Gadget Review

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review

2012-05-21T11:03:00.001+07:00

Dell is last to market with its Ultrabook, but in many ways the XPS 13 has been worth the wait. Unfortunately, connectivity suffers from the smaller chassis and the screen’s poor viewing angles really let the side down, meaning the similarly compact Samsung Series 9 900X3B is a far better proposition if you can afford the extra £170 or so. If not, however, the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook is a great premium option.

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook - Intro, Design and Build

Dell is very late to the Ultrabook game, with every major rival already having one or more models on the market. With a 13in screen crammed into the equivalent of a 12in chassis, classy metal and carbon fibre build, gorgeous design, good connectivity and specs, and a backlit keyboard, the XPS 13 Ultrabook appears to have it all.

Dell’s Ultrabook succeeds straight away when it comes to design. Opening the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook up, this shiny metal trim is beautifully contrasted with the black interior. The display sports a glossy black screen that runs all the way to the screen's edge, giving it the impression of having no bezel. Meanwhile the keyboard surround has a lovely matt, soft-touch finish. Similar to the finish used on HP’s premium Envy line, like the HP Envy Beats Edition 14, it’s very comfortable for your hands to rest on during typing and doesn’t really show up grease marks.

Dell has also coated the laptop’s base with the same soft-touch feel, making the XPS 13 pleasant to hold and easy to carry. Build quality throughout is truly superb, easily living up to its premium billing, and matching the class-leading Samsung Series 9 and MacBook Air.

What’s most impressive about the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook though is its small footprint. Of course, Dell is hardly the only manufacturer to manage this, and the similarly diminutive Samsung Series 9 900X3B is both thinner and lighter.

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook – Connectivity, Usability and Screen

Connectivity on the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook is rather limited. There’s a headphone/microphone 3.5mm combi jack and a microDisplayPort for video.

There’s also no Ethernet jack, and unlike Asus with its Asus Zenbook UX31, Dell doesn’t provide adapters in the box. In Dell’s defence, however, it’s no worse than the MacBook Air 11in. One nice little feature is a MacBook-like battery indicator on the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook’s side, which uses five white LEDs to indicate how much charge you have left.

When it comes to usability, Dell’s first Ultrabook really shines – literally, as the keyboard is nicely backlit in white. It’s beautifully integrated, utterly responsive, and its clearly delineated buttons offer a positive click.

Getting to the screen, like with its XPS 14z Dell has gone for a single glass layer - and not just any glass, but toughened Gorilla glass. Unfortunately, as is the case with so many Ultrabooks, it’s the XPS 13’s screen quality that really lets it down.

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook – Speakers, Performance and Verdict

Sonically, the Dell XPS 13 holds its own, especially for such a compact ultraportable. If we hadn’t heard what the Samsung Series 9 900X3B managed to produce from a thinner chassis, we would have been quite impressed.

Like many of its peers, the Dell XPS 13 uses ULV processors - but a dual-core Intel Core i5 2467M with support for up to four virtual cores which can Turbo clock up to 2.3GHz from its 1.6GHz default won’t have any trouble chomping through most people’s workload. The CPU is backed by the usual 4GB of RAM, and a choice of fast Samsung 128GB or 256GB SSDs. Last and least is graphics performance, which as with most Ultrabooks relies on Intel’s somewhat underpowered integrated HD 3000 graphics. For battery life, meanwhile, the Dell XPS 13’s performance is above average for the 13in Ultrabook crowd, as its 6-cell, 56Wh battery managed six hours and 42 minutes. This beats the 13in MacBook Air, Zenbook UX31, and Samsung Series 9 900X3B, but falls behind the Toshiba Satellite Z830 and Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. Dell is pricing its XPS 13 on a premium level, which is hardly surprising given its build and design. Poor screen and limited connectivity aside, the XPS 13 does compare favourably to most of the 13in Ultrabooks on the market. Many of its cheaper rivals don’t give you its flawless build quality, good typing experience or backlit keyboard, and only the Samsung Series 9 900X3B offers a similarly small footprint. Buy Dell XPS 13 from Amazon today!

WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ, a 1TB Hard Drive with 10.000 RPM

2012-05-09T04:21:00.000+07:00

WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ features, price, discount | Western Digital has just launched WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ, a 1TB 3.5” SATA hard drive. The great thing about WD1000DHTZ is it has 10.000 rpm spinning speed. It is designed to have high performance reading and writing speed.

WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ uses enterprise mechanism to give more reliability that enables it to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. With its 10.000 rpm spinning speed, this hard drive is claimed to be the biggest hard drive today.

Just like WD Scorpio, this WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ combines the speed and reliability for those who need big capacity hard drive. Hard Drive 2,5” WD VelociRaptor has IcePack cover and 3.5” mounting frame with integrated heat sink. Customization by the WD makes it possible to install this hard drive inside your desktop while making it stays cool.

WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ features:

SATA 6 Gb/s with 64 MB cache interface
Advanced Format Technology to let it has 1 TB capacity
Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) to optimize its performance when it is used in a multi drives chassis
Loading NoTouch ramp technology
Free halogen design that makes this hard drive earth friendly.

WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ is available on the market with 3 years guarantee. Buy WD Velociraptor WD1000DHTZ from Amazon today.

WD Scorpio Blue Best Hard Drive for Ultrabook With 7 mm Thick!

2012-04-29T10:04:00.001+07:00

Western Digital announced the WD Scorpio ® Blue, with only 7 mm thick, it best suits your ultrabook. With 400G shock resistance specifications of the best in its class, WD Scorpio Blue hard drive small-sized single-platter is available in capacities of 250 GB, 320 GB, 500 GB, 750 GB, and 1 TB. It comes with 9.5 mm slot that compatible with industry standards.
WD Scorpio Blue series claimed to be the ideal storage option for notebooks as well as thinner Ultrabook devices that require at least 7 mm thick hard drive. Consumers want a computer that is thin and light, but the limited storage capacity of the SSD-based notebooks require them to pick and choose the file that must be taken from their library.
The following features offered by the hard drive WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm:

Low power consumption - features superior power management and data search with an optimal algorithm significantly improves power consumption.
Shock Resistant - WD's ShockGuard ™ technology, which is now increased to 400G shock resistance specifications of the best in its class, protecting the drive mechanism and the disc surface from shocks.
Cool and quiet - for notebooks, silence is golden. WhisperDrive ™ WD Technology which enables silent performance.
Reliable - WD SecurePark ™ separates the recording head from the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is dead. This ensures the recording head will not touch the surface of the disc thus increasing reliability in the long run because of the use of head reduced and durability increased non-operating shock.
Compatibility Tested - WD perform tests on hundreds of systems and platforms in FIT Lab ™ and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give confidence to customers that the drive will work in certain systems.

Get WD Scorpio Blue hard drive series’ prices and discounts on Amazon today.

LG Cinema 3D Smart TV

2012-04-25T11:55:00.000+07:00

LG Cinema 3D Smart TV. There are major changes that enhance the features on the first generation of the 3D TV market last year. The 3D technology is still using Film Patterned Retarder (FPR), but we can find improvement of this new generation of 3d TV from the design. The screen frame (bezel) is as thin as 1 millimeter, making it almost as if it is without a frame. LG calls this as Screen Cinema. It makes 3D TV more interesting.

No wonder that this LG Cinema 3D Smart TV becomes the world’s slimmest 3D TV today. To strengthen the position as the strongest 3D TV in the market, LG is ready to release it’s newest OLED TV with EM9600. This EM9600 3D TV is only 4 millimeters thick, equivalent to a thick stack of three credit cards that makes it as the thinnest 3D TV in the world.

Improvement
Besides the frame, LG Cinema 3D Smart TV also improves its quality in 3D effects, giving the option to set the depth of the 3D effect as you wish up to 20 levels. There is also a 2D to 3D conversion feature that allows users to convert any 2D shows into 3D shades show.

As a smart 3D TV, EM9600 also has included a variety of content. Users can enjoy the news, video on demand, or even shop online through this latest 3D TV.

Magic Remote Control is much more streamlined than before, with less buttons. There is an option to make the magic gesture access menu options by simply sweeping the remote control as we can record the process before. For example, the user can sweep the form of "V" and the Magic Remote Control will translate it as a command to access the Video menu.

LG Cinema 3D Smart new TV comes in three variants, namely LG LM8600, LM7600 and LG LG LM6700. Available with 42 "to 55" screen dimensions and equipped with built-in Wi-Fi. Also available, the LG LM9500 series with 72 inch screen, this is the largest 3D TV in the world today.

With a speed of 1 millisecond response makes it capable of handling the giant TV show objects with fast motion. So there is no distortion, such as the picture looks blurred and accuracy of detail is maintained, in addition to having reached 10.000.000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and rich color.

Fully Supports Your Entertainment Needs
To support the three-dimensional viewer's entertainment LG launches two 3D sound home theater systems, LG BH9520TW, shaped tallboy with wireless speakers, and LG BH9320H with half tallboy design. Both systems are brings you the 9.1 3D Sound Zooming feature.

This technology set the depth of the audio according to the movement of objects in the visual impressions. By setting up automatic or manual mode, the sound of planes taking off towards the direction of the user's real sound came.

For the owners of LG 32 inches 3D TV, there is LG BH6320H speaker that will suit with the height of your TV.

These three home theater sound system come with unique application that ensures you to navigate the menus through your Android Smart Phone or iPhone. This uniqueness will be very useful for those who repeatedly forget where they put the remote control.

We can add more devices to make the LG Cinema 3D Smart TV more powerful, like LG 3D Smart Blue-Ray. Besides handling 3D contents, it also gives you unlimited options of media sources.

ViewSonic Introduces New 22 Inch LED Monitors

2012-04-25T09:33:00.000+07:00

ViewSonic introduces new 22 inch LED monitor, the VA2232w and VA2232wm. Both are new members of the VA series; with a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 and sRGB color calibration function, which gives a beautiful picture quality and viewing experience within.

With an amazing dynamic contrast ratio 10.000.000:1, VA2232w and VA2232wm LED monitors automatically detect and adjust the light and dark areas to further improve the performance of gray scale and color contrast. While the ViewSonic Eco mode solution, making both these monitors are more energy efficient and saving money, because it can reduce power consumption and extend lamp life.

ViewSonic VA2232w and VA2232wm LED monitors claimed to be present to provide a great value on the performance of the display screen and an excellent solution for home and for business.

Some features of this monitor are carried in between the display quality that comfortable with video resolution of 1680 x 1050, Dynamic Contrast Ratio 10.000.000:1 impressive, LED backlighting improving the performance of the display screen, ECO mode which will make it energy efficient, as well as the sRGB color calibration will define the most accurate color.

Get ViewSonic VA2232w and VA2232wm on Amazon.

Dell XPS 13 Boot Up in One Second!

2012-04-18T00:38:00.000+07:00

Dell XPS 13, an ultrabook that claimed to be able to work for you (from sleep mode) in just one second. This XPS 13 is intended for premium market. Price and specification are not emphasized here, more features better than competitors is.

Ultrabook Dell XPS 13 can be "lit" in the second one is because of technology and Intel Rapid Start using Solid State Drive (SSD). This technology allows it to start working for the users in no time.

In addition, it also has Intel Smart Connect feature that allows email updates like push email (Microsoft Outlook only) and applications update, such as RSS feeds and others. However, this feature can only be run with a WiFi connection.

In terms of materials, Dell XPS 13 uses carbon fiber material on the underside. That’s why you don’t have to worry about its temperature although used for a long time. While on the upper side, the material used is aluminum.

Weighs only 1.36 kg, this really thin ultrabook is only 6 mm thick (for the thinnest side) and 18 mm (for the thickest). On the screen, the XPS 13 uses a screen size 13.3 inch scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass made without the edge (edge to edge) by adopting a 300 nit high definition WLED (1366 x 768). While the keyboard can be lit in the dark (backlit keyboard) and a full-sized, leaving no space on the keyboard.

On the audio side, the XPS 13 is equipped with high definition audio. Dell to configure it with the technology Waves MaxxAudio 4. On the right side there will ultrabook the mini display port, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 as well as the key indicator for the battery. While on the left side there is the charger jack, USB and earphones. The start button on the side of the keyboard on the top left corner.

After Sales Services
To be different from competitors, Dell customers will receive service on-site customer service. This service is free and attempted to be completed within one day of work in place.

For warranty, Dell has the innovation to an extension. Usually the warranty can only be done on-site service.

However, customers can extend later in the website, by purchasing the warranty card, rub code and insert code into your website. Auto warranty card can be directly added.
This warranty cards will be available at the Dell service center in 10 major cities in Indonesia. These cards will be available starting in two weeks.

Dell XPS 13 Quick Specification:
read here for detailed specification

Weight: 1.36 kg
Thickness: 6-18 mm
Screen: 13.3 inch 300 nit HD WLED (1366 x 768), 720p, Gorilla Glass 'edge to edge'
Material: aluminum with carbon fiber base
HDD capacity: 256 GB SSD, Intel Rapid Start technology
Processor: Intel Core i5 2467M
Memory: 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Other Features: Intel HD 3000 video graphics, 6 cell battery (lasting up to 8 hours 53 minutes), WiFi, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, mini display port, headset jack, built-in 1.3 MP webcam, audio Waves MaxxAudio, Microsoft Windows 7 Prof.

Dell XPS 13 vs Dell XPS 14Z here.

Intel SSD 330 Series Price and Specs

2012-04-15T01:55:00.000+07:00

Intel SSD 330 Series Price and Specs | Intel officially announced the Solid State Drive (SSD) 330 series on Monday (4/16/2012). SSD 330 will be priced relatively cheap, unlike other SSD from Intel tend to be expensive.

Intel SSD 330 series will be available ranging from a capacity of 60 GB, 120 GB and 180 GB. Each sold for $ 89, $ 149 and $ 234. On average, every 1GB of capacity is sold at a price of 1.25 U.S. dollars.

Although sold at a cheap price, but the Intel claims, Solid State Drive (SSD) 330 into a data storage medium that is much better than regular hard disk, for faster data transfer capabilities as well as more efficient power consumption.

SSD storage medium itself is no longer using a magnetic disc such as a conventional hard disk, so the size is smaller and thinner. SSD is now widely used in portable computer types ultrabook.

Intel SSD 330 silicone manufactured by 25nm process. Write and read speeds reaching 500MB per second. While the power consumption of 600mW and 850mW. Find out more about Intel SSD 330 Series Price and Specs here.

ASUS Vulcan, Active Noise Cancelling Gaming Headset

2012-03-24T10:53:00.000+07:00

ASUS has released the ROG Vulcan ANC, the world's first active-noise-cancelling pro gaming headset designed to keep them free of distractions like never before! Created from the needs of competitive pro gamers to remain focused during competition, the ROG team forged the Vulcan ANC with both performance and comfort in mind. The Vulcan ANC features 85% active noise cancellation to filter out sounds like low frequency computer fan noise and 30dB passive noise cancellation to reduce a wide range of ambient noises, including background voices. It needs 1x AAA battery to operate, battery is not included in the package.

ASUS Vulcan Technical Details:

Focus to Win! The First ANC for Gamers 85% active noise cancellation (for computer fan noise)30dB noise isolation (for human and environmental noise)
Lightweight at 325g
40mm drivers deliver crystal-clear and directional audio details
Hard, scratch-resistant carbon shield keeps Vulcan ANC looking good, even with heavy use
Durable & Detachable Cable
more Asus Vulcan users reviews

Logitech M905, Wireless Mouse With Darkfield Technology

2012-03-19T10:37:00.000+07:00

Logitech M905 Review – Best Price | Looking for wireless mouse that able to work on any surface? This Logitech M905 wireless mouse can help you with that. This newest Logitech wireless mouse is almost entirely black with metal panel on its scroll.

One of the most prominent uniqueness of in the wireless mouse is that you can use only one or two AAA batteries as the power source. Thus, this mouse can be used even if only a single battery is mounted on a wireless mouse.

The second uniqueness is that the adjustable scroll wheel, you can set the scroll wheel according to your taste.

The switch button at the bottom also serves as a cover to protect the tracking sensor of the wireless mouse.

The small receiver is placed at the back of the mouse.

Logitech M905 also has a pair of buttons that can be used to navigate when opening the web.

If you buy Logitech M905 wireless mouse you’ll a beautiful pouch to carry it around comfortably.

Buy Logitech M905 on Amazon today, and get special price!

Asus UX21 Zenbook Review

2012-03-15T01:11:00.000+07:00

Intel as one of the originators in the computer industry says that ultrabook is the next evolution of the notebook product line. It is estimated, the future of the portable computer is a portable computer with a physical thin, elegant, yet with high performance.

As one of the major players in the business notebook, Asus has also been presenting their ultrabook devices, one of them through a series Zenbook. There are two prepared the UX21 and UX31. Physically, the two are similar. The difference is only on screen size and processor.

Design and Features
One product Zenbook we tried, the UX21, equipped with the Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5-2467M with a speed of 1.6 GHz and using 4GB of RAM. He uses a screen measuring 11.6 inches with resolutions up to 1366x768 pixels.

In terms of design, ultrabook is indeed very thin. Its thickest point, which is on its back , is less than 1 centimeter (cm). Casing the coating is also designed as 'unibody' which means the body is made without separated parts. Its weight is made as light as 1.1 pounds.

The thinness of the notebook’s body also means that you won’t find any optical drive on it. LAN and HDMI ports are also provided if the HDMI dongle is connected via LAN and USB. Although it is very thin, the UX21 is still comfortable to use. The placement of the keys seem great and comfortable. Similarly, for the palm rest area, is quite spacious, and comfortable.

In the specification, these products are strong enough to undergo the daily computing activities. But, of course, Intel HD3000 graphics technology provided somewhat limits its users to meet the needs of 3D gaming or other heavy applications.

However, if used to run high-definition multimedia content up to 720p resolution, the graphics are available to do well. Interestingly, through this product, even more spoiled for audio connoisseurs. For sound output, this product uses proprietary technology by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower.

To supply power, UX21 battery 8 Cell Li-Ion 6840mAh. To connect faster data transfer, on the right side there are also used USB3.0 port on the device connect USB2.0. Unfortunately not included card reader.

Performance
Asus Zenbook using SSD as a storage media for operating system Windows 7 Home Premium is available. In addition to physical support for use on thin ultrabook, SSD advantage of course is much faster performance than a conventional hard drive.

It is indeed very pronounced, and when booting into the Windows 7 operating system, it takes only about 17.59 seconds. For shutdown, in total it took 15.68 seconds. As for his return from the standby position, it takes only 2.54 seconds.

Zenbook UX21 WEI Although a good power management facilities, which are able to make a notebook capable active in standby mode for days, but if drained using Battery Eater applications, notebook battery can only last for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

When used in normal mode, working with office applications, surf the internet via WiFi, streaming video, and enjoy multimedia files with a maximum screen brightness, the battery can supply power up to about 2 hours and 55 minutes. For more reviews visit here…

Pros:
- Design of thin, lightweight
- Fast performance with SSD and USB 3.0 port

Disadvantages:
- In normal mode, mediocre battery life
- LAN and HDMI via USB

Compare Asus UX21 Zenbook prices on Amazon!

What’s The Differences Between iPad 3 and Two Previous iPad Series?

2012-03-11T00:05:00.000+07:00

As Apple has officially announced the new iPad, confusion among its fans grows. The new iPad is so hot as those who have pre-ordered it on the day iPad 3 announced have to wait until March 19, due to the high demand. The problem is, even Apple wants to call it iPad HD, this new gadget’s real name still not clear up to now. Users are not clear enough with the differences between the three iPad series.

This is the same as what happened with other popular Apple’s laptop, the Apple MacBook and MacBook Air. Users had not been seen yet confused between choosing the first-generation MacBook Air, the second and so on.

But, for the sake of simplicity, let's call it the iPad 3. Well, what are the specs of the new iPad, compared to the previous two generations of iPad?

	iPad	iPad 2	iPad 3
Dimension	242.8 x 189,7 x 13.4 mm	241,2 x 185,7 x 8,8 mm	241,2 x 185,7 x 9,4 mm
Chipset/ Prosesor	Apple A4 1Ghz	Apple A5 dual-core with PowerVR SGX 543MP2 GPU	Apple A5X Dual-core (Quad Core GPU)
Weight	730 gram	601 gram	652 gram
Display	1.024 x 768 pixel (132 ppi) - 9,7 inch	1.024 x 768 pixel (132 ppi) - 9,7 inch	2.048 x 1.536 pixel (264 ppi) - 9,7 inch
Data	HSDPA, HSUPA	UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA	LTE/UMTS/HSPA/HSPA/HSDPA
Camera	No	0,7 MP, 960 x 720 pixel	5MP autofocus HD
Features	iBooks PDF reader, iCloud cloud service	Facetime camera for video conference	Facetime camera, retina display, video recording at 1080p 30 fps.
Battery	Up to 10 hours at normal usage	Up to 10 hours at normal usage	Up to 10 hours at normal usage
Price	-	$399 16GB Wi-Fi	$499 16GB Wi-Fi
		$529 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G	$599 32GB
			$699 64GB
			$629 16GB Wi-Fi + 4G
			$729 32GB
			$829 64GB

They are quite different, right? But I’m not sure with the price here. $529 for the 16GB + 3G iPad 2 and $499 16GB Wi-Fi for the iPad 3. Hmmm, hope that this is right. source: Kompas

Apple iPad 3

Here is the First Intel’s Smartphone for Europe Market

2012-03-06T23:39:00.000+07:00

First Intel’s Smartphone for Europe Market | Intel’s plan to become a major player in the mobile device system slowly began to threat other mobile device processors suppliers. By introducing the first mobile phone made using their processors, Lenovo K800, Intel announced a partnership with the Orange in Europe.

This cooperation is manifested in a smartphone, which was temporarily renamed "Santa Clara", which will be the first Intel mobile processor for the European market.

This phone uses the Intel Atom Z2460 processor (the same used by Lenovo K800), which claimed to provide a longer battery life and faster performance.

Intel said that the cell phone is going to use Android OS 2.3 (Gingerbread), that will be upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

In order to compete with other big brands like Samsung, HTC, LG, ZTE, Huawei, or even the iPhone from Apple, Intel will offer cheaper prices of these devices, without sacrificing its performance as a high end smartphone.

In addition, Santa Clara is also given the ability of HD video playing and 8MP camera. For the production, Intel cooperates with Intel Gigabyte.

Intel introduced Santa Clara at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona along with Orange that will launch the smartphone with the brand "Orange".

Deputy VP of Devices Orange, Patrick Remy explained that they would launch a phone with its own brand and launched in collaboration with Intel in Santa Clara due to enter the middle class cell phone business under contract with the system operator.

"This is an especially important step for the operator owned by France Telecom Orange. Orange has operations in Britain and France as well as developing countries like Africa," said Remy.

Intel’s First Android Smartphone

Intel Arms Netbook with "Cedar Trail" to Compete with Tablet

2012-03-02T22:47:00.000+07:00

Cedar Trail – Newest Intel’s Processor for netbook | After launching the Oak Trail chip specifically for the tablet, this time Intel says ready to market a special chip for netbooks, with the name of a similar chip, the Cedar Trail. PC manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, and Samsung will use the platform Cedar Trail since January 2012 with U.S. $ 199 price range.

Intel introduced Cedar Trail for the first time to consumers at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 (CES 2012) in Las Vegas on the 9th until January 13th. Intel demonstrated doubled graphics performance on a netbook after using this new chip. Intel also talked about their latest chips for other platforms, such as smart phones, tablet, and PC at the event.

Cedar Trail is a system-on-a-chip (SoC) which has a two-core (dual core) that staying to help the battery last longer, as well as helping the overall netbook performance. Intel Atom, introduced two years ago will be updated with this chip, thereby reducing power consumption by 20 percent. With this processor, netbook’s battery can last up to 10 hours of usage.

Cedar Trail allows netbook to play high definition video and supports for the HDMI port (high-definition multimedia interface port) on the chipset to connect to HD quality television. The new chip is made in two types, namely the N2600 is running at 1.6 GHz with a power of 3.5 Watt. While the N2800, which runs at 1.86 GHz and power of 6.5 Watt.

Cedar Trail is Intel’s important step to "awaken" netbook platform, which continues to decrease with the increasing demand for tablets, especially the Apple iPad. Although netbooks were much reduced demand in the United States and Western Europe, demand for netbooks is growing rapidly in some countries such as India and China.

Previously Intel has introduced Cedar Trail for desktop in September 2011. Meanwhile, the chip for the tablet was introduced in March 2011 under the name Oak Trail. To complement the tablet chip series, Intel will also introduce two other new chip, Medfield or Clover Trail.

Cedar Trail Benchmarks Video

HP Folio 13 Review | Is it the best today’s ultrabook?

2012-01-23T07:42:00.000+07:00

HP Folio 13 Review | The Folio 13 is a business targeted Ultrabook with some consumer feature twists. It’s solid build, nice keyboard and peppy performance make it stand out in the Ultrabook crowd.

The HP Folio 13 is the first entry into the Ultrabook market for the biggest PC producing company in the world, yes, even though HP’s former CEO wanted out of PCs it’s still numero uno. Now that HP is again refocused on their commitment to the PC industry new and innovative products like the Folio 13 will determine whether the company stays atop the mountain or falls off due to being out innovated and out marketed by the competition. HP was late to the Ultrabook game relative to Toshiba, Asus and Acer but it’s not about who’s first to the game but rather who can offer the best product and support and price today. After all, Apple wasn’t first company to the SmartPhone market but that certainly didn’t hurt their ability to be a huge player in that category. So, is the Folio 13 the best Ultrabook right now? Let’s investigate.

Packaging and in the Box

I ordered the Folio 13 and got it direct from HP via the Home and Home Office Store. The configuration is fixed and the only upgrade options were in regards to OS version, warranty or accessories. Here are the full specs for the HP Folio 13 as ordered:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2467M (1.6 GHz)
Screen: 13.3-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED- backlit Display (1366 x 768)
Memory: 4GB
Graphics: Intel HD3000
Storage: 128GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Ports: USB 2.0, USB 3.0, RJ-45, HDMI, SD Card Reader
Battery: 6-cell
Weight: 3.305lbs
Web Cam: HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Dimensions: 12.54″(L)x8.67″(W)x0.7″(max H)
Warranty: 1-year

The above configuration cost $899.99, HP is not offering any discounts or coupons on this model at the current time. You can save a bit of money, around 6%, by purchasing via HP Academy student discount site. The Folio 13 arrived in a plain brown shipping box via FedEx:

Inside the box was the Folio 13, braced between Styrofoam protectors, power adapter and documentation.

Everything was packed well and, although presentation wasn’t anything out of the ordinary like you get with the Envy 17, it was still cleanly done.

HP Folio 13 Design

The Folio 13 has a very clean brushed aluminum lid finish on the lid and inside with a black finish accents on the sides, keyboard and touchpad area. The aluminum has a slight champagne tint to it, it’s rather odd in that the color changes slightly depending on the light in the room. Overall the design is very clean and professional looking. It borrows some design touches from the HP ProBook lineup, the ProBook 5330m comes to mind in particular. Inevitably you’ll hear comparisons to the MacBook Air simply because this is a thin laptop that uses an aluminum lid finish, there is no taper to the HP Folio 13 so the profile is actually quite different.

The plastic bezel around the screen is matte while the screen itself is glossy, I kind of like the contrast of matte and glossy here but others might disagree. The same black matte soft finish is used on the bottom of the laptop.

The keyboard uses a chiclet style design, borrowing from the consumer preferred aesthetic. Unfortunately HP chose to put a glossy tray under the keys, this makes for an area that shows and captures a lot of dust. The mouse buttons are integrated into the touchpad and delineated by lines, again contributing to the overall clean look.

HP Folio 13 Weight and Thickness

The weight and thickness are of course a big factor with anything marketed as being an Ultrabook. Though an Ultrabook is supposed to be under 3.1lbs according to the guidelines set forth by Intel, the Folio 13 actually weighs in at around 3.3lbs. The thickness of 0.70-inches uniform from front to back is befitting of an Ultrabook, but the weight to me makes it rather ordinary. We recently wrote an article comparing the Folio 13 and ThinkPad X220 pointing out the fact the X220 is actually lighter than the Folio 13. The reason for the Folio 13 weight is due to the thick aluminum skin and metal chassis, which in turn makes it more durable, a good thing.

If you add in the weight of the power adapter and cord the total travel weight comes to 4.05lbs.

Build Quality

The Folio 13 feels solid as a rock thanks to its thick aluminum case. The lid and palm rest areas are all made of aluminum. In other areas strong plastics with a soft touch finish are used. Every part of the body is rigid and there is simply no flex to be found on this portable 13-incher. The screen hinges are very rigid, opening the screen requires two hands. The screen stays in place without wobble due to the extra firmness of the hinges. I really can’t find anything to fault with the build quality of the Folio 13, the emphasis was definitely placed on making the laptop rugged and durable rather than being as light as possible and sacrificing the build in some way.

HP Folio 13 Performance

While the intention of the Folio 13 is not to provide the most blazing computing performance you’ve seen, it is supposed to provide above average performance for everyday tasks and business needs and provide fast boot up and wake times so you’re not left twiddling thumbs and killing productivity. The Folio 13 achieves the latter by using a fast SSD, the Samsung PM800 128GB mSATA SSD in particular. The boot time to desktop is a mere 17-seconds:

The wake time from sleep is even faster, at around 5 seconds. You’ll be up and working in no time.

In terms of overall system performance, the combination of an Intel Core i5, SSD and 4GB of RAM really go a long way to preventing any lag. According to the Windows Experience Index the “achilles heel” is the Intel HD3000 graphics, but that’s only going to have an effect on applications, such as 3D games, that need a lot of 3D polygon rendering. The web, email, Office apps and Skype require no such processing, the Intel Core i5 will handle all of those applications in a snappy manner.

To get an idea of overall system performance we ran PCMark Vantage, PCMark 7 and 3DMark Vantage.

Laptop
PCMark Vantage Score

HP Folio 13 (Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GHz, Intel HD3000, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD)
9,026 PCMarks

Sony VAIO SA (Intel Core i5-2430M 2.50GHz, AMD Radeon 6630M, 4GB RAM)
7,007 PCMarks

Dell Vostro 1440 Review (Intel Core i3-370M, Intel HD, 6GB RAM)
4,931 PCMarks

Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 – Intel Core i7-2630qm, Nvidia 550M 1GB, 8GB RAM, Intel SSD
12,160 PCMarks

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 – Intel Core i5-2410m 2.30GHz, 4GB RAM
6,056 PCMarks

Dell Vostro 3450 – Intel Core i5-2410m 2.30Ghz, 4GB RAM
5,901 PCMarks

Dell Inspiron N411z – Intel Core i3-2330m 2.30GHz, 4GB RAM
5,285 PCMarks

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 – Intel Core i3-2310m 2.1GHz, 2GB RAM
3,204 PCMarks

Laptop
PCMark 7 Score

HP Folio 13 (Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GHz, Intel HD3000, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD)
3,168 PCMarks

HP dv7t Quad (Intel Core i7 2670QM 2.20GHz, 2GB Radeon HD 6770M, 8GB RAM, Crucial M4)
4,308 PCMarks

Sony VAIO SA (Intel Core i5-2430M 2.50GHz, AMD Radeon 6630M, 4GB RAM)
2,022 PCMarks

Lenovo ThinkPad W520 – Intel Core i7 2720QM, 4GB RAM, Nvidia Quadro 2000, Intel 320 SSD
4,299 PCMarks

HP Envy 17 3D – Intel Core i7-2670QM, AMD 6850M 1GB, 8GB RAM, 7200RPM HD
2,592 PCMarks

Lenovo IdeaPad U400 – Intel Core i5-2430M, AMD Radeon 6470M, 6GB RAM, 5400RPM HD
2,287 PCMarks

Dell XPS 15z – Intel Core i7-2620M, Nvidia GT 525M, 8GB RAM, SSD
3,604 PCMarks

Obviously the Folio 13 is able to outperform other larger Intel Core i5 equipped laptops simply due to its SSD. Having an SSD is really a big performance differentiator, more so than any extra GHz of clock speed on a processor is going to give you. We’ve come to a point where processors are so fast and efficient that it’s really faster storage that will net you the most gains, namely SSD.

Although 3D performance doesn’t matter much for this notebook, we ran 3DMark Vantage just to find out the score:

Laptop
3DMark Vantage Score

HP Folio 13 (Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GHz, Intel HD3000, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD)
1,513 3DMarks

HP dv7t Quad (Intel Core i7 2670QM 2.20GHz, 2GB Radeon HD 6770M, 8GB RAM, Crucial M4)
6,139 3DMarks

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition – AMD A8-3510MX, AMD 6620G Graphics
2,919 3DMarks

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition – Intel Core i7-2630qm, AMD 6770M Graphics
6,373 3DMarks

HP Pavilion dm4x – Intel Core i5-2410m 2.30Ghz, 6GB RAM, Intel HD3000 Graphics
1,174 3DMarks

As you would expect, the Folio 13 paled in comparison to larger laptops with dedicated graphics.

HP Folio 13 Screen

The Folio 13 comes with a 13.1-inch LED backlit screen with 1366 x 768 resolution. The panel technology is a standard TN, there is no IPS screen with wide viewing angles like the Apple iPad or HP Envy 15-3000 have. When you tilt the screen vertically colors tend to distort so it’s much better to view the screen straight on (perpendicular to the eyes).

HP chose to go with a glossy screen even though this is a business style laptop. This is unfortunate, the reflections from a glossy screen when you have strong lighting from behind can be really annoying. For instance, if you tilt the screen back a little it will immediately reflect any lights above and behind you like you see in the picture below on the right.

In the left hand image above you can see the Folio 13 next to the ThinkPad X220, the Folio 13 is reflecting me taking a picture while the X220 is not as it has an anti-glare matte screen.

Outside of these complaints, the Folio 13 has what I’d call a decent screen. It’s bright enough at the highest setting, although not overly bright and it won’t serve as an outdoor laptop. The color saturation and contrast are decent, though nothing exceptional. We’re still waiting for a laptop manufacturer to produce an Ultrabook with a higher than standard resolution screen, for now the 1366 x 768 resolution the Folio 13 has is as good as it gets.

Overall the Folio 13 screen gets a passing grade, but leaves room for improvement.

Ports Selection

The number of ports you get on the Folio 13 is on par with other Ultrabooks, HP saw fit to included an SD card reader which is very nice to have and some other manufacturers, such as Lenovo with the U300s, have been excluding for whatever reason. Let’s take a tour of the ports on the Folio 13:

On the left hand side you get an Ethernet RJ-45 port, HDMI port, USB 3.0 port and SD card reader

On the ride side you a USB 3.0 port and headphone jack towards the back

On the back you just see the hinges and then heat vent of the Folio 13

Other than having less USB ports than a standard size laptop you really have all of the essentials provided here. The HDMI is the most popular consumer video connector today, if you wanted an old fashioned VGA monitor out port you can get an adapter for HDMI to VGA. Likewise, if you have a DisplayPort equipped monitor you can get an HDMI to DisplayPort converter for only around $12.

Keyboard and TouchPad

The Folio 13 keyboard definitely stands out in the world of Ultrabooks currently available. I’ve used the MacBook Air and Toshiba Z830, and the Folio 13 definitely has a more usable keyboard than either of those. The keys all have nice travel, not the shallow travel you find on the Toshiba Z830. The tactile feedback is also good, meaning you know exactly when a key has been struck and can release to strike the next key. The backlit keyboard, while looking very nice, also provides excellent usability in darkened rooms. While many people can touch type well, it’s hard to find those obscure keys such as Page Up and Page Down in the pitch black, so the backlight really helps in such situations.

While my feelings about the keyboard are very positive, that’s not the case for the touchpad. While the textured feel of the touchpad is nice and I found moving the cursor to work most of the time, now and again strokes did not register or the cursor would jump unintentionally. Worst of all are the integrated mouse buttons, they’re very stiff and it takes a lot of effort to push them down. They really interrupt the ability to make a quick mouse click as you forget each time that it takes a hearty push to get a click to register. I recommend using a travel mouse whenever you can for easier mouse input.

Heat and Noise

One important consideration with a small laptop is its cooling ability. Cram everything into a small space and the thermals get tougher to manage. Thankfully the Folio 13 does a good job of staying cool, the warmest spot I found on the laptop was near the back where the heat vent is. The bottom and palm rests stayed cool, around 80F which is very comfortable, the very back of the keyboard near the vent got as high as 98 F. That’s no big deal anyway, and since your hands don’t come close to that area a non-concern in terms of comfort.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the fan doing the work to keep the laptop cool emits an annoying high pitched whir. This will definitely annoy those sensitive to noise, it’s even audible with ambient noise in the room. Since the fan seems to run 90% of the time, this means for the majority of the time you’ll have to deal with this noise. I simply became used to it and it was background noise to my brain, but then again I have tinnitus so am pretty used to constant buzzing noises in my ear.

HP Folio 13 Battery Life

The Folio 13 has a 59Wh battery that HP rates at up to 9 hours of battery life. That’s an optimistic number, under normal usage conditions the battery life is still excellent based on my tests and usage. With brightness level set to 1/3, Wi-Fi on and a browser open refreshing every 60 seconds the battery achieved 8 hours and 2 minutes of life. If you were to do a torture test with video playing and brightness all the way up the battery life would fall to around 6 hours or just under. That’s still excellent, and enough to get you across the country on a flight.

HP Folio 13 Review Conclusion

While I’m not so sure the Folio 13 should be classified as a true Ultrabook, at 3.3lbs it’s heavier than ultraportables such as the ThinkPad X220, I still think it makes a great choice as a very capable performance portable laptop for business users or students that have the budget. It’s highly durable build is going to resist the bumps of business travel or campus, whichever your setting may be. The keyboard is very usable and has a great backlight and all the essential ports are in place. Design wise, the Folio 13 is both professional and sleek looking. The downsides include the annoying fan whir, hard to use integrated mouse buttons and average screen. For $899.99 the price is right and I’d take this over most other Ultrabooks on the market right now. We look forward to seeing what HP’s first consumer Ultrabook, the Envy 14 Spectre, has to offer!

Pros

Keyboard is great, backlighting is nice extra
Performance is very good for a 13” laptop, very fast 17-seconds boot
Great 7 hour + battery life
Excellent build, very durable feeling aluminum case
Design is appealing and professional loking

Cons

Integrated mouse buttons are hard to push
Screen is quite average in quality, annoying glossy finish
Glossy keyboard tray is a design mistake
Fan makes high pitched whir, constantly on

source: http://www.laptopreviews.com

How to Choose a Laptop For Graphic Design

2012-01-13T23:30:00.000+07:00

How to Choose a Laptop For Graphic Design | Laptops for Graphic Designers | Which one do you prefer to get your graphic design project done, on your desktop or laptop? There was a time when graphic design professionals was really relied on their desktops PC for their work. Graphic designing on a laptop was not an option because - mostly – laptops were slower, too delicate to use, and of course, far more expensive than a Desktop PC with higher specification. Anyway, as people are now more mobile, the need of laptop for graphic design is now inevitable.

But that was a few years ago. Things have changed drastically. Today’s laptop uses latest hardware and software that enable it to perform much better exceeds what a Desktop PC could do in a years or two ago.

If you do need a laptop for your graphic design project, the first thing you’ve got in mind is to find a laptop which is strong enough to get your works done without wasting your time and also cheap enough to buy.

Most of graphic designers considers Apple Macbook as the best laptop to replace their desktop. Well, it is hard to deny that people would easily related graphic design with Apple. The problem is, however, that not all designers can afford Apple MacBook – they are much more expensive than their Windows laptop.

Today, the nice thing for graphic designers is that they can buy laptops from brands like Dell, Toshiba, Asus, and other for half the price of the Apple models. These Windows’ laptop are generally cheaper.

Ok, now let’s see what we must consider before finally pick a laptop for graphic design.

Large screen: A laptop for design work should have a large screen. Designers should pick a model that has at least a 16 inch screen – bigger is definitely better. However, screen size in inches is not the only way to measure. Screen resolution in pixels also plays a decisive factor. Many laptops today sport a default resolution of 1366×768 pixels. However, graphic designers can opt for a laptop that offers a resolution of 1600×900 pixels. Design professionals should opt for large screen laptops because screen real estate is ideal for working with two or more apps at the same time. Here portability is not the priority.
Fast processor: A laptop meant for multimedia and design work should have a fast processor and oodles of RAM. The Intel Core series CPUs are really fast and they help in smooth multitasking. There are some models running on AMD Phenom triple core CPUs but they are a tad slower than their Intel counterparts. It is hard to gauge the true capability of a CPU just from the tech specs though. The latest Intel Core series CPU based on the Sandy Bridge architecture are the fastest according to industry experts. They not only offer fast performance but also consume less battery. If you want to see how a specific processor stacks up, here is a great resource for checking processor speed.
Lots of RAM: Designers should opt for a model that has 6 to 8 GB of RAM as anything less is not suitable for multitasking. To get maximum RAM memory, you should choose a laptop model that comes with 64 bit operating system installed (e.g., Windows 7). This is essential because only 64 bit Windows OSes support more than 4 GB of memory. Once you’ve worked on a machine with 6Gb or more of memory, you’ll never want to go back.
Separate graphics card (GPU): If you can afford it, all web designers should opt for a machine with a separate graphics card. Many of the latest processors have on-board graphics cards that will work fine, but these types of graphics cards share the system RAM and processor power with other functions. For maximum performance when using powerful apps like Photoshop and CorelDraw!, design professionals should get machines with discrete GPUs, such as cards from Nvidia. These cards should have memory of 512 MB or 1GB. Some laptops, such as high end models from Sony and HP, sport Nvidia Optimus technology. This technology enables users to switch from the integrated graphics to the discrete GPU in the laptop without requiring a reboot. Designers should also make sure that the GPU used in the laptop is capable of supporting dual monitor setups. This is often a prerequisite for hardcore graphic design work.
Warranty: Since designers are not always computer jocks, a laptop for design tasks should come with longer warranty and excellent customer service. Designers should check out the support policy of a company before buying model. The multimedia laptops can be expensive and spare parts can also be costly to replace, so a good warranty can save you in the long run. The laptops also come with useful apps preinstalled. It is useful to buy the models that come with OS recovery DVD and driver CDS.

Hopefully these tips will help get you going in the right direction in your quest for a new graphic design laptop. In addition to the items above, designers may also also want to consider investing in some laptop accessories like cooling pads and cleaning kits etc. These accessories can be useful for proper maintenance and increasing the longevity of the device.

source: Carol Brown

Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR Tablet

2012-01-07T23:32:00.002+07:00

Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR is a Asus Eee Pad 10,1 inch tablet with 32GB internal memory and now it has a special price of about ~~$599~~ $499 (view deal and price). This tablet is also known as Transformer 2 and it is the latest tablet from Asus. (I don't know if the name will be the same because the guys from Asus have some legal problems, as I heard, with Hasbro - the company that makes the Transformer Toys.)
TF201-B1-GR’s specs
Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR has a grey color, from here the GR code from the end and it's Tegra 3 chip is one of the latest and best mobile processors. This processor is different form others because it has 4 cores and an additional fifth one that has about 500 Mhz. This 5th core is used when the tablet is not used for gaming and it's the standby mode, for example, or does nothing. There are are more technical specifications to tell about but I don't think that the specs are important. I think what you can with the gadget is more important. ;) Read more Asus Transformer TF201-BR-GR’s details specification here!
Pros and cons
Pros: you should get this kind of gadget because it is easy to use, very portable, it's battery last about 12 hours and because it has a Tegra 3 chip with 4-5 cores. Another plus is the thing that it has two cameras: one for taking photos and the other one for Skype. You can even attach a keyboard if you want to type better because the brand that produces this gadget sells even a keyboard or dock that is attachable. This dock has USB ports and a supplementary battery. (The default autonomy of the gadget is around 10-12 hours but with the keyboard you get even more.)
Cons: it does not have Android 4 - Android ICS, but it has the latest tablet Android which is 3.2. But I think that Asus will update all his tablets (also Transformer 1) with the latest operating system from Google.
Conclusion
If you want a great tablet than I think you should go with Asus and the model Prime TF201-B1-GR because their tablets are very light, portable and intuitive in usage. I think a child will have no problem using this tablet for gaming, drawing or other things that kids do.
Buy Asus TF201-B1-GR from Amazon today and get the best price
Five Reasons Why Asus TF201 Could Replace Your Laptop
Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR Accessories

Five Reasons Why ASUS Prime Transformer Tablet Can Replace Your Laptop

2012-01-06T00:40:00.000+07:00

Five Reasons Why ASUS Prime Transformer Tablet Can Replace Your Laptop | There are many reasons why this Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR looks so attractive. This time, you can see how easy it is to take this latest Asus’s gadget as the best Android Tablet 2012.

The best value ASUS Prime Transformer is allegedly able to replace a laptop, what would be the reason to replace your laptop with ASUS Transformer Prime? Asus Transformer Prime TF201-B1-GR review

Portability

In terms of portability, ASUS Prime Transformer is more portable than the smallest laptop. Its 10 inch screen with a resolution of 1280x1280 pixels is large enough to let you do your computing works in a better way than in a laptop .

Flexibility

Tablets often do not extensive enough in terms of text input. For those who prefer a physical keyboard or a keyboard dock, you can find it here, as ASUS Transformer Prime TF201 already has the qualified additional component. You could just take a tablet or linking Transformer TF201 with the keyboard. This makes it simply equivalent to a laptop.

Long Battery Life

Sometimes, you may have to work all day without access to a power outlet. Generally a laptop's battery last longer, but for general use on average a laptop can only survive within five hours, and it's much shorter than your need.

As a tablet, ASUS gives you longer battery life on this TF201. Android OS is also designed to effectively consuming the power. Although it is powered with 4 quad processor, Asus says that the Transformer TF201’s battery can last for 9.5 hours to watch a 720p videos. You can also extend the battery life to last up to 18 hours when connected to a keyboard dock owned by Prime. Of course, this allows you to work all day with tablets ASUS Transformer Prime.

Software

If you work outdoors, you may often use cloud-based applications like Google Docs or Office 365. With ASUS Transformer Prime, you do not need to make changes such as applications like Google Docs or Office 365. They work well on a Transformer.

If you do not have network access, Asus Transformer has a Polaris Prime Office and other applications like Quickoffice Pro HD available on the market. These applications allow you to view and edit Ms. Word, spreadsheet and presentation files that are stored on the tablet. For software problems you need to use software that only runs on PC or Mac, there is MyDesktop application included, but the market also includes many other applications that allow remote control for PC or Mac.

Performance

Transformer TF201 full specs | No matter the specifications written on a paper if the actual performance of the device was slow, it is useless. But, take a look at this: 1.3-GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3. This is the first quad-core tablet in the world.

Transformer promising itself to be able to get an upgrade to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwiches. In terms of performance they also promised to promote more applications to be optimized. Will ASUS Transformer Prime replace your laptop? What do you think? Read more about Asus Transformer TF201 here.

What Laptop Should I Buy for College in 2012?

2012-01-05T00:45:00.000+07:00

Choosing the right laptop for school is an important decision, a lot of school work you do will be produced and submitted electronically so a laptop that helps you to work efficiently can make you more productive and successful in school. Think of choosing the right laptop as choosing the right tool for the job, making the right decision can make the work a whole lot easier. Several factors go into making a laptop well suited for students, budget is obviously a big concern but with the power of todays laptops you can get a lot of performance for a reasonable price, and there’s no need to spend $1,000. Here’s a set of guidelines to follow in choosing a laptop that is well suited for college:

Screen Size and Weight – The most popular screen size laptop on the market is between 15 and 16-inches, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best size for the average college student. An average 15-inch screen laptop weighs over 5lbs and combine that weight with a bag full of textbooks and you might as well pre-schedule an appointment with a chiropractor, your back will be hurting. Add to that the fact lecture hall desks are often tiny and the footprint of a 15” laptop will not fit and you’ll see that a more prudent screen size laptop for on campus is between 11” and 14” — a nice portable size and big enough for comfortable screen viewing.
Long Battery Life – There’s a good chance you’ll have some lectures that last for 3 or more hours or have the need for a laptop to last you through back to back classes without the ability to plug in your laptop. If your laptop only has a couple of hours of battery life then you’ll be out of luck for taking notes or referencing material on your laptop when the battery conks out. It’s very important to get a laptop with at least 4 hours of battery life on a single charge, and if not make sure your laptop has a replaceable battery and take a spare battery with you.
Manufacturer Reliability and Support – When you buy a laptop you’re also buying into a brand so you should research what the support and warranty will be like from that company. If you get unlucky and your laptop has problems it will be important to get help and have it fixed fast so that you don’t lose productivity. A strong manufacturer warranty and a reputation of good support are important items to consider.
Durable Build Quality – It might be tempting to get a $300 laptop made entirely of plastic, but such laptops might not survive the rigors of campus. Consider that the laptop will likely be smashed into a tightly packed bag, jostled around as you walk around campus and repeatedly pulled in and out of a bag and placed on desks and you can see how something built durably is a necessity. Look for features such as metal casing or internal chassis that make a laptop more sturdy.
Cool running– The number one cause of laptop failure over time is heat buildup that leads to parts getting stressed and eventually breaking. Heat is bad for a laptop and also bad for your comfort if it’s sitting in your lap! Do your research and make sure to get a laptop that uses superior cooling techniques and components that use less power as that translates to less heat. A mid-range dual core mobile processor and integrated or switchable graphics are often good component choices. Don’t get the fastest processor and graphics card you can find, they generally create a lot more heat and use a lot more power.
Modern Dual Core Processor – Processor technology has come a long way in recent years and the latest laptop processors from Intel and AMD are great choices. Look for either Intel Core i3, Core i5 or AMD VISION branded processors to know you’re getting the latest technology and something well suited for student needs.

Student Discounts on Laptops

Before you hit the buy button at any online retailer for computers it’s good to check if they offer a student discount. Many of the major manufacturers for computers do, so here’s a quick list of how to access the student discount portal:

Dell University – offers around 5 – 10% discount on Dell computers
HP Academy – offers around 8% discount on most HP computers
Lenovo Student Discount – Lenovo gives a 5% discount to students on most products
Apple Student Discount – Apple offers around 10% off Mac products to students
Sony Education Store – Get up to 10% off Sony VAIO laptops

Conclusion

College can be hard, choosing the right laptop shouldn’t be, but with all the choices out there in 2012 and the stiff competition among manufacturers choosing a laptop can become overwhelming. Hopefully this guide serves to help you narrow those choices down, any of the laptops highlighted will serve you well throughout college. And if you find another laptop not mentioned here that meets the guidelines we set forth then you should feel comfortable knowing you’re making a good decision.

Technorati Tags: Laptop,College,Buying Tips

Lenovo G570 43348PU New i5 Laptop

2011-12-29T02:24:00.000+07:00

Lenovo G570 43348PU laptop review | At under $500 you’ll get nearly everything you would want from a laptop. If you are looking for a notebook to carry around, either for working or playing, this laptop is a good option.

Lenovo is fast becoming the one of the best notebook vendors in the world. People like their laptops because they are sleek, understated and minimal.

Lenovo gain consumer’s trust by their fast, full featured laptop. As they are continuing IBM’s ThinkPad laptop series’ tradition. The Lenovo G570 43348PU is certainly one of their powerful laptop. Just take a look at its specification below…

Lenovo G570 43348PU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

(13 customer reviews)

List Price: ~~$649.99~~

Price: $499.99

21 used & new available from $499.99

BUY LENOVO G570 43348PU NOW AND SAVE MONEY WITH DISCOUNT!

Specs

This type comes with Intel’s 2nd generation Core i5-2430 processor with HD3000 graphics. Equipped with generous 15.6 inch screen with an aspect ratio of 16:9 as you can find on other today’s laptops. It comes with 4GB of DDR3 memory, which is more than enough for most people. The storage stands at 500GB, again fairly common and is plenty for your movies and music. Unless you are now making the next Transformers movie, this G570 43348PU is a really recommended laptop.

Build quality

If you’ve once owned Lenovo notebooks before, you won’t be surprised at how well Lenovo strives to give you the best on all their laptops. All the design features look finished and we can’t find any rough edges.

A big problem with many laptops is that their hinges start to creak after a few months of regular use. The Lenovo G570, on the other hand seems sturdy enough to last long. We would have liked the design to be a bit shinier though.

Of special mention is the keyboard that Lenovo has come up with. Lenovo is known to have the best laptop keyboards in the world. It has great tactile feedback and typing on it is simply a joy. Also, the keyboard is big enough to accommodate a numeric keypad for typing numbers more easily. Even so, the keys don’t feel cramped for all but those with really huge fingers.

Performance

The hardware for Lenovo G570 is really good and it can do all your routine tasks well. We tried web browsing with multiple tabs open and it worked really well.

Videos also play fast and without stutter, so we have no complaints there too. If you are a heavy Office user and do other production jobs, this might not be the most powerful laptop you would find.

Lenovo G570 43348PU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

(13 customer reviews)

List Price: ~~$649.99~~

Price: $499.99

21 used & new available from $499.99

BUY LENOVO G570 43348PU NOW AND SAVE MONEY WITH DISCOUNT!

Conclusion

When it comes to connectivity, the Lenovo G570 43348PU comes with 3 USB 2.0 ports. We wish it had a USB 3.0 port too, because it is really fast. At last, this under $500 Lenovo laptop is really a great choice.

Dell Vostro 3450, Laptop for Business

2011-12-11T01:39:00.000+07:00

Dell Vostro 3450, Laptop for Business | Today, notebook has become a "mandatory gun" for businessmen. However, laptop for business is usually designed as ‘official’ one. It becomes problematic for those who want stylish laptop for any business purposes.. For this reason, Dell presents the Dell Vostro to answer their desire.

Dell's return to spawn business products segment. Being in the Vostro product line, Dell Vostro 3450 comes to be the champion among similar notebooks on the market. With a 14-inch screen, the dimensions of this notebook does not look too big, compact enough to carry around to support your activities.

This laptop for business has a very sweet look. Two-color design on the cover, and metal accents on the whole body makes this business notebook looks dynamic and does not seem too serious. You also can choose among three color variants provided by Dell, Aberdeen Silver, Lucerne Red and Brisbane Bronze.

When we want to see the interior of this notebook, the cover feels a bit difficult to open, you must open it with both hands because the swivel is quite hard. But, this is a good thing, since the notebook felt strong and sturdy.

Turning to the interior side, the more clues we found to see that this notebook is made for business. The entire interior lining uses a matte coating, there is no part of this notebook that appear glossy. From frame to display, the keyboard area, and rest pad, all coated with a layer of matte. The screen’s frame is clean.

The 14-inch LED is also adopting an anti-glare coating so you can comfortably use this notebook outdoors (without having to worry it will be difficult to see the display screen). Typing area is quite extensive. You can freely put your palms on the palm rest area while typing on his chiclet keyboard comfortably.

Dell Vostro 3450 has adopted the Sandy Bridge platform. In the unit we tested, used an Intel Core i3-2310M with a speed of 2.10 GHz. But if you want higher performance, you can buy a more hurried i5 processors. Graphics cards that are available are still using the Intel HD Graphics 3000. However, for computing the activity of standard graphics, the graphics card is still fairly strong. But if you want to run multimedia applications heavyweight, available variants are equipped with a VGA chip ATI Radeon HD6630 1 GB.

In terms of connectivity, the Dell Vostro 3450 is fairly complete. In this notebook is available in two port SuperSpeed USB3.0, USB2.0 port, eSATA, HDMI, and card reader. Two USB ports are a plus latest generation of its own. While other notebooks are still providing the old type of USB ports, the Dell Vostro 3450 has the latest generation port at affordable price.

Complete and stylish Dell Vostro 3450 is an excess of this. With the completeness of connectivity coupled with fingerprint facilities for security, this notebook is ready to accompany you on a business trip for a mobile and dynamic.

Read more Dell Vostro 3450 reviews.

Buy Dell Vostro 3450 from Amazon!

10 Reasons Why Kindle Fire Interesting

2011-12-04T00:21:00.000+07:00

As has been announced by Amazon, during the last 3 weeks, Amazon successfully sold one million units of Kindle Fire each week. That’s really a proof that Kindle Fire is interesting to the US market. So, here is the question, why people are interesting in buying Kindle Fire? You are not only get one answer for that question, but 10. Yes, here are 10 reasons why Kindle Fire interesting…

Being a center of attention: Usually, another Android tablet only attracts attention at the time of its release date. Kindle Fire is different, since the device was announced in early 2011 it has always been the center of attention and discussion among many.
Fully supported by Amazon.com: As the largest online retail site, Amazon will display on the site's flagship product. Many customers began to shop online in droves making a booking.
Affordable prices: With the tag of 199 dollars, Kindle Fire is cheaper than the Apple iPad 2 or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (499 U.S. dollars). There is also a Tablet Nook in the range of $ 249.
Amazon Services: Kindle Fire contains all-round Amazon’s services. These include the Kindle bookstore, music store with songs MP3 and other formats.
Many Applications: Unlike other tablets that use the Android Market to market all its applications, Amazon has its own application store. Various leading applications are already available there.
Released at the right time: Kindle Fire released to the US market right before and during year-end holiday season. It is expected to put on your shopping list a lot of people, whether for gifts or for yourself.
Name of Kindle: Kindle succeed as a digital book reader device has been widely heard around the world. Many people understand that Amazon can deliver a great device.
Survey Proving: A study from ChangeWave says that from 2.600 respondents, there are 5 percent of consumers who have already ordered the Kindle Fire and 12 percent plan to order. Similar survey in 2010 showed us that only 4 percent of the respondents who has already ordered iPad, and 9 percents of them who planned to order.
Amazon Kindle Fire has no competitors: In addition to the Apple’s iPad, now practically no other manufacturers that successfully brings their tablet to the market. Especially in the Kindle Fire’s price range.
Amazon Operating System: Indeed, the operating system used is Android, but you could say this is Amazon's operating system. Because, it is said there are many improvements and changes were made to the Amazon to the operating system.

Best Price Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5336 15.6-Inch Laptop–Black $349.90

2011-10-19T22:50:00.000+07:00

Best Price Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5336 15.6-Inch Laptop – Black | Redefine what you and your PC dollar can do with the Satellite C655 laptop, a very affordable, easy-to-use choice for basic productivity at home or the office. Gaze into the broad 15.6" diagonal display, fire up the latest multicore processors and other features, and you’ll see you’ve got all the tools and workspace you need to study, budget, socialize online or simply do more at a desk. Connect, load things quickly, plus enjoy rich web content, sharp photos and lively music. Relax with casual games and relish smooth, realistic graphics. Plus, feel free to expand or tack on more storage with plenty of extra ports. Forget about spending a fortune on a PC. Get the Satellite C655 laptop and forge through your day-without tearing through your budget.

A nicely affordable, easy-to-use PC for basic productivity at home or in the office, the Toshiba Satellite C655D (model C655D-S5336) gives families, students or small and home-based businesses the essential power and workspace to study, tackle budgets with a handy 10-key pad, keep up on Facebook and Twitter, or simply do more at their desk.

It's powered by a dual-core AMD E-450 accelerated processor (APU), which combines a CPU and a graphics processing unit (GPU) on a single chip, helping to accelerate daily applications while also delivering lower power consumption. The APU can quickly offload demanding tasks and applications from your CPU to the GPU, enabling you to do more with your computer in less time.

The bright 15.6-inch LCD offers a 720p native high-definition resolution. And thanks to the built-in webcam and Toshiba Face Recognition software on this machine, you'll enjoy a more convenient way to communicate, log on, or share your laptop among the family. Plus, you get plenty of ports and storage to give you the freedom to expand, or hold more files and media.

This Satellite comes pre-installed with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

Buy Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5336from Amazon today and get $80.09 savings…!

Toshiba L735-S3220 13.3" Intel i5-2410M 640GB 4GB Windows 7HP laptop computer

2011-10-15T21:35:00.000+07:00

Toshiba L735-S3220 13.3" Intel i5-2410M 640GB 4GB Windows 7HP laptop computer is an affordable laptop that mixes good performance and attractive design with poor battery life and mediocre build quality.

Pros

Good performance
Satisfactory port selection
Comfortable, easy to use keyboard
Stylish design

Cons

About 3.5 hours of battery life
Below average build quality
Easily smudged up: glossy surfaces everywhere

Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD specifications:

13.3-inch glossy 720p backlit display (16:9 aspect ratio, 1366x768 resolution)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor (2.3GHz, up to 2.9GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB cache, 35W TDP)
Intel HM65 chipset
Intel HD Graphics
4GB DDR3-1333MHz RAM (2x2, max. 8GB)
640GB 5400rpm Toshiba hard drive (MK6476GSXN)
Atheros 802.11b/g/n wireless network adapter
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
Integrated webcam
Blu-ray and DVD SuperMulti
6-cell Li-ion battery (48Wh, 12.1V)
Weight: 4.6 lbs without battery
Dimensions: 12.95” x 8.7” x 1.10”~1.45

Buy Toshiba L735-S3220 from Amazon

Best Price Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 Ultrabook with 13.3-Inch HD Display

2011-10-10T08:47:00.000+07:00

Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 Notebook comes with these specs: 2nd Generation Intel Core i5-2467M Processor 1.6GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.3GHz, Windows 7 Home Premium, 13.3" HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit Display, Mobile Intel UM67 Express Chipset, 4096MB DDR3 1066MHz Memory, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, Built-In HD 1.3MP Webcam, 2-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader, Dolby Home Theater v4 Audio Enhancement, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, 2 - USB 2.0 Ports, 1 - HDMI Port, 3-cell Lithium Polymer Battery (3280mAh), Up to 6 hours of battery life, 2.98 lbs. | 1.4 kg (system unit only), AC Power Adapter, AC Power Cord, Wireless Setup Card, Registration/ Limited Warranty Card, Microsoft Office Starter 2010, McAfee Internet Security Suite (60-day insert). Read on for more information on Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 best price!

Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 Specification:

13.3" HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LED-backlit Display: (1366 x 768) resolution; 16:9 aspect ratio

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5-2467M Processor 1.6GHz

Intel® HD Graphics 3000 with 128MB of dedicated system memory

320GB SATA Hard Drive

20GB SSD Drive

2-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader

802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™

Bluetooth® 4.0+HS

1.3MP HD Webcam(1280 x 1024)

Dolby® Home Theater® v4 audio enhancement

Two Built-in Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers

2- USB 2.0 Ports

1- HDMI™ Portwith HDCP Support

3-cell Lithium polymer Battery

Up to 6-hours battery life

2.98 lbs. system unit only

The S3 Ultrabook weighs in at just under 3 lbs and measures only 0.5" thin! Comfortably carry it under your arm or simply slip it into a backpack or tote bag. This pure, uncluttered design not only looks good- but enhances your everyday computing experience. Every single detail has been carefully selected to give you the very best, from the large multitouch touchpad for seamless interaction to the essential ports you need. The 13.3" widescreen LED-backlit display delivers a true cinematic view with16:9 aspect ratio so you can enjoy surfing the Web, streaming your favorite shows, social networking and more- all in stunning HD!

Acer Instant On resumes your computing session in less than 2 seconds(1) and from deep sleep in 6 seconds(1), thanks to the 20GB SSD drive that stores the current PC state just as you left it. Pop back on your PC and any Websites, emails or docs you had open are instantly restored - no more waiting!

Acer Green Instant Connect reconnects you to the Internet 4X faster(3) than it normally would! The Acer Aspire S3 remembers previous Wi-Fi spots you've used so that when they are in range, it instantly connects you to the Internet without any fuss or extra steps! Quickly access Instant Messaging, Internet services and email after system resume.

Low power consumption through Acer Hybrid Standby Technology enables up to 50 days(2) of standby power and up to 6 hours of continuous usage and work confidently knowing you'll always be powered on and ready to go.

Enjoy wireless freedom to roam with integrated 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and simplify your digital world eliminating cables with Bluetooth® wireless technology.

Buy Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 Ultrabook with 13.3-Inch HD Display from Amazon!

Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 Is It Worth Buying?

2011-09-02T19:12:00.002+07:00

Beside its 17.3 inch 1600x900 TFT display and blue-ray drive, Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 is generally one perfect example of how even a great laptop manufacturer like Toshiba could make a very disappointing product.
This L775D-S7226 is advertised as having dedicated M series Radeon GPU. Actually it is only using lowly G-series integrated graphics.
Actually, it is a beautiful laptop indeed. It’s brushed dark blue finish is really nice and thermally cold to the touch. Well, I love the feel of cold aluminum, but don’t know about you. Unfortunately, the finish attract lots of fingerprints and dust. You’ll definitely face problems with them unless you are using this laptop in a dust-free environment.
Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 is using a quad-core processor. But seems like this laptop couldn’t manage to work as fast as it is advertised. There are bloatware softwares comes pre-installed. Maybe you should do a clean OS install to make it free from them.
The worst thing about Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 that make it not worth buying is the GPU performance. Do some search on Google, and you’ll find that actually there is no such 6500M model available today. (Only 6530, 6550, & 6570). The GPU is just the basic integrated 6520G that all A6 3400s have. There is no dedicated 6500M series GPU in the notebook despite advertised, just the lowly integrated 6520G that can barely come close to running 3 year old games at ‘almost’ 30fps at lowest global and application settings. If you're a gamer, I assume that only light MMOs will play well.

Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 specification:
CPU/APU: AMD A6 3400 APU
Memory: 6gb (4gb+2gb) DDR3 PC-10600 5-5-5-15 Samsung memory modules
HDD: Hitachi Travel Star 640Gb 5400rpm
GPU: AMD 6500M Series Radeon HD 6520M
Optical Drive: Matsushita BD-rom/DVD-RW
Display: 17.3" 1600x900 TFT
Wireless: 802.11b/g/n

If you are still in doubt about this Toshiba Laptop, read more Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7226 reviews here.