Apple MacBook Air

Apple's latest notebook, the MacBook Air, is being hailed as the world's thinnest. At well under an inch at the thickest point, the Air offers a thin design coupled with an extremely lightweight package for a notebook that has the same basic footprint as the standard MacBook. The flip side to all of this, however, is the (some say inexcusable) list of features left out, with a staggering price tag that has wallets cowering in fear at the cost of the top tier configuration.

Build and Design

The design of the MacBook Air is nothing short of amazing, when you compare its basic shape and look to a standard notebook. It is so incredibly thin compared to anything else I have played around with, and seems paper thin during use. With the display open and the notebook laying flat on your desk the palmrest is a pencil eraser's height above the surface of your desk. The real beauty of this notebook though is its clean design with only one visible port connection, with the rest hidden by a magnetic latch cover. The body continues with its sleek look with all rounded and polished surfaces and not even a foot to catch when the notebook is being slid into a bag. Build quality is nothing short of amazing, and hands down one of the strongest notebooks I have ever felt. When closed the display cover does have some mild flex (give it a break, it's thin), but the real strength is the palmrest and keyboard structure. Formed from a block of aluminum with the internal cavity CNC machined, it is super strong. No flex is present when mashing down on the palmrest, and picking it up with both hands to try to flex the body is futile. Comparing it to a known item like a Thinkpad, it would beat it hands down, with no plastic creaking to boot! You would need to move into the realm of Panasonic Toughbooks to find something that would be an equal competitor. The downside to this beautiful design is the missing features that have been standard on notebooks almost since conception. User replaceable batteries, decent port selection, or even a docking connector are all missing. While you could get away with an external hub and USB devices on the road for additional hookups, not having a spare battery to swap in is a huge disadvantage. Combine this with a slow charging battery and you have the opposite of an ultimate road warrior.

Display

The screen on the MacBook is very nice, with vibrant colors and intense backlight. Black levels are nice and even with very little backlight bleed showing through even on very dark scenes in movies or games. Comfortable viewing brightness during my review was around 15-20%, matching 80% on my Thinkpad. 100% on the MacBook Air is close to the brightness levels that my desktop LCD can reach. Viewing angles of the LCD were above average.

Horizontal viewing range was perfect up until the screen was blocked by metal backing, but vertical viewing range was limited if you went 10 to 15 degrees up or down from straight on.

No screen defects were present on our online purchased model; this included stuck and dead pixels as well as backlight bleed.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The MacBook Air keyboard is the slim key design that is also found across the board on other Apple products. Spacing is slightly off compared to a more normal keyboard, and it took a while to get used to the layout. Once you get past the transition, you notice the keyboard is very well built and pretty comfortable to type on. Individual keys require little pressure to activate, and the keyboard has zero flex.

Some items missing from the keyboard are markings for page up/down, home/end, but those key functions were present if you press the FN key and one of the arrow buttons.

The touchpad has a few unique qualities that are either not seen in most notebooks, or were a first for notebooks. Windows users will notice right away that the touchpad is roughly a billion times larger than anything they have seen before, while Mac users will feel right at home. Measuring in at 4.12" by 2.48" it was larger than anything I have ever used in the past. The new feature new to this touchpad on the MacBook air is its multitouch capabilities, which give the user the chance to play around with objects like they would on an iPod Touch or iPhone. This means pinching or spreading apart your fingers to zoom in and out, circling your fingers around to rotate objects, and other advanced motions. General use of the touchpad inside Mac OS 10 or Windows Vista was spotty with either sensitivity that was not adjustable to suite my preference, or the multitouch features kicking in when I was not expecting. The problem I found was my palm was always touching the edge of the touchpad while I was typing, and it would trigger a two-touch motion like scrolling, instead of moving the cursor.

Another obvious problem we encountered with the multitouch touchpad under Windows was the issue of touchpad freezes and blue screens. We suspect there is an issue with the touchpad drivers for Windows since we could consistently cause a failure simply by touching the touchpad with multiple fingers. It's pretty clear there is a problem when multiple touches disable a "multitouch" touchpad.

Performance and Benchmarks

The speed of the MacBook air was surprising from the moment we received. I expected it to be somewhat slow with its mobile processor, but its real world performance was lacking especially inside its native OS 10.5. Boot times were in the 56 second range, and starting up a wide array of programs took much longer than normal. Even basic rendering of web pages seemed to lag when viewing new pages. Bootcamp performance though (while very buggy) was quite snappy. Including the 16 seconds or so from power button press to the loading of Vista Ultimate, total boot time was 50 seconds to the Windows desktop. IE and Firefox loaded up much faster in Vista than Safari or Firefox did in OS 10.

Overall the machine seemed to enjoy running inside Vista more than it did OS 10, but bugs were prevalent all throughout bootcamp with the current Apple-provided drivers. The touchpad was the source of many problems, including six bluescreens and 30+ touchpad lockups from "multiple touches." While the features worked occasionally trying to use the scrolling motions or even tapping multiple fingers on the touchpad would be enough to lock until a reboot. The bluescreens would often come at random, with the culprit always being the "Applemtp.sys" driver crashing. More than a few times the machine would bluescreen when I was not even touching anything on the notebook.

The keyboard backlight was another source of problems, rarely working inside Vista. 10% of the time the backlight worked from system startup, but would quickly turn off 5-10 minutes later. When you would try to adjust the brightness the on-screen display would display an "X" as if the device was not present.

System benchmarks in Vista did quite well, and were above what we were expecting after the poor Mac OS results found in our first thoughts review. Gaming even became possible in Vista, with Half-Life running perfectly at 1280x800, and Half-Life 2 having decent frame rates at 640x480.

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi. (Lower scores indicate better performance.)

Heat

One downside to an all aluminum design is the entire notebook acts as one gigantic heatsink. In the case of the MacBook Air, you have a machine that runs a bit on the hot side that burns your hands when the system is under stress. With the processor underneath the top left section of the keyboard, it is hottest in that area, which also happens to be the same spot gamers place their left hand for movement controls. Playing Half-Life for any decent length of time puts your hand in a situation where the surface of the notebook is pretty darn hot, almost unbearable. The bottom of the notebook during all of this is hotter still, and very uncomfortable for bare legs. Gaming might not be a primary use for this notebook, but other CPU intensive activities like compressing music or encoding video will put you in a similar situation.

While your average web browsing might not get to the same temperature peaks that I found during gaming, even normal activity had this notebook feeling hotter than any other notebook I have used. Most of this could probably be associated with the type of case, but is still worth mentioning. Below are temperature readings listed in degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery and Power

Apple claimed five hours of battery life with wireless enabled, and from my testing I think that would be possible ... under the right situation. With screen brightness at 25%, Bluetooth off, and WiFi on, the MacBook Air got 4 hours and 20 minutes of battery life with above average web activity. Half of this time was spent in Mac OS, with the other half in Vista. If you had very light internet traffic, or even had wireless disabled and were just typing on the notebook you should get five hours or more productivity from the battery.

One huge complaint this notebook gets in my opinion is the integrated battery. Not only can you not swap the battery if it dies while traveling, but to make matters worse the charging speed is abysmal. Our MacBook Air from a dead state would only reach 25-30% after charging for one hour with the notebook turned off. On most notebooks, in this period of time the battery would be well above 50% if not much higher.

specifications:

* Mac OS X v10.5.1 Leopard and Windows Vista Ultimate
* Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 1.6GHz (4MB L2 cache, 800MHz frontside bus)
* 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
* 80GB 4200rpm parallel ATA hard disk drive
* 13.3" glossy widescreen TFT LED backlit display (1280 x 800)
* Intel GMA X3100 graphics (144MB of shared memory)
* iSight webcam
* AirPort Extreme WiFi (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n)
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
* Micro DVI, USB 2.0 port (480Mbps), Audio out
* Dimensions : 0.16-0.76", 12.8", 8.94" (H, W, D)
* Weight: 3.0 pounds (3lbs 0.6oz actual)
* Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
* 45W MagSafe power adapter with cable management system (6.5oz)

Read More ..

Apple Mac Pro 17 inches

The even more stunning 17-inch MacBook Pro.


A high-resolution LED-backlit display, a bigger hard drive, and plenty of memory and processing power all fit inside one liberating inch. This multimedia powerhouse has the screen size and performance of a desktop computer. Without the desk part.


Room for more.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a 320GB 5400-rpm hard drive standard, with a 7200-rpm drive available as an option.1 So there’s room for even bigger ideas. You also have the option to upgrade to a solid-state drive, which has no moving parts, for enhanced durability. And with 4GB of memory standard, your large files run with ease, you can use multiple data-intensive applications with greater efficiency, and you can get more done

Power duo

The Intel Core 2 Duo processor runs at speeds up to 2.6GHz and includes a 6MB shared L2 cache, which means you can encode video, render effects, and open and manipulate large images at high speeds





Graphics and video support

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with dual-link DVI support and 512MB of GDDR3 memory

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

DVI output port

VGA output using included DVI to VGA Adapter

iSight camera. Built-in iSight camera



Communications


Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi wireless networking2 (based on IEEE 802.11n draft specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
Freedom. It’s the incredible invisible feature of the MacBook Pro. With the latest wireless technology built in, you can do everything you need to do, wherever you need to do it. Wi-Fi networks show up right on your desktop. Just click and connect, and surf the web from a cafe, video chat from a hotel, share files at the airport, and take on the wireless world.

Read More ..

Dell XPS M1730

Dell chose an intimidating design scheme for their flagship notebook. The visible exterior has a deep glossy black surface with a 'hydrographic' design pattern. The intricacy of the design can best be seen in a well-lit room. The back of the lid deserves special attention – two clear plastic windowed areas on the sides have a color background that is illuminated by the LED lights; our test unit has the Smoke Grey panels. The XPS M1730 is also available with Sapphire Blue, Crimson Blue, and Bone White. In the center of the lid is a large shiny Dell logo illuminated by a bright white LED backlight. The lid is an instant attention-grabber and the most visually striking part of the M1730 in this reviewer's opinion. The speakers in the front of the machine are illuminated by LED lights as is the touchpad and its buttons. While the LED lights on the back of the lid do not change colors, the ones on the front can. All the colors in the rainbow are available (more or less) and each speaker as well as the touchpad can be individually controlled via the Dell QuickSet software. The keyboard is LED backlit and visually impressive. This is the first machine I have ever tested with a backlit keyboard and I would like to see more notebooks implement this feature. It is useful in low light scenarios and for those late-night gaming sessions.

The build quality of the M1730 is impressive, as it should be for the price. The chassis feels as solid as high-end competing notebooks from Sager and Alienware. There is zero flex in the palmrest or surrounding area, although the area beneath the display does not feel as solid as the aforementioned surfaces. Pressing on the back of the lid did not affect the display. The undersides of the notebook are made from magnesium and add to the build quality of the machine. In addition, they also help with heat dissipation. Moving to the top of the notebook, there is one display latch in the center of the display and it is solid. Its gunmetal color is a smart match for the black and gray exterior. The lid closes with a reassuring 'click' and holds secure. The front of the M1730 is angled nicely when the lid is closed; the M1730 may be big, but it is also sleek. Its front end almost looks like it was aerodynamically designed. The gaps between the various parts on the notebook are evenly spaced and everything fits together well, which shows attention to detail.

Display

The 17-inch glossy 1920 x 1200 pixel widescreen display that came on our test unit is the only option for the M1730. WUXGA is the highest resolution available on a notebook. This display is fantastic; for starters, it is the brightest single-lamp 17-inch display I have seen on a notebook. The high contrast makes colors pop off the screen; blacks are deep and whites are bright and pure. Viewing angles are excellent; the side-to-side angles are near perfect and there is minimal distortion from above and below. The picture is crystal clear and there is no distortion or graininess. Light leakage is minimal, with only a small amount coming from the bottom of the display.

Speakers

The M1730's stereo speakers are located at the front of the notebook below the palmrest area. Two small speaker cones can be seen through the speaker grills; they visibly pulse when playing music at elevated levels. For notebook speakers, the M1730's are wonderful. Treble is respectable and while bass is a bit lacking, it is still noticeable which is not something that can be said about many notebook speakers. Sound is detailed; I could hear bullet shells hitting the ground in games and picks hitting guitar strings in acoustic music. Overall, Dell has equipped the M1730 with two competent stereo speakers which suffice for playing music and games.

The M1730 has two headphone jacks located on the left side, which allows two people to tune into a movie or other audio.

Processor and Performance

I had high expectations for the fully-loaded review unit Dell sent us. The Core 2 Extreme X7900 is a rare and special processor in that it will not work in most Santa Rosa notebooks; its TDP is higher than most notebooks’ cooling solutions can handle. The standard Core 2 Duo mobile processor has a 35W TDP in comparison to the X7900's 44W. A heavy-duty heatsink is needed to handle its high heat output.

The real advantage to the Intel Extreme processors is their unlocked multiplier, so overclocking is simple. I ran each benchmark that involved scoring the processor twice; the first time with the processor at its stock 2.8GHz clockspeed, and the second time overclocked to 3.4GHz via the BIOS. The maximum overclock is 3.4GHz. Dell allows the end user to set 2.8GHz (stock), 3.0GHz, 3.2GHz, and 3.4GHz via the BIOS, but they recommend that the machine be run with 2.8GHz.

Testing notes: Prior to testing, I defragmented the hard drive and did a Windows Update. I installed the latest Nvidia drivers (169.04) for the video cards. All frames per second (FPS) benchmarks were done with FRAPS.

specifications :

* Windows Vista Home Premium
* Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 (2.8GHz/4MB L2/ 800MHz FSB)
* 17-inch WUXGA display
* Dual Nvidia GeForce 8700M-GT in SLI (256MB each)
* Dual 200GB 7200RPM Hitachi drives in RAID 0 (striped data)
* 2GB DDR2-667 RAM in dual-channel
* Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN wireless
* Integrated Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband
* 8X DVD Burner
* 9-cell battery

Read More ..

Dell Studio 17 Laptop

For a number of years the phrase, "Dude, you're getting a Dell" from old Dell television commercials was synonymous with heavy, thick, and boxy laptops that offered great value but where short on style. In fact, several competing laptop manufacturers developed sleek notebooks over the last five years that attracted consumers mainly due to their more "personal" appearance. The new Studio line from Dell is the latest example of how Dell has finally learned that the package matters almost as much as the contents of the box
The first time you look at the Studio 17 it's as if Dell added a few inches to the XPS M1530, cut out the brushed aluminum parts, and offered a few more ways to customize the look. The end result is an impressive looking desktop replacement. I use the term "desktop replacement" because most people in the market for a 17-inch notebook aren't planning to haul their notebook everywhere and use it during regular airline travel.

What the Studio 17 lacks in mobility it more than makes up for in solid design and construction. As mentioned above, the Studio 17 takes several design elements from the latest XPS notebooks: the wedge-shaped profile, drop hinge, slot-loading optical drive, and touch-sensitive media buttons are all hallmarks of the XPS M1330 and M1530. That said, there's more to the Studio 17 than just design elements from the XPS line.

The Studio 17 is available in your choice of seven colors: Plum Purple, Tangerine Orange, Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red, Spring Green or standard Jet Black. Our pre-production unit came with the "Midnight Blue" paint job and it looks absolutely flawless. The matte paint has an almost rubber-like texture similar to the paint used on last year's Inspiron notebooks and, of course, the XPS notebooks. Dell also took the customization options one step further by offering an optional high gloss "Graphite Grey" color that comes in your choice of black, blue, pink, or red edge trim around the display back and sides.

Another nice touch is the use of an imprinted design on the palmrest area (also on the display lid if you select the high gloss graphite grey color options). The design looks like a close-up view of a topographical map and is yet another way that the Studio notebooks stand out from the rest of the Dell lineup.

The one design element I'm not 100 percent in love with is the bottom access panel. Rather than have the typical RAM cover, hard drive covers, and main panel on the bottom of the notebook, the Studio 17 uses a single, massive panel that provides access to all of the notebook at once. While this is helpful for those people who want to make multiple modifications or service their notebook, exposing the entire bottom of the notebook is a little intimidating for people who just want to upgrade their RAM.

specifications:

* Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz) processor
* Windows Vista Home Premium SP1
* 17-inch WUXGA Glossy Display (1920 x 1200)
* 3GB system RAM - 2 DIMM (DDR2-667)
* 320GB 5400rpm HDD
* 256MB (GDDR2) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics
* Webcam and Fingerprint reader
* Backlit keyboard
* Slot Load DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer DVD+R write capacity
* Dell Wireless 1510N
* 9-cell battery (85WHr)
* Dimensions: 1.18" to 1.69" x 15.46" x 11.36" (H x W x D)
* Weight: 7.87lbs
* Other: "Dell Dock" software; 30-day security trial; 3GB Dell DataSafe; Dell Support Center
* Base Price: $999
* Price as configured: $1,599 (E-Value Code: 1-DNDPVA1)

Read More ..

Dell Inspiron Mini 12

The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 is a bit confused. It packs an Intel Atom processor, which makes it a netbook. But it also has a 12-inch screen, which exceeds our definition of what a netbook can be. On one hand it's a natural evolution of the genre in an ever growing screen size arms race, topping the 10-inchers like a razor company adding another blade. On the other, the Inspiron Mini 12 reaches a size and pricepoint that makes it comparable to far more capable systems from Dell in the same pricerange.

Design
The build of the Mini 12 is excellent. Even with the extended battery, it feels light and easy to toss around. But it's more than the weight that makes it so comfortable to carry. Its bottom has a sandpapery texture, which grips a hand with confidence. As for the screen, it's a luxury to use. The experience is completely different than an 8. 9-inch display that you find in most standard netbooks nowadays (including own Dell's Mini 9). There's decent color, solid contrast, and sharp 1280X800 resolution. . . but just moderate brightness. The max setting was just adequately bright, which considering the fact that LCDs fade with time, is something to keep in mind—especially if you like to fry your eyes like I do.

The biggest surprise of the testing had to be how cool the system ran. The bottom didn't heat my lap at all, feeling only lukewarm to the touch. I can only assume that the larger case mixed with a low wattage processor dissipates heat very well. However the engineering worked out, I'll take it. But if there was one thing I would change, it would be the charging and power light. It sits on the hinge in a prominent position that you can see even when closed, but it's far too dim, and it's viewable from a very limited range of angles. Put it this way, for the first day I had the system, I thought Dell had omitted this light altogether.

Ultimately though, it's just a nice looking machine that feels great to put yours hands on, a far cry from the humble original Eee and something you'll be proud to pull out at board meetings and pretentious coffee shops alike.

Function
So here's the rub: While I love the Dell design, the hardware/software combination has slowed the Mini 12 to barely usable levels. The model I tested was the $550 base system with a 1.33GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and 40GB hard drive. That system should be alright for XP (though we'd love to see a 2GB RAM upgrade option), but it's just not enough to power Vista. And you can only buy the system with Vista.

The system crawls with constant multi-second stalls, and effective multitasking is pretty much impossible. Sadly, there's not much more to say on the topic. Simple mental math tells us that this system shouldn't be running Vista as it skirts the minimum requirements of Home Basic, and our real world testing shows us the same thing. Of course, Vista alone doesn't mean you should pass over the Mini 12. Just expect to reinstall the OS with the purchase and come to terms with the fact that your paying licensing rights for an OS that you won't use.

Back to Square One
Without opening the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 box, I would have expected exactly what I encountered—a solidly built system that shouldn't be running Vista. But even loaded with XP, and even in the $600 configuration that we'd recommend (1.6GHz Atom, 60GB hard drive, 1GB RAM and 6-cell battery), the system still begs the question of value. A slightly smaller, equally powered MSI Wind will run you $350. And you can get a slightly bigger Core2Duo Dell laptop for $600 easy.

It's true. From a performance standpoint alone, there's almost no question that the Dell Mini 12 isn't "worth it." But if you don't want to squint at a screen yet you still want a system that breaks the 3-pound barrier, then it's hard not to be a little infatuated with the Mini 12. Just rip Vista off that thing as quickly as possible.

Read More ..

HP TX2-1020us TouchSmart

More than just a Tablet PC, the HP TouchSmart tx2-1020us laptop is the world's first multi-touch consumer laptop, enabling the use of two fingers to navigate HP's entertainment MediaSmart applications. You can also surf the Web and use applications intuitively by touching the screen with a finger. The tx2 is also a true Tablet PC, allowing you to fold the display flat for writing and drawing with the included pen.

For multimedia mavens on the go, the tx2 tablet PC is light enough to take anywhere and is a great resource for showing presentations thanks to its 180-degree swiveling 12.1-inch touchscreen display. Weighing just 4.33 pounds, the tx2-1020us delivers the same screen resolution and performance as a 15.4-inch notebook. Dual headphone jacks enable you to share films and music without disturbing others, and the included HP Mini Remote Control can be stored in the ExpressCard slot. This stylish laptop features a high-gloss HP Imprint finish, which is more durable than traditional painted surfaces. The tx2 Reaction Imprint reveals an energized pattern inspired by the circular elements found in audio equipment.

Optimized for mobile performance, it's powered by the 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 dual-core processor, which offers 64-bit computing capability and higher throughput for simultaneous computing tasks. Other features include a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed RAM (8 GB maximum), quad-mode Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11a/b/g/n), multi-format/dual-layer LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive (which also burns CDs), ExpressCard slot, NVIDIA ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics with up to 1470 MB of shared video RAM, SRS Premium Sound audio, and Gigabit Ethernet. It comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1).

Mobility You Can Touch
With multi-touch support within HP MediaSmart, the HP TouchSmart tx2 is the first notebook PC for consumers that enables the use of two fingers to navigate HP's entertainment applications. HP has developed a specific set of gestures to help you get the most from the TouchSmart tx2.

• Single, Double Tap: Select objects by touching them once (single tap), or double tap to open objects/programs
• Flick: Scroll or pan within an application either horizontally or vertically. For example, in MediaSmart Photo, flick your finger to the left on the display and the inertia from your flick will move the photos leftward, just as if you pushed a piece of paper to the left on a table.
• Press and Drag: Touch an object on the display and hold and drag it to the desired destination.
• Arc: Allows you to move tracks to/from playlists without having to make a straight line.
• Pinch: Touch an object on the display once to select the item then place 2 fingers on opposite corners of the object, then move them closer together to decrease the object's size or to zoom out. Move fingers away from one another to enlarge the object or to zoom in.
• Rotate: Rotate photos by touching the object once to select the item then use 2 fingers on opposite corners of the image and rotate the image either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
• Launch MediaSmart: Touch the screen with two fingers together and write the letter m on the display to launch the MediaSmart Smart Menu.

More than just a Tablet PC, the HP TouchSmart tx2-1020us laptop is the world's first multi-touch consumer laptop, enabling the use of two fingers to navigate HP's entertainment MediaSmart applications. You can also surf the Web and use applications intuitively by touching the screen with a finger. The tx2 is also a true Tablet PC, allowing you to fold the display flat for writing and drawing with the included pen.

For multimedia mavens on the go, the tx2 tablet PC is light enough to take anywhere and is a great resource for showing presentations thanks to its 180-degree swiveling 12.1-inch touchscreen display. Weighing just 4.33 pounds, the tx2-1020us delivers the same screen resolution and performance as a 15.4-inch notebook. Dual headphone jacks enable you to share films and music without disturbing others, and the included HP Mini Remote Control can be stored in the ExpressCard slot. This stylish laptop features a high-gloss HP Imprint finish, which is more durable than traditional painted surfaces. The tx2 Reaction Imprint reveals an energized pattern inspired by the circular elements found in audio equipment.

Optimized for mobile performance, it's powered by the 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 dual-core processor, which offers 64-bit computing capability and higher throughput for simultaneous computing tasks. Other features include a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed RAM (8 GB maximum), quad-mode Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11a/b/g/n), multi-format/dual-layer LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive (which also burns CDs), ExpressCard slot, NVIDIA ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics with up to 1470 MB of shared video RAM, SRS Premium Sound audio, and Gigabit Ethernet. It comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1).

Mobility You Can Touch
With multi-touch support within HP MediaSmart, the HP TouchSmart tx2 is the first notebook PC for consumers that enables the use of two fingers to navigate HP's entertainment applications. HP has developed a specific set of gestures to help you get the most from the TouchSmart tx2.

• Single, Double Tap: Select objects by touching them once (single tap), or double tap to open objects/programs
• Flick: Scroll or pan within an application either horizontally or vertically. For example, in MediaSmart Photo, flick your finger to the left on the display and the inertia from your flick will move the photos leftward, just as if you pushed a piece of paper to the left on a table.
• Press and Drag: Touch an object on the display and hold and drag it to the desired destination.
• Arc: Allows you to move tracks to/from playlists without having to make a straight line.
• Pinch: Touch an object on the display once to select the item then place 2 fingers on opposite corners of the object, then move them closer together to decrease the object's size or to zoom out. Move fingers away from one another to enlarge the object or to zoom in.
• Rotate: Rotate photos by touching the object once to select the item then use 2 fingers on opposite corners of the image and rotate the image either clockwise or counter-clockwise.
• Launch MediaSmart: Touch the screen with two fingers together and write the letter m on the display to launch the MediaSmart Smart Menu.

The Basics

• Processor: The 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 processor offers a dual-core architecture, which delivers additional computing resources to help expand your PC’s capabilities by providing higher throughput and simultaneous computing--increasing your performance by up to 80 percent. You'll be able to perform multiple tasks such as digital rendering and gaming all while running virus scan or other background tasks seamlessly thanks to the innovative Direct Connect Architecture. And it's designed to handle simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. You'll enjoy long battery life thanks to the AMD PowerNow! power management technology, which delivers performance on demand and can extend system battery life up to 65 percent. And the AMD Digital Media XPress technology delivers stellar multimedia performance and playback on digital entertainment such as games, streaming video and audio, DVDs, and music. It has a 2 MB L2 cache, and this processor can deliver up to 4400 MT/sec. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.)
• Hard Drive: The extra large 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
• Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. This notebook has an amazing 8 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.
• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a 101-key keyboard and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical/horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad. It also includes two quick-launch buttons (HP QuickPlay Music and DVD).
• Integrated Fingerprint Reader: A fingerprint reader offers advanced security by using fingerprints instead of standard passwords to access online accounts, such as banks and e-mail. To set up access, each fingerprint is associated with a password through Verisoft Access Manager. Verisoft Single Sign On (SSO) stores user names and passwords to an unlimited number of sites and automatically enters logon credentials. If more than one person uses the notebook PC, each can use a fingerprint to logon to a computer user account and access preset preferences and files.
  

Spec Check

o 12.1-inch LCD screen
o 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 dual-core processor
o 320 GB hard drive
o 4 GB RAM (8 GB maximum)
o Dual-layer DVD±R drive
o Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
o NVIDIA ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics
o Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1)
o Weighs 4.33 pounds

• Processor: The 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 processor offers a dual-core architecture, which delivers additional computing resources to help expand your PC’s capabilities by providing higher throughput and simultaneous computing--increasing your performance by up to 80 percent. You'll be able to perform multiple tasks such as digital rendering and gaming all while running virus scan or other background tasks seamlessly thanks to the innovative Direct Connect Architecture. And it's designed to handle simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. You'll enjoy long battery life thanks to the AMD PowerNow! power management technology, which delivers performance on demand and can extend system battery life up to 65 percent. And the AMD Digital Media XPress technology delivers stellar multimedia performance and playback on digital entertainment such as games, streaming video and audio, DVDs, and music. It has a 2 MB L2 cache, and this processor can deliver up to 4400 MT/sec. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.)
• Hard Drive: The extra large 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
• Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. This notebook has an amazing 8 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.
• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a 101-key keyboard and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical/horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad. It also includes two quick-launch buttons (HP QuickPlay Music and DVD).
• Integrated Fingerprint Reader: A fingerprint reader offers advanced security by using fingerprints instead of standard passwords to access online accounts, such as banks and e-mail. To set up access, each fingerprint is associated with a password through Verisoft Access Manager. Verisoft Single Sign On (SSO) stores user names and passwords to an unlimited number of sites and automatically enters logon credentials. If more than one person uses the notebook PC, each can use a fingerprint to logon to a computer user account and access preset preferences and files.
  

Spec Check

o 12.1-inch LCD screen
o 2.1 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 dual-core processor
o 320 GB hard drive
o 4 GB RAM (8 GB maximum)
o Dual-layer DVD±R drive
o Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
o NVIDIA ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics
o Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1)
o Weighs 4.33 pounds

Read More ..

Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q701

The Qosmio X305-Q701's design is anything but subtle. Its red lid is covered with almost abstract, two-tone flames, and the center prominently features "Qosmio" in inch-tall silver letters. Inside, the display bezel is a deeper red, while the shiny black keyboard and deck are bordered with metallic red. The laptop is also quite massive, measuring 2.25 inches thick at the back (a mere 1.7 inches at the front) and 16 inches wide. By contrast, both the HP Pavilion dv7-1025nr and Gateway P-7811FX top out at 1.7 inches thick and will take up a little less space on your desk. While the Qosmio's 9-pound weight falls within our expectations for a desktop replacement, its 2.2-pound power brick does not; though the system is still technically portable, there's no way you'll be carrying it around campus with any regularity.

The 1,440x900 resolution on the Qosmio X305-Q701's 17-inch display could be sharper; we've become accustomed to seeing 1,680x1,050 or even 1,920x1,200 on other desktop replacements. The slightly lower resolution on the Qosmio makes text and icons easy to read, but images and movies lack the crispness we've seen on other media-oriented systems, including the HP Pavilion dv7-1025nr.

A row of red light-touch controls stretch across the top of the keyboard and include not only the expected media player launch key, playback controls, and mute button, but also a button to turn off the LED case lights, one to turn on the Webcam, and one to launch the included Dolby Home Theater software. As with the company's Satellite models, the Qosmio X305-Q701's keys are made of very glossy plastic that fits the overall aesthetic but is so shiny as to be distracting. Fortunately, the keyboard is comfortable; with your eyes closed it feels like any other full-size board. Because of the laptop's broad case, there's also room for a 10-key numeric keypad.

We do think the Qosmio's wide touch pad could use a bit more height, but it is nevertheless functional for those few times you aren't using an external mouse. We're not fond of the glowing red stripe across the top of the touch pad (which we've seen in white on recent Satellite models), but we do appreciate that it can be disabled with one of the light-touch controls. We wish the laptop also incorporated a hardware touch pad on/off button like the one found on HP's Pavilion line.
The Qosmio's case features some additional small design elements worth noting. First, the tray-loading DVD drive is located on the laptop's front edge, which is either convenient or annoying, depending on where things pile up on your desk. Likewise, the headphone and microphone jacks, along with a handy volume wheel, are unconventionally located on the laptop's right edge. A hardware switch for the Wi-Fi radio is within easy reach on the front edge. And the back two corners of the keyboard deck, next to the speakers, glow red for no particular reason (as with the touch pad stripe, these lights can be turned off).
Specification :

• Price :$1,399
• Processor : 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350
• Chipset : Mobile Intel PM45 Express
• Memory : 4GB at 1066MHz
• Hard drive : 200GB at 7,200rpm
• Graphics : 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9700M GTS
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
• Dimensions : 16.2 x 12 x 1.7 inches
• Screen size (diagonal) : 17.1 inches
• System weight / Weight with AC adapter : 9.0 / 11.2 pounds
  

Read More ..

HP Pavilion Artist Edition DV2890NR

Built for today's multimedia-savvy, always on-the-go computer user, the HP Pavilion dv2890nr Artist Edition takes its award-winning imprint designs to the next level with a unique artistic rendering wrapped around the entire laptop. HP's Take Action/Make Art contest received over 8,500 entries from aspiring young artists worldwide, and this bold, colorful, innovative design stood out at capturing the HP PC experience. You can also travel in style with the coordinating Artist Edition messenger bag (sold separately).

Show your individuality with the Artist Edition HP Imprint finish, featuring the winning design from a worldwide competition sponsored by HP and MTV.

More than a pretty face, the dv2890nr Artist Edition PC delivers rich digital entertainment and excellent mobile performance.
Optimize your mobility with a BrightView 14.1-inch display that has the same viewable area as a 15.4-inch screen--in a notebook that weighs a pound less. Encouraging more direct interaction, the backlit media control panel responds to the touch or sweep of a finger. Control settings for audio and video playback from up to 10 feet away with the included HP remote, then store it conveniently in the PC card slot. Enjoy movies or music in seconds with the external DVD or music buttons to launch HP QuickPlay (which bypasses the boot process).

Read More ..

Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop

A great choice for business travelers who like to travel light as well as those who need extra-long battery life, this affordable ultra-lightweight Acer Aspire One (LU.S040B.162) weighs just over 2 pounds and is packed with a 160 GB hard drive and Windows XP operating system. It has a vibrant 8.9-inch CrystalBrite WSVGA LED backlit display, integrated webcam for easy video chatting, and Intel's latest mobile processor--the Atom. Offering a cool deep blue hue, the netbook's smooth surface is comfortable to touch, and it's accented with distinctive details, such as the attractive orange hinge ring.

Read More ..

Toshiba Satellite A355-S6879

Replace your desktop PC with the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6879 laptop, featuring all the power and hard drive space you expect from a top-of-the-line desktop but in an easily mobile package. Stylishly designed, this Toshiba Satellite features a large, bright 16-inch LCD (1366 x 768)--with a true 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p native high-definition resolution. It's also great for using as a media center, with Toshiba's Express Media Player enabling you to bypass the system and access CDs and DVDs with a touch of button. The dual-layer DVD±RW drive also burns CDs and offers LabelFlash print functionality. A 1.3 megapixel digital web camera built into the LCD's bezel lets you quickly snap photos and participate in live video chats.

Read More ..

HP Pavilion G60-120US

The HP G60 series delivers easy-to-use entertainment. Enjoy DVD playback with QuickPlay on the crystal-clear 15.6" diagonal HP BrightView display and Altec Lansing speakers that brings your entertainment to life. The G60 series has AMD Turion X2 technology with 3GB of RAM enables you to use multiple demanding applications, such as photo editing, DVD burning and playing a game, at the same time. Burn audio CDs and DVDs to share your favorite songs and video clips with friends and family. Create custom laser-etched disc labels right in the drive with LightScribe and preinstalled Cyberlink DVD Suite. Just burn data on the disc, flip it over and burn the cover image using any scanned image and/or text. 15.6 diagonal (1366 x 768) High Definition BrightView Display Built-in Webcam and Microphone NVidia Geforce 8200M with up to 1407 MB Shared Graphics Memory LightScribe SuperMulti 8x DVD+-R/RW Drive with Double Layer 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless 10/100 Base-T Ethernet LAN 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter - MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD 3 x USB 2.0, Headphone out; Microphone-in, VGA, HDMI, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 14.88 (L) x 9.9 (D) x 1.61 (H) Approximate Unit Weight - 6.06 Pounds

Read More ..

Apple MacBook MB466LL/A

Redesigned with a precision unibody enclosure crafted from a single block of aluminum, the MacBook is thinner and lighter than its predecessor as well as stronger and more durable. But Apple didn't stop innovating with the body's design. The MacBook also includes a new 13.3-inch, LED-backlit glass display (instead of an LCD panel) and a glass trackpad that doesn't include a button (for larger tracking area) and features includes Apple's Multi-Touch technology.


The redesigned MacBook (see larger version).
Under the hood, the MacBook is powered by a powerful 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (with 3 MB L2 cache and 1066 MHz front-side bus), which runs applications faster and more efficiently as well as helps to reduce power requirements and save on battery life. And the MacBook features the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, which delivers outstanding 3D game play with up to five times faster graphics performance than the previous generation.

It's pre-loaded with Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system, which enables easy backup of your most important data via Time Machine, a redesigned desktop that helps eliminate clutter. It also comes with the iLife '08 suite of applications--including iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, and iTunes--and the newest version of the fast-loading Safari web browser. Other hardware features include a 160 GB hard drive, 2 GB of installed RAM (which can be upgraded to 4 GB), an 8x combo Superdrive (for burning dual-layer DVDs as well as CDs), built-in Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and Mini DisplayPort video output (for DVI and VGA connections).

Read More ..