Gateway NV59C09u

Time and again, Gateway’s NV series has made our shortlist of top budget notebooks, but with a few vgp-bps8a. We’ve always enjoyed its balance of performance and battery life and, with the exception of its lone mouse button, have praised its design. The revamped NV59C09u ($799), a 15.6-inch laptop, has a slimmer, lighter build that includes a social networking hotkey and dashboard, along with a Blu-ray player, something most sub-$800 laptops don’t offer. This time around, though, the NV’s performance was less impressive in comparison to other notebooks in the same price range.vgp-bps8

Design

After churning out umpteen NV notebooks with updated specs but the same design, vgp-bpl8 has re-thought this line of laptops. Following a trend set by HP and Dell, Gateway ditched its super glossy lid and instead went with a subtly patterned one whose finish has a bit too much kick to be called matte, but is still subdued enough that it’s not reflective. The result is an attractive, more understated surface that masks fingerprints. The lid and palm rest’s silver color and fine pattern of wavy lines should also prove gender-neutral. vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,vgp-bps9a/b



Gone, too, are the touch-sensitive multimedia controls above the keyboard. Instead, there’s a thin chrome strip above the keys that houses Dell battery for Wi-Fi and battery status, as well as a discreet power button. The multimedia keys are now baked into the top row of the keyboard, as they are on Macs. In addition to multimedia keys, there’s a dedicated button for launching Social Network Service—Gateway’s own dashboard for vgp-bps13, Flickr, and YouTube (more on that later).



The chiclet-style vgp-bps13a/b—basically, Acer’s FineTip design—is new to the NV series, too, although Gateway still fits in a full number pad, something many other 15-inch systems lack. As a result, though, the touchpad is placed left of center, so that it falls in the center of the keyboard, but not the palm rest itself. The NV59C09u feels surprisingly compact at 15 x 10 x 1.3 inches and 5.4 pounds; it weighs the same as the Editors’ Choice–winning notebookand is lighter than the minimalist 5.6-poundToshiba Notebook Battery and older 5.6-pound Sony battery

Keyboard and Touchpad

Despite having an island-style layout and a full number pad, the PA3399U-1BAS Battery is still spacious enough that the Enter, Backspace, and right Shift keys are all full-sized (the left Shift key is another story). Although the keys weren’t terribly bouncy, we were still able to type at a fast clip, notching an all-time high score of 100 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test.



The large, gesture-enabled touchpad responded smoothly to pinching and zooming,PA3399U-2BAS Battery as well as to one-fingered scrolling. With a smooth, low-friction surface and an easy-to-press touch button to match, this redesigned NV is an improvement over its predecessors. 

Ambient Heat

Even after playing a Hulu clip at full screen for 15 minutes, the PA3534U-1BRS Battery stayed cool, measuring 90 degrees Fahrenheit on the touchpad and 92 degrees at the center of the keyboard and on its bottom side. True, the average notebook this size also measures 90 degrees around the touchpad, but it also reaches temperatures of 93 degrees on the keyboard and 98 degrees on the bottom, the side that gets the least ventilation.PA3435U-1BRS Battery

Display and Sound

When we watched the first Iron Man movie on Blu-ray, the picture looked bright and sharp on the 15.6-inch screen, as PA3450U-1BRS Battery did a lower-resolution SNL Digital Short on Hulu. Still, the benefits of having a Blu-ray drive are mostly lost on a 1366 x 768 display. A higher resolution would have been nice, although we suppose that’s a reasonable trade-off to make in a sub-$800 machine.



The speaker strip, barely noticeable above the keyboard, PA3479U-1BRS Batteryproduced slightly metallic bass notes when we played “Telephone” by Lady Gaga and “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones.

Ports and Webcam

The PA3451U-1BRS Battery includes every port most users could need, including three USB 2.0 ports; HDMI and VGA output for high-def and standard-def monitors and TVs, respectively; an Ethernet jack; and headphone and mic ports. Rounding out the list is a 5-in-1 memory card reader. The Blu-ray player takes up most of the right side, save for two of the USB ports; the rest of the ports are on the left side (the memory card slot is tucked into the front edge).



The 1.3-megapixel webcam has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024. While our photos showed good colors and brightness,PA3478U-1BRS Battery could only make out a fair amount of detail, even at the highest resolution. Our video, meanwhile, showed motion blur even at VGA resolution, while the laptop’s microphone produced echoing sound, too. In general, the Gateway Video laptop Camera software is too minimalist; there aren’t even thumbnails of photos and videos you’ve just shot.

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Dell Studio 15 (1558)

It’s easy to find a notebook that’s good at vgp-bps8. But what if you want to edit photos and video? Or multitask without your laptop wheezing? Enter the vgp-bps8a, an excellent multimedia machine under $900 for people who want to do more. We love its comfortable keyboard, high-resolution webcam, strong performance, rich sound, and long battery life. Gamers might want to look elsewhere, but everyone else should be well satisfied.

Design

While the Studio 15 eschews many current design trends—matte or metallic surfaces, island keyboards—it’s nonetheless attractive and comfortable. Both vgp-bpl8 and keyboard deck have a glossy surface, but neither picks up fingerprints. That’s partly because although they’re glossy, they still have a flatter finish than other reflective lids. Also, a subtle circular pattern, echoed on both the lid and palm rest, helps mask smudges. vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,vgp-bps9a/b



While the palm rest is gray and the keyboard, black, the lid comes in a variety of colors, including pink, green, purple, red, and blue (as is wont, you’ll pay $40 extra for colors other than black; when you purchase it in pink, Dell battery donates $5 to the breast cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure).



One of the other things that makes the Studio 15 a pleasure to use is that rather than cluttering up the chassis with touch-sensitive controls, it built the multimedia controls into the row of function keys, just as Apple does with its Macs. Our only gripe: the hinge, vgp-bps13, vgp-bps13a/b contains the speakers, is wide, and pushes the display farther back than we’d like.



The 9-cell battery on our configuration creates a bulge on the bottom of the laptop, making the notebook (a reasonable six pounds) slightly awkward to carry and a relatively heavy 6 pounds. Those who care more about looks and portability than endurance should stick with the 6-cell battery.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Studio 15’s keyboard is one of our favorite things about the Toshiba Notebook Battery. Sure, its closely spaced, terraced keys aren’t as stylish as a chiclet keyboard, but with a soft finish they’re very comfortable to type on. In fact, we smashed our long-time record of 88 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing test, pounding out 94 words per minute with a one percent error rate. And while we usually have to pause to find the Shift key or the question mark, touch typing felt seamless with Sony battery.



The touchpad, whose surface has very little friction, PA3399U-1BAS Battery also doesn’t draw much attention to itself (that’s a good thing). PA3399U-2BAS Battery touchpad is a little small for pinching and zooming, one of the enabled gestures, but scrolling along either the right or bottom edge of the trackpad felt pretty natural. We like that if you go to Control Panel > Mouse > Dell Touchpad, you can use Dell’s own intuitive interface to enable or disable gestures, and customize how responsive the trackpad is.PA3534U-1BRS Battery  PA3435U-1BRS Battery .

Ambient Heat

Even after extended use, the Studio 15 ran at pretty normal temperatures. PA3451U-1BRS Battery For instance, PA3450U-1BRS Battery after playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, we observed temperatures of 91 PA3479U-1BRS Battery PA3478U-1BRS Batterydegrees on the touchpad, 90 degrees at the center of the keyboard, and 97 degrees on the underside (that temperature rose to 102 degrees when we moved to the front center of the bottom surface). When you think that the average laptop in this weight class measures 90, 93, and 98 degrees in the same spots, you realize the Studio 15’s temperatures are reasonable, if not slightly cooler than other notebooks.

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Apple MacBook (2010) Review

Even though Apple only introduced the vgp-bps8 last Fall, we weren’t surprised that the company’s consumer vgp-bps8a saw a refresh shortly after the MacBook Pro line saw its upgrades. Like the Pros, the MacBook’s updates are mostly limited to internal specs, with the same excellent outer design and $999 price remaining the same. Also true to the last generation, this new MacBook’s specs are very similar to the vgp-bpl8, which costs $200 more. Apple draws the line between consumer and professional at aluminum vs. plastic, plus the number and type of ports on offer. Considering its excellent battery life, design, operating system and customer support, the MacBook remains a strong buy. But for the lower price you’ll sacrifice some features.

Design

If you were to take a 13-inch MacBook Pro and replace the metal exterior with plastic, you’d pretty much have the MacBook. Its gleaming white glossy plastic interior and exterior—including the keyboard—continues the clean aesthetic of previous Macs, and hides fingerprints well, too. Like the MacBook Pros, this thin and light system also features a sturdy unibody construction. The result is a design that feels like it will stand the test of time. vgp-bps9,vgp-bps9/s,vgp-bps9/b,vgp-bps9a/b



While the aluminum-clad MacBook Pros with their black keyboards are definitely sleek, the all-white MacBook seems somewhat friendlier. The bottom panel, held in place by 8 screws, is coated in a soft light gray rubber, which keeps it from slipping around on a desk, and feels comfortable on your lap.



At 13.0 x 9.1 x 1.1 inches and weighing 4.8 pounds, the MacBook slightly larger and heavier than the 13-inch MacBook Pro (12.8 x 8.9 x 1.0 inches, 4.4 pounds), but isn’t too great a difference that we couldn’t carry it comfortably in our messenger bag. vgp-bps13, vgp-bps13a/b

Heat

After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, Toshiba Notebook Battery we measured the temperature of the MacBook in several places:Sony battery the touchpad only got as hot as 81 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H key reached 92 degrees, and the underside of the notebook reached just 94 degrees. The hottest area of the notebook was nearest the hinge on the bottom, which measured a whopping 120 degrees. This was noticeable when on our lap and much hotter than the previous generation, which only reached 97 degrees during the same test.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Unlike the MacBook Pros, the MacBook’s keyboard is not backlit; some concessions have to be made for the price. However, PA3399U-1BAS Battery seems to be the only concession. Not only is the island-style keyboard well-spaced, but the keys themselves were comfortable to the touch, and were snappy in response.



Apple has also brought the same touchpad as on its other notebooks: it doubles PA3399U-2BAS Battery the touchpad and the touch button. At 4.0 x 3.0 inches, not only is this trackpad the largest we’ve ever tested, but is very low friction, too. Like the 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple’s honed the design: we were able to effortlessly press down on the button without thinking about the fact that there’s no dedicated touch button (nevermind two).



The multitouch gestures work smoothly, too. By pushing four fingers toward the top of the touchpad, we were able to fling windows up toward the top of the screen, exposing a clean PA3435U-1BRS Battery. When we used two fingers to zoom in and out of pages in Safari 4, the onscreen response was very quick. More importantly, it wasn’t jerky and finicky, like the touchpad/button combo on the PA3451U-1BRS Battery. We were able to rest our left thumb on the pad and still move the cursor around without the notebook misinterpreting our movements.



Just as with the new MacBook Pros and the iPhone and iPad, Apple added inertial scrolling to the MacBook’s touchpad. It makes getting around long webpages and Google Reader feed lists much easier, but users who find it annoying can disable it in the system settings.PA3534U-1BRS Battery

Display and Audio

The 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy display on the MacBook has a resolution of 1280 x 800, and images were bright and crisp. However, PA3450U-1BRS Battery this system doesn’t have the same 60 percent greater color gamut as the MacBook Pro line, so photo editors will want to think twice. Viewing angles were excellent from side to side, and unlike the previous generation MacBook, vertical viewing angles are just as good. We did note pixilation and blocky colors when watching both standard and high definition video streamed from Hulu and YouTube. Video played from the hard drive or DVD was smoother,PA3465U-1BRS Battery but pixels were still noticeable.



While the speakers on the MacBook were loud, PA3475U-1BRS Battery producing enough sound to fill a room, they were lacking in bass. Higher sounds, such as the drums and guitar riffs in Guns n Roses’ “November Rain” tended to be somewhat harsh.

Ports and Webcam

The one area where we’d like to see Apple splurge a bit more is with its port and slot selection. The MacBook has two USB, a mini DisplayPort, Ethernet, and a headphone jack on the left side; on the right is the slot for the SuperDrive DVD burner. Considering their ubiquity (you can find them on $300 netbooks), we’d like to see an SD Card slot, as well as at least one more USB port. The PA3478U-1BRS Battery, for example, has all of the above, as well as FireWire and HDMI.



When conversing with a friend over Google PA3479U-1BRS Battery, she said that our image was clear, and the embedded mic picked up our sound well, but the camera on the MacBook had a hard time adjusting to lower-light conditions.

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