Notebook Reviewing Center

Our design may be the M70sa design, which features the 1gb ATI HD3650 movie card along with a very capable 1920×1200 show having a Blu-Ray drive to appreciate it with. This can be a 17” complete HD widescreen laptop computer featuring a lot of connectivity choices not to mention, 1 Terabyte worth of hard disk drive room. Design The case on the m70 is simple yet elegant. It functions a simple lid style that reminds me from the latest HP and Toshiba implementations – it’s a glossy lid and bezel, along with a striking chrome accent logo and line towards the hinges. The really feel of the unit is mostly really good, however, the lid appears just a little as well flexible with all the plastic and it certainly takes two hands to open the lid, which is something I’m not a fan of. The latch on the chassis is gimmicky and I would much rather see a slide and lift technique about the LCD bezel than a tab discharge about the chassis. The bottom features chrome accent close to the subwoofer speaker, and is really clean – with 3 major compartments – the battery bay and also the component bays. Unless you plan on upgrading your CPU, there is no real reason to open this area as all the area’s are fairly maxed out / utilized.

The battery release is simple, with an integrated lock/release tab.

Keyboard The keyboard is nice and tactile featuring matt keys surrounded by a glossy black bezel and chrome strip. Since it is a 17”, it functions a amount pad, which helps with 10 crucial entry, or easy number entry. The layout is easy, but I’m not just a fan of the 10 crucial layout – it seems cramped and typical math function keys are located in really odd places, producing 10 crucial additions sort of awkward, or otherwise to me. There exists a 4 dedicated shortcut keys above the keyboard, one of these starts the “instant fun” application if pressed as a power-on instead of the typical energy button. This launches Windows Media center instantly following boot – which I thought was allowed to be the instant fun aspect, but wasn’t so instant… Trackpad / Mouse The Trackpad about the M70 is an actual treat, featuring hot touch area’s that enabled by tapping the function MODE region, then tapping the associated backlit area. The left and right mouse buttons are settled on either side of the biometric scanner, and the glossy chrome LED status area just beneath it.

Speakers / Audio The speakers about the M70sa are well appointed Altec Lansing speakers on either side, having a devoted woofer on the bottom of the unit. They too have the chrome accent surround and in our tests, performed really nicely for laptop computer speakers. The sub helped fill in the lower-midtones, but as usual, fell really short of providing a lot of any low – end bass. A single point that I wish this laptop had that the last laptop I reviewed had, was the dedicated volume knob that was found on the Toshiba Satellite m305 – even thought the multi-touch launch does can control audio, it might be a nice touch to have that extra “dedicated” multimedia volume manage. Connectivity The M70 functions a whole slew of connections, so let’s break it down by area, starting using the front of the M70sa. The front functions a easy IR port, and that’s it. The knob in the center may be the LCD release hinge, which, I’m not just a fan of its implementation. The left side from the M70sa functions the integrated TV tuner port, two USB two. ports, mini-firewire port, SD card ready and the Blu-Ray drive. The correct ports from the unit are an Express Card slot, wireless on/off switch, audio in/out/spdif, and 2 much more USB 2. ports. The rear of being used actually fairly decked out as nicely – the furthest left functions the energy plug, exhaust region, AV input, HDMI output, E-Sata connector, RGB output, modem, Ethernet, and lockslot. Nicely, Asus has graciously bundled the M70sa having a digital antennaethat can accept OTA digital broadcast together with cable/satellite coax, and a proprietary AV movie input connector (much more on this later…), along with a USB mouse along with a carrying bag. Display The show on the Asus M70 is striking – merely a joy. A glossy 17” widescreen featuring a resolution of 1920 x 1200 – it utilizes a Complete HD signal to the best capabilities and is a perfect resolution for a show of this size. The colors were extremely vibrant, and also the glossy screen provided little to no grain washout. The horizontal viewing angles were pretty decent, and also the vertical viewing angles had a good typical range, but extreme inverse was visible much past 20-30 degrees. Even although I did complain about the LCD release mechanism, the LCD exhibited virtually no creaks/flex when opening, that is really welcomed.

The M70sa isn’t a shy device with regards to size, measuring in at 16.2″ x 11.8″ x 1.7″ and weighing in just over 8 pounds with it is 9 cell battery. Here’s a glass of it against the Lenovo U110 we just reviewed. 8 pounds for any 17” DTR is really not too shabby of the pounds, considering the L300 we are currently reviewing ticks in at more than 9 pounds! Helping alleviate this during transportation was the incorporated Asus / Targus co-branded carrying bag. The battery is a 9 Cell 14.8V, 5200mAh Lithium Ion battery, and is pretty hefty, but not too big to handle as shown compared to a normal sized DVD. Upgrading Choices: The M70 is fairly function stacked, and particularly our M70sa model – which carries 4gb of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz, 6MB L2, 800MHz FSB), and 1gb of video memory. But to top all this – the M70sa includes 1 Terabyte (TB) of hard disk drive storage. If you’d like more than that – I’m going to go far as saying which you are required greater than a 17” laptop, you probably require a server, a studio and lots of external storage options. If you undertake so really feel inclined to upgrade, you might like to look into a higher clocked CPU – and a 64bit operating system, simply because this design, even although equipped with 4gb of DDR2 RAM, Windows Vista House Premium is only 32-bit, and that dodgy memory limit exists using the 32-bit version. That’s not saying other programs won’t utilize it, but this version of installed Windows won’t. Features Not forgetting the power under the lid, there’s the incorporated 2x Blu-Ray drive, and the good TV tuner integrated with the unit. It also functions an A/G/N Intel wireless network card, and a 1.3mp swivel webcam on the LCD top. I have always loved the idea of the swivel style, making snapshots and video of your surroundings / your self and others just a little easier, but I’m confused as to the reasons it is implemented on a 17” design. This appears like it ought to be saved for that 15.4” and under range, as these merit more transportation friendly dimensions and pounds. A dedicated HDMI output and E-Sata port make this an superb option for hi-fi freaks and those who would like to add even More room at a very speedy performance pace. These two choices make the M70 really versatile in it’s application, and I adore actually incorporated. As stated prior to, Asus graciously packs the assortment of additional goodies that assist you make use of this laptop computer on the highway, and as a entertainment mogul.

Performance I’m going to begin by stating that this program had to have a full system restore performed prior to it would set up any benchmarking applications. That’s right; somehow, Windows installer was corrupted when I decided to remove all the bloatware to be removed to be able to run benchmark applications. Programs like Microsoft trial software, Norton Internet Security, etc. As soon as this was done, I tried installing Worldbench…no go. I tried manually starting the service, it would hang and shut down giving me error messages. I did a restore to RIGHT After I opened the box, and it still had errors. That left me no option but to open up Restore DVD and insert it. The restore process was…interesting. Merely choosing which partition to restore and then hope it did it right? Which, it did –on the third try. I’m not certain if it’s Vista’s fault, or the program configuration – but it did not pre-load all software to “out of box” state when I tried to select this choice. I didn’t call the 24 hour Tech assistance on this matter, but I did for an additional, after all, installing drivers and software isn’t the hardest move to make.

It’s difficult to judge a program on specs alone, and easy benchmarks assist gather what the program price tag and components mean towards the end user. We’ve developed a somewhat standard testing methodology which is often read HYPERLINK “http://www.laptoplogic.com/about/test/” t “_blank” here. Obviously, those numbers will mean nothing if we do not have reference laptops and software to go concerning the testing. The last system we reviewed that compares to these hardware specs will be the Alienware m9750 and also the HP HDX Dragon – but at nearing 8 and 10 months old, these systems represent a different price segment and overall performance ratio to what is offered these days. So, even though numbers represent a lot, it is important to note that with any technology device, 4 months from now, it could be old news, or the following greatest budget gaming program.

Battery Overall performance Watching a standard DVD use gained 1 hour and 27 minutes of runtime – really acceptable for any 17”, and when running in a moderate power setting scheme, I managed to squeeze 2 hours and 17 minutes from the machine – which, for any 17” multimedia laptop computer – is fairly awesome.

Heat really wasn’t a problem, but then again, I wasn’t resting this laptop on my lap that often as the weight did become a little on the heavy side after 10 or so minutes. Noise was drastically apparent only whilst running our extreme test runs. While viewing a Blu-Ray DVD, the machine hummed along nicely, only exhibiting a lot of any fuss when heavily navigating within the menus. The HD tuner produced awesome color reproduction and little to no tearing when watching complete action sequences, nevertheless – the reception was a little lacking (as expected from a desk antennae). The manufacturers should cord was twice as lengthy and had extension feet so it could sit on a window sill simpler. The magnetic base was cool though, my office garbage container looked like R2-D2 for awhile. Audio / Movie input I searched everywhere in the manual and all it states on how to use this is “you must buy the included TVtuner hardware / software package to utilize this feature”…which, I’m sure I have. But even an experienced tech user as myself, I couldn’t find any program to choose “video input”. WMC offered Tv input, but no configuration for A/V in. So, I thought I would try calling their at all hours hour technical support line. Who knows, perhaps somebody there can assist me which program I’m missing from my re-installation procedure – following all, I only have so a lot time having a unit to see results for yourself and if I had been a typical “customer” – I would be within the same scenario anyways simply because if I wanted to install anything correct, I would have had to do the same steps as above.

Technical Assistance… So I called and entered ‘notebook complex support’, and I waited. 10 minutes passed prior to somebody answered. I then told the technician my model amount and what I wanted to do. He then asked for my telephone number so he could call me back again. Not even a slight of words – that was his first response. I was like; “you want my telephone amount to call me back again? ….” and also the technician simply restated he required my phone amount to call me back again. Then asked for my first name and also the model number after which asked again what I was trying to complete.

What? Ok. So after this was completed, the technician hung up and I was left to wait. And I waited…and waited. After 2 days, I completed this review – no one had called me back again yet. So, I can’t comment on this section, but I so want to. One thing I can comment on – is that Asus complex assistance, wasn’t great. In fact, I’m not sure it exists whatsoever for telephone calls, but perhaps their e-ticket system functions much better. Conclusion You’ve 17” that can operate as a DTR or a laptop, a complete HD display, next gen optical format, plenty of hard drive room, a speedy program and excellent accessories, and besides the less than stellar 3D gaming performance on the physical side of things – I give it a highly suggested for it is feature set. Granted, you could choose a few high end elements in some other similar sized systems from other PC manufacturers (SSD, SLI graphics, xtreme clocked chips) but for that price and performance and the inclusion of the HDTV tuner, I’d need to say it is a fairly decent value.

However…restoring a new laptop to be able to install items usually was a large turn-off, and the assistance department requirements to pick up where their “warranty claims” start – that is actually fairly impressive in writing, and is one cause why I would have extremely recommended this unit for mobile users. They offer Zero Bright dot insurance for your LCD show for that very first 30 days, and if you drop, spill on, crack, manage to light the unit on fire, or lose your personal computer to some energy surge, they claim to replace or repair the unit…however, following what I’ve encountered with a simple question of ways to get video input working…I am not certain I can attest to it. I’m sorry, but assistance plays a big part for me (particularly when something goes wrong!), and if the service isn’t there from the reviewers end (thus far), I can’t recommend it for a consumer end.

Unfortunately, the hardships I encountered in the get go, and complex service I received – knocks the unit’s rating from an otherwise 4.5 to three.5 – it is a completely featured laptop computer yes, and the price is amazing for it’s feature set – but if you are likely to tout your assistance / complex assistance, you better follow via – if you’re comfortable with that said, at a on the internet price at around $1,800 there is a really good 17″ multimedia device full of functions on your hands – and does get a “recommended” award – but only once you learn what you’re buying, and what you’re not.

Bottom Line: A complete featured laptop computer with lots of hard drive space, a striking full HD display married having a blu-ray drive and HDMI output, plus nearly every connection you would need, it’s really an mobile entertainment / productivity machine – and if you get past some of the lackluster 3D overall performance, and complex assistance response (if needed) there is a truly nicely rounded multimedia laptop, completely featured, along with a nice price tag.

These days we’ll be looking at the MSI Wind (U100) netbook. This 10” netbook sets some feature standouts at a very nice cost point. It has Bluetooth, Wirless b/g/n, LED backlighting, and this design sports the hefty 6-c ell battery pack – toting it’s battery life to nearly 6 several hours (3 more than the 3-cell). Obviously, the standard now for Netbooks is the Intel Atom CPU – but other variables can occur. This model has 1 GB of RAM, a 160gb difficult drive, and came with a good little carrying pouch.

The MSI Wind – which they’ve coined as a acronym for “Wi-Fi Network Device” is the latest Netbook offering from MSI. This 10” LCD display netbook comes in a couple of different configurations and colors – our design we ordered is the “white” model (not the Love edition possibly which has fun small heart design all more than it) and sports some decent sex appeal. The LCD bezel is not as well large, the latchless LCD style is always a plus. There’s a simple row of LED lights to tell you the status of normal network / HDD operation and it functions a unibody touchpad button (which, is some thing to discuss later)

The size for this netbook is comparable, if not nearly identical to most other netbooks available measuring in at 10.23″ x 7.08″ – using the height ranging from .75” – 1.25” with the battery at the back. It’s a little larger than some, mostly as a result of 6-cell battery, which also means it’s somewhat substantially heavier than some at 2.6lbs. The battery however, protrudes downwards helping in providing air circulation / heat dissipation which isn’t poor. It also raises the keyboard to a much more comfortable typing angle. All great things, but the size is notably bigger, but the gains are worthwhile i think.

The keyboard on the MSI wind is really really tactile. It offered great travel distance and also the noise was minimal. The layout is very familiar, with the only gripes from the crowd possibly not used towards the function key where it is. You can’t win them all – but I have no real complaints against they keyboard. It’s a plus that it is white as nicely, (not backlit) but it provided better visibility in extreme dark areas. There was some flex, but not in the amounts that would merit it poor. I did notice nevertheless that the keys in some areas were taller than other people (corners, edges) and had been really, very close to hitting the LCD, time will tell how wel this holds up to the abuse bloggers / travelers will put it via, but my thoughts is that it’ll hold well.

Becoming LED backlit, the LCD on the MSI wind carries a 1024×600 resolution and it has a matte finish. The color push about the MSI seems to be slightly green – but much more importantly, the viewing angles about the MSI Wind is amazing in comparison to similar netbooks. I was successful to have almost 180 degree left to right without having severe color shifting, and even though it was not glossy, the color representation was really good. You will get darker and better “contrast” with a glossy display (as within the Aspire 1) however the tradeoffs are that it produces extreme glare, and from what I have observed, very limited viewing angles.

The contrast is really a bit low, but that isn’t a large concern for a netbook – since it contains no optical drive to fully take advantage of video content (although, you are able to watch video on it, but not optical media).

The MSI Wind, a lot with other netbooks, offers some consideration as to how you intend to use the unit for it is connectivity installed. Most if not all netbooks provide at least one USB 2. port but anything after that is sort of as much as the manufacturers.

On the left, you’ve a couple of USB a couple of. ports and also the poser connection.

The correct houses one more USB a couple of. Port, a 4-1 card reader, microphone in, audio out, VGA out, and an Ethernet port. It’s fairly simply for exterior ports.

Nevertheless, it is sometimes whats inside that matters to most. Using the Wind, this models sports a chance to connect via B/G/ or the new N standard for wireless networks. It also has Bluetooth built in – benefiting from not utilizing usb port spot for utilizing Bluetooth devices that might require a dongle. It’s something that I believe ought to be about the priority of the netbook crowd – purchase one that will fit your current or future needs, not based on price alone.

Upgrading is feasible, but not without having seemingly voiding some kind of warranty. The RAM and Hard drive could be upgraded, but a lot further than that isn’t possible. Once again, these netbooks are created for a purpose, and modifying past these thresholds often isn’t beneficial, and down correct dangerous. There’s a small following of how to overclock the Atom processor using software program, which we will cover in the future

We take a various approach to testing these specialized machines and is outlined on our “How We Test page” located at http://www.laptoplogic.com/about/test/ We try to run the tests in being a controlled environment / variables as possible. But, occasionally we’re limited to the software / hardware provided. In this example, Windows XP is loaded about the machine, giving us regular benchmark programs to be run.

WorldBench 6: 33

Considering the raw power required by a few of these tests, and the paltry processor and specifications supplied – a score of this nature isn’t surprising, but it’s notable to see that it may do a number of the intensive application check runs (although a lot slower) If you intend on doing heavy Photoshop or audio rendering, be prepared to possibly have extreme patience, or a various laptop / computer in mind.

With a hefty six cell battery powering the 10” LED backlit netbook – this thing seemed to last for ages. Granted, not as long as the preposterous near 9 hours using the x200 – but trying to do only so little things efficiently for almost 6 hours was tiring. I adore computers, but when points go on for that long, my eyes hurt, my hands are sore, and usually I’ve got a neck cramp from becoming hunched over.

Maximum: Running on maximum backlighting, both wireless modes on (Bluetooth) and max volume – I managed just over 4 several hours and 20 minutes of battery life.

Medium: With the backlight to 75%, Bluetooth disabled, and volume at 75% I ticked just more than 5 several hours and 25 minutes of actual world usage.

Low: With the backlight on its lowest setting, wireless completely off, and no volume – I managed somehow to finish read that e-novel I’ve always aspired to and squeezed 6 several hours and a few momemts out of it. 6 several hours is quite a while, make no doubts about it, I wouldn’t trade this sort of battery life on a netbook for anything, weight and size aside of it, it makes it a true road worthy companion.

DVD watching is not truly an choice since these carry no optical drives – nevertheless, you are able to load an image of your legal DVD onto the machine to watch, that is precisely what I did. Following 5 hours and 10 minutes on full volume and full brightness, the MSI Wind went to sleep hinting that I ought to turn it on. That was two runs of the exact same movie…needless to say that if you want to watch a movie first, then do some spreadsheets and writing later on that cross country flight, you’re a lot more than welcomed to, and most likely have some battery left over whenever you land to check those annoying email requests you can’t handle till you get to your office anyways.

Using the MSI wind was a good addition to my really busy life. The major gripes that include utilizing this device may be the lag the processor occasionally inhibits when attempting to multi-task some things, but that’s expected in the unit once in awhile with this CPU. An additional gripe I have is with the touchpad – there appears to be some discrepancy of which touchpad the MSI wind will arrive with – some coming using the Synaptics touchpad with gesture manage, and the Sentelic touchpad – that is what this unit came with. I’m not a true fan of any touchpad, although some are superior to other people, the touchpad on most any netbook leaves some thing to be desired. Much more so, the odd control of how the “scroll” functions work with this touchpad leave something to be possibly learned or adjusted to. I found it as well sensitive, wary, and unmanageable at times, and at others, it worked as prescribed. An external mouse is highly recommended (Bluetooth can work from the box with this netbook, rejoice and save usb port spot!)

The display estate at 10” was just large enough to do precisely what I wanted to do with said unit – it typed nicely, it showed pictures relatively nicely – web surfing was easy and watching the couple of ISO dvd’s I’ve made for such testing somewhat fun. And becoming that the processor is fairly thermally efficient, placing it on my lap, hand, or any odd place it seemed to accomplish just fine. Noise was minimal on this unit (unlike some other netbooks I’ve run into e.g Aspire 1) and the fan was never greater than a louder hum when things had been truly put to the test for the unit.

Once again, when obtaining a netbook, look for the features it has and also the battery life. I’ve opted to review the 6-cell version, and whilst I’m certain the 3-cell carries yet features, it is apparently just that a lot much more worthy of getting along rather than my 15.4” widescreen that barely creeps over a couple of hours of battery existence. Having Bluetooth built in, and pairing it with my cell phones data strategy was a snap, and even though a tad slower than the coffee shop Wi-FI available, offered me piece of mind that I wasn’t getting snooped on (as easily anways).

The noticeable improvements can come from the webcam and speakers. The MSI Wind has the least desireable speakers as netbooks I’ve heard, and also the webcame was very unresponsive. Than the Lenovo S10, and Aspire One – the Wind’s webcam offered less detail, much more motion blur, and also the worst colour rendition of all. This may deter those who will be using it on the highway for video conferencing, but for me, was moot for that cost and performance and casual use it will obtain. But it’s definitely some thing to think about.

Overall – a worthy netbook, nothing spectacular about the specs as it matches nearly each other netbook out there, but having a decent hard drive configuration, Bluetooth, Wireless N, and 6-cell choices to boot. It might look dull on the outside of, but it’s sometimes what’s inside that count, and for this little 10” netbook – the LED LCD with amazing viewing angles, great connectivity, and a nice keyboard all suit you perfectly. 1 thing I don’t like is if I want to add Ram, I void my warranty – arrive on, let’s skip the drama and let individuals do what they should be do. Asus learned, and I’m assuming MSI will be correct behind them.

10”, LED, Bluetooth and good keyboard are the standouts on this machine. It makes a excellent blogging / classroom companion. Something a lot more than that and you should look at something a little bigger with faster components.

Introduce myself to the new Area-51 m15x from Alienware. Tagged for mixing their legendary performance with impressive mobility, it is a 15.4 gaming laptop that when configured properly can knock close to $5,000. When we very first got wind of this machine, we were worried that Dell’s conservative take to design would dilute the futuristic flash and style that Alienware has been recognized to supply. In true LaptopLogic form read on to learn if looks and overall performance match our intuition.

Silver and only silver, thats the fist thing youll discover with the m15x. The case wasn’t some thing that impressed us much and given Alienware’s reputation for edgy style (almost Giger-esque), we found the silver lid with obligatory blue-eyed alien head to be, well…boring. Having reviewed Alienware machines before, we were always fond of their blue exterior option. This new lid is a silver panel, with a seam starting from the bottom to two-thirds up the lid, where it is broken by the ambiguous alien head. Granted, the texture and quality of the material used was spot on babys behind smooth, but also too plain for what had been utilized to.

One notable negative to the build-quality from the m15x was the creaks and groans. Let’s just say James Bond wouldn’t use this laptop if he was hiding in the rafters. Just moving the lid, even prior to the lids angle is adjusted, emits a creaky staircase noise (think 40s horror flick sound). What makes the matter worse, is it doesn’t make much difference where you grip the lid. However, we have a theory behind the creakswe’re attributing this towards the LED lighting built into the rim from the lid. Being somewhat boring about the exterior, Alienware opted to deliver an attractive blue border to their monitor, even though the additional parts signifies a lot more chances for frictionand a lot more friction signifies a lot more noise.

The 86-key keyboard has a pleasant blue LED area of light that surrounds every crucial and features excellent really feel while keeping perfect key travel and ample space for big hands. However, flex was an issue (although isolated). We noticed a fair amount of keyboard flex, but only towards the dead center from the keyboard, which only significantly affected half-dozen keys or so.

The display was astounding having a native resolution at 1920×1200, and being a 15.4″ WUXGA display was plenty sufficient pixels per inch. Although we did discover the monitor seemed to produce a softer image than most displays at this resolution. However, this may be a much better thing because it made it easier to stare at the screen for longer durations.

The whole kit will take up approximately 14.55″ x 10.73, and weighs in at around seven pounds. Compare this towards the HP Pavilion DV6700t series, that is slightly smaller (14.05″ x 10.12″) and weighs around 6.12 pounds.

The weight, nevertheless, can differ slightly based on what drive you’re placing within the Smart Bay. Youre choices can range from a 2x Blu-ray Disc Burner, secondary 300 GB difficult drive, or an additional Li-Ion battery. One thing we certainly like about the m15x is that all 3 of these devices are hot-swappable and could be totally changed in close to 10 seconds or so.

Alienware did an excellent job supplying connections for the m15x. It carries the latest internal Intel a/b/g/n wireless card, which is something we really feel is a requirement provided the machines cost.

Even although this machine screams at the performance and cost tag level, we’re glad to note that while the fan noise of the m15x is audible, it doesnt scream at you (thankfully). The heat generated by the laptop is only uncomfortable under the area to the right of the palmrest. It does get warm after hours of use, even though it is within expected limits, particularly with a 8800m GTX and Core2Extreme CPU under there.

Alienware gives you lots of manufacturer choices for upgrading the m15x, and luckily your base Alienware could be configured for very less than ours. So you do have several choices – our unit came maxed out with 4 GB of DDR2 RAM running at 667 MHz, and that’s the most you will get out of both Dual-Channel slots.

The glorious gloat power this machine carries is the huff and puff power behind the monitor that is an awesome NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX video card carrying a generous 512 MB of discrete memory. Yes, this card has mega-performance, and yes, it does are able to truly suck your battery dry like a cold lemonade on a hot summer day. Nevertheless, Alienware thought of this and included a feature known as BinaryGFX which can allow video to run off of integrated memory only truly saving you some battery time on those long business journeys. Enabling this function nevertheless, demands a program restart, but the advantages are certainly worth it.

An additional option you are able to opt for is really a Media Center remote manage, enables you to watch Blu-ray movies or connect an HDTV tuner and control via the IR port in the front.

The AlienFX technology (obtainable through the Command Center) enables you to change the color of the lid border, keyboard, touchpad border, and all associated lights depending on what program you’re running. Not within the mood for alien blue? Ready to heat up the night and kick it to red light district? Lucky you, you can with this feature, and this may make it easier to find your m15x in dark rooms. We give it a nod for interesting technologies, even though we’d trade it in a heartbeat for a weight reduction and better component fit.

Other neat extras include alien writing about the bottom of the laptop computer, complete with an aluminum nameplate with the name of the purchaser. This would be an excellent concept to establish ownershipnow if only the nameplate wasn’t affixed by four easy-to-remove screws wed be sold like true stockholders.

Stealth power management is really a feature that may encourage you to purchase the system even if the price tag and drab silver didnt. The m15x running at normal sucks 70 watts of energy which is a lot of energy for a notebook. But, with just a click of a mouse button, you enable Stealth and use BinaryGFX to move to integrated graphics, thus cutting that energy usage to a mere 30 watts. Stealth also throttles the 2.8 GHz Core2Xtreme back a bit, and in return you get a much improved lifespan.

ooray for some thing much better than a 1.3mp LCD webcam. The webcam about the m15x is really a 2. MegaPixel webcam mounted above the LCD, and even although the overall image high quality was good, it lacked a chance to manually reposition itself, a function that much lower end / cheaper laptops include. For numerous this isn’t a significant deterrent, but it’s worth mentioning and Ive usually hurrahed to see a step up from the ubiquitous 1.3 MP webcam technology towards the clearer 2. MP. How frequently you use these things, can be you however.

There’s lots of adore for this version of Alienware, its size factor and perfect blend of power and mobility will appeal to many. Pairing the lightning-fast Core2Duo Xtreme processor having a speedy 512 MB 8800m GTX video card and 4 GB of RAM – it makes for a very quick, really satisfying laptop experience, that is often reserved for larger notebooks, or even mid-range desktops.

Nevertheless, the base point starts at $1,799, and like Mt Everest can climb to unreachable heights for many consumers, nearing our model price at $4,808.00. Granted our m15x came with all the current extras, like a seconday difficult drive, Blu-ray disc burner, and an additional battery. We adore the addition of an HDMI port, and we believe its recommended to connect your laptop to your home theater, an option that’s a little tougher to get within the competition, and were guessing you have ample fun toys to connect that HDMI port when you can buy this laptop. Simply stated, If you are in the market for a high-class gaming laptop computer, have the money to spend, and love the new Alienware style, this is a superb buy.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 is a big, pretty capable and extremely stylish multimedia notebook offering. The glossy 16-inch widescreen is impressively large, as may be the multitouch capable touchpad. Throw in an Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz processor, 4GB RAM, a 320GB HDD, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce G105M GPU and you’ve got yourself some respectable internals to choose the gorgeous externals. And did we mention the weight is only 5.6lbs, and felt like much less? If only the cost were a little lower and also the keyboard a little larger, this laptop computer would have some pretty higher marks all close to.

Lenovo has clearly put some time into the feel of the Y650. The black, subtly honeycombed matte lid is smooth to the contact and easy on the eyes, with nothing marring it conserve a silver Lenovo logo within the bottom correct corner. Above the glossy LCD a black webcam is embedded within the bezel, and also the entire show is surrounded by an attractive copper trim. The keyboard is totally white, with a set of JBL speakers and several buttons surrounding the strangely recessed keyboard (much more on that later). Above the keyboard lie a couple of touch buttons in black, and below it may be the nicely oversized touchpad. The touchpad and wrist rests are also white as well as the IdeaPad logo in the bottom correct corner glows white. The only other color besides white here may be the copper trim close to the base and the copper function accents about the keyboard keys.

The IdeaPad Y650 does an superb job of becoming big without becoming either bulky or heavy, and for that it should be commended. With dimensions of 15.4” x 10.2” x 1.0” it almost, but not quite, achieves MacBook-like slimness. It does this despite having a 16-inch display when compared to MacBook’s 15-incher and only weighing a tenth of the pound more at 5.6 lb. It’s obviously pretty wide compared to standard aspect ratio 14-15 inch laptops, but if you know what size laptop computer you’re getting you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the pounds and thickness of this laptop computer. Considering its size, we were really impressed using the portability.

With a laptop this big you are able to usually expect a big keyboard. Personally, I’m a fan of dedicated numberpads if they’d like to fit comfortably, and also the 16-inch form factor is about where you begin to see them appear. Nevertheless, Lenovo has decided to play tricks with our mind here, taking a keyboard you may see inside a 14” laptop computer and literally shoving it towards the really best of the available keyboard room, giving the whole thing a fairly scrunched look. We can realize having less a numberpad, as they aren’t terribly typical, but had been disappointed to see shrunken keys (like correct shift and tab) with so much available room.

The shrunken backspace even went in terms of to make an annoying springing noise each time we touched it, as if it weren’t very settled into its slot. On the flipside, the touchpad is wonderfully large, as well as boasts some basic pinch-me multitouch functionality. The keyboard and touchpad are each comfy to make use of, with somewhat flex in the center and a comfortable gridded feeling respectively. Finally, a couple of push and touch-sensitive buttons casually surround the keyboard on three sides. The features are nice, but we’re not sure why Lenovo included two different and redundant ways to adjust volume or call up OneKey. We’ll explain much more beneath.

The display company’s Y650 is well above average. The LED backlit display is bright and helps fight the glare of the glossy display, which makes the colors sharp. There’s even a button to set the display to “movie mode” with brighter colors still. Horizontal viewing angles are great, even though distortion sets in a small sooner than we’d like on such a media-centric unit. Vertical viewing angles are fine though, especially from beneath.

You cannot shed pounds without producing some sacrifices, and the connectivity is a little weaker than we would have hoped. However, we cannot say Lenovo was lacking for creativity, going so far in their space saving measures as to load the DVD tray in the front. Addititionally there is HDMI and eSATA, which we’re always happy to determine.

The left side from the unit contains the energy jack, followed by the HDMI and VGA ports. 1 of the 2 (yes, there’s only 2) USB ports follows this, and then you’ll find the fan exhaust.

The correct side features an Ethernet port, Expresscard34 slot (no 54), eSATA, audio in/out and also the last USB port.

The front from the laptop computer sports the DVD drive and a wireless on/off switch, with a few status lights in in between.

The back is bereft of ports as the show hinges downward, covering it entirely when in use.

The Y650 has an all-in-one bottom plate you must remove to access the internals, which makes it simple to do big upgrades, but kind of the pain to do little ones. Our laptop was more or less the high end from the Y650s on Lenovo’s site, but it is feasible to tick down the processor to some P8600 and get 3GB RAM on 32bit Vista if you wish to conserve $100. You could also opt for integrated graphics, but currently it won’t conserve you a dollar (thanks to some Lenovo sale), so we do not recommend this unless you’re insanely concerned about battery existence. There doesn’t seem to be a way to get a higher resolution display or bigger battery, each of which would be good additions.

The IdeaPad Y650 comes loaded with Veriface facial recognition technology, which essentially lets you capture an image of your face with the integrated webcam and use it rather than password to login. The feature is cool and very easy and quick to use, but in extreme cases it can still be hacked just like a password, so it is no reason to be careless if you store sensitive material on your laptop. The Y650 also comes using the front loading DVD drive, which we’re counting as a function just for its uniqueness.

Other good functions include the enormous touchpad, measuring 4.4 x 2.5-inches, which Lenovo boasts is the largest on any laptop. There’s a touch slider at the very top which brings up a menu composed of Easy Capture, Ready Connect, Veriface and OneKey. There is also a touch button to switch between “movie mode” and “regular” and next to that, a touch button to call up Dolby sound software. There are physical buttons on either side from the keyboard, but aside from the power button they only let you adjust volume and call up OneKey. OneKey could be run from the slider and the volume is also a function function on the regular keyboard, so we suspect these buttons were only set up to take your mind off the fact the keyboard is so scrunched.

Considering the general use battery existence, the Y650 did not do as well badly here, comparing reasonably nicely to multimedia laptops like the HDX and FW270. This test was conducted with the brightness and sound-boosting movie mode enabled too. Nevertheless, it might be nice to actually finish a movie prior to the (instead irritating) low battery warning starts to chirp.

In general use, the IdeaPad ran cool and fairly quiet, even during DVD playback. It felt surprisingly light and also the large widescreen in conjunction with the helpful “movie mode” was excellent for watching media. The relatively short battery existence did not prove problematic for us, although we never tried to take it on the road beyond going towards the office and back. With an external mouse along with a USB thumb stick in tow it was worrying that there were no other USB options, and we anticipate trouble for those used to leaving their printer plugged in at home or charging electronics in a spare port. The recessed keyboard design also had the unfortunate side effect of extending the palm rests, which is less than comfortable. Nevertheless it was weirder than it was awkward and did not affect typing as much as the shrunken keys themselves did.

The IdeaPad Y650 is surprisingly powerful for a laptop whose energy isn’t a selling point. From a beautiful thin design to a large screen and wonderfully little weight, the IdeaPad is stylishly created for multimedia. Obviously, you cannot have your cake and eat it too, so the IdeaPad is a bit skimpy on battery life and ports. It’s not exactly skimpy on price although, with our model costing a total of around $1400 whilst presently on sale. But if you’re making MacBook comparisons, it suddenly does not look so bad does it?

Welcome to our full review on the Sony VAIO FW-270j. This multimedia powerhouse sports a glossy and HD-ready 16.4” display, complete with 16:9 aspect ratio. It easily handles HD input/output via the standard Blu-ray player and HDMI port. It also functions an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz to go along with an ample 4GB RAM and 320GB HDD. Though a small heavy and short on battery life, the FW-270j is reasonably priced for its capabilities and will meet most (it not exclusively) your multimedia needs with style.

Sony enjoys putting a little emphasis on style, and the FW-270j is no exception. The minimalist design features a sleek silver chassis. The webcam peers out at you from its reflective gray housing, but that is virtually the one thing marring the fluid silver. Below the display on either side you will find large hinges, the rightmost hinge sporting a glowing green band which lights up when the computer is on. In between the hinges lies the big speaker bay and some small media control buttons, colored silver obviously. The keyboard is given a generous border, and aside from a little VAIO logo and a few unsightly stickers you’ll find nothing but a well camouflaged trackpad about the big palmrest. 1 stylistic option that disagreed with us nevertheless was the lid. It’s black with a large silver VAIO logo at the center, which is fine, but we can’t realize why Sony chose to abandon the sleek look by giving it a grainy matte finish which was uncomfortable to the touch.

For a 16.4” laptop the Fw-270j is actually fairly compact, measuring just 1.1” thick at the tip and 1.5” at the hinge. The overall dimensions of 15.1 x 10.3 x 1.1-1.5” are reasonable for the form factor. The weight is 6.4lbs, which is respectable for a laptop of that size. However, while it wasn’t overly cumbersome ultimately, we still thought twice about carrying the laptop with us when we first decided to carry it outside the house. We imagine this is a laptop you won’t mind moving if you want to, but that you won’t bother moving very far when you don’t.

After typing about the keyboard for an extended period of time, we would rate it as excellent on looks and decent on performance. The black pebble design reminds us of Macs, and is certainly a stylistic plus that fits in well with the minimalist decor. The keyboard lacked a numeric pad despite ample real estate, but compensated slightly by spacing out the keys so much. The stroke of 2mm isn’t bad, but it falls short of a number of the nicer keyboards we’ve tested lately like those about the ThinkPad series. The keys were quiet under our fingers. We also liked the trackpad, with a smooth touch that remained comfortable during continued usage.

Despite feeling slightly miffed by the “Full HD 1080p” sticker about the front, the glossy 1600×900 LCD was bright and clear. Just to clarify, 1600×900 is HD-friendly but it’s only 720p (Sony explains that it’s only 1080p “when connected to a compatible HDTV”, which basically means you should use it as a Blu-ray player). The back lighting was very bright on maximum settings, which helped fight off the glare of the glossy screen. The big display has excellent horizontal viewing angles, making it possible for multiple people to very easily watch a video concurrently. The vertical angles aren’t quite as good, but are still decent.

The FW270j isn’t overloaded with ports, but it’ll do everything most laptops do and thanks to an HDMI port, a few things most can’t. As for connectivity options, practically nothing like a WWAN here but 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth make connecting a breeze.

The back of the laptop is empty of ports, as it’s reserved for the display sliding back on its hinge.

The left side contains the power jack and an exhaust fan, followed by the Ethernet and modem ports. Next comes your high end connectivity, with VGA followed by HDMI followed by i.LINK S400 (aka mini FireWire). Last of all, there’s an ExpressCard/34 slot.

The right side is pretty simple, with your inconspicuous unlabeled Blu-ray player followed by all 3 USB ports.

The front features a battery light and a system activity light, followed by a wireless switch, multi-card reader, and eventually by audio in/out as well.

The FW270j already comes with the max 4GB RAM (all usable on 64bit Vista) and a 320GB HDD, although you can upgrade of up to 400GB. 1 point that you might want to upgrade if you are planning on doing some heavy HD work is the processor, which can range up to a 2.80Ghz T9600 Core 2 Duo. But there isn’t a very good point in going too crazy, since there’s no option to obtain a dedicated GPU in there (at least on this model).

The FW270j is a laptop that’s clearly designed for multimedia enjoyment, and to that end the Blu-ray drive, HDMI port and high end display prove a valuable tandem. Next to the set of media control buttons, addititionally there is a button labeled “AV Mode” which calls up Sony’s built in media playing software.

There is also a programmable shortcut button on the other hand of the media control buttons, and an integrated webcam. Sony packs this laptop with software that may help you take your pictures and turn them into a movie or any other sort of presentation. You can also use it as a security camera of sorts which will only film when the camera detects motion.

1 thing we didn’t like that much was the internal speaker. The volume got pretty loud, but the quality of sound failed to impress. For a personal computer designed to play media, we were expecting more.

The VAIO FW270j was generally easy and comfortable to use. The keyboard is spacious and the trackpad is smooth. The size of the laptop felt comfortable resting on our lap. The FW270j ran cool and produced virtually no noise, even when actively playing a Blu-ray disc. Overall performance during casual use was generally snappy too. We generally had no complaints arising from our regular usage, and the coolness/quietness is actually downright impressive.

With an HDMI port, a Blu-ray player and a beautiful and brightly lit 16.4” 16:9 1600×900 HD display, the Sony VAIO FW270j is a laptop designed for multimedia and designed for it well. As good as media looks when played on it, the FW270j itself is no slouch. With a minimalist design featuring an all silver chassis and black pebble keyboard, this laptop is easy on the eyes. It packs an Intel Core 2 Due P8400 2.26GHz along with 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD too, so it’s hardly limited to multimedia use. Although the weight is not excessive for the form factor it’s still a bit heavy to carry around, and the relatively low battery life will further incline you to keep this notebook close to home. Overall, the laptop was easy to use, scoring slightly lower than expected in performance tests but scoring highly in style points to make up for it. Combine that with high end multimedia capabilities and a reasonable price, and you’ve got a laptop worth looking into.