Best LapTop

Dell Inspiron 14z

2011-09-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

The good: A clean, slim design, a backlit keyboard, very good battery life, strong performance, and an affordable price make the Dell Inspiron 14z more useful than most thinned-down laptops.

The bad: Limited upgrade options and no dedicated graphics might turn off some who need more flexibility, and flip-down port doors are a minor annoyance.

The bottom line: The Dell Inspiron 14z thins down the bulky look of the average Inspiron laptop while sacrificing none of the performance or battery life, adding up to an affordable mainstream notebook that's an excellent late consideration for back-to-school shopping.

When it comes to laptops in 2011, "thinner is better" seems to be a consistent trend. The MacBook Air and Samsung Series 9 head the pack in that regard, but laptops such as the Sony Vaio SE and Dell XPS 15z have followed suit. It's no surprise, then, that the mainstream Dell Inspiron line has gotten its own thinned-out model in the Inspiron 14z. Borrowing the "z for thin" convention that Dell's used somewhat confusingly for years (HP uses "z" to indicate an AMD-powered laptop), this Inspiron's undeniably slimmer than its clunkier 2011 Inspiron R counterpart. If the name rings a bell, that's because there was a previous Inspiron 14z released in 2009, with a Core 2 Duo processor, but that "thin" laptop was inferior to this new 14z in nearly every way. Dell's latest 14z is a very good laptop, and one of the best affordable mainstream models we've seen Dell make in a while.
Still, it's "thinner," not "ultraslim." The $599 starting price on the Inspiron 14z represents a reasonable budget price for the Core i3 processor, 500GB hard drive, and 4GB of RAM it includes; the highest-end Inspiron 14z tops out at a still-reasonable $829, although it lacks dedicated graphics, which will annoy some. The swappable snap-on back lid, a show-off feature of the new Inspiron R series, is also gone. Consider it a trade for a more compact form.
Its improved battery life, a DVD drive, and USB 3.0 ports could make the most difference for potential buyers. The clean aluminum lid and uncluttered look are also better than we've seen from recent Dell laptops. The Inspiron 14z is a better back-to-school laptop than the Inspiron R; for not much of an extra investment, the overall design is much improved. We'd recommend it, even in its entry-level configuration, wholeheartedly.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$829 / $599
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M
Memory	8GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	750GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Mobile Intel HM65 Express Chipset
Graphics	Intel HD 3000
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.6x9.7 inches
Height	0.9-1 inch
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.6 pounds / 5.3 pounds
Category	Mainstream

Much like the Inspiron R laptop, the Dell Inspiron 14z has a hinge-forward top lid that results in a back lip on the end of the laptop. Here, however, that added back padding has been much reduced, feeling far more integrated into the overall chassis. The Inspiron 14z has less of a wedge-shaped design and has a universal thickness; the top lid slips down in the rear, tucked into recessed side walls. With the screen lifted up, the laptop feels simple, and somehow intimate because of its hinge-forward display and the side walls, which narrowly enclose the bottom of the screen.

Our review unit came in an attractive metallic Fire Red, which costs an extra $29. The Inspiron 14z otherwise comes standard in Diamond Black. Brushed aluminum on the back of the lid and around the keyboard deck adds a sophisticated touch, while the bottom and sides are black plastic. The back lid is, however, strangely flexible on the top; we could press down on the Dell logo and it would bow. A six-cell battery tucked into the back end bulges from the bottom a little, creating a slight riser.
Does the reduced thickness in the Inspiron 14z matter? The Inspiron 15R (admittedly, with a larger screen) was 1.2 inches thick at the thinnest, and maxed at 1.29 inches. It weighed just a hair under 6 pounds with a six-cell battery. The Inspiron 14z is 0.92 inch to 1 inch thick, and weighs 4.58 pounds. The lighter weight is noticeable, although this laptop weighs nearly the same as other 14-inchers such as the Gateway ID47H02u and Toshiba Satellite P745--or the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro. One inch thick used to be considered ultraslim, but it's now the standard for well-designed mainstream laptops.
So, yes, the reduced size and weight matter, but only in terms of making the Inspiron 14z a more competitive laptop. They don't push this computer into uncharted thin territory.
We're happy to report that the backlit island-style keyboard on the Inspiron 14z is crisp and roomy, and feels great to type on. We appreciated the backlighting, which pooled around the sides of the smooth, concave keys. The smallish square touch pad below we can't be as bullish about. The cheap-looking discrete buttons beneath and iffy tactile response make the multitouch pad look like a budget component.
A few dedicated buttons above the keyboard launch Dell Support Center and a handy set of commonly used control settings for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and battery, among others. A third button can be customized to quick-launch an application.
The 14-inch glossy display has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. The screen brightness and colors were fuller than we expected, making movies and TV shows pop. Viewing at angles eventually caused the picture to wash out, but no more than on most average laptop screens.
The front-firing stereo speakers situated under the Inspiron 14z's palm rest were surprisingly powerful. Listening at half volume, we had enough oomph to enjoy the movie trailer to Steven Spielberg's "War Horse." Music also sounded good, but nowhere near as good as from the XPS 15's speakers.
A 1-megapixel Webcam takes photos and video at resolutions up to 1,280x720 pixels. Audio and picture quality are certainly good enough for Web chat and quick self-made clips.

	Dell Inspiron 14z	Average for category [mainstream]
Video	HDMI, Mini DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, SD card reader	2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional WiMax	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

Despite being small, the Inspiron 14z comes packed with useful ports. Two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, and Mini DisplayPort (no VGA) are tucked behind flip-down port doors on the left and right sides. The doors are an odd touch, and don't affect accessibility much--although the narrow clusters of ports on either side can get a little cramped. A tray-loading DVD burner fits along the right-hand side. Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) 2.0 is also included, which allows wireless HD streaming of audio and video--or anything displayed on the Dell's screen--with the purchase of an additional box that plugs into your TV, made by Netgear or one of several other companies. It's hard to locate the WiDi launcher on the system, and we'd recommend that, if you care, you map WiDi to the quick-launch button above the keyboard.
Like all Dell laptops, the Inspiron R comes in a variety of configurations. Our review configuration comes in at around $830 on Dell's site. Thankfully, the endless levels of customization seem to be dialed back a bit on the Inspiron 14z. The high-end $799 configuration has a locked-in 8GB of RAM, a 750GB, 7,200rpm hard drive, and a 2.3GHz Core i5-2410M processor. As we mentioned, the Fire Red color cost an extra $29. Alternatively, a less-expensive model has a 650GB hard drive and 6GB of RAM but also includes WiMax. The entry-level $599 version has a 2.2GHz Core i3-2330M processor, 500GB hard drive, and 4GB of RAM, pretty respectable specs in their own right. Honestly, if we were shopping for an Inspiron 14z, we'd be tempted to just buy the $599 version, especially since it still has USB 3.0 and Bluetooth.
The 2.3GHz Core i5-2410M CPU in our Dell Inspiron 14z is a processor we've seen in many 13-, 14-, and 15-inch mainstream laptops this year, ranging from the Gateway ID47H02u to the HP Envy 14 and Sony Vaio SA. It's also the exact same processor we reviewed in the 2011 Dell Inspiron 15R. Performance matches those models, not surprisingly; multitasking works very well even with multiple open windows, and everything from HD streaming video to basic multimedia editing runs well. The extra RAM in our configuration is a helpful boost for multitasking.

Toshiba Qosmio F755-3D290 Glasses-Free 3D laptop

2011-09-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

The good: The Toshiba Qosmio F755-3D290 offers surprisingly good glasses-free 3D video playback, built into a decent high-end midsize laptop, with eye-tracking software to adjust the image on the fly.

The bad: The 3D effect works best for a single viewer, and can still be finicky at times. Games and online 3D video don't work yet, although future updates are promised. Playback of 3D content is at a lower resolution than 2D content.

The bottom line: More of a proof-of-concept than anything else, the glasses-free 15-inch 3D display on the Toshiba Qosmio F755 can be impressive when paired with the right content.

Many of the unique demo units and prototypes seen at the annual CES show don't make it onto store shelves in the near term, if at all (for example, Lenovo's convertible U1 tablet/laptop). Then there's the Toshiba Qosmio F755, which we saw as a 15-inch glasses-free 3D prototype at CES in January, and which is now officially for sale in a single fixed-configuration model.

That's a pretty quick turnaround, although the glasses-free 3D market is starting to pick up with help from Nintendo's 3DS handheld gaming system and similar stereoscopic gadgets from Sony and others. Like the CES prototype, the final version of the $1,699 Qosmio F755 has a 15.6-inch display that uses special eye-tracking software to track the viewer's head movements via the built-in Webcam and adjust the stereoscopic image accordingly. But keep in mind that the screen's native resolution is 1080p, but for 3D content, it drops to 720p (actually 1,366x768 pixels).

As with a 3D TV, it'll take a few moments to orient your eyes, especially if you're not used to watching 3D content. But we found the eye-tracking feature allowed for a reasonable amount of freedom of movement, and the 3D effect worked from an off-axis side view. However, again because of the tracking feature, it works best for one viewer at a time.

Other drawbacks are that the 3D display doesn't work for video games or streaming-video content yet, only 3D Blu-ray and 3D video files you're able to download and play in Toshiba's custom media player application. Both Toshiba and Nvidia have told us updates for expanded compatibility are in the works, but there are no firm details or time frame right now, which is a shame, as 3D gaming would be a killer app.

Stereoscopic screen aside, the rest of the system is typical of Toshiba's Qosmio line of consistently excellent multimedia and gaming laptops. Components include an Intel Core i7 CPU, discrete Nvidia graphics, and even a rare Blu-ray-burning drive.

Price as reviewed	$1,699
Processor	2.0GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory	6GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	750GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel QM67
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	15.3x10.5 inches
Height	1.5 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	7.1 pounds / 8.7 pounds
Category	Midsize

At first glance, this is a fairly standard Qosmio laptop, although based on a slightly older design. The outer shell is a textured bright red, with a glossy black interior. It's not as outlandish as some Qosmio systems we've seen, such as those with illustrated flame graphics, but its not as subtle as the recent Qosmio X775-3DV78 laptop, which traded the gloss for a brushed metal look.

There are a few other design elements we liked better in the X775, including a more popular island-style keyboard, with widely spaced keys--the ones here are tightly packed. We'd also like to see easier-to-use flat mouse buttons, as opposed to the Toshiba house-style convex glossy plastic buttons seen here.

The chassis does allow room for a full-size number pad, and there is a row of touch-sensitive control buttons right above the keyboard, including volume controls and a button for turning the 3D view off and on (which only works for 2D-to-3D conversion).
But we've all seen Qosmio laptops before. What you're really interested in is how the 3D features work. In brief, the entire setup is just short of practical, and feels more like a proof-of-concept piece than a finished consumer product. That said, for watching 3D Blu-ray movies by yourself, it can be a good overall experience, once you get used to how the system and software work.

The box includes a single page of 3D instructions, written by someone who must either write tax code for a living or else is not a native English speaker. Little of practical value is explained, and there's even a line that reads, "This technology does not currently support Blu-ray Disc format media." Of course it does--that's the entire point of the system. The instruction sheet, while it doesn't specify, is referring to a built-in 2D-to-3D conversion function, which you'll probably never use anyway, as like all 2D-to-3D conversions, it's headache-inducing.

To get started, pop a 3D Blu-ray Disc into the tray-loading drive. The custom Toshiba 3D Blu-ray player app will launch and for most discs you'll have to choose either the 3D or 2D version from the disc menu. The Toshiba Blu-ray player app is slow, clunky, and unintuitive, but for now it's the only software that will work with the 3D screen. Its pop-up control bar obscures the onscreen Blu-ray menus, there are unexplained buttons and functions, we couldn't find anything resembling a virtual remote, and you need to juggle between the touch pad for player-specific functions and the Enter and arrow and keys for disc menu functions. In short, it's a mess. But, once you get a movie playing, it should stay out of the way.

The 3D effect isn't as crisp as you may be used to from a 3D movie theater or 3D TV with active shutter glasses. Still, from a couple of feet away, it's quite watchable. There is a subtle screen-door effect that gets more obvious the closer you get to the screen.

As with the Nintendo 3DS, it's best to find a head position that works and stay relatively still. As mentioned above, the media player works with a special app that uses the built-in Webcam to track your eye movement, but there's a shifting effect if you move your head too much, like looking at an old lenticular image. The face-tracking app can show you what the Webcam sees in a small side window, which is a cool effect, but bringing it to the forefront (or, for example, hitting one of the volume buttons, which has an onscreen indicator) kicks you out of the 3D view in the media player until you bring the player back to the forefront. We also found the 3D image also occasionally separated into its left and right side-by-side components, requiring a restart of the media player to fix.

The 1,920x,1080-pixel, 15.6-inch display looks perfectly normal when displaying 2D content, but the maximum resolution for 3D content is 1,366x768 pixels, and that view also adds a screen-door effect, as we noted earlier. The overall look of 3D content is not as crisp or sharp as on laptops with Nvidia's 3D Vision glasses, but it's better than on the 3D laptops we've seen that use the competing Tri-Def 3D technology.

	Toshiba Qosmio F755	Average for category [Midsize]
Video	VGA plus HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	Blu-ray rewritable drive	DVD burner

While a Blu-ray drive is what we'd expect to find in a multimedia laptop such as this, the big surprise is that the drive records Blu-rays as well, not just DVDs. As this laptop is currently only available in a single fixed configuration, you're stuck with that potentially expensive extra, and there's no chance to upgrade the midlevel Nvidia GeForce 540M graphics.

HP Envy 14 (Summer 2011)

2011-08-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

The good: The HP Envy 14 gets updated with newer Intel processors and a new multitouch touch pad.

The bad: Despite the improvements, the touch pad gestures still can't match what you get from Apple's trackpad.

The bottom line: A much-needed update to its internal components makes HP's Envy 14 one of the best high-end laptops for those looking for a PC with the flair of a MacBook.

The past couple of generations of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops from Apple have focused on improving the internal components while keeping the high-design exterior largely the same. Hewlett-Packard is taking a similar path with its Envy line of laptops (which not coincidentally also start at $999). The 2011 version of the 14-inch Envy 14 trades up to a second-generation Intel Core i5 processor and adds USB 3.0 and an improved touch pad, built around Synaptics' ImagePad technology.

Still, the multitouch gestures are not as smooth as Apple's, and the system as a whole is heavy for a 14-inch laptop. Despite this, the Envy line, currently available in 14- and 17-inch models, is probably the closest Windows users can come to the solid metal construction and sleek, understated design of a MacBook Pro.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,079/$999
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M
Memory	6GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	750GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	14x9.3 inches
Height	1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14.5 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	5.3 pounds/6.4 pounds
Category	Midsize

Like its predecessors, the Envy 14 is made of aluminum and magnesium, in a gunmetal gray with a contrasting black base. The subtle pattern of imprinted squares that covers the wrist rest and the back of the lid does not appear to have changed since the first Envy models.

The Envy 14 feels solid, tanklike, and dense compared with other laptops of a similar size. At 5.3 pounds, it's heavy for a daily shoulder-bag commute, but we could see it working for semiregular trips to the office, airport, or coffee shop.

The keyboard, in its slightly sunken tray, is made up of widely spaced, flat-topped keys with a single power button sitting above it. While there are no quick-launch or media control keys, the row of Function keys have their media control and other attributes as the primary mapping, so the tasks normally associated with those keys require holding down the Fn key at the same time. The F5 button, for example, turns on the backlit keyboard, while the Fn-F5 combination performs a page refresh.
In a welcome change from previous versions of the Envy, using the Function-key volume controls no longer triggers an onscreen volume meter. In older Envys, that had the unfortunate effect of kicking you out of full-screen mode if you were playing a game or watching a video. Now, the onscreen volume indicator still shows up for movies (but not games, in our experience) but doesn't interfere with full-screen view.

The Envy's oversize touch pad is becoming more common on all kinds of Windows laptops, but HP was one of the first to feature it. The latest version is called an ImagePad, and while it's still not as good as Apple's trackpad, it's one of the better Windows versions we've seen. New gestures include swiping four fingers down to hide all active windows and swiping up and down with three fingers to play and stop video playback in media programs.

Still, the all-important two-finger scrolling movement remains stuttery, and the touch pad lacks the inertial scrolling that helps MacBooks and iOS devices feel so natural. We were also hoping this system would include Synaptics' new ClickPad 3.0, which has a pad that depresses fully no matter where you click. Instead, this is the same style as on previous Envy laptops (and the MacBook), with the pad hinged on top and only clickable on the bottom.

The 14.5-inch widescreen LED display has a standard 1,366x768-pixel resolution, which is what you'll find on the vast majority of 11-to-15-inch laptop screens. We've seen older Envys that offer 1,600x900-pixel screens, but that does not appear to be an available option on the current version. Colors pop on the glossy screen, covered with edge-to-edge glass, but it can also pick up a lot of glare.
HP continues to work with Beats Audio to include special bass-boosting software and hardware that purportedly pairs especially well with Beats-branded headphones. The audio from the built-in speakers certainly sounds good, especially considering this is not a huge desktop replacement laptop, but it's never going to please a house-party crowd or capture the rumble of an action movie.

	HP Envy 14 (Summer 2011)	Average for category [mainstream]
Video	HDMI, Mini DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0, 1 UDB 3.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

Sadly, the USB-eSATA combo port we saw on the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition is gone, but it has been replaced by an arguably more useful USB 3.0 port. You do still get both HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, giving the Envy 14 a leg up on the MacBook Pro.

Best 5 laptops

2011-08-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of what I consider as the top 5 laptops

reviewed here at

best laptop ever

Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Summer 2011)

The latest version of the 13-inch MacBook Air vastly outperforms its predecessor, and can finally be called suitable for mainstream use, instead of relegated as a niche product.

Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, fall 2010)

It's a hefty investment, but the combination of new high-end Intel processor options and AMD graphics makes the 15-inch MacBook Pro an all-around powerhouse, with the new Thunderbolt I/O port as an added bonus.

Alienware M11x (spring 2011)

Don't be fooled by its unchanged looks: the 2011 Alienware M11x makes big leaps forward in performance, graphics, and battery life, while keeping a reasonable price. Anyone looking for a portable gaming-ready laptop will have a hard time resisting the urge to pick one of these up.

Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 3D

A stereoscopic 3D laptop with excellent CPU performance and high-end graphics. The Nvidia 3D Vision system works as advertised. Tons of RAM and hard-drive space and a Blu-ray-RW drive are part of a big feature list.

Dell XPS 17 3D

A sharp-looking desktop replacement that can handle 3D content, as well as output 3D movies and games to a compatible 3DTV. Highly configurable, the more-expensive options are powerful indeed.

Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Summer 2011)

2011-08-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

The good: The new 11-inch Apple MacBook Air is dramatically faster than last year's version, has a backlit keyboard, and comes with a high-speed Thunderbolt I/O port.

The bad: The $999 entry-level Air still has the same limited fixed flash storage and RAM as last year's version, which most people will want to upgrade from--and there's still no SD card slot, Ethernet port, or 3G wireless option.

The bottom line: This year's 11-inch MacBook Air improves on last year's model in several significant ways and is by far the fastest ultraportable you're likely to find, though some users will consider the limited flash storage space to be a hindrance.

Last October, Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air debuted. The tiny, slim ultraportable was the smallest laptop Apple had ever made. Its combination of size and power earned it a four-star review, with caveats: it had a last-generation Core 2 Duo processor, lacked a backlit keyboard, and omitted an SD card slot. We're glad to find the newly released, back-to-school-timed 2011 MacBook Air update fixes two of our three complaints, while keeping a $999 starting price.

Both 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs have been updated with new, faster second-gen Core i5 processors. The new Air also, finally, has a backlit keyboard. There are more bonuses, too: Mac OS X Lion, Apple's brand-new operating system update, comes preinstalled. A Thunderbolt I/O port for high-speed data transfer and HD audio/video has been added.

Unfortunately, there's still no SD card slot, and memory and storage configurations remain both fixed and limited: the entry-level $999 configuration still only has 2GB of RAM and 64GB of flash storage, which many will consider inadequate. We recommend the $1,199 configuration, which has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Perhaps the biggest change to the MacBook Air is how it's being sold. Now that the $999 white MacBook no longer exists, Apple has made the MacBook Air the entry-level laptop for everybody (everybody with a grand to drop on a laptop, at least). The $999 11-inch MacBook Air is the most affordable MacBook in Apple's stable.

The 2011 11-inch Air is, undeniably, an improvement over the fall 2010 version. Is it a MacBook for everyone, though? Not yet, unless you can live with the Air's still comparatively limited storage space. For a more full-size laptop with even better battery life, many might be tempted to get the 13-inch MacBook Air or even the more full-featured 13-inch MacBook Pro. But, for sheer portability and performance, nothing can beat the 11-inch Air.

Price as reviewed	$999
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M
Memory	2GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	64GB SSD
Graphics	Intel HD 3000
Operating system	OS X 10.7 Lion
Dimensions (WD)	11.8x7.6 inches
Height	0.11-0.68 inch
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.34 pounds / 2.68 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

The new 11-inch Air is identical to last year's model in terms of physical design. There's nothing wrong with that; the trim, elegant Air cuts a blade-thin profile and is one of the lightest little laptops we've ever seen. The all-aluminum body feels rock-solid and has no flex at all, while the magnetically closed upper lid smoothly opens on its center hinge to rest at a perfect viewing angle. The all-metal construction keeps it from feeling too fragile, often an issue for ultrathin systems. The body tapers at the front down to a razor-thin .11-inch edge, creating an optical illusion of even more thinness, although it's still only 0.68 inch thick at the rear.

The Air feels so minimal, it almost resembles an iPad when closed, and its dimensions, while longer, thicker, and heavier, aren't far off. The 2.38-pound chassis and tapered design make this 11-incher slip almost unnoticed into a small bag, and with Apple's square charger it wraps up into a neat, tiny package. The Air even feels thin and light to someone used to working with very small laptops (such as Sony's Vaio Z). Even the 11-inch Samsung Series 9, an impressive little ultraportable, feels thick by comparison.

The large keyboard and trackpad (the same glass version found on other MacBooks) both work well, although the function keys at the top are very small. The keyboard feels excellent for such a small laptop, nearly identical to what you'd find on a full-size MacBook, except the keys are shorter and thus have less travel to them. The newly added (or should we say, restored) backlighting is a huge boon for low-light work conditions. Backlight brightness controls have been added to the function buttons at the top, along with new Launchpad and Mission Control hot keys. The complete use of function keys as function-reversed media/panel controls is efficient and well laid-out.

The palm rest below the keyboard is also generously sized, a rarity on ultraportables. Those who might criticize the excessively large bezel around the 11-inch Air's display need only do the math and realize that this space was added to ensure a large keyboard/trackpad/palm-rest zone unlike the compressed working landscape we've seen on other 11-inchers. However, the footprint of the 11-inch Air really could accommodate a 12-inch screen. We'd like to see that in a future Air model.

Apple's large multitouch trackpad remains the best available. The pad is hinged at the top, allowing the entire pad to click down, but we prefer traditional tapping (which is off by default and must be activated in the Preferences menu). We've seen other clickpads from other manufacturers, but none have the size, responsiveness, or construction quality of Apple's. It's a huge amount of trackpad space on such a small laptop, but you'll need every inch of it and then some, as Mac OS X Lion, which comes preinstalled on the new MacBook Airs, has an elaborate multifinger multitouch vocabulary that's much more demanding of trackpad space than the more conservative Windows 7 multitouch universe. However, one of the most challenging new multifinger gestures--the four-finger squeeze to bring up Launchpad that we've come to call "the claw,"--has a simple hot key in the F4 button. We'll be pressing that instead in the future, thank you very much.

The new Air comes with an impressive set of software programs installed, starting with OS X Lion. The newest version of Mac OS X launched at the same time as these new Airs, making the MacBook Air the first Mac laptop we've used with the new OS. (For more on OS X Lion, read our CNET review.) Lion maximizes screen real estate on the 11-inch Air: applications more easily pop to full-screen, and swiping between full-screen apps eliminates the hunt for tiny buttons. But Lion also suffers from a few too many viewing modes, such as Mission Control, Launchpad, and Expose.

Applications installed via other methods can't be instantly deleted from the iOS-like Launchpad (thank goodness), and the Mac App Store, while useful, has too many holes in its software library to be considered comprehensive. It's the start of an iOS-like experience on the Mac, but it still has a ways to go. You already get the standard suite of iLife programs, iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand, which all include tons of useful and fun features and are ideal for casual consumers.

Like last year's model, the 11-inch Air boots and starts up from sleep extremely quickly. Apple calls this Instant On, and though it's not exactly instant, it does boot up very, very fast--faster even than an iPad. In sleep mode, the Air can go for an extremely long time without much loss in battery life, much like the iPad. After putting it in sleep, we opened our Air up the next morning and found practically no drop-off.

The 11-inch Air is still the only MacBook with a 16:9 display (the 13-incher is still 16:10), and uses the same 1,366x768-pixel native resolution as most laptops from 11 to 15 inches. The screen area lacks the edge-to-edge glass over a black bezel found in other MacBooks; instead the screen is surrounded by a thick silver bezel. While small, the screen is incredibly bright and crisp. Not only could we view video from nearly any wide angle, but text, even small text, popped off the white space on documents. The only screen we've seen recently that equals it is the one on the Samsung Series 9.

The built-in speaker offers crisp sound, but its volume is limited. Listening to a TV show in a bedroom with air conditioning on became a nearly impossible task. In terms of overall volume output, it felt comparable to the iPad 2. It's best to use headphones instead.

The included Webcam, unlike the one on the new MacBook Pros, isn't HD. The video quality in our basic tests with Photo Booth and FaceTime was a little grainy, but serviceable. We'd have preferred an HD Webcam upgrade, especially with Apple's focus on video calling.

	Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Summer 2011)	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	Thunderbolt I/O with Mini DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/mic combo jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	Thunderbolt I/O with Mini DisplayPort	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Even though the 11-inch Air is small, it still gets a Thunderbolt port, replacing the Mini DisplayPort on last year's model. Thunderbolt is Apple's new high-speed I/O port for HD audio, video, and data, allowing multiple hard drives and monitors to be connected via a single cable. Thunderbolt will still work with older Mini-DisplayPort monitors and with HDMI converters, but the added connectivity could theoretically help restore missing ports via a dock connector, although currently that's not the case.

Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 3D Laptop

2011-08-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

The good: The Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 is a stereoscopic 3D laptop with excellent CPU performance and high-end graphics. The Nvidia 3D Vision system works as advertised. Tons of RAM and hard-drive space and a Blu-ray-RW drive are part of a big feature list.

The bad: Bulky and heavy, this isn't a laptop that's ever likely to leave a desk--especially with its unsurprisingly poor battery life.

The bottom line: Those in the market to spend more than $1,000 and get a 3D-enabled, Blu-ray-equipped laptop with plenty of horsepower for games should strongly consider Toshiba's latest high-end Qosmio. It's not cheap or portable by any means, but it's certainly powerful.

In stark counterpoint to small, fast systems like the MacBook Air, big-screened, heavy, packed-to-the-gills desktop-alternative laptops are still alive and well, although sometimes a little hard to justify. Toshiba's Qosmio line of laptops has been a well-known example of that type of massive machine for years, and 2011's update to the Qosmio largely continues the trend with a new design. The $1,899 Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 is bulky, heavy (8 pounds), and expensive, but it's also got top-of-the-line features. A quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics, and dual hard drives with a combined 1.25TB capacity come wrapped in a chassis that's--no joke--smaller and lighter than previous Qosmios, although still far larger than any average laptop.
This Qosmio is part of a small class of stylized large-screen 3D laptops, very similar to the Dell XPS 17 3D Edition or HP Envy 17 3D.

This particular Qosmio also comes packaged with Nvidia 3D Vision technology (the most common way for laptops to display stereoscopic 3D) and a pair of Nvidia 3D active-shutter glasses, meaning it can play 3D PC games and 3D Blu-ray movies. Both look good on the large 17.3-inch 1,920x1,080-pixel display, or either can be output to a 3D-compatible HDTV with Nvidia 3DTV Play software.

Here's the million-dollar question for a nearly $2,000 laptop, though: is all that enough? Do 8-pound media-heavy laptops make sense when they're this large? That might be a conversation for a different time, but it's a near certainty that the Qosmio X775-3DV78 won't leave your desk much, even if it's slightly smaller than previous Qosmios. The value of 3D entertainment is also up for debate--honestly, even in the years since 3D laptops were introduced, it's never been more than a high-end novelty, although Nvidia 3D Vision does work (to varying degrees) with most mainstream games and 3D Blu-ray movies.
The Qosmio X775-3DV78 adds up to a superior high-performance laptop, but many will consider the 3D not worth the extra investment. In that case, consider a 3D-free Qosmio instead (they start at $1,199), and remember also that other companies offer similar alternatives, including the Dell XPS 17 3D Edition. In direct spec-to-spec comparisons, the XPS 17 actually costs a little more for a little less.

Price as reviewed	$1,899
Processor	2.0GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory	8GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	1.25TB (500GB HDD, 7,200rpm + 750GB HDD, 5,400rpm)
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	16.3x10.8 inches
Height	1.4 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	17.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	8.0 pounds / 10.3 pounds
Category	Desktop replacement

Toshiba's Qosmio line of laptops has always been deskbound, big-screened, and oriented toward high-end media and gaming. The 2011 Qosmio has gotten as large a design face-lift as we've seen in a while, particularly in terms of reducing the laptop's overall footprint. The Qosmio X775 has a 17.3-inch screen, a step down from the previous 18-inch one. The red-and-charcoal/silver laptop is hardly small: its 8-pound weight and 1.4-inch-thick chassis won't ever fit easily into most backpacks or bags. Still, it's slimmed down a lot from older models such as the Qosmio X505-Q580, which weighed almost 2.5 pounds more.

The Qosmio's textured horizontal lines and red-to-silvery-gray design on the top lid and interior lean subtly to more of a "gamer" look, as do the ornate silver plastic speaker grilles above the keyboard, which almost look like pimp-my-ride rims. Red keyboard backlighting and LED lights on a media control touch strip add to the Alienware-reminiscent effect, though a tad more understated. From top to bottom, this Toshiba's glossy plastic veneer also might turn off some people looking for higher-quality materials and construction.

The chassis feels a lot like Toshiba's Satellite line in terms of its keyboard: the raised island-style keys are a bit smaller and more squared-off than Apple and Sony laptop keys and feel a little soft to the touch. A full number pad on the right side should make both RTS gamers and accountants happy.

The multitouch touch pad is oddly small for such a large laptop, though that's hardly a surprise; gamers tend to be mouse-oriented and sometimes get annoyed by overly large touch pads. A narrow red LED strip along the pad's top edge helps peripheral-vision orientation when engaged in onscreen activities, while a pair of curved silver plastic buttons beneath offer standard if slightly cheap-feeling click control.
Of course, keyboard and touch pad aren't the reasons you're buying a Qosmio, which brings us to the real features at hand: screen and speakers. The 17.3-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel, 120Hz glossy LED-backlit display is excellent, far sharper than most laptops and rich and bright with color. Its viewing angles are also impressive: we bent the lid down and could still see the picture from extreme angles. Few laptops will have a picture this good. Games and Blu-ray movies all looked excellent, although some might not prefer watching movies on a screen so relatively small compared with larger desktop monitors.
The speakers are very good, but not stellar: we've always liked Toshiba's Harman Kardon speakers, and the stereo speakers included here have a solid mix of bright treble and rumbling bass. However, this Qosmio lacks any additional speakers or a subwoofer. The audio's still excellent compared with most other laptops, but you might prefer to opt for headphones.

Nvidia 3D Vision comes built into the Qosmio X775 3DV78. This isn't the first 3D Toshiba laptop we've seen--in fact, Nvidia's 3D technology has been around for several years already--and if you've seen it in action before, you won't be surprised. Nvidia's 3D ecosystem is largely superior to other PC alternatives, using active shutter technology in a pair of included 3D glasses that fit nicely, even over another pair of glasses. Nvidia's glasses sync via an IR emitter that used to plug into laptops via a separate dongle, but that IR receiver is now integrated into the top lid of the Qosmio's display, next to the Webcam. Once the glasses are charged and in range and Nvidia 3D Vision has been turned on, 3D content automatically triggers stereoscopic mode.

Turning on 3D and adjusting settings involved a trip to Nvidia's control panel, and wasn't nearly as easy a process as we would have liked. This Qosmio does have a "3D" LED button on its touch panel, but we couldn't seem to get it to turn off when we pressed the button. Perhaps it's an indicator instead. Regardless, 3D setup needs to be more straightforward on 3D laptops, since it's likely to intimidate newcomers.

Admittedly, Nvidia 3D Vision delivers as advertised. The effect's often impressive: pictures and games pop, and even 3D Blu-ray movies have a solid depth of field, though it's not nearly as dramatic as on a big screen. 3D PC gaming doesn't require any special games in order to work: Nvidia's technology pulls the 3D data already in nearly every PC game and converts the titles automatically, often to impressive effect (but sometimes the end result is unplayable--it all depends on the game). It's hardly necessary, but gamers who want a little extra pizzazz will find it a fun bonus, provided they have the money to burn. We tried a variety of games and all worked well, although some older titles such as Blur had occasional 3D errors with some of its effects.

The included Corel WinDVD software automatically plays 3D Blu-ray movies, but playback was sometimes juddery compared with the smooth frame rate of non-3D Blu-rays. It's watchable, but will aggravate AV perfectionists. Alternatively, you could use Nvidia 3DTV Play, which will output 3D Blu-ray playback to a compatible 3DTV. However, for all that effort, 3D HDTV owners with that much disposable income would likely prefer (or already own) a dedicated 3D Blu-ray player or 3D-capable game console instead.

	Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78	Average for category [desktop replacement]
Video	HDMI, VGA	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone and microphone jacks	Stereo speakers with subwoofer, headphone/microphone jacks.
Data	1 USB 3.0, 3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	Blu-ray-RW	DVD burner, optional Blu-ray player

As you'd expect of a laptop this size and price, this Qosmio's got all the feature bells and whistles. Easily accessible USB ports crowd the front left and right sides of the laptop, along with all other connections, including a USB 3.0 port. That includes VGA and HDMI ports, too, which is a bit odd: for a big desktop-replacement we'd prefer rear video ports. The included optical drive reads and writes Blu-ray Discs--more commonly, Blu-ray drives are read-only. Most people won't need the added write capacity of Blu-ray, but it might come in handy for large file archiving.

Dell XPS 17 3D

2011-07-05T01:43:00.000-07:00

The good: The Dell XPS 17 3D is a sharp-looking desktop replacement that can handle 3D content, as well as output 3D movies and games to a compatible 3DTV. Highly configurable, the more-expensive options are powerful indeed.

The bad: Some wonky stereoscopic 3D issues make this less plug-and-play than a 3DTV, and the 17-inch version of the XPS has not gotten the same slim makeover the 15-inch version has.

The bottom line: Dell's XPS 17 3D is for those who want a powerful media and gaming 17-inch laptop, but in a more aesthetically upscale package than offered by Dell's Alienware brand. The stereoscopic 3D is gimmicky, but a certain breed of PC gamer will love it.

Dell's sometimes-confusing array of in-house consumer brands has been thankfully whittled down to three, and there's a clear enough delineation between them to make choosing a Dell laptop (or at least a starting point) a simple equation. The mainstream Inspiron brand hits the lowest end of the price spectrum, with plastic bodies and a surprisingly wide range of component options; the premium-priced Alienware brand is for Mountain-Dew-chugging gamers, with aesthetic palates that lag behind their budgets. In the middle is the XPS line, which takes some of the same higher-end components available from the other two lines, adds new and different options, and wraps the entire system up in an appealing metal-clad shell.
The upscale-looking XPS 17 3D is a relatively recent variation on the brand, taking the current 2011 17-inch XPS, with its second-gen Intel Core i-series processors, and adding stereoscopic 3D support via Nvidia's 3D Vision platform (which is really the standard for PC-based 3D). You can also send the signal to a 3DTV via HDMI and watch video or play PC games in 3D--a potential draw for fans of PC-only games such as StarCraft II.

Related links
• Dell XPS 15z review
• Dell XPS 15-L502X review
• HP Envy 3D review

Our XPS 17 3D rang up at $2,054, but the starting price for a 3D version is $1,199 (non-3D XPS 17 models can be configured down to $899). While it's actually very hard to configure a laptop to cost more than $2,000 these days, our expensive review unit included an Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, 8GB of RAM, a full-HD 1080p screen, Nvidia's GeForce GT 555M GPU, a Blu-ray writer, and 1TB of hard-drive space.
That's probably more computer than anyone needs, but a more reasonable build will get you up and running for under $1,500, and still be a killer gaming/multimedia/3D rig that won't make your apartment look like a dorm room.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$2,054 / $1,199
Processor	2.0GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory	8GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	100GB (500GBx2) 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel HM67
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	16.3 x 11.3 inches
Height	1.3 - 1.5 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	17.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	8.4/9.8 pounds
Category	Desktop replacement

With a brushed-metal design and a three-tone black/gray/silver color scheme, the 17-inch version of the Dell XPS is nearly identical to the smaller 15-inch XPS, which we last reviewed in March 2011. It's buttoned-down for a multimedia machine, but wouldn't look out of place in an upscale den or living room.
This is, however, a totally different design than the very recent XPS 15z, a slimmer re-imagining of the XPS line, which has a thinner body, slot-loading optical drive, and large speaker grills on either side of the keyboard. The 15z is a much cleaner, nicer look overall, and we may someday see those design cues make their way to the XPS 17, but for now, this is still a thick, chunky laptop, but not an unattractive one.
Dell's standard onscreen dock--a quick-launch collection of apps and menus--has gotten a major overhaul this year. Instead of being pinned to the top (or optionally, the bottom) of the screen, it now sits about one-quarter of the way up, with large, art-filled tiles for the different categories, including music, games, and video. It's called the Dell Stage, and you can change the size or content of the tiles, or turn the entire thing off. As far as docklike software packages go, this is one of the nicer-looking ones we've seen.
As a 3D-compatible laptop, the XPS 17 3D can be used to view stereoscopic content, including photos, videos, and games, using a pair of included Nvidia 3D Vision glasses (our review unit didn't actually include them, but we had an extra pair lying around; additional pairs run about $100). The nice part about PC-based 3D is that almost any PC game can be played in 3D mode, because the 3D Vision system simply presents the 3D data generated by the game itself; unlike console games, you don't need a specially coded stereoscopic 3D version.
The XPS 17 3D also works with Nvidia's 3DTV Play software, which lets you connect the HDMI output from the laptop into an HDMI input on a 3DTV and view 3D content on the larger screen. We had to go and find the Nvidia software on our own--it oddly wasn't preinstalled, and you should note that Nvidia charges $39 for that software, which also has a 14-day free trial.

Once we got the 3DTV Play software up and running, we were able to play PC games via the XPS 17 on a big-screen Samsung 3DTV. But, this comes with two important caveats. Resolution on 3DTV Play game content is limited to 720p, and there was a small amount of lag in the signal. We found Portal, our test 3D game, still playable, but faster-paced games may suffer with this kind of lag.
The display on the XPS 17 3D has a full HD 1,920x1080-pixel resolution, which is what we'd expect from a high-end desktop replacement. Screen images were bright and clear, and off-axis viewing was above average, but the very glossy screen also picked up a lot of glare. The built-in JBL-branded speakers are loud and reasonably deep, but you'll still want to hook up some headphones or external speakers, depending on what you're playing and how many people are watching.

	Dell XPS 17 3D	Average for category [desktop replacement]
Video	HDMI, Mini DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers with subwoofer, headphone (2x)/microphone jacks.	Stereo speakers with subwoofer, headphone/microphone jacks.
Data	1 USB 2.0; 1 USB 2.0/eSATA, 1 USB 3.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	Blu-ray burner	DVD burner, optional Blu-ray player

This is one of the few laptops we've seen that bothers to include a Blu-ray burning drive. Most are simply Blu-ray players that also burn DVDs. More-common BD/DVD-R drives are also available, and trading down to a simple DVD-only drive will knock $175 off the price.
While our XPS 17 3D crossed the $2,000 mark, with its high-powered quad-core CPU and 1TB of hard-drive space, you can get it down to as little as $1,199. That config includes a dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, and half the hard-drive space and RAM (4GB and 500GB, respectively).
As you might expect, the 2.0GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM powering our XPS 17 3D was an impressive performer. It was evenly matched with Acer's 18-inch Aspire 8950G, which had the same CPU, and both were much faster than high-end desktop replacements with last year's Intel Core i-series CPUs (such as the HP Envy 17 3D, not yet available with a 2011 Intel quad-core CPU, although it's expected any time now).
For gaming, the Nvidia GeForce GT555M is at the high end of Nvidia's mainstream GPUs (but is behind the GTX series, including the new GTX 580M). We ran our old Unreal Tournament III benchmark at 1,440x900 pixels and got 113.1 frames per second. On a more challenging test, we ran Street Fighter IV at 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution and got 33.5 frames per second.

Sony Vaio EB Series VPC-EB44FX/WI

2011-07-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

The good: Sony makes some of the best-looking and best-feeling hardware in the industry, which is especially welcome in a budget-minded system such as the Sony Vaio EB44FX. Intel's Wireless Display is included, and optional keyboard skins add a bit of flair.
The bad: Why, halfway into 2011, is Sony still selling laptops with 2010 versions of Intel's Core i-series CPU?
The bottom line: Sony's Vaio line of laptops, including the midpriced EB series, look great and include some high-end features--we just wish the CPU had been updated for the sake of better battery life.

There's no denying that Sony makes great laptop hardware. Its Vaio brand is often a go-to choice for design-minded shoppers, and the brand's relative scarcity in retail shops (compared with HP, Dell, and others) makes it desired by those wanting to stand out from the laptop crowd. Add in the fact that most Vaios are in the upper registers of the price spectrum, and you have one of the only laptop lines that can make Apple's MacBook Pro feel populist by comparison.
The Vaio E series is one of the less expensive Vaios, and this particular Vaio EB (the reasoning behind the Vaio naming scheme still eludes us after years of study) clocked in at $799, but can be found for $50 to $100 less online. For the sheer quality of the physical hardware you get--this system looks slick and feels rock-solid--it's a great deal. However, the EB44FX is sadly saddled with an outdated CPU.

For a laptop released halfway through 2011 to have a late 2010 Intel Core i3 CPU is inexcusable. This isn't just a case of keeping up with the Joneses--the current Intel chips bring not just a reasonable bump to performance, but also significantly better battery life and better integrated graphics. Most laptop makers have phased out the older parts (except perhaps for the lowest-end budget systems), and for a midpriced laptop such as this, Sony should do the same.

Price as reviewed	$799
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i3 380M
Memory	4GB, 1,066MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Intel HD
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	14.6x9.8 inches
Height	1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.5 inches
System weight / weight with AC adapter	5.2 pounds/6.3 pounds

From our anecdotal conversations with laptop buyers over the years, it's safe to say that next to Apple, Sony is probably the No. 1 laptop brand choice for design snobs (a term we use without prejudice, as it probably applies to us). While not as fancy as the high-end Vaio S or Z series laptops, the E series model is still quite a looker.
Our review unit came with a pearlescent white interior, offset by a light gray lid and black base. Sony being a big proponent of laptop colors that pop, several other color options are available, and many current Sony Vaio laptop models can be dressed up with a custom-fit keyboard skin.

These little rubber overlays, which are designed to fit specific Vaio laptop models, come in a wide variety of colors, and cover the entire keyboard area, edge to edge. To hear Sony tell it, these have been incredibly popular, and nearly everyone who buys a Vaio laptop in one of Sony's retail stores walks out with one or two of these $20 accessories.
Truth be told, it's pretty fun to change up the look of your laptop in an instant--the swath of color from the keyboard skins fits the existing design perfectly, and if you choose a complementary color, it can look as if the laptop was designed that way in the first place.
The skins do, however, make the excellent Sony keyboard a little harder to use. They grip tightly, but not quite tightly enough, and the rubber skin moved just enough under our fingers to lead to more typing errors than usual. With practice we did get better, and of course the keyboard skins are entirely optional.
The widely spaced island-style keys have long been a favorite, with full-sized Shift and Enter keys. This midsize model also has a full number pad and there's a trio of quick-launch buttons above the keyboard (just outside of the area covered by the keyboard skin). The quick-launch buttons launch a self-help support suite, a Web browser, and Sony's proprietary multimedia software.
The touch pad, while not as large as it could be on a system this size, was especially pleasant to use, thanks to a slightly raised dot pattern that offered just enough tactile feedback. Big left and right mouse buttons sit beneath, and the entire touch-pad package is centered under the keyboard spacebar, which means it sits slightly to the left on the chassis, as the keyboard is offset by the number pad on the right.
You may want to jump into the touch-pad settings and shrink the default right-side scroll zone. We've always found it set too wide on Sony laptops, and are constantly accidentally triggering it while moving the cursor.
The 15.5-inch display is one of the few areas where the lower price is evident. The screen resolution is 1,366x768 pixels, which is common enough for budget-to-midprice 15-inch laptops, but the Vaio EB looks like a more expensive machine, so our eyes expect a higher screen resolution. Off-axis viewing was decent, but the screen is so glossy we easily picked up glare and reflections from nearby lights.
As a nice bonus, Intel's Wireless Display technology is included. With it, you can beam your desktop (including video or photos) to any nearby TV with the help of a sold-separately receiver box. It's not quite fast enough for gaming, but for video playback, it's great.

Alienware M14x Review

2011-05-28T02:47:00.000-07:00

The good: The Alienware M14x, Dell's latest Alienware laptop, manages to pack amazing performance into a smaller-than-expected body with plenty of configuration options.

The bad: High-end configurations can be insanely expensive, and Alienware's laptop design is overdue for a refresh.

The bottom line: It's tough to find mobile PC gaming in a package that's neither too big nor too small. The Alienware M14x comes very close, with plenty of component options and a size that's hefty, but not backbreaking.

Typically, the difference between a 14-inch laptop and a 15-inch one is very slight, although we generally prefer the smaller of these two options for the sake of portability. When it comes to chunky gaming laptops, however, the difference can be more pronounced. While we wouldn't consider taking Alienware's 15-inch M15x laptop on the road, the new 14-inch version, unsurprisingly named the M14x, looks and feels a good deal smaller--even if it's still a beast compared with other 14-inch laptops.

For truly portable gaming, you'd want to stick with the popular 11-inch M11x, pretty much the only gaming ultraportable you'll find. But this new in-between size is enticing for those who want to take their games on a family vacation or business trip and still enjoy a reasonable screen size and generous 1,600x900-pixel screen resolution.

All this doesn't come cheap, and our review unit of the M14x costs $2,198, which includes a high-end Intel Core i7 2820QM CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GT555M GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. Fortunately, more realistic configurations start at $1,199.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$2,198 / $1,199
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i7-2820QM
Memory	8GB, 1,600MHz DDR3
Hard drive	750GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel HM67
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GT 555M / Intel HD 3000
Operating system	Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.4x9.7 inches
Height	1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	6.5 pounds / 7.8 pounds
Category	Midsize

Alienware has always had excellent touch pads, although much of the rest of the laptop industry is catching up in terms of size. The smooth, matte texture on the touch pad feels great under your fingers, and the two large, distinct mouse buttons are welcome. As with previous Alienware laptops, the touch pad is demarcated by a backlit ring, the color of which is selectable. A few touch-pad options, such as the size of the scroll bar, are controlled by an app called AlienTouch, but we didn't see any multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling.

On a 14-inch display, we'd expect to normally find a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but for this much money, it's only natural to expect more. This model's native resolution is actually 1,600x900 pixels, which is a step up for gaming. We'd be tempted to ask for full 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, but on a 14-inch screen text could become hard to make out. The built-in Klipsch speakers are as good as any we've heard in a laptop this size, and better than you'd find in many larger laptops.

	Alienware M14x	Average for category [midsize]
Video	VGA, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone (2x)/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader, SIM card slot.	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, WiMax	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

While the ports and connections on the M14x are mostly standard stuff, we appreciate the triple video-out setup of HDMI, VGA, and Mini DisplayPort. Missing are high-speed data ports such as eSATA and Thunderbolt, but you do get a pair of USB 3.0 connections and optional WiMax.

You also get a potentially useful optional wireless display antenna, bundled with a Vizio-branded receiver, instead of the usual Netgear one (Alienware isn't using the more common Intel Wireless Display version of the technology). With that, you can hypothetically beam the action to a nearby big-screen TV, although we've been unable to make the connection yet, despite plenty of experience with the Intel/Netgear version of the technology. Check back for an update after we try some newer drivers.

The real star of the show is the quad-core Intel Core i7 2820QM processor, which sits at the top of Intel's current laptop lineup. It's a very powerful CPU, making it so that only recent very high-end systems, such as Apple's high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro, are comparable to the M14x in our benchmark tests. That said, it's more CPU than you probably need, and most M14x buyers should be fine taking the CPU down a few levels when selecting system options online to save some money.

The Nvidia GeForce GT555M is also a newer top-of-the-line part, and helped run our Unreal Tournament III test at 1,400x900-pixel resolution at 240.4 frames per second. Playing a more recent game, such as Mafia II, at 1,600x900-pixel resolution with very high graphics settings got us a more realistic number, 34.8fps. Either way, this is a zippy gaming machine and more than enough to handle the latest games (although not at 1,920x1,080 pixels, as the M14x's screen resolution doesn't go that high).

Alienware M11x Review

2011-05-28T02:40:00.000-07:00

The good: Solid gaming performance in a very compact form; improves on the original Core 2 Duo version; automatic Nvidia Optimus graphics switching; impressive built-in audio.

The bad: The Core i7 ULV processor is still slower than normal Core i7 processors; higher-end configs get too expensive; no optical drive for installing games.

The bottom line: Equipped with Nvidia Optimus technology and new Core i5 and i7 processors, the updated 11.6-inch Alienware M11x has improved performance, but it takes a small step forward, not a quantum leap.

One of 2010's laptop surprises, the Alienware M11x offered something new to challenge the divide between gaming PCs and regular computers. Pairing gaming graphics with a compact Netbook-size body for a starting price less than $1,000, and battery life that was actually good, this travel-friendly "gaming Netbook" redefined our expectations of what a portable computer could offer.

There were a few drawbacks: in our original review of the Alienware M11x, we noted that the gaming capabilities were good but not great. With a Core 2 Duo ULV CPU, it was a far cry from the blazing speed of its full-fledged and more expensive big brother, the Alienware M15x, and the processor's general capability to multitask was considerably slower than even the lowest-end versions of Intel's new Core i3/i5 laptop processors.
Dell's new iteration of the Alienware M11x, equipped with Intel Core i5 and i7 ULV processors and automatically switching Nvidia graphics with Optimus technology, are now available alongside the original M11x for a slightly higher price. The specs raised expectations for both increased speed and battery life in our review unit, which had a Core i7-U640 CPU and cost $1,299.

Though the new Core i7 ULV version of the Alienware M11x does offer improved operating speeds and frame rates for games, it's not a quantum leap. It's better than its predecessor, but its higher price may scare away mainstream gamers or people looking for better laptop value for their money. Still, if you want a nearly unmatched size-graphics combination, this could be the hybrid you're looking for. If you'd like to save a few hundred dollars, consider giving the still-available Core 2 Duo version of the M11x (which starts at $799) a look. The new Core i5/i7 iterations of the M11x start higher, at $949.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$1,299/$949
Processor	1.2 GHz Intel Core i7 U640
Memory	4GB, 800 MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Mobile HM55
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GT 335M (1GB) + Intel GMA HD
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	11.3 inches x 9.2 inches
Height	1.3 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.6 / 5.6 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

The Alienware M11x is still a relatively thick ultraportable, especially considering that it lacks an optical drive, but the compactness of the Alienware M11x as a gaming machine is hard to beat. Its look is a lot cleaner and more streamlined than larger Alienware products, such as the M15x. Our black model (last time, we reviewed the M11x in silver gray) has a smooth, soft feel and a matte finish. The M11x gives away its Alienware pedigree via a subtle, black, alien-head logo on the back lid, a trademark alien skull above the keyboard, and its racecar-like front face, with somewhat silly LED "headlights." To some degree, the squared-off, bottom-heavy look of the M11x resembles an old-school portable DVD player. Its all-around clean lines make it an easy laptop to slide into a bag.

Opening up smoothly on a plastic hinge that protrudes from an otherwise flush backside, the M11x interior is all black, with a very familiar LED-backlit, multicolor keyboard and an edge-to-edge, glossy, 11.6-inch screen. The sturdy chassis and slightly compressed, but otherwise Alienware-quality, keyboard are much better than average, as is the comfortable, large touch pad. Much like other Alienware laptops, the bold-colored keyboard, grille, and Alienware logo lights can be customized in any of a rainbow of colors, or even set to strobe if you prefer. These effects are set using Alienware apps.

The M11x's 11.6-inch, 1,366x768-pixel resolution screen looks good behind its edge-to-edge glossy veneer, but all that glass on a small screen results in quite a bit of glare, too. With its screen size, the M11x seems made to be plugged into an external monitor, but the 11.6-inch display is actually surprisingly decent for gaming. An immersive assist comes from above-average built-in 5.1 speakers, an astounding array for the M11x's size. Game sound comes off crisp, loud, and good enough to enhance the gaming experience on its own. At maximum volume, the M11x can nearly rock a room.

The M11x still lacks an optical drive; that's an obvious decision to enable this laptop to be so small, but we couldn't help notice the M11x's conspicuously port-free stretch on its right side, which is about the same size as, well, an optical drive. We'll let you draw your own conclusions. While the capability to install games off discs without having to plug in a USB-connected external optical drive would be nice, modern gamers using Steam (preinstalled on the Alienware) or other downloadable software probably never touch discs most of the time anyway.

	Alienware M11x	Average for category [Ultraportable]
Video	HDMI, DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, dual headphone jacks, microphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, dual SD/Memory Stick card reader, mini-Firewire	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G broadband	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Speaking of missing ports, the most impressive feature on this tiny laptop is its support of both HDMI and DisplayPort. VGA has oddly been removed this go-around, though the original M11x boasted all three video options. We do not often use a DisplayPort, and we think VGA might have been a more versatile connection. No ExpressCard slot is provided, but at least the M11x includes Bluetooth (though you can optionally save $20 and leave it out when ordering on Dell's Web site). Our configuration also included Gobi Mobile Broadband supporting Verizon, an $125 extra (an AT&T Gobi card is also available), which also requires a monthly data subscription starting at $39.99.

Under the hood, the new Alienware M11x configurations use either a Core i5 or i7 ULV processor, which amounts to Intel's next-gen evolution of the SU7300 Core 2 Duo ULV CPU that was in the last Alienware M11x we reviewed. The Core 2 ULV M11x is still available from Alienware at a starting price of $799. The new configs start at $949, which gets you a 1.06 Ghz Core i5 520UM ULV processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. Our top-of-the-line configuration came to slightly more, at $1,299. Upgrading from a Core i5 520UM to the Core i7 640UM CPU costs $150.

The Intel Core i7 640UM processor under the hood of our Alienware M11x is a Core i7 in brand name only: running at half the speed of a normal processor but overclockable in BIOS, the performance of this low-voltage CPU is more akin to what we saw in the Core 2 Duo ULV processor, the SU7300, than what you're likely to get in any other Core i7 machine. This M11x does run faster and better at both single and multitasking benchmarks than its predecessor--about 27-percent faster than the Core 2 Duo ULV M11x in our multitasking benchmarks, for instance--but it still lags behind standard-voltage Core i-series processors. That being said, it's plenty fast for accomplishing most tasks, especially on its smaller 11.6-inch screen.

A powerful but not top-of-the-line Nvidia GeForce GT 335M graphics card with 1GB of RAM is the M11x's real secret weapon, giving it enough gaming power to handle most mainstream titles. The older version of the M11x used switchable graphics to alternate between discrete power and battery-saving integrated Intel graphics, but the software switch was manually operated. This M11x finally has newer on-the-fly Optimus graphics-switching technology, which handles the graphics switch seamlessly for the most part. The effect is invisible, except in a few instances: a demo of Kane & Lynch 2 didn't trigger a graphics switch-over, which requires right-clicking on the .exe file to add the profile to Nvidia's Optimus settings. (Optimus keeps an updated profile library for all programs for which it needs to activate graphics.)

In addition to making things a little easier, the new graphics setup performed better than the original M11x. The current M11x ran Unreal Tournament III's benchmark test at 84.2 frames per second in native 1,366x768-pixel resolution, as opposed to 69.5fps from the Core 2 Duo ULV M11x. We also tried Mass Effect 2 and Kane and Lynch 2 and found them to run excellently. The M11x isn't a top-flight gaming laptop, because of its slower-than-average ULV processor and just-short-of-elite graphics, but for its size it can't be beaten.
The M11x also outputs to external monitors at up to 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, via HDMI or DisplayPort-out (VGA has been removed from the Core i5/i7 M11x). Our results were a little better than they were on the original M11x, as would be expected; full 1080p gaming on Mass Effect 2 wasn't buttery smooth, but 1,600x900-pixel resolution looked surprisingly strong.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Review

2011-05-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

The good: Thin and sturdy with a rock-solid feel and clean design, the ThinkPad X1 stands out from other ThinkPads. Its backlit keyboard, fast Core i5 CPU, fast-charging battery, and low-light Webcam are also pluses.
The bad: The integrated battery doesn't last as long as we would expect, and the Gorilla Glass-covered screen produces a lot of glare. For a thin laptop, the X1 isn't as lightweight as it could be, thanks to its dense construction.
The bottom line: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 is the thinnest ThinkPad ever made, and it's a slim, cleanly designed 13-incher worth a look for business travelers--but it's not as thin as a MacBook Air, and its battery life isn't as good, either.

To be thin, in the world of laptops, is to be beautiful. We've seen this trend ebb and flow, such as when the MacBook Air and Dell Adamo first made their debuts a few years ago, and in a post-iPad world, thin is in again. First came the new MacBook Air, then the Samsung Series 9, and now Lenovo has unveiled its own thin 13-inch laptop, the $1,399 ThinkPad X1.
Lenovo has visited thin laptops before: the ThinkPad T410s was, at its time, one of the thinnest full-fledged laptops we'd seen, and the IdeaPad U260 was a sharp-looking 12.5-incher. The X1, however, is the thinnest ThinkPad ever made. It's not as sleek or as light as a MacBook Air--not by a long shot--but its crisp, sleek profile houses the specs of a full-size laptop: a standard-voltage Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and either a larger-capacity hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD) storage (which can drive prices up to $1,829). If you're considering the extra battery--which we would--and an SSD drive, the deceptively low $1,399 starting price can climb up pretty quickly to nearly $2,000.
It's not a reinvention of the ThinkPad wheel, but the X1 might be an appealing middle ground for business road warriors or ThinkPad lovers who want a sexed-up corporate laptop. For the rest of us, while it sports a look that's not unattractive, the X1 is a bit too thick to be a true competitor to a MacBook Air or Samsung Series 9. It's more of an alternative to the Toshiba Portege R835, another thin business/consumer laptop with similar performance that's lighter and has a better battery life while being more affordable. Therein lies the problem. Lenovo is selling the X1 on its sex appeal, but we've seen sexier. So have you.

Price as reviewed	$1,399
Processor	2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM
Hard drive	320GB, 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel HM67
Graphics	Intel HD 3000
Operating system	Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.3x9.1 inches
Height	0.65-0.85 inch
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.8 pounds (4.6 with extra battery) / 4.7 pounds (5.5 with extra battery)
Category	13-inch

While it's appreciably sleek, from the outside the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 honestly doesn't look all that different from a several-year-old ThinkPad, at least with its lid closed and at a distance. Partly, that's because the ThinkPad brand design continues to stay rigidly iconic: a matte black coating and the classic ThinkPad logo still grace the back lid.
That's not to say the X1 doesn't do admirable work refining the formula. The ThinkPad X1 is angular, with sharp edges and tapered sides that form a smaller footprint at the bottom than the top. The lid and whole laptop, inside and out, have a smooth, almost rubberized touch. Twin hinges open smoothly, and the upper lid opens a full 180 degrees (actually, even a bit more than that). However, to those who don't study the ins and outs of ThinkPads, some of those details may be lost. The X1 feels even better in the hand than it does to the eye. Its top-to-bottom smooth surfaces feel soft to the touch, and the uniform, clean design is one of the best we've seen on a ThinkPad.

In terms of design, the X1 borrows a lot from the ThinkPad Edge line; the clean, raised keyboard, textured clickpad, and edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass covering the display all make the X1 feel more like a close cousin of the ThinkPad Edge E420s and E220s.
Basically, the X1 is not actually that thin. Yes, it's 0.85 inch at its thickest point, but the Samsung Series 9 bests it at 0.64 inch. That's minor quibbling to some, but if we're having a contest of who's thinner, the X1 loses. On the other hand, the X1 is thinner than the Toshiba Portege R835.
At 3.8 pounds, the X1 is lighter than the average 13-incher, but not compared with its thin brethren; the Portege R835, MacBook Air, and Samsung Series 9 are all lighter. The X1's dense roll-cage construction feels the sturdiest of all of these laptops, but it also makes for a denser product.
The keyboard, with its concave island-style keys, is great to type on--as is nearly always the case with ThinkPads. It's also backlit, a new touch for a ThinkPad that we'd like to see it on other models, as the subtle LED lighting comes in handy in dim rooms. The square multitouch click-style touch pad below has a grid texture and good friction, and works like a lever--the bottom half clicks while the top half stays put. Extra buttons above the touch pad are meant for use with the trademark Lenovo trackpoint, nestled between the G, H, and B keys. We don't use it, but we know it has quite a dedicated niche following. At least the touch pad's space isn't compromised much by the extra buttons.
There's plenty of palm-rest space under the keyboard, and there are pretty large margins on the sides of the keyboard, too. On the right side under the power button are dedicated volume, mute, and silence buttons, along with a blue ThinkVantage button launching Lenovo's launch page for its preinstalled software and services. This gives you one-stop access to all of the business-friendly support and system tools in one place, including troubleshooting, downloading software updates, and managing security and power settings.
Other controls are relegated to a row of narrow function keys, such as screen brightness and launching Lenovo's custom VoIP and Webcam AV settings.
Speaking of Web conferencing, the X1 has an HD Webcam with strong low-light sensitivity, and a maximum resolution of 1,280x720 pixels. The X1's microphone also has keyboard and external noise filters for cleaning up audio chat in noisy environments. Paired with above-average stereo speakers outfitted with Dolby sound, the X1 is well set up for those who rely on Skype and VoIP for business.
Even though the Gorilla Glass-enclosed 13-inch screen sounds like a promising feature, we were a tiny bit let down by the experience. First, the edge-to-edge glass adds glare, and ThinkPads are normally prized for their glare-free screens. Second, the 1,366x768-pixel LED-backlit display ramps up to impressive brightness and sharp contrast for text and Web browsing, but it's not an IPS screen, and viewing angles degraded more quickly on the X1 than on a device like the iPad or Samsung Series 9. Considering the X1's upscale price and the 180-degree hinge on the X1's upper lid, we expected more. The wide bezel around the X1's screen made us wonder why a 14-inch screen couldn't have been fit in the same space.
Side-firing speakers equipped with Dolby sound are tucked away under the palm rest, but deliver big volume. The sound isn't an audiophile's dream, but for spoken word it's particularly crisp.

	Lenovo ThinkPad X1	Average for category [13-inch]
Video	Mini DisplayPort, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone combo jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 2.0/eSATA combo port, SD card slot	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

Lined up along the back of the ThinkPad X1 is a modest selection of ports sure to make most travelers happy: USB 3.0, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, HDMI, and Mini DisplayPort. Curiously absent is VGA. Meanwhile, a headphone jack and additional USB 2.0 port are tucked on the left side behind an odd door flap. More ports could easily have been slotted for easier side access, making the lack of ExpressCard, VGA, or additional USB ports more vexing. WWAN costs an extra $125--a SIM card slot is on the back of the X1 behind an easy-access door.

The X1 comes in a variety of configurations. The hard drive comes either in traditional spinning-platter form (320GB 7,200rpm, our configuration), or as an SSD up to 160GB. The X1 starts at $1,399 (the configuration we reviewed), but a 128GB SSD costs an extra $350; a 160GB SSD costs $430. The X1 starts with 4GB of RAM but is expandable up to 8GB, which costs $160 if upgraded from Lenovo's Web site.

Asus U31JG A1 Review

2011-05-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

The good: The 13-inch Asus U31JG-A1 has a good combination of performance and portability, along with strong graphics performance and a solid battery life.

The bad: The design of the U31JG isn't anything to write home about; the plastic keyboard isn't very comfortable; and the laptop uses a last-gen Intel Core i3 processor, so it's already out-of-date.

The bottom line: For $829, the 13-inch Asus U31JG-A1 is a rock-solid compact laptop with a good combination of CPU, graphics, and battery life. However, at this point, we'd hold off on buying one until it gets upgraded with a second-gen Intel Core i-series CPU.

Now that Intel's next-generation Core i-series processors have finally made it into laptops, we've been seeing a flood of recognizable, revamped products from 2010 emerging with new 2011 components. The Asus U31JG-A1 is not one of them. Equipped with a last-gen Intel Core i3 CPU, this slim 13-inch laptop may not have the latest and greatest processor inside, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good computer.

In fact, it has a lot going for it: an Nvidia GeForce GT 415M GPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and very solid CPU performance. While the $829 list price of the U31JG isn't budget range, we've seen online prices as low as $799, and an Amazon.com configuration for $699 with a slightly smaller 320GB hard drive. If you can get the U31JG at the lower end of that range, it's a pretty good deal, considering its size and features.

ASUS U31JG-XA1 13.3-Inch Laptop - Black
ASUS U31JG-A1 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)
ASUS U36JC-B1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Laptop (Black)
ASUS U36JC-B2B Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

The UL30A was one of our favorite slim laptops from the past two years. The U31JG is as close to a direct successor that we've seen, a closer design match than the recently reviewed Asus U36JC. This optical-drive-free laptop is slimmer than most 13-inchers, though nowhere near as light and thin as a MacBook Air. We also reviewed the 14-inch version of this laptop, the Asus U41JF-A1, recently, and liked it as well (plus, the U41 has an optical drive).

Our two biggest reservations about the U31JG-A1 are its ho-hum looks and its last-gen processor: this is a laptop series that's bound to see an upgrade sooner rather than later. As we're currently in the middle of reviewing those next-gen laptops, we're hesitant to highly recommend this particular U31JG-A1; but we're a big fan of the product line that this model represents.

Price as reviewed	$829
Processor	2.5GHz Intel Core i3 380M
Memory	4GB, 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GT 415M + Intel GMA HD (Optimus)
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.1x9.3 inches
Height	1.0-1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.2 pounds / 5.3 pounds
Category	13-inch

The Asus U31JG is a compact laptop, but it's not really a looker compared with the competition. Its brushed-aluminum lid and palm rest are reminiscent of those on the Asus UL30A. Glossy black plastic surrounds the raised Chiclet-style keyboard and 13.3-inch screen, giving the laptop a two-tone look that feels out of date and a bit low-rent.

While this may seem like we're being sticklers, design is a big factor in what makes a portable laptop comfortable and easy to use, and the slightly bulky chassis of the U31JG-A1 just isn't eye-catching. Nevertheless, it does present a pleasantly compact frame that's just light enough to feel travel-friendly.

The mostly flex-free keyboard has comfortable spacing but a slightly mushy key feel; the keys' smooth matte surfaces feel more slippery under the fingers than those of other Asus laptops we've reviewed. Also, a row of Page Up/Page Down buttons on the right side squishes and pushes the Enter and Shift keys in a bit, making them hard to find by feel.

The inset multitouch touch pad beneath is smaller than average, making two-finger gestures a bit harder to pull off. A mirror-finish plastic rocker button-bar beneath feels much like other Asus laptops; we'd prefer discrete left and right mouse buttons.

Above the keyboard, it looks like there are two symmetrically laid-out power buttons on the upper left and right sides; the one on the right is the actual power button, while the one on the left is the Quick Start OS button, which launches a pared-down, faster-booting collection of applications, including a Web browser. Quick-start OSes are meant for the impatient, and are a poor attempt to offer up what speedier-booting systems such as the iPad and MacBook Air already do far better. We never find ourselves using quick-start OSes; we'd rather boot Windows 7 and put our laptop to sleep between sessions. Need to quickly check e-mail or a Web link? That's what a smartphone is for.

The U31JG-A1 lacks an optical drive, much like the U36JC we reviewed earlier this year. While this helps keep the laptop lighter and more compact, we've seen laptops this size manage to squeeze one in, most notably the Toshiba Portege R705. That being said, we don't really miss the DVD drive all that much, but some still prefer them for flexibility.

The 13.3-inch 1,366x768-pixel-resolution glossy display is inset from the upper lid, forgoing any edge-to-edge glass. This makes for a bit less glare, but the display's clarity and viewing angles were average at best. Text and images are very readable, but colors weren't ultravibrant.
The same can be said for the U31JG's speakers: the Altec Lansing stereo speakers push their sound through narrow grilles at the front edge of the laptop, under the palm rest. Maximum volume isn't particularly loud, and the sound quality leaned toward the tinny. They'll do in a pinch, but headphones are a better bet.

ASUS U31JG-XA1 13.3-Inch Laptop - Black
ASUS U31JG-A1 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)
ASUS U36JC-B1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Laptop (Black)
ASUS U36JC-B2B Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

The included VGA Webcam comes with Asus' LifeFrame camera software, offering a variety of settings for recording video and snapping pics, including gimmicky Photo Booth-like backdrops and effects. Maximum resolution is a measly 640x480 pixels, with light sensitivity and contrast suitable for basic Web chats.

	Asus U31JG-A1	Average for category [13-inch]
Video	HDMI, VGA	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone and microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

The Asus U31JG-A1 has Bluetooth and a few USB ports along with HDMI, but that's it. No USB 3.0, no DVD drive, and no other bells and whistles. A large heat vent takes up most of the space on the left side that could have been used for an optical drive. It blasts very warm air after playing games or viewing Flash video for more than a few minutes.

To compare with a recent thin 13-inch Asus laptop, the U36JC-A1, the U31JG-A1 has an Intel Core i3 CPU as opposed to the U36JC-A1's Core i5. The 2.3GHz processor performed suitably well in everyday use, and wasn't too shabby in our performance benchmarks, either. Faster Core i5 processors (and, of course, Intel's new second-gen Sandy Bridge CPUs) would give even more zip, but it's fine for most uses. Full-screen video streaming and multitasking were easy to pull off.

Dell Latitude 2120 Review

2011-05-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

The good: The Dell Latitude 2120 packs a standard set of Netbook components into a rugged body with a rubberized finish. Welcome options include an HD display and a touch screen.

The bad: With more powerful ultraportables available for less, any Netbook over $400 is a tough call.

The bottom line: The standard Netbook platform is feeling pretty stale these days, and this too-expensive Dell Latitude 2120, while capable, doesn't do much to stand out.

Dell Latitude 2120 Laptop Computer (Intel Intel Atom Dual Core N550 250GB/2GB)

Pity the poor Netbook. Once the belle of the personal computing ball, this type of small, low-cost PC has virtually fallen off a cliff during the past 12 months. The reasons for this sudden change of fortune are complex, but the chief among them are the rise of Apple's similarly priced iPad and the lack of Netbook performance improvements over the years. PC makers have added features, from 3G to touch screens, but could do little to boost Netbooks' anemic speed. The final nail was probably the introduction of low-end ultraportables, many with AMD's Fusion platform, that could cost as little as $450 but felt much more powerful than Netbooks with Intel's Atom chip.

One of the only new Netbooks we've seen in 2011 is this updated version from Dell's Latitude business line. The Latitude 2120 pushes the definition of a Netbook to the edge, with options for a touch screen, a higher-resolution display, and twice the RAM of a typical Netbook. Our $608 review unit has a dual-core Intel Atom N550 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive, but skips the touch screen and 1,366x768-pixel display (that build runs about $140 more).
For a Netbook, it's not only capable, but solidly built and easy to type on--but any Netbook over $400 is a tough sell. The Lenovo ThinkPad X120e and HP Pavilion dm1z both have faster AMD Fusion E-350 CPUs and higher-resolution 11-inch screens and cost less than the Latitude 2120.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$608 / $414
Processor	1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 Dual Core
Memory	2GB, 667MHz DDR3
Hard drive	250GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel NM10
Graphics	Intel GMA 3150
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	10.4x7.4 inches
Height	0.9 - 1.6 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	10.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.2 pounds/3.9 pounds
Category	Netbook

Netbook designs usually have to walk a fine line. With prices that typically hover around the $300 mark, there's only so much a company can invest in design and materials, but as a part of Dell's business line, which carries a premium price over consumer models, this Latitude can get a little fancier.

The Latitude 2102 reminds us of Netbooks we've seen aimed at education markets, as a protective rubber coating covers the lid and bottom panel, and the overall construction feels very solid and sturdy. That makes for a Netbook that isn't the thinnest we've seen, but looks like it could stand up to the rigors of frequent road travel. If this design looks familiar, that's because little if anything has changed since we reviewed the similar Latitude 2100 in 2009, except for the newer dual-core Atom processor. The two laptops even have the same small light on the back of the lid, originally meant for use in classrooms to help teachers make sure systems were on.
Like many business laptops, the Latitude 2120 is designed so that it can be remotely managed by an IT department, and Dell sells (or sold, as it doesn't seem to be currently available from Dell) a Mobile Computing Station cart that can dock up to 24 Netbooks at once for overnight charging and updates.

It's been a while since we were forced to contend with a 10-inch Netbook keyboard, but this is about as good an example as you're likely to find. Skipping the island-style keys found on nearly every laptop these days, the 2120 keyboard is a throwback to the kind of smaller, tapered-key design that used to be commonplace and is still found on a few business systems. As in the older 2100 model, the small touch pad is usable, but the left and right mouse buttons beneath it are small and give only minimal feedback when clicked.

Dell Latitude 2120 Laptop Computer (Intel Intel Atom Dual Core N550 250GB/2GB)

One of the main selling points of the Latitude 2100 is its set of screen options. Our review unit has a standard 10-inch 1,024x600-pixel resolution display, although it's something of a rarity now, with most low-power laptops moving up to 11-inch 1,366x768-pixel displays. However, an upgrade to that resolution is available in a version of the 2120 that costs $80 more, or for about another $60 on top of that you can add a touch-screen display.

No matter if you get the standard or high-res display or the touch screen, all the different versions of the Latitude 2120 have matte screen coatings, which are preferred by many who hate overly glossy screens that are prone to glare and reflections.

	Dell Latitude 2120	Average for category [netbook]
Video	VGA	VGA
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	None	None

The Latitude 2120 has the same exact ports and connections we would have expected to see a couple of years ago. Bluetooth is missing, a bit of a shocker from a $600 Netbook, and you won't find anything like USB 3.0 or eSATA, nor the HDMI ports found on most 11-inch ultraportables.

Dell is offering several preconfigured versions of the Latitude 2120, ranging in price from $414 all the way up to $746. The lowest-end version has an Intel Atom N455 CPU and 1GB of RAM, and ditches Windows for Ubuntu Linux 10.10. On the other end of the spectrum is a configuration with the dual-core Atom N550, the previously mentioned HD display and touch screen, and 2GB of RAM. We tested a version that was in the middle, with the faster CPU and 2GB of RAM but the lower-resolution screen.

Toshiba Satellite E305-S1990 Review

2011-05-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

The good: A standout keyboard and touch pad, solid specs, Blu-ray drive, and Intel Wireless Display make the Toshiba Satellite E305-S1990X stand out from the pack--and as a bonus, the retail bundle includes the necessary Netgear box for Wi-Di.

The bad: The E305 lacks dedicated graphics, and its Webcam isn't HD.

The bottom line: The Best Buy-exclusive Toshiba Satellite E305-S1990X is a heck of a 14-inch laptop, offering a rock-solid combination of specs and design for a reasonable price.

Though it may seem like many Toshiba Satellites look the same, that's not necessarily the case if you hang around your local Best Buy. For a few years now, Toshiba has been supplying a Best Buy-exclusive laptop as part of the retailer's Blue Label series, with a redesigned look that stands out from the rest of the Satellite pack. We reviewed the Satellite E205 last year, and we thought at the time that it beat out other Toshiba laptops in terms of overall value and design. Of course, we were curious whether the trend would continue in 2011.
This year, Toshiba's back at it with the Satellite E305, and once again we've come away impressed. The $899 14-inch laptop has a thinner design, a slicker look, and a very solid set of specs, including a Blu-ray/DVD combo drive, a second-gen Core i5 processor, a 7,200rpm 500GB hard drive, and Intel Wireless Display 1.2. And, unlike many laptops with Wi-Di, this retail package includes the required Netgear box that interfaces with your TV in the bundle. (In case you're unfamiliar with Intel Wireless Display.
It's not revolutionary, but the E305 earns a spot on our list for a quality midrange laptop worth considering. Aside from lacking robust dedicated graphics, this is a laptop with barely any flaws.

Price as reviewed	$899
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM
Hard drive	500GB, 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel HM65
Graphics	Intel HD 3000
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.5 x 9.1 inches
Height	1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14.0 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.7/5.4 pounds
Category	Midsize

The Satellite E305 doesn't cut quite as eye-catching a profile as its predecessor, the E205, but it's actually a more functional design. Clad in patterned metal, it's not as thick as recent Satellites we've reviewed, such as the M645 or the A665.
The E305 has a metal chassis and repels fingerprints, thanks to the patterned design. The tapered sides cut a sharper angle, while still managing to fit all the expected ports, plus an optical drive. The metal continues on the inside around the keyboard deck, and the upper lid features glossy black plastic around the inset display. It's reminiscent of a MacBook Pro, or of Samsung's recent laptops, and even looks more professional than some of the tackier-looking Satellites we've seen.

The backlit keyboard is a revelation; it might be the best laptop keyboard we've used in a long while. The raised island-style keys are similar to what you'd get on other Toshiba laptops, but the keys are less cramped than they are on the 13-inch Portege R835. The keys feel less slick than on recent Satellites we've reviewed. With the E305, the company has addressed the complaints we've previously made about Satellite keyboards, improving the product significantly. And, as a plus, the volume and other control keys are function-reversed; tapping "volume up" works without simultaneously pressing the Fn key. Even better, that annoying default beep that's plagued Satellite volume controls has been removed. The included touch pad is no slouch, either. The E305's wide clickpad-style touch pad is larger than on other Satellites, and has plenty of room for multifinger gestures. Gone are the tacky, large plastic buttons we've seen on other models, replaced by clickzones at the bottom. The matte surface walks the perfect line of friction. No annoying LED lights around the pad, either, like we saw on the M645 and A665. We are grateful.
Buttons are sparse around the keyboard; there's only a thin power button above the left side, and an Eco Mode power settings button and a Wireless Display toggle on the right side. We applaud the move to minimalism.
The 14-inch glossy LED-backlit display on the E305 has a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, standard for this screen size. Picture quality is sharp, but not outstanding; Blu-ray movies looked good enough, but viewing angles are tighter than on superior displays like the one on the Samsung Series 9. It's better than average, however. You'll gain an edge for DVD playback thanks to included software. Toshiba's DVD-playback application has upscaling, which makes any old discs you have lying around look just a little bit better.
The speakers on the Satellite E305 are strong, surprisingly so considering they occupy so little space. Unlike other Satellites, the E305's speakers are front-firing and are tucked along the edge of the bottom lip. They sound loud and crisp when playing movies or music--perhaps not as good as the Harman/Kardons in high-end Satellites, but much better than the ones you'll find on an average mainstream laptop.
Thanks to the built-in Intel Wireless Display capabilities on the E305, video can be streamed to a TV. Wi-Di now supports 1080p video playback, but it still doesn't play back DVDs or Blu-ray content--likely a bummer for E305 owners, since it come with a Blu-ray drive--however, 1080p playback of streaming video content looked surprisingly strong in our tests. Best Buy bundles the Netgear Push2TV box with the E305 laptop, making this particular Wi-Di-equipped notebook a better out-of-the-box experience than some others that make you buy it separately.
The included Webcam has a 640x480-pixel maximum resolution. Normal light sensitivity was particularly poor in a low-light test conducted at home, although the Webcam does have a lower-light mode that compromises frame rate.

	Toshiba Satellite E305-S1990X	Average for category [mainstream]
Video	VGA, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	1 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 (1 with sleep-and-charge), SD card slot	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Intel Wireless Display	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	Blu-ray combo drive	DVD burner

Other than dedicated graphics, there's little left out on the Toshiba Satellite E305-S1990X. We already touched on Intel Wireless Display; this laptop's also got Bluetooth and a high-speed USB 3.0 port. It also comes with the sleep-and-charge USB port that's a calling card on Toshiba laptops; it charges USB-connected devices, such as smartphones, even when the E305 is sleeping or turned off. An included 4GB of RAM is standard nowadays on mainstream laptops, but the 500GB hard drive packaged in is the better, higher-speed type, 7,200rpm versus 5,400rpm.
The Satellite E305-S1990X comes with a second-generation 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5-2410M processor. We've seen this CPU on several laptops, including the Satellite M645-S4118X and Portege R835. The Core i5 sits in the middle of the pack on current Intel Core i-series processors, but its performance is exceptional for nearly every use an average person could think of, short of serious graphics programs that would require four-core processing. We opened multiple windows, ran many applications at once, and everything worked smoothly with the exception of loud fans and very warm vented air--neither of which are unique in the laptop universe. The E305 held its own with other notable mainstream laptops this year, and performed equivalently.

One thing this Satellite does lack is dedicated graphics. Though it's common for many laptops to eschew beefed-up Nvidia or AMD graphics as a cost-cutting measure, we're a little sad they were left off this model. It's not particularly surprising, though; the E205 didn't have dedicated graphics, either. At least this year's model benefits from much-improved integrated graphics on the Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor. In a pinch, this laptop can play games.
We got Unreal Tournament III to play at 68.9 frames per second at 1,366x768-pixel resolution, with medium graphics settings. Activision's Blur, a high-speed racing game, was playable, though its frame rate was clipped. That's the benefit of 2011's "graphics-free" laptops: even ones without dedicated GPUs can still play games, though any serious gamer (or anyone who wants to play the newest high-end PC games) would still do better off with more-powerful graphic80 s.

Alienware M14x Review

2011-04-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

The good: The Alienware M14x, Dell's latest Alienware laptop, manages to pack amazing performance into a smaller-than-expected body with plenty of configuration options.

The bad: High-end configurations can be insanely expensive, and Alienware's laptop design is overdue for a refresh.

The bottom line: It's tough to find mobile PC gaming in a package that's neither too big nor too small. The Alienware M14x comes very close, with plenty of component options and a size that's hefty, but not backbreaking.

For truly portable gaming, you'd want to stick with the popular 11-inch M11x, pretty much the only gaming ultraportable you'll find. But this new in-between size is enticing for those who want to take their games on a family vacation or business trip and still enjoy a reasonable screen size and generous 1,600x900-pixel screen resolution.
All this doesn't come cheap, and our review unit of the M14x costs $2,198, which includes a high-end Intel Core i7 2820QM CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GT555M GPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. Fortunately, more realistic configurations start at $1,199.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$2,198 / $1,199
Processor	2.3GHz Intel Core i7-2820QM
Memory	8GB, 1,600MHz DDR3
Hard drive	750GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Intel HM67
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GT 555M / Intel HD 3000
Operating system	Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.4x9.7 inches
Height	1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	6.5 pounds / 7.8 pounds
Category	Midsize

It's been a few years since Dell gave its Alienware lineup a makeover, and it's starting to show. Like the recent M11x, the new M14x has the same angular, almost automotive design as the 15- and 17-inch models of a few years ago. When we first saw it we thought it was a good step toward a more upscale feel, but since then we've seen a lot of sharp laptop designs that go even further toward a modern, minimalist look.
The M14x has the same automotive-inspired grille along the front edge (which is only for show, not ventilation), a slick edge-to-edge glass overlay on the display, and a matte black chassis (the exterior of our system was a matte red). It's distinctive, to be sure, and will feel comfortable and familiar to longtime Alienware fans, but we're also eager for something new, and hopefully a bit slimmer. At 1.2 thick and 6.5 pounds without A/C adapter, this is still an effort to haul around more than occasionally.
Alienware's FX lighting and settings control system is still here. It lets you set the color for the backlit keyboard and the other light-up parts of the system. Backlit keys can be essential while gaming, as a black-on-black keyboard can be tough to make out in the dark.
The keyboard has a more traditional tapered key design, rather than the wider, flat keys many laptop makers are partial to these days. The company has previously said that these tapered keys provide more space between the individual letters, which is better for first-person shooters, which make heavy use of the WASD keys. We're not sure we have a favorite key design for playing games, but it's an interesting theory.
Alienware has always had excellent touch pads, although much of the rest of the laptop industry is catching up in terms of size. The smooth, matte texture on the touch pad feels great under your fingers, and the two large, distinct mouse buttons are welcome. As with previous Alienware laptops, the touch pad is demarcated by a backlit ring, the color of which is selectable. A few touch-pad options, such as the size of the scroll bar, are controlled by an app called AlienTouch, but we didn't see any multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling.
On a 14-inch display, we'd expect to normally find a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but for this much money, it's only natural to expect more. This model's native resolution is actually 1,600x900 pixels, which is a step up for gaming. We'd be tempted to ask for full 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, but on a 14-inch screen text could become hard to make out. The built-in Klipsch speakers are as good as any we've heard in a laptop this size, and better than you'd find in many larger laptops.

	Alienware M14x	Average for category [midsize]
Video	VGA, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone (2x)/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, SD card reader, SIM card slot.	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, WiMax	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

While the ports and connections on the M14x are mostly standard stuff, we appreciate the triple video-out setup of HDMI, VGA, and Mini DisplayPort. Missing are high-speed data ports such as eSATA and Thunderbolt, but you do get a pair of USB 3.0 connections and optional WiMax.
You also get a potentially useful optional wireless display antenna, bundled with a Vizio-branded receiver, instead of the usual Netgear one (Alienware isn't using the more common Intel Wireless Display version of the technology). With that, you can hypothetically beam the action to a nearby big-screen TV, although we've been unable to make the connection yet, despite plenty of experience with the Intel/Netgear version of the technology. Check back for an update after we try some newer drivers.
The real star of the show is the quad-core Intel Core i7 2820QM processor, which sits at the top of Intel's current laptop lineup. It's a very powerful CPU, making it so that only recent very high-end systems, such as Apple's high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro, are comparable to the M14x in our benchmark tests. That said, it's more CPU than you probably need, and most M14x buyers should be fine taking the CPU down a few levels when selecting system options online to save some money.

The Nvidia GeForce GT555M is also a newer top-of-the-line part, and helped run our Unreal Tournament III test at 1,400x900-pixel resolution at 240.4 frames per second. Playing a more recent game, such as Mafia II, at 1,600x900-pixel resolution with very high graphics settings got us a more realistic number, 34.8fps. Either way, this is a zippy gaming machine and more than enough to handle the latest games (although not at 1,920x1,080 pixels, as the M14x's screen resolution doesn't go that high).

Toshiba Satellite L655-S5161 Review

2011-04-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

The good: The 15-inch Toshiba Satellite L655-S5161 is a good entry point for midsize laptops with Intel's second-gen Core i-series processors, and we've always liked the company's sleep-and-charge USB ports.

The bad: The design is strictly no-frills, and there are no high-speed data ports, such as USB 3.0 or eSATA. Plus, we hate the shortened spacebar on the keyboard.

The bottom line: Though not particularly inspiring, the basic 15-inch Toshiba Satellite L655 has a current-gen CPU and can be found for around $600, making it a worthwhile budget choice.

With numerous laptops spread across its L, C, A, M, T, E, W, and R series, Toshiba may not run out of new product lines until it runs out of letters. We're pretty sure the midprice L series is above the entry-level C series, and below the premium A series, but that's as far into Toshiba's numerology (letterology?) as we're willing to delve.
That said, these L-series laptops (which carry the Satellite name) have always been workhorse machines, closest perhaps to Dell's Insprions; they typically include decent mainstream parts for $500 to $650. The latest version, called the Satellite L655-S5161, has Intel's second-gen Core i3 processor, basic integrated graphics, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive--about as generic a loadout as a budget-minded laptop can get.
For less than $650 (we've seen it for as little as $619), it's not a door-busting bargain, and we were able to configure a comparable Dell for the same $619. But extra features, such as the sleep-and-charge USB ports (which can power phones and other devices even when the laptop is off) give it a leg up on the similarly priced competition.

Price as reviewed	$619
Processor	2.1GHz Intel Core i3-2310M
Memory	4GB, 667MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM65
Graphics	Intel HD 3000
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	15.0 x 9.8 inches
Height	1.2 - 1.5 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	5.6/6.3 pounds
Category	Midsize

Toshiba covers the L655, as most of its recent Satellites, with a dark silvery gray pattern, under one of the glossiest finishes we've ever seen. It could probably pick up fingerprints from someone just looking at it. Inside, the same pattern follows through to the keyboard tray and wrist rest, but the keyboard itself is jet black.

The body feels sturdy, but the trade-off is a thick, chunky laptop that isn't going to win any modeling contracts. It's also about a pound heavier than a 14-inch Satellite L-series laptop we looked at last year, so we wouldn't suggest lugging it around on your daily commute (a couple of days per week is probably fine).
Flat-topped, island-style keyboards are the norm now, and Toshiba has had nearly the same one on its last several generations of Satellite laptops. The 15-inch version includes a separate number pad, with very generous number keys, as well as large Shift, Tab, and other useful keys. However, Toshiba has not yet fixed its main keyboard flaw: an aggravatingly shortened spacebar, which can be murder for touch typists.
The matte multitouch touch pad lies flush with the rest of the keyboard deck and can get a little lost under your fingers, but it's well-complemented by a pair of large mouse buttons, which have a shiny surface and a convex shape for no discernible reason.
Toshiba continues to include the genuinely useful sleep-and-charge feature, which lets you use a USB port to power or recharge devices such as a mobile phone or media player, even if the laptop is asleep or off, via either the battery or AC power.
Also included are a couple of proprietary media/productivity apps. Book Place is an e-book reader/store, powered by a company called Blio ('cause it's really hard to find places to buy e-books online). And we've seen Toshiba's ReelTime before; it's essentially a system history browser, displaying recent documents and Web pages in thumbnail form along the bottom of the screen.

The 15.6-inch display features a 1,366x768-pixel native resolution, which is standard for the size. Movies and 720p HD video look fine, although the glossy screen coating can pick up glare from nearby lights. A pair of narrow speaker grills sits right above the keyboard, but they didn't push out much volume.

	Toshiba Satellite L655-S5161	Average for category [midsize]
Video	VGA plus HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

The Toshiba Satellite L655's connection options are on the bare bones side, as it doesn't have Bluetooth, USB 3.0, or eSATA. You can't expect too much for around $600, but we think a high-speed data port of some kind is essential these days for many users.
While this year's Intel processors (still called the Core-i series, but the second generation of them) have shown distinct performance and battery life improvements over last year's versions, the difference is more pronounced in the more mainstream Core i5 chips. With a lower-end 2.1GHz Intel Core i3-2310M, you'll get a perfectly fine system for general laptop use, from multitasking to HD video playback, but other recent laptops, including Toshiba's 13-inch Portege R835, performed better. But, unless you're doing a lot of high-end video editing, it's unlikely to slow down or stutter under even a heavy multitasking workload.
Intel's new integrated graphics are better than last year's, but still not a substitute for a dedicated GPU. In Street Fighter IV, running at 1,366x768 pixels, we got 16.1 frames per second, while our older Unreal Tournament III test, at the same resolution, ran at 58.6 frames per second. That means basic gaming is possible, if you dial down settings and resolutions (and games such as World of Warcraft should play fine), but this isn't going to be a heavy-duty gaming rig.

HP Pavilion dm1 Review

2011-02-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

The good: Nearly mainstream performance at premium Netbook prices; excellent battery life; capable graphics.

The bad: Plastic look and feel; thick and chunky compared with some 11-inch laptops.

The bottom line: The first laptop to offer AMD's power-efficient Fusion platform delivers on much of its promise, combining great battery life, decent performance, and basic graphics for less than $500.

The biggest story in laptops over the past few years has been the incredibly popular Netbook. These 10- and 11-inch (and originally 7- and 9-inch) laptops came out of nowhere to capture the attention of a public tired of paying for too much computing power. After a couple of good years, however, Netbooks are being replaced by new systems that offer a little more performance for a little more money, first in the form of dual-core premium Netbooks and now in systems such as the HP Pavilion dm1 with AMD's new Fusion platform.

The trade-up makes sense for two reasons. First, Netbooks, though great for specific tasks such as basic Web surfing and e-mail, simply aren't suited to being full-time PCs, which is something many users discovered after buying one. Second, the PC makers who only begrudgingly released many of these Netbooks in the first place knew selling a low-power $299 laptop wasn't exactly a money-making proposition.
AMD has been promising a hybrid platform for years now, combining a workhorse CPU with better-than-integrated graphics in a single package. It's called Fusion, although confusingly, AMD doesn't play up that name or the processor model number, instead choosing to label laptops outfitted with the technology with a sticker that says "AMD Vision."

As the first of these systems to cross our desk, the $450 HP Pavilion dm1 is an interesting test case. It's an 11-inch laptop with a decent design, but one that doesn't hide its budget origins. It's about $100 more than an entry-level Netbook and $50 to $100 less than previous premium Netbooks that had AMD's previous low-end dual-core CPU.
In practice, it gets the job done, and it certainly feels a world away from Atom Netbooks. At the same time, there's no mistaking the experience of this computer for a high-end 11-inch, such as Apple's MacBook Air (except when it comes to battery life, where the Pavilion dm1 was easily one of the best performers we've seen).

The biggest needle-mover may be the AMD graphics, which aren't meant for serious gamers, but still offer a solid alternative to low-end solutions such as Nvidia's underused Ion GPU. We played some basic games and full-screen HD videos with no problems, which is something Netbooks typically can't do.
With Intel lacking a halfway point between its Atom processors and the mainstream Core-i-series (except for the too-expensive and underpowered ultralow voltage Core i3 ULV), there may finally be a spot at the table for AMD, which has been seriously underrepresented in laptops of late. Based on this one initial review unit, AMD-shy shoppers should at least give Fusion laptops such as this one a serious look.

Price as reviewed	$450
Processor	1.6GHz AMD Fusion E-350
Memory	3GB, 667MHz DDR3
Hard drive	320GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	AMD ID1510 + SB800
Graphics	ATI Radeon HD 6310
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	11.4 x 8.4 inches
Height	0.8 - 1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.4/4.2 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

The designs of 11-inch laptops run the gamut from plastic cheapies to brushed aluminum works of art, but the HP Pavilion dm1 is clearly more focused on what's going on under the hood. The body is made of plastic, and looks and feels it, although it has a nicely curved shape and patterned lid that fits in with HP's current design aesthetic. A large battery bump protrudes upward right at the hinge between the chassis and screen, and the entire package is thick and bulky. It isn't actually ugly at all; it just feels a bit unwieldy. But perhaps we've been spoiled by thin ultraportables from Lenovo, Apple, and others.
The available space is put to good use, however, with a large island-style keyboard that goes all the way to the left and right edges of the keyboard tray and an oversize clickpad. The keys are firm and well-spaced, with large Shift keys and no keyboard flex. Some keys, however, get slightly lost in the shuffle. The page-up and page-down keys, for example, are completely unlabeled (they're mapped to the Fn+up-arrow and the Fn+down-arrow).

The touch pad is of the same large clickpad-style seen on many recent HP laptops, and the design has its fans and detractors. We like the large surface area, but the built-in mouse buttons can be tricky to use, and the multitouch gestures don't come close to Apple's, although that's a complaint we can level at every PC maker.
The desktop is crowded with links to bloatware and HP-branded services, from Snapfish to HP's music store. After a few years of reduced screen clutter, it's disappointing to see these icons starting to crowd the display again.

The 11-inch screen has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, exactly what we'd expect for a laptop this size. The display gets bright enough and off-axis viewing is decent, but the glossy screen coating causes a good bit of glare, especially near windows. A thick gray screen bezel adds to the budget look, but at least the speakers are loud enough to make headphone use optional for movie-watching.

	HP Pavilion dm1	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	VGA, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

There's a basic set of ports and connections here. HP sticks to its single audio jack standard for smaller laptops, and there do not seem to be any mobile broadband options available on HPs Web site right now, although that seems like a natural fit for such a portable system.

The Pavilion dm1 represents our first shot at AMD's new Fusion platform. Launched at CES 2011, the Fusion APU (or "accelerated processing unit") uses a single die to contain, according to AMD, "a multicore CPU, a powerful DirectX 11-capable discrete-level graphics and parallel processing engine, a dedicated high-definition video acceleration block, and a high-speed bus that speeds data across the differing types of processor cores within the design." In plain English, it's a CPU combined with better-than-integrated graphics.
In our CNET Labs benchmark tests, the 1.6GHz AMD E-350 CPU performed well, beating lower-end Intel Atom CPUs, but falling behind high-end 11-inch systems such as the MacBook Air and Acer TimelineX, which have Intel Core 2 Duo and Core i7 ULV processors. The E-350 in the dm1 was slightly slower than AMD's previously comparable (but more expensive) low-end dual-core chip, the Neo X2 L625, as seen in the Lenovo X100.

In practical use, the system felt much more responsive than even high-end Netbooks, and we ran into only occasional slowdown and sluggishness. At the same time, it wasn't as smooth an overall experience as one gets with the 11-inch MacBook Air (which also costs twice as much).

Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 Review

2010-11-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

The good: Updated version of the Satellite E205 includes Nvidia Optimus graphics; WiMax-ready; slim design; Intel Wireless Display.

The bad: Weak speakers; poor battery life; expensive compared with similar offerings.

The bottom line: Toshiba's holiday update of one of our favorite laptops, the Satellite E205, adds graphics and WiMax, but its higher price and lack of other new features prevent it from being a standout at the end of 2010.
Review:

Back at the beginning of 2010, one of our favorite laptop surprises was the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904. Available as a Best Buy exclusive, the thin blue Satellite was one of the first laptops to feature Intel Wireless Display technology, and at $899, its combination of a then-brand-new Core i5 CPU and solid specs added up to a great value.
The E205-S1980 is an updated version of the E205 for Best Buy's Blue Label line, adding Nvidia graphics and a WiMax antenna to the package, albeit at a higher price. Nvidia Optimus automatic-switching graphics come in the form of an entry-level GeForce 310M GPU; graphics were one of our biggest gripes on the first E205, and its presence here enables basic mainstream gaming and better video/media creation capabilities. Other than that, though, the package remains remarkably similar: slightly faster Core i5 processor, same hard drive, same RAM, same design and case structure, same Intel Wireless Display.
Back then, the Best Buy-exclusive E205 bundle we reviewed cost $899. The E205-S1980 costs $1,079, a hefty premium for entry-level discrete graphics nearly a year later. Though the E205 remains a solid laptop with good specs, it feels long in the tooth compared with similar products that are available for even less. Dell's entry-level XPS 15 at $849 lacks Wireless Display but otherwise outperforms the E205 in a number of regards, losing out only on weight and battery life.
A lack of Blu-ray and built-in speakers that sound subpar are the biggest negatives, along with a battery life that, by our tests, dropped about an hour and a half compared with the previous E205 configuration. At the original $899 we'd feel a lot better about the E205-S1980, but at $1,079 it just feels like too much.

Price as reviewed	$1,079
Processor	2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 M460
Memory	4GB, 1066 MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce 310M + Intel GMA HD (Nvidia Optimus)
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.7 x 9.6 inches
Height	1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	6.0/5.1 pounds
Category	Mainstream

The Satellite E205-S1980 has the same look as its predecessor, the E205-S1904: dark blue plastic finish (called Fusion Finish in metallic blue), rounded edges, and a slot-loading DVD drive. The laptop looks thin, but its weird curves and fingerprint-collecting glossy plastic lend it a slightly garish veneer. A larger-than-normal rear hinge enables the 14-inch screen to open up at an angle that floats a little more off the keyboard than standard lids.
The E205-S1980 has a flat backlit keyboard instead of the raised keyboards we've seen on other current Satellites, and frankly, the flat keys leave something to be desired. The middle part of the keyboard still flexes too much for our taste, although our typing experience was largely error-free. The multitouch touch pad beneath is smaller than many multitouch pads currently on the market, and its narrow shape led to awkward navigation. Larger, stiff buttons below are curved to the case contours, and are surprisingly hard to locate by feel and press. A row of dedicated media touch-keys run down the right side of the keyboard, controlling audio, basic play functions, an Eco power utility, and backlighting. They beep loudly and annoyingly unless deactivated in a buried Control Panel setting, and responded on a slight delay during video playback.
The Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904's 14-inch LED screen has a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, which is standard for 14-inch laptops. With a 16x9 display and reasonably bright backlighting, the screen looked fine when playing DVDs or streaming Hulu videos, although it didn't stand out in terms of vibrancy or color. The biggest disappointment on the Satellite E205-S1980 remains from our last review of the E205: the subpar stereo speakers. They sounded middling and soft even at maximum volume, with a tinny quality. Toshiba laptops usually have good internal speakers, and for a Blue Label product sold at Best Buy, we expected more.

	Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980	Average for category [Mainstream]
Video	VGA-out, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 2.0/eSATA/sleep and charge, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, WiMax antenna	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

The Satellite E205-S19080 still lacks features available on mainstream-or-better machines, most notably Bluetooth. The eSATA and sleep-and-charge USB ports are useful, but we expect more for a laptop that's more than $1,000. The 4GB of included RAM can be expanded up to 8GB, and the 500GB hard drive is plenty generous for most users, but remain the same from the early 2010 configuration we reviewed. A new and potentially useful add for some customers is a WiMax antenna, but WiMax isn't available in every U.S. market yet, and subscription costs can be high for the high-speed wireless Internet access it provides.
The included Intel Core i5 M460 processor is a step up in speed from the Core i5 we tested in the previous E205-S1904, but not hugely so. Slightly bumped speeds are appreciated, but the quick loading and playback of streaming videos and multiwindow computing remain the same from our anecdotal experience.
The Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics are the biggest addition to the E205-S1980, answering one of our few gripes with the previous E205 (which only had integrated Intel graphics). Nvidia Optimus enabled for automatic switching and battery conservation, and the graphics netted modest-to-good results for mainstream gaming; Unreal Tournament III ran at 36.9 frames per second at native pixel resolution and graphics options set to medium. Activision's racing game Blur was playable, but exhibited some choppiness and frame rate drops. You can get by with gaming on the E205-S1980, but it's not a system for gamers.
Intel Wireless Display capability remains a nice feature, but it's less impressive than it used to be. For those unfamiliar with the technology, the E205-S1980 can, with the assistance of a simple software tool, send its video display to any TV with RCA or HDMI input jacks, courtesy of a $99 Netgear Push2TV box. (Editors' note: The previous version of the E205 we reviewed included the Netgear Push2TV box as part of the laptop bundle; we're waiting to hear back from the manufacturer as to whether the E205-S1980 includes the box, too.) The WiDi connection is akin to that of a Wi-Fi bridge, but has surprisingly decent clarity and can be initiated at the push of a button.
There are limitations, however: the AV signal is sent at a delay, making it not ideal for games or as a monitor solution, although, with the latest firmware updates, Wireless Display operates with less of a delay than before. Also, WiDi blocks DVD content from playback. Similar external solutions from Asus and HP don't do this, and don't require built-in technology to work, either. Intel Wireless Display is best for playing back Internet videos on a TV; though it's a feature that can be useful to have, it isn't worth going out of your way for unless you are desperate to get Hulu, Netflix, or YouTube on your big-screen TV.

Apple MacBook Air Fall 2010 Review

2010-11-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

The good: Amazingly slim design; great keyboard/trackpad combo; new iLife '11 software included; decent graphics performance; 16:9 display.

The bad: Pricey for an 11-inch laptop with an older processor; lacks backlit keyboard and SD card slot.

The bottom line: Apple makes the MacBook Air both smaller and less expensive, creating an excellent ultraportable, but leaving out a few features along the way.
Review:
Two of the most common wish-list items from prospective Apple customers have been a smaller, sub-13-inch MacBook, and a less-expensive version of the ultrathin MacBook Air. The new 11.6-inch version of the MacBook Air kills both birds with one stone, as the smallest current Apple laptop (there were 12-inch PowerBook models as recently as five years ago), and also lowering the entry price to $999, coincidentally, the same as the white basic 13-inch MacBook.
The end result is a laptop that feels like a cross between a traditional aluminum MacBook and the wave of upscale 11.6-inch premium Netbooks that have caught our attention this year.
The MacBook Air is a product line that--in its previous life--had a dedicated cult following but never found a real mainstream audience because of its high price and because it didn't do enough to distinguish itself from the rest of Apple's 13-inch laptop lineup. It was thinner and lighter, but still not quite different enough to justify the hefty investment. By doing more to differentiate the product, and dropping the entry price, the new MacBook Air succeeds in carving out more than an enthusiast niche for itself.
The quick boot times, long battery life (with extralong standby time), and excellent keyboard/trackpad combo make this our new go-to ultraportable (if price is not an issue), with our enthusiasm muted only by a missing SD card slot and older low-voltage CPU.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$ 1,199 / $999
Processor	1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ULV
Memory	2GB, 1066MHz DDR3
Hard drive	64GB SSD
Chipset	MCP89
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce 320M
Operating System	OS X 10.6.4 Snow Leopard
Dimensions (WD)	1.8 x 7.6 inches
Height	0.11 - 0.68 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.3/2.7 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

If anything, the addition of an 11-inch size is a nod to the past several years of laptop development, where small, inexpensive Netbooks started as a niche market, with 7- and then 9-inch screens, then moved into the mainstream with 10- and 11-inch versions. Since the start of the MacBook era, Apple had largely ignored the shift in laptop prices and sizes, opting instead to stick to the higher end of the market, and not going below 13 inches.
The new Airs, in both the 13-inch and 11-inch formats, are incredibly thin and light, even to someone used to working with very small laptops (such as Sony's SSD Vaio Z models). The all-metal construction keeps it from feeling too fragile, often an issue for ultrathin systems. The shape is closer to the previous Air than we would have expected, given the radical redesign the iPhone 4 got over its predecessors. The body is tapered toward the front, creating an optical illusion of even more thinness (although it's still only 0.68 inch thick at the rear). Interestingly, the 11-inch and 13-inch both narrow down to the same 0.11 inch.
The large keyboard and trackpad (which is the same glass version found on other MacBooks) both work well, although the function keys at the very top are very small. The F5 key is the only one missing an alternate function; on other MacBooks, it's for the keyboard backlight. Typing was typically excellent, but we're so used to the backlit keys on other MacBooks, we missed it instantly.
Apple's large multitouch trackpad remains the best available, largely thanks to the software that enables gestures control. The pad is hinged at the top, allowing the entire pad to click down, but we prefer traditional tapping (which is off by default and must be activated in the Preferences menu). Other laptop makers have subsequently added similar clickpads, and we hear the next generation of clickpads will fully depress, instead of working off a top hinge, which should make for an even better experience.
Notable is the inclusion of the latest version of Apple's iLife suite of software. The iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand apps include tons of useful and fun features, and are ideal for casual consumers (although pros will likely stick with Photoshop, Final Cut, and Logic or Pro Tools). The most notable new additions are iPhoto slideshows that place pictures on an interactive map with GPS data, and a series of amusing movie trailer templates in iMovie, complete with canned Hollywood-style scores.
It's not necessarily a software feature, but the system boots extremely quickly. Apple calls it Instant On, and though it's not exactly instant, it boots up very, very fast--faster even than an iPad.
This is the first MacBook with a 16:9 display (the 13-inch is still 16:10), and uses the same 1,366x768-pixel native resolution as most laptops from 11 to 15 inches. The screen area lacks the edge-to-edge glass over a black bezel found in other MacBooks; instead the screen is surrounded by a thick silver bezel. Perhaps it's to save on weight, but it's really the only aesthetic bum note about the system. There seems to be a lot of extra real estate around the actual screen, and one can assume the extra room was required to keep the keyboard from feeling cramped.

	MacBook Air, fall 2010, 11.6-inch	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	Mini-DisplayPort	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

Doubling the USB ports over the original Air from one to two is a welcome gesture, but only the 13-inch has an SD card slot (seriously, Apple: every 10-inch $300 Netbook has an SD card slot, it's not that hard). Even more disappointing, even the 13-inch version lacks a backlit keyboards. Likewise missing: dedicated VGA or HDMI outputs are no-shows (you'll need an aftermarket adapter for the Mini-DisplayPort jack). Don't look for onboard Ethernet or built-in 3G wireless, either.
There's a legitimate concern for hard-drive hogs that the 64GB or 128GB of flash hard-drive space may not be enough for high-res photos and video. We've rarely filled up too much of a hard drive, but today's laptop users are indeed more used to 500GB of space on even the most basic systems.
The 11-inch Air feels speedy enough, closer to a full-size laptop than than most dual-core 11-inch premium Netbook. That makes sense, as the Core 2 Duo/Nvidia 320M combo is similar to what you'd find in the current $999 white MacBook (although this is a ULV version of the Core 2 Duo in this case). It's especially interesting to compare this with the 11-inch Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118, which has a low-voltage Intel Core i7 CPU for $899. The Acer was faster in our Photoshop and iTunes tests, but slower than the Air in our multitasking test. Though it's not as fast as a non-ULV laptop, the MacBook Air is about as good as you're going to find in this 11-inch arena.
There is some confusion over Apple's use of Intel's older Core 2 Duo line in both the MacBook Air and also the 13-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro, but the back-and-forth performance lead compared with the ULV Core i7 Acer Timeline shows that this isn't a deal killer. The real reason for the Core 2 Duo is so Apple can include the pretty decent Nvidia 320M graphics chip. If the MacBook Air used an Intel Core i-series CPU, it would have to use Intel's uninspiring integrated graphics or else a fully discrete Nvidia GPU (which is bigger, requires power, and is more expensive).

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 Review

2010-11-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

The good: Excellent specs for its size; good battery life; compact, lightweight.

The bad: No dedicated graphics; plastic body looks and feels cheap; keyboard and touch pad are substandard.

The bottom line: Acer's high-end and extremely portable 11.6-inch TimelineX 1830T-68U118 offers a great combination of processor power and features that match what you'd find on a full-size laptop.

Review:
The new 11.6-inch MacBook Air isn't the only contender for the high-end ultraportable crown. The $899 Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118 looks like a Netbook from the outside, but inside, its specs are utterly upscale. An Intel Core i7-680UM dual-core ULV processor, 500GB hard drive, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM match what we've seen in midrange full-size laptops.
However, at $899, the real question is whether you're considering the 1830T-68U118 as a complete laptop or merely a portable tool in your computer arsenal. If the former, you may consider a thin 13-incher such as the Asus U35Jc-A1 instead. If the latter, you might look at a cheaper dual-core premium Netbook, for example the Gateway LT3201u, and save a few hundred dollars.
However, unlike the better-designed but limited MacBook Air, which lacks HDMI and SD card ports, this Acer will at least offer everything you'd expect in a laptop, only on a smaller scale.

Price as reviewed	$899
Processor	1.46GHz Intel Core i7 680UM
Memory	4GB, 1,066MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Intel GMA HD
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	11.2 inches x 8 inches
Height	1.0-1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.0 / 3.4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

From the outside, this tiny TimelineX so closely resembles other similarly sized premium Netbooks that it pretty much blends into the landscape. An 11.6-inch glossy screen and a full-size flat keyboard are contained cozily in a narrow lightweight chassis, resembling an Acer TimelineX in miniature. The black crosshatch-patterned plastic on the back lid and black plastic around the inner keyboard deck and upper screen give the unit a budget feel, except for a narrow palm rest/touch pad area in brushed metal.
A six-cell battery is tucked above the keyboard and between the screen hinges, reducing bottom bulk. With the lid closed, the machine is easily lifted in one hand, coming in at an even 3 pounds in weight. The included AC adapter is far more compact than on many other laptops, eschewing a power brick in favor of a small wall-wart that looks similar to a cell phone charger and is easier to pack into a small bag.
A large edge-to-edge flat keyboard fills the middle of the 1830T's lower midsection, but size isn't everything: though the keys are plenty wide enough for anyone's fingers, the overly flat sensation and lack of a distinct raised-key feel made locating keys by touch quite difficult, and rendered typing messy. The keyboard's not much different than other Acer/Gateway flat keyboards we've seen, particularly on the 11.6-inch Gateway LT3201u, a system this TimelineX closely resembles. Still, on an $899 laptop, we'd expect a more premium experience.
Similar ergonomic problems plague the narrow palm rest below, which is a bit too small for comfortable use with large hands. The multitouch touch pad in-between is flush with the rest of the surface, delineated only with small raised strips on either side. Two small, discrete buttons beneath serve to cram the usable touch pad space down to an area not much bigger than two postage stamps laid side by side, which presents a real challenge for multitouch gestures such as two-finger zoom. Even more vexingly, there's quite a bit of dead space above the keyboard and below the screen that's wasted; only a single power button and the wedge of the six-cell battery lie up there. The MacBook Air wisely lifts its keyboard up to the screen, leaving plenty of space below for a large trackpad and palm rest; we wish Acer had done the same.
Apart from the round blue LED-lit power button on the top left, a few LED lights on the top right of the keyboard indicate little-used functions such as hard-drive activity. A few more LEDs line the left front edge of the laptop, showing Wi-Fi activity and battery-charging status. It adds up to a lot of blinking lights. Volume control and screen brightness are controlled via a combo of Fn and the arrow keys, but we'd prefer function-reversed Fn buttons instead.
The LED-backlit, glossy 11.6-inch 16:9 screen has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, standard for this size. The dual-hinged screen opens up nearly 180 degrees, but viewing angles degrade at extreme tilt. The overall screen brightness and clarity are about average, with colors looking a bit less sharp than on some premium screens we've seen. Front-firing stereo speakers situated under the laptop are definitely loud enough to enjoy videos and Web chat, even music, and are better than you'd find on most Netbooks.
The included Webcam has a maximum video resolution of 640x480 pixels, and Acer's Cyber Eye Webcam software is bare bones but offers plenty of camera-setting tweaks. Still pictures can be taken up to resolutions of 1,280x1,024 pixels.

	Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	VGA, HDMI-out	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

Three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out, Bluetooth 3.0, and Windows 7 Home Premium round out an attractive feature set for an ultraportable this small. Really, other than an optical drive, this 11.6-incher lacks nothing. That's great news for those who need this system to act as their primary laptop, rather than as a satellite.
Acer has other versions of the TimelineX 1830T with Core i3 and i5 ULV processors at about $599 for the Core i3 and $700 for the Core i5 version, and the Core i7-680UM dual-core ULV in this laptop is the high end of the product line. It's a similar but even better-performing CPU to what we saw in the Core i7 Dell Alienware M11x. However, it shouldn't be confused with a standard-voltage Core i7; this one operates at roughly half the system speed, although Intel's Turbo Boost technology can increase the CPU speed up to 2.53GHz at the expense of battery life. It is, however, a far better ULV processor than the Core i3 ULV CPU, providing an experience that comes pretty close to what you'd experience on a standard-voltage mainstream processor. Streaming-video playback, multitasking, and everyday office tasks fly on the 1830T-68U118, and it should represent a very solid experience for most mainstream users.
If there's one limitation to the specs on the Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118, it's in the graphics department. Unlike some ultraportables that have Nvidia GPUs, this Acer only has integrated Intel graphics. That's suitable for HD video and casual games, but mainstream games and graphically intensive programs will suffer.

Asus U35JC-A1 Review

2010-11-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

The good: Great size, thin chassis, fast performance; Nvidia Optimus graphics; good battery life.

The bad: Lacks an optical drive; graphics performance is OK but not great; poor viewing angles.

The bottom line: The Asus U35Jc-A1 is a thin, but solid, 13-inch laptop with no processor compromises and Nvidia Optimus graphics, covering all the basics--except an optical drive.
Review:
Well over a year ago, we found a hidden gem in the Asus UL30A, a very thin 13-inch laptop that had a great combination of performance, battery life, and price. A virtual successor to that UL30A can be found in the Asus U35Jc-A1, a Core i3 laptop with entry-level Nvidia GeForce 310M dedicated graphics and Nvidia Optimus automatically switching graphics.
Unlike Optimus laptops, such as the underwhelming Asus UL80JT, the U35Jc-A1 is a winner both in terms of battery life and performance. A standard-voltage Core i3 processor offers few compromises, and the battery life is very good despite having dedicated graphics. Though it's not exactly cheap at $849, and it lacks an optical drive, this is a very, very nice little laptop, and a good MacBook alternative.

Price as reviewed	$849
Processor	2.4 GHz Intel Core i3 370M
Memory	4GB, 1,066 MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce GT 310M + Intel GMA HD
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	12.9 inches x 9.3 inches
Height	0.6-1.0 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.0 / 4.8 pounds
Category	Mainstream

Much like the UL30A, the U35Jc-A1 is slim, angular, and decked in lots of brushed metal; in many ways, it comes across as a throwback design, like a DeLorean in laptop form. The very thin upper lid is backed in brushed aluminum, the small centered Asus logo looking more EPCOT-era than ever. Inside, a light gray-silver, patterned, glossy plastic surrounds the keyboard deck, while glossy, black plastic surrounds the inset screen.
Asus' keyboards are almost universally of the raised Chiclet-style kind, but they're not all made equally. Some Asus laptops have exhibited serious keyboard flex; but that isn't the case with the U35Jc-A1. The very solid-feeling keys were great to type on, and aside from our gripe with the awkwardly placed arrow keys and a right-hand side of page up/down buttons that needlessly squish the Enter and Shift keys, it makes for an excellent experience. There's just enough palm-rest space beneath for good lap typing. Overall, it's nearly as good a keyboard as the MacBook Pro's.
A medium-size multitouch touchpad lies flush with the keyboard deck around it--in the same color to boot--but textured with a subtle matte grid that works better than expected. A thin button-bar beneath feels too slight, but the whole package gets the job done well and, most importantly, responsively. However, we'd put an asterisk next to "multitouch"; the Elan software driving the touchpad allows only for a limited set of gestures, such as two-finger scroll and multifinger tap, leaving out obvious ones like pinch-to-zoom.
Two buttons sit atop the keyboard: one to the far left, one to the right. They look identical, but the right one is the power button, whereas the left boots up the laptop in Asus' Express Gate quick-start OS. We're not a fan of quick-start environments, simply because their limited applications, quirky setup, and need to boot up Windows 7 for access to the rest of your PC's features make for an annoying experience. Do yourself a favor and just put your laptop to sleep instead. When Windows 7 is already booted, the left button switches between custom battery-saving modes.
The LED-backlit, glossy 13-inch 16:9 screen has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, standard for this size. Viewing angles were tighter than we'd prefer, with color and contrast drifting into a washed-out look unless the screen was perfectly centered. For videos, Web browsing, and general everyday use, pictures and videos look fine as long as excessive tilting is avoided.
Front-firing Altec Lansing stereo speakers situated under the keyboard on the lower front edge of the U35Jc-A1 are loud enough for movies, Webchat or any other conceivable use, with notable crisp punch during gameplay. They're better than standard laptop speakers at this range, but lack musical depth and powerful bass.

	Asus U35Jc-A1	Average for category [Mainstream]
Video	VGA, HDMI-out	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

Similar-sized slim laptops such as the Toshiba Portege R705 manage to fit a DVD drive, making us feel a little more slighted here, but that's still the exception in thin compact notebooks. The included 4GB of DDR3 RAM and 500GB hard drive are standard for the price range, and are ample for nearly any user's needs.
A full-voltage Core i3-370 offers speedy multitasking and good overall performance.. We've found Core i3 processors to be excellent affordable CPUs, and this thin Asus performs as well as any other Core i3 system we've seen. Videos stream fluidly at full screen, and we were able to get multiple tasks done with no indications of slowdown.
The Nvidia GeForce 310M GPU in this Asus is an entry-level dedicated graphics chip that we've seen in a number of laptops. In the U35Jc-A1, it's paired with Nvidia Optimus technology, which automatically switches between the Nvidia graphics and integrated Intel graphics to conserve battery life, activating only when higher-end graphics are needed.
For the most part, Nvidia Optimus technology works seamlessly and invisibly. Graphically, however, we found the performance of this Nvidia GPU to be reasonable for playing games, but not stellar. Unreal Tournament III ran at 34.8 frames per second with medium settings at 1,366x768 native pixel resolution. That's not much different than the bamboo-clad and similarly specced Asus U33Jc-A1, but lags behind the Asus UL80JT. Bottom line: it's nice to even have the discrete graphics, since the last generation of this Asus laptop had only integrated graphics.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d Review

2010-11-15T04:53:00.000-08:00

The good: Includes 3D hardware; powerful CPU/GPU combo; excellent keyboard and touch pad.

The bad: Polarized eyeglass 3D system isn't very impressive.

The bottom line: One of only a handful of 3D laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d skips active shutter glasses for an inferior technology, but keeps the A-list price.

Review:

Though 3D is a big buzzword in the television world, it's been slower to take off in desktop and laptop TVs. That's in some ways surprising, as a tested, functional 3D infrastructure has existed for PCs for a couple of years now, in the form of Nvidia's 3D Vision technology. We've seen only a handful of laptops with 3D hardware and glasses, some with Nvidia's technology and a couple with a competing system called TriDef.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d falls into the latter category, using the same TriDef 3D technology as the Acer Aspire 5738DG-6165 we looked at last year. Both of these laptops use passive polarized glasses instead of the battery-powered active shutter glasses used by both Nvidia 3D Vision laptops and many other forms of consumer 3D devices.
At $1,399, it's reasonably priced for the components, as the Intel Core i7 CPU and ATI Radeon 5730 graphics are nice upscale parts. But HP's non-3D 14-inch Envy starts at only $999 and a closer config is $1,249. Toshiba's 3D laptop, the Satellite A665-3DV is $1,599, with similar specs plus Nvidia's better 3D Vision hardware and a Blu-ray drive.
That's the main problem here: the TriDef 3D system is functional, but not impressive. It requires you to tilt the laptop screen to just the right angle, and then run games through a third-party wrapper app, which kills the performance (we saw frame rates drop by more than half in 3D mode). Visually, in the sample videos and game tests we tried, the system sometimes offered a decent 3D experience, but more often than not we ended up squinting, closing one eye, or looking away.
Without the 3D, the Y560 is a perfectly capable high-end laptop with a very nice design, but anyone interested in that would do better to save a few bucks and check out the many non-3D versions of Lenovo's otherwise excellent IdeaPad laptops.

Price as reviewed	$1,399
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Core i7 720QM
Memory	4GB, 1066MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB 7,200rpm
Chipset	Mobile Intel PM55 Express Chipset
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	15.2 x 10 inches
Height	0.8-1.3 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	6.1/7.6 pounds
Category	Midsize

Lenovo continues to create very nice-looking laptops with its IdeaPad line. The Y560D is about as far from the office-ready Lenovo mindset as we've seen, with a funky tribal tattoo design on the back of the lid. Other than that, the color scheme is similar to systems such as the IdeaPad Y460, with a copper accent strip around the outer edge of the lid and an interior mix of not-too-glossy black plastic and matte-black keys.
A row of backlit touch-sensitive control buttons sit on top of the keyboard. Running a finger back and forth along them pops up a quick-launch bar, with assignable slots for different apps. It's clever-looking, but it takes some getting used to. Running your finger along the right part of it can also change the desktop background image, but we never got the hang of pulling that off consistently.
The keyboard and touch pad are excellent, even though the Y560 uses a tapered-key keyboard (more like the traditional ThinkPad design), rather than the flat-topped island-style one seen on most other IdeaPad models.
The 15.6-inch wide-screen display offers a 1,366x768-pixel native resolution, which is standard for a 16:9 midsize laptop screen. It's great for 720p HD video content, but it can't display 1080p content at full resolution. Hard-core gamers may want higher resolutions, and we were also troubled by the faint horizontal lenticular lines that are sometimes visible, even when not using any 3D applications; that's a byproduct of the polarized 3D system.

	Lenovo IdeaPad Y560D	Average for category [midsize]
Video	VGA plus HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	4 USB 2.0 (1 YSB/eSATA), SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	ExpressCard/34	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

Under the hood, the IdeaPad Y560d is a very impressive machine. With a 1.6GHz Intel Core i7 720QM CPU, a 500GB 7200rpm hard drive, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics, it's powerful enough for just about any task. The system holds its own against other high-end laptops such as the HP Envy 17 and Toshiba A665-3DV (both also Core i7 systems) in our benchmark tests.
But what we're really interested in is the 3D capabilities. We've had experience with the TriDef system before, and found this version to be largely the same. The laptop includes a basic pair of cheap plastic polarized glasses, plus a second pair of clip-ons for those of us who already wear glasses (be warned: it's not a cool look).
The screen has to be tilted at just the right angle. For us it was about 120 degrees back, and with us sitting about twice as far from the screen as we normally would. The effect works best with objects that recede into the distance, where we could sometimes get an excellent 3D effect. Objects that popped out of the screen toward us often got blurry or out of focus, as did some menus rendered in 3D. Keep in mind that it's very important to keep your head still to main just the perfect angle.
To get games to play in 3D, they have to be run through the TriDef wrapper app, which is an easy enough process, but one with a lot of processing overhead. Playing Street Fighter IV (which looked very good in 3D), we got an average of 32 frames per second (at the native 1,366x768-pixel resolution) when running the game normally, but that dropped to about 13 frames per second when running it in 3D. That's especially disappointing given the high-powered hardware.
On the positive side, the plastic polarized glasses are passive, and don't require batteries or recharging. Also, no external IR emitter dongle is required (as in Nvidia 3D Vision systems), making this a more compact, no-extras-required setup.

News : New HP chief sees software as 'the glue'

2010-10-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

HP's new chief, Léo Apotheker.

Who exactly is Léo Apotheker?
For many American investors and analysts, the new president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard is a relative unknown. HP held a conference call this morning to formally introduce its new chief executive and take questions about what many are calling a curious choice.

The call was brief and didn't get into many specifics other than that software will play a much larger role in HP's future.
"For me the decision to accept [the position] was an easy one. I don't think there's another company in tech that can match HP's opportunity in the marketplace," Apotheker said in his opening remarks. "I have a great appreciation for this company's technology and its people."

Those outside the company may not be quite so confident about the choice. HP's stock was down again in early trading this morning, slipping about 3 percent to $40.87.
Apotheker was plucked from the world outside of Silicon Valley to lead the world's largest technology company by revenue. He was most recently CEO of German software giant SAP, though he parted ways with the company in February after only seven months at the helm. He starts formally at HP on Nov. 1.
The HP CEO job had been held by Mark Hurd, who resigned abruptly in August in the wake of an investigation by the board of directors in which he was determined to have violated the company's code of conduct. In a curious symmetry, where HP--long known best as a hardware maker--has turned to a seasoned software executive, Hurd has landed at Oracle, a software company now finding its way in the world of hardware following its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
Several internal candidates from HP had reportedly made it into final consideration, including Vyomesh Joshi, Ann Livermore, and Todd Bradley, executive vice presidents of the printing, enterprise business, and personal computer businesses, respectively. Apotheker said the first thing he did upon accepting the CEO position was to contact each of his executives. He did not answer a question about how he plans to retain them.
Board member Robert Ryan said today that the company focused on six candidates for the CEO position both internal and external to HP, but only offered the job to Apotheker.
Ray Lane, former president of Oracle, was hired yesterday to be the HP board's non-executive chairman. Lane was not on the call.
One thing is becoming clear: HP intends to move more heavily into software. Not only did the company hire two seasoned software executives to lead the company, Apotheker hinted as much.

"I believe that HP should be more valuable than the sum of its parts," Apotheker said this morning. "Software is sort of the glue to make that happen."
Software is currently responsible for just a fraction of HP's revenue, and Apotheker's comments indicate that number may climb during his tenure. He did make brief mention of the other major businesses too.
"It's not only software, though," he said. "Higher valued-added services is an extremely important part of the strategy too."

Apotheker did not take the opportunity on the call to demonstrate his understanding of or comfort with HP's consumer-facing businesses, which could be a concern to investors. HP is the world's largest seller of both printers and PCs, and Apotheker's multidecade career in technology has been spent selling software to large businesses.
There's clearly much for him to learn about his new company, and he said he plans a trip to meet his new employees--there are more than 300,000 of them worldwide.
"I want to learn what they have to say," he said. "I want to do the same with our customers as well."
When asked how much time he needed to get up to speed, he didn't give a hard date, but said he would take the next few weeks and months.

Asus UL80JT Review

2010-10-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

The good: Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics; slim design.

The bad: Weak battery life; low-voltage Core i3 processor is slower than other Core i3 laptops; too much keyboard flex.

The bottom line: A thin design and Nvidia Optimus automatic-switching graphics make the Asus UL80JT-A1 an initially appealing laptop, but looks can be misleading: the underwhelming CPU and battery life are both serious negatives.

Review:

When it comes to slim 13- and 14-inch laptops, there are currently a lot of options worth considering. The Asus UL80JT-A1 is certainly thin and even manages to pack a DVD-burning drive into its compact 14-inch-screened frame. It also manages to fit some dedicated graphics in, too, offering up an automatically switching Nvidia Optimus-powered GeForce 310M GPU.
There are drawbacks, however: at $860, this laptop isn't cheap. And, most unfortunately, the Core i3 CPU that's included is misleading: it's actually a lower-speed Core i3-330UM ultra-low-voltage processor which performs more slowly than a normal Core i3. And the Nvidia Optimus graphics technology, which switches on the fly between a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 310M GPU and integrated Intel graphics, is supposed to greatly enhance battery life--and yet, the UL80JT-A1 didn't do significantly better than other standard-voltage Core i3 laptops.
Sure, for its size this might be an appealing laptop for some. However, the price-to-performance ratio factored in with so-so battery life make this a disappointing package from Asus. (Note: we reviewed the Asus UL80J-BBK5 in our back-to-school retail laptop roundup, a nearly identical retail version of this laptop which was slightly less expensive.)

Price as reviewed	$860
Processor	1.2 GHz Intel Core i3-330UM ULV
Memory	4GB DDR3 RAM, 800 MHz
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel HM55
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce 310M + Intel GMA HD
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.0 x 9.5 inches
Height	1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.7/5.5 pounds
Category	Midsize

The Asus UL80JT-A1 is part of a family of slim Asus laptops that we've generally liked quite a bit since their inception, going back to the UL30A. Crisp angles and a combination of black plastic and aluminum give this laptop a sharp but smudge-collecting profile.
The thin brushed-aluminum lid has glossy plastic on its interior surrounding the inset screen. The keyboard area is decked with brushed-metal-like smooth black plastic. Two separate chromed plastic buttons on the top left and right of the keyboard create a bit of confusion as to which is the actual power button: the left one boots up Asus' Quick Start OS, the right boots Windows 7.
While the raised keyboard is efficiently laid out and has good key spacing, there's some major flex during typing. It doesn't severely affect typing quality, but the flexy feel is jarring enough to put us off the UL80JT-A1 as a serious typist's machine. It's particularly surprising since we haven't encountered this level of flex on other Asus UL-series laptops before.
The medium-sized multitouch touchpad is a bit small for the available space, but the textured grid makes for better finger traction than on its very similar retail cousin, the UL80J-BBK5. On the other hand, the chrome rocker button bar is a bit narrow, and we prefer discrete buttons.
The 14-inch wide-screen LED-backlit display offers a 1,366x768-pixel native resolution, standard for 14-inch laptops. Brightness and sharpness on the display were above average in quality, but we found the viewing angles to suffer when tilting the screen to share a video with others. It's suitable for movies and games, but we didn't find it exceptional.
Stereo Altec Lansing speakers situated below the keyboard on a front angled edge projected sound well and had fair range, although they couldn't hold a candle to the speaker system on the Alienware M11x. They didn't live up to the branding hype. A 0.3-megapixel Webcam does the job for basic chat, but it wasn't exceptional, either.

	Asus UL80JT-A1	Average for category [Midsize]
Video	VGA, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

Although thin, the UL80JT-A1 manages to fit a good standard collection of ports, including HDMI-out and 3 USB 2.0 ports, along with making room for a DVD drive door. There isn't an ExpressCard slot, however, and the system lacks Bluetooth.
The UL80JT-A1 comes with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 500GB 5,400rpm hard drive, both of which are at the upper ends of basic mainstream offerings. However, while that used to seem special a few months ago, it's fast becoming standard.
We've seen previous iterations of a very similar Asus laptop design, using last-gen processors and graphics. The Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 had a Core 2 Duo ULV processor and physically-switchable Nvidia graphics, and at the time we lamented that the machine didn't have better performance for its size. Sadly, even though Asus has upgraded to a new Intel Core i3 ULV processor, the UL80JT-A1 isn't significantly different performance-wise from its Core 2 ULV predecessor--in fact, by our benchmarks, it's slower.
That's because, as we mentioned, the included i3 processor is actually an ultra low-voltage variant that runs at half the speed of standard-voltage Core i3s. But, it's actually a bit worse than that. A "Turbo 33" mode can be toggled via an Asus widget to overclock the performance of the CPU up to 1.86 GHz, and up the RAM speed up to 1,066 MHz. We did see gains in this mode: 1,406 seconds improved to 1,106 seconds in our multimedia multitasking test (lower time scores indicate better performance). Unfortunately, that only brought the UL80JT-A1 up to speed with the standard performance we saw on the identically specced UL80J-BBK5 (it performed the same multitasking test in 1,122 seconds), which lacked a "Turbo" mode but was equally fast. Even though "Turbo" feels like a feature, it's really just a way of hobbling the system speed further when unused.
The speed gap shows up clearly on our benchmarks, where the UL80JT-A1 simply doesn't offer as much as any other equivalent Core i3 laptop, as well as lagging behind its Core 2 ULV predecessor. Admittedly, the UL80JT-A1 is still functionally fine for video streaming and handling nearly all everyday tasks we could think of: it just feels more sluggish and can't handle multitasking as adeptly. We particularly feel it's misleading because the sticker on the front of the laptop boasts "Core i3" without specifying that it's in fact a slower-functioning variant.

Gateway ID49C08u Review

2010-10-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

The good: Slim design; automatic GPU switching; Core i5 processor; good graphics performance.

The bad: Short battery life; flimsy keyboard; poorly designed touch pad.

The bottom line: The Gateway ID49C08 combines speedy Core i5 performance and automatic-switching Nvidia graphics in a small package at a reasonable price, but several small annoyances take away from the experience.

Review:

Thin, stylish, and a change from the company's previous designs, the silvery Gateway ID49C series has a slim form factor paired with an optical drive and Core i3/i5 processors. When last we reviewed Gateway's new thin laptop, it was in the form of the budget-price $629 ID49C07U in our 2010 retail laptop and desktop back-to-school roundup.The ID49C08U costs significantly more--$849--but has an Intel Core i5 processor and a Nvidia GeForce GT330M GPU with Optimus automatic-switching graphics. Though the specs are tempting and the price is good, many similar systems with higher-end touches don't cost much more, including the HP Envy 14, which offers a similarly performing configuration for about $1,000. If, on the other hand, saving $150 is your greatest concern, this could be a thin gaming-capable laptop worth consideration.

Flat, silver, and surprisingly thin, the Gateway ID49C08U caught our eye right away among other midsize computers sitting on our Lab bench. The overall dimensions and wafer-thin lid closely match up with thin-and-light laptops such as the Asus UL80J-BBK5, as does its sub-5-pound weight.
An aluminum alloy cover and interior have a soft silver look that repels smudges but seems a little scuff-prone. Matte-black plastic surrounds the upper inset glossy screen, and a flat keyboard lies flush with the aluminum lower half, also colored the same dull silver. A curved, inset touch pad rounds out a look that's both semiprofessional and, at times, reminiscent of the MacBook Pro, but cast in budget materials.
The flat-key design on the ID49C08U's keyboard is identical to what we saw on the design-revamped Gateway NV59C09U, except in silver instead of black. The widely spaced keys are somewhat comfortable, but the keyboard flexes too much and the keys tilt a bit while typing. Additionally, the wide gaps and valleys underneath the keys seem to invite the annoying trapping of particles, dust, or hair, a problem that's avoided with raised keys that fit tightly into the keyboard tray.
A few dedicated buttons sit above the keyboard: on the left there's a Wi-Fi on/off toggle and a programmable quick-launch key; on the top right, a square power button stands alone. Between the two, a thin capacitive-touch media bar has play/pause, stop, forward/rewind, and eject functions. The DVD drive, tucked on the right side of the ID4907U's chassis, has no physical button to eject, just this touch panel, and there was often a delay before registering our eject command. The fast-forward/rewind buttons only served to skip tracks on DVD playback, and couldn't fast do shuttle-style forward or rewind.
Gateway has also included a few new wrinkles to the keyboard design. Running down the right side, a Social Media button adorned with odd smiling faces brings up a software widget with FaceBook, YouTube, and Flickr feeds, but it's nothing we don't already get in browser plug-ins and via software such as Digsby. New dedicated volume buttons are a great add.
As for the wide, inset, glossy touch pad, it's a design misfire. The entire dark surface lights up in a glowing blue whenever contact is made with the click zones on the bottom of the pad. The whole multitouch pad clicks, as on an Apple MacBook or HP's latest laptops such as the Pavilion dm4 or Envy series, but thanks to limited multitouch software supplied by ALPS, it can't register any of these clicks outside the button-size click zones on the bottom. The distracting blue glow can thankfully be deactivated, but the gimmick seems to have come at a cost for ergonomics: the glossy transparent plastic that comprises the touch pad is horrible for registering finger gestures; we had to press firmly with a flat finger to get it to work, and found finger-tip gestures to be intermittently ignored. Multitouch was also finicky and often nonresponsive. Although we like the idea of a recessed touch pad, it makes no sense for the button area to be recessed, too; it makes clicks very hard to accomplish without long-term hand cramping, since our thumb tended to rest above the click area.
The 14-inch wide-screen LED-backlit display offers a 1,366x768-pixel native resolution, standard for 14-inch laptops, although some high-end laptops such as the HP Envy 14 exceed it. Brightness and sharpness are average, but we found that images looked washed out at maximum brightness settings. The image quality faded at wide viewing angles, too. For this price range, other laptops offer better screens.
Stereo speakers located above the keyboard offered decent volume and quality for movie playback, nothing stellar but better than other laptops in the budget range. Dolby Home Theater is advertised on the laptop's exterior, but any theatrical audio effects don't translate onto smaller speakers such as these. The included Webcam had below-average light sensitivity and contrast; we had a hard time getting our face to not look grainy and completely washed out.

	Gateway ID49C08U	Average for category [midsize]
Video	VGA, HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader	4 USB 2.0, SD card reader, eSATA
Expansion	None	ExpressCard/54
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

There isn't much room on the Gateway ID49C08U to cram many ports in, but to its credit there are four USB ports along the sides, one more than we would have expected. HDMI-out is also included, which is always useful in an era when HDTV connectivity is so easy. There's no Bluetooth, which for this price is a bit of a letdown.
On the positive side, the CPU/GPU configuration for the ID49C08U is pretty good and makes for a great one-two punch of processing power and gaming performance. The Intel Core i5 M450 CPU is the same one we've seen in many mainstream laptops, and it's a notable step up in single and multitasking speed compared with the Core i3 processor in the Gateway ID49C07U.
More impressive are the included Nvidia graphics. The included GeForce GT 330M processor produced very good results in our tests; our Unreal Tournament III benchmark performed at 1,280x768-pixel resolution at 80.4 frames per second. We also played some mainstream games including Transformers: War for Cybertron and got much better results than on laptops with the more common, lower-end GeForce 310M GPU.

In addition, the ID49C08U has Nvidia Optimus technology for automatic graphics switching and battery conservation. Optimus is really something that should work invisibly, paradoxically requiring no attention at all. It simply and automatically activates and deactivates the dedicated Nvidia graphics based on program usage, and it mostly works flawlessly. In some instances we had to add a program profile to Nvidia's settings, an unintuitive process, but not that common. The chief advantage to Optimus is it theoretically allows a thin laptop such as this to run full-powered graphics when needed, without sacrificing much in terms of battery life.