Notebook Review Spec

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Review MSI Wind U135

Author: Parinya.k | at : 7:12 PM | Category : Atom, Intel, MSI, netbook, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

The Wind U135 is the one of the newest netbooks from MSI in the 10-inch form-factor. Packed with the Intel Pine Trail platform this netbook promises increased battery life and performance compared to models still using the previous Intel Atom chipset. Our longest lasting notebook to date is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE, clocking in at over 12 hours with average use. In this review we put the MSI Wind U135 through its paces and see how well it stacks up against the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE which offers a nearly identical hardware configuration.

MSI Wind U135 Specifications:

Windows 7 Starter Edition (32-bit)
10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA (1024x600)
Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB, 512KB Cache)
1GB DDR2 SDRAM onboard (1 slot available)
Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
250GB Seagate 5400.6 Hard Drive
802.11BGN 1T1R Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
4-in-1 media card slot
Dimensions: 10.24"(L) x 7.09"(D) x 0.74"~1.24"(H)
Weight: 2.87lbs(not including weight of AC adapter)
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5200mAh, 58Wh)
Retail Price: $329

Build and Design
The MSI Wind U135 offers a simple design with a clean, high-contrast color scheme. The screen is covered with a “Color Film Print Technology” that closely resembles the Imprint finish on HP notebooks. It offers greater durability than a simple painted glossy surface while still allowing artwork to be worked in with the design. MSI went with a very simplistic weave pattern on the U135 that blends in well with the features of the netbook. The pattern is also copied inside the notebook over the touchpad surface. MSI keeps the painted silver look inside the notebook, but instead of keeping the weave pattern, it shifts to a textured silver paint. It has the look of a matte finish while still maintaining the smooth feel of a glossy paint job. The glossy black screen bezel and keyboard tray look great with the silver and move the mirror-finish glossy parts away from where your hands and palms will always be smudging.

Build quality is average compared to most netbooks, with a durable outer shell when the cover is closed and plenty of screen protection. The glossy finish is scratch resistant to a degree but would still show damage if abused. For the average user stuffing it into a backpack between classes or using it for travel it should keep a scratch-free look for a long time. The keyboard and palmrest show some flex under strong pressure but it doesn’t interfere with normal typing.

Users looking to upgrade any components will be in for a surprise when they notice there are no access panels on the bottom of the U135. To swap out the wireless card, hard drive, or add a stick of memory you need to split the case in half. One advantage the U135 has over other netbooks is its open memory slot. The 1GB of base memory is soldered in place, so it leaves one slot open for future upgrades. Netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE need to have the 1GB stick swapped out for a 2GB stick which costs significantly more for the same end result.

Screen and Speakers
The Wind U135 offers a 10” glossy LED-backlit display that rates below average compared to other similarly sized netbooks. On our review model we noticed significant backlight bleed around all the edges when the brightness is near the top of the scale. During the boot sequence this is especially visible when the backgrounds are black. Turning the backlight down to 50-70% reduced the bleed, but it was still slightly visible if you were in a dark room watching a movie. Color and contrast are comparable to other competing netbooks thanks to the glossy screen surface. If the backlight bleed was lessened it would be a great machine to watch movies on while traveling. At peak brightness the screen is easy to read in bright office conditions and outdoors if you are in an area that the sun wasn’t reflecting off the screen. Viewing angles are average with the vertical viewing range spanning 15-20 degrees forward or back before colors started to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, keeping colors looking true even at steep angles.

Speaker performance is average compared to most netbooks on the market, meaning that they lacked volume and any hint of bass compared to a full-size notebook. For most users the speakers are great if you want to watch a quick streaming video clip or listen to some music in the background, but if you intend on watching a movie, headphones are the preferred option.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the MSI Wind U135 is a near carbon-copy of the keyboard seen on the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE. They are Chiclet-style keyboards and share the same layout, key size, and key shape. The only visible differences are the printed labels which appear bolded on the MSI version. Comparing both models side-by-side the U135 feels more solid and attached to the frame, whereas the keyboard on the 1005PE bounces slightly. Tactile feedback is nearly identical with the same key strength and noise when fully pressed.

Out of the box the touchpad is disappointing, lacking any specific driver or utility support. Just like the X-Slim X340, MSI didn’t include any sort of manufacturer-specific touchpad support out of the box, instead relying on the basic Windows drivers. The end result is a laggy touchpad with no scrolling or multi-touch capability.

Turning to the internet we found Sentelic touchpad drivers listed on the MSI website for the U135, but they were not originally included on our review model or recovery partition. After installing the software the touchpad sprung to life and even offered various two-finger multi-touch features. The touchpad surface was better than average with a matte finish that was easy to slide across, compared to some of the glossy touchpads we have seen on the latest notebooks. The touchpad buttons shared the same rocker-style switch, but the button was flexible enough that both sides could be pressed at the same time with minimal effort.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the MSI Wind U135 is comparable to competing netbooks, offering three USB ports, audio jacks, VGA-out, Ethernet, and an SDHC-card reader. For security a Kensington Lock slow as also included.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: Battery

Left: Kensington Lock slot, AC-power, two USB

Right: One USB, SDHC-card slot, audio jacks, VGA-out, LAN

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance for day-to-day activities is good for a netbook but still falls short of a lot of the new ultra-portables coming out with the Intel CULV processors. The trade-off has always been power consumption, with increased battery life on netbooks. We didn’t have any problem surfing the web or going to sites with flash content, including YouTube. HD streaming content is still a problem but SD content showed no stuttering problems. Locally played HD videos in resolutions lower than or equal to 720P played fine, with 1080P content pushing it over the edge. Boot, shutdown, and standby times were very quick, letting you close the lid and pop it into your backpack without the concern that it is going to stay running while packed away. Compared to most netbooks we feel a lot of the speed increases for normal activities came from Windows 7 and not necessarily the faster Pine Trail platform.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
The MSI wind U135 handled heat remarkably well but at the cost of the fan continuously running. Even when left idle for long periods of time the fan on the U135 would stay running at a slow but constant speed. The air blowing out from the exhaust vent was roughly room temperature, making us wonder why the fan wouldn’t just turn off with it being so cool internally. For users with sensitive ears or those who might be working in a small quiet classroom the fan noise is just loud enough to be heard by those directly around you. It is at or very near the volume of a whisper.

Battery Life
With the last Pine Trail netbook managing over 12 hours of battery life, we had high hopes for the MSI Wind U135. Sadly this is not the case, even though they shared the same hardware except for the wireless card and battery capacity (The U135 is 5Wh less). In our battery test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 set to the “Balanced” profile the system stayed on for just 6 hours and 30 minutes. During the test the U135 consumed between 7.5 and 8.5 watts of power. During the same test the Eee PC 1005PE stayed on for 12 hours and 1 minute, consuming 4.5 to 4.7 watts of power. To bring the systems to an equal playing field we even swapped in the Atheros Wi-Fi card from the 1005PE to see if that was the culprit, but power consumption stayed the same. Our guess is the level of hardware tweaking on the MSI Wind isn’t as extensive as it is on the Eee PC 1005PE, showing that even with identical hardware you can have significant and tangible differences between netbook models.

Conclusion
The MSI Wind U135 fell short compared to the competition in terms of software support and battery life. Out of the box the U135 was missing any sort of touchpad software--including on the restore partition--greatly reducing the features. We later found the drivers included on the MSI support website, which brought multi-touch options, as well as simple features like scrolling. Another huge downside to this particular netbook is the battery life, having half the battery life of the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE with the same hardware and only a slightly larger battery. This massive difference in battery life comes from the increased power consumption: The U135 draws almost 8 watts at idle and the 1005PE uses less than 5 watts. Overall the MSI Wind U135 lacked a great deal of polish, but with improvements in power consumption and software out of the box, it would be a great little netbook.

Pros:

Good design
Capable touchpad with proper drivers
Nice keyboard

Cons:

Half the battery life of other Pine Trail netbooks
Missing touchpad software out of the box

From :

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5514

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Monday, February 1, 2010

HP Mini 5102 Review

Author: Parinya.k | at : 10:56 PM | Category : Atom, Hp, Intel, netbook, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

If you're looking for a netbook with great battery life and good durability then the new HP Mini 5102 might be exactly what you need. You can even configure this netbook with a touchscreen for a tablet-like experience. Keep reading to find out if this business-class netbook is worth the price.

Our HP Mini 5102 features the following specifications:

Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Starter (32-bit)
Processor: Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB)
Memory: 1GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Storage: 160GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
Display: 10.1-inch diagonal (1024x600)
Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
Wireless: Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
Expansion: 4-in-1 media card slot
Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.91-1.25 x 10.4 x 7.25 inches (including feet)
Weight: 2.64 lb with 4-cell battery (not including weight of AC adapter).
Power: Standard 4-cell (28WHr)Lithium-ion battery or 6-cell (66WHr) extended-life battery
Warranty: One-year standard warranty
Starting price: $749.00 $599.00 $399.00 as of 2/1/2010

Our configuration of the HP Mini 5102 is not available for sale at the time of this writing. The closest configuration to our review unit currently available is the HP Mini 5102 model WH236UA ($899.00) which features a total of 2GB of system memory and HP Mobile Broadband (powered by Gobi) with GPS.

Build and Design
The HP Mini 5102 looks like a minor update to last year's Mini 5101 ... essentially a netbook version of HP's "ProBook" line of laptops designed for small and medium businesses. In fact, the Mini 5102 looks like what we would expect to see if someone shrunk down the HP ProBook 4510s to something small enough to fit inside a purse. The Mini 5102 is roughly one inch thick and weighs less than 3 pounds despite a very durable chassis that feels like it can handle years of abuse in your briefcase or backpack. The nearly full-size keyboard makes typing quick emails or editing documents a breeze ... even if you have to work on the tray table in coach class during a business flight. The traditional clamshell-like design gives the Mini 5102 a very clean look and the all-metal chassis means serious business. The brushed metal lid features a durable black finish and only suffers from a slight amount of flex under heavy pressure.

When open, the rubberized metal chassis and glossy black surfaces highlight the keyboard and 10-inch display. The thick bezel surrounding the matte screen offers additional protection and a place to keep your fingers off the screen when opening the netbook. The bezel is also needed in order to provide enough space for the larger keyboard. That said, I can't shake the feeling that the Mini 5102 would look better with either a larger screen or a smaller screen bezel. The screen hinges are made of metal and offer the perfect amount of resistance. You can pick up the Mini 5102 by the edge of the screen without feeling like something is going to break. While we're on the topic of carrying the netbook around, you can order the 5102 with an optional handle that is built-in to the chassis next to the battery for easy transport ... essentially turning the netbook into a tiny briefcase PC. The Mini 5102 is also available in red and blue just in case black isn't your color of choice.

HP engineers also added a few nice little features to the design of the Mini 5102 that I really appreciated. First, the battery features a button and LED meter so that you can quickly see how much charge is left in the battery. Four blue lights mean you've got a full charge and three blue LEDs and one blinking LED means you have somewhere between 75% and 100% remaining. Sure, the on-screen battery meter is more accurate but this little feature let's you know if you need to bring your AC adapter without powering on your netbook.

Another nice feature is the quick release switch for the RAM cover. Simply release the battery and then slide the right-side battery release switch all the way to the left and you can instantly pop off the cover for the RAM module. This makes upgrading the RAM nice and easy. I actually wish more netbooks made upgrading the RAM as easy as this.

Screen and Speakers
The 10.1-inch screen on the Mini 5102 is a nice LED-backlit display panel with a 1024x600 native resolution. The matte screen surface is a welcome change compared to the glossy screens we usually see in netbooks. The matte surface helps to prevent glare and reflection on the surface of the screen under bright indoor lights and helps improve sunlight readability. Despite the nice matte screen surface, we really wish the 5102 used an 11.6-inch screen and 1366x768 resolution seen on many modern netbooks. A resolution of 1024x600 is okay in a pinch, but many websites just don't look right without a minimum vertical resolution of 768 pixels. On that note, HP includes at least some software optimized for lower-resolution screens. Corel Home Office (compatible with Microsoft Office) comes pre-loaded with this netbook and the Corel software looks much better than using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint on the tiny screen.

Vertical viewing angles are average with some color distortion when viewing from below and some over-exposed colors when viewed from above. Horizontal viewing angles are better with colors remaining unchanged at extremely wide viewing angles; you won't have trouble sharing a YouTube video with friends using this display.

The built-in speaker performance on the Mini 5102 is good for a 10-inch netbook but it's obviously weaker than a typical 14-inch or 15-inch notebook PC. I'm not a fan of the location of the built-in speakers since they're located on the bottom front edge of the netbook, but the audio quality doesn't suffer from any distortion issues until you get to maximum volume levels. The speakers lack much bass, but the range of highs and midtones are perfectly enjoyable. Again, the only major problem I had with the speakers is that they sound muffled if you use the netbook on your lap.

Granted, most audiophiles will want to use external speakers or headphones for a better listening experience ... but the built-in speakers work well in a pinch. The audio output from the headphone jack produced some high frequency background noise/distortion with one of the headphones we used during testing, but other headphones worked fine with no distortion.

Keyboard and Touchpad
As previously mentioned, the HP Mini 5102 features a large, spill-resistant keyboard that is 95% of full size. Most of the primary keys are the same size as the keys you'll find on a typical notebook and the spacing is likewise normal, but the space bar and some of the keys that are used less frequently are smaller than normal. If you prefer the shape and feel of traditional keys then you may not like this keyboard. That said, I personally prefer the "Chiclet" style keyboard used on this netbook since there is more space between the keys to prevent me from accidentally hitting the wrong key when working in tight quarters. The keys offer just the right amount of feedback and modest amount of "click and clack" noise while typing. I didn't notice any flex in the keyboard even when I applied significant typing pressure. In short, I found the Mini 5102 was a joy to use when typing.

The Synaptics touchpad used on the Mini 5102 is a traditional single-input touchpad. This seems a bit odd since most netbooks now offer multi-touch touchpads with gesture-enabled models that allow you to use multi-figure gestures such as "pinching" your fingers together or "pulling" your fingers apart to zoom in or out. Granted, the touchpad is probably a little too small to make gesture-based controls useful, but it just seems strange to find a single-touch touchpad on a netbook in this price range. Sensitivity and tracking seemed accurate even when you move your finger quickly over the touchpad surface. Speaking of which, the touchpad is covered in a glossy smooth surface that sometimes makes it easy to slide your finger across the surface and other times causes your finger to "skip" across the surface because of the lack of texture/traction. The left and right touchpad buttons are located beneath the touchpad and each button has shallow feedback with cushioned clicks when pressed.

Input and Output Ports
In terms of port selection the HP Mini 5102 offers the average bells and whistles we've come to expect on netbooks. You get three USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 media card reader, dedicated headphone and microphone jacks, Ethernet port, a VGA output and a dedicated wireless on/off switch.

Here is a quick tour around the HP Mini 5102:

Front view: No ports here, just the dedicated wireless on/off switch and speakers.

Rear view: No ports here either, just the hinges and battery.

Left side view: Power jack, VGA out, vent, and two USB 2.0 ports.

Right side view: 4-in-1 card reader, headphone jack, microphone jack, USB 2.0 port, Ethernet, and security lock slot.

Performance and Benchmarks
The new Mini 5102 with the Intel Atom N450 processor didn’t show any obvious performance benefits compared to older netbooks using the Atom N280. Both processors offer the same specifications including a 1.66GHz clock speed, 667MHz FSB, and 512KB L2 cache. The main feature the N450 offers is the newer Intel GMA 3150 graphics whereas the N280 gets stuck with the GMA 950. In our synthetic performance tests the Mini 5102 produced almost identical performance numbers as the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE ... a netbook with identical specs and a much lower price tag.

The newer GMA 3150 integrated graphics gives the system a small boost in 3Dmark06 compared to previous generation netbooks and seems to handle HD video better. In our HD video tests the Mini 5102 had no problem playing our 720P trailer of Up!, but 1080P playback delivered dropped frames and audio sync issues. Flash video had some problems out of the box, but after installing the newest Flash 10 beta we didn't have problems with low-resolution video clips. YouTube clips running at 720P still suffer from some stuttering in both Internet Explorer and Firefox, but not as bad as it was before the updated Flash plugin. Although the Mini 5102 feels a little "snappier" than older netbooks, this has more to do with the system running Windows 7 instead of Windows XP.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
External temperatures on the new HP Mini 5102 are quite comfortable and typical of most current-generation netbooks. Temperature readings taken from the outside of the plastic chassis remained "lap friendly" during normal use. The only time that temperature readings spiked was when I stressed the GPU and CPU when playing games.

The cooling fan runs constantly, but the noise isn't particularly loud unless you are in a perfectly quiet room. Chances are good that you'll never notice the fan in a typical office environment or classroom.

Below are images indicating the external temperature readings (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) taken inside our office where the ambient temperature was 74 degrees Fahrenheit:

Battery
Battery life with the extended-life lithium-ion battery is quite good. In our test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active and refreshing websites at a regular interval, the Mini 5102 stayed on for 8 hours and 43 minutes of constant use. This means you should be able to spend all day surfing the web at a coffee shop without needing to bring your AC adapter if you purchase the Mini 5102 with the 6-cell battery. If you lower the screen brightness and allow the netbook to enter sleep or hibernate modes then you should easily be able to squeeze more than 10 hours of life out of the battery.

Conclusion (UPDATED)
When we first reviewed the HP Mini 5102 someone at HP had the bright idea to try and sell this netbook for twice the price of similar netbooks. Thankfully, HP has updated the pricing for this excellent business-class netbook and we can update our review. The current starting price of the HP Mini 5102 with 4-cell battery is just $399.00 ... making this one of the best values among current-generation, Atom-based netbooks.

The Mini 5102 offers fantastic build quality, delivers solid battery life numbers, and comes with some nice pre-loaded software. Unfortunately, the screen is only average, the touchpad is "blah" and the overall performance is no better than netbooks costing the same amount of money. We would have liked to see a higher resolution display, a better processor and better graphics, but the excellent build quality and reasonable price should be be enough to justify the purchase for most consumers and small business owners.

As long as you don't buy a configuration priced above $700 the the HP Mini 5102 is indeed a good value for a business-class netbook.

Pros:

Great build quality
Nice keyboard
Good pre-loaded software

Cons:

Too expensive
Weak Atom processor
Average touchpad (no multi-touch)

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Dell Studio 1747 Review

Author: Parinya.k | at : 7:42 PM | Category : ATI, Core i7, Dell, Intel, Notebook, Radeon, window 7 | 1 ความคิดเห็น

Twenty-One or "Seventeen and Four"

Those who choose Dell's Studio range, expect design, quality and of course computing power for multimedia and middle class gaming. The Studio 1747 is the biggest representative of the Studio range with a 17.3 inch display and having a four core processor from Intel's Core i7 family. The family members have often been hot-headed - what are the prospects for the Studio 1747?

: Dell Studio 1747 Notebook

Dell has furnished its middle class between low-priced Inspiron notebooks and fast XPS notebooks with the Studio range. The notebooks are supposed to talk multimedia users into buying a Dell laptop available in 15.4 and 17.3 inches. The entry into Dell's Studio 17's world starts at a list price of 688 euro and with a Pentium Dual Core T4300 and Radeon 4570. If you choose the fastest alternative, the most expensive warranty package and all software options, the price for the configuration with an Intel Core i7 820QM, Radeon 4650, an 8 GByte RAM, a hard disk memory of one terabyte and a FullHD display goes up to 3788 euro. Without shipping and supplies.

Our configuration was available for a list price of 1287 euro. An Intel Core i7 720QM processor with 1.6 - 2.8 GHz and four computing cores, a Radeon 4650 graphic card with a 1 GByte dedicated memory, a 4 GByte RAM and a 500 GByte hard disk memory was included in our prototype.

Case

In opposition to its forerunners, the new Dell Studio 17 has been changed in a few design points, for instance the loudspeakers are now in the wrist-rest. As you could select case lids designed by artists for the older models and even make a donation for a good cause with that, there are only plain colored display lids available for the Dell Studio 17.

The lid is black with a slight pattern in the standard configuration. Additionally there are five more striking colors available: pink, red, blue, purple and green. All these alternatives are covered with a micro-satin surface that has quite pleasant feel – like a mixture of rubber and textile. A chromed metal Dell logo is in the center.

The Studio 17 notebooks all look alike inside: glossy black plastic around the display, the white imprint "Studio" in the upper left and again a metallic Dell logo in the bottom center. Furthermore, the black plastic has a multimedia bar above the keyboard and thus creates a narrow keyboard bezel. The rest of the inside is dominated by a light gray plastic that also has a high-gloss finish. Both loudspeakers, which are submerged into the wrist-rest's left and right and protected by a perforated and chromed metal grid, are also striking.

All of that has been very excellently crafted and feels good. The light gray plastic that the wrist-rest is made of proves to be a good choice. Because of the light color, fingerprints only become evident on the high-gloss surface in bright light. The micro-satin surface presents itself as being fairly unsusceptible for smudge. Only greasy finger leave dark spots, which are easily removed, though.

The display hinges are both on the very left and right and are nicely designed. They keep the screen very tight in place so that you can't open the notebook single-handedly or even just tilt it even more towards the back despite the high total weight. A teetering is almost completely missing. By the way, the display hinges' design prevents the screen from being opened more than 45 degrees from the perpendicular.

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Connectivity

Because of the display design, Dell can't place any connections on the back. And although the Americans also opt out on building ports onto the front, the connectivity in the Studio 1747 is quite impressive.

So, on the left from front to back there are: two 3.5mm headphone-outs, one microphone-in, an ExpressCard slot, an antenna socket for a TV tuner, which didn't work in our prototype as it didn't have a tuner, though. Further, a combined eSATA - USB 2.0 connection, an HDMI port, a display port, a VGA socket, a LAN port and a slot for a Kensington lock built into the hinge.

On the right, also from front to back are: a 4-pin Firewire connection, the 8-in-1 cardreader, which can read SD, MMC, xD, SDHD, SCHC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and SDIO cards. A USB 2.0 port, the slot-in DVD burner, diagonally underneath that a further USB port, followed by the DC-in and the power switch built into the hinge.

Dell, especially in the display connection alignment, offers everything that is currently available for the consumer, with exception of a DVI port. Dell even builds in a, at the moment mainly professionally used, display port. Firewire is onboard and a second headphone connection is great for all those who don't want to enjoy a movie on the big display alone. The eSATA-USB 2.0 combo port has a Power Share function as a small gimmick, with which portable devices can be charged via the USB port even in a turned off state.

The interfaces have also been positioned favorably, whereas a further USB connection on the left wouldn't have been a bad idea. Thus, users who want to connect an external hard disk via eSATA can only attach a USB mouse on the right. Additionally, the USB port underneath the slot-in drive is unsuitable for thicker USB sticks because they might obstruct the drive and, in the worst case, could scratch the DVD

Because Dell has placed the display ports in the rear area, lefties should also be well-capable of using a USB mouse. However, the headphone and microphone cables could cause problems on the front left side. Placing these on the front would have loosened the condition additionally.

: Left: 2x 3.5mm headphone-outs, microphone-in, ExpressCard slot, Antenna socket for TV tuners, eSATA - USB 2.0 port, HDMI port, display port, VGA socket, LAN connection, Kensington lock

: Right: 4 Pin Firewire, 8-in-1 cardreader, USB 2.0, slot-in DVD burner, USB 2.0, DC-in, power button

Dell exclusively builds in WLAN over a Dell Wireless 1397 card that supports the 802.11 b and g standard as wireless interfaces. If you'd like to have the brand new standard 802.11 n supported, you'll have to invest 20 euro in a Dell Wireless 1520 card as an optional supply. The cheaper card suffices for current DSL connections, though. Mobile internet via HSDPA is also optionally available for a surcharge of 120 euro.

The DVD burner comes from LG electronics and hasn't got a drive tray. Instead it retracts the disks via slot-in. This gives the case additional stability and looks high-end, but is a bit loud.

Software

Dell uses Windows 7 Home Premium as the operating system, whereas the Professional or Ultimate is available for a surcharge. We almost have to praise the fact that Dell has included the operating system as a recovery DVD. Other manufacturers hide the system on the hard disk and force the user to burn a DVD.

Thus, you can build in another hard disk right away and don't have to worry about the included operating system. Dell also includes a DVD for the installed applications and one for the drivers so that you don't have to reinstall them with a new installation if you don't want to.

There is also a full version of Microsoft Works 9.0 included. If you want to buy MS Office, you can do that on Dell's homepage for a surcharge. Merely the trial version is installed in the basic configuration, which deactivates itself after a few starts but at the latest after 30 days. At least, McAfee's Security Center lasts for 15 months before you have to buy a new license. But this was only due to a special action by Dell in the testing period. Besides that, Dell also included Roxio Burn and Power DVD DX.

Overall, agreeably few trial versions and many useful programs have only been installed. Whilst other manufacturers stuff their desktops with all kinds of bloatware, Dell is pleasantly restrained in this term.

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Input Devices

Keyboard

The keyboard has a separate numerical block, which isn't surprising in view of the case's width. Although Dell has made the keys quite big, there is a noticeable gap between the keys because of the slightly beveled edges, which makes typing easier. The keyboard in our configuration alternative additionally has a white backlight that can be turned off with a push of a button but is a very handy feature in dark surroundings.

The key stroke is solid and very audible. A short key stroke allows for fast typing. Typing is generally simply accomplished even if the keyboard doesn't sit quite tight and yields easily in some areas.

The keys F1-12 have been made to be combined with the "FN" key so that these keys now primarily trigger special functions, like display brightness control or are used as multimedia keys. Combinations such as Alt+F4 still work, though.

An extra control bar that has touch sensitive buttons is also above the keyboard and also has volume control, multimedia buttons and an eject button for the DVD drive.

Moreover, Dell has built-in a chic light effect for the white backlit keyboard. The white light runs from the right to the left and back again at system start before the keys are permanently lit.

Touchpad

The touchpad has a slightly roughened surface and is underneath the space bar, thus it's been moved a bit to the left due to the separate numerical block. It has been slightly submerged and feels a lot rougher than the rest of the surrounding wrist-rest area for a better differentiation. But the finger glides smoothly over the surface anyway, making the touchpad to a good mouse substitute.

There are scroll bars on its right and lower edge that aren't limited optically or haptically but are indicated by a symbol on the mouse cursor. The multi-touch gestures that can be triggered by placing a second finger on the touchpad are also shown. You can, for instance, magnify symbols on the desktop by expanding the fingers or rotate pictures in image editing programs with circular movements. The gestures are understood and executed reliably by the touchpad in most cases.

Dell has treated the Studio 1747 to two smooth, silver shining touchpad keys. They have quite a soft pressure point, which makes them quiet but they also have an indistinct feel and lack a clear feedback. However, they respond reliably when the key is pressed.

: Keyboard

: Touchpad

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Display

The 17.3 inch display presents 1600 x 900 pixels and has thus an aspect ratio of 16:9. That's well suitable for games and movies but makes it necessary to scroll frequently in horizontal documents.

Colors look brilliant and luminous, whereas black areas appear subjectively rather as a dark gray and not very vivid. This is reflected in the test results, which have a good average illumination of 231.6 cd/m²but only a homogenous illumination of 79 percent and an average black value of 1.3 cd/m², at most.


248 cd/m²	260 cd/m²	251 cd/m²
206 cd/m²	244 cd/m²	222 cd/m²
212 cd/m²	225 cd/m²	216 cd/m²

Information

Maximum: 260 cd/m²
Average: 231.6 cd/m²
Illumination: 79 %
Black: 1.3 cd/m²
Contrast: 188:1
Brightness on battery: 244 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

Additionally, the screen has been treated with a reflective coating, which is responsible for the brilliant colors on the one hand but makes use in bright rooms or even outside difficult. Working in such surroundings is difficult because of reflections on the glossy finish, as you usually only see the reflection instead of the display content. Furthermore, reflections make it strenuous for the eyes to focus in the long run.

The viewing angles are really good towards the sides so that even several people can watch a movie beside each other on the Studio 1748 without the persons on the outer sides having to accept color deviations. The viewing angles are alright upwards and downwards, but if the screen is tilted too much, an significantly brighter, respectively darker image is seen.

: Dell Studio 1747's viewing angles

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Performance

If you choose the new Dell Studio 17 in our configuration alternative, you'll probably be focusing on the Core i7 processor. The 720QM is a quad-core processor with a 1.6 to 2.8 GHz clock rate and a 6 MByte L3 cache. The processor chooses if one core with a higher rate or several cores with a lower rate is better for the performance depending on the application and adapts the number of active cores and their clock rate optimally. This automatic is of course also used for energy saving in a laptop processor.

Dell builds in a Radeon HD 4650 from ATI with a 1024 MByte dedicated graphic memory. This middle class graphic card should be enough for current games when the display's native resolution is set to a medium detail level.

Dell heralds itself to have built-in the "fastest processor on earth". Naturally, that isn't quite the truth because apart from the strongest Core i7 alternative, which Dell doesn't offer, there are still high performance computers.

But, of course, the Core i7 720QM provides overwhelming performance rates and is one of the fastest processors that is currently built into consumer notebooks. 5030 points in PCMark Vantage and 9626 points in multi-core rendering of Cinebench R10 add up to a rate of a respectable 91% in application performance. Thus, even demanding tasks, such as professional image editing and video cutting should be possible on Dell's Studio 1747.

: Speedfan didn't show a clock rate reduction even after 12 hours, but the performance rates dropped significantly.

There are user reports in the forum on Hardwareluxx's site that the Core i7 in their Dell Studio 1747 clocks down to 1.3 GHz under greater load. We wanted details and put the notebook to a stress test: 12 hours Furmark and the processor benchmark, Prime95, to push the graphic card and the processor to their absolute limits.

Although the tool, Speedfan, didn't indicate a clock rate reduction after 12 hours, the immediately following 3DMark06 showed that the Dell Studio 1747's performance capability does decrease strongly. A total of 5045 points are over 2000 less than in the test in normal conditions. The CPU performance rate is almost halved with 1745 points.

This is probably due to the undersized adapter that can't supply all components under full load anymore. That's why Dell sends a 130 watt adapter for free upon telephone request, with which the problem should be solved. The latest inquiry by Dell disclosed that it's recommended to wait for the bios update A04, which should be released on January 13^th and according to Dell, remedies the problem.

System information Dell Studio 1747

Rendering Single	3757 points
Rendering Multi	9626 points
OpenGL	6522 points

Help

... in comparison

PCMark Vantage

5030 points

Help

... in comparison

5.9

Windows 7 Experience Index

Processor

Calculations per second

Memory (RAM)

Memory operations per second

7.4

Graphics

Desktop performance for Windows Aero

6.7

Gaming graphics

3D business and gaming graphics

6.7

Primary hard disk

Disk data transfer rate

5.9

HDTune: Seagate ST9500420ASG ATA Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum: 3.5 MB/sec

Transfer Rate Maximum: 103.4 MB/sec

Transfer Rate Average: 73.2 MB/sec

Access Time: 17.7 ms

Burst Rate: 57.6 MB/sec

Seagate's fast hard disk, which stores 500 GBytes and rotates with up to 7,200 revolutions per minute, definitely also contributes to the good performance rates. However, we noticed strange breakdowns of the transfer rates in the benchmark with our tool, HDTune, which didn't fail to appear even after repeating the benchmarks several times. We didn't notice these breakdowns in the practical test, so copying files, though. The system copied the files quickly and with a constant velocity.

The HDTune benchmark established an overall average transfer rate of 73.2 MBytes per second and an access rate of 17.7 milliseconds.

3DMark 2001	28828 points
3DMark 03	19248 points
3DMark 05	13302 points
3DMark 06 1280x1024	7149 points

Help

... in comparison

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Gaming Performance

We first used the synthetic benchmarks of the 3DMark range for assessing the gaming performance. The oldest benchmark, 3DMark2001, of course ran through our system in no time at all, finished with a rate of 28828 points and places itself on the top of the middle field. The notebook also reveals very good rates of 13302 respectively 7149 in the more mainstream benchmarks, like 3DMark05 or 3DMark06.

Then the Studio 1747 is ushered to the world of real games where it has to show its capabilities. We tested with the cutting-edge "Modern Warfare 2" and the equally still young "Risen". The quite demanding in high details "Anno 1404" and the older games "Race Driver: GRID" and "Call of Duty 4" join in.

As expected, the notebook didn't have any problems in very low resolutions, even with the latest games: We achieved an average of 134 frames even with "Modern Warfare 2". When the resolution is turned up a bit to medium details, a still well-playable 41 frames are still left. A further increase of details only results in a small reduction of the average frame rate to 35 frames.

Older games like "Racedriver GRID" or "Call of Duty 4" even stay playable in the highest details with 52 respectively 45 frames. The graphic card finds its limits in "Anno 1404" in very high details and a resolution of 1280x1024 and in "Risen" in very high details and 1366x768. 27 or 21 frames on average are still playable but aren't really any fun anymore.

The Studio 1747 is quite impressive corresponding to its claim as a middle class gamer. Especially "Modern Warfare 2" benefits evidently from the Core i7's four computing cores. The frame rate of the other games is also slightly higher than in notebooks with a Core 2 Duo processor, even if the differences are significantly less there. You can play in the native resolution of 1600x900 pixels but then you have to reduce the details eminently.

In particular, the graphic card inhibits gaming. An ATI Radeon 4830 or a Geforce GTS 260M would have been the better choice. But the Dell Studio 1747 in this configuration bids significantly more gaming power in this configuration than many other multimedia notebooks anyway. We award that with a rating of 88% for gaming performance.

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare
	Resolution	Settings	Value
	800x600	low, 0xAA	130 fps
	1024x768	med, 0xAA	82 fps
	1280x1024	high, 4xAA	45 fps

... in comparison

Racedriver: GRID
	Resolution	Settings	Value
	1280x1024	, 2xXMSAAAA	43 fps
	800x600	, 0xAA, 0xAF	98 fps
	1024x768	, 0xAA	52 fps

... in comparison

Anno 1404
	Resolution	Settings	Value
	1280x1024	very high, 0AA, 4AF	27 fps
	1024x768	low, 0AA, 0AF	104 fps

... in comparison

Risen
	Resolution	Settings	Value
	800x600	all off/low, 0xAF	72 fps
	1024x768	all on/med, 2xAF	66 fps
	1366x768	all on/high, 4xAF	21 fps

... in comparison

CoD Modern Warfare 2
	Resolution	Settings	Value
	800x600	all off/low vsync off, low textures, 0xAA	134 fps
	1024x768	all on/med vsync off, normal textures, 2xAA	41 fps
	1366x768	all on/high vsync off, high textures, 4xAA	35 fps

... in comparison

: DPC Latency Checker

DPC Latencies

We also check DPC latencies, which can lead to communication problems with devices like external sound cards or external graphic cards. That is, too high latencies jeopardize the real time communication with these devices. However, the Dell Studio 1747 is exemplary here. All deflections stay within a green field and thus it should be possible to also work with external components without further ado.

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Emissions

System Noise

If the Dell Studio 1747 has actually been a very good notebook for the multimedia friend or occasional gamer up till now, we now come to that point that has always ruined the Studio notebook's very good ratings: the emissions.

The noise emissions were even still reasonable. The fan rotated quietly and was barely audible in idle mode: we assessed an average of 31.8 dB(A) and a somewhat louder 36.6 dB(A) at maximum. The hard disk integrates itself very well and also stays barely audible with 33.5 dB(A). In return, the DVD drive attracts disagreeable attention with its loud feeding mechanism and its quite loud operating noise of 38.6 dB(A).

It's even louder under load. We assessed a maximum of 46 dB(A) and that is quite audible. The fan reached this volume in several stages and then stays constant operating under load. The strong processor and the graphic card take their toll. But especially in view of the good performance values, you can live with the system noise.

Loudness

Idle	31.8 / 31.8 / 36.6 dB
HDD	33.5 dB
DVD	38.6 / dB
Load	44.2 / 46 dB

		30 dB silent	40 dB audible	50 dB loud
Key: min: , med: , max: (15 cm distance)

Temperature

This looks different for the temperatures. They reach unreasonably high rates. The temperatures can rise to 38.2 degrees Celsius even in idle mode, which is a considerable warming. The notebook's surface stays fairly cool under low load. We measured a maximum of 35.1 degrees in the upper left corner. The wrist-rest also stays pleasant with 28.6 to 31.9 degrees Celsius.

The Dell Studio 1747 really gets hot under load, though. We established 60.1 degrees Celsius on the bottom, which correlates to the surface temperature of a radiator. Thus, a use on the lap under load is excluded and you should also provide a stable surface in high performance mode so that the louvers aren't additionally obstructed. We even established up to 53.9 degrees Celsius on the surface under load. However, the wrist-rest stays quite pleasant even under load, with 30.8 to 35.9 degrees.

The adapter even exceeds the notebook's very high temperatures and shouldn't be touched any longer with a maximum surface temperature of 74.5 degrees Celsius. As already mentioned above, the adapter is currently overburdened, but should suffice after the new bios update, A04.

Even in view of the strong processor, Dell has to accept the reproach of not cooling its notebook properly. Other manufacturers, like Acer, are capable of offering a notebook with a Core i7 and reasonable operating temperatures.


53.9 °C	55.6 °C	33.2 °C
44.2 °C	45 °C	32.9 °C
35.1 °C	35.9 °C	30.8 °C


33.7 °C	53.4 °C	59.3 °C
32.6 °C	44.6 °C	60.1 °C
33.6 °C	43.6 °C	51.6 °C

Maximum: 55.6 °C
Average: 40.7 °C

Maximum: 60.1 °C
Average: 45.8 °C

Power Supply 74.5 °C | Room Temperature 23 °C

Loudspeakers

Dell builds two stereo loudspeakers and a subwoofer from JBL into its notebook. The collaboration with the famous name seems to have been fruitful. Just in comparison to other notebook loudspeakers, the speakers built left and right into the wrist-rest surprise with a powerful sound and the subwoofer adds the required bass power.

The only disadvantage of the installation is that the loudspeakers could be covered by the hands resting on the wrist-rest. This risk is especially high with the left hand because it actually has to be placed on the loudspeaker for comfortable typing, as the touchpad already begins further to the right.

The maximum volume is very good but also necessary to drown out the quite loud fan under full load. Equally good are both headphone-outs that supply a good sound impression without crackling or clattering.

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Battery Life

Our prototype has been equipped with a 6 cell battery from Simplo. It has a capacity of 57.7 watt hours. A 9 cell battery can also be ordered for the Studio 1747 for a surcharge of almost 70 euro and can increase, purely statistical, the battery life by up to 48 percent with its 85 watt hours.

Because our prototype only had the weaker but also a bit lighter battery, the Studio 1747 achieved mixed results in our runtime tests: the battery lasted a maximum of 3 hours and 45 minutes, which are 225 minutes. But, you have to enable all energy savings options and mustn't load the computer in any way.

The notebook only reaches 62 minutes of runtime in other extreme, so under full load. Our results for surfing via WLAN and watching DVD are placed between these: 2 hours and 44 minutes for wireless surfing on the internet, and the battery lasts for 22 minutes less at DVD watching.

Basically, the battery runtimes aren't overwhelming but you can live with them. An average movie can be seen easily with this battery, and because of its fairly high weight and the large screen, the Studio 1747 isn't primarily conceived as a mobile notebook anyway.

Battery runtime

Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)	3h 45min
Surfing with WLAN	2h 44min
DVD	2h 22min
Load (maximum brightness)	1h 02min

Appropriate for its components, the Dell Studio 1747 proves to be demanding but not prodigal: 18.7 watts have to flow out of the mains, in any case. In idle mode it's a maximum of 24.2 watts. It can even get up to 78.5 watts under load; the flat and broad adapter can make almost 90 watt available. As already noted, the Dell Studio 1747 seems to put a high demand on the adapter.

0.1 watts still run through the notebook in a deactivated state but this could also be caused by the LED integrated in the adapter's plug and shows that its connected to the mains. If you switch the computer into standby mode, you should note that 0.5 watts are still drained from the mains.

Current consumption

Off / Standby	0.1 / 0.5 Watt
Idle	18.7 / 23.9 / 24.2 Watt
Load	64.8 / 78.5 Watt


Key: min: , med: , max:

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Verdict

Dell's Studio 1747 spoils its chance of a very good rating due to one or two severe faults. The only average display with its tight vertical viewing angles and the not very homogenous illumination but especially the unreasonably high operating temperatures under load put a big dent into the otherwise very impressive test ratings. Also, the Studio 1747 seems to still have a few teething problems, such as the problem reported by users that the notebook doesn't wake up from standby. But there are already solutions for that in the internet. It's embarrassing for Dell anyway.

You could almost forget the Studio 1747's qualities because of that. We liked the very good workmanship with exceptional materials, the plain but high-end design and the excellent loudspeakers just as much as the solid keyboard and the variety of connections that has really turned out complete starting with Firewire over an ExpressCard slot up to a display port.

The battery life turns out reasonable despite the efficient processor and of course, it's great that you can configure your Dell as you please even if a few of the surcharge positions are disproportionally expensive. But Dell always again has discount offers. By the way, we couldn't configure an exact alignment of our prototype on Dell's homepage in the test period, but a similar configuration with extended service and a 9 cell battery cost a rather low 928 euro.

If you can live with the fact that your Dell heats up quite a bit after longer use and you won't be carrying the fairly heavy notebook around too often, you can readily add a few percentage points to the rating. Principally, Dell has made an efficient multimedia book with an elegant design and numerous qualities.

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Lenovo IdeaPad U450 Review

Author: Parinya.k | at : 11:21 PM | Category : ATI, Core 2 Duo CULV, Intel, Lenovo, Notebook, Radeon, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

By Brett Weinstein (NBR forum user Nrbelex)

The Lenovo IdeaPad U450p is a thin-and-light, 14” widescreen notebook introduced in August 2009 to the brand's preexisting line of U-series portable, consumer laptops. The U450 fills the gap between the 13” U350and 15.4” U550. The U-series notebooks are advertised as stylish, portable, multimedia machines with Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) chipsets and thin LED screens. So has Lenovo managed to blend the perfect mix of performance and portability? Read on to find out!

Lenovo IdeaPad U450 Specifications:

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2x 2GB)
14.0 " HD AntiGlare (glossy) 1366x768 LED backlight screen
320GB 5400 RPM hard drive
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer) disk drive
Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100
Gigabit ethernet, RealTek 8111L
Bluetooth
1.3M Webcam & microphone
6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5200mAh, 57Wh)
One-year standard warranty
Dimensions: 13.3" x 9.3" x 0.9-1.1"
Weight: 4.62 lbs

The configuration reviewed here is the 33892GU which features an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Processor (1.30GHz 800MHz 3MB) and dedicated ATI Radeon HD4330 512MB video card.

Build and Design
The Lenovo U450 is black with a plastic casing and gently rounded corners and edges. The lid and area surrounding the keyboard (including the palm-rests) have a tactile, checkerboard-like pattern which resists smudging, fingerprints and scratching. Some may find this pattern distracting or annoying after prolonged use, but we see it as a nice design choice which gives this the otherwise plasticky case a bit of class and differentiates it from the shiny plastic all too common recently. The screen lid has a metallic, plastic Lenovo emblem embedded in the upper left. The bezel around the screen is shiny, smooth, black plastic and the hinges connecting it to the body seem fairly typical – plastic on the exterior and not overly tight or loose. The laptop is held closed by the tension of the hinges. A fan is located on the left. The back has no ports and simply holds the battery in place. White indicator LEDs for A/C power, the battery, wireless status, hard drive usage and the touchpad (on/off ) are on the bottom left of the case. The power button is to the left of the keyboard and the Lenovo OneKey (for recovery, backups, etc.) is directly above it.

Overall the laptop is well put together with every component fairly sturdy. The palm-rests and casing hardly flex and are well supported. The screen flexes and can be twisted slightly, but this is expected for a laptop of this thinness - a screen this thin simply can't be perfectly rigid. The fan is well positioned (for right-handed people) and has never gotten overly hot.

As a 14” widescreen, the area around the keyboard is fairly expansive, and Lenovo has struck a pretty good balance between useful buttons and clutter. If anything, the layout is a bit spartan with only the keyboard and five additional buttons. The power button (beside the keyboard on the upper left), Lenovo OneKey (just above the power button), volume up/down and mute buttons (beside the keyboard on the upper right) and speakers (above the keyboard) are intuitively placed.

The hard drive and DVD drive are considered “fixed” (non-removable) and upgrades and repairs will therefore be tough, requiring some navigation through the laptop's internal components. After working with Thinkpads and Dell laptops with easily removed hard drives and CD-drives (often in a swappable port), this was a bit of a bummer, but is pretty par for the course for consumer laptops.

The underside provides access to one RAM SO-DIMM via two easily removed screws, a plastic-dummy-plugged SIM card slot via a simple lid, and three screws for access to the keyboard and internal components below it.

The hinges could be a little more sturdy and the materials could be a little more high-end, but the actual build quality is high. The most striking elements of the design are the cross-hatched pattern throughout the entire case and the laptop's thinness. While somewhat wide at 14”, the front of the laptop is actually less than 1” off the desk. We've found 14” to be a great size for a laptop, and this is no exception; its dimensions combined with its very manageable wight make it perfect for travel and airplane tray tables, but equally usable daily on a desk.

Screen and Speakers
The screen is a 14.0" WXGA (1366x768 - 16:9 aspect ratio), TFT LED backlight glossy. Lenovo measures it at 220 nits with a 500:1 contrast ratio. A 1.3-megapixel, fixed focus webcam sits above the screen in the bezel. The screen is free of dead pixels, fairly bright at its brightest setting, and can be turned off by hitting Fn+F2. Whites are slightly cooler and possibly more accurate compared to a couple older laptop screens – likely a characteristic of the relatively new LED backlighting. Colors are vibrant and text is sharp. The native resolution is pretty much ideal for a laptop of this size. A casual inspection in an unlit room reveals no light leakage or hotspots.

Left to right viewing angles are surprisingly good, but up to down viewing angles are typical to slightly weak. The “sweet spot” is large enough that it shouldn't cause problems. The screen can only fold backwards to about 125°– a bit of a surprise, but hardly a problem. If WXGA and glossy screens work for you, this laptop's screen doesn't fall short. The ATI Catalyst Control panel (included with the discreet graphics card) gives plenty of tweaking options. Combined with the video card, the screen is great for multimedia, light gaming and anything requiring a mid-level GPU.

Two speakers are positioned to the left and right directly above the keyboard. Lenovo calls this a “Dolby Home Sound Room premium audio system with two stereo speakers,” but it would be more accurately characterized as slightly better than typical for a laptop. They get fairly loud, but the louder the volume, the tinnier the sound. Bass is lacking at best. The headphone jack or HDMI port are going to be essential for any serious music playing (more on this later). Volume up, down and mute buttons adorn the right side of the case beside the keyboard. To be honest, the speakers aren't terrible for a laptop, and probably a bit above average, but when external speakers are available, they will obviously be preferable.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on this laptop is slightly better than average. The spacing, size of the keys and the feel of the keyboard are all strong. Stroke distance and the feel of the movement are ideal and clearly influenced by the Thinkpad design. The sound of the keys is solid while slightly muted. There is some flex in the keyboard when serious pressure is applied, getting worse from left to right, but nothing noticeable under normal typing usage. Unique features of the keyboard include a shrunken, narrow Windows flag key between Ctrl and Alt on the left of the space bar, and an Fn key as the leftmost key next to Ctrl. The caps lock and num lock (F8) keys have white LEDs in them to show when activated. There is no number pad, but the orange Fn key gives access to a variety of additional buttons including volume and brightness controls on the arrow keys. Overall, it could have a little less flex, but generally it exceeds the quality of most consumer laptop keyboards.

The Synaptics touchpad is typical with a fairly wide area for movement and two separate oversized, metalicized plastic buttons below. The material is smooth, slightly matte plastic and comfortable and easy to run a finger across. The speed is appropriate out of the box. The rightmost section of the touchpad has a line of barely tangible orange dots which indicate that a finger can be slid up or down to scroll. Multi-touch is supported. The touchpad is nothing special, but gets the job done. A microphone is located just to the left of it, so recording sound while using the touchpad or typing might cause some conflict.

Input & Output Ports
On the left side are two USB ports next to each other (but decently spaced for wide USB dongles), a Gigabit ethernet port, an HDMI port (HDCP-compliant), a VGA port, the fan, the AC plug and a lock slot.

The back has no ports and holds the battery in place.

The right side has the DVD burner, a wireless on/off switch, another USB port, a microphone jack and headphone jack.

A 4-in-1 MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Secure Digital (SD) card reader is in the front left. There is no fingerprint reader.

This is a pretty good mix of ports in good locations. The headphone jack could cause problems for people who use a mouse immediately to the right of the laptop, but otherwise, nothing essential is missing or poorly placed. The laptop lacks expansion ports like an express-card or PC-card slot, but 3 USB ports basically excuse this. An S-video port, FireWire port and swappable bay would also be nice, but certainly aren't essential – especially in a laptop in this class.

The 3.5mm headphone/audio jack gives a tiny bit of high pitched feedback at all volumes when plugged in to the wall. When unplugged the pitch drops and becomes slightly more noticeable. This isn't a major problem and is fairly typical for laptops, but it's worth noting for the audiophiles out there. An external sound card will be necessary for unadulterated sound.

Performance and Benchmarks
This configuration came with an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Processor (1.30GHz 800MHz 3MB) and 4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2x 2GB). The computer runs Windows 7 and typical programs – word processing, web browsing, photo management – with no problem. Being an ultra low voltage processor model, however, there are a couple trade-offs. While the battery life is extended beyond normal Core 2 Duo processors, the chip buckles slightly under load. There are rare hangups when going between major programs or performing CPU intensive processes. Configurations with lesser CPUs will probably struggle even more, and may have some performance issues with multiple demanding programs running. Video editing and serious gaming on this computer are not advised (though the GPU can definitely handle modern games at average to low settings), but given its size and target audience, this shouldn't be a problem, and everyday office tasks should not be at all challenging. Startup is decently fast and 4GB of RAM is more than enough for basically every installed program to run simultaneously yet smoothly. The 5400 RPM hard drive is typical and may be a good target for an upgrade to 7200 RPM or an SSD for those seeking the best possible performance.

All benchmarks were run after removing the bloatware, on high performance energy management mode, and after a fresh restart. Catalyst Control center was set for performance and the default resolution was used. A virus scanner remained on in the background.

The laptop takes 37 seconds to reach the Windows login screen and about a minute to reach a usable, wireless-connected main desktop.

The U450p calculated 32 million digits of π in two threads in an average of 63.975 seconds – slow in general, but average for a CULV.

The U450p scored 3333 in the PCMark05 test suite – an average score for the class which was no doubt hurt by the CULV processor.

The U450p scored a surprisingly good 3DMark06 score of 2592, making it one of the best graphics performers in the CULV class, exceeding the Dell Studio 14z by over 300 points. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 512MB makes light gaming possible and will give a boost to GPU accelerated programs (i.e. Photoshop CS4 and the upcoming Flash 10.1). This comes at the expense of some battery life. Nonetheless, the pairing of a dedicated video card with a CULV processor is slightly strange unless multimedia is going be a major focus for the user.

Heat and Noise
This laptop doesn't get hot and never gets loud, even under load. The hard drive is nearly silent and the fan stays fairly quiet even at its fastest. One could easily sleep with this laptop nearby even at its loudest. The hottest spots are under the touchpad and at the vent. Neither gets more than warm to the touch. When operating, the CD drive is audibly noticeable, but no more so than most laptops. This is a very quiet laptop.

Wireless
The Intel WiFi Link 5100 11a/b/g/n wireless card works better than many other wireless devices we've worked with, picking up dozens of local hotspots we usually don't see. Windows 7 cooperates with it perfectly, making wireless connections easier than ever. Bluetooth comes all set up, and pairing a device is intuitive. A Bluetooth mouse required simple pairing and no extra drivers. The computer may have an antennae for 3G connections, but the SIM card slot it would connect to is permanently sealed. This isn't a major loss, but again, a slight annoyance. Wireless works very well overall.

Battery
The battery is a 6-cell lithium-ion with 5200mAh, 57Wh. It slides into the back and has a lock and spring-loaded, plastic lever keeping it in place. Running the computer on Energy Star power management mode – the factory default – yielded 239 (3 hours, 59 minutes) minutes of power while browsing the web (with wireless and Bluetooth on), playing some videos and keeping a couple programs open. This is a decent time for a computer with a dedicated GPU, but weak for a CULV laptop. Stricter power settings, turning off the wireless transmitters and closing processes and programs would undoubtedly add more time, but with a low voltage processor, we were hoping for a good deal more.

Operating System and Software
The computer comes preinstalled with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit which runs very smoothly – Lenovo calls it an “Enhanced Experience” since they apparently made some adjustments and tweaks, though exactly what isn't immediately obvious. No recovery disks are included. The Lenovo OneKey Recovery console allows for the creation of recovery disks (requiring two DVDs or multiple CDs) and system backups to an image file. The computer has a hidden partition to enable recovery at the touch of a button to the factory state and a separate partition just for drivers.

That said, the factory state included a surprising amount of bloatware. The computer came with a ton of trial-ware, adware and useless utilities. It took about 30 minutes to uninstall the useless programs, leaving only the required Lenovo utilities. Changing the default energy management performance profiles can make a difference in the overall speediness of the system. Changing the setting from the default of “Energy Star power saving” to “high performance” changes the screen brightness and CPU usage markedly.

With a bit more time, we might download a clean copy of Windows 7, install it using the key on the bottom of the laptop, and install each driver and piece of software individually from the driver partition or the Lenovo website. This would almost certainly result in a slight performance boost.

The breakdown of the partitions of the 320GB hard drive are a hidden 14.75GB OEM partition, a hidden 200MB partition, the 252.88GB C: and a 30.25GB D: for drivers. All are NTFS formatted. About 90% of C: is free upon arrival.

Customer Support
The laptop comes standard with a 1-year parts and labor ➫warranty. This laptop was purchased with an additional one year Lenovo Onsite Repair Next Business Day policy. There's also 24x7 toll-free support for warranty issues during the warranty period at 877-453-6686. This service has not yet been tested, but Lenovo has a decent reputation for support and the on-site repair is generally considered good.

Conclusion
The Lenovo U450p is a thin, well built, fully featured CULV laptop ideal for consumers looking for a balance between performance and portability. At the price-point, the U450p is competitive with similar systems (i.e. the Dell Inspiron 14z and Dell Studio 14z), and probably has them beat on styling and thinness. Heavy users of the web, office software and multimedia will appreciate that they can roam with a machine able to handle basically anything thrown at it. The configurations with video cards are a bit of paradox, since adding a power-hungry GPU defeats the point of getting a CULV, but they do allow for more media handling. Serious gamers need not apply (though configurations with discreet graphics make many games a possibility). It lack some bells and whistles, is a little pricey, and has some minor annoyances, but they're reasonable trade-offs for one of the more powerful and stylish CULVs currently on the market.

Pros:

Thin, portable, stylish
Well designed, built
Dedicated GPU, among best graphics performance among CULVs
Has an optical drive (many CULVs do not)

Cons:

Comes from the factory with an inordinate amount of bloatware which hurts performance
Somewhat plasticky
Mediocre battery life for a CULV
Slight fuzziness in audio jack
Missing some niceties, options (i.e. non-removable hard drive and CD-drive, no fingerprint reader)

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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Review Lenovo G450

Author: Parinya.k | at : 12:25 AM | Category : Core 2 Duo, Intel, Lenovo, Notebook, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

The Lenovo G450 is a 14-inch screen laptop designed for buyers that are on a budget but still want a laptop that is of decent quality and portable enough to take places outside of the home or office. The Lenovo G450 could be a good laptop for students as they certainly have to be cost conscious and portability is necessary to be able to easily carry a laptop in your backpack. I recently found the G450 for a great price so decided to pick it up and try it out for some of the school work I do.

Configuration and Performance

The Lenovo IdeaPad G450 model I purchased came with the following configuration:

Processor: Intel T4300 2.10GHz processor, 800MHz system bus, 1MB l2 cache
Screen: 14-inch, 16:9 format LED backlit (1366 x 768 resolution)
Memory: 3GB DDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive: 250GB (5400RPM)
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Wireless: Broadcom 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
Optical Drive: DVD Recordable (dual layer)
Webcam: 0.3-Megapixel
Ports: ExpressCard/34 slot, Three USB 2.0 ports, monitor-out port, Ethernet port, headphone out and microphone in
Weight: 4.9lbs

The Intel Pentium T4300 dual core processor that comes with the IdeaPad G450 clocks in at 2.10GHz, although it’s not branded as a more fancy Core 2 Duo processor, the Pentium T4300 actually performs well and if you look at a chart from the benchmarking site CPUBenchmark.net you’ll see it actually performs ahead of some older Core 2 Duo processors:

So you have no need to worry about the G450 being underpowered if you get the Pentium T4300 processor. In fact, I recommend this processor because it is a lot cheaper than the G450 with the Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.40GHz processor.

The Lenovo G450 configuration I have comes with 3GB of RAM, which is ample to run Windows 7. The hard drive storage is 250GB and the spin speed is 5400RPM, which is a standard rotation speed for a budget laptop hard drive. The graphics are taken care of by an Intel integrated X4500, this won’t allow you to do any high-end gaming but for most people running productivity applications on their laptop (email, web, Microsoft Word) this will be more than enough.

Overall I found the performance of the Lenovo G450 to be really quite good, especially for a budget laptop that has a low price of around $500. There is never any slow down when using the computer, though the most I demanding thing I did was watching HD video on sites like YouTube and Hulu.com, the processor had no problems keeping up with the demanding flash decoding that has to be done for HD video.

For those interested in benchmark results, here’s a comparison to the Dell Inspiron 14 and Dell Studio 14z competing 14-inch laptops and then the benchmark results screenshots for the Lenovo G450 are pasted below that:

	Lenovo G450 (Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.1GHz, 3GB, Intel Graphics)	Dell Inspiron 14 (Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz, 3GB RAM, Intel graphics)	Dell Studio 14z (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz, 3GB RAM, Nvidia 9400 graphics)
PCMark Vantage	3,243	2,437	3,520
3DMark 06	783	751	2,081
Windows Experience Index	3.3	3.2	4.8

PCMark Vantage	PC Wizard Benchmark results
3DMark06	Windows Experience Index

Lenovo G450 Design and Build Quality

The Lenovo G450 doesn’t exactly provide an eye catching design, it’s a little bland to be honest. The lid is gray in color and has what Lenovo calls a “hairline finish”. Basically it looks like a brush metal finish but quite obviously the lid is made of plastic and not metal. The lid is also glossy and as you will see in the picture below this means that it reflects a fair amount of light and will pick up fingerprints:

Inside the laptop the finish is the same as the lid, a gray hairline finish but with a black screen:

The keyboard is black. One nice design finish is that the white indicator lights have a pleasing look. At the top of the keyboard the volume control buttons are touch sensitive and when you press them the buttons glow to indicate they have registered a touch:

The indicator lights below the touchpad indicate from left to right in the above picture that power is on, battery is charging, wireless is on and then finally hard drive activity.

The build quality of the Lenovo G450 is surprisingly good, though the case is made entirely of plastic it is quite rigid and you won’t find much flex to the body. There is some flex in the palm rests, but not enough to notice while you type. The weakest point of the laptop seems to be on the bottom underneath the optical drive, I can push in quite a bit there, due to the fact the optical drive is mostly hollow space this is not an unusual thing. Overall I would give the build quality of the Lenovo G450 a B-, it’s not the best but it is a bit better than I would expect for a budget laptop that cost me under $500.

Lenovo G450 Screen

The screen for the G450 is nice and bright, Lenovo rates it at 220-nits, which is good. The display has a glossy finish, meaning the colors are bright and vibrant, but you do get some reflection from the display because of the glossy overlay. For an example of the reflection you get on the screen from bright windows/lights in the room check out the image below:

The display is very wide, having a 16:9 ratio and 1366 x 768 resolution, this is good for watching movies in widescreen format but it’s a pain if you have very tall web pages as it involves a lot of scrolling. You can fit a lot of stuff on the screen horizontally, but not vertically. I can’t complain too much about this though, most every notebook made these days has this same 16:9 widescreen format, there’s no getting away from it.

The screen actually has pretty good viewing angles for a laptop, so overall I’d say this screen is slightly above average and most people will think it’s just great.

Lenovo G450 Port Selection

The port selection on the Lenovo G450 is fairly limited, it comes with 3 USB ports, an ExpressCard 34mm expansion slot, one monitor out port, an Ethernet port, headphone and microphone port. I miss having a media card reader built-in, as that makes it easy to transfer images from a camera via SD card, but you could buy an accessory to put in the ExpressCard that acts as a media card reader. The G450 probably has enough ports for most people, but I know some people won’t buy a computer without an HDMI port for high-definition video output, but you can’t expect that in a budget laptop. Below are pictures of each side of the laptop and a description of the ports you will find there:

Front side: headphone and microphone port

Left side: Ethernet, Monitor out, two USB ports and an ExpressCard 34mm expansion slot

Right side: USB port, optical drive, power jack

Back side: Just the battery

Lenovo G450 Battery Life

The advertised battery life for the Lenovo G450 is 5 hours. You could probably get that amount of battery life setting screen to the lowest setting and turning off wireless, but that’s not how most people use a laptop. For a realistic test I charged the battery to 100%, then pulled the plug and put the screen brightness at half and left a web page open that refreshed every two minutes. Doing this, the computer shut down with 5% battery life remaining after 3 hours and 55 minutes. You can assume you can get about 4 hours of battery life using the G450 under normal conditions, if you’re doing a lot of tasks it might be closer to 3.5 hours.

Lenovo G450 Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard for the Lenovo G450 is comfortable for typing, the keys are actually very “desktop like’, they’re chunky and are protrude up more than an average laptop keyboard with flatter keys. The keys also have a matte finish, they’re not glossy and slippery like some consumer notebooks. The keyboard is solid with no flex, there’s nothing worse than a mushy springy keyboard.

There are some useful buttons above the keyboard worth mentioning. The touch sensitive volume up, down and mute buttons on the top right are nice and responsive. In addition, the power button on the top left side has a backup system button next to it that makes it very simple to launch an application that allows you to backup or restore the G450 to a previous state.

I’m not a huge fan of the touchpad, it uses a glossy surface that I find is hard to glide my finger across and it just doesn’t feel very responsive, there is sometimes lag. Using the scrolling areas of the touchpad also proved challenging, sometimes working and sometimes not. I’d recommend plugging in a wireless mouse if you’re at a desk or table, otherwise you’ll just have to get used to using the touchpad and it’s quirks.

Lenovo G450 Speakers

The speakers for the G450 aren’t much to write home about, they’re loud enough but tinny sounding like many budget laptop speakers end up being. They’re actually positioned on the screen, right at the bottom where the hinge area is. I don’t know how Lenovo crammed them in there, but needless to say since there isn’t much space there’s no way you’re getting any bass from these speakers. The speakers are fine fine for system sounds and spoken audio, but I recommend using headphones for any music.

Lenovo G450 Web Cam

Worth mentioning is the fact that G450 comes with a 0.3 megapixel web camera. While that is low resolution, it worked pretty well in low light situations and Lenovo provided some nice software for using the web cam so that’s easy to do. Also included is facial recognition software so you can setup Windows to log you in when it recognizes your face instead of having to type a password, pretty cool!

Conclusion

Overall the Lenovo G450 is a good laptop for the price. When spending a limited amount on a laptop you know there will be certain sacrifices such as not having all the ports you might like and a design that isn’t exactly stunning. I like the fact the G450 has a solid feel to it and seems it will last some of the bumps and bruises that come with getting carried around in a backpack. The performance from the Intel T4300 processor and 3GB of RAM was just fine for my needs, the system never experienced slowness when using productivity applications or even during multimedia use. I recommend the G450 to those on a budget, if you can spend $200 more you can find more appealing laptops, but for the price of the G450 you can’t go wrong.

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Monday, December 21, 2009

Review ASUS K40IN

Author: Parinya.k | at : 11:38 PM | Category : Asus, Core 2 Duo, GeForce, Intel, Notebook, nVidia, window vista | 2 ความคิดเห็น

ASUS' K-series notebooks promise a blend of value and performance. The K40IN is a 14-inch notebook with Nvidia graphics and an $800 price tag. How did it hold up in our testing?

Our ASUS K40IN-B1 review unit has the following specifications:

14-inch 720p (1366x768) display with LED backlighting
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 (2.1GHz/2MB L2/800MHz FSB)
Nvidia GeForce G102M integrated graphics card w/ 512MB DDR2 memory
4GB DDR2-667 RAM
320GB 5400RPM hard drive (Seagate Momentus 5400.6/ST9320325AS)
802.11n wireless (Atheros AR9285)
DVD Super Multi drive
Two-year warranty w/ one year accidental coverage
6-cell Li-ion battery (11.1v, 4400mAh, 46Wh)
Weight: 5.3 lbs
Dimensions: 13.4” x 9.5” x 1.4-1.5”
MSRP: $799.99

Build and Design
The K40IN has a traditional notebook design and shape; it looks like an ordinary notebook and is visually uninspiring. Corners are rounded off to give the notebook a soft look. Nearly all surfaces of the K40IN save for the keyboard are glossy plastic, which is a dual-edged blade. On one hand the glossiness makes the notebook look more attractive, but on the other hand it reduces durability and makes it a real chore to keep clean.

The physical build quality of the K40IN is satisfactory. The quality is consistent; no particular area seems to be stronger or weaker than another. The base of the notebook resists twisting well and the palm rests barely flex under pressure. This lid is one of the better-reinforced lids I have seen on a value-oriented notebook; it is resistant to flexing and pushing in on the back of the lid does not yield any ripples on the screen. The hinges anchoring it to the base of the notebook are strong and display wobble is minimal.

Overall the build quality meets expectations; it is not outstanding and matches up to the competition at the very least. The design is rather plain though not unattractive. However, the glossy plastic will be a turn-off for some.

Screen and Speakers
The K40IN has a 14-inch diagonal display with LED backlighting and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The overall quality of the display is 'very good'. Brightness is excellent and contrast is reasonable. Pictures and movies are a pleasure to view on this display. The viewing angles are above average; side-to-side are nearly flawless, and while the colors wash out and darken from above and below respectively, the picture is fine for about thirty degrees vertically off center. The backlighting is not even with a significant amount of bleed at the bottom; fortunately it is not noticeable during normal use.

The display's 1366x768 resolution is a standard resolution for mainstream notebooks. The horizontal resolution is adequate, however only 768 pixels of vertical space means a good deal of scrolling while surfing the Internet and only enough space to view about one-half of a page in a Microsoft Word.

The K40IN has Altec Lansing speakers located underneath the palm rest. Simply put, the K40IN has two of the worst speakers I have heard on a notebook; my ears cringe every time a sound gets played. The speakers are muddy, tinny, and too quiet. Using the included SRS WOW software enhancer distorts the sound and put this odd pressure on my eardrums that I cannot stand. The headphone jack is fortunately static-free and the best way to get audio signals out of the notebook.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The K40IN's full-size keyboard is responsive and pleasing to use. The keys are large and flat and have a matte texture, which may wear over time. There is no noticeable flex unless a lot of pressure is used. A nice aspect of this keyboard is its quietness; it does not click or clack. It is also good to see the keyboard has a standard layout; all keys are more or less in their expected places.

The touchpad is a mixed bag. The glossy surface can be difficult to track on with moist fingers and the touchpad buttons are loud. Another complaint is the lack of a dedicated scroll zone.

The status lights on the K40 consist of three tiny circles below the touchpad buttons. From a functionality standpoint, they should be larger and brighter for better visibility.

Ports and Features
The K40IN suffers from a lack of ports relative to its competitors. HDMI is noticeably absent; the notebook's only video out option is VGA. Furthermore, there is no ExpressCard or PC Card slot for wireless broadband cards and other add-on devices. All picture descriptions are left to right.

Left side: DVD drive, 2x USB

Right side: headphone and microphone jacks, 2x USB, VGA out, 1000Mbps Ethernet, power jack

Front: Speakers, media card reader (SD/MMC/MS)

Back: Kensington Lock slots, exhaust vent

Performance and Benchmarks
The K40IN is a good performer thanks to its Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, and speedy 320GB hard drive. This machine is more than capable of handling everyday tasks and even more intensive applications like Adobe Photoshop.

Wprime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune storage drive performance test:

Graphics performance from the integrated Nvidia G102M will only suffice for older games; newer games are out of its league. Despite having 512MB of its own memory the G102M simply lacks the processing power necessary to play modern games. I question ASUS' decision to use Nvidia graphics in this notebook versus Intel integrated graphics, which have lower power consumption. The extra power consumption of the Nvidia graphics versus Intel graphics is not justified since this machine cannot play modern games and its HD video acceleration capabilities will go unused since the K40IN lacks a Blu-ray drive.

Something to note about the Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 processor is its lack of VT (Virtualization Technology). This means that the K40IN will be unable to utilize the virtual Windows XP mode in Windows 7. For most users this should not be an issue.

Heat and Noise
The K40IN excelled in managing heat and noise. Even under stress the surface of the notebook never got warm and the palmrests remained completely cool – there is even a sticker on the palm rest showing this off stating "Feel the cool comfort – 25% cooler than body temperature." The bottom of the notebook also remained cool, only getting warm in a few areas.

The heat exhaust fan is located in the center of the back of the notebook. This is a convenient location since it keeps heat as far away from the user as possible. The fan is nearly silent even when under load, and is barely audible at idle in a silent room. Well done, ASUS.

Battery Life
In power saving mode with 25% screen brightness, the K40IN lasted for four hours, thirty-five minutes while surfing the Internet and using a word processor. This is a good number for a notebook that packs a six-cell battery, standard voltage processor, and Nvidia integrated graphics. If ASUS had used Intel integrated graphics instead of Nvidia, the battery life would likely have been a bit longer.

Operating System and Software
The K40IN comes with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit and a ton of pre-loaded utilities. There are at least ten utilities installed – managers for this, monitors for that, and so on. Many of them are startup items which increase log-on time. If ASUS could consolidate all of them into a central control panel then this would not be such an issue. The sheer number of them at present is unnecessary.

Conclusion
The K40IN has good build quality, a pleasing keyboard and screen, and gets over four and a half hours of battery life. Unfortunately the K40IN's value proposition is questionable. It lacks an HDMI port and is priced $100-$150 more than competitors with the same specifications minus the Nvidia graphics. The Nvidia graphics are a puzzling choice for the K40IN; they are not powerful enough to play modern games and consume more power than Intel graphics. The only advantage the K40IN has over its competitors is better warranty coverage. Overall we like the K40IN but are hard-pressed to recommend it for the stated reasons.

Pros:

Reasonable build quality
Great screen and keyboard
Four and a half hours of battery life
Good system performance
Runs very cool and quiet
Two year warranty and one year accidental damage coverage

Cons:

No HDMI port or ExpressCard slot
Weak graphics
Horrible speakers
Price point too high versus competitors
Glossy plastic difficult to keep clean
Loud touchpad buttons
Too many pre-installed utilities

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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Review Dell Latitude E4300

Author: Parinya.k | at : 7:14 PM | Category : Core 2 Duo, Dell, Dell Latitude E4300, Intel, Notebook, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

The Dell Latitude E4300 is Dell's most powerful ultraportable machine released to date. This 13.3" notebook is powered by low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processors and boasts an incredible battery life with no compromises in performance.

Dell Latitude E4300 Specifications:

Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP2, with downgrade rights for Windows XP SP3 and upgrade rights to Windows 7 Professional
13.3" LED WXGA LCD Screen (1280x800)
1GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (upgraded to 4GB)
80GB 7200RPM Western Digital 2.5" Hard Drive
Intel X4500MHD video card
Internal Fixed DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, WWAN Capable
Backlit Keyboard
6-Cell 60WHr Battery, with 6-Cell 48WHr Battery Slice
3-Year Warranty with On-Site Technical Support
Dell E-Port Docking Station, with Dell Flat Panel Monitor Stand
Dimensions: 12.2" x 8.6" x 1.1"
Measured Weight: ~ 3.7lbs

The Latitude E4300 starts at $1,349, which is fairly average for an ultraportable business machine. However, we all know that the extra options and features always cost more - this notebook as configured will set you back by a staggering $2,054 before taxes.

Build and Design
Our first impressions of the Dell Latitude E4300 were quite positive. The notebook itself has a small LCD bezel and a tightly integrated chassis design, so not only is the notebook rather thin it also presents the smallest footprint that is possible for a 13.3" notebook. Dell also adopted a much more modern looking design featuring sharp lines and a black finish with the new series. The back of the LCD housing has a brushed aluminum appearance to it, which adds a nice bit of flair to an otherwise safe professional design. While the finish is designed to impress, it is a fingerprint magnet. The black matte finish on the rest of the notebook looks equally sharp, but wears down on and around the edges of the notebook.

Build quality is above average, and quite frankly the construction feels ver solid. The base of the chassis is built from magnesium alloy and packed with parts, resulting in a design that protects its internals well. The right palmrest has a little bit too much flex, but there is little to no flex to be found anywhere else on the base of the chassis. Magnesium alloy is also used in the LCD housing, and the screen housing does a really good job of protecting the screen from impacts. We were never able to produce distortions on the LCD screen. The extra bulge at the top of the LCD lid is for the WWAN antenna. While it sticks out only a little bit, that top bulge had just a little bit of give to it.

The screen hinges are well built, as the display never wiggles yet provides a comfortable level of resistance to movement. When closing the notebook there is no latch for the LCD, it is held shut by magnetic force. The design provides enough resistance that the notebook is not going to open accidentally, but it is not difficult to open the computer up either.

The keyboard is well supported on the Latitude E4300, and there is very little flex to be found so even violent typers should find themselves at ease with how sturdy the keyboard feels. While other Dell Latitude notebooks have a modular bay design to accomodate an optical drive or hard drive or a weight saver module, Dell choose to build in a fixed optical drive so the E4300 will not support two hard drives. Because upgrading the optical drive is more difficult than it would be with other Latitude notebooks, the E4300 starts with a DVD+/-RW optical drive that is capable of everything a consumer needs except perhaps Blu-Ray capability. Fortunately, a fixed Blu-Ray optical drive is available for a not so low price when ordering the computer.

Perhaps the only shortcoming in the design of the Latitude E4300 is the battery. Dell appears to have dropped the 3-cell battery option from their ordering system, leaving only the 6-cell battery which sticks out from the back of the notebook by about half an inch. While I do not mind the extrusion, others may take issue with it. However, we have a difficult time imagining that the 3-cell battery could have provided adaquate battery life so we think the 6-cell is worth it.

The Latitude E4300 also has a wide range of expansion options, available via the docking connector at the bottom. If you need legacy ports not found on the computer, Dell has a legacy port extender for Latitude notebooks. The notebook can be docked to one of two different Latitude series docking stations, and each dock supports up to two external monitors. If the 6-cell battery does not provide enough longevity, a battery slice can also be purchased ($199) that will work in tandem with the standard battery to provide a much longer battery life. The hard drive can be upgraded easily by removing two screws and pulling the drive out, and by removing the middle access panel on the bottom of the notebook both the RAM and Latitude ON cards can be upgraded. WiFi cards and WWAN cards can be installed by removing the corner panel as well.

Screen and Speaker
The Dell Latitude E4300 comes with an LED backlit screen with a native resolution of 1280x800 (WXGA). The screen resolution is a perfect fit for a 13.3" notebook, and the panel looks nice when viewing documents, videos, and other content. The notebook has fifteen distinct levels of screen brightness adjustable by using the Fn+Up or Fn+Down key combinations. The dimmest screen levels are great for indoor viewing and low light conditions, and it was amazing to see that the screen was quite readable in bright outdoor environments when the screen was set to maximum brightness. It gets so bright, in fact, that colors start to wash out a bit on the highest settings.

We normally expect vertical viewing angles to be quite poor on notebook displays (because of the type of LCD technology they use). The E4300 defined a new level of poor. When viewing the screen from above colors quickly wash out and become unreadable, and when viewing the screen from below the screen fades away ever so quickly. Horizontal viewing angles were fortunately fairly good. Viewing the screen from almost any position to the left and right of the notebook still produced a very readable display even though colors would start to wash out.

This section was called "Screen and Speaker" for a reason. The Dell Latitude E4300 comes with one lowly speaker at the front of the notebook. It sounds tinny, there is absolutely no bass, and at the higher ends of the volume range it sounds muddled. It works for business use, it works for those to are listening to audio on the road, but do not expect premium sound out of this notebook.

Keyboard and Touchpad
While there are certainly a lot of reasons to praise the Dell Latitude E4300, the high quality keyboard one of the most prominent reasons. While the layout of the keyboard is slightly different than what can be found in the rest of the Latitude E series, the Dell Latitude E4300 offers the same high quality typing experience as any other Latitude E series notebook with a backlit keyboard. While some Latitude E series notebooks have an option for a non-backlit keyboard, after comparing the backlit versus non-backlit keyboards we can say with confidence that the backlit keyboard offers a superior typing experience. One of the unique features found on the keyboard is, of course, the LED backlights that serve to illuminate the keyboard in dark environments. This backlighting is user adjustable and it can be tied in with the Ambient Light Sensor for automatic backlight adjustments.

Like the previous generation of Latitude notebooks, the keyboard provides just the right amount of tactile feedback and firmness while never flexing under stress. The new keyboard design raises the quality bar - it looks and feels like each key has its own distinctive personal space to it and it is almost impossible to accidentally hit multiple keys. Over time, it actually felt like my typing accuracy and speed was improving.

Perhaps the only drawback of this keyboard is the layout of some of the keys. The half height function keys, and the location of the Home/End/Insert/Delete keys (upper half height row) and the Page Up/Down keys (next to the arrow keys) take a little getting used to. Once we got used to the locations of the Page Up/Down keys it was actually easier to navigate through webpages, documents, and tabbed interfaces.

When comparing this keyboard to the keyboard of other Latitude E series notebooks, they all provide about the same typing experience but it just feels like the E4300's keyboard is a little more firm. If it seems like we cannot stop praising the keyboard, you are right. Best. Keyboard. Ever.

While the touchpad is not bad, it does not provide as stellar as an experience as the keyboard does. The touchpad itself is quite smooth, but it felt like there was just a little input lag on the touchpad. When using the touchpad, occasionally the touchpad would randomly stop working for a moment or two. It does not happen often enough to be a serious issue, and the problem always corrects itself, but I have to be a tough grader on a machine with this high a cost.

The touchpad redeems itself with a few extra features. Having two sets of mouse buttons is a plus, as is the third mouse button found on the upper row of touchpad buttons. Dell also includs a pointer stick in the middle of the keyboard. Perhaps the best feature about the touchpad is what Dell calls 'circular scrolling.' When moving your finger up or down the scrolling area on the touchpad, if you keep moving your finger in a circular fashion the touchpad will continue to scroll through the active window on your desktop. The direction of the scroll can be changed just by alternating the direction of circular movement as well. The touchpad supports both horizontal and vertical scrolling, which means that in combination with circular scrolling any document is going to be easily navigable.

Ports and Features
Despite not having a lot of real estate to work with, Dell managed to include a surprisingly useful array of ports though we wished a third USB port could have been included. One USB port, one combination USB/eSATA port, VGA out, SmartCard reader, SD card reader, ExpressCard/34, audio in and out, Firewire-400, 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet LAN, and a Kensington lock slot are available on the machine. It would have been nice to have had a DisplayPort or DVI output instead of a VGA output, but we suppose VGA out is still an important feature for business notebooks.

Left: VGA, USB/eSATA, fan vent, and SmartCard Reader

Front: SD card reader

Right: ExpressCard/34, DVD+/-RW, audio out, audio in, Firewire-400, and USB

Back: Gigabit Ethernet, Battery, AC Power Input, Kensington Lock Slot

Dell also has two docking station solutions for the new Latitude E series notebooks, one of which is the E-Port Replicator that was included with our unit. With the docking station, the E4300 can be transformed into a full desktop workstation that supports up to two digitally connected monitors.

Left: 3x USB, audio in, audio out

Front: Dell Docking Connector

Right: Kensington Lock Slot, Laptop Locking Mechanism

Back: Connector for additional Dell docking products, eSATA/USB, Gigabit Ethernet, 2x USB, VGA, DVI, DisplayPort, AC Power Input

Performance and Benchmarks
The Dell Latitude E4300 might be a small notebook, but it packs a big punch thanks to the 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and the Western Digital Caviar Black 80GB 7200RPM drive. While the laptop can only be configured with the Intel 4500MHD IGP, graphics performance with the laptop is certainly adaquate for any non-gaming application. Multimedia performance was certainly good even without a dedicated graphics card, as we had no issues displaying 720P content or 1080P content that was scaled down to the LCD's native resolution.

The 80GB 7200RPM hard drive was certainly fast (perhaps the fastest laptop drive I have personally tested to date), but the limited storage capacity could be a problem for users that need to use a lot of applications and store a lot of data on the drive. The E4300 by default comes with a 160GB 5400RPM drive for $10 less, and hard drive upgrades are reasonably priced. But if you want to abandon the traditional hard drive for a solid state drive, users should be advised to purchase an aftermarket SSD to save money and/or get a higher performing SSD than the (most likely under-performing Samsung) OEM SSD that Dell will include.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
The Dell Latitude E4300 is certainly a performer, but having this much power inside a small frame presents some design challenges. The notebook itself only has a single fan that vents out to the side and bottom of the notebook, and during normal use temperatures hovered in the mid 80's.

However, the single fan can only provide so much cooling power during our extreme stress test where parts of the E4300 soared into the triple digit temperatures. The images below show the external temperature readings in degrees Fahrenheit while stressing the CPU, GPU, and hard drive at the same time. It is hot enough that you do not want to place it on your lap, but fortunately the keyboard and touchpad remain at acceptable temperature levels. It might be a good idea to stay away from the fan vent if running intensive tasks on the computer, as the ambient air coming out of the vent topped 110F.

In an office or home setting, running your typical tasks, the laptop was as quiet as a mouse. The only time the fan was even noticably intrusive was during the extreme stress tests, when the fan was running at full tilt. Even then, it was not too loud nor was there any high pitched whine.

Battery Life
Dell built in a handy array of useful power saving features with the Latitude E series notebooks. The Dell Control Panel is your portal to extreme power management where it is possible to lower the refresh rate of the LCD screen, completely deactivate the power hungry optical drive, automatically turn on/off Windows Aero, and selectively turn off or power manage most of the ports on the notebook. It does not hurt that the Dell Latitude E4300 has an LED backlit screen either, which uses less power than CCFL backlighting found in most other notebooks.

Latitude notebooks have traditionally had support for running two batteries in tandem, and the Latitude E series continues this tradition with the "battery slice." It fits on the bottom of the notebook and adds about a quarter inch to the thickness of the laptop. It adds a significant amount of weight to the machine, but the extra battery life is worth it if longevity is essential.

Dell also includes a program called the Dell Control Panel with its Latitude E series notebooks. It is a very useful program that allows users to selectively shut down or reconfigure peripherals on the notebook, to enable users to get the most of of their battery. Even though it sometimes forgot one or two settings after resuming from standby, it clearly demonstrates its use during our battery tests.

After four really long battery tests, it is clear to us that the Dell Latitude E4300 is a winner in this department. The results are almost unbelieveable for a notebook of this size.

Standard Battery, All Power Savings	6 hours 31 minutes
Standard Battery and Battery Slice, All Power Savings	12 hours 23 minutes
Standard Battery, No Power Savings	3 hours 10 minutes
Standard Battery and Battery Slice, No Power Savings	5 hours 45 minutes

During the tests with power savings enabled, the screen was at 33% brightness, wireless was on, Windows 7 was set to the 'Power Savings' power profile, and all the power savings features in Dell Control Panel were enabled (except the one where the LCD screen automatically reduces the backlight level during periods of inactivity) while we casually browsed the internet and worked on general office tasks like writing this review. With a maximum battery life of 12 hours and 23 minutes, all day computing is certainly an option with the E4300.

Tests with no power savings were more intense for the notebook. No power savings features were enabled, Windows 7 Aero was running and the power profile was set to 'High Performance,' the LCD backlight was set to 100%, and we watced the DVD movies the entire time to keep the machine actively processing while we edited documents. Flash games were also playing in the background to further stress the processor. Despite the heavier workload, the E4300 is more than capable of lasting through several feature films during long distance travels.

Conclusion
The Dell Latitude E4300 is a power house of a notebook that is as small as can be. Designed for business use, built with quality in mind, and can handle any office or media related task thrown at it. It has an incredible battery life, great power saving capabilities, and the wide range of display brightnesses and keyboard brightnesses are great features not found in most notebooks. The speaker is a bit below average, the touchpad slightly above average at best, and the chassis has one or two flex points that should not be there in a notebook at this price range. Even with those flaws in the design, there is a lot to love about the Dell Latitude E4300 should you need the power, portability, or longevity of one of the smallest Latitude notebooks released to date.

Pros:

Above average build quality, lightweight
Best keyboard and useful touchpad features
Extremely long battery life

Cons:

Subpar speaker
Twitchy touchpad
High priced upgrades

Read rest of entry

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Review HP ProBook 5310m

Author: Parinya.k | at : 8:05 PM | Category : Core 2 Duo, Hp, Intel, Notebook, window 7 | 0 ความคิดเห็น

HP promises that the new ProBook 5310m is a "stylish" business notebook that packs performance, battery life, and value inside a thin-and-light 13-inch notebook. Is the ProBook 5310m truly a lust-worthy business laptop, or is it just another black box? Continue reading to find out.

Our review unit of the HP ProBook 5310m features the following configuration:

Intel Core 2 Duo P9300 Processor (2.26GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Microsoft Genuine Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
13.3-inch LED-backlit anti-glare HD display (1366 x 768)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
2GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
320GB 7200RPM HDD
WiFi (802.11a/b/g/draft-n), Ethernet, Modem, and Bluetooth Connectivity
4-Cell 41WHr Battery (14.8V)
Limited 1-year standard parts and labor warranty
Dimensions: 12.9 x 8.7 x 0.93 inches
Weight: 3.81lbs
Price as configured: $899

Build and Design
For those people who aren't already familiar with HP's ProBook laptops, the formula is very simple: Take HP's popular EliteBook line of durable business-grade notebooks and make them more affordable so small and medium businesses can buy them. This is where the new ProBook 5310m comes to the table ... and it's why this is the first laptop with the "ProBook" name on it that we really, really like.

The previous generation of ProBooks all tried to deliver a good balance of features and security at a low price. Unfortunately, those notebooks sacrificed build quality and design (two of the hallmarks of HP's EliteBooks) in order to create a low-cost business laptop. The new ProBook 5310m is the first ProBook that lets you have your cake and eat it too. The 5310m succeeds where previous ProBooks failed by offering a thin-yet-solid magnesium alloy chassis with durable rubberized paint, aluminum display enclosure and a design that looks like a premium business notebook rather than a budget laptop. Sure, like the rest of the ProBook line, the 5310m has a square, industrial-looking exterior, but that's part of the "all business" look that made the EliteBook line such a success.

So how did HP go from an all-plastic ProBook to this new-and-improved design and still make it thinner and lighter than previous models? The answer will probably get a mixed reception among our readers: HP got rid of the optical drive. That's right. There's no built-in DVD or Blu-ray drive with this laptop. Honestly, as someone who frequently travels for business, I can tell you I never use my notebook's optical drive. However, there are still plenty of business travelers who like to watch DVDs during flights, so the lack of a DVD drive might bother some business buyers.

The outer shell of the screen casing, as previously mentioned, is made of aluminum. This is significantly more solid than the plastic-covered screen on older ProBooks, and along with the magnesium alloy bottom chassis the 5310m should survive anything a typical business traveler will throw at it. While I wouldn't recommend standing on this notebook, you could easily stack a dozen or so heavy books on top of the 5310m without any concern for the safety of the laptop.

Tthe 5310m also features the now standard hard drive shock protection in the form of HP 3D DriveGuard which will help to protect your hard drive in the event the laptop gets dropped or violently bumped. HP also includes HP ProtectTools with drive encryption, Device Access Manager, HP Spare Key (a program that helps employees access their computer in case they forget their password), HP Disk Sanitizer, File Sanitizer, and McAfee Security Solution for those small businesses that need reliability and ease of use but don't have the resources of a dedicated IT department.

One of our primary criticisms about the older ProBook 4510s and 4710s was the fact that it was too difficult to make upgrades to those notebooks. Thankfully, HP engineers made it quite easy to access the RAM, hard drive, and wireless cards inside the 5310m. RAM and the hard drive are located on the bottom of the notebook beneath the palmrest area and the WWAN card is easily accessed after removing the battery. Speaking of the complexity of making upgrades, it's also worth mentioning that buying a pre-configured model is still the only way we can recommend purchasing the 5310m (or any ProBook) at a reasonable price. This configuration of the ProBook 5310m is available for only $899 on the HP website as a pre-configured system, but if you attempted to customize a 5310m with identical specs it would cost you more than $1,100! That's a painfully overpriced premium to charge for custom orders.

Screen and Speakers
The ProBook 5310m comes equipped with a 13.3" anti-glare display with a 16:9 widescreen ratio. At 1366 x 768 pixels, this 720p high-definition display is perfectly usable and features good color and contrast. The LED-backlit panel offers excellent brightness and we typically left the brightness set to between 50% and 70% when using the notebook indoors. We know many people are concerned about the transition from 16:10 to 16:9 ratio screens (because this means less vertical resolution) but the difference between 1366 x 768 and 1280 x 800 is pretty minimal.

Horizontal viewing angles are pretty good and you only start to notice some color shift after you get 75 degrees off center. Vertical viewing angles are only average as the screen begins to wash out from above and colors begin to invert from below after about 45 degrees in either direction.

HP generally impresses our editorial staff with the quality of the speakers used in their notebooks. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with the ProBook line. The speakers in the 5310m are good enough for watching a webcast or hearing system sounds, but the built-in speakers sound tinny and lack a good range of highs, middles, and lows. The highest volume settings are loud enough to fill an office with sound for a presentation, but the audio sounds distorted at the highest volumes.

The combo headphone/microphone jack on the 5310m works well with the two different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack besides imperfections in the audio source itself.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The full-size keyboard on the 5310m is a chiclet style design and provides fantastic spacing between keys for typing. Each key is relatively flat with a nice matte texture and the keys sit above a glossy black support frame. The support frame surrounding the keys is quite firm thanks to the design of the chassis which adds additional support for the keyboard. On the larger ProBook 4510s and 4710s we noticed some flex in the keyboard above the optical drive, but the keyboard on the 5310m is quite firm and a joy to use.

The individual key presses are quiet without loud clicking sounds as you type. The depth of each key press is excellent, though some people may dislike the flat, chiclet-style keys. Overall the keyboard layout is extremely nice for a budget 13-inch laptop.

The touchpad is very responsive to my touch with a scroll zone on the right side that works exactly as it should. The glossy touchpad texture is okay, but the low-cost material used is sure to develop wear over time and use. The plastic touchpad buttons are about the right size and have the correct amount of depth or throw when pressed. We would have also liked to see a dedicated touchpad disable button (like the ones HP uses on their consumer notebooks) so that you can disable the touchpad if you're using an external mouse ... but that's a minor complaint for what is otherwise a great keyboard and touchpad.

Ports and Features
The 5310m features a good number of ports on all sides, despite the lack of an optical drive, so let us take a brief tour ...

Left side: Here we see the power jack, heat vent, one USB 2.0 port, DisplayPort and Ethernet jack.

Right side: Heat vent, memory card reader, combo audio jack, two USB 2.0 ports, and Kensington Lock slot.

Rear side: The battery and hinges.

Front side: Nothing here but a status light and more heat vents.

Performance and Benchmarks
Our ProBook 5310m came with the Intel Core 2 Duo P9300 processor, clocking in at 2.26GHz, and Intel integrated graphics. This gives the ProBook a fanstic level of performance without losing too much in the way of battery life. If battery life is a concern, you can also purchase the ProBook 5310m with the Intel Celeron CULV Processor SU2300 which will give you more tie on battery at the expense of speed thanks to the 1.2GHz low-voltage processor. A 320GB 7200RPM hard drive was also included, which helped applications load without much lag. This notebook didn't really exceed our expectations in terms of performance, but the 5310m sits near the top of the pack in its class and has more than enough power to handle Microsoft Office or even very basic video work.

The obvious bottleneck in terms of performance here is the use of Intel graphics, but considering the small and medium business buyers interested in this notebook don't care about the ability to play video games or edit HD video, this isn't a major concern.

With that said, let's jump into the performance benchmarks.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
During normal use (browsing the web or working on a text document) the ProBook 5310m remained quite cool and very quiet. The exhaust fan wasn't audible even when running performance benchmarks or stressing the CPU and graphics. You won't have to worry about bothering coworkers or clients with unwanted noise coming from your laptop in a quiet office.

Finally, we recorded the following external temperatures using an IR thermometer after running two consecutive PCMark05 benchmarks. This should serve as an indicator of how hot the notebook will get after about 30 minutes of serious use. All temperatures are listed in degrees Fahrenheit. It's obvious that the bottom of the notebook near the wireless card and RAM are the hottest parts of the notebook.

Battery
HP offers the ProBook 4310s with a 4-cell 41WHr Lithium-Ion battery. The battery life of the standard 4-cell battery is quite a bit better than the previous generation of ProBooks. During our timed tests, with the laptop set to "balanced" mode, wireless active, and 70% screen brightness, the 4310s lasted for 5 hours and 51 minutes. Battery life can also be extended using the "power saver" power profile in Windows 7 ... or you can purchase the 5310m with the Intel Celeron CULV processor.

Conclusion
From the first moment I picked up the HP ProBook 5310m to the last minute while writing this review I kept thinking, "Why didn't HP release this ProBook sooner?" Honestly, if HP had released this notebook at the beginning of 2009 then every other SMB notebook manufacturer would be running scared by now. Unfortunately, HP released several less-than-spectacular ProBooks before this one, and that will probably make some potential buyers overlook this excellent business laptop. The ProBook 5310m finally delivers on HP's original goal to create a more affordable EliteBook. Sure, you have to buy the pre-configured models if you want that lower price, but if you can live without an optical drive then the ProBook 5310m makes a fantastic choice for small and medium businesses.

Pros:

Excellent build quality and design
A good price (when pre-configured)
Nice keyboard and touchpad

Cons:

No optical drive
Custom configurations are overpriced
Limited configuration options

Read rest of entry

Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit) in comparison
Sony Vaio VGN-P11Z/R (min)	635
...
Asus G72GX Q9000, GeForce GTX 260M	8699
HP Envy 15 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4830	9430
Acer Aspire 5940G-KAQB0 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	9578
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	9626
Dell Studio 1557 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4570	9697
Alienware M15x 720QM, GeForce GTX 260M	9959
mySN XMG5 Q9100, GeForce GTX 260M	10059
...
mySN QXG7 (max)	19189

PCMark Vantage in comparison
Lenovo IdeaPad U350 (min)	1471
...
Alienware M17 QX9300, Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2	4902
HP Envy 15 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4830	4996
Clevo M980NU X9100, GeForce GTX 280M	5008
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	5030
Asus G72GX Q9000, GeForce GTX 260M	5245
Alienware M17x QX9300, GeForce GTX 280M SLI	5422
Dell Studio 1557 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4570	5426
...
mySN QXG7 (max)	7559

3DMark 06 in comparison
Asus Eee PC 1101HA (min)	68
...
mySN MG6 T9800, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	6674
Dell Studio XPS 16 (4670) P9700, Mobility Radeon HD 4670	6828
Acer Aspire 8935G Q9000, Mobility Radeon HD 4670	6995
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	7149
MSI GT640 720QM, GeForce GTS 250M	7433
Alienware Area-51 m9750 T7400, GeForce Go 7950 GTX SLI	7472
MSI GT740 820QM, GeForce GTS 250M	7484
...
Alienware M17x (max)	15717

in comparison
Asus Eee PC 1201N (min)	33.07
...
Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF P8700, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	123.9
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	130
Acer Aspire 5935G T9550, GeForce GT 130M	132.6
...
MSI GT628 (max)	363.2

in comparison
Samsung N510 black (min)	17
...
Asus W90Vp Q9000, Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2	84.6
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	98
Asus G71GX T9550, GeForce GTX 260M	105
...
Alienware M17x (max)	208.8

Notebook Review Spec

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Review MSI Wind U135

Monday, February 1, 2010

HP Mini 5102 Review

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Dell Studio 1747 Review

Case

Connectivity

Input Devices

Display

Performance

Gaming Performance

Emissions

Battery Life

Verdict

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Lenovo IdeaPad U450 Review

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Review Lenovo G450

Lenovo G450 Design and Build Quality

Lenovo G450 Screen

Lenovo G450 Port Selection

Lenovo G450 Battery Life

Lenovo G450 Keyboard and Touchpad

Lenovo G450 Speakers

Lenovo G450 Web Cam

Conclusion

Monday, December 21, 2009

Review ASUS K40IN

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Review Dell Latitude E4300

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Review HP ProBook 5310m

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in comparison
Acer Aspire 5738DG-744G50MN (min)	42.8
...
Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF P8700, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	64.4
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	72
...
Dell Studio 1747 (max)	72

in comparison
Acer Aspire 5738DG-744G50MN (min)	82.8
...
Sony Vaio VGN-FW51MF P8700, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	119.4
Dell Studio 1747 720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 4650	134
Acer Aspire 8940G-724G50Bn 720QM, GeForce GTS 250M	139.6
...
Acer Aspire 8940G-724G50Bn (max)	139.6