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utorak, 08.11.2011.

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Review

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Review

Review Summary:

Bottom line, the ThinkPad T420(lenovo t420 battery) is an excellent choice for business, home, and student use.

Pros

Good build quality

Excellent keyboard and trackpad/touchpad

High-resolution 900p anti-glare screen

10 hours of battery life!

Cons

Weak speakers

Design might not appeal to all

Our Lenovo ThinkPad T420 review unit has the following specification:

14-inch anti-glare 900p display (1600x900 resolution, 320 nits brightness)

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Intel Core i5-2520M dual-core processor (2.5GHz, up to 3.2GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB cache, 35W TDP)

Intel QM67 chipset

Nvidia NVS 4200M 1GB dedicated graphics card

Automatically switchable to integrated Intel HD graphics via Nvidia Optimus graphics-switching technology

4GB DDR3-1333 RAM (1x 4GB; supports up to 8GB - 2x 4GB)

500GB 7200RPM Hitachi hard drive (HTS725050A9A364)

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 wireless card

No internal Bluetooth

Integrated 720p HD webcam

Modular DVD burner

One-year limited warranty

9-cell battery (11.1V, 94Wh, 8.4Ah)

Weight: 5.34 lbs. w/ 9-cell battery (4.84 w/ 6-cell)

Dimensions: 13.4 x 9.05 x 1.18~1.20 inches.

Our review unit has a few options, most notably the high-resolution 900p screen, slightly faster Core i5-2520M dual-core processor, a dedicated Nvidia graphics card, 500GB 7200RPM hard drive, and the beefy 9-cell battery. Overall this configuration is more than powerful enough for office productivity and is a good value.

The hard drive in our test sample of the T420 is a fast Hitachi Travelstar model which greatly helps performance - the hard drive/storage system is the slowest part of any modern computer. To that end, the main reason that other business notebooks(lenovo thinkpad t61 battery , lenovo thinkpad t60 battery) such as the Dell Latitude E6420 ATG and HP EliteBook 8560p produced significantly higher PCMark scores is because those review units each came equipped with a faster solid state drive (SSD) ... which is also an option on the T420.

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Full Review: The Best Business Laptop?

The 14-inch ThinkPad T420 business notebook has an excellent screen, keyboard, and battery life. We explain why this "business rugged" notebook is a great choice for hard-working customers.

Lenovo's Thinkpad T series notebooks have long been the gold standard for mainstream business systems because of their strong performance, superior build quality, and best-in-class keyboards. With the 14-inch ThinkPad T420, Lenovo has made a couple of changes, switching the screen to the now-standard 16:9 aspect ratio and giving it the latest Intel 2nd Generation Core series CPU. Is the T420, $1,179 as configured, the business notebook(lenovo thinkpad t400 battery , lenovo thinkpad t410 battery) to beat?

Change comes slowly to the venerable ThinkPad T series, but when it does, it's usually worth waiting for. The Lenovo ThinkPad T420-the bread and butter of the ThinkPad line-may look the same as the T410 it replaces, but important changes under the hood make this system even better. You get improved performance, thanks to Intel's Sandy Bridge CPU platform, stellar battery life, enhanced Lenovo utilities, and unique videoconferencing abilities. Those changes are all on top of the already-excellent ThinkPad T architecture.

For business users in search of a 14-inch laptop to flog as a daily workhorse, there's a lot to recommend in the ThinkPad T420. And while the $1,264 for our tested configuration certainly isn't cheap when compared against consumer machines with similar base components, you get your money's worth in other ways. We should note that if you configure this particular system on Lenovo's site, you'll see it has an "original" price of a whopping $2,005, with the much lower price presented "after discounts." Lenovo(lenovo thinkpad t420 battery , lenovo thinkpad t420s battery) assures us, however, that the price for this particular model will not exceed $1,264. This is a common practice among notebook manufacturers, and the higher price was never an actual price for the system.

Base models of the ThinkPad T420 start at prices much lower than our test unit, at "original" prices of around $1,300 and "after discount" prices below $800. With these cheaper models, though, you miss out on a lot of performance and business-focused features. With the entry-point ThinkPad T420 model, you get a 2.3GHz Core i3-2350M processor, a lower-resolution screen (1,366x768), integrated graphics, no fingerprint reader, a smaller hard drive (320GB), a smaller battery, and no Bluetooth. Lenovo leaves the Webcam in by default, but if you're really watching your pennies, you can save $30 there and go without.

For a real business PC workhorse, though-one that balances weight, screen size, performance, premium security features, and price exceptionally well-the test configuration we looked at, or one close to it, is where the real value lies in this line.

Design

With the ThinkPad T420, the name has changed(lenovo thinkpad t510s battery , lenovo thinkpad t520 battery), but the design remains the same: It's the same squared-off, matte-black ThinkPad chassis you'd expect. We understand that you don't mess with a classic, but we can't help but steal furtive glances at the more au courant laser-etched metal chassis of the HP Envy 14 and others, and wonder what a ThinkPad might achieve given an extreme makeover.

What the ThinkPad T420 lacks in curb appeal is more than compensated for in the internal design. That basic-black chassis is mostly made out of a magnesium alloy for added strength with minimal weight. As with other T-series ThinkPads before it, the T420 features Lenovo's roll cage: an internal carbon-fiber skeleton that protects the components within from flex. The T420 has also passed eight U.S. military testing specifications ("Mil-Spec," for short), including those for humidity extremes (up to 98 percent), low/high temperature, sand resistance, high-altitude operation, vibration, and mechanical shock. And as before, the keyboard is spill-resistant, with drainage holes on the bottom of the chassis to quickly route spills-up to 4 ounces of fluid, according to Lenovo-out of the machine.

At 4.8 pounds and 1.2 inches thick, the ThinkPad T420 is on the bulky side for a machine at this weight(lenovo thinkpad x60 battery , lenovo thinkpad x61 battery), but it's still easy to tote around the office and zip into a laptop bag for travel. That said, if you need a 14-inch-screened machine for frequent road trips, you might want to pay the premium for the lighter (3.9-pound) and thinner (0.9-inch-thick) ThinkPad T420s.

While the ThinkPad T420 looks nearly identical to the T410 it replaces, it is not a carbon copy. With the T420, Lenovo has moved to an imperceptibly smaller 14-inch screen, versus the 14.1-inch LCD on the older model. The new panel has an aspect ratio of 16-to-9 (versus 16-to-10 for the 14.1-inch panel), which means the screen resolution matches common HD-resolution specifications, at the expense of a bit of vertical height.

The edges of the machine contain a good selection of ports. VGA and DisplayPort connectors, for exporting the onscreen image to an external display, are on the laptop's left edge, accompanied by a USB 2.0 port and an Ethernet jack. The right edge houses a headset jack, another USB 2.0 port, an eSATA/USB combo port for connecting external high-speed drives, a memory-card reader, and an ExpressCard/34 slot for popping in expansion devices(lenovo thinkpad x300 battery , lenovo thinkpad w420 battery).

The right edge is also home to a modular-device swappable bay (an "UltraBay," in Lenovo-speak). Most of the time, this bay will hold your laptop's optical drive, but it can also accept a second hard drive or battery. These swap-in accessories are added-cost options.

Hiding around back is a FireWire connector and a third USB 2.0 port. This USB port is the "always on" type, which you can use for charging smartphones and other USB-connected devices when the laptop is off or in sleep mode. Note that the ThinkPad T420 lacks the faster USB 3.0 ports that are becoming common on high-end notebooks. Also, if you need to connect to an external display via HDMI (many HDTVs rely on these, for example), you'll need to use a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter.

Ports and Features

The T420 has a solid array of input and output ports(lenovo thinkpad l412 battery , lenovo thinkpad sl500 battery). It's also worth noting the T420 has a docking station port on its underside - Lenovo sells several different models, all offering plug-and-play compatibility and connections to many more ports. This functionality is a feature of a true business notebook; lower-end "business" notebooks do not have them, nor do consumer models. All picture descriptions are left to right.

With mainstream notebooks having moved to 15.6-inch screens and ultraportables largely sporting 13.3-inch ones, the ThinkPad T420 is one of the few laptops left to use the once-ubiquitous 14-inch variety. (That said, back in the day, 14-inch panels were typically 4-to-3 panels, not wide-screens). Our test unit came with Lenovo's high-res version of this panel, which costs extra and sports a 1,600x900 native resolution.

At this resolution, the 14-inch screen makes efficient use of its spread by letting you have a couple of application windows open side-by-side. That's handy for multitasking, but default text at that resolution is tiny-crisp, but tiny. To work more comfortably, we used Windows' DPI Scaling function to increase text size and set our browser and application zoom levels to 150 percent. For the over-40 crowd (and those configuring their own machines - lenovo thinkpad sl510 battery , lenovo thinkpad w510 battery), Lenovo offers a 1,366x768 panel on some configurations. Think carefully about which you choose if your eyes will mind.

The panel has an anti-glare coating that effectively eliminates annoying glare and reflections without sacrificing image clarity. Also, the panel is LED-backlit and very bright. (Lenovo rates it at 230 nits.) Colors in photos and Windows apps looked terrific throughout our testing, and the panel did a good job with video, delivering smooth playback with no motion blur. The screen's viewing angle is very wide in Windows apps, letting you use the ThinkPad T420 to present to a small group around a conference table. When watching video, though, the viewing sweet spot is decidedly narrower.

On the audio front, the ThinkPad T420's stereo speakers deliver better audio quality than most business laptops. We noted enough volume for presenting to a small group. That said, music playback had the tinny quality typical of most notebooks(lenovo thinkpad w701 battery , lenovo 3000 n200 battery). There's not much you can do to enhance it without plugging in external speakers; the ThinkPad T420, oddly, does not include the audio-enhancing Dolby Home Theatre technology found on the ThinkPad T420s.

The keyboard is the same generation that debuted in 2009 with the ThinkPad T410. That redesign introduced tighter spacing between the keys (one nice benefit of that: it keeps the crumbs out) while maintaining the full-size 19mm key pitch. That said, to our fingers, the keyboard on our particular T420 felt different than those on past T-series laptops. The key plunge (the distance of the keys' up/down travel) was still spot on, but the audible and tactile feedback seemed a bit off; it just wasn't the same crisp "click" and weighty key feel we've grown accustomed to. A Lenovo product manager assured us there have been no changes, so we'll chalk it up to manufacturing differences from one lot to the next.

To illuminate the keyboard in darkened rooms, the ThinkPad T420 has a handy white LED positioned above the screen. Hit Function+PgUp, and the keyboard is bathed in a soft white light. Novel when it debuted a decade or so ago, the ThinkLight seems a little quaint in this era of backlit keyboards, which deliver illumination that's more even(lenovo 3000 y510 battery , lenovo ideapad u450 battery). But we found ourselves reaching for the ThinkLight key combination plenty nonetheless.

For mousing, the ThinkPad T420 comes with both a touch pad and Lenovo's signature pointing stick. The TrackPoint stick is still the best of its kind, delivering precise control over cursor movements and large mouse buttons for effortless left/right clicks. Those oversize mouse buttons, however, steal precious room from the touch pad. The pad's pebbled surface makes for friction-free movement, but the 3x1.75-inch surface is tight. On the plus side, the slender mouse buttons for the pad are on the edge of the chassis, which makes them easy to locate without looking. We also appreciate the dedicated volume and mute keys above the Function-key row, as well as the unique-to-ThinkPad (as far as we've seen) microphone mute button.

That microphone mute is just one of several features that make the ThinkPad T420 a good videoconferencing platform. The dual digital mics capture better audio than your typical single-mic arrangement, while the bundled Lenovo Communication Utility offers two microphone settings. The first, Private Chat, focuses the mic pickup in front of the laptop and suppresses background noise, so your party can hear your voice over the din of, say, an airport waiting area(lenovo ideapad y530 battery , lenovo ideapad y560 battery). The second, Conference Call mode, opens the audio capture field to a full 360 degrees around the machine, which is ideal for a group of participants around a table. In our trials, with the microphone setting on "one voice," the voice of the speaker directly facing the screen was pronounced, while noise off to the side was much diminished. With the utility set to multiple voices, we were able to walk around the laptop in a complete circle, and at all points the voice pickup was nearly the same.

The Lenovo Communications Utility also includes an option to suppress keystroke noise during a VoIP call, but in our Skyping we noticed only a slight difference with this activated. And speaking of Skype, it's the only preloaded way to make use of the Webcam; we would prefer a dedicated utility to grab stills and video. And while Lenovo touts the camera's 720p resolution, that sounds more impressive than it is. The resolution is 1,280x720-less than a full megapixel (0.92, to be exact), when 2-megapixel cameras are now the norm. Sure enough, the image was a bit grainy, with the low resolution lending a "soft focus" effect. On the plus side, it captures video at a full 30 frames per second, so the image stream showed no jerkiness.

One unexpected surprise for a business portable was the inclusion, in our test model, of a discrete graphics processor (GPU) and Nvidia's Optimus technology. When graphics horsepower is not needed, the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics engine (it's part of the CPU, actually) handles the graphics processing, which helps extend battery life(lenovo thinkpad x60 tablet pc battery , lenovo thinkpad x61 tablet pc battery). For more demanding tasks, Optimus tells the Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU to kick in.

Another plus: The ThinkPad T420 includes Lenovo's Enhanced Experience 2.0 features, which work with the Windows 7 operating system to speed up such tasks as booting up, resuming from sleep/hibernate mode, and reconnecting to Wi-Fi networks. On the security front, the T420 includes a fingerprint reader, as well as Trusted Platform Module (TPM) circuitry and utilities. TPM solutions allow a company's IT department to manage log-ins and passwords, communications access, platform integrity, and drive encryption.

As for other features, the ThinkPad T420 we tested came with a DVD burner, but organizations worried about casual data theft can opt for a read-only DVD-ROM drive. There is no Blu-ray option for the UltraBay, which is a shame, since the high-res screen makes the ThinkPad T420 an ideal personal movie player for those long business flights(Lenovo 42T4651 , Lenovo 40y7659 Charger , Lenovo Adapter).

As with other ThinkPad models, hard drive options are plentiful. Our configuration came with a 500GB 7,200rpm drive, the sweet spot for laptops right now. Other configurations and configure-to-order versions can be had with a 160GB, 250GB, or 320GB hard drive instead, or one of three solid-state drives (80GB, 128GB, 160GB) that deliver the peace of mind of impact-resistance. If you do opt for a traditional spinning drive, there's still a line of defense against shock, by way of Lenovo's active-protection technology. With this, an accelerometer senses bumps or falls, signaling the drive to park the read/write heads to protect against data loss.

On the wireless front, our configuration included Bluetooth and the Intel Centrino Advanced-N+ WiMAX chipset, which delivers 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity plus WiMAX wireless-broadband support for use on the growing number of wide-area wireless LANs (WLANs). There is plenty of flexibility here(FRU 92P1141 , Lenovo 42T4235 , Lenovo 42T4545), though-corporations can choose among four other WLAN chipsets, if they prefer. Also, for connect-nearly-anywhere wireless, the T420 machines support the optional Gobi 3000 Sierra Wireless EV-DO/HSPA WWAN Minicard, or Ericsson's HSPA+ WWAN Minicard, each a $125 option. If there's a way to wirelessly connect, you can probably manage it from the T420 with careful configuring.

Keyboard, Pointing Stick, TouchPad

The classic, spill-resistant keyboard on the ThinkPad T420 features 7 rows with a full range of keys, even rarely used ones such as scroll lock and pause. Enlarged Esc and Delete keys make it easy to perform these frequent functions. The combination of strong tactile feedback and a smile-shaped key surface allowed us to achieve an 86 word-per-minute score with a 1-percent error rate on the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor test, well above our 80 wpm average. However, the typing experience on the 13-inch ThinkPad X1 remains the industry's best because of that notebook's soft-touch palm rest and even more responsive keys.

Like other ThinkPads, the T420 has both a TrackPoint pointing stick and a touchpad. We're huge fans of the TrackPoint because it provides the most accurate way to navigate around the desktop short of using a mouse, and it allows you to move the pointer without lifting your fingers off of the home row. If you don't like pointing sticks, the 3 x 1.75-inch textured touchpad provides accurate navigation around the desktop, and its two discrete mouse buttons provide just the right amount of feedback. However, multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom are not smooth at all(40Y6797 , 40Y6799 , FRU 92P1089 , FRU 92P1137).

Like the design, the T420 has a keyboard ... pretty much like ThinkPads have always had - a great one. Although Lenovo is controversially introducing "Chiclet" or "island" style keyboards on some more consumer-esque ThinkPad(40Y6795) lines, the T-series stays true to form with a standard keyboard (maybe it should be called an "old school" keyboard since apparently "keyboard" isn't sufficient anymore).

Tactile feedback - what it feels like to press the keys - starts with the key travel, or the distance between pressed and not pressed positions. The T420's keys have precisely the right amount of travel to allow time for your finger muscles to realize a key is fully depressed; this is essential for fast and accurate typing. Additionally the spring mechanism (it's not actually a spring, but a scissor switch/rubber dome, but that's for another article) pops the keys back up immediately yet is stiff enough to let you rest your fingers on the keys.

I could talk about the keyboard all day but will restrain myself to two more points. First, the layout of the keyboard is fantastic; it has the [Fx] keys at the top separated into groups of four as they should be and the home/end/pgup/pgdn/delete keys separated into cluster. Lastly, the keyboard is quiet and subdued for use in meetings and classrooms alike - no clacking or clicking, just a nice low octave sound.

The T420 has an "UltraNav" solution which consists of the touchpad and the red rubber trackpoint in the center of the keyboard(Lenovo Ideapad Y560 battery , Lenovo Ideapad Y710 battery , Lenovo Ideapad Y730 battery). The touchpad sports an anti-glare textured surface which is actually a bit too bumpy for my tastes, coming from a smooth touchpad. On the plus side, the rougher surface makes it highly accurate. The trackpoint is the best in the business, responsive and with an excellent dome shape. I prefer using this since it's not necessary to remove hands from the keyboard while doing so. Finally, the buttons are quiet and have enough depth to provide solid feedback. They are easy to find by feel.

Overall there are not enough good things I can say about the input devices, they are the gold standard. If you want to buy a notebook with a good keyboard/touchpad and can't see it in person, a ThinkPad might be your best bet.

Heat

The ThinkPad T420 stayed pleasantly cool throughout our testing. After streaming video for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured a frigid 82 degrees, the keyboard an icy 81 degrees, and the bottom a cool 87 degrees Fahrenheit. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees comfortable.

There is a single fan exhausting air out the back left corner of the chassis. At idle it's nearly silent; under load it develops a slight whine but remains quiet enough to be ignored (even in a quiet office). It's nice that the fan is located towards the rear; this way it won't blow hot air on left-handers. The notebook itself remains cool all over even during intense benchmarking sessions.

The battery(Lenovo Ideapad Y550 battery , Lenovo Ideapad Y460 battery , Lenovo Ideapad Y510 battery) life is definitely helped by the Nvidia Optimus technology which automatically turns off the dedicated Nvidia graphics card when 3D processing power is not required (95%+ of the time for "typical" business users).

Display and Audio

The 230-nit, 14.1-inch matte display provided sharp images and plenty of desktop real estate thanks to its optional 1600 x 900 panel. When we watched a 1080p QuickTime trailer for the movie Point Blank, images were sharp and motion smooth with viewing angles solid up to 45 degrees to the left or right. However, when we streamed a 720p Flash episode of Fringe from Fox.com, the edges of objects seemed a little pixelated, perhaps because the screen had a higher resolution than the video. We highly recommend the 1600 x 900 panel, a $50 option, because it shows a lot more of your favorite web pages and documents without forcing you to scroll.

While not as high fidelity as audio-focused consumer notebooks such as the Dell XPS and the HP Envy series, the Lenovo ThinkPad T420 provides surprisingly good music playback. Whether we were playing Kool and the Gang's jazz-oriented "Summer Madness," the bass-heavy "Between the Sheets" by the Isley Brothers, or Motley Crue's guitar-laden "Looks that Kill," sound was accurate and loud enough to fill a medium-sized room(Lenovo Ideapad Y330 battery , Lenovo IdeaPad Y430 battery , Lenovo Ideapad Y450 battery). We could even make out a solid separation of sound between the speakers, which sit on either side of the keyboard.

Screen and Speakers

The T420 features a 14-inch screen with an anti-glare coating. It is available in two resolutions: 720p (1366x768) and 900p (1600x900); ours has the latter and it's a good thing it does, otherwise I would complain. A 1600x900 screen has almost 30% more space compared to 1366x768 - that means less scrolling since more lines of text can be shown at once (or more detail in a high-resolution picture). It also makes it possible to use two windows side-by-side.

The screen has 15 levels of brightness and ample contrast; the infamous Command Prompt window looks black with barely a hint of gray. Viewing angles are typical for a TN-type panel like this one; fine horizontally but with significant color distortion vertically. Nearly all notebooks come with TN-type panels. The anti-glare screen coating is more evidence this notebook is designed for productivity - it's not a mirror like a glossy display and thus does not have annoying reflections. It is easy to clean as a bonus.

The T420 sports two stereo speakers on either side of the keyboard(Lenovo Ideapad U450p battery , Lenovo Ideapad U550 battery , Lenovo Ideapad V350 battery , Lenovo Ideapad V460 battery). They suffice for watching occasional audio clips but lack the volume and bass to enjoy music. I appreciate the dedicated volume control (up/down/mute) buttons above the keyboard - they're convenient.

Performance



As with other laptops based on Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture, the ThinkPad T420 delivers plenty of performance for productivity and multimedia applications. Our unit came with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M processor-the midlevel mobile CPU in a line that includes a Core i3 CPU at the low end, three Core i5 chips in the middle, and a smoking Core i7 quad-core processor at the top end. We had 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM in our test machine, and the T420 platform supports up to 8GB.

The ThinkPad T420 delivered a very good score of 8,058 on the 64-bit version of PCMark Vantage, which measures overall system performance. That score edges out the 7,779 we saw from the ThinkPad T420s earlier this year, and it's well ahead of the 6,900 or so that is the average in the thin-and-light laptop class. Likewise, in our 64-bit Cinebench 10 test, which stresses all CPU cores to gauge raw processing potential, the T420 scored a very impressive 10,391-a bit behind the 10,823 we saw from the ThinkPad T420s, but still nearly 2,500 points ahead of the average for this class of laptop.

The ThinkPad T420 also was a strong performer on our media-file-crunching tests. It converted the 11 standard test tracks on our custom iTunes Conversion Test in 3 minutes flat; again, that's a little behind what we saw from the ThinkPad T420s (2:47), but still near the front of the pack(Lenovo IdeaPad S12 battery , Lenovo Ideapad U110 battery , Lenovo Ideapad U330 battery , Lenovo Ideapad U350 battery , Lenovo Ideapad U350W battery). The story was similar on our Windows Media Encoder test, in which we encode a standard 3-minute-and-15-second video clip: The T420 took just 3 minutes and 18 seconds to perform the test task, versus 3:08 for the ThinkPad T420s and the 5:01 average for the class.

These numbers mean you get fast processor performance overall, which is what you'll likely need most as a business user. You should have no problem running multiple applications at once, as well as crunching through large Excel spreadsheets with formulas, converting files to different formats in large batches, and browsing the Web with lots of tabs open at once.

Thanks to the dedicated GPU, the ThinkPad T420 proved to be better at 3D chores than most business portables. At 1,024x768 resolution on 3DMark06, which measures DirectX 9 (DX9) graphics performance, the T420 scored 6,061. That's almost 2,000 points better than the 4,079 we saw from the T420s, which employs integrated graphics. But while we welcome the dedicated GPU and Optimus technology, the Nvidia NVS 4200M GPU shouldn't be confused with the company's gaming-oriented GeForce chips. For example, on our demanding Just Cause 2 test, which measures DirectX 10 gaming performance, the T420 delivered a disappointing 15.3 frames per second at 1,366x768 resolution. That essentially doubles the rate we saw from the ThinkPad T420s, but it's still unplayable, at that not even at the native resolution of the laptop(Lenovo IdeaPad S9 battery , Lenovo IdeaPad S9E battery , Lenovo IdeaPad S10 battery , Lenovo IdeaPad S10E battery , Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T battery). Overall, consider 3D acceleration in the T420 good for daily Windows chores and low-impact DX9 3D gaming, but not more demanding DX10 games.

More impressive was the battery life we saw from the ThinkPad T420's nine-cell battery. (Lenovo included this in our test configuration, a $50 upsell from the standard six-cell battery.) On our DVD Battery-Rundown Test, in which we set the screen brightness to 50 percent and watch a DVD movie (using the onboard optical drive) until the machine shuts down, the machine ran for 7 hours and 32 minutes on a full charge. Lenovo rates the battery for nine hours of life under more typical usage scenarios, and based on our experience, we'd say that's a conservative estimate. By comparison, the average laptop in this class lasted only 3:38 on this test, and the ThinkPad T420s lasted 3:39 with its six-cell battery.

Battery Life

Our T420 has the optional 9-cell battery with a whopping 94Wh rating. I measured 10 hours on the dot, from 100% to 0% on our standard battery rundown test (Windows 7 Balanced power profile, 70% screen brightness, wireless on and refreshing a web page every one minute). This makes the T420 one of the longest-lasting notebooks out there, even compared to netbooks. Realistically expect a range between 8 and 10 hours for everyday usage, possibly longer if you have a Solid State Drive (SSD) and turn the screen brightness down to a minimum.

Conclusion

The Lenovo ThinkPad T420 is a well-engineered 14" business notebook(Lenovo Ideapad B460 battery , Lenovo IdeaPad G460 battery , Lenovo IdeaPad G560 battery). It has the hallmark ThinkPad qualities including great build quality and a superior keyboard. I liked almost everything about it. The anti-glare screen prevents reflections and with a 1600x900 resolution, provides a lot of working space. The keyboard has a highly functional layout and the trackpoint and touchpad are easy to use. All this functionality can be taken to the road thanks to the 10 hours of battery from the optional 9-cell.

Other pros of the notebook include a good selection of input/output ports, dedicated volume control buttons, a docking station port, and a swappable modular bay (ours was occupied by a DVD burner).

Complaints? Yes - the speakers are lackluster, the design might not appeal to people looking for something noticeable, and ... that's it. Oh, it's a bit thick and heavy for a 14" model, but Lenovo also offers the T420s model which is thinner.

Bottom line, the ThinkPad T420 isn't just a good business laptop(Lenovo 3000 Y510A battery).

As with other ThinkPad models, business customers can specify the Windows operating system that comes preloaded on their machines, ranging from Windows Vista (the Home Basic or Business editions) through to the 64-bit Windows 7 Professional that was on our test unit. Also, enterprise customers can specify Windows XP Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate through special bid.

Whichever OS you choose, you get Lenovo's own excellent software tools, accessible via the blue ThinkVantage button. In this suite, you'll find applets for rescue and recovery, managing connections, a password manager, system health and diagnostic tools, a communication utility to assist with Web conferencing, and more. We especially like Lenovo's Access Connections utility, which eases the tweaking and enabling/disabling of your Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and (if present) wireless-broadband connections.

The price of our ThinkPad T420 includes a typical one-year warranty, with 24/7 tech support and onsite service. As with other business portables, a wide range of warranty upgrades and insurance/protection plans is available.

For past ThinkPad T-series owners looking to return to the fold, as well as current owners looking for a newer model, the new ThinkPad T420 is an easy decision. In the model we looked at, it delivers cracking performance, and even some 3D abilities, in a time-tested platform. For business buyers and demanding consumers who want a no-nonsense workhorse they can carry, it doesn't get much better.

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Apple MacBook Air 13.3-Inch Review

Apple MacBook Air 13.3-Inch Review

Product Features and Specifications

Apple's(apple laptop battery) Thinnest Design Yet - This is what I'm most excited about.

13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with a 1440 x 900-pixel resolution

Up to 7 hours of wireless productivity plus up to 30 days of standby time

1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6 MB on-chip shared L2 cache and 1066 MHz frontside bus.

256 GB flash memory storage

2 GB installed RAM (1066 MHz DDR3; supports up to 4 GB)

NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor (with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory) for an outstanding everyday graphics experience.

Built-in FaceTime camera for video chatting

Wi-Fi wireless networking (based on 802.11n specification; 802.11a/b/g compatible)

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for connecting with peripherals such as keyboards, mice and cell phones

Two USB 2.0 ports with networking using optional Apple USB Ethernet adapter

SD card slot

Mini DisplayPort output port with support for DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI, and HDMI (requires adapters, sold separately)

Built-in stereo speakers along with omnidirectional microphone, headphone minijack

Full-size keyboard fro laptop battery

Multi-Touch trackpad for precise cursor control; supports inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities

Dimensions: 12.8 x 8.94 x 0.68 inches (WxDxH)

Weight: 2.9 pounds

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

RAM: 2 GB

Hard Drive

Size: 256 GB

Cases and Expandability

Weight: 8 pounds

There comes a time when that giant, corporate-issued laptop stops fitting into your lifestyle. When dragging around a Kensington roller case just won't do. When you start to hear the siren lilt of something thinner, lighter, and maybe a bit more alluring. For years the MacBook Air(apple ibook g4 power adapter , apple macbook pro power adapter) has been that svelte temptress hollering your name, but it's always been a bit too slow -- all show and no go. It didn't have the power and the longevity to make it a serious contender for your serious affections.

No more. With its latest refresh, Apple has taken what was once a manilla-clad curiosity and turned it into a legitimate machine, not just a sultry looker. Good thing, too, because the death of the plastic-clad MacBook(apple powerbook g4 power adapter , apple macbook pro charger) means the Air is now Apple's entry-level portable. Weary traveler looking for a laptop that will lighten your load and, it must be said, your wallet too? This might just be it.

Hardware

The outside of this 2011 refresh of the MacBook Air is virtually indistinguishable from that which came before it. Yes, that means compromises(apple powerbook g4 charger , apple macbook pro 17 inch battery). On the 13-inch model you'll still have to make do with but one USB port on the left and one on the right, but now that latter one is flanked by a Thunderbolt connector, Apple's implementation of Intel's Light Peak standard. This 10Gb/sec interconnect has become standard fare on all new machines coming out of Cupertino, a fact that should help to accelerate the so-far tardy uptake in support from accessory manufacturers.

The 11-inch model is likewise emblazoned, but sadly has still not been granted an SD reader, something restricted to the bigger 13. On the left you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, the MagSafe power connector and... nothing else(apple macbook pro 15 inch battery , apple macbook pro 13 inch battery). All other ports have been deemed unnecessary by Apple's designers and therefore relegated to myriad USB adapters for things like Ethernet -- though if you start relying on those you'll likely need to start packing a USB hub as well.

Like before, the omission of these ports leaves the Air free to pinch down to a delicious taper beneath the keyboard, thin enough to make for a decent cleaver when no proper blade can be found -- or when you just can't be bothered to find one. Even on the fat end it measures a mere(apple macbook pro battery , apple 13 inch macbook air battery).68-inches (17mm) thick. Or thin, rather.

So what has changed? The touchpad, surprisingly. It's still big and glassy and situated in the middle of the full-sized palm rest like on the chunkier Pro. Now, though, it's subtly quieter, with a more refined sound and feel as you click away. The previous generation almost feels hollow and has an annoying resonance that's been banished.

The keyboard above, too, has a better feel. Keys are more springy than before, more solid and responsive than the somewhat loose, flappy ones on the last generation(apple powerbook g4 12 inch battery , apple powerbook g4 15 inch titanium battery). But the biggest change here is what's lurking beneath the keys: a backlight. Yes, you'll now be able to do things like adjust volume, change track, and hit that damned & character in the dark. And, thanks to the ambient light sensor hidden in the bezel, you won't have to worry about those keys blinding you in bed.

Internals / Display

Step inside the case and you'll find the most important changes here: new Intel Core i5 and i7 ULV processors. The backlit keyboard is nice, and the addition of Thunderbolt could be a boon in 12 months or so, but its the new selection of processors that really turn the Air into a serious machine, as you'll see when we talk benchmarks in a bit(apple powerbook g4 15 inch aluminum battery , apple powerbook g4 17 inch battery).

On the memory front, 4GB of DDR3 memory is found on all but the base 11-inch model, which gets by with half that. SSDs are standard across the board, starting at 64GB for the 11 and going up to 256GB for the top-shelf 13-inch. Intel HD 3000 graphics power the lot and stock processors include 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz Core i5's, though a 1.8GHz Core i7 is available.

When it comes to displays nothing has changed: the 13-inch model features a 1440 x 900 glossy, LED-backlit panel while the 11 still does 1366 x 768. We spent our time testing the 13-incher and, as before, it continues to impress when it comes to contrast, brightness, and viewing angles, which are plenty wide enough to enable two-person, coach-class viewing of that latest episode of Top Gear(apple powerbook g4 battery , apple powerbook g3 battery , apple ibook g4 battery). Contrast is helped by the glossy sheen here -- and no, you still can't option out a matte unit.

We still found its resolution to be more than adequate for most tasks but just a bit limiting for anyone working on photos or doing anything where pixels really count. Honestly, that wasn't much of a concern before thanks to the lack of power, but now...

Performance / Battery life

When it comes time to actually use the thing, when the Air isn't just dead weight in your bag that you want as little of as possible, how does it actually perform? This is when the previous models faltered, and this is where the new Air excels(apple ibook g4 12 battery , apple ibook g4 14 battery , apple ibook g3 battery).

When last we tested an Air, the 13-inch model with a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo processor scored a 2,717 on the GeekBench benchmark. This new 13, configured with the default 1.7GHz Core i5 and paired with 4GB of DDR3 and a 128GB SSD, nearly doubled that: 5,373. No, that won't threaten the full-bore 15-inch MacBook Pro for sheer speed, but double the performance in nine months is a welcome improvement, living up to Apple's 2x promises here, and from what we've seen elsewhere the 11-inch lives up to its 2.5x promises as well(apple powerbook g3 12 inch battery , apple A1039 battery).

We also threw Windows 7 on there, Boot Camp making it easy, and ran through a further suite of benchmarks to see how it fares there. PCMark Vantage clocked in at 9,484, actually higher than the 15-inch Pro's 8,041 when we tested it, though the Air's 3DMark 06 score was considerably lower thanks to the limited graphics prowess here, just 4,223. So, it's still no gaming rig, but it is the sort of machine you wouldn't think twice about trying to do some serious business on.

Now, as we all know benchmarks(apple A1045 battery , apple A1057 battery , apple A1061 battery) only tell a part of the story, but we're happy to report that the numbers really do fall in line with our impressions here. This machine boots to a Lion login screen in a snappy 15 seconds, apps load quickly, batch photo jobs finish much more promptly, and overall in our time with this machine we did a lot less waiting and a lot more working. But, just like before, be prepared to listen to the thing's internal cooling fan register its complaints whenever utilization rates start climbing.

Despite that, we had no issues with battery life(apple A1078 battery , apple A1079 battery). On our standard rundown test, where we'll loop a video until the machine calls it quits, the new Air clocked in at just over five and a half hours. That's well more than the Lenovo X1 recently managed on the same test and actually about an hour more than last year's model managed when we dusted it off and ran it through the same wringer. Even running Windows the Air managed 4:12 on the same rundown test, on par with the Samsung Series 9.

In standard usage, surfing and typing and Facebooking and such, you should be able to do much better. The Air routinely beat our expectations -- and its own estimates -- for battery life(apple A1106 battery , apple A1148 battery , apple A1175 battery). The seven hours Apple advertises for the 13 (five for the 11) is well within reach if you're not doing anything too taxing. And of course that's a good thing, because you won't be replacing the battery here without a screwdriver.

Wrap-up

The 2011 MacBook Air addresses nearly every concern anyone could lob at its predecessor. It's still light on ports, the missing SD slot on the 11-inch model is a drag, and no, it isn't cheap, but this machine is fast, efficient, and not to be underestimated(apple A1185 battery , apple A1189 battery). It's a supermodel with a law degree from Columbia, a hunky motorcycle racer who looks good in leathers yet is also a concert pianist -- whatever your passion it won't disappoint, all while making a lot more room in your bag. More room for what? Well, your life, for starters.

The good: The new 11-inch Apple(apple A1245 battery , apple A1278 battery) MacBook Air is dramatically faster than last year's version, has a backlit keyboard, and comes with a high-speed Thunderbolt I/O port.

The bad: The entry-level Air still has the same limited fixed flash storage and RAM as last year's version, which most people will want to upgrade from--and there's still no SD card slot, Ethernet port, or 3G wireless option.

The bottom line: This year's 11-inch MacBook Air improves on last year's model in several significant ways and is by far the fastest ultraportable you're likely to find, though some users will consider the limited flash storage space to be a hindrance.

Last October, Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air debuted(apple A1280 battery , apple A1281 battery). The tiny, slim ultraportable was the smallest laptop Apple had ever made. Its combination of size and power earned it a four-star review, with caveats: it had a last-generation Core 2 Duo processor, lacked a backlit keyboard, and omitted an SD card slot. We're glad to find the newly released, back-to-school-timed 2011 MacBook Air update fixes two of our three complaints.

Both 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs have been updated with new, faster second-gen Core i5 processors. The new Air also, finally, has a backlit keyboard. There are more bonuses, too: Mac OS X Lion, Apple's brand-new operating system update, comes preinstalled. A Thunderbolt I/O port for high-speed data transfer and HD audio/video has been added.

Unfortunately, there's still no SD card slot, and memory and storage configurations remain both fixed and limited: the configuration still only has 2GB of RAM and 64GB of flash storage, which many will consider inadequate. We recommend the configuration, which has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Perhaps the biggest change to the MacBook Air is how it's being sold(apple M8244G battery , apple M8403 battery , apple MA561 battery). Now that the white MacBook no longer exists, Apple has made the MacBook Air the entry-level laptop for everybody (everybody with a grand to drop on a laptop, at least). The 11-inch MacBook Air is the most affordable MacBook in Apple's stable.

The 2011 11-inch Air is, undeniably, an improvement over the fall 2010 version. Is it a MacBook for everyone, though? Not yet, unless you can live with the Air's still comparatively limited storage space. For a more full-size laptop with even better battery life, many might be tempted to get the 13-inch MacBook Air or even the more full-featured 13-inch MacBook Pro(Macbook Pro battery). But, for sheer portability and performance, nothing can beat the 11-inch Air.

Other 1: by Etienne

Had to return my MBA 13". Awesome piece of hardware - when unused.

Deafening beast as soon as you touch it.

Youtube (even in HTML5)? The fan spins at 6200 rpm. Flicking through pictures? 6200 rpm. A video? 6200 rpm. A game? 6200 rpm.

I "reset the SMC". The Apple "solve all" trick that of course solves nothing. Found a script that decreses the max fan speed - but then it's start to get HOT. Found a small freeware controlling the speed of the fan in a better way - but not preventing it to raise to 6200 rpm.

I know, I know, I may have got a bad one, right? But hey, I owned a MBA in 2009 and I had to sell it for the exact same reason - plus it was overheating like crazy.

So be aware of that: it's noisy. Like hell. And not under heavy use.

Other 2: byMark Smith

Here's the question I have for Apple: Why the hell does your Macbook Air (including the 11"!), have a better screen than the 13" MBP? You just refreshed the MBP line and still gave the 13" a 1280x800 display, even though the Macbook Air already had 1366x768! Now the air has 1440x900! Are you guys dumb, or just trolling your customers?

"I've got it! Give the MacBook Pro(laptop batteries) a better GPU and CPU, but a WORSE display! Brilliant!"

Other 3: mathnerd88

And what's your point?

You're not comparing laptops of the same class. Try comparing this to the Samsung Series 9, Sony Vaio Z, Acer Ultrabook, Asus UX21 in price and then let me know how "expensive" the MBA is compared to the competition.

I'll admit the specs you get aren't impressive compared to another laptop with the same price range, but come on, please compare Apples to Apples, not Apples to Oranges.

...

Sony VAIO YB Review

Sony VAIO YB Review

Review Summary:

A good ultraportable laptop with less-than-stellar sony battery life.

Pros

Better performance than a typical netbook

Small and light

Attractive design



Cons

More expensive than competitors

Less than expected battery life

Small keyboard keys

The team at Sony has completely reinvented the VAIO Y notebook with some help from AMD. The new Sony VAIO Y (technically called the "VAIO YB") is Sony's first laptop to feature the new AMD E-350 processor and graphics. This 11-inch laptop(laptop battery) is more expensive than a typical netbook but offers significantly better performance. Take a look at what we have to say about this mighty mini.

Our Sony VAIO Y (YB) features the following specifications:

AMD E-350 with AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics (dual-core CPU at 1.6 GHz and dual DX-11 SIMDs at 500 MHz)

11.6-inch 1366 x 768 HD glossy display with LED backlighting

Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)

4GB DDR3 memory (1066MHz)

500GB, 5400 rpm HDD

Gigabit Ethernet and Atheros 802.11b/g/n wireless

Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

6-cell Li-ion battery(Sony VGP-BPS21 battery) (38Wh)

Dimensions: 11.42 (L) x 7.99 (W) x 0.99 - 1.25 (H) inches

Weight: 3.24 pounds

Build and Design

The new VAIO Y is a radical departure from last year's 13-inch Sony VAIO Y. I'm a little unsure why Sony(sony vgp-bpl2 battery , sony vgp-bpl9 battery) doesn't just call this the "VAIO YB" on the official SonyStyle website, but despite the confusion over the model name this looks like another attractive Sony notebook. In terms of the overall size and shape, the VAIO YB has more in common with the VAIO W netbook than last year's VAIO Y. In truth, the new VAIO Y was designed to replace the Atom-based netbooks in Sony's lineup, and thankfully the VAIO YB has more to offer than those low-performance netbooks.

Build quality is on par with most 11-inch laptops(sony vgp-bpl11 battery , sony vgp-bpl12 battery) we've tested like the HPPavilion dm1z and the Acer Aspire 1830T. The plastics are thin yet firm; offering a combination of everyday durability and light weight. Although I wouldn't recommend playing a game of frisbee with this laptop, the plastics used in the chassis are probably strong enough to survivie a year or two of constant travel inside a school backpack. The plastic screen lid provides bends under significant pressure but you really have to press hard to create ripples on the screen. The lid also comes in your choice of silver or pink at the time of this writing. The best description I can give for the paint finish is "metallic matte" since it's shiny but doesn't show off fingerprints like a typical glossy notebook.

The bottom of the notebook(sony vgp-bpl13 battery , sony vgp-bpl14 battery) features a single access panel secured by three screws. Behind that panel you'll find the RAM and hard drive in case you want to make any upgrades. Granted, most consumers who purchase a $550 laptop like this will probably be content with the 4GB of standard memory and the 500GB hard drive. Still, it's nice to know that Sony made it reasonably easy to replace the RAM and hard drive if you want to do that.

Ports and Features

Port selection on the VAIO Y is pretty standard for an 11-inch ultraportable notebook(sony vgp-bpl15 battery , sony vgp-bpl23 battery). You get three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out, VGA, Gigabit LAN, a microphone jack and a headphone jack. It also features a SDHC-card slot and Memory Stick slot for loading images off your camera while traveling. I'm a little sad to see there isn't a USB 3.0 port on this notebook (particularly since it costs $550. We're starting to see USB 3.0 on more consumer notebooks and there simply isn't a good excuse for not including it here.

Screen and Speakers

The 11.6-inch LED-backlit screen on the VAIO YB is predominantly similar to the glossy screens found on most 11-inch notebooks(sony vgp-bps2a battery , sony vgp-bps2a/s battery) and netbook alternatives. The 1366 x 768 resolution is fine for browsing the web, editing photos, or even watching 720p HD movies. Color and contrast are average and the screen doesn't get as bright as the one on the HP Pavilion dm1z. We recorded a real-world contrast ratio of 198:1 in our lab and a maximum screen brightness of 201 nits; that's bright enough for indoor use under almost any artificial lights but you might have trouble viewing this screen outdoors under bright sunlight. If you tilt the screen forward or back, the colors start to look dim or very washed out. Horizontal viewing angles were better; staying visible until roughly 70 degrees.



The onboard speakers are located on the bottom on the notebook next to the left and right front corners. These speakers sound decent for a pair of small stereo speakers but the audio output sounds muffled if you're using this as a laptop(sony vgp-bps2b battery , sony vgp-bps2c battery). I was able to easily obstruct the speakers against my jeans which resulted in seriously muted sound. In short, music and movie lovers would be better off using a nice pair of headphones or connecting the notebook to a stereo through its HDMI-out port.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Although the VAIO YB has a similar footprint to other 11-inch laptops(sony vgp-bps2c/s battery , sony vgp-bps8 battery), the keyboard on this notebook feels small and cramped. The individual keys on this Chiclet-style keyboard are smaller than the keys on many other 11-inch notebooks and that translates into the occasional typo if you aren't prepared for the tiny keys. The keys themselves have a nearly perfect amount of feedback with quiet, cushioned clicks. The keyboard support structure is firm with no obvious flex or "bounce" under heavy typing pressure.

The touchpad on the new VAIO Y is a Synaptics model with good sensitivity, minimal lag and separate left and right touchpad buttons. I feel the need to mention that separate buttons since so many companies are using buttonless touchpads on 11-inch laptops(sony vgp-bps9 battery , sony vgp-bps9/b battery)... most of which aren't particularly good.

My only complaint about the touchpad on the VAIO YB is that Sony could have made it larger if they pushed the keyboard up closer to the hinge and made more room beneath the keyboard for a bigger touchpad. The touchpad isn't "uncomfortably small" but I would have enjoyed using this laptop more if the touchpad was larger(sony vgp-bps9/s battery , sony vgp-bps9a/b battery).

Performance and Benchmarks

Despite having the same model name as last year's VAIO Y, the new Sony VAIO Y (YB) is more of a direct replacement for the Sony VAIO W netbook(sony vgp-bps9a/s battery). The YB offers significantly better performance than a netbook that uses the Intel Atom processor.

The secret to that performance boost is AMD's new Fusion technology. The AMD "Zacate" E-350 accelerated processing unit (APU) combines a dual-core CPU with a 1.6 GHz clock speed with a Radeon graphics processing unit (GPU) on a single processor die. This not only allows Sony to pack more processing power into a smaller notebook(sony vgp-bps13 battery , sony vgp-bps13a/b battery), but it means the VAIO YB offers significantly more video and graphics horsepower than any netbook with an Intel Atom processor.

Although the new Sony VAIO Y isn't designed specifically for gaming, some people reading this review will be happy to know that you can play games like Left 4 Dead 2 or Mass Effect 2 on this little laptop(sony vgp-bps13a/q battery , sony vgp-bps13a/s battery). Frame rates aren't particularly impressive in graphics-intense games like this (average frame rates between 16 and 23 fps), but both games are "playable" if you just want to have some fun on the road.

The VAIO YB delivers roughly the same performance as the similarly equipped HP Pavilion dm1z and the Lenovo ThinkPad X120e, but the Sony produced a slightly lower 3DMark score when we tested the graphics performance. Still, it would be hard for the average consumer to notice the performance difference between this laptop(sony vgp-bps13b/b battery , sony vgp-bps13b/q battery) and the 11-inch MacBook Air which costs roughly twice as much.

One performance area you might notice is the 500GB, 5400 rpm hard drive. The Sony's hard drive is slightly faster than the 7200 rpm hard drive found inside the HP Pavilion dm1z, but doesn't deliver blazing speed. The hard drive is fast enough to quickly load most applications like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office but it doesn't deliver the same snappiness as the SSD found in the 11-inch MacBook Air(sony vgp-bps13b/s battery , sony vgp-bps13/b battery).

Heat and Noise

The VAIO YB benefits from the low-wattage AMD E-350 APU in terms of heat output as well as overall performance. The exterior temperature of the notebook barely increased after 30 minutes of serious activity. The bottom of the notebook(sony vgp-bps13/q battery , sony vgp-bps13/s battery) barely reached a temperature of 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Under normal conditions at or near idle, the same spots were about 5-6 degrees cooler. The system fan works harder in this notebook when the graphics are being stressed, but it's similar to the fan volume we heard from the HP Pavilion dm1z and Acer Aspire 1830T -- it shouldn't be too annoying for most people in a typical school or office environment.

Battery Life

At the time of this writing the SonyStyle website claims that the new VAIO Y notebook delivers up to 6 hours of battery life with the standard battery. This is far more realistic than some of the battery(sony vgp-bps14/b battery , sony vgp-bps14/s battery) life claims we've seen from various manufacturers over the years, but we still had to put this notebook through our own tests.

In our tests with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active while refreshing a website on regular 60-second intervals, and Windows 7 set to the Balanced profile, the Sony VAIO YB continued running for 4 hours and 32 minutes. That is significantly less than the battery(sony vgp-bps15/b battery , sony vgp-bps15/s battery) life of the HP Pavilion dm1z or the Lenovo ThinkPad X120e which both have virtually identical configurations.

The lower battery life of the VAIO YB probably has to do with the fact this laptop uses a 38Wh battery compared to the 50+Wh batteries on the HP and Lenovo notebooks. I'm reasonably sure you can extend the battery(sony vgp-bps20 battery , sony vgp-bps20/b battery) life past the 5-hour mark if you lower the screen brightness and aren't actively loading pages every 60 seconds, but I don't see how the new Sony VAIO Y can deliver "6 hours" of battery life as described on the SonyStyle website.

Conclusion

At the end of the day the new Sony VAIO Y is a good netbook alternative that struggles a little bit among the variety of similarly-equipped 11-inch laptops(sony vgp-bps20/s battery , sony vgp-bps21a/b battery). The new AMD E-350 processor and graphics are fantastic, but we're going to see a lot of small notebooks using this hardware in 2011 and that makes it tough for manufacturers to convince people to buy their product.

The VAIO YB doesn't provide as much battery power as other laptops using the E-350 APU and it costs roughly $50-$100 more depending on the configuration. That's a VERY tough sale in a market with so much competition. Sure, the new Sony VAIO Y is a good laptop(sony vgp-bps21/s battery , sony vgp-bps23 battery), but I suspect many potential customers won't get past the price.

Dell Inspiron 15R Review

Dell Inspiron 15R Review

Review Summary:

The Dell Inspiron 15R(dell inspiron 15r battery) is a 15-inch notebook(notebook batteries) that offers great looks and excellent build quality with a low starting price.

Pros

Great looks

Durable chassis

Comfortable keyboard and touchpad

Cons

Some options not available on all configurations

The newly designed Inspiron 15R is the latest 15.6-inch desktop-replacement notebook from Dell. Equipped with the Intel Core i3 or i5 processors and Intel GMA HD graphics, this budget-friendly system is aimed at the masses(dell inspiron 1425 battery , dell inspiron 1440 battery). In this review we take an in-depth look at this new system and see how it performs.

Our Dell Inspiron 15R (N7010) Specifications:

Intel Core i3 370M processor (2.4GHz, 3MB cache)

15.6-inch 1366x768 display with LED backlighting

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

4GB DDR3 memory

500GB 5400rpm HDD

Intel HD integrated graphics

10/100 Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, and Bluetooth

Intel Wi-Di (wireless display technology) and adapter

6-cell Li-ion 48Wh battery(dell latitude d830 battery)

Dimensions: 14.8 x 10.31 x 1.25-1.34-inches

Weight: 5.79lbs

Build and Design

The newly redesigned Inspiron 15R(dell inspiron 1470 battery , dell inspiron 1526 battery) offers a much cleaner and sleeker look and feel compared to past models. Similar to the Adamo-series, the layout has a hinge-forward design with the screen positioned just slightly in front of the back edge of the chassis. This has the added benefit of moving the screen closer to the keyboard and bringing the action to you. The outside appearance of the new 15R is very stylish, with a faux-brushed metal screen cover. The look gives the appearance of metal, although with an easier to clean painted surface. This look it also shared inside the notebook, with the palmrest and keyboard trim.

Build quality is great with a strong chassis and very durable feeling plastic(dell inspiron 1545 battery , dell inspiron 1564 battery , dell inspiron 1570 battery). Even with its large footprint, the thin chassis resist flex and doesn't creak when you lift it up from the corners. The keyboard and palmrest both have more than adequate support, and don't sag under strong pressure. The screen cover has moderate protection for the LCD, with only strong pressure to the back of the panel causing ripples. The screen has no problem staying put with two strong hinges that get the display into position and hold it without any wiggle.

Users looking to upgrade the RAM inside the Dell Inspiron 15R will find the process quite easy. There is only one access panel on the bottom of the notebook. With a few Phillips head screws removed, you can add or repalce to the system memory. Unfortunately, getting access to the hard drive requires a complete disassembly of the notebook(dell inspiron 1750 battery , dell inspiron 1764 battery) chassis.

Ports and Features

For a budget 15-inch desktop-replacement the Inspiron 15R offers plenty of inputs. We counted three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB connection, HDMI and VGA-out , audio jacks, and Ethernet. It also featured a SDHC-card reader, but an ExpressCard slot was missing.

One feature Dell offers as an option on the Inspiron 15R(dell inspiron e1405 battery , dell inspiron e1505 battery) is Intel Wi-Di (Wireless Display) that transmits 720P resolution video through wireless HDMI over a long distance to a receiver box that attaches to your HDTV. This technology is great for enjoying movies without needing to trip over wires draped across a living room. The downside is this technology requires a 2-3 second buffer, making it impossible to use for a second monitor where you need to actively control items on the screen. Browsing the web is very difficult when your mouse cursor is trailing a couple seconds behind. For watching a movie, its not a problem since you start it up and go hands-off.

The Intel Wi-Di option adds $100 to the price of the Inspiron 15R(dell inspiron e1705 battery). In theory this is a great value, although at the time of this writing Dell only offers this on the highest configuration of the 15R. Our $599 model cannot currently be configured with Wi-Di on the Dell website.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the Inspiron 15R(dell inspiron m5030 battery , dell inspiron m5110 battery) is a cross between a Chilet and standard keyboard. The tops of each key are flat with sharp edges, but instead of an inner-bezel they broaden out to meet the sides of other keys. This design is comfortable to type on, although it lacks some of the cupping that is nice to have to center your fingers over each key as you type. The layout is full-size with a condensed numberpad, which doesn't feel in any way cramped with the large width of this laptop. The only complaint I have with this keyboard are the directional keys, which are micro-sized for a keyboard of this size. They are roughly equal in size to the function keys on the top row. I am guessing it was done this way to maximize the size of the palmrest and get users to use the numberpad for direction keys.

The touchpad is a spacious Synaptics model, which thankfully doesn't incorporate buttons below the touch-sensitive surface. The response times of the touchpad were excellent, exhibiting no lag whatsoever in our testing(dell inspiron n3010 battery , dell inspiron n4010 battery). The surface texture was a light matte finish that was easy to glide over with a dry or slightly damp fingertip. The touchpad supported multitouch gestures which worked well and with the external buttons, didn't interfere with normal operation of the cursor. The touchpad buttons offered shallow feedback, but they did have slightly more travel than other short-throw buttons. When pressed they emitted a very soft click that didn't make your presence known in a medium to large-sized room.

Screen and Speakers

The 15R as the name implies offers a 15.6-inch display. The panel comes in 1366x768 resolution only, with a glossy or glare-type surface. We didn't find the reflections or glare to be as bad as all-glass style panels, but it was still greater than matte finishes(dell inspiron n7110 battery , dell vostro 1720 battery , dell vostro 3500 battery). For a budget system the screen rates slightly above average with a strong backlight, measuring a peak of 218nit with our Gossen Mavo-Monitor light meter. The brightness was a bit low for outdoor viewing, but worked quite well under bright office lighting. Screen contrast was also measured as being 136:1 with an average darkness of 1.45nit and minimal backlight bleed around the edges. Color quality was good, although maybe not as vivid as more recent multimedia-oriented systems. Vertical viewing angles were good to about 15-20 degrees before colors started to sharply invert. Horizontal viewing angles were better, staying true to about 60 degrees off-center before reflections started to overpower the panel.

The speakers on the Inspiron 15R are located along the leading edge of the palmrest facing downward. In their optimal position with the notebook placed on a flat desk the speakers filled a small room with music. Audio quality was about average for a consumer notebook(dell vostro 3750 battery) of this size. Because the speakers were located on the bottom part of the notebook, if you had the notebook in your lap, it was pretty easy to accidentally block one or both of the grills with your pants and partially block the sound coming out.

Performance and Benchmarks

System performance on the Dell Inspiron 15R was great thanks to the Intel Core i3 and i5 processor selection, as well as Intel GMA HD graphics. While our configuration was more budget oriented, Dell does offer a dedicated graphics option with the ATI Radeon HD550v with 1GB of VRAM. On compatible systems this option adds $100 to the purchase price(dell vostro a860 battery , dell xps l501x battery).

The Inspiron15R laptop received a score of 99 on the Worldbench 6 benchmark - for comparisons sake, that would be 2 points more than what the Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 scored. This Dell laptop should be able to cope with carrying out your daily tasks and performing most multiple processor and memory intensive tasks without any issues - save for gaming(dell latitude e6500 battery). During synthetic testing, the laptop's hard disk recorded an average read speed of 72.5 MB/s and recorded a PC Mark Vantage score of 5547.

Given that the laptop has the integrated Intel HD graphics, playing contemporary games shouldn't really be considered as a viable option on this laptop. This is not a downside in any way as the laptop was never intended for such a purpose, and if you were indeed looking for a more moderately priced machine to play games on, you would be better off looking at other options - such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Z570. Having said that, you just might be able to get away with playing some of the retro games, run at appropriate settings, on this Inspiron 15R laptop(dell latitude e6320 battery , dell latitude e6520 battery).

Watching both 720p and 1080p HD videos was a comfortable experience. The sound output from the built in speakers, is appropriately loud for a small to medium sized room, although higher frequency sounds do tend to sound quite screechy. Listening through headphones would be the best option.

Throughout our testing, the Inspiron laptop did a good job of keeping itself cool, which is a positive aspect for any laptop. However when used for an extended period of time or when running some intensive tasks, you do notice that the mid-to-top left section of the laptop's base, that is next to the exhaust, heats up slightly and becomes quite warm to the touch. Moreover, the laptop was barely audible during operation, which is another positive to take from this laptop.

The laptop's six-cell dell inspiron 15r battery lasted for 1 hour 32 minutes through one of our battery tests, at high performance mode, and having the wireless internet mode enabled - this result is pretty much the norm we have come to expect of mainstream laptops. Having said that, you should be able to extract around 4 plus hours out of the laptop's (dell battery) for doing lighter every-day work such as browsing the web and listening to music.

The 15R handled itself pretty well in our tests, even though it was a base configuration. The newer Intel Core i3 370M processor and Intel HD graphics can handle anything the average user would want to do, outside of 3D intensive gaming. For watching 720P and 1080P movies, the system rendered them flawlessly without breaking a sweat. This worked very well when using the supplied Intel Wi-Di adapter, to wirelessly stream HD videos to an HDTV. Office productivity applications were no problem for the 15R(dell xps l702x battery), so for the average college user this notebook would be an excellent choice.

Heat and Noise

The Inspiron 15R handled its heat output pretty well, but it did get warmer in some areas compared to the larger 17R. Under the stress of constant benchmarks, the only hot spot that formed was an area on the bottom of the chassis that measured 93 degrees Fahrenheit. The highest temperature on the top was only 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Under normal conditions the notebook(dell xps m1330 battery , dell xps m1530 battery , dell xps m1730 battery) was fairly tame in its heat output, cycling the fan on occasionally, but at a very slow speed. Noise output even under the worst conditions was still at whisper levels though.

Battery Life

The Dell Inspiron 15R comes standard with a 48Wh 6-cell battery, which worked surprisingly well in our tests(dell latitude d430 battery , dell latitude d520 battery). An optional 9-cell 90WH battery is also offered with some configurations if you needed extended runtime. In our tests with the screen brightness reduced to 70%, wireless active and refreshing a webpage ever 60 seconds, and Windows set to the Balanced profile, the Inspiron 15R stayed on for 3 hours and 43 minutes. While the number was fairly decent for a budget notebook, we were surprised the time was identical to what we saw on the larger Inspiron 17R.

Monitor

The 15.6-inch glossy screen does a good job of displaying text and video. The viewing angles are decent - two people, sitting within comfortable distance of each other, should be able to watch the screen without having to see the darkish hue appear over the particular picture/video. The screen can be titled backwards to an angle of approx 120 degrees(dell studio 1537 battery).

Hardware

The Dell Inspiron 15R features a Second Generation Intel Core i3 2310 processor (2.1GHz), 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 500 GB (5400 RPM) HDD, and Intel HD graphics.

The left side of the laptop chassis features, one Ethernet port, one VGA port, an HDMI port, one USB 2.0 port and headphone and microphone jacks(dell studio 1737 battery). On the right hand side you would find an optical drive and 2 USB 2.0 ports. At the front of the chassis, you would find a multi-card reader - positioned to its left, you would find the four LED indicators. It also features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/ n and Bluetooth 3.0 wireless connectivity.

More details can be seen on this review's "Specifications" page.

Software

The laptop comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium service pack 1. Among the Dell software included on this unit are the Dell DataSafe local backup, Dell(dell studio 1749 battery) DataSafe online, Dell Stage - includes MusicStage, PhotoStage and VideoStage, Dell Support Centre and PC Checkup and Dell webcam Central which allows you to add some interesting effects to your photos.

Among the other pre-installed software are McAfee Security Centre trial edition, Roxio Creator Starter Edition, and Skype.

Upgradability

The entire base is a single cover slot(laptop battery), and the entire base will have to taken off - we tried to remove it, but to no avail - to look at the Inspiron laptop's innards. Consequently, in case you are thinking of upgrading this unit, that task is better left to Dell, and is not an activity that I would encourage regular users to engage in.

Conclusion

The Inspiron 15R is a budget-friendly 15.6-inch notebook(dell latitude d531 battery , dell latitude d630 battery , dell latitude d631 battery) based around the latest Intel platform. With a base configuration including the Intel Core i3 370M processor, 4GB of RAM, and Intel GMA HD graphics, the 15R easily outperforms budget and midrange notebooks of yesteryear. For the average user, this machine is more than capable for pretty much all activities except gaming. Even when it came to decoding HD movies, the 15R handled it with ease. The 15R deserves a spot on your shopping list if you are looking for a new notebook.

utorak, 01.11.2011.

HTC EVO 4G Review

HTC EVO 4G Review

On bottom, you will find the Micro-USB and HDMI ports. There's also a kickstand on the back that lets you prop the phone up on a desk.

The HTC EVO 4G, launching from Sprint today, is the first WiMax-enabled phone available to U.S. consumers. It has a 4.3-inch display, a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 8 megapixel camera and 1.3 megapixel forward-facing secondary camera, and 3G/4G mobile hotspot capability, all running on Android OS 2.1.

BUILD & DESIGN

Make no mistake, the EVO 4G is big. It isn't bulky by any means, but it is just a bit taller than an iPhone, and definitely wider. It is very thin, which means that it is still comfortable to hold in the hand.

Even though this device is relatively large, it isn't too heavy. The feel is solid, with no flaps or access doors on the sides.

The overall design is quite sleek and modern. The "buttons" under the display are touch sensitive, so the front of the device is unbroken. Almost everything is black, with a few silver elements on the speaker grille and branding logos, plus red accents around the camera lens and kickstand on the back of the device.

That kickstand deserves special mention; the EVO 4G is the first phone I have encountered that has one. It works very well in landscape mode, and makes watching video on the device much more pleasant and enjoyable.

Unfortunately the kickstand doesn't quite work in portrait mode. The phone can be balanced on the stand in portrait mode, but it is somewhat unstable and if you touch the display the phone will likely tip over.

Display

The 4.3-inch WVGA touchscreen on the EVO 4G is absolutely gorgeous. That is due in part to the significantly larger display on this device as compared to other mobile phones.

Colors are rich and vibrant, and everything just looks good, whether you're doing text-heavy tasks like checking your email and surfing the Web or looking at photos and watching videos. This isn't an AMOLED display, but the EVO 4G doesn't really seem to need it.

As far as the touchscreen is concerned, I did find it to be a little "twitchy" and it seemed at times to be too responsive, if that makes any sense. Sometimes I would accidentally get my fingers too close to the Messages or Voicemail icons when holding the phone and launch applications I didn't mean to. It could be that I'm not used to the phone yet, having only had it for the past few days, or it could be due to the fact that there is less of a border around this screen than on some other phones and I need to adjust my grip.

Keyboard

The EVO 4G does not have a physical keyboard, instead relying upon a virtual keyboard that you "type" on with your finger. I found the virtual keyboard to be much easier to use on the EVO than on other devices I've used recently because it is bigger, thanks to the 4.3-inch screen. That means I'm much less likely to tap in the wrong place.

Since everything is spread out a bit more, I also didn't find the word completion utility as distracting and frustrating as usual. That tends to be one of the first things I turn off when I try out a new device, but the extra screen real estate on the EVO 4G helps to solve that problem.

Other Buttons & Controls

The headphone jack is on the top of the phone, as is the power button. The rather long and narrow volume buttons are on the top right side. The charge/sync port and the HDMI video-out port are on the bottom of the phone.

The lens for the forward-facing camera is just to the right of the speaker centered above the display, and right above and between the letters "p" and "r" in the Sprint logo.

On the back of the EVO 4G you will find the camera lens and dual led flash on the top, with the kickstand near the bottom of the device.

The battery compartment cover is relatively easy to remove if necessary. The microSD card slot is underneath the battery. An 8 GB card comes with the phone; cards up to 32 GB in capacity are supported.

Wireless/Call Quality

Call quality test results are mixed; some of my callers praised the voice quality, one caller said that I sounded somewhat muffled, and a fellow smartphone reviewer gave the EVO 4G a "C" rating. Indoors results were more favorable, of course, with reports outside that there were some issues with background noise and hissing. I was not in a particularly noisy or windy environment, so I'm not exactly sure what caused the problem.

I was quite pleased with the call quality on my end; whether I was calling a landline phone or another mobile phone, everything came through loud and clear. I didn't hear any background noise, and I also didn't have any trouble hearing my callers.

The EVO 4G is the first smartphone released in the U.S. with WiMAX, which theoretically gives it peak downlink speeds of up to 12 Mbps, and an average downlink speed of 2-4 Mbps. In my tests, surfing the Web was at least as fast as a Wi-Fi connection. More on this later.

The Sprint Mobile Hotspot utility is one of the highlights of this smartphone, allowing you to share the WiMAX connection with up to eight other devices; I tested it this morning and had no trouble at all connecting my iPad. I was able to send and receive email and surf the Web with no issues at all, and I was also able to receive voice calls while I was using the EVO 4G as a portable hotspot. The connection also automatically switched from 4G to 3G when I went inside my office, where I am unable to get 4G coverage.

Entertainment

This is where the EVO 4G really shines - there's so much to do, it can actually be hard to decide: there's mobile video, games, a fully featured music player, and web browsing at blazing fast speeds.

If social networking is your game, Peep is a really nice Twitter client, and fun to use. Facebook is also included, but if you're looking for a more streamlined experience you should try FriendStream, which unifies the status updates and photos from multiple social networking services to make connecting with friends even easier. And the included Qik application makes it easy to capture video and share it with friends privately or through Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

If mobile gaming is your thing, the included Teeter game is a good start. It offers marble madness or labyrinth style gameplay, and the tilt controls work very well. The graphics are smooth, and the game provides a nice introduction to the possibilities that are available in the Android Market.

The music player is very nice, and the external speaker is quite surprising--it puts out very loud, very clear sound. It should be all you need when you travel, though headphones will definitely provide a richer sound. Unprotected AAC and MP3 file playback are supported. The fact that a CD spine and clear "CD case" edges are added to the cover art is a nice retro touch. There is also an FM radio app included with the phone, though you must plug in a wired headset in order to use it, as there is no internal antenna on the EVO 4G.

Battery Life

This is a potential area of concern, due mainly to the camera and the 4G wireless. I've only had the phone for two days so far, and each day I have been warned after four to five hours that I had reached only 15% charge and needed to plug the phone in. This may not be a problem with more normal usage patterns, as I took a great many photographs, made lots of calls, surfed the Web heavily, and watched both YouTube and Sprint TV.

More time with the device is needed to make a firm judgment, but I suspect that a more typical pattern of using the phone throughout the day and then plugging it in to recharge at night will be sufficient for most users.

It is also possible to turn off the 4G wireless if necessary, in order to conserve battery power during emergency situations.

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