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Laptop Mag's tech support showdown strikes once again
Laptop Magazine's once again done us all a really good turn by running a pretty exhaustive -- yet totally reasonable -- test of the tech support for ten popular companies that produce laptops. Essentially, they placed two call to each outfit's support -- one during peak, one during off-peak hours, and asked them some really basic questions such as "How can I make changes to my notebook's power settings?" Then, they tried to find answers to the same questions via the company's various web-based resources. So, what's the skinny? Well, only Apple got an "A," while Acer, Dell and HP hold the bottom spots with a "C-" score, while everybody else falls somewhere in the middle. The report, is, however, a really fascinating read with far more information than mere letter grades, so please -- click the read link to read the entire, epic tome.
Acer Aspire One AO751h reviewed -- sweet battery life, sad CPU marks
Acer's 11.6-inch netbook -- the Aspire One 751h -- has been available Stateside since mid-May, and Laptop's spent some quality time with it, delivering a full review. Overall, they found the nice, large screen to be welcoming, and the battery life (on their 6-cell configuration) was fantastic -- clocking in at over seven hours. They were, however, pretty disappointed in the 1.22-GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU, finding it to really slow the unit down. They note that other similarly priced models boast better processors, and might be a smarter choice. The Aspire One 751h runs $399 with a 3-cell battery, and $449 for the 6-cell version. Hit up the read link for the full review. One more shot after the break.
Hands-on with Dell's Latitude XT2 tablet
Official word just arrived this morning of Dell's Latitude XT sucessor, the Latitude XT2, and Laptop Magazine's already spent some quality time with the tablet. They note the XT2's aesthetic similarity to the previous model, but point out a few standout upgrades, most notably the 12.1-inch LED backlit capacitive touch-screen, which they say is significantly brighter than the last iteration, and the up to 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ULV SU9400 CPU (with a Montevina chipset). They also point out that the finger navigations are "smooth as butter" -- but hit the read link for full details and video of the tablet in action. The Latitude XT2 is going to have a starting price of $2,399.
CTL's mini IL1PC gets mini-reviewed
The folks over at Laptop Magazine have gotten their mitts on CTL's latest edition to the ever-growing field of ultraportables, the IL1PC (or as we like to call it, the Airis Kira 740), and have given it the once over. The system is built atop VIA's 1GHz C7-M CPU, has 1GB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, and uses Windows XP as its OS. Obvious comparisons to ASUS's Eee abound, though Laptop was impressed with its slick design and small footprint, and felt that it excelled at simple tasks like web browsing and email. Things weren't so smooth when it came to video playback, as graphics-intensive duties led to choppy behavior. Head over to the full review to get all the ins and outs, as well as some handsome pics.
Sprint's Sanyo M1 gets reviewed
The Sanyo M1's unusually husky appearance might lead one to believe that it's the be-all, end-all solution to meet the world's high-function musicphone needs, but LAPTOP Magazine recently had an opportunity to put the clamshell through its paces -- and unfortunately, it turns out that carrying 1GB of internal storage in your phone isn't all fun and games. Though a solid gigabyte of space for music is all well and good, many folks consider that just a good start on their way to, say, 3 or 4GB in total. Problem is, the M1 lacks any sort of expansion slot, and we've got to agree with LAPTOP's conclusion that it's a nearly unforgivable oversight. Though the large external display, music controls, and A2DP are nice, they found that the phone's 2 megapixel shooter fell short with mediocre picture quality and an autofocus mechanism that took far too long to operate (and also far too long to disable). Add to that a cramped keyboard and internal display, a beefy 0.9 inches of girth, and the fact that the also-new Samsung m610 looks a good deal hotter for less dough, and... well, the M1's prognosis ain't great. So, owners (and secret admirers): what are your thoughts on Sanyo's latest effort?[Thanks, Jennifer]
Manhattan adventures with a 20-inch "laptop"
Those crazies over at LAPTOP Magazine got it in their heads to do a bit of social experimentin' with one of Dell's 18 pound XPS M2010 monstrosities. They lugged the 20-inch system through the subway, a Starbucks and a park in search of reactions from Manhattanites, and while we won't spoil all the surprises, the fact that they even got noticed on the subway is quite a testament to the fact that this thing just doesn't belong off a desk. (We even got mugged and beaten for our RAZR one time, and not a person batted an eye.) In summary, you'd have to be a bit off your rocker -- and/or an editor at a consumer tech magazine with way too much free time -- to attempt a portable lifestyle with the M2010, but we're guessing you could've figured that one out one your own.
Dell Latitude D820 with Core 2 Duo reviewed
Somehow those good ol' boys down in Texas got sneaky on us -- while we were busy getting ready for Labor Day, Dell went and updated the Latitude, Inspiron, and XPS series with Core 2 Duo chips. Laptop took the new bumped Dell Latitude D820 for a spin and wasn't dissappointed. This spiffy new laptop topped the charts on the magazine's MobileMark 2005 test with an all-time high score of 308. Further tests showed that the Core 2 Duo scored high marks when processing more information at a time, such as running a virus scan while ripping a CD: the Core 2 Duo machine scanned 15,446 items and ripped the CD in 8 minutes 32 seconds while the Core Duo scanned 2,579 items and ripped the same CD in 6 minutes 36 seconds. We're still waiting to see if Apple will follow Dell's lead -- maybe that's what's happening next week in San Francisco?
Sony's Blu-ray-equipped Vaio AR laptop reviewed
Surely one of the most highly-anticipated notebooks of the year, Sony's Blu-ray-sporting Vaio VGN-AR190G offers a lot of compelling features for HD buffs on paper -- 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA+ Xbrite display, HDMI out (cable and DVI-adapter included), 200GB worth of storage, and of course that high definition optical drive -- but specs don't mean much if the machine can't perform in the real world. Thus we've been eagerly awaiting the first reviews of this 8.4-pound, 17-inch model, and much to our delight, it seems to work almost exactly as advertised. Laptop magazine was lucky enough to get a pre-release unit for putting through the old benchmark torture test, and came away very impressed with the high resolution, anti-glare screen and video output quality, pretty impressed with the performance of the 2.0GHz T2500 Core Duo CPU and nVidia GeForce Go 7600 GT graphics, and not all that impressed with the 2-hour battery life, inconveniently-placed trackpad/mouse buttons, and pokey 1.0x Blu-ray burning speed. Still, the simple fact that you can burn to an HD optical disc at all puts the AR190G in a class by itself and makes it more attractive than Toshiba's Qosmio G35-AV650 with read-only HD DVD, but Laptop still feels that even the burner and the better screen don't quite justify the extra $500 you'll have to thrown down for the Sony.
HP's Compaq nc2400 ultraportable notebook reviewed
You may have missed that Compaq nc2400 ultraportable business laptop among the slew of notebooks we reported on yesterday, but according to Laptop magazine, those on a budget looking to travel light should probably give the 3.6-pound (with battery) model from HP a second look. You can't really expect stellar performance or a satisfying gaming experience from an ultraportable that starts at only $1,600, and benchmarking indicates that even with the fastest available Core Solo processor (the 1.2GHz U1400), this model may falter when attempting any serious multitasking. On the plus side, battery life seems to be very good, clocking in at almost six hours with the standard six-cell battery and about nine with an optional nice-cell model. You also get a combination DVD reader / CD burner, fingerprint scanner, and built-in accelerometer to lock the drive heads in the event of a fall, but unfortunately no trackpad (just the nub) or extras like 3G and Bluetooth connectivity (WiFi is still present of course). All-in-all, if you don't mind the relatively pokey processor and integrated graphics, and are fairly adept at navigating a computer using just the pointing nub, then the nc2400 seems like a pretty good way to shave some pounds from your travel gear.
