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Video: Dell Inspiron 531s

The Dell Inspiron 531, the company's newest, small-scale Windows desktop, may not offer the most bang for the buck, but it does offer more options than the competition.The new Inspiron 531S is the slimmed-down desktop we've been waiting for from Dell. By finally offering a wireless networking adapter option, Dell lets this small PC preserve the tidy profile lacking in its past attempts at the category. Our $659 config, while a decent enough performer, doesn't distance itself from its lower-priced competition as much as we'd like. What's probably most important is that in its specific category, Dell's new Inspiron offers more flexibility than HP's SlimLine. Of the systems in its class, then, the Inspiron 531S is the model we'd pick. For budget-priced PCs in general, you can get more for your money from other vendors.

Dell Inspiron 531S
eMachines T5230
CPU
2.3GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400
2.3GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400
Memory
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Graphics
64MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 6150SE
128MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 6150SE
Hard drive
250GB, 7,200 rpm
250GB, 7,200 rpm
Optical drives
16x dual-layer DVD burner
16x dual-layer DVD burner
Operating system
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Premium

Toshiba's Budget Oriented 16-inch Laptop

Image Courtesy Toshiba
Toshiba makes a large number of laptops that are available for under $750. Their primary product lineup for low cost laptops is the Satellite L series while its A series is slightly more performance oriented. The starting price for the Satellite A350/A355 is just slightly more than the L350/L355 laptops. So, is it worth spending a little more for a Satellite A series instead of a fully loaded L series? Find out in my review of the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6925 16-inch laptop

Acer TravelMate 3002WTCi

To keep pace with the lightweight laptops flooding the market, Acer has come out with its lightest ultraportable yet. The Acer TravelMate 3002WTCi weighs just 3.2 pounds and slides easily into your bag. What separates it from the competition is its heavy-duty processor (the Pentium M 740) and its amazingly low price ($1,299 direct).

Slim at just a bit over an inch thick, the 3002WTCi can compete competently with the Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad X41 and the Sony T350P (though the featherweight Toshiba Portégé R200, at 2.7 pounds, is still in a league of its own). The display is a crisp, clear 12.1-inch widescreen, and the full-size keyboard is comfortable to type on. Like the Toshiba R200, the Acer has a responsive touchpad with scroll functions. We like that it also has keys for turning wireless on and off, like the MPC TransPort U1000.

The 3002WTCi doesn't go with the conventional low-voltage processors commonly found in the ultraportable group. Though low-voltage processors serve the dual purpose of saving power and keeping processor heat to a minimum, they sacrifice performance. So instead, the processor is a Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz), whose greater horsepower enabled the 3002WTCi to beat both the ThinkPad X41 and the Toshiba R200 handily on our SYSmark 2004 SE tests. The MPC U1000 carries a similar processor (Pentium M 745), with an even better SYSmark score. Unfortunately, the 3002WTCi takes a hit on battery life, mustering only 1 hour 40 minutes with its standard three-cell battery. Thankfully, Acer bundles a six-cell battery at no extra charge, which delivers a runtime of 3:45 but adds 0.7 pounds to the system weight and protrudes about an inch from the back. You can only use one battery at a time but with both you can get about 5 hours of battery life.

Unlike the MPC TransPort U1000, the 3002WTCi lacks a built-in optical drive. The external (FireWire) DVD/CD-RW combo drive, included in the price, weighs about a pound. In addition to the FireWire port, the system has three USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader (SD, MS, MS Pro, and MMC), and built-in Bluetooth. What you don't get on the 3002WTCi is what puts the IBM and Toshiba ultraportables a notch above the Acer (at least for enterprise buyers): A more robust software suite and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which provides a hardware security alternative for storing your passwords and keys.

If you're in the market for an ultraportable and are on a tight budget, the Acer TravelMate 3002WTCi, with its impressive performance, is a competent—and much cheaper—alternative to the big-name competition.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer TravelMate 100

When Microsoft wanted a notebook/ tablet hybrid to show off the potential of convertible devices, it turned to the Acer TravelMate 100, a 3.3-pound ultraportable (4.3 pounds road weight, with transformer) with a single-hinge screen that turns and folds into a tablet. Aside from the swiveling screen, the TravelMate 100 looks and feels like any ultraportable on the market today.

The TravelMate 100 is a good bet, especially if the shift to tablet computing does not happen right away. If you're not keen on the tablet, you still have an ultraportable, measuring 1.25 by 10.0 by 8.6 inches, with a 700-MHz Pentium III-M processor, a 20GB hard drive, and a 10.4-inch XGA-resolution display. Our prototype had near-final hardware with not-yet-ready Microsoft tablet software. (A shipping product would likely have a faster CPU.)

To change from the notebook to the tablet, press and release two locator catches holding the base of the LCD panel in place, rotate the panel 180 degrees clockwise, fold it flat over the keyboard, and secure the two locator catches and a front catch to hold the screen steady.

The long-term durability of such a complex hinge is questionable, though Acer says it has been tested through 18,000 cycles. Five programmable buttons on the lower right-hand corner of the LCD bezel supplement the tablet pen; you'd likely use them to rotate the image or as substitutes for the Enter key. A rubberized grip on what had been the back hinge of the notebook then becomes a grip on the left side when it's held vertically. To be Windows XP Tablet–compliant, all products must have a digitizer under the screen, as the Acer does, rather than a touch screen on top, as you'd see on a PDA.

Acer says it omitted a docking-station connector because of the added complexity and cost. But some users will miss the convenience of a docking unit or cradle to drop the TravelMate 100 into, if only to make recharging the batteries between meetings easier. Acer says the unit returns 3 hours of battery life, and the company is working to increase the battery life by its fall ship date. It's currently well under the desired 6 hours, but even 3 hours will be hard to accomplish with an 1,800-mAh battery, weighing just 7 ounces.

The TravelMate 100 will retail at about $2,500—a bit more than most vanilla ultraportables lacking tablet features. For companies that want to explore tablet computing with a pilot machine, the TravelMate 100 would be ideal.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Ferrari 5000

Of all the car-themed laptops that have surfaced over the years, the Acer Ferrari line is by far the most successful alliance between a race-car icon and a PC giant. Acer is not letting up, introducing its latest Acer Ferrari 5000 laptop ($1,999 list) with all the trimmings. This media speedster continues to stick to its engine of choice—the 2GHz AMD Turion X2 TL-60—and includes an adjustable 1.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth accessories, and an HDMI-out port, all features which are worthy of the Ferrari name.

The defining feature of a race-car laptop is design. Several makers have given the motorcar theme a whirl but have come up short. For instance, the iTronix Hummer design does a poor job of representing the Hummer SUV, and its price is impractical; the Asus VX1 Lamborghini has the looks but isn't widely available; and there is talk about Cisnet coming out with a NASCAR laptop, but I haven't seen anything yet. The Ferrari 5000 nails down the design with a carbon-fiber lid, running red streaks, and, of course, the prancing-stallion emblem.

Many people like the keyboard's curvature, but even though it's supposed to promote efficiency, it took some time for me to get used to it. The rubber palm rests block some of the heat while you're typing. Most of the heat can be felt blowing out from the side vents and through the base of the laptop. The 6.7-pound frame is a little heavier than some of its competitors', such as the 6.1-pound HP Pavilion dv6000t and the 5.7-pound Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Widescreen. The 1,680-by-1,050 resolution is ideal for a 15.4-inch widescreen, and you'll notice the exceptional quality in playing back high-definition video clips and standard DVD movies.

The Ferrari 5000 has a feature set that will open some eyes. The rotating 1.3MP webcam is a boon for Skypers and Webcasters. The 160GB hard drive is one of the largest I've seen on any laptop. Acer has gotten rid of the DVI-D port in favor of an HDMI-out port, which streams video and audio content. Although my review unit bundled a standard DVD dual-layer burner, the system can be configured with an HD DVD-ROM drive. Without one, your best bet for outputting HD content stored on the hard drive is via the HDMI-out port. In addition, the Ferrari 5000 ships with built-in Bluetooth, along with a Bluetooth mouse and VoIP phone. I've talked about this VoIP phone, which slips into the PC Card slot, on the Acer Ferrari 1000 series and other Acer laptops. The concept is intriguing, but voice quality needs a lot of work.

The Ferrari series has chosen to stick with mobile AMD processors to keep the price competitive. AMD processors' speeds have fallen behind their Intel counterparts over the past few years. Performance with the system's 2GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 dual-core processor, however, is nothing to laugh at. Its SYSmark 2004 SE overall scores are 49 percent better than the Acer Ferrari 4000's. You'll have no problems running all the latest applications, including all the Adobe apps, with AMD's dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM. But Intel Core 2 Duo laptops such as the HP Pavilion dv9000t and the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Core 2 Duo) have the performance edge.

Gaming is none too shabby on the Ferrari 5000. The laptop uses the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics chipset—the same card found on the MacBook Pro. You will be able to achieve decent frame rates playing 3D-intensive games such as Quake 4 and F.E.A.R. The Ferrari 5000 comes with an 87-Wh battery, but the 3 hours 19 minutes of battery life doesn't seem to reflect that. All the signs point to a battery-consuming processor as the culprit. Since Acer doesn't sell direct, your warranty will be best covered by a third-party PC retailer. The Ferrari 5000 usually comes with a one-year parts and labor warranty, though that may vary significantly depending on where you buy it. Acer does offer an international warranty for travelers. The company will cover repairs as long as you pay for shipping to the nearest repair site; Acer will cover return shipping.

The Acer Ferrari series will thrive as long as Acer can maintain the fabulous Ferrari design. The Ferrari 5000 can hold its own in the performance department, but the main draw is the multitude of features that come with this laptop. If you're in the market for a super-stylish desktop replacement laptop with all the bells and whistles, then the Acer Ferrari 5000 is definitely worth your attention.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Ferrari 4000

Acer goes from the brilliant red design of the Acer Ferrari 3000 to a more conservative—but just as sleek—black checkered design. It retains some of the cool-looking red streaks along the side and front edge of the notebook, and yes, the yellow prancing horse emblem still graces the center of the notebook. The cover is made from carbon fiber, which is stronger and lighter than aluminum. (Acer uses it only in its Ferrari line.) The interior of the Ferrari 4000 has a rubberized coating, perhaps emulating the look of Formula One tires. The keyboard has an ergonomic smile contour to it, which is okay for typing but takes a few minutes to get used to. The only real design complaint we have is that the mouse buttons are a bit noisy when pressed.

Though not as eye-popping as many of today's specially treated screens, such as the Editors' Choice-winning HP Pavilion dv4000's ($1429) BrightView screen, the Ferrari's 15.4-inch LCD is vivid enough for movie watching, even with the matte finish, thanks to its high resolution (1,680-by-1,050).

The 6.6-pound Ferrari 4000 comes with a good feature set, including four USB ports, a FireWire port, and a 5-in-1 card reader (MMC, MS, MS Pro, SD, XD). Video connections include both VGA and DVI-D ports. Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11g are included, as is a dual-layer DVD±RW drive. The Toshiba Qosmio F25 ($1, 999) has a greater range of AV ports, including a TV tuner. The Ferrari 4000 also comes with an impressively large and fast 100GB hard drive (5,400 rpm). Many of today's notebook hard drives, like the 80GB drive (4,200 rpm) found in the HP dv4000, are smaller and slower.

With hardware like the 1.8-GHz Turion 64 ML-34 processor, double the memory (1GB DDR RAM), and a faster hard drive, the Ferrari 4000 edged out the HP dv4000 on our SYSmark 2004 tests. The Ferrari 4000's terrific graphics chipset trounced the dv4000's integrated Intel chipset and helped the system achieve impressive gaming results. Battery life reached 3 hours 43 minutes, thanks mostly to the 71-Wh battery.

The Acer Ferrari 4000 has a great new look, and new hardware under the hood makes it purr. It's only a matter of time before Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick get their hands on one.

See the Acer Ferrari 4000, HP Pavilion dv4000, and Toshiba Qosmio F25-AV205 side by side in our comparison table.

Click here to see the benchmark test results

Acer goes from the brilliant red design of the Acer Ferrari 3000 to a more conservative—but just as sleek—black checkered design. It retains some of the cool-looking red streaks along the side and front edge of the notebook, and yes, the yellow prancing horse emblem still graces the center of the notebook. The cover is made from carbon fiber, which is stronger and lighter than aluminum. (Acer uses it only in its Ferrari line.) The interior of the Ferrari 4000 has a rubberized coating, perhaps emulating the look of Formula One tires. The keyboard has an ergonomic smile contour to it, which is okay for typing but takes a few minutes to get used to. The only real design complaint we have is that the mouse buttons are a bit noisy when pressed.

Though not as eye-popping as many of today's specially treated screens, such as the Editors' Choice-winning HP Pavilion dv4000's ($1429) BrightView screen, the Ferrari's 15.4-inch LCD is vivid enough for movie watching, even with the matte finish, thanks to its high resolution (1,680-by-1,050).

The 6.6-pound Ferrari 4000 comes with a good feature set, including four USB ports, a FireWire port, and a 5-in-1 card reader (MMC, MS, MS Pro, SD, XD). Video connections include both VGA and DVI-D ports. Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11g are included, as is a dual-layer DVD±RW drive. The Toshiba Qosmio F25 ($1, 999) has a greater range of AV ports, including a TV tuner. The Ferrari 4000 also comes with an impressively large and fast 100GB hard drive (5,400 rpm). Many of today's notebook hard drives, like the 80GB drive (4,200 rpm) found in the HP dv4000, are smaller and slower.

With hardware like the 1.8-GHz Turion 64 ML-34 processor, double the memory (1GB DDR RAM), and a faster hard drive, the Ferrari 4000 edged out the HP dv4000 on our SYSmark 2004 tests. The Ferrari 4000's terrific graphics chipset trounced the dv4000's integrated Intel chipset and helped the system achieve impressive gaming results. Battery life reached 3 hours 43 minutes, thanks mostly to the 71-Wh battery.

The Acer Ferrari 4000 has a great new look, and new hardware under the hood makes it purr. It's only a matter of time before Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick get their hands on one.

Source ; www.blogger.com

Acer Ferrari 3000

Acer adds a new shade to the familiar notebook colors of black, silver, titanium, gray, and silver-blue: Rosso Corso—Ferrari's racing red. Those who want a portable computer that stands out can do far worse than the Acer Ferrari 3000 with its bright red cover displaying a gold-and-black prancing stallion—a logo instantly familiar to fans of the Italian sports car.

The Ferrari 3000 pushes the boundaries of thin and light—it's 1.2 inches thick and, if you have to carry the transformer, 7.8 pounds. Leave the grounded 1.2-pound AC adapter at home, though, and your shoulder will regard the 6.6-pound PC as a relatively light burden. Still, at 13.0 by 10.7 inches (WD), this sportster is a little bulky, even for a system with a 15-inch screen.

The SXGA display and multiformat DVD-rewritable drive lay the groundwork for a fine multimedia notebook. The footwork, however, is up to you—the only significant piece of bundled software is an OEM edition of NTI CD & DVD Maker for ripping, adjusting, and burning CDs and DVDs. That leaves you with the task of downloading a free music player, like MusicMatch Jukebox, and installing your own imaging software. The minimalist bundle drops the system down in our multimedia ratings. The Ferrari 3000 is bursting with connectivity, though—Bluetooth, 802.11g, and 10/100 Ethernet.

The case provides some nice touches: four USB 2.0 ports, a single slot that can handle Memory Stick, Smart Media, and SD/MMC cards (you'll have to purchase an adapter, preferably a PC Card one, for Compact Flash), one Type II PC Card slot, and even an ID card holder on the bottom. The keyboard deck has Acer's signature happy-face look—QWERTY keys sculpted into a slight upward smile. To clean fingerprints off the case—and people will want to touch it—there's even a bright red microfiber polishing cloth.

The AMD mobile Athlon XP-M 2500 and 512MB of RAM provided quite good mainstream performance (as measured by Business Winstone 2004), especially for a system with SXGA graphics. (SXGA moves almost twice the number of pixels as XGA—1,470,000 versus 786,432, or 187 percent as many.) Multimedia performance was less stellar, however, and may have been adversely affected by the ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics. Battery life was so-so, at 1 hour 36 minutes for a 65-watt-hour, 0.9 pound battery. Wi-Fi throughput was good, showing little falloff up to a distance of 120 feet.

The textured silver-gray keyboard deck and bottom, small optical mouse (in matching red), and startup sound—a Ferrari Formula One engine roaring across the speakers from right to left—certainly don't dampen this system's unique character. Nor does the clearcoat sealer that protects the brilliant red livery and gives it the same sense of depth you'd see in the paint job on a $200,000 Ferrari.

Performance is adequate, but neither it nor battery life are up to the levels of systems built around Intel's best Pentium CPUs. At the same time, you won't find many other notebooks with rewriteable multiformat DVD drives for $1,900 street. And you won't find any others with that glorious Ferrari color and sound.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Ferrari 1100

The Ferrari series is the only one of Acer's laptop lines that favors design over price and performance. The use of carbon fiber on the lid, the sporty red colors, and the signature Ferrari logo are the details that drew fans to the Ferrari 5000 when Acer launched it. Then came the Ferrari 1000 series, a miniature version of the 5000, which had one serious feature flaw: Despite its 4.4-pound weight, it lacked a built-in optical drive. The Acer Ferrari 1100 ($1,860 street), though far from being the lightest ultraportable on the market, improves upon the 1000 by integrating a slot-loading DVD burner.

The Ferrari design is immediately distinguishable by the prancing stallion logo, yellow on black. Although the vibrant reds have been omitted, Acer did a great job of dressing up the lid, such as adding a touch of carbon fiber and a rubbery texture that feels like an auto tire along the edges. The 1100 is as thick as the Ferrari 5000, and its 4.4-pound frame is far too heavy compared with other ultraportables on the market. The 1100 basically took a plastic shell and fancied up the exterior to hide the laptop's bulkiness. By contrast, the Apple MacBook Air paid closer attention to the materials used and molded its aluminum alloy chassis into a cracker-thin design. Meanwhile, the Sony VAIO VGN-SZ791N took the same carbon fiber material used in the Ferrari, combined it with a magnesium alloy, and made its screen paper thin.

The Ferrari's12-inch screen is not LED-backlit, so it doesn't have some of the power-saving benefits as that of the MacBook Air, the Sony SZ791N, and the Fujitsu LifeBook P8010. On the other hand, it's fine for in-flight videos and photo editing. The keyboard is about the same size as the one on the Lenovo ThinkPad X61, but not nearly as comfortable. The mouse buttons, much like those on the ASUS U6, are nightmarishly rigid and difficult to use.

The integrated optical drive is a redeeming quality, considering that the previous version lacked one. This drive is a slot-loading DVD burner, similar to the one on the Dell XPS M1330 and the Apple MacBook 13-inch. It's a huge asset, even if you only want to watch DVD movies or install software on a business trip. The 1100 has the usual collection of ports: three USB, one FireWire, and one S-Video. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a wow factor, like the ASUS U6S's HDMI-out port or the MacBook Air's backlit keyboard. The closest such feature is its cavernous 250GB hard drive, which matches the capacity of the drive on the Sony SZ791N. Acer, like Apple and ASUS, is one of the few companies that doesn't offer a cellular modem. Broadband Internet access, via a cell-phone signal, is something all ultraportables should have as an option. The ones that offer it include the Sony SZ791N, the Lenovo X61, and the Dell M1330.

On paper, the standard-voltage AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-66 CPU, 4GB RAM, and discrete graphics look like they can pack a serious punch. Yet according to the SYSmark 2007 Overall scores, the Ferrari 1100 is only a shade faster than the Fujitsu P8010 and the Apple MacBook Air, which have low-powered parts. The Sony SZ791N's Intel Penryn processor beat out the 1100's 2.3-GHz AMD Turion by 22 percent, while the ASUS U6S—using Intel's previous-generation Merom processor—beat it out by 18 percent. That's not to say that the 1100 can't handle tasks like video encoding, Adobe Photoshop CS3, and light 3D rendering—it's simply not as fast as its Intel counterparts. Battery life is respectable at 3 hours 27 minutes, though not as long as that of either the Sony SZ791N (3:49) or the Fujitsu P8010 (5:05).

In terms of energy efficiency and environmental attributes, the Acer Ferrari 1100 is Energy Star 4.0-compliant, despite running a 2.3-GHz AMD processor. It hasn't filed for EPEAT certification, but Acer follows proper recycling methods and is eliminating hazardous materials from production. According to my own energy tests, it consumed 34 watts in idle mode.

The Acer Ferrari 1100 would be more attractive if its price ($1,860) wasn't higher than that of the more aesthetically pleasing Apple MacBook Air ($1,799) or the ASUS U6S ($1,699). For those who passed on the first-edition Ferrari ultraportable because it lacked an optical drive, the 1100 now has one built in. But in a world consumed by miniaturization, it will have to shave off a bit of weight and improve its performance scores for it to compete with thoroughbreds like the Sony SZ791N, the Dell XPS M1330, and the Lenovo X61.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Ferrari 1000 Series

The Acer Ferrari 4000 Series is destined to become a popular laptop, with its celebrated Ferrari emblem and race-car design. It's a bit big for frequent travelers, though, and in order for Acer's Ferrari notebooks to count as a full line, there had to be another system. Just like Batman had Robin, the Ferrari 4000 now has a sidekick, and the new guy's got mobility in mind. The ultraportable Acer Ferrari 1000 Series ($1,999 list) gives new meaning to the term "carry-on," as it weighs a scant 3.5 pounds. It's also got a pretty fast engine, which we tech geeks refer to as an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor.
From a distance, the Ferrari 1000 Series looks just like the Ferrari 4000: It has the same carbon fiber design, with red streaks running along the sides and Ferrari's signature stallion emblem. But as you move closer, you realize the Ferrari 1000 has been playing tricks on your eyes. At 11.7 by 8.7 by 1.4 inches (HWD), it's approximately half the size of the 6.6-pound Ferrari 4000, small enough so that the chassis actually leaves some wiggle room in your backpack.

Part of that magic is a result of the Ferrari 1000's smaller screen. It uses a brightly lit 12.1-inch widescreen (compared with the 4000 Series' 15.4-inch display)—great for watching movies on the go. The keyboard is full-size and fairly pleasing for touch typists and those who aren't (like, say, me). The mouse buttons below the touchpad are comfortably large, with "Ferrari 1000" emblazoned across the top. They complement the responsive touchpad well, though I could've done without the discernable clicking noises.

The system is built like the TravelMate 3002WTCi—Acer's business ultraportable—and like the 3002WTCi, it doesn't have a built-in optical drive. Given the Ferrari 1000's size, I feel it could've integrated one (other similarly sized ultraportables, such as the Sony VAIO SZ Series, manage to fit in an optical drive). Instead, you get a flashy external (FireWire) dual-layer DVD burner, decked out with a similar Ferrari design. I liked the addition of a 1.3-megapixel webcam on top of the screen. It rotates 360 degrees so you can type and do your own webcasting without turning the notebook around. And to feed the growing popularity of Skype and VoIP services, Acer includes a Bluetooth-enabled VoIP phone in the shape of a PC card. It both charges through and fits snuggly into your PC Card slot when you're not using it. Though that's certainly an intriguing design idea, the execution is less than ideal. The card doesn't work very well, and it actually feels hot when you pull it out of the card slot.

The Ferrari 1000 carries three USB ports. It also has a six-pin FireWire port, instead of the traditional four-pin type associated with camcorders. (If you need the four-pin connection, you can buy the appropriate FireWire cable at your local Radio Shack.) It also has integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; the Bluetooth came in real handy when I had to pull some pictures off my Bluetooth-enabled phone. But the Ferrari 1000's most impressive feature has to be the 160GB hard drive—it's the largest I've seen on an ultraportable.

Acer elected to go with a 1.8-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 processor. The dual-core X2 is AMD's answer to Intel's Core Duo processor; the company has yet to come up with a match for the newly released Intel Core 2 Duos. The notebook's SYSmark 2004 SE performance scores were in line with those of the Dell Inspiron E1505, which houses a slightly slower, 1.6-GHz Intel Core Duo T2300. Still, the Ferrari 1000 completed our Adobe Photoshop and video encoding tests to my satisfaction (at 2 minutes 18 seconds and 8:46, respectively), albeit a bit slower than a similarly clocked Intel Core Duo-equipped system.

For graphics, the Ferrari 1000 uses the ATI Mobility Radeon 1150, which shares 256MB of video memory with the system's 1GB RAM. Two batteries come standard, and you'll need both, as the 22-Wh (3-cell) standard battery lasted only a miserable 1 hour 20 minutes on MobileMark 2005 tests. The 58-Wh extended battery fared much better, at 3:07.

If you're a big fan of Acer's Ferrari notebooks, the new Acer Ferrari 1000 Series offers a much smaller alternative to the Ferrari 4000 Series. It's small enough to be included in your travel plans, does a good job of representing the Ferrari brand, and even has the horsepower to match.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer TravelMate 290LMi

The Acer TravelMate 290LMi is a desktop replacement notebook that you can actually take with you. At 6.3 pounds, it ties with the IBM ThinkPad R40 as the lightest system we reviewed. The system also boasts outstanding battery life, thanks in part to its Pentium M processor.

Aimed more at business-oriented consumers, not gamers or graphic artists, the TravelMate did well on Business Winstone yet was below average on Multimedia Content Creation Winstone and 3DMark03. The TravelMate sports a DVD-RW drive, which is a handy feature, though we think a multiformat DVD burner is ideal—seen here only on the Toshiba system. The TravelMate's main drawback mobility-wise is its weak wireless performance; for your multimedia needs look to systems from HP and Toshiba.

MULTIMEDIA

Music:
The bundled NTI CD & DVD Maker lets you create audio, data, and photo CDs along with DVDs, but to activate features that support burning CDs from MP3 and WMA files you have to visit NTI's Web site. The speaker sound is a bit dull and muddy.

Photos:
You might want to splurge for a dedicated graphics-editing program like Adobe Photoshop Elements, since the TravelMate comes bundled with only Microsoft Paint.

Video:
There is an S-video TV-out interface on the back of the unit, as well as a FireWire port, which every notebook here has. The DVD-RW drive makes up for the smallish 40GB hard drive, which offers limited space for storing raw video.

Gaming:
The TravelMate's integrated graphics chip wasn't made to support an intense gaming habit, and its subpar scores on our gaming tests prove this. The 15-inch XGA screen isn't exactly a gamer's dream, either.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Aspire One (10-inch)

By late last year, the Acer Aspire One had beat out ASUS's combined offerings to become the top-selling netbook—or so market research firm DisplaySearch concluded. The One's primacy has been confirmed by Amazon.com—which ranked it as its best seller over the Christmas holiday—as well as other sites that monitor laptop sales. The One reached this pinnacle despite a smaller-than-average (8.9-inch) screen and a pair of awkwardly placed mouse buttons, because it was (and still is) the most aggressively priced netbook around. The Acer Aspire One (10-inch) ($350 street) is the long-overdue update, and as its name implies, the screen size has finally caught up with its 10-inch peers. The mouse buttons, furthermore, have been relocated to their correct positions—beneath the touchpad. It's not the best-equipped netbook, now that the ASUS EeePC 1000HE has landed. But that shouldn't affect the One's blistering sales pace, because Acer addresses the most crucial part of a netbook: price.
Design isn't one of the One's strengths. The glossy top and a touch of sapphire blue won't contend with the metallic likes of the HP Mini 2140 and the ASUS EeePC 1002HA. The new One is as thick as its predecessor (9.8 by 6.7 by 1.1 inches) but longer and wider, measuring 10.3 by 7.4 by 1.1 inches because of its bigger screen. The Samsung NC10-14GB (10.3 by 7.3 by 1 inches) and the ASUS EeePC 1000HE (10.3 by 7.3 by 1.1 inches) have similar dimensions to those of the One (10-inch), while the HP Mini 1000 (10.3 by 6.6 by 0.9 inches) is one of the thinnest of the 10-inch netbooks. If you factor in the 58-Wh battery (six-cell), which sticks out about an extra inch from the back, the One spans deeper than 7.4 inches. The 1000HE does a better job of masking this gawky side effect by designing the frame around the extended battery.

By increasing the screen size (from 8.9 to 10 inches) and standardizing on a six-cell battery (instead of a three-cell), the One has gained weight: It now weighs 2.9 pounds, so it is no longer the lightest in its class. It weighs as much as the Samsung NC10-14GB, but it's still not as heavy as the ASUS 1000HE (3.2 pounds). Practically every netbook has transitioned to a 10-inch widescreen, so the One has basically caught up with the times. And like almost every other netbook, it has a resolution of 1,024 by 600. (Among the few exceptions: HP is purportedly offering a 1,366-by-768 option in its Mini 2140, and the Dell Inspiron Mini 12—a 12-inch netbook—has a 1,280-by-800 resolution.)

Another reason the One's depth has increased is the relocated mouse buttons. Rather than placing them on each side of the touchpad, where they are on the original One, they are now below the pad. Still, the buttons are tiny and difficult to press; I had a bit of thumb strain after spending only about 15 minutes navigating with them. The 1000HE, on the other hand, has its mouse buttons wrapped around the bezel, widening the pinch between your thumb and index finger when you're surfing. The One's keyboard, at 89 percent of full size, hasn't yet caught up with those of its peers; it feels cramped, even compared with the 92 percent ones of the ASUS 1000HE, the HP 2140, and the MSI Wind. (Samsung takes it up a smidge by offering a 93 percent keyboard with its NC10-14GB.) In summary, the One's typing and navigating experience can still use a lot of work.

Not much has changed in features. Like its predecessor, the One (10-inch) has three USB ports, VGA-out, an Ethernet port, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and a 4-in-1 card reader. The One (10-inch) has gotten rid of the extra SD card slot (for storage expansion), since the 160GB hard drive is spacious enough for most file types. No other netbook offers more hard drive capacity, some even have less. The 1000HE has a couple of extras, such as overclocking features and 802.11n support, while netbooks like the HP 2140 and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 have ExpressCard slots. Given that the original One offers built-in mobile broadband, the One (10-inch) is likely to have this feature soon.

There's really no such thing as raw horsepower in a netbook. However, the One (10-inch) didn't perform worse than any other netbook, given that it uses the same components—a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of memory, and Intel integrated graphics. The 1000HE is the first netbook to use a newer N280 Atom processor and a new memory controller (front-side bus), but these upgrades didn't give much of a performance edge, either.

Battery life was somewhat of a conundrum, in a fantastic, home-run-hit sort of way. The six-cell battery capacity (59 Wh) is less than that of the 1000HE (63Wh), but it somehow produced 8 hours 46 minutes of battery life, when netbooks with similar battery capacities are getting around 6 hours and change. The One (10-inch) seemed to conserve power better than any of the other netbooks, and I even ran MobileMark 2007, a battery test, several times as a sanity check. I'd still like to hear what other users are getting with their six-cell batteries, though.

Editor's Note: We just got word from Acer that there's a shortage of the 63WH battery, so the miraculous 8 hours of battery life can only be experienced by a select few. The actual battery will be rated at 45WH, which is still a 6-cell but you won't get anywhere near 8 hours.

At this price point, the updated Aspire One (10-inch) proves that Acer is still the master of the netbook recession special. Although the 10-inch widescreen and rearranged mouse buttons were more necessities than innovation, the price that goes with these updates, not to mention the phenomenal battery life, is better than those of its peers, and it is what makes the One so special. If you worry that the inferior typing and navigating experience could be a deal breaker, spend $50 more for the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the current Editors' Choice for netbooks.

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By increasing the screen size (from 8.9 to 10 inches) and standardizing on a six-cell battery (instead of a three-cell), the One has gained weight: It now weighs 2.9 pounds, so it is no longer the lightest in its class. It weighs as much as the Samsung NC10-14GB, but it's still not as heavy as the ASUS 1000HE (3.2 pounds). Practically every netbook has transitioned to a 10-inch widescreen, so the One has basically caught up with the times. And like almost every other netbook, it has a resolution of 1,024 by 600. (Among the few exceptions: HP is purportedly offering a 1,366-by-768 option in its Mini 2140, and the Dell Inspiron Mini 12—a 12-inch netbook—has a 1,280-by-800 resolution.)

Another reason the One's depth has increased is the relocated mouse buttons. Rather than placing them on each side of the touchpad, where they are on the original One, they are now below the pad. Still, the buttons are tiny and difficult to press; I had a bit of thumb strain after spending only about 15 minutes navigating with them. The 1000HE, on the other hand, has its mouse buttons wrapped around the bezel, widening the pinch between your thumb and index finger when you're surfing. The One's keyboard, at 89 percent of full size, hasn't yet caught up with those of its peers; it feels cramped, even compared with the 92 percent ones of the ASUS 1000HE, the HP 2140, and the MSI Wind. (Samsung takes it up a smidge by offering a 93 percent keyboard with its NC10-14GB.) In summary, the One's typing and navigating experience can still use a lot of work.

Not much has changed in features. Like its predecessor, the One (10-inch) has three USB ports, VGA-out, an Ethernet port, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and a 4-in-1 card reader. The One (10-inch) has gotten rid of the extra SD card slot (for storage expansion), since the 160GB hard drive is spacious enough for most file types. No other netbook offers more hard drive capacity, some even have less. The 1000HE has a couple of extras, such as overclocking features and 802.11n support, while netbooks like the HP 2140 and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 have ExpressCard slots. Given that the original One offers built-in mobile broadband, the One (10-inch) is likely to have this feature soon.

There's really no such thing as raw horsepower in a netbook. However, the One (10-inch) didn't perform worse than any other netbook, given that it uses the same components—a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of memory, and Intel integrated graphics. The 1000HE is the first netbook to use a newer N280 Atom processor and a new memory controller (front-side bus), but these upgrades didn't give much of a performance edge, either.

Battery life was somewhat of a conundrum, in a fantastic, home-run-hit sort of way. The six-cell battery capacity (59 Wh) is less than that of the 1000HE (63Wh), but it somehow produced 8 hours 46 minutes of battery life, when netbooks with similar battery capacities are getting around 6 hours and change. The One (10-inch) seemed to conserve power better than any of the other netbooks, and I even ran MobileMark 2007, a battery test, several times as a sanity check. I'd still like to hear what other users are getting with their six-cell batteries, though.

Editor's Note: We just got word from Acer that there's a shortage of the 63WH battery, so the miraculous 8 hours of battery life can only be experienced by a select few. The actual battery will be rated at 45WH, which is still a 6-cell but you won't get anywhere near 8 hours.

At this price point, the updated Aspire One (10-inch) proves that Acer is still the master of the netbook recession special. Although the 10-inch widescreen and rearranged mouse buttons were more necessities than innovation, the price that goes with these updates, not to mention the phenomenal battery life, is better than those of its peers, and it is what makes the One so special. If you worry that the inferior typing and navigating experience could be a deal breaker, spend $50 more for the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the current Editors' Choice for netbooks.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Aspire 8920G

Just when you thought Acer couldn't come up with another beastly laptop, the Aspire 8920G "Gemstone Blue" series emerges to wow high-definition aficionados. The Aspire 9805WKHi—Acer's first effort at a wow! laptop—had a glamorous 20-inch screen but weighed a backbreaking 17 pounds. The Aspire 8920G ($2,600 street) finds the sweet spot by putting an 18.4-inch widescreen on a system that, at 8.8 pounds, weighs as much as some 17-inch models, like the Dell Inspiron 1720, do. Though still bulky, it doesn't seem like a nightmare to lug around. Altogether, the 8920G is a nice, albeit expensive, Blu-ray–equipped media center that delivers 1080p content.

Apart from the Ferrari series, Acer's design tastes have been questionable. The "Gemstone Blue" look sounds fantastic in the press release, but all you're really getting is a dark-blue lid with a glossy treatment. You can just about detect the sparkly material underneath the gloss, which, unfortunately, doesn't hide the smudges and scratches you'll see over time. Hoping that old-school, solid colors will appease consumers is an approach similar to that found in the Gateway M-152XL. Designs like the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch, the Dell XPS M1530, and the HP Pavilion dv9500t are leaders in the field of attention grabbers.

Though the interior could use a little work in terms of aesthetics, the navigational and typing experience worked in its favor. As in the HP Pavilion HDX-9000 (Penryn), the width of the laptop allowed Acer to put in a superb full-size keyboard, a numeric keypad, and a media control pad. The "CineTouch" controls, as Acer calls them, are laid out in a unique manner to the left of the keyboard such that the touch-sensitive playback controls, the volume bar, and multimedia buttons spiral in different directions.

These extremely responsive buttons worked really well with Acer's Arcade Deluxe, a complete multimedia software suite that incorporates Blu-ray software. By contrast, the HP HDX-9000 has a removable media remote that's similar to a TV remote. The palm rest area, touchpad, and mouse buttons are covered with a silver weave–like material made of plastic, which is very comfortable but clashes with the black keyboard.

The 8920G's sensational 5.1 built-in speaker system has the oomph of a small movie theater. Two of the five speakers are above the keyboard, the rest along the bezel. The 10-watt subwoofer at the base of the system yields an outstanding surround-sound home theater experience.

But even more underwhelming than the design is the feature set. For a monstrous media center like the 8920G, I expected a lot more. Thankfully, it does come with an HDMI port in case you want to connect this laptop to a larger display. The four USB ports, 5-in-1 card reader (MMC, SD, xD, MS, MS Pro), and ExpressCard slot are standard for a media center. However, the lack of a FireWire port and S-Video-out are glaring omissions and rare among comparable systems. The 8920G would have been a good candidate for an integrated ATSC (HD) tuner, like the one on the HP HDX-9000 (Penryn). A 320GB hard drive wouldn't be so average if less expensive systems like the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6845 weren't putting in 400GB drives, and I wouldn't have dinged its storage capacity if the 8920G came with an e-SATA port. The one feature that stands out—and a substantial part of the reason why the system costs so much—is the integrated BD-RE drive (that is, Blu-ray burner). It plays back the latest Blu-ray titles, burns data to (still exorbitant) Blu-ray media blanks, and doubles as a dual-layer DVD burner.

The 8920G's biggest asset is its 18.4-inch widescreen. It's the first laptop ever to launch with such a form factor, which is surprising given that every other screen size has been covered. Among the larger sizes, 17-inch laptops are the most common. I've reviewed the Voodoo Envy u:909 with a 19-inch widescreen, and both the Dell XPS M2010 and the HP Pavilion HDX-9000 (Penryn) have 20-inch widescreens.

In my opinion, the 18.4-inch widescreen is a smart compromise between screen size and system weight—you wouldn't believe how much an extra inch of screen real estate adds to your viewing pleasure. As with HDTVs, the 8920G's aspect ratio is 16:9. Its resolution is 1,920-by-1,080, or precisely 1080p. Acer claims that the color gamut is a full third richer than that of conventional laptops. Although the colors did appear richer when I played a series of Blu-ray movie trailers, 1080p, to me, is 1080p, whether it's a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution or the conventional 1,920-by-1,200 one. While watching Fifth Element on Blu-ray, the image looked absolutely stunning on the 8920G. It was completely free of any artifacts and stuttering, and it worked masterfully with the built-in "CineTouch" controls.

This laptop also comes with the latest Intel "Penryn" injection, the 2.6-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9500—one of the most upper-tier processors currently available. The 8920G sports a whopping 4GB of RAM, though 32-bit Windows Vista Ultimate can take advantage of only 3GB. The combination of the processor and memory produced performance scores comparable with those of the Gateway P-171XL FX—a hard-core gaming laptop. The 8920G's SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score came within 3 percent of the Gateway P-171XL FX's, with its 2.8-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme X7900 CPU. Two of its other peers—the HP HDX-9000 (Penryn) and the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Penryn)—lagged behind by at least 20 percent on the SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score. Its video-encoding score topped the competition at 1 minute 3 seconds, while its CineBench R10 score came in second to that of the Gateway, at 5,361.

The 8920G is also equipped with a formidable graphics card. Although gaming scores weren't as impressive as those of the HP HDX and the Gateway, actual game play with industry-leading titles like Crysis and World in Conflict was smooth and lag-free as long as the resolution was kept low. Having an nVidia graphics card also benefits your Blu-ray experience, as its "PureVideo" engine (nVidia's decoding technology) is partly responsible for the smooth and stutter-free playback. Battery life was about the only performance area that didn't fare well, and this was understandable, given the fast components. The 1 hour 45 minutes tallied on MobileMark 2007 tests was sub-par. A bigger battery than the included 71-Wh unit could have pushed battery life into the 2-hour range.

If the Acer Aspire 8920G were playing a Blu-ray title at your local computer retailer, you'd be floored by the unprecedented 18.4-inch screen and amazing color detail. It's unique to the market, and it offers some of the best performance parts money can buy. Given the Aspire 8920G's high price tag, however, Acer could have developed a better feature set and paid more attention to style, because in this day and age, a complete package is an absolute must. But if all you care about is a great cinematic experience and future-proofed performance parts, the Gemstone passes these two areas with flying colors.

Source : http://www.blogger.com/

Acer Aspire 5920G

Acer knows how to fight a price war when it comes to selling laptops, but its knack for designs hasn't been as memorable as some of its competition's. The only exception is the head-turning Ferrari series, highlighted by a carbon-fiber frame and racing-style red streaks. Now that PC makers are focusing more attention on design, the Ferrari line alone isn't enough to draw in the hipper crowd. But Acer is hoping to change all that with its Gemstone series, otherwise known as the Acer Aspire 5920G ($1,999 list). Aside from the sleeker look, the system integrates an HD DVD-ROM drive and 5.1 Dolby surround sound, and offers a bunch of other entertainment features at a price few can pull off.

The Gemstone design is a far cry from the metallic silver-green models that Acer is used to putting out. Its outer lid, for example, is topped off with a piano-black finish that isn't impervious to fingerprints but can fend off a scratch or two. The technique resembles the in-mold decoration process made popular by recent HP Pavilion models such as the dv9500T, as well as the Gateway T-140X, where a graphical overlay is embedded underneath a plastic finish. The Aspire 5920G lacks the sequence of line patterns found on the HP and Gateway laptops, but its oval-shaped frame, or what Acer calls its "Opalesque contours," is distinctive.

The keyboard reminds me of something out of the movie Tron. A string of LED lights begins above the keyboard, circles the power button, and extends down to the playback control keys on the laptop's right-hand side. The keyboard and the area surrounding it are an eyeful, accented by about 11 media keys. The playback buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, FFWD, RWD) are touch-sensitive, whereas the four application keys on the left-hand side of the keyboard are regular press buttons. (I'm not sure why Acer didn't make all the media keys touch-sensitive.) The keyboard is a bit mushy and isn't as responsive as the one found on the Dell Inspiron 1720. I can also do without the loud clicking that the mouse buttons make.

The Aspire 5920G offers decent home theater viewing once you ditch the bundled HD DVD playback software and get past the resolution. Its CrystalBrite 15.4-inch widescreen is the minimum size you should get for a good HD experience. The 17-inch screens on the HP Pavilion dv9500t and the Sony VAIO VGN-AR590E are ideal for viewing HD content on a laptop. The 5920G comes with a 1,280-by-800 resolution, which is generic but still serves up a 720p experience. A 1,440-by-900 or a 1,680-by-1,050 resolution would have generated a sharper picture and more color detail. But it's one of the few media laptops at its price that come with an HD DVD-ROM. You can play back all the latest HD DVD titles and burn DVDs (both single- and dual-layer) and CDs. The system also comes with an HDMI-Out port in case you want to hook it up to a bigger screen.

On the top of the screen, you'll find one of the sharpest webcams in the business. The 1.3-megapixel (VGA) resolution and picture quality are very close to that of the webcam on the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700), and the dual array microphones will pick up every word that comes out of your mouth. The 5920G has an impressive set of speakers, with both a subwoofer and support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound that enhances video and music playback.

Acer includes a comprehensive bundled media software package in the Arcade Deluxe. The DV wizard lets you capture video directly from your camcorder or from the webcam. VideoMagician sorts and organizes all your media content, similar to what Windows Media Center does. The only thing that it doesn't do well is play back HD DVD content. (It isn't clear what manufacturer helped develop the video player.) Scenes from various HD DVD titles were choppy and fell victim to the stuttering effect. A couple of times, the software even crashed during the movie. I think Acer just needs to update the software with a patch. On the bright side, installing a copy of CyberLink's PowerDVD 7.2 Ultra fixes all of these problems. If you want a complete and glitch-free HD experience, though, the HP Pavilion dv9500t is my pick of the crop.

The Aspire 5920G uses Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform, which includes a 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, 2GB of RAM, and rides on the 800-MHz front-side bus. These are the same components found on the Sony VAIO VGN-AR590E. Unfortunately, the 5920G could not complete BAPCo's SYSmark 2007 Preview benchmark tests. But on Adobe Photoshop scripts, it finished ahead of the Dell 1720 and HP dv9500t, taking 1 minute 7 seconds. In video encoding tests, it beat out the Sony laptop but fell behind the Dell and HP. Most laptops with built-in HD drives include discrete graphics. The 5920G uses the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT, which is not only great for 3D gaming, but its PureVideo engine is also the world's first video processor that offloads 100 percent of the video-encoding work from the CPU, enabling smoother HD DVD playback (provided you're running the correct playback software, that is).

With all that power running underneath its hood, the 5920G fares pretty well against the competition on battery life. It scored 3 hours 21 minutes on MobileMark 2007 , beating the HP dv9500t by 11 minutes and the Gateway M-150X by over an hour.

It's not often that Acer gets to combine an aesthetically pleasing design with good processing speed and affordable pricing. I'm inclined to say that between its Gemstone and Ferrari series, the Ferrari series is still the better-looking one. But for $1,999, the Acer Aspire 5920G is a formidable media center, complete with an HD DVD-ROM drive and Dolby 5.1 surround sound. You might want to purchase a copy of CyberLink's PowerDVD Ultra before leaving the store, though.

Source : /www.blogger.com

Acer Aspire 4710-2013

Acer is locked and loaded for the holidays—it plans to stock retailers with a series of laptops priced under $600. The Acer Aspire 4710-2013 ($600 street) may not be as cheap as the ASUS Eee PC 4G ($399), but with it you get a Windows operating system and good-enough processing parts. All in all, you might just be convinced to bypass the Dells and HPs and lay down $600 for this laptop

Now, there are other value laptops, such as the $1,099 Dell Inspiron 1420 and $830 Sony VAIO VGN-NR160, that will give you enough bang for the buck. When you get down to the dirt-cheap ($600) price point, though, you begin to worry about the machines' shortcomings. Cheap laptops are usually synonymous with heft and ugly designs. The Aspire 4710-2013, happily, is an exception. The 5.5-pound frame is as light as it is attractive, and the design somewhat belies the price. Both the Inspiron 1420 and the VGN-NR160E weigh closer to 6 pounds, though their makers put more thought into their designs. Think of the Aspire 4710-2013 as a smaller version of Acer's Aspire 5920G Gemstone series. Its cover design may not be as fancy, but its round edges and overall look make it seem less bland and boxy than the usual bargain laptop.

This Aspire's interior, around the keyboard and touchpad area, is off-white, similar to the Aspire 5920G. It doesn't have as many LED effects as the 5920G, but you do get a design that's pleasant to look at. Its full-size keyboard could use a little more resistance beneath the keys. The mouse buttons and touch buttons are responsive. If the keyboard is really important to you, the best typing experience on a budget laptop belongs to the Dell Inspiron 1420. The 14-inch screen on the Aspire 4710-2013 is as glossy and bright as that on the Dell 1420. If you'd rather look at a bigger screen, the VGN-NR160E's 15.4-inch XBrite screen is just as sharp.

For $600, you don't get features like an integrated webcam or Bluetooth capability, but you do get four USB ports, a FireWire port, and a multiformat card reader. You rarely find anything less than a DVD burner these days; the Aspire 4710-2013 gives you that and dual-layer (DVD) burn capabilities to boot. Its 120GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive is pretty standard in the budget laptop space. The speakers sound better than you would expect on a $600 laptop; they are loud and clear. (That's more than you can say even for many laptops that cost considerably more.) You also get essentials such as the VGA, Ethernet, and modem ports. Like all Acer laptops, the Aspire 4710-2013 has an SPDIF port that connects to external speakers. It's a solid feature set for the price.

The Aspire 4710-2013's components are what I call "last year's technology." It doesn't use the newer Intel processors or the latest chipset and wireless technologies, but Acer does include a 1.74-GHz Intel Core Duo T2080, a dual-core processor that can handle Windows Vista Home Premium. Unfortunately, the 1GB of RAM might slow things down in the long run (we usually recommend 2GB, especially in a laptop with integrated graphics). It's relatively simple to upgrade the RAM on your own; you can purchase an extra 1GB stick for less than 40 bucks at any online computer retailer.

SYSmark 2007 Preview overall scores, as expected, favored the Dell 1420 by 25 percent. When you look at the entire picture, the 25 percent discrepancy is not that bad for a $600 laptop (especially considering the Inspiron 1420's $1,099 price tag); neither is the 2 minutes 7 seconds it scored on video-encoding tests and the 2:19 it scored on Photoshop tests. Basically, you can encode video and audio and edit photos just fine on this machine. Its 44-Whr battery is almost half the capacity of the Dell 1420's 85-Whr battery. It delivered 2 hours 21 minutes on MobileMark 2007 tests, which is just average for a budget laptop.

Acer uses older but still-capable Intel technology in the Aspire 4710-2013 to reduce its manufacturing costs. The result is a good-looking, decent-performing laptop for just $600. The only thing I would recommend is adding an extra stick of RAM on your own to counter the demands of Windows Vista Home Premium. Stop by your local Wal-Mart and give this laptop a whirl.

Source : www.blogger.com

Acer Aspire 2020

Pentium M chips have found their place in multimedia notebook PCs, and Acer is taking full advantage of that with the Acer Aspire 2020. The system comes with the exceptional Intel Pentium M 745 (1.8-GHz), which packs plenty of performance and terrific battery life for a multimedia powerhouse. Two unexpected bonuses: The system weight (6.7 pounds) is reasonably light, and the design is an aesthetic crowd pleaser.

You can almost see your reflection in the Aspire 2020's silver aluminum casing. The large chassis needed to house the 15.4-inch TFT display leaves room for a full-size keyboard with a respectable pair of speakers on each side. Below the keyboard, you'll find digital-display and multimedia-function keys, which launch and control Acer's multimedia software suite. The Aspire Arcade utility will play your music MP3s and CDs without you having to boot up your system, or at least Acer says it will. On our test unit, it didn't work until we turned the system on.

The Aspire 2020's performance on our tests was impressive, starting with a rousing 22.0 score on Business Winstone 2004 and a 24.2 on Multimedia Content Creation 2004. Both these scores beat out the HP Pavilion zd7000, which carries an Intel Pentium 4 3.2-GHz processor and 1GB of DDR RAM. Even more remarkable is the 4 hours 21 minutes that the 2020 delivered on our BatteryMark tests. Thank the miserly Pentium M CPU for that; other portables in this class that use desktop CPUs manage only 2 hours or so.

The Aspire 2020 is also very capable of running games, thanks to the Mobility ATI Radeon 9700 GPU with 128MB RAM. The system's 802.11g wireless scores were adequate at both short (19.8Mbps) and long range (1.4Mbps). Most of the connectivity options are in the back: FireWire, VGA, S-Video, parallel, and three USB ports; Ethernet; and a modem. A multiformat DVDRW burner (that can also handle DVD-RAM media) is a plus, as is the 4-in-1 card reader (SD, MultimediaCard, MS, SM). Two LED buttons easily enable and disable Bluetooth and 802.11g wireless.

Other systems in the 15.4-inch display arena, the HP Pavilion zx5000 ($1,502) and the Sony VAIO VGN-A190 ($2,799), have brighter and higher contrast screens (BrightView and Xbrite, respectively) than the 2020. The Toshiba P25-S670 ($2,699), our current Editor's Choice among multimedia portables, offers a wider array of features (such as component-video out) and a bigger (17-inch) screen. But overall, the Acer Aspire 2020 combines the best of all worlds: manageable size, raw performance, and good multimedia support.

Source : http://www.pcmag.com/

Acer Aspire 1712 Notebook

By definition, the Acer Aspire 1712 is a notebook, but it's not the kind people would commute with. This 14-pound transportable is designed for people who want full desktop power and parts but in a portable—okay, semiportable—package. Acer fills this need—and does it for an impressively low price.

To keep the price down, Acer includes a regular 17-inch (not widescreen) LCD panel designed for desktops. Most notebooks today use mobile TFTs to save weight and power, but desktop LCDs are engineered to be brighter. The resolution maxes out at 1,280-by-1,024.

The Acer 1712 comes with a full-size keyboard, number pad, and touch pad, as well as DVD controls (Volume, Fwd, Rew, Stop, Play), just below the palm rest area. They're nice to have, but the heals of our hands constantly brushed up against them while we typed—a slight annoyance. Having the volume control nearby came in handy when we watched a DVD, although the noise of the three fans that cool this behemoth competed with our audio.

Like a desktop PC, most of the connection ports are located in the back: VGA, S-video, legacy ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Modem, and a PS2 mouse port. You will also find two USB ports in the back and 2 more on the side, as well as 4- and 6-pin Firewire ports. You have your choice of removable storage: There's a 4-in-1 card reader (SD, SM, MS, MMC) and, next to that, a separate CF card reader.

Preloaded with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB 7,200rpm hard drive, and an Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz processor with Hyper-Threading, performance did not disappoint. As seen from our Multimedia Content Creation Winstone score (26.3), the system does really well with processor-intensive multimedia applications such as video encoding and digital media. And while Business Winstone scores were very respectable at 20.1, battery life reached only 1 hour 31 minutes—not a big deal, considering most users would keep this large system stationary. On the gaming front, 3DMark 2003 scores held their own, with 1,900 at 1,024-by-768; our Serious Sam Demo did just as well, scoring 79.3fps at 1,024-by-768. Wireless throughput proved impressive at close range (20.1Mbps) and long range (5.1 Mbps).

If you're looking for desktop performance and features in a notebook, but want one that's lighter than the Aspire 1712, look at the Dell Inspiron 9100 (a gaming system) or the HP zd7000 (a multimedia system). Both notebooks weigh just less than 10 pounds and are packed with features—but also cost $1,000 more than the Acer.

This is where Acer has the competition beat. For less than $2,000, the Aspire 1712 offers the best bang for the buck, hands down.

Source : http://www.pcmag.com

Apple iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 20" Desktop

Reviewed by: qnguyenca

Updated:12-29-08

Duration of ownership:4 Months

Strengths: Display, can't-beat interface, build quality, ease of use

Weaknesses: Expensive relative to comparable PCs

Overall Evaluation: This is my first Apple computer since my Apple II+ in 1980. Apple's intuitive OS and interface can't be beat, everything is plug-and-play, and the display is impressive. The machine is fast enough for photo editing and rarely freezes/crashes. As always, Apple delivers with its innovative and beautiful packaging and design. Apple products just make you "feel good" unlike most any other manufacturer's products.

Apple iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 24" Desktop

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$100 Rebate

Amount:$100
Manufacturer: Apple
Product: iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 24" Desktop
Rebate Description: Rebate submission must be postmarked within 30 days of purchase date. Offer available on purchase from PC Connection, MacConnection or GovConnection only. Product must be purchased at advertised price to qualify. To receive rebate, you must submit completed rebate form accompanied by a clean, clear copy of your proof of purchase clearly indicating full retail price paid, and the original UPC symbol cut from the Apple product packaging including the numbers printed below the bar code. With questions, or to check the status of your rebate, visit www.rebate-zone.com/promotions or call 1-866-301-3713.
Expiration Date: 2009-04-30
Restrictions: Limit 1 per product per person, per address, per household

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Equipped with powerful desktop processors, big high-res screens, beefy graphics chips, and plenty of memory, the best gaming laptops let you play any game on the go.

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Editors' Rating What the Numbers Mean We rate products on a scale of 1 to 10. Here\'s an overview of what the ratings mean. 8 to 10: Excellent These products are at the very top of their class and have few or no flaws. 6 to 7 Very Good These products are above average in almost every meaningful measure. While they may have a few minor faults, their strengths outweigh their weaknesses. 5 to 6 Mediocre These products are below average. They are functional but may have major deficiencies. 3 to 4 Inferior These products are seriously flawed and typically are not worthy of consideration. 1 to 2 Wholly Deficient These products do not work.','', 300)" onmouseout="hideddrivetip()"> 7.8 Pros Boots quickly; has HDMI port, touch-sensitive media controls; vertical and horizontal scroll strips; provides access to media and presentations without booting Windows; lots of case design options Cons Noisy optical drive; integrated graphics can't be upgraded; keyboard keys a bit shallow; glossy screen produces excessive glare Editors' Take Though no friend to gamers, the Dell Inspiron 1525 offers mainstream users a good mix of style and portability.

Key Specs

Processor: 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 Memory: 2GB DDR2 Storage: 120GB hard drive Optical Drives: Double-layer DVD±RW Display: 15.4-inch TFT Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA X3100 Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

Review

Reviewed by: Rick Broida Review Date: January 2008

The Inspiron 1525 improves on its predecessor, the popular Inspiron 1520, in almost every way. It shaves off a few ounces and inches, adds worthwhile new features, and puts more power under the hood, all while keeping the price below $1,000. Actually, the new Inspiron starts at just $499, but our review configuration pushed the price to $974. However you trick out this notebook, you're sure to be pleased by its travel-friendly dimensions, stylish design options, and nifty extras. Gamers, however, will definitely be disappointed with its sluggish integrated graphics.

HP w2558hc

Editors' Rating What the Numbers Mean We rate products on a scale of 1 to 10. Here\'s an overview of what the ratings mean. 8 to 10: Excellent These products are at the very top of their class and have few or no flaws. 6 to 7 Very Good These products are above average in almost every meaningful measure. While they may have a few minor faults, their strengths outweigh their weaknesses. 5 to 6 Mediocre These products are below average. They are functional but may have major deficiencies. 3 to 4 Inferior These products are seriously flawed and typically are not worthy of consideration. 1 to 2 Wholly Deficient These products do not work.','', 300)" onmouseout="hideddrivetip()"> 8.3 Pros Packed with features; great performance; sleek, sturdy design Cons High price; oversaturated whites; some ports inconveniently located Editors' Take If you want a screen that can do it all, and don't mind paying for it, the HP w2558hc is for you.

HP Home & Home Office Store $549.99 $529.00 from Amazon.com $450.00 from Infinity Micro Buydig.com $476.00 $549.99 from Best Buy See all prices ($399.99 - $549.99)>>

Key Specs

Screen Size (Diagonal): 25.5 inches Native Resolution: 1,920x1,200 Aspect Ratio: 16-to-10 Contrast Ratio: 1,000-to-1 Brightness: 400cd/m2 Response Time: 3 milliseconds DVI Connector: One D-Sub/VGA Connector(s): None HDMI Connectors: Two DisplayPort Connector: None USB Ports: Three

Review

Reviewed by: Jonathan Rougeot Review Date: March 2009