skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Powered By
If you're a corporate road warrior or a student trying to fit as much computer as possible in the smallest space possible, the HP EliteBook 2530p might be the perfect notebook for you. This 12.1" workstation featuring the latest Intel low voltage processors and integrated graphics for extreme battery life, and plenty of ports and storage options inside an impressively durable shell. The EliteBook 2530p looks like a surprising amount of computer in a rugged three-pound chassis. Is it worth a little extra cash to get your hands on this tiny titan? Keep reading and find out.
Performance and Benchmarks
Our pre-production EliteBook 2530p came with the Intel SL9400 low voltage processor, clocking in at 1.86GHz, and jammed packed with 6MB of cache. For graphics, HP included Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics. A fast 80GB Intel SSD was also included in our test configuration, which helped applications load without much lag, helps reduce temperatures and extend battery life. As mentioned previously, the SSD option also makes the notebook less prone to accidental failure due to hard drive impact.
Older generation low-voltage processors performed a much lower levels than standard processors ... a trade off for extended battery life. Thankfully, the latest generation of Intel low-voltage processors perform quite well and nearly rival standard processors in most tests. Typical business users who are only concerned with working in Microsoft Office and encoding the occassional video for work will have more power than they know what to do with it.
The high-class ASUS N10 is a netbook above all the rest, starting a new market segment called the "Corporate Netbook." The N10 offers similar features to standard netbooks, including an Intel Atom platform and WSVGA screen, but with the addition of optional switchable dedicated graphics and a fancy design. With a starting price of $649 for models with dedicated graphics; is a higher configuration worth the price jump? In this review we explain the differences between the N10JC and the cheaper Eee PC 1000HA and tell you if you should consider the costly upgrade.
Performance
From the moment I received this notebook I was very interested in seeing the performance of the Intel Atom platform with a dedicated graphics card attached. Almost all configurations use the dated Intel GMA950 graphics, which slow everything down, including movie decoding. With the NVIDIA 9300M graphics, this netbook might have a shot at decoding 720p video in a very compact package that has HDMI out.
For our test we tried a wide range of high definition content including an assortment of HD movies and HD movie trailers. Sadly, even though we tried a wide range of video codecs, including CoreAVC, the Intel Atom processor didn’t have enough grunt to keep a steady decoding framerate. Depending on the bitrate the N10 working with the NVIDIA 9300M graphics only managed 10-15fps, well below 24-25fps goal.
Since HD content was out of the question we moved onto video games as another area to see where the dedicated graphics might help out. Using Steam we pulled in Half-Life 2 and tweaked the visual settings to be easier on the system. With the resolution set to 1024x600 and most settings on medium the system average 20-25fps, which was playable, but still under what you would want for smooth gaming. Heavy action scenes dropped the framerate into the mid-teens, and if you weren’t lucky, got yourself killed in no time.
The Qosmio X305-Q708 is Toshiba's flagship gaming and multimedia notebook. This 17-inch monster has a flashy design, dual Nvidia video cards, and Intel's first mobile quad-core processor. Despite all the bells and whistles, is the X305-Q708 worth $4,200?
Operating System & Software
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit is pre-installed on the Q708, with an unfortunately large amount of bloatware. Trial software, useless games, and other unwanted bits of software litter the main drive. Seeing this kind of bloatware on a $4,200 notebook borders on offensive. Toshiba also includes an inordinate amount of utilities.
The IdeaPad Y530 is a multimedia notebook from Lenovo with surround speakers and subwoofer, HDMI out, touch-sensitive media controls, and a "frameless" display panel. With a wide range of multimedia features this notebook is aimed at dorm rooms or even acting as the media hub for a home theater system. Priced at $999, just how well does the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 stand up against the competition in a pretty packed market segment?
Performance
The performance of the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 with an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor and NVIDIA 9300M graphics card was slightly under multimedia oriented notebooks like the Gateway MC7803u which offered a better graphics card. For day to day use or enjoying high definition video content the Y530 performed quite well. For the average user, both machines performed at roughly the same speed for web browsing, watching movies, typing documents, and fast startups or shutdowns. Gaming is where the Y530 falls behind the competition, equipped with only a 9300M graphics card while others use a more powerful graphics card such as the ATI 3650. This could mean the difference between running some of the latest games with at moderate resolution or lowering the resolution and heavily tweaking the detail settings.
WPrime is a benchmark similar to Super Pi in that it forces the processor to do intense mathematical calculations, but the difference is this application is multi-threaded and represents dual core processors better. Lower numbers indicate better performance.
Lenovo officially introduced the ThinkPad X200 today, but was kind enough to send me an early review unit last week. The X200 is Lenovo’s new 12-inch business notebook and it’s been a joy to use for the past few days. The X200 has a starting price of just $1,199, making it an excellent value for anyone who needs a fully-capable notebook that can get them through a full work day.
The X200 is now available from $1,434 in its basic configuration.
Lenovo’s revamped the ThinkPad line’s naming convention, with the X200 replacing the X61.The X200 has a widescreen display, which is a departure from the standard (4:3) aspect ratio found on the X61.
The X200 is a whole different animal than the 13.3-inch X300, which is optimized to be as thin and light as possible and has a low-voltage processor, built-in DVD burner, and a solid state drive and has an eye-popping sticker price of $3,225. The X200 doesn’t have an optical drive, but it does have full-speed Intel Core 2 Duo processors, an array of drive options and an optional docking solution.
Today I upgraded my Mini 1000’s memory from 1GB to 2GB in less than 20 seconds and I didn’t even need to use a screw driver. Upgrading RAM on a notebook is usually a pretty simple task for experienced computer users, but I don’t see how HP could’ve made this any easier on the Mini 1000. Check out this video to see what I mean.
No tools are necessary as there are no screws holdnig the Mini 1000’s memory door shut. Instead there’s a little latch next to the one of the battery releases. All you need is a pointy object like a pen or a knife to reach a hole in the latch so you can slide it to the side. The battery door pops off and gives you easy access to the single memory slot.
You can get a 2GB memory stick from NewEgg, Amazon.com or most other online retailers for under $25. HP does not sell the Mini 1000 with 2GB of memory if you order the XP version because of a licensing agreement with Microsoft. When the MIE (Ubuntu) Mini 1000 is released in January you will be able to customize it with 2GB of RAM on HP’s Web site.
The Fujitsu LifeBook A1110 notebook is a 15.4” desktop replacement which offers a user-customizable screen cover. With a spill resistant keyboard and durable design it fits in well with the college crowd -- who might not be overly kind to their computers. Prices start as low as $799; our review unit has a suggested retail price of $999 with some upgraded components. Read on to see if this notebook is worth the price and deserves a spot on your desk.
Display
The WXGA glossy panel rates average with comfortable viewing angles and a bright backlight that works in a well lit office setting. Colors are vibrant and contrast is very nice with the glossy screen surface. The vertical viewing range offers a good sized sweet spot with accurate colors with 10 degrees forward and back before colors start to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, but at steeper angles the screen starts to dim and you start seeing reflected surfaces instead of the display. The screen brightness overcomes the lights in a bright office setting, but outside viewing would be limited with the reflective glossy screen.
Performance
The Fujitsu A1110 is loaded with an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2GHz processor, 4GB of DDR2 memory, and Intel X4500 integrated video. For day-to-day use, including web browsing, word processing, light gaming or watching movies the system performs very well. Dedicated graphics would have been greatly appreciated on the upgraded model, which would have helped gaming performance and HD movie decoding. The 5400RPM hard drive performed quite well, with very little lag present when opening applications or power cycling the notebook.
WPrime is a benchmark similar to Super Pi in that it forces the processor to do intense mathematical calculations, but the difference is this application is multi-threaded and represents dual core processors better. Lower numbers indicate better performance.
Alienware’s latest addition to their gaming laptop line is the M17. This 17? gaming laptop is the first to boast CrossFire X support, and comes with the usual high-end specs: Intel Core 2 Quad/Extreme processor, Maximum 4GB DDR3 RAM, Twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, WXGA+/WUXGA panel, Optional ATSC HDTV tuner, Maximum of 640GB hard drive space, Dual-layer DVD writer/optional Blu-ray reader, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet, even a Facial recognition sensor. Prices start from $1,399 upwards, depending on how amped up you want it.
If you're a corporate road warrior or a student trying to fit as much computer as possible in the smallest space possible, the HP EliteBook 2530p might be the perfect notebook for you. This 12.1" workstation featuring the latest Intel low voltage processors and integrated graphics for extreme battery life, and plenty of ports and storage options inside an impressively durable shell. The EliteBook 2530p looks like a surprising amount of computer in a rugged three-pound chassis. Is it worth a little extra cash to get your hands on this tiny titan? Keep reading and find out.
