Sunday, February 28, 2010

Fujitsu LifeBook S6520 Review

Road warriors have settled largely on notebooks with 13.3-inch LCDs, which tend to deliver the best balance of portability and screen size. But if you could get a 14.1-inch display in a notebook with the same dimensions and weight as a 13.3-inch model, would you jump at it? That’s what Fujitsu delivers in its LifeBook S6520. It’s one of the most portable 14.1-inch laptops we’ve seen, and it delivers most of the features a business user would need. vgp-bps8, sony vgp-bps8,vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b,sony battery ,vgp-bps10.


Design


If you like your laptop of vgp-bpl8,sony vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,sony vgp-bps9/s, to wear basic black, the S6520 will suit you just fine. The matte-finish chassis has touches of glossy black and silver-gray trim, but the design goal here was certainly to blend in, not stand out. While the system’s looks aren’t thrilling, its form factor is. Weighing 4.0 pounds—and just 3.7 pounds if you swap out the optical drive for a weight saver—the S6520 is among the lightest 14.1-inch notebooks available. By comparison, the classicvgp-bps8, sony vgp-bps8, vgp-bpl8,sony battery. weighs 5.2 pounds when equipped with the same size screen. The S6520’s dimensions are also impressively small for the class; at 12.4 x 9.2 inches, its footprint is smaller than the ThinkPad T’s (13.2 x 9.3) and similar to that of many 13.3-inch notebooks.

Flip the lid to see why: Fujitsu vgp-bps5a,vgp-bps5 engineers have shaved as much width as possible from the sides of the screen’s bezel, so the LED-backlit widescreen LCD comes within millimeters of the edges. But there’s still room in the trimmed-down chassis for a full-size keyboard, done in an attractive winter white and set in a silver surround. The pebbled surface of vgp-bps2c, vgp-bps2, vgp-bps9a/b, vgp-bps2b has little friction while providing good tactile feedback, though we wish it were a touch larger. The mouse buttons are properly sized, however, even with a fingerprint reader nestled between.sony vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,sony vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b has included four programmable quick-launch buttons above the Function-key row, but no dedicated multimedia control keys. That omission is still typical (unfortunately) of most business-class notebooks, though Fujitsu didn’t even include discrete volume/mute controls, which are now common. And the Function-key combination for mute is a few keys to the left of the combos for volume; grouping them together would have made more sense.

In hands-on use, the LifeBook S6520 is a pleasure. The notebook for vgp-bps5a,vgp-bps5 feels solid in the hands and remains exceedingly quiet, even during the multitasking chores that pushed CPU usage to 80 percent. The keyboard is comfortable, though we did note some flex. Small-business buyers will be happy to see that

Fujitsu includes all the discs you’ll need in the box, rather than pointing you to a partition on the hard drive should you need an item from the original factory image.


Display and Audio


The 1280 x 800 glossy screen delivered crisp text and wide viewing angles, along with plenty of vgp-bps2c, vgp-bps2, vgp-bps9a/b, vgp-bps2b. It also handled video well, exhibiting very little motion blur and good reproduction of dark scenes in our Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl DVD. Volume from the built-in speakers was weak, however, which could be a problem for presenters. On the plus side, Fujitsu includes its Display Manager utility for quickly switching video output to the VGA port and setting other presentation-oriented parameters.


Mediocre Webcam


The vgp-bps12 quality from the 1.3-megapixel webcam is usable but not great; in both bright and low-light situations, there was an annoying amount of motion blur, even with the resolution set to 640 x 480. The face-tracking feature was also subpar, with the camera doing a poor job of following a subject moving within the frame. The monitor feature is clever, though, letting you set the included software to automatically start recording video when the camera detects motion.

Report ASUS U6V

Let’s face facts. Not everyone can pull off carrying a leather notebook. But if you want to stand out in the crowd without sacrificing performance, the Centrino 2–powered is certainly a temptation. This 3.8-pound ultraportable offers very good productivity punch for people on the move, along with above-average graphics performance, and it boots in less than 50 seconds. vgp-bps8, sony vgp-bps8, vgp-bpl8,sony battery, vgp-bps2c, vgp-bps2, vgp-bps9a/b, vgp-bps2b ,vgp-bps10. The $1,649 price is also quite reasonable given that ASUS includes a whopping 320GB hard drive and a generous two-year warranty. However, you’ll need to spend more for the nine-cell battery option if you want to do a lot of work away from an outlet.

Design

It would be ignoring the obvious to start anywhere else than the U6V’s excellent design. Measuring 11.7 x 8.6 x 1.2 inches and weighing 3.8 pounds, the U6V has a hair more girth than the 11.1-inch U2E , which measures 10.9 x 7.6 x 1.0 inches and wieghs 3.4 pounds (with a nine-cell battery). With the larger body, however, comes a bigger 12.1-inch display, which will satisfy those who prefer more on-screen real estate in their ultraportables.vgp-bps8, sony vgp-bps8, vgp-bpl8,,sony battery, vgp-bps5a,vgp-bps5,vgp-bps12.

The outside of vgp-bps2c, vgp-bps2, vgp-bps9a/b, vgp-bps2b features a rich, mocha brown Shimmering Fiber paint job, and sturdy hinges that are neither too stiff nor too loose. Upon lifting the lid, your eye is immediately drawn to the palmrest, which is overlaid with premium brown leather. Not only does it have classy appeal, but it feels good to the touch.

Keyboard and Dedicated Controls

The spacious flex-free keyboard has very nice tactile feedback; touch typists should be right at home on this machine. A decent-size touchpad and two small (but responsive) mouse buttons let us navigate the desktop with ease. Nestled between the mouse buttons is a vgp-bps9,sony vgp-bps9,sony vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b,for keeping sensitive data away from prying eyes.

Above the keyboard are a number of vgp-bps5a,vgp-bps5, and three buttons: Lifeframe 3 (a multimedia application that lets you shoot photos or video with the murky 0.3-megapixel webcam and add effects), Power4Gear (which let us cycle through various power profiles), and the power button. The perimeter of the machine is packed with ports: three USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, eSATA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone, and an 8-in-1 sony vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,sony vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b and ExpressCard slot.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Malibal Satori REVIEW

Breakneck power doesn’t come cheap. The $3,966 SONY battery is a monster desktop replacement that features a powerful Intel Core i7 processor, dual 160GB solid state drives, a hefty 8GB of RAM, and strong graphics performance courtesy of a Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M GPU. Its simple design is atypical for most gaming rigs—and we have some concerns about the build quality—but if you consider blazing performance to be a notebook’s most vital trait, this system is worth a look.


Design


One would expect a gaming rig with such a high price tag to come with some form of glowing eyes, chassis flames, or tribal tattoo printing, but the laptopbattery is remarkably subdued—some might even say dull. The all-black machine is highlighted with silver trim, but it’s brought down a couple of notches by being a big-time fingerprint magnet. After a few minutes of hands-on time with the notebook, we had to grab a paper towel to remove the smudges. Hardcore fraggers may also lament the fact that the design isn’t customizable.



Our biggest beef with the Satori is the build quality. During our testing, the back side of dell battery got caught in the area beneath the display’s bezel when just opening the notebook. As a result, this piece detached from the chassis, and throughout the rest of our testing we had to hold it in place when opening the lid. Another design flaw is the flip-down door that hides the power jack, HDMI port, and other connections on the back of the system. This piece felt as if it would snap off after a few months of use. We hope the breakage incident was isolated, but overall the design could certainly be more thoughtful and sturdy.


Heat


The good Hp battery is that the Satori didn’t become overly warm in most areas. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the temperature of the touchpad was 88 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys reached 94 degrees, and the middle of the underside was 104 degrees. We don’t consider the touchpad or keyboard temperatures hot, but the underside may be too warm for those who venture to place this big boy in their laps.


Keyboard and Touchpad


The fujitsu battery is made of island-style keys that provided a decent amount of feedback when keying in URLs or tapping the WASD keys when navigating our protagonist through the submerged world of BioShock 2. The specious base affords a full number pad and large Shift keys, although the right one could be a bit wider. We would have also preferred backlit keys, which you’ll find on Alienware notebooks. North of the keyboard are three touch-sensitive icons that launch Microsoft Outlook, Internet Explorer, and a user-defined application.

South of the keyboard is a non-textured 3.2 x 2.0-inch touchpad that allowed us to quickly whip the cursor around the desktop. Unfortunately, lenovo battery also attracted fingerprints. A pair of lightly textured mouse buttons (separated by a biometric fingerprint reader) didn’t offer great feedback when left- or right-clicking.


Display and Audio


An episode of Community streamed from Hulu to the Satori’s 17.3-inch (1920 x 1080) display played back smoothly, and we enjoyed nice colors and skin tones. Firing up our Iron Man Blu-ray really showcased the red and gold in Tony Starks’ armor, and IBM battery remained crisp when we output the video feed to a 32-inch television via HDMI.

A pair of stereo Apple battery churned out clear audio with solid low ends when we fired up Lauryn Hill’s “Sweetest Thing,” but we would’ve preferred more volume.


Ports and Webcam


The thick base (which measures 2.2 inches at its thickest point) is home to all manner of ports and connections. On the right side you’ll find headphone, microphone, line in, and S/PDIF jacks, one USB 2.0, eSATA, DVI, Expresscard/54, and a Kengsington lock slot; the left side of the system houses Ethernet, a cable TV connection, 7-in-1 memory card reader, FireWire 400, another USB port, and a 2X Blu-ray burner; on the back of the notebook (hidden awkwardly behind the flip-down door) are two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, modem, and the power connection.

The 2.0-megapixel webcam positioned above the display served up rich colors and skin tones, but the visuals became murky when we weren’t bathed in the brightest light. Friends reported choppy video when we moved about quickly, but we enjoyed crisp sound.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Dell Latitude 2100 Performance and Conclusion

Almost every school around the globe is looking for a durable, ultraportable laptop that can survive use and abuse in the classroom, and Dell vgp-bps10 promises they have the perfect solution in the form of the new Latitude 2100 vgp-bpl9 netbook. The first Latitude vgp-bps13 netbook offers a low-cost answer to the specific needs of K-12 students, teachers and school administrators. We spent a few weeks testing the Latitude 2100 to see if it indeed is the perfect classroom companion.


Build and Design

The Dell Latitude 2100 vgp-bps9 is the first netbook from the Latitude family of business PCs and the first "serious" netbook we've seen that is so clearly focused on education. Dell claims its designers worked closely with hundreds of students, teachers, parents and administrators to create vgp-bps8 an education netbook that focuses on helping students learn. It's a little too early to tell whether schools will start filling their classrooms with Latitude 2100 vgp-bps9/s netbooks, but this tough little laptop certainly has a lot going for it. The rugged, rubber-coated exterior, antimicrobial keyboard, and optional solid state drives should survive everything from a messy kindergartner to an accidental drop off the desk by a teacher.


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Dell even found a way to help vgp-bps9/b teachers make sure students are paying attention in class. A Network Activity Light on the top edge of the lid helps teachers monitor network use and identify students who may be surfing the Internet. The light stays constantly lit when the netbook is on and a web browser is closed, but the light begins flashing if a student opens a web browser or chat application ... so teachers vgp-bps9a/b can instantly see who needs to spend some extra time in detention. (Attention students: There's no easy way to disable the network activity light ... not even in the BIOS. Dell actually wants you to pay attention to your teacher.)


Our review unit of the Latitude 2100 features "School bus gold" exterior, but Dell vgp-bps2c also offers the Latitude 2100 vgp-bps2b in Chalkboard black, Schoolhouse red, Blue ribbon, and Ballfield green ... almost every color needed to promote vgp-bps2a your school colors. Build quality is quite good thanks to thick plastic construction and the thick rubber armor covering the top and bottom of the chassis. The matte black plastics used around the screen, keyboard, and palmrests show only minimal flex under heavy pressure. You can create ripples across the screen by pressing on the back of the screen lid, but other than that the Latitude 2100 latitude e6400 battery feels rock solid. The keyboard is very firm and the screen hinges provide excellent tension. Sure, the design is thick and heavy for a netbook, but this bad boy will survive abuse that would probably break other netbooks. In short, this certainly doesn't feel like a $400 laptop.


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Performance and Benchmarks

It's safe to say that most K-12 school districts don't require inspiron 1545 battery computers with extreme performance. Typing a school assignment in Microsoft Word, browsing the web while researching a class project, or maybe running some specific software for an advanced class is about as much work as most school laptops ever receive. This is why netbooks might make surprisingly good choices for schools.


The performance section of a netbook review is generally very boring compared to a full-featured notebook latitude d830 battery because most netbook have virtually identical specs. All Intel Atom-based netbooks have nearly identical performance in terms of actual real-world use. Overall performance with latitude d630 battery the Intel Atom platform is very reasonable for daily activities like Web browsing, email, using Microsoft Office, listening to music, and watching DVD-quality movies. If you're in a bind you can even use Photo Editing Software like Photoshop or GIMP for basic image editing.


The use of Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics is probably lifebook t4220 battery the only major limitation for netbooks. This integrated graphics processor (IGP) is powerful enough to handle displaying a PowerPoint presentation on a projector or watching DVD quality movies, lifebook t4010 battery but if 1080p video playback or video editing is your primary concern then you'll want to look elsewhere. We selected a family-friendly movie trailer and downloaded three different versions in 480p, 720p, and 1080p resolutions. We used the CCCP Codec Pack for decoding and Media Player Classic Homecinema (version 1.1.796.0) for playing all of the video files.


Heat and Noise

External temperatures on the new Latitude 2100 are mostly what we consider to t60 batteries be "lap friendly" over most of the netbook's surface. The one exception to this general rule is the area near the hard drive on the bottom of the 2100. Temperature readings taken from the outside of the rubberized plastic chassis remained mostly in the 80s and 90s but the area around the hard drive exceeded 100 degrees.


The cooling fan inside the Dell Latitude 2100 was surprisingly loud. It's not lenovo r61 batteries the kind of noise that would be disruptive to a class, but it is louder than most current generation netbooks. I suspect the cooling fan has to work harder because the protective rubberized exterior acts like something of a thermal blanket keeping heat inside the netbook chassis.


Battery

Battery life with the 6-cell lithium-ion extended life battery is reasonably impressive dell inspiron 1521 batteries for a netbook, but not as impressive as some of the Asus Eee PC netbooks. In our test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and XP set to the laptop/portable power profile the system stayed on for 6 hours and 23 minutes of constant use. Considering that most schools aren't likely to use these netbooks for more than a few hours without charging I think it's safe to say the battery life will meet or exceed school needs.


Speaking of charging the batteries, in addition to the included 65W power adapter, the Latitude dell xps m1330 batteries 2100 is available with a "Mobile Computing Station" -- a cart to securely store, recharge, manage and network up to 24 Latitude 2100 netbooks with one Ethernet and power cord. However, while the Mobile Computing Station is cool it is prohibitively expensive at a cost of $3,899 each.


Conclusion

The new Dell Latitude 2100 probably deserves a place on the shopping lists for most schools lenovo 3000 v100 batteriesand maybe even some parents should consider purchasing this netbook for their youngsters. For between $400 and $600 you get a very rugged laptop that is easy to use and portable enough for kids to toss in a backpack. Extra features like the dual security lock slots, network activity light, personalized window over the battery, and optional mobile computing station will certainly prove very attractive to educators and parents.


The hardware specs might not seem too impressive compared to the kind of desktop or inspiron 1525 battery 15-inch notebook you can buy for $400, but if you're in the market for a low-cost portable laptop for young students then the Latitude 2100 makes perfect sense.


Although Dell clearly had schools in mind when they designed the Latitude 2100, this netbook might honestly offer a little something for everybody. Individual consumers or businesses looking for a durable business-class netbook will likely be attracted to the Latitude 2100 vostro 1000 battery for everything from outdoor activities to on-location training and customer service.


Bottom line, despite the bulk and weight this is indeed one impressive netbook.

Dell Latitude E6400 XFR

When vgp-bps8 it comes to building a notebook that can withstand abuse, companies used to simply sacrifice general aesthetics in favor of overall ruggedness. But the Dell Latitude E6400 XFR—a bulked-up version of that company’s business-class vgp-bps9—has all the amenities and performance a field worker could need, and is durable enough to handle much more extreme environments than the boardroom. In fact,Sony vgp-bps8’s exclusive Ballistic Armor Protection System is designed to meet or exceed military standards (MIL-STD-810F). At $5,137, it’s hardly inexpensive, but for those who work in harsh conditions—EMTs, firefighters, and the military, for example—will appreciate the XFR’s durability.


Design


Road warriors who carry around the vgp-bps10 will actually look the part; its gray and black exterior, with large, raised “XFR” letters on either side of Dell CF623 Battery, has a don’t-mess-with-me quality.The vgp-bpl8 entire chassis is made from PR-481—a proprietary composite material that Dell claims has twice the impact strength of traditional magnesium alloy. sony vgp-bps9 combines this with PrimoSeal (to keep water and dust from entering the ports), DirectVue (for screen protection), and QuadCool (to prevent overheating) for a total package that it calls Ballistic Armor.



Each corner of the notebook has a black rubber bumper, further protecting it in the event of a drop. All of vgp-bps9/s ,sony vgp-bps9/s holding the bumpers are exposed, and the zinc hinges are a silver color, making the XFR look all the more tough. Inside, the bezel and sides of the notebook are the same gritty, gray plastic. Finally, the lid of the XFR is held shut by a spring-loaded aluminum latch.

While the vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b looks like it could survive any post-apocalyptic future imagined by Hollywood screenwriters, that doesn’t mean it abandons all aesthetics. On the contrary, the system has a level of elegance and design sophistication that is somewhat lacking in the vgp-bps5a, and the most rugged of Panasonic Toughbooks.

Measuring 13.9 x 11.5 x 2.2 inches, the vgp-bps5 is larger than the GD Itronix GD8000. Checking in at 9.0 pounds, the XFR’s weight is mitigated by the large, comfortable carrying handle on the front, but you’d definitely notice this machine if it were stowed in a backpack.


Keyboard and Touchpad


Like the vgp-bps9a/b,sony vgp-bps9a/b, the XFR’s black, full-size keyboard is very comfortable to type for vgp-bps2c,vgp-bps2a,vgp-bps2b. In contrast to the rest of the chassis, the keys are smooth, but we didn’t find our fingers slipping. There is no flex whatsoever in the keyboard, and the keys themselves offer responsive feedback. Additionally, the keyboard is backlit, and can be automatically or manually activated and adjusted; we found this quite helpful when typing in darkened rooms. While the GD Itronix GD8000 goes a different route with glow-in-the-dark keys, the result—a white keyboard on a gray deck—doesn’t look nearly as classy.



In between the G, H, and B keys is a concave trackpoint; Dell CF623 Battery consumers used to the convex trackpoints found on systems such as Lenovo’s ThinkPads may find it unfamiliar, it was easy to use.



Below the keyboard is a 2.6 x 1.5-inch touchpad, vgp-bps9/s, Sony vgp-bps9/s seems a bit small considering the space on the chassis. However, it had little to no friction, and was easy to use. The buttons below are covered in a soft rubber membrane that repels water, but they didn’t feel overly mushy.


Display and Audio


Befitting a notebook vgp-bps9/b,sony vgp-bps9/b will see a lot of outdoor use, the E6400 XFR’s 14.1-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel resolution screen was incredibly bright. With 730 nits at our disposal, we were able to comfortably keep the display at 40 percent brightness while working   vgp-bps5a; outdoors, the matte screen was also easy to view. On an overcast day, we were even able to turn the brightness to its lowest level.



Vgp-bps5 display also had excellent viewing angles. We could easily see the picture on the screen from nearly 90 degrees horizontally, and the images didn’t reverse themselves until the display was almost parallel to the chassis.



An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display and keyboard depending on vgp-bps2c,vgp-bps2a,vgp-bps2b; at times, we found it to be a little hypersensitive, but you can easily disable this feature. As mentioned previously, you can also manually adjust the brightness of the keyboard backlight to your liking.



Audio, too, was better than we expected, given the utilitarian nature of the XFR. While listening to music streamed via Pandora, vgp-bps9a/b,sony vgp-bps9a/b were able to fill a small room. However, we noticed a slight echo, undoubtedly caused by the cavernous interior of the notebook.

Acer Aspire 5740 (6378)

Priced at an aggressive $649, the Aspire 5740 (6378) combines serious multitasking muscle (thanks to Intel’s vgp-bps8 processor) with a rich multimedia experience for considerably less money than Acer’s rivals. How much less? A similarly configured 15.6-inch machine from Dell CF623 Battery or HP would cost you at least $150 more. This 6.2-pound mainstream notebook for vgp-bpl8 also includes a comfortable keyboard and third-generation Dolby Home Theater surround sound. However, Acer’s Gemstone design is starting to feel a bit dated, and the battery life is below average. Still, bargain hunters will find a lot to like about vgp-bps9,Sony vgp-bps9.


Design


Acer has unified the design of its larger Aspire notebooks; from the outside, the 5740 looks identical to the vgp-bps9/s,Sony vgp-bps9/s sporting the same glossy blue (and fingerprint prone) lid. On the inside, however, it’s reminiscent of the vgp-bps9/b,.Sony vgp-bps9/b .When opened, the 5740 reveals a deck which transitions from a slick matte surface near the screen to a dimpled texture surrounding the touchpad. Blue LED lighting beneath the power button complements a glossy midnight blue lid. The overall look is far from cheap, but it’s not exciting, either.



Measuring 15.1 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches and tipping the scale at 6.2 pounds, this notebook is not one you’re going to tote around much; it’s heavier than such mainstream competitors as the vgp-bps5 (5.2 pounds). However, the 5740 is easy to move from room to room, making it a good choice for home users.

There are a variety of buttons and controls scattered around the 5740’s gunmetal gray deck. The left side of the vgp-bps5a houses buttons for power, wireless on/off, Bluetooth, and the Acer Backup Manager. On the right is a touchpad enable/disable button, master volume controls, and the Acer Launch Manager shortcut (which launches an application of your choosing).


Heat


During our tests, vgp-bps9a/b,sony vgp-bps9a/b hovered near the edge of being uncomfortably warm. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 94 degrees Fahrenheiyt; the middle of the keyboard (between the G and H keys) reached 100 degrees, and the middle of the chassis’ underside registered 101 degrees. We also measured a small corner near the back left underside of the system, which came in at 118 degrees. (We consider anything over 100 degrees unpleasant.)


Keyboard and Touchpad


Coupled with a spacious lower deck, the 103-key Acer FineTip keyboard was a pleasure to use, offering excellent vgp-bps2c,vgp-bps2a,vgp-bps2b and feedback. Even with a full-size number pad to their right, the flat island-style keys remain large and comfortable.

The slick 3.3 x 2.0-inch touchpad supports multitouch gestures, including pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling. A dedicated scrolling area is integrated into the right side of the pad, vgp-bps10 offers little friction. While the single mouse button is large and clicks are simple to register, we always prefer two dedicated buttons.


Display and Audio


The vgp-bps9/b,Sony vgp-bps9/b features a 15.6-inch CineCrystal display; while the 1366 x 768 resolution is ideal for video playback, both light and dark scenes in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Captain Ron were generally underwhelming, with fuzzy edges. Nevertheless, the brightness and large screen size mean two or three people can watch movies side by side without complaint.



The 5.1-channel surround sound Dell CF623 Battery Theater speakers delivered stellar audio quality for movies and music. At only 50 percent of full vgp-bps5a, The Whigs’ “Right Hand On My Heart” easily filled a small vgp-bps9/s. Sony vgp-bps9/s With the volume cranked to the max, this system would be more than adequate for entertaining a small party of guests.


Ports and Webcam


The right side of vgp-bps2c,vgp-bps2a,vgp-bps2b features two USB 2.0 ports, a DVD SuperMultiDrive, a modem jack, and a Kensington lock slot. On the opposite side of  vgp-bps5, users will find Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, headphone, mic, and line-in ports, plus two additional USB ports. Beneath the left front corner is a 5-in-1 memory card reader.

Acer’s vgp-bps9a/b,sony vgp-bps9a/b webcam captured accurate and detailed still images. During a Skype call, colors remained accurate despite strong overhead florescent lighting.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sony VAIO P Review

This year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Sony stunned the world with the introduction of the VAIO P sony vgp-bps13. This ultraportable notebook with an 8-inch screen fits inside your jacket pocket or your purse and packs an amazing amount of technology inside a tiny package. However, potential buyers and the press were also stunned when Sony announced the price would be $900 when slightly larger netbooks with similar specs cost half as much. Is the new Sony VAIO P an overpriced toy or an extraordinary travel laptop that's worth every penny? Let's take a closer look.


Build and Design


Despite the use of an Intel Atom processor, the design of the Sony VAIO Psony vgp-bps2c is quite unlike any netbook we've seen. The exterior is covered in glossy plastics with smooth lines, rounded edges, and a style that looks like it's trying to strike a balance between luxury and utility. The best way to describe the design is that the VAIO P vgp-bps8a looks like it's equal parts computer and fashion accessory. The look is pretty neat; something like a cross between a glossy smart phone and a netbook. Glossy plastic is found on the top of the screen cover as well as around the bottom of the laptop. Matte silver plastic is used around the keyboard and the internal frame uses magnesium alloy for extra support. Overall, the look is quite nice, but the glossy LCD lid is a magnet for fingerprints and makes the new netbook look a little tarnished after just a few minutes of use.


The build quality of the VAIO P is amazingly solid for a subnotebook of this size and weight.vgp-bps2b batteries The construction is mostly plastic but all of the plastics feel strong enough to handle being tossed around inside a backpack or purse. Even the glossy plastic surfaces resist minor scratches. While we certainly don't recommend it over a padded laptop bag, the VAIO P vgp-bps8 is small enough to slide into your back pocket ... something you certainly can't do with any $500 netbook currently on the market.


In terms of upgradeability, the VAIO P vgp-bps9a/b is pretty limited. The chassis isn't designed to be opened and serviced by the owner. A qualified technician can open the VAIO P and repair it, but it won't be easy for you to open the chassis yourself. Honestly, there isn't much need to. The 2GB of system RAM is soldered to the motherboard so you cannot replace or upgrade it. Many of the netbooks we've seen to date require complex disassembly in order for you to get to the storage drive, system RAM, or wireless cards ... so this isn't anything new.


While it would have been nice for Sony engineers to include socketed RAM inside the VAIO P sony vgp-bps9 so you can upgrade it yourself, the reality is that a RAM socket won't fit inside a laptop this thin along with everything else that's packed inside. Bottom line, the Sony VAIO P is a marvel of modern engineering.


Operating System and Software


Our pre-production unit came equipped with Windows Vista Basic (32-bit), but its safe to assume Sony plans to offer the VAIO P sony vgp-bps10 with Windows 7 later this year. The reason Sony decided to use Windows Vista rather than Windows XP is because Microsoft now has very specific hardware requirements for laptops using Windows XP ... and the VAIO has too much RAM and a screen with too much resolution to qualify for a Windows XP license.


Although the VAIO P runs Windows Vista, Sony recognized that many business users and travelers would want to be able to access things like email, the Firefox web browser, a photo gallery, or instant messaging applications as quickly as possible. So, if you need to use your VAIO P sony vgp-bps9/b as quickly as possible you can press a small button located next to the power button and you'll be ready to get online in roughly 20 seconds or less. Unlike most "instant on" operating systems we've seen over the last year, the Linux-based Sony XRoss interface feels genuinely snappy and might be a viable alternative to Windows Vista when you need to get online, share photos, or listen to some music quickly while on the road.


Keyboard and Touchpad


Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on the market feature poorly built keyboards that show significant flex/bounce when typing pressure is applied. Thankfully, most netbooks have remarkably firm keyboards due to the fact that the chassis is so small there isn't much empty space inside the notebook for the keyboard to flex or bounce.


The keyboard on the VAIO P sony vgp-bps9/s is less cramped than what we've seen on the 7-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks, but the Sony keyboard is still very compact. Most netbook keyboards are quite frustrating to use because the small footprint and tiny keys require you to use a "hunt and peck" style of typing rather than traditional touch typing methods. This means that passwords get mangled, emails look like gibberish, and playing games that require keyboard commands becomes quite aggravating.


You can still use the "hunt and peck" method of typing with the VAIO P, but since the keys have more spacing in between them it's a little easier to use standard touch typing methods. Bottom line, you can type long emails or reports without too much discomfort ... but you'll probably want to invest in an external keyboard if you plan to use this as your primary office computer.


The touchpad is, well, completely absent on the VAIO P. Rather than a typical touchpad the VAIO P uses a touchpoint or trackpoint pointing stick similar to what you find on many business-grade notebooks. The trackpoint is quite sensitive and easy to use, and even though I usually prefer to use touchpads I found the trackpoint to be very enjoyable. The left and right touchpoint buttons are located in the correct position beneath the space bar and have a shallow feedback and produce a light "click" when pressed.


Display


The glossy LED backlit display on the VAIO P is nice and vibrant with rich colors and excellent contrast. As stated, although the screen is small at just eight inches, it offers the unbelievable 1600 x 768 resolution. This does have the side effect of making small text difficult to read, but Sony was smart enough to design a very functional "magnify" tool that allows you to increase the size of what you're reading without changing the screen's resolution setting. Just press function (FN) and F10 keys and small text instantly becomes readable. The screen is a glossy XBRITE-ECO variety so expect some reflection under strong indoor lighting or direct sunlight.


Horizontal viewing angles are good, so you and a friend won't have trouble watching a movie on the 8-inch screen at the same time. Vertical viewing angles are acceptable, but colors do tend to wash out from above and become inverted when viewed from below.


Monday, February 22, 2010

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3

The last time we played with Lenovo’s 10-inch netbook, the vgp-bps8, we praised its bright screen and instant-on operating system, but disliked its keyboard and so-so battery life. We also found its design to be a bit polarizing. With the next iteration, the sony vgp-bps8, Lenovo has fixed some of these issues: the keyboard is one of the most comfortable we’ve ever used on a netbook, and its design is slick. For $369, however, its battery of vgp-bps9 life and storage capacity aren’t as robust as similarly priced competitors, and its touchpad could be better.


Design


The vgp-bps10 seems that netbook makers have been redesigning their wares in the last month, and Sony is no exception. Gone is the bulbous hinge, as well as the battery for sony vgp-bps9 extending out the back of the system. At 10.6 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches, the S10-3 is about an inch narrower than its predecessor, the S10-2. Weighing in at 2.6 pounds, the vgp-bps9/s is also a hair lighter than most netbooks, sony vgp-bps9/s typically weigh 2.8 pounds.



The Sony vgp-bps9/b has a very slick checkered pattern of matte and glossy black squares. Not only does it look cool—and remind us somewhat of the vgp-bps9/b lid—but vgp-bps5a was also excellent at hiding fingerprints. On the inside, vgp-bps5 is a gray plastic, but it’s painted to look like brushed metal. Even though it’s not the real McCoy, it looks good enough, and doesn’t show fingerprints. Lenovo has also made good use of the bezel: to the left is the power button and a Caps Lock indicator light, and on the right are buttons for Lenovo’s OneKey Recovery 7.0 utility and for vgp-bps9a/b Quick Start instant-on Linux operating system.


Heat


The vgp-bps2c got somewhat hot, but not uncomfortably so. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and the space between the G and H keys reached 96 degrees. The middle of the chassis’ underside measured 104 degrees. As we consider anything over 100 degrees to be too hot, the S10-3’s vgp-bps2a was too toasty to come in contact with our legs.


Keyboard and Touchpad


The S10-3 has an island-style keyboard like that on the vgp-bps8, but Lenovo adds its own twist: the top and sides of each key are flat, but sony vgp-bps8 edges are curved. Lenovo also makes very good use of the deck so that the keyboard extends to the edges of the chassis. Typing was a real pleasure; our fingers never missed the keys, and the buttons themselves were snappy and responsive. In fact, the S10-3 is now our favorite keyboard netbook, edging out the vgp-bpl8and vgp-bps9.



The Sony vgp-bps9 was another matter. Like the vgp-bps9/s, Lenovo elected to integrate the buttons into the touchpad itself. While it’s fairly large (2.6 x 1.4 inches) and smooth enough to speed across the desktop, Sony vgp-bps9/s was also somewhat finicky. The cursor jumped around at times, especially when trying to select a block of text. Also,vgp-bps9/b are somewhat stiff. The Sony vgp-bps9/b, which uses a Synaptics driver, is also capable of multitouch gestures such as pinch and zoom (these are turned off by default).


Display and Audio


The 10.1-inch display on the S10-3 has a glossy finish, but vgp-bps9a/b didn’t prove too distracting when watching videos and surfing the web. Sony vgp-bps9a/b resolution of 1024 x 600, typical of most netbooks, was fine for reading articles online and updating Facebook. Plus, there was plenty of contrast and detail in an episode of 24 streamed from Hulu.



The vgp-bps5a on the S10-3 are better than what we’ve come to expect on most netbooks. Not only were they very powerful, filling a medium-sized room well, but their fidelity was quite good. Alicia Keys’ voice rang like a bell when we streamed “No One” from Pandora; while vgp-bps5 was a little weak and higher tones were slightly tinny, vgp-bps2c was generally better than the typical mini-notebook experience.


Ports and Webcam


As with most netbooks, the vgp-bps2b has three USB ports: one on the left, and two on the right. Also on the left is a VGA port and an SD Card slot. On the right is an Ethernet port, as well as headphone and mic ports.

The vgp-bps2a served up acceptable images when chatting via Skype. While we appeared somewhat washed out and grainy to one caller, he was able to make us out well, and the S10-3’s microphone did a good job of picking up our voice.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sony VAIO W Series Eco Edition

It’s green, but does VGP-BPS10 too much green? With the VAIO W Eco Edition Sony vgp-bps9 seeks to stand out with a design that’s partially made of reprocessed plastic from CDs, as well as a carrying case made of recycled PET bottles. The keyboard, at 86 percent of full size, feels somewhat cramped. And while we like the HD display and the bundled Kidzui browser that’s designed to keep kids safe, parents may think twice about paying an $80 premium (or more) over competing netbooks for vgp-bps9/b’s latest mini-notebook. The $480 VAIO W Eco Edition offers style, eco-friendliness, good performance, and a robust software bundle, but it’s not the best value. Read on to see how this netbook stacks up to the competition.


Design


The rounded edges of the 10.5 x 7.1 x 2.0-inch vgp-bps9/s remind us of the Samsung N130’s pebble-like design. The white, matte lid eschews fingerprints and includes a large but tasteful embedded chrome VAIO logo. This color allowed every mark to be immediately apparent, and we wished for something a bit darker to hide scuff marks. Sony vgp-bps9/s offers two other color choices for the non-Eco Edition, but environmentalists will have to live with Sugar White for now. Under the lid, the deck has a dimpled pattern and a tasteful sea green color that meshed well with the silver metallic keyboard. We also like the green interlocking loop pattern on the silver touchpad.



The six-cell battery juts out from the bottom of the VAIO W a full three quarters of an inch,SONY VGP-BPS10 gives the netbook a useful forward incline but also a noticeable thickness in the back. Though it’s not as svelte as some of our favorite netbooks, it weighs the standard 2.8 pounds.


Greenness


As the name implies, the VAIO W Eco Edition has a few more environmentally friendly aspects than most netbooks. The sony vgp-bps9 is made from 20 percent recycled CDs. There’s no cardboard packaging to throw out when you buy this netbook—it comes in a carrying case made from recycled PET bottles. However, we would have liked to see the green theme extended to the sony vgp-bps9/b package, with Sony making it easy for users to monitor and adjust how much energy the VAIO W uses (similar to Toshiba’s eco Utility).



Charging the battery after it was fully drained took 3 hours and 45 minutes. During this time the VAIO W used an average of 31.3 watts. Owing to its relatively short battery life (6:42), this netbook’s LAPTOP Battery vgp-bps8 Rating was 17.5. While that score is equal to the category average, it’s worse than most other Pine Trail netbooks we’ve tested. The sony vgp-bps8, for example, has an Efficiency Rating of 10.4. Still, the VAIO W boasts an EPEAT Gold rating of 21 out of 27, which is quite good.


Heat


The Sony W kept its cool during our heat test. After streaming a Hulu video for 15 minutes, we measured the temperature on the touchpad at 82 degrees Fahrenheit; the space between the G and H keys reached 87 degrees; and the middle of the underside rose to 96 degrees. Though the underside’s temperature is right at the cusp of our “acceptable” threshold (below 100 degrees), we were never uncomfortable using the VAIO W on our lap.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Fujitsu LifeBook T4010 Notebook / Tablet PC Review (pics, specs)

The Fujitsu LifeBook T4010 battery is a Tablet PC notebook convertible device. Fujitsu has more than 60 % of the worldwide Tablet PC market-share and they have been in this market since the beginning, so it seems that Fujitsu has the best experience with this type of product. The T4010 is not a pure Tablet like the Fujitsu Stylistic ST50xx series, the ST50xx is a slate style Tablet PC (no keyboard, just electric pen as input). The T4010 fpcbp155 meanwhile is a kind of a "variable" notebook, meaning that in normal mode you can use the T4010 as an ordinary notebook, but when you flip the screen over on top of the keyboard, it transforms into a tablet style device, and thereby brings to the table the advantages of a tablet and notebook all-in-one.


The T4010 is targeted at professionals and business people, students in certain disciplines might find this device highly useful too, but the $2,000+ price tag might put it out of the price range for such people. One field where tablets are doing well is of course medicine. This makes a lot of sense because you can use a tablet easily while you are on your feet, with a regular notebook you really need a flat surface to rest on. With a Tablet PC fpcbp89 you can hold the device with one hand and the pen in the other hand acts as a mouse and input device. I personally like to use this Tablet PC feature in situations when an ordinary notebook is uncomfortable, such as in a car behind the steering-wheel (when parked in traffic or waiting for somebody, not while driving preferably!) or even in bed. If you're flying in cramped conditions with little room in front, a Tablet PC may be easier for input purposed then too. Taking notes by hand in a meeting and capturing sketches, not just writing, is a fpcbp136 nice feature. Engineers, scientists, designers and anyone capturing flow diagrams could appreciate this feature. And if you're worried that the operating system might be tough to get used to, well just remember that Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is nothing more than Windows XP Pro with some added features, there's not too much of a learning curve.


I didn't actually buy this T4010 fpcbp160 device, it is the property of my employer, but they did let me choose what notebook I wanted. They expect good results from me, so they let me choose which tools I need for my work, and as didn't have any experience with a Tablet PC fpcbp195 but felt it could benefit my work, that and curiosity drove me to decide on the T4010.


The street price for the configuration I got was 32.000.- Estonian kroons, which fpcbp182 translates to something like $2,470 USD.


Build quality and some selling points


The T4010 belongs to Fujitsu's LifeBook series of products. fpcbp200 So besides just being of good built quality (it feels really sturdy and the screen holds perfectly for this one point flip-over hinge in both positions) you will have some useful goodies that come with all LifeBook products. One such feature is a modular bay system. The optical drive (DVD/CD) is the default item that goes in the modular bay, but an additional battery or hard drive can be placed there instead and all those devices are hot-swappable. The sweetest part is that you can share those devices with other model series LifeBook notebooks too, except for the tiny LifeBook P fujitsu lifebook u1010 battery and B series products that is. A second useful feature is the built-in TPM (Trusted Platform Module). With SmartCard reader (built-in or separate) and SecureIT Suite (smart card and software for it) you can encrypt your LifeBook`s hard drive easily. Encrypting a hard drive is beneficial if you have sensitive data so in case of theft, lifebook s6510 battery all data stored on the hard drive disk is not accessible, even if somebody tries to put it in another computer to read it. On the bottom of the screen is the so called "security panel", five buttons for BIOS level password. A very impressive feature is what's called an integrated bridge battery. This integrated bridge battery means that you can swap the main battery out, without shutting the machine down (you do have to put it on sleep) and then put in a freshly charged battery. After you put the T4010 lifebook a6110 battery in sleep mode, you can remove main battery and it will still be stay in an operating mode for 30 seconds, which is surely enough time to swap a juiced up battery in. Like all Lifebook's, the T4010 lifebook p7230 battery is designed to work seamlessly, so sleep is the natural mode if you are not actually using the notebook. I like my tools to be ready anytime within seconds so I keep the T4010 in sleep mode a lot, I don't want to wait for Windows to fully boot, the only concern is Windows itself because temp files and other garbage will build up over time. However, one restart on a Sunday evening each week seems to solve this problem for me.


Design


The T4010 converting to Tablet PC mode (view larger image)


The T4010 looks good from the outside. A combination of black screen cover fujitsu t5010 battery and solid silver magnesium is maybe a little bit conservative for some people's tastes, but this adds a "business-class" feeling. The weight of the T4010 is a little less than 2 kg (4.40lbs) which is quite good, all things considered. The 12.1" XGA (1024x768) screen is non-reflective and especially good if using this notebook in poor lighting conditions, it even works somewhat well in sunlight. On the right or bottom side (depends whether you're in tablet or notebook mode) of the T4010 are some small LCD lights that lifebook p1510 battery give information about the hard drive status, battery/batteries and so on, a power button and then five buttons related to security (BIOS password) and other tasks, e.g. scrolling pages, switching screen modes, acting as ENTER and function key and others. The pen, called a digitizer, is located on left side of the screen. Included in box is twine for connecting the pen with the notebook, this is a really useful "small matter" that prevents losing the pen, which happens to cost $40 or more. Also on the upper and bottom sides of the screen are two built-in microphones.


 


Hardware and security buttons on the T4010 (view larger image)


Performance


The 1.8 GHz Pentium M and Intel 855 GME chipset performed exceptionally well. The only fujitsu lifebook q2010 battery concern for me was the amount of memory I had on board. Mainly I work with Microsoft Access based applications, so 1 GB is better than 512 MB when it comes to database tasks. More memory is also handy when you want to run Microsoft SQL Server on your notebook.


Fujitsu T4010 in notebook mode with keyboard available fujitsu lifebook s7110 battery for use (view larger image)


The beige colored "apple-look" keyboard, similar to other Lifebook's, is sturdy and responsive. The key pitch is around 3-4 mm and I personally like the soft sound that gives audible so you both hear and feel a key has been pressed correctly. Do not think I mean the audible feedback of the keyboard is a cheap clack, the sound is really soft but solid feeling. The Left Ctrl key is in the right place -- that being the bottom left corner, so many notebooks have a function key there and it's really annoying. LifeBook's have never followed such annoying keyboard mistakes, often done by other manufacturers. An almost full size Enter key lifebook p8010 battery is a blessing too. The Windows key is in the right place, right where it should be. Call me lazy, but I prefer keyboard shortcuts and that's why I never liked IBM's ThinkPad keyboards without the Windows key. If you want to hit Window-key + D to access the desktop or just open some program or document, there is no key lifebook t4215 battery presented on IBM's ThinkPad and so you are forced to use the touchpad or stick. I don't like to be forced to do something I don't want to do! The only concern for the T4010s keyboard is that the Home and End keys share their place with PgUp and PgDn keys and are accessible only in conjunction with using the Fn key. The Touchpad is made by Alps and does well as usual. Beneath the touchpad are left- and right click buttons with a scroll button between them.


Speakers


Tiny stereo speakers are located at the front and are usable mainly for lifebook t4020 battery VoIP (e.g. Skype). You can listen to music too, but do not expect anything of great quality. However, for VoIP they are cleverly placed because no matter what mode the T4010 is in, tablet or notebook sound from the speakers will not interfere with microphones. Using it either way with Skype or MSN audio conversation service is pleasant and can cut some serious numbers from your phone bill.


Expansion and Ports


On the front of the notebook is placed a power indicator, a headphone/line-out port, microphone line-in lifebook t4210 battery connector and a socket for MemoryStick/PRO/SD cards. On the right side is an optical drive (or whatever is there, remember it is a modular bay system) and standard Kensington slot for security. On the back are located (from left to right) power inlet, standard modem port, USB port, infrared and behind small plastic covers LAN and VGA output. On left side can be found a Firewire port, second USB port, PCMCIA slot, SmartCard reader and hard switch for wireless hp compaq 6510b battery connectivity. Especially good is the last button because it's the easiest way to manage connections and save some battery if WiFi or Bluetooth are not needed. Antenna-switch-module software lets the user configure how this button will act for wireless LAN and Bluetooth. Also on the left side is the hot air outlet for cooling the system, air inlets are placed on pavilion tx1000 battery bottom. This is good to know because if you use the T4010 lifebook t4220 battery as notebook while in bed where intake is blocked, the T4010 will get very hot and noisy. Generally noise is not a concern with the T4010, only under heavy load does the cooling kick-in and you can hear it. Ordinarily Office application use is not demanding enough to stress the Pentium M, even when multitasking. But if I play Quake 3, the T4010 will be noisy. For me this doesn't matter as I use headphones anyway. Besides, this notebook is not designed for gaming, and Quake 3 is the upper limit of gaming for which you can expect decent frame rates.


On the bottom of T is an expansion bus for the port replicator. A port replicator lets a user connect fujitsu p1620 battery all the external devices once to the replicator and then use the notebook as a pseudo-desktop machine by placing it in the dock. There are 4 USB ports on the replicator, headphone/line-out, microphone/line-in, VGA, DVI, LAN pass through and power adapter inlet.


Battery


TheT4010 has a 6-cell 4800 mAh battery and Fujitsu claims runtime for up to 5 inspiron 1545 battery hours on this. As usual, small print says that it depends on applications used and other circumstances (first and foremost it means reduced screen brightness, which I really hate). The battery life depends so much on actual usage that there should be some scenarios. For comfortable battery life what you really need is a second battery -- an added 3800 mAh can make the T last even longer. I played my beloved Quake 3 using two batteries (regular 4800 mAh and additional 3800 mAh) and I got a very impressive result, I could play almost 2 hours. Watching a DVD (with main battery only, WiFi active for MSN and Skype) resulted in battery runtime of 2 hours 41 minutes. Office usage with main battery only (Outlook, Avant Browser latitude e6400 battery with 4-5 tabs, 2 Word documents, 2 simultaneous MSN conversations, WiFi and Bluetooth active, highest screen brightness) resulted in 3 hours 57 minutes of battery life. Not bad results at all.


Wireless connectivity


The T4010 I have came with an Intel PRO 2200 BG mini PCI card for the internal latitude d630 battery wireless card. It rests beneath the keyboard and worked as expected, after Intel released 9th series drivers for this wireless card, all is seamless. The Alps Bluetooth is good too. I hooked up a Fujitsu PX mouse, GPS, Samsung SGH-D500 as a GPRS modem and Samsung Bluetooth headset and there was no problem to manage all those devices even if they were used at the same time. Products from Alps Electric are always something you can count on and drivers for them never cause problems either, that's why Alps parts are often used in quality notebooks.


Conclusion


From a notebook perspective the T4010 has good build quality, looks great and offers inspiron 1525 battery a lot of security and data safety related features. Performance wise it is powerful enough for me. From a Tablet PC perspective, I probably never used all the capabilities offered by this machine. But I am now getting a new notebook, the LifeBook S7020, and I already know I will miss some of the features offered by the T4010. Most of all I will miss the possibility to browse the net or use MSN messenger while in bed! With Tablet PC it is far more comfortable then with ordinary notebook.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Dell Latitude Z600



Executives looking to impose their status on underlings should take a gander at the Dell Inspiron 6400 Battery. This strikingly thin 16-inch notebook of  Inspiron 6400 Battery was tailor-made for the corner office. A soft touch finish, chrome accents, and two cool technologies—induction charging and Dell XPS M1730 Battery—will inspire envy. Plus, you can get some work done in instant-on mode, which uses its own ARM processor, to save battery life. Unfortunately, at $3,806 as configured ($1,799 starting price), this notebook XPS M1730 Battery doesn’t come cheap and its endurance is lacking. Does this luxury business laptop’s strengths outweigh the drawbacks?


Design


Even from afar, you can see that the fujitsu t5010 battery is a stylish machine. The purple-maroon cover has a soft touch finish, and is set off by angular chrome accents that bracket the battery. While it’s just 0.6 inches thin, it also has a very large footprint at 15.6 x 11.6 inches, similar to the hp compaq 6510b battery. In some respects, the rear design makes the Z600 reminiscent of a very expensive portfolio; even the power brick has a glossy black finish.



At 5.0 pounds with the extended battery and 4.6 pounds with the regular battery, the Z600 isn’t as light as an ultraportable, but neither is it uncomfortable to carry around. However, its large footprint makes it difficult to fit in smaller hp 6510b battery bags.



Too bad there’s no latch securing the lid to the deck; holding the notebook of vgp-bps8 upright by the hinge causes the lid to open slightly. The extended battery also wobbled when we held the notebook toward the hinge for sony vgp-bps8. We expect a more thoughtful design from something this expensive.



This same soft touch finish covers the keyboard deck, and is bordered by brushed metal. Above the black island-style keyboard are haptic volume controls that sony vgp-bps9 light up and buzz gently when pressed. To the right of the keyboard is a fingerprint reader, and to the right of the touchpad is a sony vgp-bps9/b Card reader.



Touching the right edge of the bezel activates one of the unique features of the Z600, Dell EdgeTouch. A small rectangle brings up five icons along the right edge: audio controls, vgp-bps9/b card capture software, Dell ControlPoint, Dell FaceAware utility, and Internet Explorer. Pressing the bezel vgp-bps9/s adjacent to an icon launches it. You can also modify what app icons appear. It’s a clever way of sony vgp-bps9/s to quickly access often-used apps and utilities without the need for a touchscreen (though for this price we might expect one).


Heat


Being as thin as it is, there’s not much room on the inside of the vgp-bps10 to dissipate heat. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 96 degrees, and the middle of the bottom VGP-BPS12 was a scorching 116 degrees. We consider anything above 100 degrees to be unacceptable SONY VGP-BPS12.


Keyboard and Touchpad


Typing on the SONY BATTERY was a pleasure; the black glossy keys were well spaced and had excellent response. It was also easy to type in the dark, as the letters and numbers on the keys lit up when we pressed them. Using the Dell ControlPoint utility, you can also control when the backlight comes on, how bright it gets, and for how long. Our only nitpick is that the keys picked up fingerprint smudges.



The touchpad on the Sony is quite large at 3.6 x 2.0 inches, and its matte surface had very low friction. Just be careful when you’re typing; more than once our thumb brushed up against it and moved the cursor to a different place in the document. The mouse buttons below of DEll  battery are also brushed metal, and blend nicely with the border. They, too, were snappy without being stiff.

Five Reasons Dolphin Still Offers Better Browsing on a Nexus One

Hey Nexus One users, I know you’re fpcbp160 still celebrating your bloodless coup over Google search fpcbp182 — the spoils of war being the duly deserved but unjustly denied multitouch action that the Nexus One lacked until yesterday’s Android 2.1 software update – but as your fingers do the pinch happy dance, consider these wise words: pinch-to-zoom alone does not a great browser make.


Although Android’s lifebook t4220 battery stock browser is all the lifebook t4215 battery better for its newfound multitouch functionality, it’s far from the best option for browsing the web at the highest echelon of gesture-based interfaces. That award lies with Dolphin Browser 2.0, which takes multitouch-enabled browsing to the next level and gives you a few cool tricks not found in other Android browsers. We reviewed Dolphin 2.0 last week, but in case you’re curious, here are five reasons it’s better than the stock Android browser, even when the stock browser is armed with pinch-to-zoom.


1. Additional Multitouch Gestures - Dolphin’s smartest hp pavilion tx1000 battery feature is by far the use of customizable touch gestures. Twenty-three commands like “Bookmark a Page”, “Save Link to Read It Later”, “Browse Forward”, or “Browse Backward”, etc — can be hp compaq 6510b battery set to execute with a single-stroke gesture defined by the user. Can you use your finger to draw a circle in Nexus One’s browser and have the current web page refresh itself? Nope.


2. Start a Tab, or Six – If you’re the kind of inspiron 1521 battery stimulation-seeking Web surfer who sits at a desktop PC with 15, 20, 25 tabs open in a single Firefox session, you’ll appreciate Dolphin Browser’s ability to browse the net with as many as six tabs. Sure, it’s not 25 active webpages, but it is six more tabs than the baked-in browser can perform.


3. Swiper, No Swiping – Dolphin Browser lets you move to dell latitude E6400 batteries content opened in other tabs by swiping your finger left or right. In the stock browser the same action is a three-step process: you’ll need to open the menu, select the “Windows” option, and select the page you’d like to view from a vertical list of your thumbnailed Web pages.


4. Robo-RSS – We’ve mentioned stimulation-seekers already, but not information-hunters. That category of Nexus One users will undoubtedly dig Dolphin’s RSS retrieval and notification capability. Once found on a page you’re viewing, feeds are added to Android’dell GD761 s notification area where the end-user can add them to Google Reader, or delete them if they aren’t interested.


5. YouTube to Go – Though it plays well with Google services of all shades and shapes, dell inspiron 1545 battery Dolphin has an exceptionally close relationship with YouTube. So close, in fact, you can use Dolphin to download user videos directly to your handset in mp4 format and view them offline.


To recap, features like gesture control and tab-to-tab swiping really demonstrate Dolphin’s dell xps m1330 batteries forward-thinking approach to utilizing multitouch within a mobile browser, and goodies like links to a beanstalked list of Google services, as well as Delicious, Facebook, and Twitter integration (all built into the browser’s homescreen) make this browser even better. There are more details in our full review, or just go ahead and dip your fingers in bydownloading Dolphin straight from the Android Market.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (Linux)

After months of rumors, Dell Inspiron 6400 Battery enters the mini-notebook market with its long-anticipated Inspiron Mini 9. Dell Inspiron 6400 Battery took its time releasing its own netbook, and it is clear they spent the extra days and hours getting (nearly) everything just right. With a small footprint, sleek industrial design, 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor, and a tailored version of Ubuntu (it’s also available with Windows XP) the Inspiron Mini 9, starting at $349, has all the specs to make it one of our favorite netbooks for hp compaq 6510b battery . Even better is the ability to configure the system, from the size of the solid state drive and RAM to the webcam resolution. However, we wish Dell had spent a bit more time on the keyboard.

Design

The glossy black Inspiron Mini 9 (also available in white) we tested—despite its $399 price tag—looks batterymag and feels far from cheap. As with the Fujitsu Lifebook T5010 Battery and the fujitsu t5010 battery, the Inspiron Mini 9’s rounded lid sports a glossy finish that attracts light fingerprints and smudges. The classy look extends under the hood with a smooth-coated, silver palm rest and screen bezel. 

Size definitely matters to Dell: The Inspiron Mini 9 is one of the smallest and lightest 8.9-inch mini-notebooks of sony vgp-bps8 we've seen. Measuring 9.1 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches and weighing just 2.3 pounds, it is lighter than both the 2.4-pound Acer Aspire one and the 3.2-pound HP 2133 Mini-Note. When placed next to the Aspire one and vgp-bps8, it was the shortest in length and width; the Aspire one of sony vgp-bps9, however, is 0.1 inch thinner. With a travel weight of 2.6 pounds with its AC adapter, the Inspiron Mini 9 vgp-bps9 felt almost nonexistent when we tossed it into a purse.

Glossy Screen, Loud Speaker Sound

The glossy 8.9-inch, 1024 x 600-pixel resolution screen provides enough space to fit windows to size and looked sharp from a variety of sony vgp-bps9/b. When we watched an episode of The Office on Hulu.com and browsed through vacation pictures for vgp-bps9/b, colors were bright and not at all muted like we’ve seen on ASUS’ Eee PC 901. Horizontal viewing angles were fine for watching YouTube videos with a friend; tilting the screen back to its limit of 110 degrees didn’t cause glare.

 

Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam (a $25 option, but the Inspiron Mini 9 is also available with a 0.3-MP cam for $15) that provided clear images when videoconferencing with a friend over sony vgp-bps9/sVideo Chat, a client based on SightSpeed’s technology (which lets users have four-way video calls with Mac, PC, and Linux users). The vgp-bps9/s provided clear images, though we saw a bit of motion blur when waving our hands to our caller.

Like the vgp-bps10, the Inspiron Mini 9’s speakers are below the screen on the bottom bezel. They were able to pump out Coldplay’s Life In Technicolor at a surprising volume, and lacked the typical tinniness of other small notebooks.

Awkward Keyboard, Solid Trackpad

The spill-resistant keyboard on the Inspiron Mini 9 is solidly built and provided good tactile feedback without too much flex. While the keys for VGP-BPS12 allowed for comfortable typing and didn’t severely cramp our hands, they are smaller than those found on the 89 percent–size keyboard on the Acer Aspire one. However, size is not as big an issue SONY VGP-BPS12 is the awkward placement of a few keys on the Inspiron Mini 9. While we weren’t bothered by the missing function keys (the middle row of the keyboard now performs double duty), the right Shift key has been shrunk and moved to the right of the Up arrow button, and the apostrophe key is located on the bottom row of keys. Both changes will cause problems for touch typists until they’ve adjusted.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is the best we have seen on an 8.9-inch system. It is decently sized and offered a nice textured feel as we navigated around the desktop. We also like that the two mouse buttons are located below the touchpad, rather than straddling it like the Aspire one.

The Dell XPS M1730 Battery is stocked with the typical netbook ports, featuring three USB 2.0, VGA, and Ethernet, as well as a headphone and a microphone jack. It also has a 4-in-1 memory card reader. Alas, you won’t find an ExpressCard slot, but the Inspiron Mini 9’s free internal mini-PCI slot could be used for an integrated mobile broadband option. Dell XPS M1730 Battery plans to offer mobile broadband before the end of the year.


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

hp pavilion tx1000 laptop review

If you have been searching the market for an entertainment notebook with Tablet PC features, your search may be over. Thanks to HP's tx1000 convertible notebook that starts at $1,299. Though the tx1000 pavilion tx1000 battery is targeted toward the average consumer, business professionals are still welcome. This portable notebook packs a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 5-in-1 digital fpcbp200 battery media reader, a mini remote control for movies, music and photos and it comes with Windows Vista installed.


Design and Build


The tx1000 fpcbp195 has a sharp appearance. Its unique inlaid wave design extends from the glossy black lid onto the silver inside surrounding the keyboard. HP went for a modern, portable design. Weighing in at 4.2 lbs., the tx1000 vgp-bps8 can go wherever you go. If you want to save even more weight the optical bay is removable and can be replaced by the included weight saver.


The chassis has some flex in parts due to the fact the tx1000 vgp-bpl8 uses a plastic housing, though it can't be called flmsy, it's not the sturdiest vgp-bps8b notebook on the market either. The advantage vgp-bps8a of a plastic casing is in keeping weight and price down. When you tap on the left palmrest area the sound is hollow and you'll get some flex there. The keyboard itself has a solid design with minimal flex.


The screen swivels in a clockwise manner with ease to turn dell gd761 the notebook into a Tablet. The hinge has some flex, but works great. The Tablet or swivel mode is nice for watching movies or giving presentations. There is also a mini remote control that can be stashed in the ExpressCard slot, this comes in handy for those lazy days when you want to stay in bed and control a movie as the tx1000 sits on your nightstand!


Display


The 12.1” screen is the perfect size for a portable notebook used dell inspiron 1521 batteries to travel and for working on the go. There are even media QuickPlay buttons on the right side of the screen for your entertainment convenience. The screen is slightly grainy, but you will get this with any Tablet PC due to the extra layer needed for tablet funtionality. The glossy screen is good for presenting bold colors and watching movies, dell studio 15 battery but bad when doing a lot of reading in strongly lit areas as it is quite reflective. One small annoyance is the fact it is difficult to see what level brightness you've got the screen adjusted to because there is no on screen feedback when you toggle brightness -- same goes for volume.


A nice screen, but notice those reflections


The fact that the tx1000 has a touchscreen is nice. You can use your fingertip sony vgp-bps2c to close applications, move them around or, if your fingers are small enough, to poke around in menus. I actually liked using my finger more than the stylus, you might as well take this approach since the stylus is a passive pen design and offers no real advantage other than being smaller and more accurate when necessary.


Processor and System Performance


HP chose to go with the AMD Turion X2 TL-60 dual core processor and Nvidia Go sony vgp-bps2a batteries 6150 graphics for the brains of this system. It’s good that they didn’t choose a low voltage underpowered processor, commonly found in 12.1” screen laptops. Though in our opinion, a low-end Intel Core 2 Duo processor might have been preferred as it would offer slightly better performance. Nevertheless, thanks to 2GB of RAM vgp-bps2b batteries combined with the Turion X2, performance was more than acceptable for general tasks such as Office, web and multimedia use. It’s a little slower when it comes to such things as image processing within Adobe Photoshop or even Apple iTunes encoding – we found a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 machine to be faster time wise with such tasks. But in general usage you won’t notice any lag with the tx1000.


The tx1000 ships with a base 1GB of RAM as this is required for Windows dell inspiron 1525 batteries Vista to run. You should seriously consider going with the 2GB of RAM for better performance though. Windows Aero, the 3D windows display rotation feature, worked flawlessly given the tx1000 specs we had and the 2GB of RAM probably helps there.


The Windows Vista Aero feature runs just fine on the tx1000


As far as gaming, the Nvidia 6150 t60 batteries card that shares system memory isn’t going to cut it for much. Obviously this notebook convertible is not intended for playing Half Life 2 or Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but rather for just say – doing work.


The keyboard has a solid feel and is of standard size. thinkpad r61 batteries The only key that is shortened is the right side Shift key. The function keys along the top are pretty small as well, so if you have bigger fingers and are trying to use the F3 key to access the Internet you may have some problems.


 


The touchpad has a unique design. It is flush with the keyboard and lenovo t61 batteries just has a perforated pattern showing where it is. Your finger rolls smoothly over it for easy navigation. There is no sticking or delays. The buttons work fairly well, except we found there is sometimes delay with the right-click button.


HP includes a stylus pen that feels solid, has a nice rubber grip, and even dell latitude d630 batteries comes with a lanyard so you can attach it to the computer. There's not much to write home about the pen (so to speak), it serves its function well and is easy to pop in and out of the spring loaded silo on the bottom corner of the tx1000. The pen is not an active digitizer type of pen, it is nothing more than a shaped piece of plastic, like a larger PDA type of stylus.


Tablet PC Features


The HP tx1000 has a swivel screen and offers a touchscreen option.dell xps m1330 batteries Note, at the starting price of $1,299 the screen is not touchscreen enabled, it is an upgrade option. The screen input capability is passive digitizer and not active, meaning it does not include the Wacom technology power Tablet PC users are used to having. Rather, it’s like a PDA in that pressure against the screen from a stylus is what registers a pen stroke.


The advantage to a touchscreen is that you can simply use you finger xps m1530 battery to drag windows around or open menus (just make sure to bring along that screen wipe cloth HP includes to get the greasy finger marks off the screen). The included stylus is not powered in any way, so there are no worries about a battery or charging, plus it’s cheap to replace if you lose it.


Battery


The 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery extended life battery performance vostro 1400 battery was shockingly good, it lasted for about 4.5 hours in balanced (normal) power mode. In addition to this battery, the model we tested included a 4-cell battery that lasted for about 3 hours. Now if you go for this option of carrying two batteries around you are good to go pretty much all-day. This is great for mobile users and it only took an hour to fully recharge the 6-cell hp dv2000 battery battery, so not much downtime. The battery also offers a power saver mode for light work or a high performance mode for that busy day. The optical bay is swappable with different optical drives, but it is not setup to house a secondary battery.


Heat and Noise


Our review unit had a 2.0GHz Turion X2 TL-60 and it did run on the warm side after hp dv6000 battery some time. When running benchmarks on the system it got warmer than we would like and the fan was pumping out some very warm air from the back right vent. The keyboard area didn’t get especially warm, but in tablet mode when you’re holding the underneath of the tx1000 you’ll feel that warmth, especially on the back right side. Since we had the fastest processor available with this device, you would expect less heat generation from a slower processor option.


The fan did get a bit loud when it kicked into high rev during HP EV088AA benchmarking. During normal usage the fan was just barely audible though. Not whisper quiet, but not loud enough to be a distraction even in a fairly quiet room -- unless the room is a really warm one and forces the fan to work hard to cool the system.


Speakers


For a notebook, the tx1000 has nice speakers. compaq v3000 battery It is fitted with Altec Lansing speakers, which produce good sound quality for listening to music or watching movies. That was HP’s focus; I mean it is called an entertainment notebook. I am comparing these to the hardly noticeable speakers on the Asus R1F I use. If you compare the speakers to your standard notebook, they produce comparitively loud, clear sound, but they don’t compaq v6000 battery compare to the higher-end multimedia notebooks equipped with subwoofers. The built-in microphone picks up noise well and it’s easy to teach the software to recognize your voice if you want to use voice input.


Software


The tx1000 comes with Windows Vista Home Premium edition already installed. It pa3465u-1brs was one of the first notebooks announced to offer Vista pre-installed. Windows Vista gives the tx1000 more powerful search and organizational tools and more security when online. It also comes with Microsoft Works and a 60-day trial offer of Microsoft Office 2003 Student and Teacher edition. You get the ubiquitous Norton Live Update with its 60-day trail period. You also get such things as Vonage, Photosmart Essential and a cornucopia of desktop shortcuts to various websites and ISP services. Most of this stuff can be uninstalled if you don't want it.


Wireless


The tx1000 has built-in 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless that functions well. Although a1185 802.11n is in draft mode still, it is showing up more and more and you'll definitely want to have it as it offers greater range and faster throughput when combined with an 802.11n wireless router. The tx1000 a1175 also has built-in Bluetooth and consumer level Infrared for controlling media functions via the included remote. HP will be offering built-in EV-DO cellular wireless in the future with the system, but it will not be available as a configuration with the initial launch.


Conclusion


HP should be commended for bringing something different to the table in terms of a multimedia notebook convertible. You certainly won't find any cool options like this from Dell. While the Tablet PC functionality of the tx1000 isn't outstanding, it can be useful and it's a nice bonus for a notebook that's strong even if you were to take away the touchscreen feature. Just being able to rotate the screen for presenting and viewing movies has its benefits. The looks of this machine are great and it's easy to carry around. The processor isn't the best out there and a magnesium built warrior this notebook is not, but overall the tx1000 dell inspiron e1405 battery is a winner that's really going to appeal to students and other mainstream users.