Saturday, April 14, 2007

HP dv6000t Laptop Review

HP Pavilion dv6000t Review

by Aaron Goldman

Overview and Reasons for Buying:

It was a hot summer’s day, so I waltzed into Best Buy to check out the latest gadgets and to cool off. The first thing I saw was the glimmer from HP’s shiny new notebook, the dv6000z. The design was what caught my eye, a perfect balance of art and performance. I was looking to replace my somewhat old AMD Turion 64 notebook with a dual core system anyways. I wasn’t really impressed with my previous AMD system so I went online to browse and see if HP planned on releasing an Intel based notebook in this series. I had read up about the new Intel Core 2 Duo Chip (Merom) and definitely wanted a notebook with that kind of power. After a couple weeks of pestering HP techs on the phone I finally got a release date and waited. September 30th 2006 the dv6000t series was finally orderable from HPShopping.com I ordered mine on the first day and tracked its status until it was delivered. My first experience using the dv6000t was playing F.E.A.R. Multiplayer online. I had been using my older HP dv5130us notebook with an ATi Xpress 200m GPU and a Turion 2.0GHZ processor. The dv6000t blew it out of the water in terms of speed and FPS. I was quite impressed to say the least, especially seeing as I had to use a 900MHZ Celeron desktop until my notebook arrived from China. Weeks after that I joined the NotebookReview.com forums because I had found a thread titled: the dv6000t Current and Prospective Buyers Lounge. I wasn’t alone; many others were also very impressed with this notebooks stylish looks and power. Shortly thereafter the dv6000t became Notebookreview’s most popular laptop, a title which it still holds some three months later.

Availability:

The dv6000t is available from hpshopping.com as a CTO (Custom To Order) notebook, and many retailers as preconfigured models. The ability to customize a notebook is great because you don’t need to buy any extra hardware that you can’t afford or don’t need.


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This notebook is available with the shiny piano black glossy type HP custom finish, as well as the oldschool rough plastic type. The notebook price ranges from usually around $500USD to anywhere in the area of $2000USD being that it is a CTO.

Reviewed dv6000t CTO Notebook Specs:

  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHZ with 4MB L2 Cache) “Merom”
  • Hard Drive: Fujitsu 120 GB SATA -5400RPM
  • Screen: 15.4" LG Phillips “LPL” WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800)
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce Go 7400, 128 MB Dedicated + 128 MB Shared
  • RAM: 2GB 667MHZ DDR2 SDRAM
  • Addition: HP Imprint Finish + Microphone + Webcam
  • Optical Drive: Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer with Lightscribe
  • Battery: 6-Cell Lithium-Ion
  • Wireless: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/b/g + Bluetooth
  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/ Upgrade to Vista Business
  • Dimensions: 1.0” - 1.69” (H) x 14.05” (W) x 10.12” (D) (Weight: 6.09 lbs)
  • Ports/Slots: 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire 400); 3 USB (USB 2.0); 5-in-1 memory card reader; VGA monitor out port; S-Video out; RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 modem; Express Card; IR receiver; Expansion Port 3; (2) headphone/speaker jacks with SPDIF
  • Accessories:HP Expresscard TV Tuner, and Mobile Remote Control.

Build and design:


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The build quality of this notebook is great, it’s solid and sturdy. The LCD hinges give little if any flex while opening and closing with ease. There is a little rippling on the LCD when the top bezel is pressed with some force, but I’ve seen much worse. The touchpad works amazingly well, however the buttons are somewhat flimsy and feel cheap, though this doesn’t matter if you use an external mouse most of the time. There are an abundance of input and output connections on this notebook. It’s somewhat strange however they are all on the sides, with the exception of the headphone jacks in front. Most notebooks tend to have some ports on the back, the headphone jacks in the front do get quite annoying when hooking a stereo or surround sound into them. Possibly one of my favorite features on this notebook happens to be the media card slot. Not many notebooks have integrated media card readers; this is definitely a plus for avid digital photographers.


HP dv6000t top view (view large image)

I believe this notebook would fall somewhere in between a desktop replacement and portable. I wouldn’t take this notebook mountain climbing or throw it out of a window like some have claimed to do with the IBM T40s, however for the everyday person, bringing this to school; work or whatnot is pretty easy. Weighing in at about 6 pounds this isn’t super light but at the same time, it’s not quite as heavy as the all around desktop replacements that I’ve seen. Though, keep in mind that with a 12-Cell Lithium-Ion battery and AC adapter this notebook would weigh somewhere around 8 pounds which isn’t fun to carry around all day.


HP dv6000t bottom view (view large image)

Audio:

This notebook comes equipped with Altec Lansing stereo speakers which are located in between the LCD bottom and the one touch buttons. I was quite impressed with the quality of sound that these can blast out. When using Cyberlink PowerDVD to boost the volume they get somewhat distorted however. With my older notebooks I found myself plugging in my surround sound speakers a lot more than I do with this model.

Screen:


HP dv6000t front view (view large image)

Probably the most important feature when buying a laptop is having a good screen. If you’re going to be staring at it for thousands of hours it might as well be comfortable to look at. I received this laptop with an LG Philips 1280x800 WXGA Hi-Definition Brightview Widescreen with no dead pixels. I can easily say this is the nicest LCD I have ever owned. The screen has a very crisp picture, and no light leakage whatsoever. Viewing angles from the left and right are perfect, and do not look washed out. Vertical viewing angles however sometimes can be washed out when viewing from too far away. Using the included software you can customize your LCD’s color to your liking with the Nvidia Settings Manager tool which I thought was a plus.

Graphics:


Windows Vista ran well on the dv6000t (view large image)

I chose the Nvidia Geforce Go 7400 Series GPU for this notebook. This is the best available graphics chip for this model notebook. It seems to perform very well for average use and can play most new games at medium settings. The 128MB of shared “turbocache” doesn’t slow this PC down at all and it runs Vista Aero very smoothly. Most people considering this notebook seem to be worried about having enough graphics power for Vista which I did as well. After running Windows Vista Enterprise Edition for about two weeks I can safely say that it was a very nice experience (visually) and there were no quirks with the graphics processor. I had to use modded .inf files as the official Nvidia drivers aren’t out yet, however it still ran better that I had thought it would. Windows Vista seemed to actually run faster than XP Professional even with all the Aero features enabled. Another good benchmark test for the Go 7400 is F.E.A.R. which I play quite a bit. F.E.A.R. seems to run best with Processor set to Maximum, Graphics set to low, and the display at 1280x800. It will play at medium graphics settings however personally I would rather have a higher resolution.


Playing F.E.A.R. (view large image)

Processor and Performance:

The Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2GHZ Processor in this notebook is lightning fast. In fact, the only time that I’ve hit 50%-100% CPU usage was while running SuperPI and Seti@home. My main reason for buying this dual core notebook was to edit and convert audio and video with Adobe Audition and Premier Pro. This is really where the dual core systems seem to shine, with this one being no exception. I also chose 2 GB of RAM, which seems to help encoding chug along quite nicely. The Intel Speedstep Technology also clocks down the processor until it’s needed to save battery life and prevent avoidable battery loss and overheating. The Core 2 Duo is a good choice as programmers are starting to create multithreaded programs and with the 64-Bit computing age on the horizon.

Benchmarks:

Super Pi measures the overall performance of the processors ability to crunch numbers by calculating Pi out to 2 million digits of accuracy.

Super Pi

NotebookTime
HP dv6000t (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)1m 03s
Fujitsu LifeBook A6010 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)1m 22s
LG S1 (2.16 GHz Core Duo)1m 11s
Dell Inspiron e1505 (2.0GHz Core Duo)1m 16s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)1m 18s
Toshiba Satellite M100 (2.00GHz Core Duo)1m 18s
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo)1m 29s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)1m 45s

PCMark05 Comparison results:

PCMark05 measures the overall system performance of a PC, you can see the dv6000t performed well:

NotebookPCMark05 Score
HP dv6000t (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, Nvidia Go 7400)4,124 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook A6010 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA 950)2,994 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)3,637 PCMarks
Toshiba Tecra M6 (1.66GHz Intel T2300E, Intel GMA 950)2,732 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)3,646 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FE590 (1.83GHz Core Duo, Nvidia Go 7400)3,427 PCMarks

Futuremark’s 3DMark05 graphics benchmarking software gave results consistent with a mid-range dedicated GPU:

3DMark05 Comparison Results:

Notebook3D Mark 05 Results
HP dv6000t (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, Nvidia Go 7400)1,969 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)1,791 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)7,078 3D Marks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)2,092 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI x700 128 MB)2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)2,273 3DMarks
HP Pavilion dv4000 (1.86 GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)2,536 3D Marks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)2,090 3D Marks

HDTune

HDTune measures the performance of the system hard drive, in this case a 120GB 5400RPM Fujitsu drive.


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Heat and Noise:

After owning a notebook with a desktop Pentium 4 HT chip, I have learned to appreciate noise, or lack thereof. This notebook is very quiet; it’s about as loud as my older HP AMD Sempron notebook with cool and quiet technology. I guess Speedstep is basically the same thing. The only time I hear the fans come on is when I’m playing graphically intense games or running my CPU to 100% (Seti@home.) In addition, this notebook also stays pretty cool; the right of the touchpad feels warm on occasion, but not hot. Nothing I can really complain about there.

Keyboard and Touchpad:


HP dv6000t keyboard and touchpad (view large image)

The keyboard is very well laid out for a 15.4” laptop. It feels...Solid! None of the typical loud clickity-clackity type sounds emit from it, which is nice. The touchpad, as I said before, is very good. It’s sensitive and responds very well. It has a built in scrolling feature which is a bonus, however doesn’t always work 100% of the time. The touchpad buttons are alright. They feel kind of cheap and seem like they would break easily if pressed too hard.

Input and Output Ports:

Included in this notebook are (3) USB 2.0 ports,1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire 400); a 5-in-1 memory card reader; VGA monitor out port; S-Video out; RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 modem, Express Card, IR receiver, Expansion Port 3, (2) headphone/speaker jacks with SPDIF, and a Line in port. This notebook unfortunately does not have an HDMI port or a PCMCIA card slot.


Front view of dv6000t (view large image)


Left side view of dv6000t (view large image)


Right view of dv6000t (view large image)


Back view of dv6000t (view large image)

Wireless:

This notebook has (3) types of built in wireless capabilities. The Intel 3945 802.11 A/B/G wireless card, Integrated Broadcom Bluetooth, and an integrated infrared RC6 receiver. I have had no problems with any of the wireless capabilities in this laptop thus far, in fact I use a Belkin wireless router and it stays connected always. My past notebooks had Broadcom cards and it seemed like I would always get dropped connections.

Battery:

I purchased a 6 and 12 Cell Lithium-Ion battery when I bought this notebook. The 6-Cell seems to last around 2.5 hours and when the screen is dimmed significantly it will almost make it to 3. I ended up selling the extra 12-Cell Lithium-Ion battery because I actually never used it. The 12-Cells’ should get around 6 hours or so as they are essentially two 6-Cell batteries conjoined.

Operating System and Software:

My dv6000t came with Windows XP Professional pre-installed along with 20 GB of bloatware and partitions. I also opted to purchase a set of recovery DVDs for...$20!!

I used them as soon as I received my notebook to do a clean install, however using the $20 recovery DVDs did not give me a clean install. HAH! I think that’s a joke, they installed all the original bloat -- everything back again. I would recommend purchasing a retail copy of XP just so you don’t have to go through the de-bloating trouble. I purchased XP Professional and did a clean install after going through all the de-bloating trouble and noticed that the system ran faster. The only downside of installing a retail copy of XP is hunting down the drivers for the laptop, so if you plan on doing this yourself be sure to copy or burn the C:\swsetup folder first. The swsetup folder contains all the system drivers and whatnot which need to be installed after installing a new OS. Be careful however, the bloatware is also in the swsetup folder, you will need to pick it out folder by folder, good luck. At the time I purchased the notebook came with a free upgrade to Vista, but now it is being sold pre-installed.

Customer Support:

HP as well as basically all other computer manufacturer companies have sent their customer service department over to India. This isn’t a bad thing as it keeps the prices of electronics down considerably and creates jobs for Indian people, however it is at times hard to understand the reps because of the language/culture barrier. Overall however the HP customer service is very good, as long as you don’t mind waiting awhile on the phone, and eventually speak to someone that knows what they are talking about.

The dv6000t is a great customizable notebook for all kinds of people. Whether you need just a basic laptop to surf the web and write documents, a medium range gaming machine, or something to just crunch lots of data this notebook can do it all when configured appropriately. It’s hard to find things wrong with such a beautiful and well built laptop, I can’t stop admiring its zen-type design even while I type this. Overall I think this is very balanced and priced very well comonentwise. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a powerful machine, while still retaining stylish and futuristic looks.

Pros:

  • Great multitasking
  • Decent Battery Life
  • Comfortable Keyboard
  • Beautifully Designed
  • Cool and Quiet
  • Quality Audio
  • Excellent LCD
  • Media Card Reader

Cons:

  • Max GPU is Go 7400
  • Missing a HDMI Port
  • No PCMCIA Port
  • Fingerprint magnet
  • Way too much Bloatware
  • No Recovery DVDs
  • Easily Scratched

Fujitsu LifeBook S2210

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Dan Ackerman
Reviewed on 3/16/07 Release date: 3/6/07

Thin-and-light laptops are the preferred style for many business travelers, offering a delicate balance between portability and usability. Larger, 15-inch systems are too bulky for regular travel, and ultraportables feature screens and keyboards that are too small for everyday use. The $1,979 Fujitsu LifeBook S2210 (configurations start at $1,299) is an AMD-based, 13.3-inch business laptop that offers business-friendly features such as Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and a hard drive shock sensor. It's an attractive, well-designed system that doesn't sacrifice performance, but the stodgy 4:3 screen and relatively short battery life are definite turn-offs. Toshiba's Tecra M5 offers better performance for the same price, but in a clunkier 14.1-inch design.

Measuring 11.5 inches wide, 9.4 inches deep, and 1.1 inches high, the LifeBook S2210 is on the small end of the thin-and-light spectrum, slightly larger than a Lenovo ThinkPad X60, but smaller than the Apple MacBook. It weighs 4.2 pounds (5.2 pounds with the A/C adapter), which is perfect for frequent commuting.

The gray-and-black design is conservative without being overly stiff, and we liked the system's design accents, from the gray media control buttons above the black keyboard to the rounded edge on the front lip. The touchpad's mouse buttons, however, were a bit too small and too close to the edge for our tastes.

The 13.3-inch LCD display eschews the wide-screen aspect ratio we've seen on the vast majority of current laptops. The 4:3 screen gives the system a more business-friendly look, but it also seems a bit anachronistic, although many business users prefer a square screen for Word and Excel use. Even Lenovo, the most buttoned-down of business system manufacturers, has a wide-screen version of its ThinkPad laptops. The 1024x768 screen resolution is a bit low for a 13.3-inch screen, making text and icons look too large. That resolution works better on a smaller screen--most 12.1-inch ultraportable laptops have a 1024x800 resolution (the wide-screen 12.1-inch LifeBook P7230 has a 1024x768 resolution). Fujitsu calls its screen technology Crystal View, but it's actually a LED-backlit display, good for brighter images and better battery life.

The system supplies a standard set of connections, including three USB 2.0 jacks, a mini FireWire jack, headphone and mic jacks, a Type I/II PC card slot, a media card reader, a fingerprint reader, and VGA and S-video outputs (the S-video requires an included adapter) for hooking up an external monitor. Networking connections include a modem and Gigabit Ethernet jacks, Bluetooth, and integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless. We especially liked the included media card reader--that's something many business laptops skip.

Components on our review unit include a 1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 CPU, a healthy 2GB of DDR2 RAM, ATI Radeon X1150 graphics, a DVD burner, and a 100GB 5400rpm hard drive, all running under Windows Vista Business. The less expensive $1,299 configuration keeps the same CPU, but knocks the RAM down to a mere 512MB (which we'd strongly advise against, unless, as in this case, it's running Vista Home Basic) and the hard drive to 40GB, while skipping extras such as the fingerprint reader and Bluetooth. Because the S2210 is considered a business system, Windows XP is still available as an option--largely because system administrators and IT types feel more comfortable with the established OS.

While AMD continues to play second fiddle to Intel's popular Core 2 Duo and Core Duo CPUs, the LifeBook S2210 AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 managed to hold its own against two thin-and-light Core 2 Duo laptops, the Toshiba Satellite U205-S5057 and the ASUS W7J (a Windows XP laptop we upgraded to Vista ourselves), both of which had 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 CPUs--although the performance differences in our tests weren't great. In anecdotal use, the LifeBook S2210 felt quick and responsive while Web surfing, playing media files, and working on office documents. The system's 2GB of RAM (double that of the other systems) no doubt helped.

A thin-and-light laptop, designed for frequent travel, requires excellent battery life. The LifeBook S2210 ran for 1 hour and 36 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, using the included 6-cell battery. This score was disappointing, especially since the similar Toshiba Satellite U205 ran for 2 hours and 19 minutes. Our DVD battery drain test is tough on batteries, and you can expect more work time if you're Web surfing or using productivity apps.

Fujitsu backs the system with an industry standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty. Upgrading to three years costs $179, and adding onsite service for three years is an additional $149 (on top of the $179). Fujitsu provides 24-7, toll-free phone support for the life of your warranty, and a support Web site offers live chat with a technician, along with the expected FAQs, driver downloads, and product manuals.

Multimedia multitasking test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds

Apple iTunes encoding test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds

Microsoft Office productivity test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

DVD battery drain test
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:

Fujitsu LifeBook S2210
Windows Vista Business Edition; 1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 x2 TL-52; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 638MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 1150; 100GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Toshiba Satellite U205-S5057
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition; 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5500; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 528MHz; 224MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset; 160GB Hitachi, 5,400rpm

ASUS W7J (Vista Ultimate Upgrade)
Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade; 1.66 Intel Core 2 Duo T5500; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 528MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7400; 100GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm SATA/150

Toshiba Satellite A135-S4467
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition; 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5200; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 528MHz; 224MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset;160GB Hitachi, 5400rpm

Wenger SwissGear Synergy Backpack Review

by Tim Utecht

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Switzerland? Most likely you thought of Swiss cheese, the Alps, or a Swiss Army Knife. Sadly, a lot of people have not heard about the amazing notebook products made by Wenger (who also makes the Swiss Army Knife). I got the SwissGear Synergy backpack which can hold a 15” - 15.4” widescreen notebook. This rugged backpack also has plenty of room for all your text books as well as notebook accessories.


My new backpack! (view large image)

Specifications and Features:

  • Material: Poly, Nylon
  • Size: 9"D x 14"W x 17"H
  • Fits Most 15"/15.4" Widescreens
  • COMP-U-FLEX Computer Pocket
  • Shock Absorbing Shoulder Straps
  • iPod/Music Player Pocket
  • Air Flow Back Padding
  • Quick Pocket
  • Essentials Organizer
  • Adjustable Chest Strap

When I first got the Synergy the first word that came to my mind was “durable”. From the reinforced handle, to the oversized zipper, this backpack appears to be built like a tank. Thankfully, all this toughness doesn’t compromise the SwissGear Synergy’s comfort. This backpack comes with shock absorbing shoulder straps, air flow back padding and a feature that I have never seen before called the CaseBase stabilizer platform.


This handle is VERY tough. Also notice the durable oversized zippers! (view large image)

I use the Synergy daily to carry my books around at school. Normally I pack around 28 pounds of gear – including a laptop and textbooks. If that wasn’t enough, I have to trek up 66 stairs twice a day. With most other backpacks I would be sore at the end of the week, especially on the shoulders. However, the SwissGear Synergy backpack is extremely comfy. It has shock absorbing shoulder straps which help when walking up and down all of those steps. There is also some very nice padding on the back which helps with air flow.


The Synergy is large but comfortable (view large image)

The very first compartment has some assorted pockets. You can keep some business cards in this section, and of course Wenger included a knife pocket (Swiss Army Knife not included though).


Very nice knife pocket (view large image)

The largest partition holds all my text books for all four of my classes. My previous backpack had trouble fitting everything in there; however the SwissGear Synergy backpack can hold it all (and probably more if I tried). This section also contains the CaseBase stabilizer platform which you can flip up or down to help conserve space when you are not using this area.


Unbelievably large compartment (view large image)


The Synergy can hold some folders, a Chemistry textbook and Human Anatomy textbook and lab manual! (view large image)

The iPod/Music player pocket (as in other backpacks) lacks in functionality. Unless you are double jointed you won’t be able to get at the iPod while wearing the Synergy. If you have a playlist and you don’t need to adjust the volume then the pocket will be fine. At the very least you can use it to hold your portable music player in place.


iPod pocket (view large image)

The notebook pocket on the Synergy is slightly different than my previous backpack. The notebook is held in place by an elastic strap that runs down the middle of the padding. A clip holds the laptop in place. The clip is made out of a plastic but it seems strong enough to withstand some abuse.


Elastic strap is connected with a plastic clip (view large image)

Unlike other backpacks that I have seen, the Synergy holds the notebook against the center wall of the backpack and not against the wearers back. This adds another layer of padding between your notebook and the outside world. However, I was slightly disappointed that the Synergy didn’t have padding running down the middle elastic strap of the notebook pocket. They called this feature COMP-U_FLEX, but I am not sure why you would want that pocket to expand. In my opinion this loss of padding shouldn’t affect your notebook since it is more in the center of the Synergy backpack.


The notebook is centered towards the middle of the Synergy (view large image)


Another view of the notebook pocket (view large image)

In conclusion, the Wenger SwissGear Synergy backpack is an extremely durable product. Thankfully they didn’t skimp on comfort. Although it has a couple of quirks, it is a really nice backpack. The Synergy will be a backpack that I will enjoy for many years to come.

Pros:

  • Heavy duty zipper and handle
  • Comfortable shock absorbing shoulder straps
  • Huge amount of storage room
  • CaseBase stabilizer that can help conserve space
  • Notebook pocket attached to the center wall for added protection

Cons:

  • Can not access iPod with the backpack on
  • No padding in the middle of the notebook pocket because of elastic strap
Source: www.notebookreview.com

Alienware and Dell Offering Notebooks with Half Terabyte of Storage Space

Dell and Alienware, partners in crime in the PC industry, are now offering a half terabyte of storage in their Dell XPS M2010 and Alienware Aurora m9700 giant sized notebook offerings. This is the first time 500GB of storage has been offered in a notebook form factor via the configuration of two 250GB hard drives.

The XPS M2010 is a 20" screen foldable notebook from Dell while the Alienware Aurora m9700 is a 17" screen dual graphics, dual hard drive offering from Alienware. Both notebooks are quite obviously desktop replacement style systems, with various gaming and multimedia features, that can be moved when necessary (do not use them in your lap).


The Alienware configuration page for the Aurora m9700 shows you can now select 2 x 250GB hard drives (view large image)

Both systems will be offered with a 250GB hard drive solution available in dual configurations where each hard drive has the following specs:

  • 250GB capacity
  • 5400 RPM spin
  • 1.5Gb/s (SATA) transfer rate

Dell XPS M2010 - Mobile Concept PC

The Dell XPS M2010 can now be configured with 500GB of storage space (view larger)

While some of us still have space on our 60GB hard drive (me), other people that deal with extremely large video files, photo files, or massive collections of MP3s and iTunes can hoard hard drive space and the idea of more internal storage rather than dealing with external drives can be hugely appealing. Here are some examples of what 500GB will translate to storing in real terms:

  • 200 hours of DVD-quality video (2.25GB/hr)
  • 60 hours of HD video (8.3GB/hr)
  • 38 hours of digital MPEG video (13GB/hr)
  • 120,000 songs (4MB for 4 minute average songs)
  • 140,000 photo images (2.5MB / 6 Megapixel image)

Plus, how cool is it to say that your notebook has half a terabyte of storage?

Source: Notebookreview

Asus Headquarters Tour and Notebook Product Roadmap (pics)

Last week I was invited to a conference at Asus Headquarters in California. Getting to meet the people behind the Asus name and getting the chance to tour their facility was an enjoyable experience. Not only did I get to see the products that have already been on the market, but they also revealed some upcoming gadgets and whitebook (barebone) notebooks for 2007.


The G1 and G2 notebooks seen here have been a popular seller for Asus. (view large image)

Asus is going to continue pushing the G1 notebook into Best Buy stores and told me that soon more Best Buy's will be carrying the G1. They also stated that they have been negotiating with Best Buy to start carrying other Asus models, no word on which models though.

They are also proud of how successful the R1 (Tablet PC) and R2 (UMPC) have been. In fact, in the near future we will see newer editions of both models. No comment though on when we will see these newer models, but I think the updated R1 is already in progress and remember that was Asus's first Tablet PC.

Their main focus right now is on the upcoming C90 customizable notebook. In fact, Jonney Shih, Chairman & CEO of ASUSTek, Jerry Shen, President of ASUSTek, Ivan Ho, President of Asus Computer International and Bryan Chang, AOOP Senior Technical Staff, were all very excited about their upcoming line of notebooks built on the Intel Conroe platform. These notebooks will beat the Santa Rosa release and according to them will be more powerful and cheaper.


The C90 customizable notebook, to be released in early May. (view large image)

Asus has been making strides in gaining popularity in the U.S. market. They are already very well known in the European and Asia-Pacific markets. Overall the company has grown 45% from 2005 to 2006, with their notebook line accounting for 29% of their revenue. The company's motto is "Asus Open Optimum Platform" solution or AOOP, which stands for all aspects of technology being open sourced and combining to be one. Slowly desktop technology will combine with notebook technology and then they both will combine with mobile technology creating one ultimate platform.


The upcoming U1, the S6 shown in limited edition pink leather, the W5 and the Lamborghini VX2. (view large image)

I had the chance to have a little hands-on with the upcoming U1 notebook. This ultra-portable notebook weighs almost nothing and has a solid chassis. It also sports the glossy piano black finish and has black leather around the keyboard, which creates quite a nice design. It definitely would be good for traveling and it has that professional appearance. It has an Intel Core Duo processor and up to an 80GB hard drive, still no set date on when they will be for sale or how much they will cost, but the full spec sheet can be found on the Asus website.


The U1. (view large image)


Top view of the U1. (view large image)


Right side view of the U1. (view large image)


Left side view of the U1. (view large image)

Asus's motherboards account for 16% of their revenue, so they had a nice display of them as well. They also had other components like thermal solutions and desktop computers on display.


(view large image)


(view large image)

Besides what they are well known for (notebooks, desktops and motherboards) they had other devices on display, which will be released in the coming months. It seems Asus is going to test the waters in other market areas as well. They already have a good lead in the cellular phone market coming in above Motorola and Samsung, so I guess we will have to wait and see how these products fare.


The Asus AiGuru S2 Skype phone. (view large image)


The Asus S102 Multimedia Navigator. (view large image)

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the upcoming notebooks that are scheduled to be released throughout this year, but I do have a road-map of what will be coming and when. As you can imagine they were very hush-hush on these new models, so there isn't much in terms of specs either.

First to be released is the C90, which comes out in May. Shortly following the C90 is the Asus C91, which is due out in June and is built on the same platform as the C90, but is less bulky. Then due out in July is the smaller Asus C30 series, which will have a 13.3" screen instead of the 15.4" screens like on the C90 series, but it still will have the Conroe processor. Closer to Christmas season in November we will see the C80 series, which will have a 17" screen and be marketed as a desktop replacement notebook. Finally at the beginning of 2008, they will have the 19" Asus C70 series, which like the C80 will have the upcoming Intel X38 chipset (twin x16 PCI Express 2.0 slots, 800MHz DDR 2 and DDR 3 clocked at up to 1,333MHz, 1,333MHz frontside bus), ATI Crossfire certified and DDR3 support (inherent to the X38 chipset). Keep your eyes peeled because Asus is going to be releasing something for every user this year!

So a rundown on known upcoming barebone Asus notebooks:

  • Asus C90 -- 15.4" widescreen notebook, Intel Conroe processor platform, upcoming Nvidia graphics platform, see more on the Asus C90 here.
  • Asus C91 -- 15.4" follow up to the C90 that will be less bulky, June time frame release
  • Asus C30 series -- 13.3" screen, Intel Conroe processor, July time frame release
  • Asus C80 series -- 17" screen desktop replacement, Intel Conroe processor, Intel X38 chipset
  • Asus C70 series -- 19" screen gaming notebook / desktop replacement, Intel Conroe processor, Intel X38 chipset
Source: Notebookreview

News Bits: Next-Gen Toshiba Qosmio, IRS Lost 490 Laptops, Suede Laptop Skins

Next-gen Toshiba Qosmio details released


Image courteousy Electronista

Details have been leaked about Toshiba's next-generation flagship multimedia notebook, the G40 Qosmio. Instead of the current all-black look, it will take on a white base. Major performance upgrades are in store for the G40, including Nvidia's GeForce Go8600GT graphics card with 512MB of dedicated memory. Also included in the G40 are an HD DVD-R drive, HDMI 1.3 for output to HDTVs, and a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

Pricing is not yet official but the G40 is expected to sell in June in Europe for 2999 Euros, or about US$4,022.

Read More (Electronista.com)

IRS lost 490 laptops

When laptops are lost containing the tax information of millions of Americans, it's a problem big enough that even the Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration looked into the problem and released a report. Inspectors found that 490 laptops had been reported stolen between Jan 2, 2003 and June 13, 2006.

The IRS currently has about 47,000 laptops in use; the report released suggests that the agency should take better precautions. Taxpayer data needs to be protected - a large number of the stolen IRS laptops had unencrypted data on them.

Security is yet another problem. 111 laptops were stolen out of IRS facilities according to the report. Had the laptops been secured the number of stolen machines could have been drastically reduced. Backup media was also unsecured - employees of the IRS use CDs/DVDs and flash drives to carry around unencrypted data.

The IRS has pledged to follow what the report recommends for improvement. The IRS had been warned about unencrypted data in 2003 but did not take sufficent action to correct the issue.

Read More (Ars Technica)

Intel to announce next-gen UMPC design

At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) on April 18, Intel will announce a new set of processors for the next generation Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC). According to a leaked PowerPoint presentation, the reference design for the UMPC is called "McCaslin" and will feature a codename "Stealey" CPU. The CPU is based on Dothan and fabricated on a 90nm process with a 600 or 800MHz clockspeed. The FSB is set at 400MHz and the CPU has a 512k L2 cache. It has a thermal design of only 6W. Intel GMA X3000 graphics are included.

The low-powered Stealey processor is designed to compete with Via's C7M. While the C7M runs at 1.5GHz, the Stealey outperforms it thanks to a more sophisticated architecture and larger cache.

UMPCs based on the new reference design are expected to hit the market later in 2007. A follow-up to McCaslin will debut in Q2 2008 with CPUs fabricated using 45nm technology. Intel projects the UMPC will rise rapidly in market share over the next few years and by 2010, the UMPC will hold 10 percent of the total PC market.

Read More (Ars Technica)

Laptop sales: Acer on the rise, Dell down

Acer is currently the world's #4 notebook manufacturer and is aiming to surpass Lenovo for third place. Much of Acer's success has been attributed to agressive pricing.

While HP and Dell hold the most notebook market share, Dell had a poor Q4 last year; shipments fell 1.5 percent from Q3 according to a report from iSuppli. Dell wasn't helped by the Sony battery recall catastrophe last year, where it had to recall over four million defective batteries. Lenovo held onto its fifth place spot in Q4, shipping 9.1 percent more units than it did in Q3.

Read More (The Register)

AMD to miss Q1 revenue target

AMD has updated its Q1 outlook and says that it expects revenues to be around $1.225 billion, which is roughly 23% below the target that AMD had provided previously in Q4 ($1.6 - $1.7 billion), which was already dim. Reasoning for the lower revenue was due to "lower overall average selling prices and significantly lower unit sales, especially in the resale channel" according to AMD.

AMD's future does not look good - its plan to undercut Intel and its Core architecture with lower pricing for its mobile, desktop and server/workstation processors is backfiring, as the company's profit margins are vanishing. AMD announced this morning drastic price cuts of its single- and dual-core processors; now AMD does not occupy a spot in the upper mainstream of the desktop processor market.

AMD said it is planning to restructure its business model to increase operational efficiency and lower its operating cost structure this year.

Read More (TGDaily)

Schitckers.com announces new Suede laptop skins

Schitckers.com has launched a new product not yet seen on the laptop accessory market - Suede Skins. They are made of Ultrasuede and will retail for under $30. According to the company, the product allows customers to turn a boring laptop into a "chic luxurious experience in just seconds."

The Suede Skins are very durable - made of Ultrasuede, the best microfiber suede on the market, they hold up to rough use. They can be cleaned with simple soap and water.

Suede Skins join an existing line of Laptop Skins - for more information, go to http://www.schtickers.com.

Product Link

Read More (eMediaWire)

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Toshiba Portege R400 Tablet PC Review

The Toshiba Portege R400 has been getting a lot of attention recently. The only problem is all the attention it is attracting isn't always positive. The R400 has an innovative design, but lacks some key features. Many users don't see why the Tablet is so expensive when it does not have an internal optical drive and only has two USB ports. Thankfully it does have some unique features though like the Windows SideShow display, Windows Vista Ultimate, an LED backlit screen and its unique and secure hinge, which make it stand out above lower priced Tablets.


The Toshiba Portege R400. (view large image)

The Toshiba Portege R400 specs as reviewed (tested price $3,079)

CPUIntel Core Duo U2500 / 1.20GHz processor
OSMicrosoft Windows Vista Ultimate
RAM2 GB RAM
Display12.1" Widescreen XGA LED Backlit Display with High Brightness and Wide View Angle (1280 x 800)
GraphicsGraphics Media Accelerator 950
AudioBuilt-in microphone, Headphone jack (stereo), Microphone jack (mono), Built-in monaural speaker
Hard Drive80GB (4200 RPM)
Optical DriveOptional - Toshiba UltraSlim USB (2.0) CDRW/DVD-ROM Drive, Optional Toshiba UltraSlim USB (2.0) DVD-SuperMulti drive (+R double layer)
I/O ports
  • 2 x USB
  • 1 x VGA - 15 pin
  • 1 x Microphone-in
  • 1x Headphone
  • 1 x Express Card
Communications
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
  • 10/100/1000 Ethernet
  • 802.11a/b/g
  • Integrated EV-DO (Verizon Wireless)
  • Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
Dimensions/Weight
  • 12" x 9.43" x 1.18" (WxDxH)
  • 3.79 lbs.
Battery/powerLi-Ion (6-cell, 4000mAh)

Design and Build

The R400 has a solid design and chassis, there is no flimsy feeling to this Tablet. The glossy white lid and keyboard give this Tablet a grand piano like feel, especially when considered with with the shiny black screen. It looks nice, but the screen gives a lot of reflection when in any direct lighting, so it is definitely not an outside Tablet.


The lid of the R400 is white and has Toshiba inlaid in chrome letters, no forgetting who made this. (view large image)

Weighing in at 3.7 pounds this Tablet is easy to take with you everywhere you go. The R400 makes a good travel companion, which is why it is targeted toward business professionals. It is even light enough to easily carry around in slate mode for extended periods of time.


The R400 swiveling into Tablet mode. (view large image)

The hinge on the R400 is quite innovative as well, in fact it feels and looks more like a notebook hinge than a Tablet. There are actually two locks, one on each side that help keep the Tablet secure. They lock into place when the Tablet is flat and when returning it back into notebook mode. The center mounted hinge does all the swiveling and work, but together they form a solid design. There is no flex in the screen and it feels sturdy. This hinge design actually replaces the locking mechanism most Tablets have on their lids.


Right side view of the R400, locked into notebook mode and the fingerprint reader. (view large image)

Display

The 12.1" screen on the R400 is LED backlit, so it looks more like a notebook screen instead of a grainy Tablet screen. The only problem with the screen is that it's glossy and therefore means you get a lot of reflection in bright light, especially when the screen is displaying dark colors. On the other hand, having the glossy screen ensures that the colors presented are bright and bold. Watching DVDs on the widescreen are great. I almost thought I was watching movies on my Toshiba television.


The widescreen display on the R400 is nice, but it does give off a glare. (view large image)

The SideShow display, which Toshiba calls "Active Notifications", gives users updates on emails, appointments and lets them know the time and battery status. This display is great, especially if you don't have email on your phone, because it works even when the R400 is powered down and closed. When you're in a long meeting you can at least discreetly see the amount of emails coming in and their subjects.


The R400's SideShow display. (view large image)

Processor and System Performance

Performance is lacking for such an expensive machine with base prices starting at $2,599. The 1.2GHz Intel Core Duo processor and 4200RPM 80GB hard drive don't do justice to the killer fast looks of this machine. While the Ultra Low Voltage 1.2GHz processor and integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics do ensure the system runs cool, it struggles to run Vista well. The 2GB of RAM certainly helps out with performance, but multi-tasking using several applications at once can really bog things down. It may have been wise to offer a regular clock speed processor, such as the HP tx1000 tablet offers, and not gone with something that seems more fit for a UMPC device in terms of speed. Simply a low voltage processor such as the Lenovo X60 Tablet uses would have been better than an Ultra Low Voltage processor.

Benchmarks

The R400's benchmarking scores were mediocre, in PCMark05 it was one of the slowest units with an Intel Core Duo processor and integrated graphics. Then again the ULV 1.2GHz Core Duo processor is underpowered to be running with Vista as the OS.

PCMark05 measures the systems performance as a whole:

NotebookPCMark05 Score
Toshiba R400 (Intel Core Duo ULV 1.2GHz, Intel GMA 950 graphics)2,187 PCMarks
HP tx1000 (AMD Turion X2 2.0GHz, Nvidia Go 6150)3,052 PCMarks
Asus R1F (1.66GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950 graphics)2,724 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X60t (1.66GHz LV Core Duo)2,860 PCMarks
Panasonic ToughBook T4 (Intel 1.20GHz LV) 1,390 PCMarks
Asus R2H (900MHz Celeron M)845 PCMarks
Toshiba Tecra M6 (1.66GHz Intel T2300E, Intel GMA 950)2,732 PCMarks

Super Pi:

In the below results of Super Pi, where Pi is calculated to 2 million digits of accuracy, you can see the R400 doesn't perform as well as some of the other Tablets, but it performs better than the other computers with ULV processors.

NotebookTime to Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits
Toshiba R400 (1.2GHz ULV Core Duo)2m 10s
Asus R1F (1.66GHz Core Duo)1m 20s
Lenovo ThinkPad X60t (1.66GHz LV Core Duo)1m 24s
IBM ThinkPad X41t (1.5GHz LV Pentium M)2m 02s
HP TC4400 Tablet PC (2.0GHz Core Duo)1m 13s
Dell Latitude X1 (1.1 GHz ULV Pentium M)2m 40s
Dell Latitude D420 (1.06GHz Core Solo ULV)2m 11s
Toshiba Portege M400 (1.83GHz Core Duo )1m 19s

Windows Experience Index

As you might have expected, the graphics performance is what Windows complained was the lowest mark for the R400, but it could still run the 3D Aero feature:


(view large image)

Unfortunately HDTune, the benchmark we use for testing hard drive performance, does not work within Vista on the R400. From a perceived performance perspective based on bootup time, you can tell the 4200RPM drive is somewhat of a bottleneck to performance.

Keyboard/Touchpad/Pen

The keyboard is standard, there is minimal flex and none of the keys are shortened. Typing on the keyboard feels comfortable because the keys are flat and responsive. Even though the keys are white and can get dirty easily (be sure to wash your hands) they are a welcoming change to the normal business black.


View of the R400 keyboard and touchpad. (view large image)

The touchpad on the R400 is small, but responsive. Some users may want to use a mouse instead because the left and right click buttons are small, but that is a personal preference. The touchpad can get dirty easily just like the keyboard since they are white, but then again all touchpads get that finger grime.

The pen is also white to match the overall look of the machine, it is made of plastic. No heavy duty stylus with this Tablet, but it is lightweight and easy to use. The active digitizer makes writing with it a breeze. It is so smooth and fluid that it feels like you are writing with a pen on a piece of paper.


The R400 pen coming out of its silo. (view large image)

Tablet PC Features

The R400 works great in both Tablet or notebook mode. The secure locking mechanisms combined with the swivel hinge give this Tablet a sturdy feel that seasoned Tablet users want. This comes in handy when you need to give a presentation because the screen isn't wobbly. You can easily swivel it around so the screen faces your audience, and it will not wobble around. When you switch to Tablet mode the screen automatically reconfigures its orientation to landscape viewing. One less step the user has to do. There is a button on the screen that allows you to push it and rotate the screen orientation manually, we found that this didn't work by default, we had to manually go in and map it to the Tablet PC screen rotate command.

The hard drive has active shock protection, which is a nice feature when in Tablet mode because it senses any erratic movements. We all know it's much easier to drop a Tablet PC since you're standing with it than say a notebook that's on the desk most of a time. You might want to make the sensor slightly less sensitive (this is configurable with the Toshiba software) so it's not all the time popping up a vibration warning. In Tablet mode it's common to have to move around a bit and at the highest sensitivity the HDD protection warning popped up a few too many times.

The R400 has an active digitizer so there are no problems when it comes to writing on the screen with the pen. It is responsive, accurate and easy to navigate. I liked using the pen because it was lightweight and smaller than most, it didn't feel awkward in my hand.

Tablet functionality is supposed to be one of the most improved features in Vista as well. The R400 did take advantage of this improvement because in Tablet mode the OS did a good job of recognizing my scribble I call handwriting and it recognized pen flicks when navigating through menu options.

Ports

The R400 has your standard ports and that is about it. It does have the SideShow display on the front though, which gives you updates on emails and battery power, called "Active Notifications". Besides the SideShow display there are also an array of indicator lights, a microphone, the pen, three buttons for use with the SideShow display and a Wi-Fi hardware switch on the front. There are two USB ports, one VGA - 15 pin, one microphone-in, one headphone, one Express Card and an Ethernet port on the back side. The volume dial on the side is nice and makes it easy to bump volume up and down. There isn't much else to this Tablet in terms of ports -- no FireWire, what you see is what you get, but some users may not need all that extra stuff.


Front view of the R400 with the SideShow screen. (view large image)


Left side view of the ports. (view large image)


Right side view of the ports and slot. (view large image)


Back view of the ports. (view large image)


Toshiba R400 under side view and battery. (view large image)

Battery

The internal battery lasted about three hours under normal usage (typing, browsing the internet some and screen at half brightness), which is good and typical of most Tablets. The LED backlit screen helps maintain battery power somewhat as it's less demanding in terms of power draw than a typical cathode ray backlit screen. The extra slice battery, which attaches under the base, boosts the R400 battery life for three more hours, so when combined they last about six hours.

Heat and Noise

The R400 doesn't give off much heat, even when running the benchmarks it stayed cooler than other Tablets I have tested like the HP tx1000. The R400 is commendably quiet, but really what about it would be noisy, there is no optical drive and the fan doesn't get loud enough to be a distraction.

Speakers

Considering there is only one small speaker on the R400, I have to say speakers, what speakers? I thought my Asus R1 was bad, but the R400 might just be the winner. The sound is decent, but it is definitely not something you are going to listen to music on or control your iTunes library with. At high volumes the speaker echoes and sounds kind of muffled. Although the R400 isn't an entertainment Tablet, so the speaker does its job.

Software

The R400 comes with Windows Vista Ultimate edition already installed. It was one of the first convertible notebooks announced to offer Vista pre-installed. Many users have complained about Toshiba installing to much bloatware, but I really didn't have a problem with that. It actually seems quite free of bloatware compared to Dell and HP notebooks you come across. The only annoying software I dealt with was McAfee, which everyone knows has those annoying pop-ups. If there is software you don't like most of it can be uninstalled.

Wireless

The R400 has embedded EV-DO Rev A. wireless broadband with service through Verizon. It works pretty well, but it is slow in some areas and it is limited to Verizon only. It also has 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth. I am curious to know when and if the R400 will be getting HSPDA because this would give users another option besides Verizon.

Conclusion

The R400 is an innovative Tablet, but it comes with a hefty price tag. It has a solid design that works great in Tablet and notebook mode. There is no flimsy feeling to it and the LED backlit screen is great for watching movies or checking out your favorite photos. The screen is glossy and gives off reflections under bright light conditions, so be aware outdoor use won't work. Overall Toshiba could have gone with a more powerful processor because the system runs a little slow, especially since it has Windows Vista Ultimate. I would have liked it to have a little more performance endurance and less eye candy appeal if you could trade such things off. The R400 does sport the SideShow display, which is a unique feature for the business professional on-the-go, but at the end of the day the high price tag and lack of performance to match that price stand in the way of it being a top-competitor for your average consumer. If money is not an object and you like to have a unique product, well then the R400 might have your name written on it.

Pros

  • Solid design, innovative hinge that works very well
  • Embedded EV-DO Rev A
  • Email and battery updates when computer is closed
  • Bright LED backlit screen
  • Runs cool and quiet

Cons

  • Expensive
  • No internal optical drive
  • Screen puts off a glare