May 2010 Archives

A review of the Apple Macbook Pro 13in 2.66GHz notebook has been posted over at Computeractive. 'As a 13in computer the Macbook Pro is reasonably portable. It's relatively heavy, partly due to its metal body construction, but it's still easy to carry around. There is a CD/DVD drive on one side and two USB ports, the SD memory card reader, Firewire, network sockets and a power connector on the other. Like all Macbooks this one doesn't have the DVI or VGA socket a PC has; rather it uses the relatively rare Mini Displayport, which is an annoyance, especially if you have an existing monitor that doesn't take it. It also connects to wireless networks and Bluetooth devices. It comes with 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard disk.

Tech Radar have published a review of the Samsung R580 (Core i5) laptop. 'The first thing to notice about the laptop is its stylish design. Instead of implementing a dull, matt-black look, Samsung has opted for an interesting red and black patterned finish. Appearing on both the lid and chassis itself, it won't be to everyone's tastes, but certainly isn't offensive and will stand out in the crowd. The 15.6-inch screen may not boast the high resolution of the Packard Bell ProBook 6440b or Sony VAIO VPC-EB1Z0E/B, yet it is just as vivid with excellent colour reproduction, while also being very bright. This makes it ideal for photographers or video makers looking for a colourful and accurate panel.'

PC Advisor have published a review of the Palicomp Core i7 Blitz 930-24 desktop PC. 'The Palicomp Core i7 Blitz 930-24 comes with the same ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card found in most of the competition, while its 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 930 processor is faster than the Arbico's Core i7 920. With 142 points in our WorldBench 6 real-world speed test, the Blitz came in a close second to the (£200 more expensive) CyberPower. The Core i7 Blitz 930-24's graphics performance is also very good. Palicomp has selected a stock version of the HD 5870 in comparison to the overclocked speed-boosted models chosen by Arbico and Eclipse, but the differences are minor.'

A review of the Packard Bell dot S2 netbook has been posted over at IT Reviews. 'Available in white, black or ruby red, the case is good looking, though a bit thicker than its predecessor, the Dot S, due to having its 4.8AH battery bulge projecting from its underside. Sockets down left- and right-hand sides offer the near standard 3 x USB, Ethernet, VGA, audio and SD card sockets and the machine supports WiFi, though only 802.11b/g, rather than n. Bluetooth is an option, as is a second 1GB of memory to add to the 1GB supplied. The keyboard is described as 'chiclet', a less than helpful term, which means the keys each project through a common baseplate, rather than having gaps.'

Pocket-lint have published a review of the Samsung R580 laptop. 'This laptop has a 15.6-inch screen, a curious in-between size if you ask me. It's certainly big enough for desktop use, but if you're not going to move it around much, you might prefer a bigger display still. On the other hand, it's just too big and heavy to be comfortably carted about a lot. The glam styling may make you feel it's worth the lug. The size does mean there's room for an extended keyboard, which you'll be glad of when you're using a spreadsheet. Those plentiful keys are well-spaced and well-sprung, though decent rather than outstanding for extended typing.'

PC Magazine have published a review of the Polywell Poly X5800A3 multimedia PC. 'The Polywell Poly X5800A3 uses a standard black Antec Nine Hundred case, complete with a huge 200mm cooling fan on top. This case is good for gaming rigs, since it has the room for those beefy graphics cards like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 and the CPU cooler for the Intel Core i7-980X processor. It also has room for several hard drives and optical drives, with a perforated front panel for smooth airflow throughout the case--adequately cooling the CPU and GPU. The side door of the case has a window to show off the interior of the system.'

A review of the Acer Aspire 8943G-728G1.28TWn notebook has been posted over at Notebook Check. 'The Aspire 8943G's design differs from its predecessors the 8940G and 8942G in several respects. Instead of a dark, glossy finish, the look is now dominated by matt, silvery aluminium surfaces. This gives it a high-class look and also makes it more resistant to dirt and smudges. So why Acer decided on a sensitive high-gloss finish for the display bezel and touchpad is beyond us; it doesn't take long before they are covered in fingerprints. Nevertheless we approve of the overall design and find it to be a definite step in the right direction. Nice features like the large loudspeaker grilles above the keyboard or the matt black palm rest contribute to this positive impression.'

PC World have published a review of the MSI GX640-098US laptop. 'The MSI GX640-098US features a black, brushed-aluminum design with red accents. The cover is fairly simple, with a silver, mirrored MSI logo in the center and a thin red plastic strip at the bottom being the only details. The inside has a red plastic border around the keyboard and touchpad, plus a futuristic-looking red-and-black strip of touch-sensitive buttons above the keyboard. The buttons include rewind, stop, pause/play, and fast-forward media buttons, as well as an 'Eco' button (for cycling through a variety of modes, including gaming mode and office mode), a 'Cinema Pro' button, a Webcam button, a Bluetooth button, a Wi-Fi button, and a programmable button.'

Reg Hardware have published a review of the Dell Latitude XT2 XFR ruggedised laptop. 'The 12.1in flip-and-twist screen (1280 x 800) is a capacitive multi-touch display, and Dell supplies a stylus that slots neatly into the side of the chassis. Being bright and lacking a glossy coating, the display is also perfectly suited to outdoor use. It welcomes finger prods, but if you whip the stylus out it'll ignore them, so if your palm touches the screen your scribbling won't be interrupted. Inside, the keyboard is comfortable to type on and Thinkpad fans will appreciate the nipple control sat in the middle. The touchpad seems unnecessarily small, though, and the rubber buttons are awkward to use.'

A review of the Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 netbook has been posted over at Tracy and Matt. 'The Inspiron Mini 1012 is another in the Dell netbook family, and its styling very much fits in with the previous Mini 9 and 10's that Dell have released. The only thing that is immediately obvious externally is the extension of the bodywork behind the screen. On most laptops and netbooks the rear hinge of the lid is flush with the back of the netbook, here the bodywork is extended behind the hinges, as you are using the Inspiron Mini 1012 this extension is hidden behind the screen, so the netbooks retains its petite visage.'

CNET have published a review of the MSI Wind U160-007US netbook. 'The current version of the MSI Wind, called the U160, happens to stand out from the crowd in a couple of ways. It boasts some of the longest battery life we've seen, at 7-plus hours, and it ran some of our benchmark tests just a few seconds faster than other Netbooks. It's not enough of a performance difference to notice in real-world use, but if you're looking for the maximum possible battery life, the Wind is certainly up there. This extralong life, however, comes at a price. First, the system's massive battery sticks out significantly from the bottom of the chassis, like some kind of awkward kickstand, and second, the Wind U160 costs $380 (although the official list price is even worse: $429), which is $80 more than largely comparable machines from other PC makers.'

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Packard Bell EasyNote Butterfly Touch ultraportable. 'This 11.6in mobile machine is essentially an ultra-portable laptop with a swivel touchscreen, which can be folded down over the keyboard to turn it into a tablet. It's by no means a new form-factor or a unique implementation, but what makes the Butterfly Touch special is that, with a retail price of just £499, it joins Acer's similar Aspire models in making convertible laptops affordable. Judging by the hardware, it shouldn't be too much of a slouch either. Its low-voltage, 1.2GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 is a little less powerful than we'd ideally like, but at least it's a dual-core processor so it shouldn't get bogged down like a single-core chip might.'

Notebook Review have published a review of the Dell Inspiron 14 (1464) laptop. 'The design of the Inspiron 14 hasn't changed much in the last year since Dell released the Inspiron 14, Inspiron 14z and Studio 14z laptops. As mentioned in the specifications above, our review unit comes with the newer Intel Core i3 330M dual core processor. We're calling this laptop the "Inspiron 14" in our review, but it's worth mentioning that Dell markets this system as the "Inspiron 14" as well as the "Inspiron 1464." You can also find this system selling on the Dell website under the older configuration name "Inspiron 1440" with older Intel processors. Of course, there's also the Inspiron 14z (also called the Inspiron 1470) that uses the Intel CULV processors for extended battery life.'

A review of the Sony Vaio F111FX laptop has been posted over at MobileTechReview. 'The Sony Vaio F has an excellent chiclet style keyboard and a dedicated 10-digit keypad. Since the Vaio F targets movie watching users, the keyboard has bright white backlight that makes the keyboard easily seen in the dark or dimly lit areas. The keyboard offers a great typing experience and the palm rest feels smooth and comfy. Like many new Vaio models, the palm rest is raised higher than the keyboard plane, making typing easier. The trackpad is off the center to the left and the two mouse keys below the trackpad are a bit flat.'

IT Reviews have published a review of the Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P8110 notebook. 'The 12.1-inch matt screen serves up 1280 x 800 clear, sharp pixels, but it is not going to be your cup of tea if you prefer the wider screen resolution of 1366 x 768 that is increasingly popular. You can, though, have two documents opened at the same time, and the extra pixels of height will mean a lot to word-workers in terms of a few extra lines of visible text in any document.The keyboard is a little cramped and while those with dainty hands probably won't have any trouble, those who can hold a rugby ball in one hand might feel squeezed.'

Think Computers have published their review of the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15-inch laptop. 'This is a 15-inch laptop, but it really isn't that big or thick at all, while the 15-inch size isn't really considered travel friendly the 5.5lbs of the ThinkPad Edge isn't really that bad at all. If we compare it to the ThinkPad Edge 13-inch you can see it is really not much bigger. Starting on the right side of the ThinkPad Edge you have 2 USB ports, optical drive which is a dual layer DVD burner, power connection and a lock port. On the left side you have an audio connection, smart card slot, HDMI out, Ethernet, eSATA , VGA out and some exhaust vents. It's nice to see eSATA on a laptop!'

Laptop Magazine have published their review of the Samsung NB30 netbook. 'The 2.8-pound NB30 has the same basic design, features, and size (10.4 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches) as the N210, the main difference being the semi-rugged aspects of the outer chassis. The lid and underside of the netbook feature raised ridges that flow in wavy curves, giving the NB30 a bit of class while providing users with an easy-to-grip surface. Under the lid a matte bezel and deck greeted us, just as on the N210. We were pleased to see the same keyboard layout and matte screen, but not so happy to note that SD Cards still stick out about half an inch when plugged in.'

A review of the Acer Aspire 5942G laptop has been posted over at PC Advisor. 'The Acer Aspire 5942G actually has two aces up its sleeve. Besides a most capable ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics processor (backed up with no less than 1GB of memory), it also takes a particularly fast Intel mobile CPU. Various processor options are available for the Acer Aspire 5942G, but we looked at one with a new Intel Core i5 chip. It's clocked at 2.4GHz, but with the ability to rev up to 2.933GHz when required; and Hyper Threading technology means that its two cores can also behave as four virtual cores.'

CNET Asia have published a review of the Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 netbook. 'The Netbook's upper lid opens up farther than normal, which is useful when typing on small machines such as this one. Oddly, Fujitsu has centered the LifeBook's round screen hinge far back from the keyboard, in line with the bulky battery that juts from its bottom like a long kickstand. It gives the LifeBook a unique appearance but offers no real value. Fujitsu includes an array of four LED indicators at the top and bottom of the keyboard. However, these mostly serve as a distraction. The Netbook's small chrome power button, which is above the Num lock key, is the only discrete button other than the keyboard's keys.'

Tech Radar have published a review of the powerful Overclockers UK Titan Viper PC. 'The Titan Viper has also got the respin of the Core i7 920 - the snappily titled Core i7 930. It's a slightly faster version of the classic Bloomfield chip - clocked at 2.8GHz rather than 2.67GHz - but still with all the overclocking goodness of its forebear. In purely computational terms the chip is lightning. It's as quick in Cinebench as the ludicrously expensive Core i7 975 when that's clocked over 4GHz too. And, at only 38 seconds, it's incredibly close to the six-core Gulftown timings of 31 seconds.'

The Dell Inspiron i1545-4583JBK 1545 15.6-Inch Laptop (Jet Black) is on offer for $619.99 along with free shipping over at Amazon.com. 'Meet the Inspiron 15 -- a 15.6" laptop computer for your everyday needs. With an attractive, stylish design and mobile technology, this laptop features everything you want for everyday computing. The Inspiron 15 offers a modern black palmrest. Not to mention Intel Pentium Dual Core processors, a Dell Dock and optional facial recognition software, all at a value within reach. Includes Microsoft Works and a 30-day trial of McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall.

PC World have published their review of the HP EliteBook 2540p notebook. 'Priced at $1629 (as of May 5, 2010), the EliteBook 2540p is especially noteworthy for its solid case--a clean, metal-and-plastic design that HP says can withstand 300 pounds of pressure when closed. (If you do run into problems, however, be forewarned that HP ranked last in our most recent reader survey of manufacturer reliability and service.) The laptop feels compact and manages to hold out for a solid 5 hours, 34 minutes on a single battery charge. A 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-640LM and 4GB RAM provide the laptop's pep, helping it to a score of 102 in our WorldBench 6 test suite. The system feels powerful enough to handle Web browsing, Office apps, and virtually any productivity or content creation software.'

A review of the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch i5 notebook has been posted over at Pocket-lint. 'The MacBook Pro comes with Apple's LED-backlit display with a glossy finish, which is a glorious thing to behold with excellent colours and nice deep blacks. The bezel-free screen design adds to this impact, although this hasn't changed from previous versions of this computer. The resolution though is 1440 x 900, with a higher resolution version, 1680 x 1050 pixels, costing you more. On top of that you can opt for an antiglare finish, an obvious choice for those who want to work on the move with the MacBook Pro, but you'll need a spare £120 on top of the price.'

PC Perspective have published a review of the Acer Ferrari One 200 netbook. 'As far as the hardware specifications go, the Acer Ferrari One 200 is fairly well equipped for a netbook. With an AMD Athlon 64 X2 L310 dual core processor, up to 4GB of RAM (the unit we received had 3GB), and an ATI Radeon HD3200 GPU, this system should be able to handle some more demanding workloads than your standard netbook. The 11.6" display with 1366x768 resolution is worth noting as it's an interesting size that is reasonably high resolution for a small panel. We'll dig into the display panel more later in this review, but let me just say that it's quite surprising.'

Reg Hardware have published their review of the Dell Studio 17 touchscreen notebook . 'The glossy black chassis of the Studio 17 feels reassuringly sturdy, and at 3.5kg the machine is also weighty. Open the lid and the inimitable sheen of a capacitive touch-sensitive display is immediately obvious - this also makes it a nightmare in terms of attracting reflections. Dell's gone for a low-profile keyboard complete with numeric keypad. Given the price of the Studio 17, it was disappointing to find that the keyboard flexes quite heavily in the middle. Some people may not mind, but for me a sturdy, unbending keyboard is a good sign that care has been taken over the design of a laptop. And when typing at speed, the constant, albeit small bouncing motion can soon become an irritation.'

PC Magazine have published a review of the HP Pavilion Elite HPE-257c-b desktop PC. 'The HPE-257c-b comes in HP's standard Pavilion Elite chassis, which is the size of a standard tower PC, yet has HP's design ID all over it. It has the same glossy black front panels as the Editors' Choice HP Pavilion Elite HPE-140f ($1,029.99 list, ), with the same sports car-inspired embellishments. I still like the backlit HP logo on the front panel; it definitely sets itself apart from the sea of other black PC boxes on the store shelves.'

A review of the Toshiba NB300 netbook has been posted over at IT Reviews. 'Decked out in an all-black chassis, the NB300 certainly looks more attractive than its predecessor, and at 1.3kg it's roughly the same weight as most other netbooks. All the usual ports are present (Ethernet, card reader, VGA-out, audio and three USB), while a series of LEDs on the front lip let you know what's active and what's not. Stereo speakers sit just underneath the front of the netbook. They're not particularly loud and produce very tinny audio, so if you plan to use it as a portable jukebox you'll either need some headphones or a separate speaker system.'

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Sony VAIO Y Series (VPC-Y11M1E/S) - 13.3in laptop. 'Our review model, the Y11M1E/S, is the only model currently on sale and it'll set you back in the region of £650. Considering Sony is rarely averse to demanding a premium for its laptops, its specification is nothing to sniff at. At its heart is a low-voltage Intel Pentium SU4100, which has two cores running at 1.3GHz. It's backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 320GB hard drive, with Wireless-N Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also included. That's a decent base-line, especially for a system claiming nine hours of battery life, but the need to keep the weight and price down means there's no integrated optical drive.'

CNET have published their review of the 2010 Apple MacBook Pro. 'Looks-wise, this is the same MacBook Pro we know from 2009. The lines, the keyboard, the weight, the materials, and the screen all feel indistinguishable from the previous model. The unibody aluminum body is as sturdy and slim to our eyes as it seemed in late 2008, even after a year and a half. On the other hand, no further engineering improvements have been implemented. For anyone expecting greater changes, that might be disappointing: after all, last year's update, though subtle, did include an SD card slot, an integrated battery, and an LED-backlit display. Even so, a year later, we find the design to be one of the best and most comfortable on the market.'

A review of the HP Mini 5102 netbook has been posted over at Geek.com. 'The number one thing to keep in mind about the Mini 5102 is that this is a premium netbook. It's specifically designed for businesses (small or large) as well as use in school districts, but it fits the needs of demanding consumers quite well also. Much of this has to do with durability as the 5102 uses HP Durakeys (to prevent key wear), it has an aluminum LCD lid, there is an accelerometer (3D Drive Guard), the bottom of the chassis is metal, the keyboard is spill-resistant, and so on. There are also performance components, including a standard 7200RPM hard drive and 2MP webcam, plusoptions for a 1366×768 resolution option, mobile broadband, a multi-touch display, and 80/128GM SSDs. In addition to Windows 7 HP offers Windows XP, FreeDOS, or SuSE Linux.'