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Asus Zenbook UX31 Review

2011-11-26T07:11:00.000+08:00

Design

Now, this is what an Ultrabook should look like. From the first moment we saw the ASUS Zenbook UX31, we were immediately taken with the brushed-aluminum chassis and slim design. The circular spun-metal pattern on the lid is slightly darker in color, and the deck has a linear brush pattern. It's subtle, but it's a nice touch. The metal island-style keys are set off by a black background. The hinge area gets its own treatment, with a fine dot pattern and "UX31 Series Ultra Slim" written in script.

Yes, the UX31 looks similar to the 13-inch MacBook Air, but ASUS added enough original elements to make it its own. The UX31's unibody design is certainly far more attractive than the Acer Aspire S3, whose plastic construction felt cheap for a $900 system.

At 3 pounds and measuring 13.3 x 8.9 x 0.1-0.7 inches, the UX31 is the same weight as the Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook and the 13-inch MacBook Air, but about0.05 inches thicker than both. We didn't really notice the difference.

ASUS bundles the UX31 with a padded brown fabric sleeve, a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, and a micro VGA-to-VGA adapter. The adapters also get their own little pouch.

Keyboard

Island-style keyboards are rapidly becoming de rigeur for premium notebooks, and the ASUS UX31 follows suit. We liked the large, well-spaced metal keys, and even though they were flat, our fingers stuck to them well. The arrow keys are smaller than what you'll find on the 13-inch Air, but they were pretty easy to find by feel.

Overall, typing this review on the UX31 was a pleasant experience, but we had to hit the keys slightly harder than we're used to make sure the notebook registered all of our presses. What's missing is backlighting, which will be a big omission for some. We also wish ASUS would reverse the function keys so that you could adjust the volume or brightness without having to press Fn first.

Touchpad

Measuring 4.1 x 2.75 inches, the UX31's Sentelic-powered touchpad is almost as large as the MacBook Air's (4.1 x 3 inches) and includes integrated buttons. Navigating the desktop was fairly smooth, but it took us more swipes than we'd like to get from one side of the screen to the other. In addition, sometimes the cursor would jump. Two-finger scrolling was almost too sensitive, and pinch-to-zoom gestures stuttered on Firefox and Internet Explorer. We also had trouble selecting text unless we were very deliberate, though we had better luck when using one finger from each hand.

Prior to writing this review, ASUS provided a firmware update for the touchpad, but we'd say that the company still has work to do.

Heat

After streaming a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad on the UX31 was a cool 76 degrees, the space between the G and H keys was just 81, and the middle of the underside measured 84 degrees. All are well below what we consider uncomfortable--95 degrees.

Display

We were thrilled when we found out that the UX31's 13.3-inch display would have a resolution of 1600 x 900; it's far more fitting for a premium system than the standard 1366 x 768, and even higher than the MacBook Air's 1440 x 900 panel. We liked that we could see more of web pages and even have two documents open side by side.

When we watched the 1080p trailer for The Avengers, explosions were wonderfully fiery, but blacks could be truer, and we noticed some pixelation in darker areas. Also, viewing angles leave something to be desired compared to the MacBook Air. Three people watching the same movie would have to snuggle up pretty close to see the image clearly.

Speakers

You can't see the speakers on the UX31, but they make their presence felt. Audio, by Bang & Olufsen's ICEpower and ASUS SonicMaster, radiates from underneath the keyboard, and is not only surprisingly loud, but quite good considering the limitations of the UX31's size.

The cymbals and guitar riffs on the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Y Control" were relatively free of distortion even at max volume. Bass wasn't overwhelming, but was present. Curiously, the speakers would cause the entire deck to reverberate, especially on thumping dance tracks, such as September's "Cry For You" and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem." Overall, the UX31 offers more robust sound than the 13-inch Air.

Wake and Boot from Sleep

One of the requirements that Intel laid down for Ultrabooks is that they be able to boot very quickly and resume nearly instantly from sleep. This requires an SSD. The UX31 booted Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) in a fast 29 seconds, half that of the category average (59 seconds). It was only bested by the MacBook Air, which launched OSX Lion in just 17 seconds, and the Samsung Series 9 (25 seconds).

The Acer Aspire S3 has a 20GB SSD, but that drive is only used as a hibernation partition for saving memory to disk to enable quick resumes, not for booting or loading applications. All the action, including the bootup, occurs on the mechanical 320GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive, which is why it took a much longer 65 seconds to load Windows.

Like the MacBook Air, the UX31 resumed from sleep in about 1-2 seconds. It really is great to use a Windows notebook that's ready to go back to work when you are. The S3 took about a second longer than that.

Ports and Webcam

The UX31 has a USB 3.0 on the right side, but it uses micro-sized HDMI and VGA ports instead of full-size ones, which some will find annoying. We like that ASUS ships a VGA adapter with the UX31, but we wish there was a microHDMI adapter as well. The left side of the notebook has a USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, and an SD card slot.

During a Skype call, the 0.3-megapixel webcam on the UX31 offered clear, but somewhat pallid images. A caller said that video lacked some detail, too. On the plus side, the ASUS FaceLogon Manager took less than 30 seconds to record an image of our face, and logged us into the system in less than a second.

Performance

Inside our UX31 is a 1.7-GHz Intel Core i5-2557M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB Adata solid state drive. Though this is the starting configuration for the UX31, we found it more than powerful. On the PCMark Vantage benchmark, the system scored 10,233, which is almost double the ultraportable average (4,902) and the Acer Aspire S3 (5,409). The Samsung Series 9 was closer (6,857), but only the MacBook Air--which also has a Core i5 processor and an SSD--topped it with a score of 11,230.

On our OpenOffice test completing a VLOOKUP operation of 20,000 names--the UX31 took 5 minutes and 50 seconds, about 25 seconds faster than average, and about two minutes faster than the S3 (8:03).

Having an SSD really makes a difference. Duplicating a 4.97GB folder of multimedia took just 52 seconds, a rate of 97.9 MBps. That's nearly three times faster than the category average (36.8 MBps) and falls between the MacBook Air (127 MBps) and the Series 9 (68.8 MBps), both of which have SSDs.

Graphics

While the Intel HD graphics in the UX31 aren't going to win the hearts of gamers, it fared fairly well. Its score of 3,761 in 3DMark06 is about 900 points above average (2,880), and lies between the MacBook Air (4,236) and the S3 (3,257).

When we ran our World of Warcraft benchmark with the screen set to native resolution (1600 x 900) and effects at Good, the UX31 averaged 26 fps, which is the same as the S3--just barely playable--and well below the average (43 fps) and the MacBook Air (59 fps at 1440 x 900). However, when we dropped the resolution to 1366 x 768, the UX31's frame rates increased to 40 fps.

Battery Life

The built-in battery on the UX31 lasted 5 hours and 58 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test (web surfing via Wi-Fi). That's about half an hour less than the ultraportable average (6:33) as well as the MacBook Air (6:25), but almost 50 minutes longer than the Samsung Series 9 (5:11) and well beyond the Acer S3 (4:23). You should be able to get through most of the day on a charge with this notebook.

Configurations

Our starting model, the UX31E-DH52, costs $1,099 and has a 1.7-GHz Intel Core i5-2557M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The UX31E-DH53 will cost $1,349 and have the same processor and RAM, but a larger 256GB SSD. The top of-the-line model, the UX31E-DH72, will have an Intel Core i7-2677M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, and will retail for $1,449.

Software and Warranty

ASUS keeps the software load pretty light, which is good considering there's not a ton of space on the 128GB SSD. The most prominent utility is the ASUS PowerWiz gadget, which not only tells you at a glance how much battery life is left, but how much time remains if you were to surf the web, play videos, games, or perform office-related tasks. Another gadget lets you disable instant on.

ASUS also bundled its utilities into the AsusTools folder, which sits on the desktop and gives you quick access to everything from Backup and Restore to the webcam. Other ASUS apps include its Vibe Center, a games and multimedia entertainment portal and ASUS WebStorage (online backup).

Of course, no Windows notebook would be complete without Microsoft Office Starter 2010 and a trial version of security software, in this case Trend Micro Titanium.

The UX31 comes with a two-year global warranty and one year of accidental damage protection, 24/7 tech support, free two-way shipping, and a 30-day guarantee that the panel won't have dead pixels. See how ASUS fared in our Tech Support Showdown and Best & Worst Brands report.

Verdict

The ASUS Zenbook UX31 takes a lot of what we loved about the 13-inch MacBook Air--a wafer-thin aluminum chassis, fast performance, instant resume, and good battery life--and adds even better audio and a higher-resolution display. Even better, the UX31 costs $200 less than the Air. The design of the ASUS also looks and feels more premium, thanks to the brushed-metal treatment. However, while we can live with not having a backlit keyboard, the touchpad simply doesn't work as well as it should--and you interact with that the most. The Zenbook UX31 is our favorite Ultrabook so far, but the Air is still our top ultraportable.

ASUS Releases G74 Gaming Notebook

2011-06-21T11:35:00.002+08:00

ASUS has silently introduced its latest mainstream gaming notebook, the G74. It features a 17.3-inch display, 12GB of RAM, and an available 3D screen.
The 17.3-inch display has a full HD (1080p) resolution; one model features a 3D version of the screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Other specifications of the notebook include a second-generation Intel Core i7-2630QM quad-core mobile processor, two 750GB 7200RPM hard drives, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M graphics card, and a backlit keyboard.

Pricing and Availability
There are two models currently available: the G74SX-A1 ($1,745) and the G74SX-3DE ($1,979). The notebooks have the specifications mentioned above; the difference is that the -3DE model has a 3D screen and a Blu-ray burner as opposed to the standard screen and Blu-ray reader of the -A1 model. Both notebooks include a gaming mouse and backpack and should be available for purchase June 28, 2011.

MSI GT780R, GX780 Review

2011-06-14T11:18:00.002+08:00

MSI GX780 Review

Exclusive Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) Technology
With MSI Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) Technology, which is world's No.1 turbo technology, you can experience faster response time and efficient real-time data processing.

Exclusive Cooler Boost Technology

Only one finger!! Exclusive Cooler Boost technology provides powerful cooling capabilities and receives real-time notification of the GX780's core temperature variations and fan speed.

Exclusive DDR3 SO-DIMM x 4 slot Design Easily Doubles Performance

Provides you with the most economical means to upgrade memory capacity (16GB max), so you never again have memory issues affecting your gaming experience.
More Storage, More Performance

Dual SATA hard drives let you play more games, view more DVDs and download more music, allowing you to enjoy all kinds of entertainment when you’re out and about.

New Level of Sound and Performance

MSI Premium Sound Technology For serious gamers who demand extreme audio performance, the GX780 is the best and only choice!

NVIDIA GTX560M Discrete Graphics Card with GDDR5 1GB

NNVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M notebook GPUs give your games an adrenaline shot with the premium performance and great detail images quality thanks to latest DirectX11 effects. GeForce GT 555M arms you with the latest industry-leading technologies including eye-popping dynamic PhysX effects, high performance NVIDIA Verde drivers, and more.

Dominate Next Generation DirectX11 Gaming DirectX 11 GPU with Shader Model 5.0 is designed for ultra high performance and real-to-life image details in the new API’s key graphics feature, GPU-accelerated tessellation.

16:9 Full HD LED Backlit Display

Breath-taking graphics generated by a state-of-the-art engine come alive only when displayed in stunning full 1080P. The GX780's’s 17.3” full 1080P HD widescreen with LED display technology delivers the most brilliant color and contracts that will dazzle your eye whether you’re watching a Blu-ray movie or playing a game.

Powered By 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor Extreme Edition

With faster, intelligent, multi-core technology that applies processing power where its needed most, the GX780 powered by 2nd generation Intel Core i7 mobile processor Extreme Edition delivers an incredible breakthrough in gaming performance. The unit relies on the combination of Intel turbo Boost 2.0 technology and Intel Hyper-Threading technology with smart 8-way multi-task processing to activate full processing power exactly where and when you need it most.

ASUS outs UX21 ultrathin laptop with up to Core i7 CPUs (video hands-on!)

2011-05-31T20:01:00.002+08:00

The thickest part of this new laptop is 17mm, its entire body is built from an aluminum alloy (weighs 1.1kg / 2.4lb), and the CPUs can be specced as high as Core i7. Anything else you need to know before drooling all over yourself? How about a two-second resume from sleep, thanks to ASUS' proprietary software, a SATA III SSD, USB 3.0 connectivity, and the ability to hibernate for up to one week? The trackpad is made out of glass, while the keyboard keys are all metal. ASUS projects the launch of its shiny new UX21 in September, and you can see more of it in the gallery below or video after the break.

Tech giants to enable IPv6 on "World IPv6 Day" in June

2011-05-31T15:29:00.001+08:00

The Internet Society, an organization dedicated to the good of the Internet, is organizing "World IPv6 Day" on June 8 of this year. Web giants Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, with a combined one billion visitors per day, are participating by enabling IPv6 for their main services that day. Content distributors Limelight and Akamai are also joining the party by enabling their customers to participate. But unlike during the IETF IPv6 experiment, IPv4 won't be turned off.

Yahoo, Google, and Facebook have each been working on IPv6 for some time, but have been hesitant to simply flip the IPv6 switch and add an IPv6 address to their DNS records so everyone can reach them over IPv6. They fear becoming unreachable to users with broken IPv6 connectivity. Google did measurements in this area in 2008, which showed that at that time, 0.09 percent of their users would have to suffer delays as their computers try to connect over IPv6, and eventually fail and retry over IPv4.

So Google created the Google over IPv6 program, where network operators have to promise the search giant that they have good IPv6. In turn, Google will respond to DNS requests from those networks with IPv6 addresses for various Google properties such as google.com and youtube.com. The hoi polloi have to make do with just IPv4 or type ipv6.google.com. (Only works if you have IPv6.) Facebook has www.v6.facebook.com—with address 2620:0:1cfe:face:b00c::3. Ah, hexadecimal humor.

Yahoo, on the other hand, has suggested only giving IPv6 addresses to DNS servers that send requests over IPv6. (There is nothing wrong with sending a request for IPv6 addresses over IPv4 or the other way around, though.)
6to4 creates some problems

Broken IPv6 connectivity is often caused by 6to4 tunnels that don't work. 6to4 is a system whereby a computer or a home gateway can create IPv6 addresses from an IPv4 address and connect to the IPv6 Internet by encapsulating IPv6 packets inside IPv4 packets. A remote gateway then decapsulates the packets and encapsulates the packets in the other direction. The problem with 6to4 is that it depends on gateways operated by volunteers. Those gateways may work very well, be slow, or not work at all. And some ISPs don't bother delivering their user's packets to a gateway.

6to4 is only enabled if the system has a public IPv4 address. Places that give their users public IPv4 addresses, such as many universities, tend to use firewalls, which often filter out the IPv6-in-IPv4 packets. So broken 6to4 is not uncommon. However, after a recent Mac OS X 10.6 update, pretty much all operating systems prefer to use IPv4 over 6to4 IPv6 so broken 6to4 shouldn't cause any problems if there is still working IPv4.

The Internet Society expects that on IPv6 day, 0.05 percent of all users will see problems. With a billion unique visitors, that's still half a million people. If your job is phone support for one of these companies or an ISP, you may want to get your vacation request in as soon as possible. The advantage of many large Web destinations enabling IPv6 on the same day is that everyone will be on the lookout for IPv6-related problems, so those can be fixed quickly. If you don't want to wait that long, visit test-ipv6.com to evaluate your readiness.

At this point, it's hard to predict what this experiment could mean for the amount of IPv6 traffic that flows through the Intertubes. If a lot of users are IPv6-enabled, a good amount of traffic can move from IPv4 to IPv6 overnight. This depends on how many additional sites and networks join the effort, though.

In the meantime, on Monday, APNIC, the registry that gives out IP addresses in the Asia-Pacific region, got two more blocks of 16.78 million IPv4 addresses from IANA. APNIC burned through no less than 23.7 million in January—twice as much as their monthly rate in 2010. There's only five blocks left now. These final five are expected to find a home on Thursday morning during a webcast ceremony in Miami.

Oh, and what happens when World IPv6 Day is over?

They turn IPv6 off again. Considering the fact that we're scraping the bottom of the IPv4 barrel right now, and APNIC may even be clean out of addresses by June, maybe the Internet Society should reconsider that part of the plan.

Future iPhone: the latest news, rumors and details

2011-05-21T07:11:00.000+08:00

Article in Forbs magazine provides information from Peter Misek Jeffries & Co analytic that the future Apple smartphone will be named iPhone 4S and will be released this coming September.

The source is also reporting that changes in future model will be just as small as changes in the name: minor exterior changes, new platform (processor A5) and support for HSPA +. Misek also said that there will be no support for LTE in the new model, as appropriate Qualcomm chipsets do not yet meet the requirements of Apple.

Meanwhile Alibaba website already sells Cases designed for iPhone 5G. If this product is actually created in accordance with the characteristics of the future model of iPhone, its appearance can speak about the new location of the flash - on the opposite side of the camera. Indirect evidence for a new location for the flash can also be a published images by Apple.pro website, which allegedly shows a camera module of the future iPhone (in iPhone 4 this module is combined with flash). Apple.pro also publishes a sketch of the alleged appearance of the rear panel of the future iPhone.

Screen Grabs: futuristic Nokia smartphone answers the product placement call in Real Steel

2011-05-14T18:25:00.000+08:00

In the futuristic world of the would-be summer blockbuster Real Steel, Rock 'em Sock 'em-esque robots have become participants in a very real sport and, it seems, Nokia is still going strong -- although you probably knew that if you've seen the latest Star Trek movie. In fact, this device bears more than a small resemblance to the one used by a young James T. Kirk, with it boasting the same translucent shell that encases what's still unmistakably a Nokia design. Head on past the break for the full trailer, and look for the phone to make an appearance around the 16 second mark -- although we wouldn't recommend taking this as a hint of what's to come for Windows Phone.

Philips sells HDTV business to Hong Kong-based TPV Technology, will sate itself with royalty payments

2011-04-18T20:36:00.000+08:00

Philips has been making teevees for over 80 years, but today its new CEO has announced that this storied history is coming to an end. Unable to generate a profit from its HDTV division -- it lost the company €87 million in the first quarter -- Philips will soon sell the majority stake in it to Hong Kong manufacturer TPV Technology, while retaining a 30 percent ownership share and agreeing guaranteed royalty payments of €50 million per year from 2013 onwards.

It's not a bad deal for the Dutch consumer electronics maker, whose bottom line for the first quarter was €137 million in the black, but would have been double that had the new arrangement been in place. All 4,000 Philips employees working under the HDTV umbrella will be transferred over to TPV, though the company says it doesn't want the "market to misread that [it] intend to lay-off a lot of employees." Which is not to say that it won't. A video interview with Philips' chief Frans van Houten discussing the change of direction can be found after the break.

Nissan Leaf Nismo RC swaps basic comforts for a carbon fiber body and some racing good looks

2011-04-18T20:32:00.000+08:00

Electric vehicles may have that instant torque thing going for them, but they're still a bit behind when it comes to giving heart palpitations to those diehard petrolheads. Hoping to change that perception, Nissan is setting up to unveil a brand new concept vehicle, dubbed the Leaf Nismo RC (that stands for Racing Competition, not "radio-controlled"), which strips the one-size-fits-all Leaf down to its constituent elements. The drivetrain is still 100 percent electric, however it's now powering the rear wheels instead of the front, while things like the rear seats, trunk, audio system, carpeting, and navigation have been completely removed.

A carbon fiber chassis helps the Nismo RC keep weight down to 2,068 pounds (938kg), equivalent to just 60 percent of the original Leaf's heft. Yes, the Leaf is now lighter! In performance terms, you're looking at a car that can hit 62mph within 6.85 seconds, max out the speedometer at 93mph, and last a terrifying 20 minutes under racing conditions. This prototype vehicle will debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show and will thereafter help Nissan research better aerodynamics and, presumably, slightly better energy efficiency.

Toshiba Satellite A665-S5176

2011-04-09T07:58:00.002+08:00

Review Summary:

A relatively minor update to the Satellite A660/A665, the A665-S5176 offers a good overall value.

Pros

Blu-ray drive

Great keyboard

USB 3.0

Cons

No ExpressCard slot

Weak screen protection

Mixed performance compared to older models

Description

Toshiba recently released a refresh of the popular Satellite A665 notebook with the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processors and graphics. It comes with a 15.6-inch LED display with 1366x768 resolution, a Blu-ray player and a MSRP of just $799.99 at the time of launch.

Quick Specs

Satellite A665-S5176 15.6" LED Notebook - Core i3 i3-2310M 2.10 GHz - Charcoal (1366 x 768 WXGA Display - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - BD-Reader/DVD-Writer Labelflash - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD - Webcam - Windows 7 Home Premium - HDMI)

ASUS-AUTOMOBILI LAMBORGHINI Eee PC VX6

2011-04-07T07:39:00.001+08:00

Driven by Style, Wrapped in Prestige

Inspired by the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 roadster, the ASUS-AUTOMOBILI Lamborghini Eee PC VX6 epitomizes elegance and power fused in perfect harmony. Clad in either shiny piano black or pearlescent white, this notebook PC contrasts and combines delicate refinement and style with sheer powerhouse performance.
lamborghini eepc asus
It spoils users with a responsive chiclet keyboard and glossy touchpad, reacting to every movement and gesture with the comfort of carefully engineered ergonomics and soft, tactile palm rests.

While the computing is as relentless as the performance of its supercar namesake, the VX6 doesn’t stop there. It delves into indulgent multimedia layering, enveloping users in audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®, resulting in crystal clear, dynamic and powerful sound that’s bound to sweep listeners off their feet and take them on a journey of adventure, whatever their fancy.

This is much more than just a netbook PC – it’s an amalgamation of everything exciting, thrilling and enticing about the marriage of the world’s best cars with its greatest computers. Prepare to ignite a new passion.

Delivering Multimedia Enjoyment in Droves

The next generation NVIDIA® ION™ discrete graphics processor found in the ASUS-AUTOMOBILI Lamborghini Eee PC VX6 enables it to deliver
a visual experience never before seen on netbooks. The VX6 is capable of smooth, crystal-clear playback of high definition videos in 1080p on its 12-inch 1366 x 768 HD widescreen display with the 16:9 display ratio.

The VX6’s built-in 1.3M Pixels webcam ensures you can video chat with friends easily, while Wi-Fi 802.11n* and Bluetooth 3.0* ensures that you’re well-connected even when you are on the road.

Hardware decoders embedded within the VX6 perfectly decode H.264, VC1 and MPEG2 file formats while the HDMI-output port enables Full HD 1080p playback on large screen displays.

source: http//www.gadgetsreview.info

Crucial's M4 / C400 SSD reviewed, hitting store shelves in late April for an undisclosed sum

2011-04-04T06:27:00.000+08:00

When Micron's RealSSD C300 came out, there were no competitors in sight -- 355MB / sec read speeds and a SATA 6Gbps interface made for an unbelievably spritely (though also finicky) solid state drive. Today, that's simply not the case, as Intel's SSD 510 and OCZ's Vertex 3 are furiously fighting for the crown in the high-end consumer SSD space. On or about April 26th, the C300's successor will hit the market branded as the Crucial M4, but this time it won't be the cream of the crop, as even though it's assuredly a speed demon, it's actually shown up by its predecessor in a few tests. In particular, AnandTech noted that the drive seems to have sacrificed sequential read performance in exchange for faster write speeds -- and was worried slightly about Crucial's delayed garbage collection routine -- but overall, reviewers are coming away fairly happy with the speedy performance they're seeing. Still, the most crucial variable, price, has yet to be revealed -- over a year later, the C300 remains an expensive drive, but the new C400 uses Micron's 25nm NAND flash, which could make solid state storage cheaper.

ASUS U31JG-A1 Review

2011-03-29T10:46:00.000+08:00

The ASUS U31JG packs an Intel Core i3 processor, Nvidia graphics with Optimus technology and almost eight hours of battery life into a thin and light 13.3-inch chassis weighing less than four pounds. What’s not to like? Read our review.ASUS U31JG

Asus U31JG Specifications:

13.3-inch 720p (1366×768) glossy display with LED backlighting
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i3-380M dual-core processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L2, 4.8GT/s QPI, 35W TDP)
Intel HM55 chipset
Switchable graphics via Nvidia Optimus technology:
Nvidia GeForce GT 415M 1GB
Integrated Intel HD graphics
4GB DDR3-1066 dual-channel RAM (2x 2GB)
500GB 5400RPM Seagate hard drive (ST9500325AS)
Realtek RTL8191SE 802.11n wireless LAN
No internal optical drive
2-year global limited warranty w/ 1 year accidental damage coverage
8-cell battery (14.4V, 5800mAh, 83Wh)
Weight: 3.74 lbs.
Dimensions: 13.1 x 9.3 x 1.14 inches

MSRP: $849

Build and Design
The U31JG has a moderately attractive two-tone exterior. The silver trim wrapping around the chassis is a nice touch. ASUS made the unfortunate decision to use glossy plastic for the keyboard and screen surrounds; it looks good only in pictures. In real life, it smudges up too fast and is a chore to keep clean.
The U31JG’s chassis is made of plastic. Overall build quality is about average for a consumer notebook; the chassis exhibits moderate flex when twisted by the corners. The palm rest and keyboard surround area tend to cave inwards when pressed down upon, though not alarmingly so. The palm rest is not actually made of aluminum; alas it is only lookalike plastic.

The brushed aluminum lid has a quality look and feel. It is relatively easy to twist by its corners but has better than average protection thanks to the metal. Some minor ripples still showed up in the screen though depending on where I pressed. Design-wise, I liked the small lip in the center of the display which aids opening. The display hinges are too stiff to allow the lid to be opened without holding down the chassis.

One positive aspect of the U31JG’s design is the relative lack of LED lights; using this machine in the dark is not distracting. Although that’s a nice feature, I wish ASUS had included dedicated volume control buttons.

Upgrading the U31JG’s parts is a simple process. The large access panel on the bottom of the chassis is held on by just one screw; inside are two RAM slots (both occupied), the hard drive, and the wireless card. On the whole the U31JG has satisfactory build quality but doesn’t earn more than a passing grade in any particular area.

Lenovo Thinkpad X120e Review

2011-03-28T07:49:00.000+08:00

Professional Performance: The ultraportable ThinkPad X120e is small in stature by design, but it now packs an even more powerful punch for business productivity. Integrating an AMD Fusion E-Series APU gives users 65 percent faster graphics performance1, which speeds up Web searches, page loads and running business applications. At the same time, the ThinkPad X120e gives users longer battery life – up to 30 percent longer – for more than six hours2 and meets Energy Star 5.0 specifications. It also carries the EPEAT Gold rating for its environmental attributes. Additionally, the ThinkPad X120e comes with an HDMI port for projecting content on another monitor or a TV screen.

“Mobile users no longer have to trade battery life for great graphics performance,” said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Division AMP Products Group, AMD. “AMD Fusion APUs allow for thinner, cool-running devices that can last the day and do what’s demanded of today’s professional.”

Just-Right Fit: As compact as it is, the ThinkPad X120e is designed to fit just right for business users who need to balance portability and usability. An 11.6 inch screen and a full-size keyboard give users plenty of room to work comfortably, and the contemporary ThinkPad keyboard features a progressively clean look while retaining the same comfortable feel of the ThinkPad classic keyboard.

Incredibly Mobile: Starting under three pounds3, the ThinkPad X120e includes WiFi and optional Bluetooth and mobile broadband.

Business-Class Support
Lenovo offers a portfolio of service and support offerings to protect the ThinkPad X120e and to support IT departments. ThinkPad Protection covers repairs resulting from accidents, drops and spills, while ThinkPlus Priority Support provides 24×7 business-class technical support for IT administrators.

Pricing and Availability4
The ThinkPad X120e laptop will be available beginning in February through Lenovo business partners and www.lenovo.com. Models start under $400.

source: http://gadgetsreview.info

Asus EEE PC 1215B

2011-03-18T09:39:00.000+08:00

Reading the review below will help you find out whether the Asus 1215B managed to live up to the expectations or not, as I will speak thoroughly about each important aspect of this device.

Once again, I do have to say that this is yet a sample unit and although the guys at Asus ensured us it’s very close to the final version that will be available in stores soon, take the results with grain and salt (as some aspects can be improved on the final release).

The specs

First, let’s take a quick look at the specs to see what we can expect from this Asus 1215B 12 incher:

* 12.1 inch LED backlit display, 1366 x 768 px resolution, glossy
* AMD Brazos APU with AMD E-350 dual core processor and integrated AMD graphics
* 4 GB DDR3 memory
* 320 GB hard-drive
* Wireless N, Bluetooth 3.0, Gigabit LAN
* one USB 2.0 slot and two USB 3.0 slots, VGA, HDMI, headphone/mic, card-reader, webcam
* Windows 7 Home Premium OS
* 6 Cell 5200 mAh 56 Wh battery
* measures 11.6 x 8 x 1.5 inches
* weighs 3.2 pounds

Design and exterior

The 1215B inherits the seashell body shape from the 1215N. In fact, on the outside, both these devices are identical. Lid is covered in smooth rubbery matte plastic while the bottom comes with a textured finish. The matte plastic especially feels really nice and looks good, although smudges and fingerprints are visible on this black finish we had on our desks.

Midrange Gaming Notebook Asus K42JA-VX062

2011-02-03T12:42:00.000+08:00

Display
Diagonal Size : 14″
Max Resolution : HD (1366×768), 16:9
Technology : LED backlit

Graphics
ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 5730
2G VRAM

Processor (CPU)
Type : Intel® Core™ i5 Processor 540M/520M/450M/430M
Speed : 2.53 GHz – 2.26 GHz, with Turbo Boost up to 3.06/2.93/2.66/2.53 GHz

Type : Intel® Core™ i3 Processor 370M/350M/330M
Speed : 2.4 GHz – 2.13 GHz

Type : Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor P6000
Speed : 1.86 GHz

Chipset
Mobile Intel® HM55 Express Chipset

Memory
DDR3 1066 MHz SDRAM
2 x SODIMM socket for expansion up to 8GB SDRAM

Hard Drive
2.5″ 9.5mm SATA
640GB 5400rpm
500GB 5400rpm; 7200rpm
320GB 5400rpm; 7200rpm

Optical Drive
DVD Super Multi
Blu-Ray DVD Combo

Communication
LAN : 10/100/1000 Base T
WLAN : Integrated 802.11 b/g/n or 802.11b/g
Bluetooth : Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.1+EDR (optional)

Audio
Built-in speaker and microphone
Altec Lansing® speakers
SRS Premium Sound

Interface
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor
3 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert
1 x HDMI
1 x Headphone-out & Audio-in Combo Jack

Slots
Card Reader : SD, MMC

Camera
0.3MP webcam

Power
Battery : 6 cell 4400 mAh 47 Whrs
AC Adapter :
Output: 19 V DC, 4.74 A, 90W
Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal

Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic

Dimensions and Weight
Width : 34.9 cm
Depth : 23.8 cm
Height : 3.65 cm
Weight : 2.20 kg (with 6 cell battery)

Nokia 5250 appears in public

2010-08-01T10:20:00.000+08:00

A slip by the Ovi support team has announced a new touchscreen phone from Nokia that focuses on the works. Nokia 5250 appeared on the Nokia web site applications the company store, sporting a new design, but unfortunately, the terminal is running on the Symbian S60 5th edition good old operating system. Those of you with the hope of a Symbian^3 device at the lower end, alas, no luck.

The handset is obviously the next member of the family of Nokia touchscreen phones lower midrange and replace the popular Nokia 5230th There are not many features on
the Nokia 5250, we can confirm. Perhaps a screen NHD measure about 3 inches diagonal is certainly not a wild guess. 3G and GPS are on the cards too, but the rest is pure conjecture. In February, Nokia has promised to deliver € 100 Touch smartphones, and we have not seen yet. Can Nokia 5250 be the first to come close to this psychological barrier? In any event, the Nokia 5250 seems handy shop Ovi, it is clear that the notice of approaching, so we will not wait too long to find out.

Ovi Browser beta for S40

2010-08-01T10:07:00.000+08:00

Nokia S40 devices come up with preloaded Opera Mini for a long time, but this could be nearing its end. Nokia Beta Labs has introduced Ovi S40 browser, which takes the same approach to browsing, Opera Mini does not. The browser is still in beta (as if the "Nokia Beta Labs" Tip not out). port their browser to use the server, open the page, compresses it and sends a condensed version of the phone. Just like Opera Mini does not.

So in fact, at this stage resembles Ovi browser Opera Mini 4.2 Beta Labs did say they have not used the code of the Opera and servers. The beta version of Ovi browser lacks some features, but developers are working to add new ones for the next beta so we do not know exactly what is included and what is omitted from the final version.

Until Ovi browser features fast page loads transferred to 90% less data, and Web integration in the form of autocomplete search engines (Yahoo, Google, Bing), bookmarks and more. Some features missing in action, as we would like to be added to see is tabs (although Opera Mini 4.2 has no legs either), find the page and save pages. If you want to test it, browser.ovi open. com on your phone. To see a list of supported phones, open this page in your desktop browser, or watch this page. He seems to intend to Ovi browser for Symbian. We guess you just have to continue to use Opera Mobile, if you're on the S60 (not a big loss).

Unbreakable AMOLEDs from Samsung in two years

2010-07-23T05:43:00.000+08:00

Samsung develops unbreakable folding AMOLED devices, expected to enter mass production cycle in two years. You should definitely check out their impressive demo video. The video below shows an AMOLED standard glass and the new AMOLED. It can handle bending and heavy hammers. See for yourself.

The new screens use plastic AMOLED panels with polyamide protective film. It seems this works well enough.

Samsung expects to push the new AMOLED into mass-production within the next two years.

Samsung Vibrant confirmed

2010-07-11T22:21:00.000+08:00

T-Mobile has just officially confirmed their launch
Samsung Vibrant July 15. In this way, they will be able to beat AT & T, Samsung plans to launch Captivate for July 18 and will be the first airline in the United States to offer a customized version of the rumor S. Galaxy earlier suggests that only part of the Vibrant T-Mobile's famous July 21, but of course, the company managed to get the gear a week ago and use to their advantage. That everyone who really wants to be among the first in the United States with an S Galaxy, a store must be in T-Mobile to come on Thursday. A little fresh design and support for T-Mobile 3G band is all that is outside the European Vibrant I9000 Galaxy S.

Motorola CHARM revealed

2010-07-08T18:58:00.000+08:00

Motorola apparently tired of all these leaks and decided to step up and tell everything there is to tell the spell. smartphone T-Mobile offers exclusive rangjavascript:void(0)e of average functionality, focusing on social networking. Motorola CHARM is running on Android 2.1 (Eclair), and the company itself UI MOTOBLUR preinstalled on it. This, combined with four-row full QWERTY keyboard ensures users can easily update your Facebook, Twitter or any other service to go. On the hardware side of things, Motorola offers a touchscreen CHARM 2.8-inch QVGA resolution and a 3 megapixel camera focus fixed. 3G connectivity is supported and so is all modern standards Wi-Fi (Yeap, there is no Wi-Fi on this page). A microSD card slot allows expansion Motorola CHARM memory, while the local connection is covered with a microUSB slot and Bluetooth.
CHARM Motorola should be available only for customers T-Mobile this summer, but price details have not yet been revealed.

Motorola CHARM Leak

Apple finds iPhone 4 signal bars misleading

2010-07-03T16:52:00.000+08:00

Apple has released their official statement on the iPhone 4 non-existent approval numbers. What is the experience of four iPhone users when they caught the bottom left is their only real signal, bad as it seems. Your ringtone far concealed by deceptive signal bars, which naturally tend to exaggerate the level of the signal due to a bad formula, in the iPhone software.

Apple's statement on the iPhone 4 reception issues (which they previously dismissed as nonexistent), says that all phones have issues in areas of poor signal and it's just that the iPhones show the available signal in a wrong way. Apple plans to fix that with a software release that should make graphical representation of available signal more real. End of problem.

We've seen examples of Apple’s hypocrisy many times but this is just too much. To treat millions of customers who paid big money to have your latest product as a flock of sheep is just outrageous.
How on Earth could an erroneous signal indicator be the reason for dropped calls/reduced data rates? And what is that magical firmware that will bend the laws of physics and improve the iPhone 4 reception when you are holding it… you know… the way you've been holding every other phone you've owned so far?
Apple also dares take a hit at other phones (Motorola, Nokia and RIM) for losing some signal strength when held in a specific way. This is true, of course, but much like Apple’s statement that “iPhone 4 makes video calls a reality”, the implied by this one is ridiculous in much the same way. No other handset loses as much signal when held in a natural way, let alone drop calls because of this.
So yeah, thanks for the effort Apple, but no thanks.
For a good laugh you can follow the source link and read Apple’s full statement.

Apple iPhone 4 sells 1.7 million in just three days

2010-06-30T16:18:00.000+08:00

Mind blowing! If I had to guess how many Apple iPhone 4 has managed to grow in three days, 1.7 million can you imagine it? And I could be wrong, because that is exactly what they sold. We wrote four iPhone shortage, but when it comes to around 1.7 million units sold in just three days, perhaps more appropriate to call it overwhelming, I can not believe it, real demand instead of shortage. Moreover, starting tomorrow, AT&T should be able to offer appointments in sales - they could do so far, due to overwhelming demand. Even Apple impressed, "says Steve Jobs -" This is the launch of most successful product in Apple's history. No, really? The iPhone 3G and 3G sold only 1 million in three days, so yes, we could say that iPhone sales in April are very good. Mr. Jobs also apologizes "to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply". No mention of all
those customers crying foul over the poor reception. They were told to stay tuned even though there was no problem (aside from users holding it wrong that is). Makes sense, right?

Flash 10.1 available for smartphones with Android 2.2

2010-06-27T18:14:00.000+08:00

Adobe announced today the release of Flash Player 10.1 for mobile platforms. Already available on Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 will be available in its final production for all smartphones running Android smartphones ver. 2.2 "Froyo". Some units, lists of Adobe who are required to include Dell Froyo Streak Nexus One Google, HTC Evo Desire HTC, HTC Incredible, Motorola and Samsung and Motorola Droid Galaxy Milestone S. Too bad there is not even a device to function Android 2.2 officially yet (except perhaps the developers Nexus One).

In addition, up to Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 from Adobe has also released their partners and to include pre-install its products - Blackberry, Palm webOS, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, Symbian OS and are all expected to start Meego Online Flash content to chew, just like the desktop machines could before. Flash Player uses almost all CPU time in the mobile market and is therefore compatible with many smartphones. Other functions do not add up to provide a better experience without interruption. For example, support for the board of the accelerometer will move allws automation screen between portrait and landscape orientation. Flash Player is suspended automatically when the call or when you switch from one browser to another application. When you switch to the browser the Flash Player again, if it was a setback.

Smart Zoom function allows Flash content to run full screen on one of the supported devices. Smart Rendering functionality ensures the Flash content embedded in Web pages only works when it is visible on the screen to reduce CPU and free use of the booster battery. With the availability of standby mode, Flash Player automatically gas when the unit goes into screen saver mode.

Google release the new Froyo update for Nexus One

2010-06-25T09:56:00.000+08:00

Google is celebrating today - Android 2.2 Froyo reached two important milestones. Google opens the acquisition of the latest version and a final drive upgrade for Froyo. And we are sure that the timing has nothing to do with the iPhone 4. You could actually download the update from here (only works if you use the firmware FRF50), but unless you know what you're doing, you should wait for an update OTA.

Your Nexus One should check for updates automatically, or you can force to check, so one way or another you should receive a notification that a new version is available and download it over-Air. Some people have told us that the update is not available for them yet, so do not necessarily work today - and spread the updates is a gradual process, and varies with location.
Another important milestone in Froyo Google Android 2.2 opens the code from its partners and manufacturers and all others. This means they can start working on non-Google phones Froyo firmware.