, is just how realistic it is, using an Atom N270-based netbook as the basis for your desktop machine. It’s unlikely that Gigabyte expect anybody to be performing any of the graphics, audio or video editing users of more powerful full-sized notebooks may be doing when their machines are docked. Instead, you’re looking at the same internet access, basic document editing, email and messaging as you’d be doing on any netbook, only with more comfortable peripherals. We saw the same benchmarking figures for the M1022 as for just about every other basic Atom N270 netbook with the same specifications that has crossed our test bench; low 800s in Geekbench, which measures CPU and RAM performance.

Still, that usage scenario describes an awful lot of PC owners, and there are plenty of people out there contented with what their netbooks are doing for them. Couple the convenience and portability of a well put-together 10.2-inch machine with the flexibility of using eye- and hand-friendly full-sized peripherals and that’s a convenient bonus. Gigabyte suggest you’ll see around 7 hours of use out of the standard 6-cell, 7,800mAh battery pack; that’s the usual ambitious estimate, but we saw over five hours of casual browsing over WiFi, typing and emailing.

The Booktop M1022 only starts to make sense when you drop your expectations of notebooks that come with docking stations. Rather than allowing desktop use of a powerful mobile computer, the Gigabyte permits more comfortable use of a niche product. If you’ve considered a netbook but lamented the sub-sized keyboard and display, or a nettop but can’t bring yourself to sacrifice portability, then the M1022 offers the best of both. You’ll have to pay for the privilege – importer Mobilx.hu, who generously loaned us our review unit, have the Gigabyte Booktop M1022 listed for $470 (excluding VAT) or €331 (excluding VAT), on top of which you can add integrated 3G – since the Booktop comes in a little more expensive than your average bargain-basement netbook, but the flexibility, build quality and battery life are all one step above rivals.

via slashgear

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Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Review

The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 features a 12-inch screen and is one of the largest netbooks on the market. This 3.42-lb machine is designed to let consumers easily surf the Internet and perform other light tasks on-the-go without having to spend a lot of money. The S12 comes pre-loaded with Windows XP, has a full-size keyboard, and includes a six-cell battery for five hours of run time – read on to see how it fared in our testing.


* Intel Atom N270 processor (1.60GHz)
* Windows XP Home Edition
* Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics
* 1GB RAM
* 12.1-inch widescreen display (1280x800) with LED backlighting
* 160GB 5400RPM hard drive (Hitachi HTS543216L9A)
* 6-cell Li-ion battery (11.1V, 52Wh)
* Broadcom 802.11b/g wireless
* One-year limited warranty
* White color (also available in black)
* Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.5 x 0.9 – 1.4 inches (W x D x H)
* Weight: Starting at 3.42 lb w/ 6-cell battery

As configured, our S12 is currently priced at $499. The base model starts at $449 with a VIA Nano 1.3GHz processor.

Build and Design
Since all netbooks have nearly identical specifications, manufacturers have to look at the design and build quality to differentiate themselves. Lenovo's IdeaPad S12 is a docile and friendly-looking machine with a not a square edge in sight. The company's second generation of netbooks feature rounded edges and a slimmer chassis. The S12 looks well built; all of the parts fit together neatly.

The back of the lid has a "fashion" design with hundreds of little circles dotting the lid. The S12 would be at home in a Target store because I think all of those little circles resemble the company's bullseye logo. In addition, the majority of people I showed it to thought it was a girl's machine, probably because it is white and has that circle design on the lid. Your mileage may vary – I suggest guys go with the black version.

The S12 is constructed of ABS plastic through and through. It looks and feels sturdy and is not fragile at all. The only part of the notebook that could be more solid is the battery, which wobbles ever so slightly. There is little flex anywhere on the machine, with the exception to this being the lid; ripples show on the screen when only mild pressure is put on the back of the screen. This should be a non-issue as long as the machine is not thrown around. The hinges that hold the display on are very solid as well. A point of interest about the lid is that it only tilts back about 20 degrees past vertical; given how light this machine is, it will likely be used in a variety of situations and therefore should probably Tilt back another 10-20 degrees or so.

The entire base of the notebook has a matte finish, while the lid is glossy plastic front and back. The glossy plastic is surprisingly durable; I did not use a sleeve to protect the S12 in my bag during the week I had it and there were no scratches at the end of the review period.

The glossy screen attracts dust and fingerprints easily, so keep a microfiber cloth handy. As far as cleanliness goes, the white plastic stayed clean during the time I had it; only time will tell how it fares in the long term. Hopefully the plastic is not too absorbent and will not pick up stains and other discolorations. The black S12 is be better at hiding everyday wear and tear.

Compared to the Dell Inspiron Mini 12, a direct competitor to the Lenovo S12, the S12 is slightly smaller (albeit about a tenth of an inch thicker). The S12 feels deceptively heavy in the hands depending on how you pick it up (by the back, front, and so on). The stick-out 6-cell battery is the primary reason the S12 feels weighty.

Overall, the S12 has excellent fit and finish with an accommodating design.

IdeaPad S12 Screen and Speakers

Screen and Speakers
The S12 has a 12-inch widescreen display (16:10 aspect ratio) with a 1280x800 resolution and LED backlighting. Contrast and brightness are excellent; the LEDs lighting the display (instead of the traditional CCFL lighting used in most notebooks) make for a very even brightness distribution, with only a hint of bleed at the bottom. There are ten levels of brightness; I found level 7 or 8/10 to be the sweet spot, but dimming the screen to 4 or 5/10 are perfectly usable and will extend battery life. The top brightness level is almost too bright. Viewing angles are average at best – from above the picture washes out quickly, and from below it darkens. Side-to-side angles are better but there is noticeable color shift.

Unfortunately the glossy screen coating means a lot of reflections, so using this machine outside or areas with a lot of lighting sources could get annoying.

The 1280x800 resolution of the display is excellent for a netbook; most have 1024x600 or less. The display also has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is unusual since most manufacturers are moving to 16:9 displays. The higher resolution makes the S12 feel more like a full computer than other netbooks with lower resolutions.

There are two speakers located beneath the palm rests on the S12. These are essentially stereotypical notebook speakers – they get loud enough to hear sounds and are reasonably clear but for situations where audio matters, like movies and music, do make use of the headphone jack.

Speaking of the headphone jack, it is unfortunate that some background hiss is present. It is easily drowned out with audio and most people probably will not even notice it, but to a headphone audiophile like myself, it is disappointing.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The IdeaPad S12's keyboard is, in a word, superb; it is full-size and requires no adjusting from a standard notebook keyboard. There is no flex and key travel is just right. The keyboard feels of high quality and allows for precision typing; each key is anchored securely and does not wobble at all. It has excellent tactile feedback and enough resistance that you can rest your hands on the keyboard in typing position without pressing keys accidentally. Lenovo designers made good use of the keyboard real estate – I am pleased to see the PrintScreen key is its own key and not mapped as a secondary function (as in, needing to press the [Fn] key in conjunction with the corresponding key to use it), and that the PgUp and PgDn keys are near the arrow keys. The Home and End keys are secondary function keys, but looking at the space the designers had to deal with, it was clearly not an option to make them separate as well.

All in all, this is one of the best netbook/notebook keyboards I have used in a long time.

The touchpad has its ups and downs. While tracking is easy and it is reasonably accurate, it is a bit too small – I found myself running out of room often. If it measured a half-centimeter more in diameter, it would be perfect. The touchpad buttons provide good feedback and make an audible but not annoying click when depressed. The buttons are easy to find by feel and other than wishing they were slightly larger, I have no complaints about them.

Ports and Features
The IdeaPad S12 has a limited selection of ports – let's take a picture tour. All descriptions are left to right.

Left Side: Power jack, exhaust vent, wireless on/off switch, two USB, media card reader (MMC/MS/MS Pro/SD)

Right Side: ExpressCard/34 slot, headphone and microphone jacks, USB, VGA out, 10/100 Ethernet, Kensington Lock slot

Front: Stereo speakers

Back: Battery

The S12 has the essentials; given what a netbook is designed to do, the port selection is difficult to complain about.

via notebookreview

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Asus N90SV-A2 Review

The Asus N90SV-A2 desktop replacement laptop is roughly the size of two 15-inch notebooks turned vertically and placed side by side. Movies and games look great on the large (18.4-inch diagonal), bright, full-HD-resolution (1920 by 1080) screen. (Asus recently released a more game-focused laptop of similar size, the Asus W90VP.)


Some of the bulk results from dubious design choices. For instance, the bezel on the sides of the screen is an inch thick, and a lot of unused space surrounds the keyboard.

"Instant keys" to the left of the keyboard provide one-click control over such functions as launching the laptop's ExpressGate software, cycling between display profiles, locking the touchpad, and cycling between energy profiles. But the keys are rather small in comparison to the space they occupy, owing to the large volume wheel situated directly beneath them. The instant keys glow with a bright blue backlighting that seems impossible to turn off and can be quite distracting during movie viewing, unless you plan ahead and have a washcloth handy.

The N90SV-A2 is comfortable to work on. The full-size keyboard has plenty of key travel and a nice clicky feel. Asus even includes a nearly full-size number pad, plus the extrawide Backspace, Enter, Shift, and Ctrl keys everyone loves, and even dedicated arrow keys. The trackpad, on the other hand, seemed to have trouble detecting movement at times, even with its sensitivity cranked up. The single chrome bar button offers no clear distinction between left- and right-click, leading to occasional misclicks.

Asus supplies a multicard slot on the left (near the Blu-ray drive), and on the right an express card slot, two headphone jacks, a mic jack, and two USB ports. On the back, you get two more USB ports, HDMI, VGA, power, and gigabit ethernet; 802.11n Wi-Fi is integrated. The Altec Lansing speakers are located on the upward-sloping front edge of the laptop, so they point down at an angle to your table. Though they sound better than the speakers on most smaller notebooks, speakers on other large desktop replacement models (like the Sony VAIO VGN-AW230J/H) are better still.

In the configuration we tested, priced at roughly $1800 (as of July 15, 2009), the N90SV-A2 packs a 2.66GHz Intel T9550 Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM, a Blu-ray drive, a GeForce GT 130M graphics chip set with 1GB of RAM (essentially the same thing as the GeForce 9600M GT), and 1TB of storage distributed across two 500GB drives (which were curiously split into four 250GB partitions). Though the specs look pretty good for the price, the graphics seemed a little underpowered for a large, heavy entertainment notebook. At its native resolution of 1920 by 1080, I had to disable antialiasing to run Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare at a good clip, for example, and I had to turn down some texture settings in Fallout 3.

Perhaps because of its slower SIS chip set and its 800MHz (as opposed to 1066MHz) RAM, The N90SV-A2 scored an 86 in WorldBench, one of the lowest scores among recent desktop replacement laptops. Gaming performance was good at low resolutions, but Enemy Territory: Quake Wars ran at only 37 frames per second at 1680 by 1050 resolution, and Unreal Tournament III at only 39 fps. The aforementioned Asus W90VP turned in frame rates of 88 fps and 61 fps, respectively, on the same two games. The N90SV-A2 lasted for just over 2 hours in our battery test, but that time shortens if you play demanding games or watch Blu-ray movies.

Speaking of Blu-ray discs, our test system played them wonderfully. Nevertheless, the laptop's screen quality was average: Blacks weren't as dark as we'd like, yielding mediocre contrast; and (as often happens on laptop screens of this size) brightness wasn't uniform--the bottom of the screen always looked more washed out than the top.

The N90SV-A2 has an appealing price, but I'd rather have a faster chip set, faster RAM, and a faster GPU than so much hard drive space. The screen is impressively large, but not great in color or contrast. And the overall notebook design is uninspired, with a fair amount of wasted space and an iffy touchpad.

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Toshiba NB200-110 netbook Review

The NB200-110 (£369 inc. VAT) is the second netbook to be released by Toshiba, following the lukewarm reception of its first model, the NB100, which has since been discontinued. Thankfully, the NB200 is a far more successful effort and a great netbook in its own right.


Rather than the unstylish, boxy look of the NB100, the NB200 has a larger, sleeker and far more eye-catching design. Available in a choice of white, brown or black, the chassis features ribbed plastic on the lid, a matt-silver finish to the palmrest, and a large, faux metallic hinge.

At 1.4kg, the extra size adds little to the overall weight. The slim design and curved edges allow it to slip easily into your hand luggage. The large 6-cell battery unfortunately protrudes 20mm from the rear of the chassis, but it delivers an impressive 493-minutes of mobile use.

The keyboard is near full-sized and features an isolation-key design, whereby each key protrudes through an individual hole in the chassis. The keys are large, accessible and move quietly when typing.

The crowning feature, however, is the dazzling 10.1-inch Super-TFT screen. Surrounded by a glossy, striped bezel, this is perhaps the most vibrant netbook screen we’ve seen. Sharpness, colour and contrast are all stunningly effective, and images literally pop off the screen.

The NB200 is also well equipped with extras. An integrated camera sits above the screen, and one of three USB ports uses Sleep and Charge technology, allowing you to charge USB-powered devices when the netbook is switched off.

Additionally, the 160GB hard drive is shock-protected to prevent data damage if you drop the netbook. Should this occur, the drive detects the freefall motion and automatically parks the disk's read/write heads to stop them from scratching and damaging the disk’s surface.

Toshiba had a lot to prove with the NB200 and it has mostly succeeded. While a more discrete battery and a slightly less garish design would have been appreciated, the fantastic usability and gorgeous screen make this a great addition to the netbook market.


via whatlaptop

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Dell Studio 1555 - 15.6in Laptop Review

Dell's Studio range of laptops first debuted last year in the shape of the Studio 1535, but to keep things fresh the PC giant has updated its 15in mainstream offering with the Studio 1555 (15 for short) we're looking at today. Primarily this is to make the switch to a 16:9 aspect, 15.6in display, but there's also been one or two design tweaks, new features and hardware options added, so there's a little more to it than a simple change of scenery.


Being a Dell, the Studio 1555 can be configured to suit all sorts of budgets. For instance, if you select the most expensive options available, you could pay close to £1,800! This would net you a pretty impressive machine mind, with some of the premium options including a Full HD display, a backlit keyboard, up to 8GB RAM, a 500GB hard drive and a Blu-ray Re-writer drive. Conversely, in its most basic form, you could pay as little as £449 and still get what we'd consider a decent budget machine.

Our review unit finds a happy medium between the two. On a normal trading day it would cost around £1,040, though at time of writing Dell is running a special offer that would bring this down to a bargain £763. Dell's pricing is always prone to fluctuation, so it's worth keeping an eye on what's going on.

For this you get an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 clocked at 2.4GHz, which puts the 1555 firmly in desktop replacement territory. This is joined by 4GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM, a 7,200rpm 320GB hard drive and a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570. Given these specs, this system should be a very brisk performer, something we'll be putting to the test later on.

Other non-standard features in our system include Bluetooth, Draft-N Wi-Fi and the backlit keyboard, though we were a little disappointed to discover the display is the standard 1,366 x 768 effort, not the £70 1,920 x 1,080 option - an upgrade we'd heartily recommend. As ever this is the beauty of buying from Dell, since anyone who doesn't want Bluetooth or a backlit keyboard could easily spend it on a better screen or save the money.

Of course, however much you spend, you'll still get the same basic chassis and the same plentiful connectivity options. Most of this is situated on the left edge, with HDMI and VGA for video, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an eSATA/USB combo port, a dedicated USB port, mini-FireWire and a trio of audio jacks (1 x line-in, 2 x line-out) all neatly integrated.

Following on the right is a 34mm ExpressCard slot - below which sits the multi-format card reader - one further USB port and the power input. Just above the power input is a small white LED to show when the system is charging, which unusually is the only activity light on the machine bar the backlit power button on the hinge. Our only complaint on the connectivity side of things is the lack of standby power USB ports, which is an increasingly common feature and very useful for charging mobile devices.

via trustedreviews

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Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T notebook Review

The Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T is a great laptop if the portability of a netbook is appealing, but you are worried about the cramped keyboard, and you can't afford a powerful ultraportable laptop. It's substantially more expensive than a netbook, but it's also substantially more powerful and feature-packed, and it's not as expensive as high-end ultraportable notebooks like the Toshiba Portege R600. Best of all, for a 14in laptop it offers good battery life, so it will be great to use while commuting to work or if you want to take notes in a few uni lectures.


On the inside of the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T is a single-core Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CPU, which runs at 1.4GHz. This doesn't offer as much power as a dual-core CPU, but thanks in part to the 4GB of DDR3 RAM this notebook easily has enough grunt for office tasks. In the WorldBench 6 benchmark the notebook scored 50, which is a less than inspiring result compared to many notebooks that have Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, and in the iTunes and Blender tests it scored 3min 23sec and 4min 12sec, respectively. You will probably be able to play a few games — as long as they're from the '90s. The notebook achieved a poor score of 607 in 3DMark06

Don't let the relative lack of power put you off, however. We happily typed much of this review on the notebook with an instant messenger client and a Web browser running in the background. You will be able to listen to MP3s while you type up documents, for example, and crop your photos without many problems. The 320GB hard drive spins at 5400rpm and copied files at 21.85 megabytes per second in our test.

It's a well put together notebook. The Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T has a solid chassis and a stiff hinge. Our only concerns were some slight clicking in one part of the screen's bezel when we pressed it and some looseness in the DC connector (which we suspect is a flaw in our review unit).

The Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T's screen is definitely a highlight. It's a great size for Web browsing and word processing — diminutive netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 701 4G may look cute but their screens can tax the eyes — and it's LED backlit, so it's extremely bright. Unfortunately it reflects office lighting and we weren't impressed with the vertical viewing angles. It's a high-definition screen, with a resolution of 1366x768.

We were very impressed with the keyboard, which is has isolated keys like the HP ProBook 4510s Notebook PC. The keys are full size with a few exceptions (the cursor keys and the function keys).

The touchpad is comfortable to use and a good size, though we wish it had separate left- and right-click buttons instead of a single strip of plastic. We were happy to see the inclusion of a button to disable the touchpad; we too often found ourselves moving the mouse cursor when we were typing. Sadly although the button worked fine in Windows Vista Home Premium, which was installed on our review unit, it didn't work in Ubuntu distribution of Linux (it disabled the touchpad but wouldn't re-enable it).

There were no major dramas running Linux on the notebook, though during installation we did have to re-enable the Wi-Fi radio in Windows before booting into Ubuntu in order to get it to work. It's a shame that there are no physical buttons to disable and enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, especially given the focus of this notebook on achieving a long battery life (hence the 'Timeline' moniker). The ease of getting a Linux distribution to run on the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T reminded us of how far the operating system has come since the years when even getting X to run was a challenge.

In our DVD rundown battery test, which is conducted with no power-saving features enabled, screen brightness at full and Wi-Fi enabled, the notebook lasted 4hr 19min. This is a good result for a laptop this size. Turning the brightness down a few notches, disabling Wi-Fi and using some sensible power-saving measures will mean you're likely to get a lot more life out of it. Acer claims you can achieve up to eight hours of battery life from the notebook, and this may well be possible if you take the right precautions.

This notebook is much more feature-packed than a netbook, with fast 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet and pretty much every port you would expect: a multi-card reader, D-Sub (VGA), HDMI (great for connecting to an LCD TV) and three USB ports. It also comes with a DVD burner and a Kensington lock slot.

Apart from the connectivity options and the ease of use, what makes the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T really stand out is its design. A 14in laptop often strikes a good balance between portability and usability, and the light weight of this notebook — 1.9kg — and the slim dimensions (it's only about an inch thick) make it a great choice for taking on the road or to your uni class. It doesn't get too warm to use on your lap, and it is also extremely quiet.

via pcworld.idg

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Dell Inspiron 15 Review

The Inspiron 15 is the back-to-basics mainstream 15" notebook from Dell, offering good performance at a value price. Consumers can configure this notebook with basic lid configurations, or go all out with the customized lids from the Dell Design Studio for an additional cost. If you are just looking for a basic system to meet your needs at school or home, read our full review of the Dell Inspiron 15.


Our Dell Inspiron 15 Configuration:

* Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 2.00GHz Processor (1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
* Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic (32-bit)
* 15.6" 1366x768 16:9 Glossy Display
* Intel X4500 Integrated Graphics
* 3GB DDR2 800MHz RAM (2GB + 1GB)
* 320GB 5400RPM HDD
* 8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
* Intel 5100AGN WiFi and 10/100 Ethernet
* 6-Cell 48WHr Battery
* Limited 1-year standard parts and labor warranty with in-home service
* Dimensions: 14.7 x 9.6" x 1.02"
* Weight: 5.8lbs
* Price as configured: $549

Build and Design
The design of the of the Inspiron 15 is pretty good for a value notebook, offering a smooth rounded profile and clean lines. While our model doesn't offer one of the most expensive custom lid designs, it gives you an idea of what you would get if you chose the current "FastTrack" shipping option on this model. The only design element of the notebook that doesn't blend well with the stock matte lid finish is the fully glossy interior. The screen, screen bezel, keyboard trim, and palmrest are all glossy black inside the notebook, which doesn't always play well with reflections or smudges. If you keep it clean it looks great, but at times it did get annoying if you were sitting with your back to bright windows where the entire notebook turned into a mirror. Overall, if you don't mind the glossy surface the design of the Inspiron 15 is pretty nice compared to other budget models on the market.

The Dell Inspiron 15 has average build quality compared to other value-oriented models we have reviewed. The plastics used held up well in our tests, but did show signs of flexing and creaking in spots. The screen lid and palmrest were the two main areas which exhibited flex, with the palmrest giving off creaking sounds if you squeezed it in the right spot. The screen lid on the Inspiron 15 uses a latch-less hinge design which keeps it held down using friction and gravity. You need two hands to open it up with it placed horizontally on your desk, but if you were carrying it around under your arm it did have a tendency to open up about a centimeter or so. In most latch-less designs we like to see a secondary holding method, such as a magnet or spring loaded hinge to keep it shut when held in any direction. The plastics used in the construction of the chassis feel pretty durable and should hold up well over time, but the glossy finish around the keyboard and palmrest did have a tendency to show fine scratches.

Dell gives you easy access to all internal components of the notebook. This includes the system memory, hard drive, and wireless card, as well as the processor if you are so inclined. Underneath the main access panel (which includes handy circlips around each screw so they don't go flying) is the RAM, wireless card, and processor with heatsink. The hard drive and optical drive are removable through individual sections with their own retaining screws. Oddly enough Dell doesn't have any "warranty void if removed" stickers anywhere, including the screws around the processor.

Screen and Speakers
The glossy 1366x768 display on the Inspiron 15 is average compared to other panels we have seen. Colors and contrast are excellent thanks to the glossy surface, which tends to scatter less light than the equivalent matte surface. Backlight levels could be better on the high-end of the spectrum, but we found it adequate for most conditions, including a bright off setting, underneath shop lighting, and or just sitting on your couch enjoying a show. Viewing angles could have been better, with color distortion found in both the vertical and horizontal extremes. Colors started to shift when titling the screen 20 degrees forward or back. Horizontal viewing angles were better, only showing color shifting past 45 degrees.

The included speakers were good compared to other budget models, with clear high-range audio, but little low or midrange coming through. Peak volume levels were enough to fill a small room, but if you plan on sharing a movie inside a dorm room, it might be wise to connect the laptop to a set of external surround speakers. For enjoying music or movies by yourself, headphones are still a must-have accessory.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The Inspiron 15 keyboard is very comfortable to type on, offering excellent support and a very good layout. The keys are of normal size with a light matte finish for excellent traction. Spacing is spot on compared to my ThinkPad keyboard, so no adjusting was necessary. Support underneath the keyboard is excellent, with no flex anywhere, even under very strong pressure. Individual key action is smooth with a very quiet "click" emitted when a key is fully pressed. It might not be the quietest keyboard I have used, but it still ranks up there. The function key layout is interesting compared to other notebook models, with use of the function keys backwards. Normally to adjust the brightness or volume, or toggle the WiFi settings you press the FN-key, then the appropriate function key. Dell went with a setup where the secondary command is now primary. To put it another way, if you want to hit F5 to refresh a webpage, you now need to press FN+ the brightness up key. For normal uses this might be more intuitive, but for advanced users who love using commands like window close, page refresh, full screen, and other function key commands, it is more confusing and complex.

The touchpad is a large Dell-specific model, with a nicely textured matte finish that gives excellent traction. Speed and accuracy were pretty good, with barely any lag noticed in our tests. We did encounter one situation where a quick tap and select movement wouldn't release the selection box, but that situation didn't come up frequently. The touchpad might not have been as nice to use as a Synaptics model, but for the notebook's intended market it should be fine. The touchpad buttons were a big surprise to see on a budget model. They provide excellent feedback and have a deep throw, instead of standard "clicky" touchpad buttons.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the Dell Inspiron 15 is lacking compared to notebooks of the same size, including only three USB ports, VGA, LAN, and an ExpressCard/34 slot. HDMI would have been greatly appreciated, since it would allow a user to hook the notebook up to a home theater to play movies, whereas now you would need to have a TV that supports VGA in, and still be limited to analog audio out. For quickly copying images off a memory card, there is a spring loaded SDHC-compatible memory slot on the front of the notebook. eSATA would have been another nice touch, but it is hard enough to find it on some high-end notebooks.

Performance
System performance was below average when compared to other consumer notebooks, but that was heaviliy dependant on the low-end T4200 Intel Dual-Core Pentium our configuration included. While it might not be able to play the latest games, users will not have any problems typing documents, watching HD movies, ripping music through iTunes, or editing photos. Boot times were still quick, only taking about 35 seconds to get to a ready desktop screen from a full shutdown. The included 320GB hard drive offered plenty of storage space for movies, music, and photos, and even though it is only 5400RPM, it is still quick for daily use. Overall this system falls toward the bottom of our list in terms of performance, but if you were to upgrade the processor, speeds across the board would get a nice boost.

All of the 3DMark06 scores for all of the systems listed above were run at 1280 x 800 (for screens with a 16:10 ratio) or 1280 x 768 resolution (for screens with 16:9).

HDTune storage drive performance results:
Dell Inspiron 15

Battery
Battery life was below average compared to other notebooks, and we had expected slightly better results from the 48Wh battery Dell included with it. In our tests with screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Vista set to the Balanced profile the Inspiron stayed on for 2 hours and 38 minutes. Power consumption varied between 12 and 16 watts during our battery test. A more efficient processor and power management system could have yielded much better results. To put this in perspective, the ThinkPad T400 with an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor and X4500 graphics consumed as little as 8.5 watts of power.



Heat and Noise
System temperatures stayed well within our "lap-friendly" range, with only one hot spot being the touchpad. On battery power with nothing significant running in the background the system barely climbed above room temp. Noise levels remained low during our tests, with only a few blips of higher fan speeds, before the fan resumed its silent/off fan state. After the notebook had been running for the good part of a day plugged in and being stressed moments earlier, the system still showed no signs of running abnormally hot in our temperature readings shown below in degrees Fahrenheit.

Conclusion
The Dell Inspiron 15 is a decent mid-size budget notebook with good looks and average build quality. The keyboard is very comfortable to type on with excellent support, but has a weird function key layout that may annoy more advanced users. The touchpad offers an excellent surface texture with buttons that have great feedback and throw distance. Basic configurations start as low as $379, making it a reasonable choice if you are working on a budget. Overall it might not be the best notebook on the market, but it still offers great value and a reasonably attractive design.

Pros:

* Good looks
* Easy to upgrade all components
* Good cooling system
* Great touchpad buttons

Cons:

* Screen lid doesn't stay closed with the notebook held vertically
* Battery life could be better

via notebookreview

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Hacking your Laptop for Peak Gaming Performance

Gaming is a big hit amongst the most technically-savvy generation, with free and PC-only games becoming quite robust, and commercial games packing outstanding graphics, as well as a plot lines and game play. If you're a gamer, or looking into joining the realm of gamers, but can't afford a high-end gaming laptop, then this article is for you.

Below are a few tips on milking the best game performance from your laptop, no matter its make or model. Be sure to do your research based on your own laptop and its limits, however, before attempting any alterations.


Faster Hard Drive

Slow, clunky hard drives are the bane of most computer users existence. For a generation where speed is everything--microwaves, high-speed Internet--waiting for a 5400 rpm to get spinnin' is like a slow tumble down a long hill. If your machine doesn't have a 7200rpm hard drive, replacing your current HDD with a faster one will make a noticeable increase in performance, ranging from faster boot speed to faster game start times.

When choosing a new hard drive, opt for the largest one you can afford, as games begin taking up a great amount of space once a plethora of maps are downloaded and added to the repertoire, as well as system updates, media, and non-gaming applications.

Finally, opt for the drive with a larger amount of cache. If you see two drives, and one is 120GB with 16MB cache, and the other is 200GB with 8MB, a wise person would choose the smaller drive with the larger cache.

More RAM

RAM does not solely decide the speed of a computer--many, many things working together do--but it is still a viable mechanism in the world of speed, and will make switching between apps and tasks snappier, which will give the entire system what feels like a considerable performance boost.

All laptops have a set limit of how much RAM they can utilize. Many modern laptops have a limit of 4GB of random access memory, but higher-end laptops and most gaming laptops have a higher-capacity, some up to 16GB, though that is the current maximum.

The Asus G60 gaming laptop can take 4GB DDR3 RAM, which is faster than the standard DDR2, and all of it should be utilized for optimum system performance. If you do upgrade the RAM, be sure to get DDR3 instead of the slower DDR2.

Cooling Pad

As your system heats up, its performance goes down. A gaming laptop will have a powerful processor, and that power, when fully utilized, will cook your laptop if you have it sit there. Leaving the laptop sit on a flat surface, such as a desk or laptop, isn't enough to keep it running optimally. The solution to keep the processor cool is to use a cooling pad that goes beneath the laptop. These can be purchased from any electronics store, but if you're the DIY (or just plain cheap) type can make one out of spare computer fans and other accessories; instructions can be found via a quick Google search.

Overclocking

This is a dangerous thing to do, not something you should perform if you're uncertain, want to guarantee your laptop's health, and/or become flustered following technical directions. With that said, each processor varies a bit in frequency, with some being capable of higher frequencies than others. If you hit the luck jackpot and end up with, for example, a 1.6GHz processor that is capable of 2.0GHZ, then by overclocking it, you'll get more power for a lower price.

The downside to this is that the heat sink may not be able to handle the addition power you're pushing through it, and the effect is that it will get to hot a fry, for lack of a better word. If this happens, most warranties will not cover the damage, and the price of a new processor will be quite hefty.

If you do want to overclock your processor, check out THIS guide.

System Optimization Software

Regularly using system optimization software will keep your system running the way the hardware intends for it to, not the way all the clutter and sludge allows it. If you're frequently online, often installing programs and uninstall programs, and more, then we can all but guarantee that your entire system is spattered with randomly placed files that are slowing things down.

By regularly running--or better yet, scheduling to run at midnight or so--virus/malware/spyware scanners, registry cleaners, hardware defragments, and more, your install will stay cleaner for a longer period than it would otherwise. Just like a car requires regular preventive maintenance, so does your computer.

[via laptoplogic]

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Asus Eee PC 1005HA netbook review

Are you fed up with netbooks costing almost the same as fully-fledged laptops? Asus brings the concept closer to its humble beginnings with the 1005HA.

If you’re in the market for a netbook and have wondered what’s happened to the low cost, budget focused machines that originally kick-started the genre then you’re not the only ones.

Nowadays prices routinely soar ever closer to the £400 mark. In fact, it's got to the point where the market is crying out for a truly budget-priced netbook. Asus has heeded your call and with the Eee PC 1005HA you might just be in luck.

We liked Asus' premium-priced netbook, the Eee PC 1008HA for its slim, sexy and oh-so-desirable design, but weren't too keen on the price. The 1005HA offers the best of both worlds, blending the affordability of the Eee PC's humble beginnings with the styling of the Seashell.

It's available in two versions: a premium model that squeezes in an Intel Atom N280, Bluetooth, a huge battery and glossy screen; and a cheaper version that settles for an Intel Atom N270, forgoes the Bluetooth, opts for a slightly smaller battery and has only a matte display.

This, the cheaper of the two models, is of most interest. Although it costs a reasonable £286, it looks very similar to the more expensive Seashell. Its smoothly contoured form and shapely curves look good and is available in black or white.

Set the 1005HA next to its slender stablemate, the 1008HA, however, and it won't be the trickiest game of spot the difference you've ever played. The 1005HA is noticeably chunkier - a testament to the freely removable lithium-ion battery at its rear. It's a sacrifice worth making for the extra stamina on offer, not to mention the ability to carry around multiple batteries for long journeys (the Seashell's battery isn't user-replaceable). The 4,400mAh battery manages a decent 6hrs 34mins away from the mains.

The 1005HA extra girth tips the scales at 1.16kg, or 1.41kg if you're envisaging carrying around the petite and portable power supply too. It might be a little heavier than some of the competition, but its extra bulk is allied to sturdy build quality. Pick up the 1005HA by the corner and the chassis feels stiff and creak-free, while both the lid and chassis feel well up to fending off the daily abuse a bag-bound netbook has to suffer.

Are you fed up with netbooks costing almost the same as fully-fledged laptops? Asus brings the concept closer to its humble beginnings with the 1005HA.

The 10.1in display marks another change, supplanting the 1008HA's glossy panel with a matte one. It's a decision that's bound to please many, with the reduced reflectivity making the 1005HA even more suited to a life on the road. Colour reproduction and contrast levels are solid without proving exceptional, but just like that of the Samsung NC10, the matte display does bring with it a noticeably grainy quality.

And despite its markedly lower price the 1005HA loses little in the way of features. Bluetooth is a notable absentee, but its absence leaves room in the budget for draft-n WiFi, which is an impressive sight in a sub-£300 netbook. Peer around its matte-black edges and the 1005HA also manages to squeeze in three USB ports, an SD/MMC card reader and a set of speakers that manage to make music rather than choke it.

It's a similar story when it comes to ergonomics. Where many netbooks find their aspirations dashed by a poor keyboard or a wayward trackpad, the Asus stays firmly on target. It might not reach the tactile delights of Samsung's NC10 or N110, but the keyboard is still very fine. A full-height Enter key is partnered with a refreshingly wide right-Shift key and the layout is spacious and sensible.

The keys don't have much in the way of travel, but their positive action more than makes up for it. Even the strange-looking, dimpled trackpad works well, with multitouch gestures enabling you to quickly zoom in and out of photos or scroll effortlessly through long web pages or documents.

The 1005HA doesn't quite scale the heights of Samsung's superb N110, but for the money it's easy to cut the 1005HA a bit of slack. It's good-looking, well built and just as capable as many far pricier netbooks. If you won't settle for second best at any price then the Samsung N110 still wins out overall, but for most people, the Eee PC 1005HA is the netbook they've always wanted with the price they've always dreamed of.

[via itpro]

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Dell Vostro 1320 review

The Dell Vostro 1320 is a solidly built laptop with a built-in optical drive and a powerful CPU.

It's got a burgundy-coloured lid and a black base, but don't let its looks fool you - the Dell Vostro 1320 isn't a notebook for hipsters to parade at coffee shops (that's what Eee PCs are for). It's a 13.3in laptop that's designed for small business users who want something that avoids the tedious black-on-black that adorns most meeting rooms and cubicles.


The Dell Vostro 1320 is solidly built, it's relatively fast and it's a good size for taking with you when you're travelling.

The Dell Vostro 1320 weighs 2.15kg, but this includes a built-in optical drive and a 4-cell battery, as well as a modest assortment of ports and slots. You get four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet, D-Sub, an ExpressCard/54 slot and an SD memory card reader.

It doesn't have anything as modern as eSATA or HDMI; these are the types of ports that would make the Dell Vostro 1320, with its powerful 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 CPU, come into its own as an all-round entertainment and productivity machine. As it stands, it's a great notebook for business users.

Even with only 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM our test model scored 90 in the WorldBench 6 suite of application tests, which represents good speed for office programs, multitasking and even 3D rendering and photo manipulation. It would have performed even better if it had more RAM (perhaps reaching the same level as the Dell Vostro 1520, which scored 96 with a slightly slower CPU). In the Blender 3D and iTunes MP3 encoding tests, it recorded times of 1min 11sec and 1min 06sec, respectively, which is around what we expected of the P8700 CPU.

The Dell Vostro 1320's hard drive (a Seagate Momentus ST9250421ASG) was also very fast. It recorded an average file transfer speed of 28 megabytes per second in our tests. This is approximately 5MBps faster than the hard drive of the Vostro 1520. This means the Dell Vostro 1320 will serve you well when conducting disk-intensive tasks such as compressing data.

An NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics adapter is present, which has its own memory and gives the Dell Vostro 1320 relatively good graphics performance for a business laptop. It scored 2379 in 3DMark06, meaning it can play games with low-detail settings if you ever get sick of being so productive.

While its performance was impressive despite the very low amount of RAM, the Dell Vostro 1320's build quality is another reason to consider buying this unit. It feels very solidly built - from its base to its lid. You can pick it up from either corner without the chassis bending noticeably or making any disturbing noises.

And unlike the chassis around the optical drive in the Dell Vostro 1220, it didn't unnecessarily contact the optical drive's tray and make clicking noises. Furthermore, the lid protects the screen well. There isn't excessive puddling when you move it from the edges; its hinges are strong and hold the screen perfectly in place at the angle you desire. The screen is latch-less, but it can't be lifted open with one hand - that's how strong the hinges are.

* Laptops reviews and buying advice
* Business IT reviews and advice

The Dell Vostro 1320's 4-cell battery lasted 2hr 20min in our video rundown test, which we conduct with maximum screen brightness and the wireless radio enabled. This result is poor when compared to the 2hr 45min that was returned by the bigger Vostro 1520. We expected the Vostro 1320 to last close to three hours.

Using the Dell Vostro 1320 for a prolonged period will give you a warm lap, but it's not uncomfortable (especially during winter). In summer, you may want to plonk the unit on a notebook cooler or desk instead. Typing on the Vostro 1320 is comfortable after you adjust to the keyboard, although it does tend to bounce a little and its keys need a little less resistance.

The primary keys are 18mm wide, which is not exactly full-sized, and the function and arrow keys are half this size. One thing we love about using the Dell Vostro 1320 is its touchpad, which is responsive and has soft buttons that don't make a noise when you press them.

The Dell Vostro 1320 is a solidly built laptop with a built-in optical drive and a powerful CPU

Specifications

Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 CPU; NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS; 1GB DDR2 RAM; 5,400rpm 250GB hard drive; DVD±RW drive; 13.3in TFT, 1280x800; built-in camera, microphone; D-Sub, Firewire, Headphone Jack, Microphone Jack, RJ45, USB 2.0; Bluetooth 2.0, Wireless 802.11n, Wireless 802.11a , Wireless 802.11b, Wireless 802.11g; 4x USB 2.0; 318x242x43mm; 2.15kg

Verdict

The Dell Vostro 1320 is a good choice for any business user who wants a laptop that offers the best of both worlds: portability and fast performance. We just wish it had better battery life and more modern ports.

[via pcadvisor]

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Toshiba Satellite L505-S5966 Review

The Toshiba Satellite L505-S5966 proves that consumers can get much, if not all of what they need in a system that costs less than $600. Priced at $549, this mainstream notebook features a 15.6-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio—ideal for watching widescreen movies. While those looking to play the latest 3D games or do serious multitasking will be disappointed, consumers who need a notebook for simply surfing the Web, running Microsoft Office, and listening to music should be more than satisfied with the L505.


Full Specifications
CPU 2.0-GHz Intel Pentium T4200
RAM Included 3GB
RAM Upgradable 8GB
Hard Drive Size 320GB
Hard Drive Speed 5,400rpm
Hard Drive Type SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD RW
Optical Drive Speed 8X
Display Size 15.6
Native Resolution 1366x768
Graphics Card Intel GMA 4500M
Video Memory 128MB
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth
Mobile Broadband
Operating System MS Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Ports (excluding USB) Ethernet; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; Modem; USB/eSATA; VGA
USB Ports 2
Card Slots / Readers 5-1 card reader
Warranty/Support One-year limited/24/7 toll-free phone
Size 15.1 x 10.2 x 1.6 inches
Weight 6.0 pounds

Design

For a sub-$600 system, the Satellite L505 is attractive but not exactly striking. Its lid and keyboard deck sport Toshiba’s Fusion Finish with a grey Breeze pattern—essentially, lines running diagonally across the system. Both the lid and deck are glossy, but the neutral color hides any fingerprints. The design carries across the touchpad, making it all but invisible when viewed from certain angles. While a clever touch, the fact that it is also flush with the deck had us looking for it a little harder than we should have. The keyboard and bezel are a matte black that contrasts nicely with the rest of the chassis.

At 15.1 x 10.2 x 1.6 inches and an even 6 pounds, the Satellite L505 isn’t exactly travel friendly, but it’s a reasonable size and weight for a 15.6-inch system.

Above the keyboard is the power button, plus four media playback buttons: Play/pause, reverse, forward, and mute. Unfortunately, there are no volume buttons; Toshiba continues to use an old-school volume wheel, which in this case is on the front edge of the L505.

[via laptopmag]

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ASUS Releases Laptop For True Transformers Fan

ASUS has developed a sick looking transformer version of one of its gaming notebooks. Unfortunately, you can't exactly go to the store and buy it.


The Transformers-edition laptop from ASUS is based on the G60 gaming laptop, which features a 15.6" HD display, a quad core processor, a hot Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M GPU, and other such specs befitting a computer that is imitating all powerful robots. It even has a turbo button for instant overclocking. Rumor has it that this model will have a voice activated command of "transform!" to activate this feature (author's note: that rumor is entirely based on the hopes and dreams of this author).

The downside is that it's a one-off production unit designed as a prize for people who pre-register with Odeon Cinemas in the UK.



[via laptoplogic]

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Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Review

The IdeaPad S10-2 is the latest generation 10" netbook from Lenovo, offering the 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom processor and a 6-cell extended battery. Lenovo redesigned this netbook to make it look slimmer and more attractive than its predecessor, giving the edges a rounded look and a more modern appearance. In our review we see how well the IdeaPad S10-2 performs in our tests, to help you make an informed buying decision.


Our Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Configuration:

* 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
* 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
* Windows XP Home Edition (SP3)
* 10.1" WSVGA Glossy LED-backlit display with integrated camera 1024x600
* 160GB 5400rpm Western Digital Scorpio Blue hard drive
* Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
* Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless
* 4-in-1 Media card
* 6-Cell Li-ion 10.8v 4.06Ah 44Wh battery
* 40W AC Adapter
* Size: 10.2" x 7.6" x 0.7-1.8" (including battery)
* Weight: 2lbs 11oz, 3lbs 5.4oz travel weight
* Starting price: $439 (Currently on sale for $349 at the time of this review)

full story
[via notebookreview.com]

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CyberPower Extreme M1

At $2,300, CyberPower’s Extreme M1 17-inch gaming notebook is the antithesis of the budget Gateway P-7811 FX we’ve been raving about for months. The most obvious extravagance you get for the higher price is dual-GPU graphics in the form of two ATI Radeon HD 3870 cards in CrossFireX. The Extreme M1’s 2.53GHz T9400 Core 2 Duo CPU is also 270MHz faster and features twice the cache as the Gateway’s proc, its 320GB hard drive is more than 50 percent bigger, and its optical drive supports Blu-ray playback.


The question is, how do these extras translate in performance? Compared with our zero-point notebook, the Extreme M1 excelled in all the benchmarks to varying degrees—not surprising, given the zero-point’s age. Against the Gateway P-7811 FX, there was a little more give and take. For example, in the ProShow Producer and MainConcept benchmarks, CyberPower’s rig had gains hovering around 10 percent, which is proportionate to the M1’s clock-speed advantage over the Gateway’s 2.26GHz CPU. But in our Photoshop benchmark, the Extreme M1 was actually around 7 percent slower than Gateway’s P-7811 FX.

Gaming was an even more interesting story. We didn’t expect the dual-GPUs in the Extreme M1 to really flex their muscle in our standard notebook benchmarks, as FEAR and Quake 4 aren’t that graphically intensive, particularly at the mild settings we use in our mobile tests. But we certainly weren’t expecting the Extreme M1 to turn out just 28fps in FEAR—that’s 74 percent slower than Gateway’s budget machine. Without any clear explanation for the performance lag, we forged on. In Quake 4, the Extreme M1 was a more expected 7 percent faster than Gateway’s P-7811 FX.

We went a step further and tested the Extreme M1 with our desktop gaming benchmarks as well. After all, the CrossFireX graphics should be up to the task of more graphically challenging titles. And sure enough, we were able to run Crysis at the M1’s 1920x1200 native resolution and set to Very High Quality, albeit at just 15fps. With Unreal Tournament 3, the Extreme M1 surpassed even some gaming desktops with 114fps. Gateway’s P-7811 FX, with its single GeForce 9800N GTS, achieved half the frame rate in those two games: 8fps and 74fps for Crysis and UT3, respectively. Indeed, the overall gaming prowess of the Extreme M1 convinced us that the FEAR score is likely the result of a driver issue and not any hardware shortcoming.

Yet despite its competence as a gaming rig, we have some reservations about the Extreme M1. It’s heavier than most gaming notebooks, weighing close to 13 pounds with its power brick; its 12-cell battery can’t supply juice for a full two hours—we got one hour and 50 minutes through a standard-def DVD in power-saving mode; and its speakers are weak and tinny. Even more troubling, the Extreme M1 doesn’t feel all that sturdy to us: There was a slight buckling to the strip of touch-sensitive controls above the machine’s keyboard, and the lid of the notebook showed scratches after just a few days of indoor use—it’s little consolation that the scratches were camouflaged by all the smudges and fingerprints that quickly covered the machine’s shiny black veneer. For the price of this notebook, we’d expect better quality.

Specifications


CPU : Intel 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo Mobile T9400
RAM : 4GB DDR3/1.066MHz
Chipset : Intel PM45
Hard Drive : Western Digital 320GB WD3200BEKT-22F3T0 (7,200rpm)
Optical : HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW CT10N
GPU : Dual ATI Radeon HD 3870 (CrossFireX)
Boot/Down : 37 sec / 49 sec
Lap/Carry : 9 lbs, 11oz / 12 lbs, 12oz


BENCHMARKS

Zero Point CyberPower Extreme M1

Premiere Pro CS3 : 1, 860 sec 1,517 sec
Photoshop CS3 : 237 sec 207 sec
ProSho : 2,416 sec 1,834 sec
MainConcept : 3,498 sec 3,270 sec
FEAR1.07 : 14 fps 28 fps (100%)
Quake 4 : 29.1 fps 142 fps (+388%)

[via maximumpc]

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Asus Eee PC 1000HE Review

Asus started the netbook craze with its tiny, 7-inch Eee PC. Shortly thereafter, every notebook manufacturer except Apple produced at least one tiny and inexpensive laptop just like it. Nowadays, netbooks are not that tiny anymore - little by little they have increased in size from 7" via 9" and now the standard screen size of a netbook is 10 inches. Even a couple of 12-inch models have been released.

Hardware

What they all have in common is the hardware - with a few deviations it consists of an Intel Atom CPU at 1.6GHz, 1GB or RAM, a 160GB hard drive and integrated GMA950 graphics. The Eee PC, however, has been upgraded with an ever so slightly faster 1.66GHz Atom processor and a higher 667MHz FSB speed instead of earlier models which had 533MHz.

The speed increase is not big enough to be noticeable, but you might feel better purchasing an upgraded model. Asus' main selling point with the 1000HE is the battery life. According to the manufacturer, you should be able to keep it alive for 9.5 hours without resorting to an outlet. To achieve this formidable battery life, you need to use aggressive power-saving schemes, no Wi-Fi and turn the brightness all the way down. In our general usage test it still delivered more than 7 hours, which is still more than acceptable.
Design

As far as the design goes, the Eee PC 1000 HE stays with the concept we've seen in previous Eee netbooks. The keyboard is almost full size (92%) and the trackpad buttons are slightly tilted in the front. The entire casing of the netbook is glossy, which enhances the overall look but also attracts fingerprints easily.

On the whole, the design of the 1000HE focuses on usability; it's not spectacularly thin like some of its siblings, such as Asus S101 netbook, but it certainly gets the job done with flying colors. Besides, keeping the design simple also helps keep the price to a minimum, which is often the deciding factor for a netbook buyer.
Connectivity and Features

The ports have been placed on the left- and right-hand sides of the laptop - none at the back. On the right is a memory card reader, 2 USB and VGA and on the left is another USB port, Ethernet, and audio line in/out.
Summary

While there are better looking netbooks on the market, the Eee PC 1000HE comes at a very attractive price point and offers excellent battery life. It's also very easy to use thanks to the large keyboard, and has all the features that the competition offer plus a little extra. Combine these aspects and you have one of the best netbooks currently available.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE Technical Specifications

* Processor Atom N280 1.66GHz
* Memory 1GB DDR2
* Harddrive 160GB
* OS Windows XP Home
* Weight 3lbs
* Screen 10 inches
* Screen resolution 1024x600
* Graphic Card Intel GMA 950
* Battery Life 7.5 hours

[via laptopical]

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MSI CR400 notebook is first in Classic series

MSI revealed a brand new notebook today with their CR400. This 14-inch notebook is the first in a new series for the company called Classic and is apparently just the first in what will be an expanding line up.



This series is intended to be high-end. The notebook features a uni-body design, Color Film Print and 45-degree edges. It also has high quality specs with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a LED-backlit display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution and a NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G graphics card.

Other features include Windows Vista Home Premium, a 4-in-1 card reader, DVD drive, Wi-Fi, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and three USB ports. Options include your choice of a 250GB, 320GB or 500GB hard drive, Bluetooth, a nine-cell battery and more. We don’t know how much the CR400 will cost or when it’ll be released but we’ll keep you up to date.

[via slashgear]

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HP ProBook 4710s Review

The HP ProBook 4710s is a low-priced 17-inch business notebook designed to provide businesses with a good desktop replacement notebook without breaking the bank. If your company wants the HP Elitebook 8730w but has a tight budget, the ProBook 4710s might be a good alternative at a starting price of just $899. Is this budget-priced notebook as good as it sounds? Keep reading to find out.


Our pre-production review unit of the ProBook 4710s is configured as follows:

* Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz Processor (3MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB)
* Microsoft Genuine Windows Vista Business (32-bit)
* 17.3-inch LED-backlit anti-glare HD+ display (1600 x 900)
* ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 512MB
* 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
* 320GB 5400RPM HDD
* LightScribe DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
* Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/draft-n), Ethernet, Modem, Bluetooth 2.0
* 8-Cell 63WHr Battery
* Limited 1-year standard parts and labor warranty
* Dimensions: 1.26" x 16.17" x 10.63"
* Weight: 6.8lbs
* Price as configured: $1,099
Build and Design
The HP ProBook 4710s, like the rest of the new HP ProBook family, is a low-cost business notebook designed specifically for small and medium businesses. Translation: this desktop replacement notebook needs to have a good balance of performance, security, reliability and extras all at an affordable price. Most notebooks designed for small and medium business tend to sacrifice build quality in order to help lower the cost of production and lower the cost to customers. On that note, the ProBook 4710s looks very similar to a HP EliteBook 8730w with all plastic construction, a new keyboard and all black finish.

The HP EliteBook line uses strong magnesium alloy chassis designs and premium internal components. In order to lower the cost and weight of the 17-inch ProBook 4710s, HP constructed this notebook mostly of plastic. The base of the laptop flexes heavily under pressure, the palmrests likewise bow when pressed firmly, and the back of the screen lid is similarly prone to flex. The plastics used in the 4710s will surely survive the typical use and abuse seen by most office desktop replacements, but the chassis might not survive multiple drops off a desk or the kind of abuse we expect the EliteBook series to handle with ease. The key point to remember in this section is that the ProBook 4710s looks pretty nice, but isn't designed to be a rugged mobile workhorse. Thankfully, HP still offers some good internal components to help make the ProBook 4710s a solid value.

[via notebookreview]

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MacBook Pros (13-inch and 15-inch, Mid 2009) Review

We’re over the surprise of seeing new MacBook Pro models arrive at Apple’s WWDC keynote, and on paper the new 13- and 15-inch notebooks certainly tick most of the consumer boxes. Our first-impressions – which you can find with our video unboxing – were that the new Pros have emphasized the most-used functionality at the expense of dropping some of the more marginally used features. Have those opinions changed? Check out our full review after the cut.



We listed the main changes in our unboxing post, but aside from the inevitable processor, RAM and storage tweaks the biggest changes are Firewire 800, SD card compatibility, new displays and integrated batteries. Most of the time we found – Pro branding or not – that using the two notebooks was exactly the same as using their previous-gen unibody versions. That means you get the same, well-balanced and tactile keyboard, highly-glossy display coating, excellent build quality and an integrated DVD drive.

Turning to the 13-inch model first, we feel this is where new MacBook Pro buyers are getting the most for their money. Apple claim their new LCD panel offers a much-improved color gamut, and from switching between it, its predecessor and our MacBook Air we’ll certainly agree that the newest screen is also the most usable. Colors are richer – assuming you’re not battling reflections – and viewing angles are far greater than before. Dropping the ExpressCard slot is probably not something 13.3-inch notebook buyers will find especially distressing, and the addition of an SD card slot makes perfect sense for this portable machine. You also lose a separate audio-in socket, gaining iPhone headset compatibility with the remaining socket.

The integrated battery has done its work polarizing opinion in the MacBook Air and 17-inch MacBook Pro, so it comes as little surprise to see Apple rolling it out across more of their range. Their argument has always been that by sacrificing user-access they can fit in a larger, hence longer-lasting pack, and that bore out with our review unit. With casual use – browsing over WiFi, a little Office document work – we generally noticed an extra hour of runtime above the last-gen 13-inch model with its accessible pack. Apple suggest you’ll see the equivalent of five years use out of the battery before a replacement is required, though more frequent charge/discharge cycles will impact on that estimate, and in our experience most users have chosen to upgrade their notebook before that sort of time has passed. If you do need to upgrade, Apple charge $129 for the new battery and fitting it; as we’ve seen in teardowns, it’s also relatively straightforward to do so yourself, and we’re told Apple’s warranty will generally look kindle on anybody who does so, assuming they avoid other notebook injury along the way.

Our battery experience proved less impressive on the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Runtimes were generally a little longer than on the last-gen model it replaces, but Apple’s predictions of up to 8hrs use seemed hopelessly optimistic; we generally achieved a little over half of that, and that’s with what we’d describe as “normal” use. With the longevity failing to materialize, we’re less enthusiastic about having a non-removable pack in the mid-range Pro, and from talking to other users considering upgrades it’s a common concern. Our experience – both anecdotally and from trawling the tradeshows – is that those people buying the 15-inch model are more likely to carry a spare battery.

That concern has carried over to the missing ExpressCard slot. What seems a reasonable exchange on the newly promoted 13-inch Pro feels less so on this more mainstream model. The 15-inch Pro has found plenty of favor with the sort of people who regularly make use of ExpressCard audio or video interfaces, and those users face either investing in USB or FireWire peripherals or stepping up to the bigger, more expensive and less portable 17-inch Pro. It’s always ambiguous to compare one manufacturer’s design to another’s, but we can’t help but look at rivals that squeeze ExpressCard, SD, optical drive and more into the same – or smaller – dimensions and wish Apple had prioritized the same.

In terms of performance, there’s an obvious boost over the last-gen models. Our 13-inch MacBook Pro review unit came with the top-spec 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo P8700 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM and the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. In Geekbench, the notebook scored a healthy 3847 overall.

As for the 15-inch MacBook Pro, that came with the 2.80GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and dual graphics: switchable between the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated chipset and the GeForce 9600M GT with its own 512MB of memory. As with previous Apple notebooks offering such a setup, changing between the two graphics options demands logging out and back in again. It scored 4211 in Geekbench.

The new MacBook Pro models are just as attractive, portable and capable, performance-wise, as their predecessors, and they remain a strong option for anybody looking for either a portable or mainstream notebook. The 13-inch model benefits well from the spec decisions Apple has made, though we might argue that it sits somewhere in-between what we’d traditionally think of as the MacBook and MacBook Pro ranges. At this level, an SD card slot seems far more likely to get used than ExpressCard ever did, and the extra hour or so of battery independence is a welcome addition.

We’re not so convinced by the changes brought to the 15-inch MacBook Pro, however. An SD card reader is something we’ve long been asking for, but we’ve a feeling that many people may have held their tongue if they’d known it would come at the expense of the ExpressCard slot. That sort of connectivity, paired with Apple’s legendary A/V-friendliness, has seen the 15-inch Pro gain quite the following among media-manglers, and we’d imagine they’re not too impressed by what, from their perspective, is a considerable change in hardware direction. Mainstream features have arrived at the expense of some flexibility, and while we’ve no doubt that Apple’s statistic – that most users never actually slotted in an ExpressCard to the models that support it – is well supported by their market research, it’s little consolation by those in the minority percentage.

With the range of configuration options already on offer, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a more adaptable 15-inch MacBook Pro in future. At least a paid ExpressCard option would mean that users committed to the format could still keep the notebook on their shortlist. As it stands, like the 13-inch model it’s a usable, attractive and undeniably appealing laptop, with a great display, admirable performance and an OS that not only works well now but that’s set to improve once again when Snow Leopard arrives. Let’s just hope that for their next generation Apple decides to reconnect with the minority users that, in many cases, have been its most vocal advocates.

source : slashgear

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