October 30, 2012

Best-of-Breed Ultraportable IBM ThinkPad X220

Lenovo's X-series laptops have always been high-end ultraportable machines for business travelers who need to work on the go with a Lenovo ThinkPad R500 battery minimum amount of compromise. The X220 continues this tradition and adds a few new twists at the same time. The biggest design change is a move to a 12.5-inch display--a very unusual size. This allows the chassis to be a tiny bit wider, which in turn leads to a more spacious keyboard, and one that feels very different from that of just about any other laptop on the market.
Lenovo ThinkPad X220

The keyboard is an old-fashioned layout that looks a world away from the sleek black isolation-style keys seen on an HP Envy 17 or Macbook Pro. But it quickly becomes apparent that the keys are excellent for typing on. The keyboard takes up all the available Lenovo ThinkPad R500 AC adapter space, and the large, embossed keys are comfortable.

The unfortunate caveat is that the touchpad is very cramped. The integrated click buttons curve over the palm rest at the bottom and can be awkward to hit. Lenovo has included a TrackPoint pointer as an alternative, but we still found the touchpad easier to navigate.

The X220 managed an incredible nine and a half hours in our light-use test. You’ll be able to work all day without having to reach for the power adaptor. This is partly because the X220 uses Intel’s integrated GPU to power the display, rather than more power-hungry dedicated AMD or Nvidia graphics. It’s fine for high definition video, but not for games – our Dirt 3 test produced an unplayable 14.3fps. You’ll have to drop detail settings or stick to older Lenovo ASM 92P1130 battery titles to get playable frame rates.

The 720p webcam, which supports Skype HD calls, provided crisp but washed out images. Making a Skype call from our dimly lit living room, our facial features were clearly visible, but colors were muted. Under bright overhead lighting, details were sharper, but had way too high of a white balance at both auto modes; tinkering with the settings didn't help. At one point during our testing, the webcam even stopped working and displayed a black block instead of an image. This problem persisted until we finally powered off the system completely for a few seconds before booting again.

Graphics are courtesy of Intel with their new Intel HD 3000 graphics. That’s perhaps the most exciting part of Sandy Bridge: Intel made significant improvements to integrated graphics Lenovo ThinkPad R500 battery and the Lenovo X220 is thus capable of some decent 3D gaming. The Intel HD 3000 in the X220 scored a respectable 3812 on 3DMark 06. Not bad for a business ultraportable. You can indeed play Left 4 Dead 2 in the hotel room after a long day of meetings (see our gaming video review below).

Connectivity, meanwhile, is excellent, easily at the top of the class for a 12in laptop. On the left we have a single USB 3.0 port, VGA and DisplayPort for analogue and digital video respectively, a second USB port of the slower USB 2.0 variety, and a handy wireless switch. What makes the X220 stand out from the crowd though is the 45mm ExpressCard slot also found here, which can be used to add all kinds of expansions Lenovo ThinkPad R500 adapter and accessories, such as extra eSATA or USB 3.0 ports, or external graphics.

The X220 includes the gamut of wireless connections, including the latest, longer-range Intel WiFi chips, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G (via Gobi), and 4G technologies. It's equipped with a 320GB, 7200rpm hard drive, the fastest spinning hard drives available on ultraportables, with upgrade paths to higher capacities or solid state drives. Otherwise, the three USB ports, Ethernet, and an SD card slot are common finds in most laptops.

Better yet, the X220 can now handle 3D games without a discrete graphics chip, as the integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 is more than 4 times as powerful as the previous iteration, as indicated by 3DMark06 tests (4,083). With more-advanced titles, like Crysis and Lost Planet 2, however, you'll need to crank down the eye-candy.

The textured surface is pleasing to the touch, but Lenovo has foregone separate buttons in order to maximise the size of the touchpad in a very cramped area. The bottom portion of the touchpad wraps around the end of the palm rest, and to click you press on these corners of the pad. Unfortunately Lenovo ASM 92P1130 battery, something's off with the engineering of this: The pad misses clicks all the time, and it makes the cursor stutter badly when you're (subconsciously or not) resting a thumb on the pad as you prepare to click. Great idea, but the execution isn't there.

Posted by: miko at 09:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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October 26, 2012

Asus Eee PC 1008P Seashell (Karim Rashid Collection) Review

The Asus Eee PC Seashell 1008P Karim Rashid Collection netbook, we find a wrinkly Asus Eee PC 1218 AC adapter, rippling textured case top and bottom, replete in a metallic pink gloss. Perhaps not at the forefront of Mr Rashid's mind, those wibbly panels are not just bizarrely tactile for the fingers, but actually aid in the picking up and carrying of the portable, with less chance of slippage from your hand.
Eee PC 1008P Seashell (Karim Rashid Collection) pink
Basic Specifications:
10.1″ 1024 x 600 display;
1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU with Intel NM10, GMA3150;
2GB RAM;
250GB HDD + 500GB ASUS Online WebStorage;
Windows 7 Starter;
Weight: 1.13kg(without the Asus Eee PC 1008P charger);
802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, Gigabit LAN;
2 x USB, 1.3MP webcam, card reader, Mini VGA port, mic and headphone out;
3-cell battery (5.5 hour battery life).

The hot pink model has a shiny metallic finish and possibly won’t be to everyone’s taste, but the coffee brown colour is matte and a bit more restrained. The idea behind the Eee PC 1008P is to turn low-cost ultraportables into fashion accessories(including Asus Eee PC 1005HA charger) and both models are certainly trendy enough to tout around under one arm.

The glare type display can't score and is beaten by its matt colleagues by lengths. The "plate" put in front of it looks great but leaves ugly marks on the screen and annoys with reflections in adverse light conditions.

The chiclet keyboard is winning and only the shift key that turns out a bit too small dampen the picture. The noise and heat development are within an acceptable range, at least in practical use. The touchpad still has a somewhat rough surface but the multi-touch gestures have improved in the meantime.

The textured touchpad is also pretty good, providing plenty of feedback, same good is the Asus Eee PC 1201K charger. It supports multi-touch gestures in Windows 7, as well. We're not normally fans of single 'see-saw' touchpad buttons, but the 1008P's is responsive and easy to use by feel alone.

Apart from a multicard reader and audio ports, the Eee PC 1008P comes with a mini-VGA port. If you flip the Eee PC 1008P upside down, you'll notice a hidden compartment near its spine, inside which sits a mini-VGA to VGA converter--just in case you want to connect the netbook to a projector or external display. Even the battery compartment is pretty sleek and a little displaced from its traditional place near a netbook's spine hinge--you get two interchangeable 3-cell batteries with the Eee PC 1008P.

Intel announced its new Pine View platform for netbooks just before Xmas and CES 2010 was awash with Asus Eee PC 1201T adapter new models that made use of it. The first to hit the Mobile Computer office is the ASUS Eee PC 1008P Seashell Karim Rashid Edition but, as the name suggests, there’s a bit more to this netbook than a new processor. The Intel Pine View platform isn’t much to get excited about, but the Eee PC 1008P that’s wrapped around it is a really nice looking netbook that makes a refreshing change from the plain designs of other manufacturers.

It's fair to say that the 1008P's beauty is only skin-deep. Beneath the flashy surface, it's just another netbook. Inside, it uses an Intel Atom N450 CPU clocked at 1.66GHz, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. A further 500GB of free storage is available via Asus' WebStorage system, which lets you stash your data online.

Asus' Eee PC 1008P Seashell Karim Rashid isn't the best netbook on the market. Arguably, almost any of the other machines in the Seashell range are superior Asus Eee PC 1215 charger. But, if you don't mind its limited battery life, and you really want a netbook that stands out from the crowd, it'll probably be right up your catwalk.

Posted by: miko at 09:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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October 24, 2012

Review Lenovo Thinkpad T410

The T410 has been designed for the use in a low load range with typical tasks like office Lenovo ThinkPad R32 battery or internet applications . The use of Optimus technology helps achieving longer battery runtimes. Otherwise, not much has changed in terms of performance features in comparison to its predecessor. Lenovo uses the upgrade and installs a somewhat brighter display.

Lenovo ThinkPad T410

Quick Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i5 i5-520M / 2.4 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Memory: 2 GB / 8 GB (max)
Hard Drive: 320 GB - Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
Display Type: 14.1 in TFT active matrix
Max Resolution: 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Graphics Processor: PCI Express x16 - NVIDIA NVS 3100M
Optical Drive: Plug-in module DVD-Writer

Having put the latest ThinkPad T410 through its paces, we're hardly surprised by most of the results. ThinkPad has always been renowned for their build quality Lenovo Thinkpad SL500 adapter and durability, and the T410 is no exception. It may not look as stylish as other laptops (depending on your definition of style), but no business user would ever feel bad about carrying around a modern ThinkPad. If you're in the market for a business notebook (or if you run an IT department), you'd be remiss to skip the ThinkPad without at least testing a unit.

The display components have a good torsional stiffness and pressure resistance, even if the display lid unlikely will reach the T400's qualities. It twists a bit when it's picked up at a corner and image distortions turn up on the enabled screen, as well. The hinges yield first before image changes can evolve Lenovo ThinkPad R32 battery under selective pressure. Image falsifications can also be noticed by moderate retention and medium pressure. Additionally, the display bezel yields considerably under pressure, whereas image deviations also become visible.

In regards to viewing angles, the T410 doesn't differ from the reviewed predecessor and thus doesn't really stand out from the majority of laptop competition. Subjectively, the work area can be called wide on the horizontal plane. In return, slightest deviations Lenovo ThinkPad R32 adapter from the ideal, perpendicular viewing angle lead to image changes, perceived as dimming, respectively bleaching and consequently to color misrepresentations.

The update from the T400 to the T410 was more significant than it might have seemed at first glance. In addition to the move to Core i5 (a significant step on its own), the system got a revised chassis, more external ports, an improved trackpad, and more. It probably isn’t enough to have T400 owners giving their computers away but it’s a significant change, especially for people running Vista machines.

Overall, the ThinkPad T410 is certainly an excellent business mobile platform that balances size and performance. The excellent Lenovo ThinkPad R50 adapter Lenovo keyboards and trackpads make it a joy to work on and the long battery life and strong performance are all great features. Of course, the ThinkPad brand does carry a price premium but it is well worth it for many business users.

Posted by: miko at 07:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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October 16, 2012

Lenovo ThinkPad T430 Specs

Despite all the traditions the ThinkPads get frequent overhauls and upgrades Thinkpad power SL400 adapter. After we recently tested the models T530 and W530 we want to discuss the models of the T4xx series from the 2012 generation, more precisely the ThinkPad T430. This succeeds the T420 and will be equipped as well as the other models with the recent Ivy Bridge generation of Intel.

Laptop type Mainstream
Operating system Windows 7
Screen size (diagonal) 14 inches
CPU brand Intel
CPU family Sandy Bridge
Graphics type Integrated
Weight 4.77 pounds(without the 
Thickness 1.18 inches
Integrated GPU model HD Graphics 4000
Optical drive type Tray-loading
Carrier options Verizon Wireless, AT&T

Lenovo Thinkpad T430 has a good display screen that has an LED backlight along with anti-glare feature. Camera is placed on top of the screen which provides good resolution with clear pictures. UltraNav feature is available for TrackPoint Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d AC adapter and also TouchPad. Optical DVD±RW which is recordable and provides multi-burner facility is a notable feature of this gadget from Lenovo.

The T430's keyboard is a departure for Lenovo; they switched to the increasingly popular Chiclet style with extra spacing between the keys. This has the most encouraging tactile feedback out of all the variants I've tried. It has a slightly more clicky sound than the traditional ThinkPad keyboards and the key travel isn't as long, though the feedback doesn't suffer as a result, ThinkPad SL400 charger, dare I say it feels even more solid. Lenovo is offering a backlit keyboard courtesy of this new design, a first on a 'real' ThinkPad. It still has the Think Light for die-hard fans, though.

Beneath the hood you’ll find a 2.8GHz third generation (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core i5-3360M processor, alongside 4GB of RAM. It’s not amazingly powerful in spec, but its benchmark scores are outstanding. For CPU-based tasks, it smashes most of the recent laptops we’ve seen. Only our top-performing second generation Intel Core (Sandy Bridge) Ultrabook, the Asus Zenbook, comes close, but the T430 has scores around 20% better across the board. However, ThinkPad X120e charger, the benchmarks also reveal the lack of graphics grunt - most scores were around half those of Ivy-Bridge-based Ultrabooks with discrete graphics.

The ThinkPad T430 generally remains the king of 14-inch business notebooks though I have a few reservations. Bad news first: the base 1366x768 screen has too little resolution to get quality multitasking work done if you work with spreadsheets or multiple windows. The higher resolution 1600x900 upgrade is a must. Secondly is the keyboard. What?! A complaint about a ThinkPad keyboard? Lenovo 'upgraded' to a Chiclet-style model; it feels great and as a ThinkPad owner Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d charger I'm not disappointed but the layout is not the same. The multi-colored keys are also gone. It's still a great keyboard but no longer true to its roots.

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October 10, 2012

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 Review: A Breakthrough Performer

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is an Android Honeycomb tablet that can be coupled with Asus Eee PC 1215N AC adapter an optional keyboard dock. The Transformer Prime features a 10.1-inch Super IPS display with a 1280 x 800-resolution, a backside-illuminated 8-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.4 aperture plus a 1.3-megapixel front cam, and is the first to be powered by Nvidia's Tegra 3, quad-core mobile processor formerly known as Kal-El.

The first thing that will catch your eye about the Transformer Prime is its svelte design. It measures 10.35 by 7.12 by 0.33 inches, and weighs 1.29 pounds. That's a net reduction in size and weight from the original Eee Pad Transformer TF101, Asus Eee PC 1201N AC adapter, which measured 10.7 by 6.9 by 0.5 inches, and weighed 1.4 pounds. The TF201 also ranks as among the thinnest and lightest tablets on sale to date: Only Apple's iPad 2 (0.3 inches deep and 1.33 pounds) and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 (0.34 inches and 1.24 pounds) best it today.

The Android interface also doesn't have a quick way to easily flip between several windows. You can say the same about iOS, of course. But I have the Prime next to my Windows 7 netbook right now, and I'm missing the fluidity of being able to have two windows on a screen or to flip between tabs of things without poking the multitasking button at the bottom of the Android interface. The Prime's hardware can do a lot of things at once, but the software doesn't spotlight that.

The Prime is the first tablet Asus Eee PC 1201HA AC adapter to house Nvidia's new quad-core processor, the Tegra 3. The Prime also includes 1GB of RAM and comes in either 32GB or 64GB varieties. It has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi support, , Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a gyroscope, and GPS.

The Mobile dock includes an extra battery that--while connected--"feeds" the Prime its power, meaning that the dock's battery will deplete its reserves before the tablet's.

Through its Micro-HDMI port, you can connect the tablet to an HDTV or monitor and play full-screen Asus Eee PC 1215N adapter Android games using both wired Xbox 360 and PS3 game pads, as well as supported wireless game pads through the use of an USB dongle.

In terms of design, you may have already noticed the Prime sports the same spun aluminum digs as the company's Zenbooks, though this is the first time we're seeing clear, close-up shots of it -- and in two colors, no less! At 8.3mm (0.33 inches) thick and 586 grams (1.29 pounds) without the dock, it's a smidge skinnier than the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, Asus Eee PC 1201N adapter, which means, unsurprisingly, that your old Transformer dock won't be compatible. Finally, ASUS coated both the display and metal cover with a hydro-oleophobic coating that makes it more fingerprint-resistant.

Despite cutting down the thickness, Asus has been able to keep the tablet itself well stocked on ports; there's a 3.5mm headphone jack, Micro HDMI port, and a Micro SD card slot. If you’re looking for those full-size ports, you’ll have to go for the $149 keyboard dock — more on that later. I will end this section by saying something I haven’t said of any of the competing tablets out there: this is first tablet that Asus Eee PC 1201HA adapter actually rivals the iPad on design, build, and size, while not just copying it.

Posted by: miko at 04:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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