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Acer Aspire 5920GAfter a period of time notebookCHECK did not review Acer notebooks, the Acer Aspire 5920G made a good start. Especially the new case and design scored high. Partly the case is maybe too fancy, and also the order of the ports could still be improved, but, overall the case is alright. Acer Aspire 5610 Charger

The 5920G’s keyboard can also hardly be criticized. It is tightly attached to the case and typing is user-friendly due to big and clearly laid out keys. However, the touchpad’s buttons are not so user-friendly, because they click rather loud.Acer Aspire 5630 ChargerThe measured parameters of the display are alright. However, the reflecting surface is a point of critique, but, comparable alternatives are hardly available in this notebook class. Furthermore, the stability to the vantage point could also be better.

The Acer Aspire 5920G’s equipment sounds very promising: Core 2 Duo T7300 CPU, Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT video card, 2GB main memory, and 200GB hard disk. Overall, the performance is good, although directly compared to competitor notebooks it did not fully meet our expectations, because of a slower hard disk and slower main memory. Acer Aspire 5650 Charger

The rating of the notebook’s emissions differ depending on the considered aspect. The generally low noise in idle mode is unfortunately repeatedly interrupted by the fan starting running. The surface temperature partly exceeds 50°C, which is enormous. However,the sound of the integrated speakers is very good. Last but not least also the runtime is very good. Acer Aspire 5680 Charger The runtime ranges from 2.5 hours to a maximum of more than 4 hours and, so, allows a reasonable mobile use.Many thanks to the company 7rabbits.at, which kindly provided us with the reviewed notebook. Here you can configure and also buy this notebook.

The Lenovo IBM Thinkpad X61T is a compact mobile notebook with tablet functions. It’s light magnesium case and the good runtime qualifies it for students, who need to browse the Internet, take notes, and copy pictures by using the pen. Furthermore, it is also not fit for up-to-date games, because of an integrated video solution and a processor with low-energy demands. So, it makes it easier to concentrate on the lesson.Acer Aspire 9110 Charger

The haptics of the stable magnesium case is unique and it is also very resistant against pressure. Only, it looks like made of plastic. But, this impression diminishes once you used the notebook and what stays is the impression that it is a high-quality and stable notebook with first-class ergonomics.Acer Aspire 9120 Charger The surfaces seem to be very soft, like silver sand-blasted by the goldsmith. There aren’t any sharp edges or corner, still, the X61 Tablet is not overall round, but, simple and functional. The X61 T looks like out of a science fiction film of the eighties, because of the plastic look, the color choice (black with red and blue contrast elements), the IBM Thinkpad Logo, and a display in 4:3 format with matt surface.,

You can think of the X61 T’s look as understatement. Some beholders asked: “Does Vista really run on this old notebook?”, At least after turning the display round and picking up the pen, it attracts the attention of everybody in its vicinity – even MacBook user will be amazed. Actually, the look of the X61T and of other Lenovo notebooks are generally a matter of taste. Some love it, while other think, it is out of fashion. Acer Aspire 9800 Charger

At least it does not look ordinary. Furthermore, Lenovo produced a notebook, whose look, haptics, and technology are excellent without copying from from Apple. Overall, the Thinkpad X61 T seems to be an anti MacBook in all aspects, and pleases this way.If you are still not convinced by design and tablet functions, you might be impressed by the provided hardware-based security, e.g., a shock protected hard disk or a finger print reader. However, an optical drive was missed out, but, in turn a docking station port is provided.Acer Aspire 9810 Charger

At first you’ll notice that the X61 T misses a touch pad out. But, once you’ve worked with the user-friendly red track point for a while, you’ll be glad doing it without a touch pad, and raise the question, why this best mouse replacement did not became the standard and was not established overall. The track point does not only ease quick navigation, it also demands less space. Acer Aspire 9920G Charger

The keyboard has a concise, clearly structured, and user-friendly layout. This is except of the Fn key, because it swapped space with the Ctrl key. Typing is comfortably silent without clattering. We were also pleased by the user-friendly point of pressure. Furthermore, many hot keys are provided, some of them twice, to be accessible also in tablet mode. Acer TravelMate 2450 Charger

The most striking hot key is the ThinkVantage button, which can be used to invoke a menu covering a number of Lenovo specific tools. It provides, e.g., help for networking, data security, and a number of settings. If you press this button during system start-up, the recovery system will be started allowing to backup and restore data. Acer TravelMate 2490 Charger

However, we were most interested in the pen, because we were not used to using the X61 tablet by pen on the display. The X61 tablet recognizes the pen already, if it is still 2 cm off the display, and marks this by a small circle. Clicking with the button at the pen’s side is equivalent to a right mouse click. Navigating is alright, but, the point marked at the display is about 1mm moved to the right. Furthermore, we sometimes received the impression, that the track point only reacts slowly. Acer TravelMate 3900 ChargerTherefore, we felt that the track point combined with the keyboard is the best input alternative. But, the pen is better for notes, drawings, and drafts, even more, because it recognizes a number of different pressure levels.

Color DiagramThe X61 Tablet is equipped with a 12.1″ display with a maximum resolution of 1024×768 pixels. It captivates by a very good stability to the vantage point and gets only fuzzy at extremely acute angles. The brightness is just sufficient for outdoor usage, but, reading the display gets cumbersome in the sun. Acer TravelMate 5210 Charger

Although we first thought, that the display’s resolution is low, we soon understood this decision of the designers. A higher resolution would have made navigating and precisely positioning the pen difficult. The color diagram depicts a nearly ideal red and blue color curve, and a lowered green color curve. Also subjectively the image seems a little bit yellowish.Acer TravelMate 5510 Charger

It was pretty clear that the X61 Tablet won’t provide outstanding performance. However, the Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 with 1.6 Ghz and Intel’s integrated video solution, an Intel GMA 950, are too weak. However, 2 GB main memory kept hope alive that at least office performance is alright. Finally, it turned out, that the performance is actually sufficient for office work under Windows Vista. As pure office notebook, this Tablet PC is, in the reviewed configuration with best available equipment, quite alright. Acer TravelMate 4260 Charger

However, it is completely insufficient for occasional games. It is not even possible to play Doom III with 8,5 FPS in the lowest resolution. Even older games cause problems, e.g., Quake 3 Arena reaches with best settings only an average of 24 FPS. Acer TravelMate 4280 Charger

Playing games with the X61 Tablet is like attending a car race with a Jeep: Not in the right ballpark. However, the Thinkpad’s performance is sufficient for its main field of operation. Furthermore, the runtime is long, because of low-energy components. Further information about the video card can be found here or in our comparison of mobile video cards. Please also look at our benchmark list of mobile processors or at our benchmark list of mobile video cards, in order to compare this notebook to other configurations.Acer TravelMate 4230 Charger

In idle mode a noise level of about 33.4dB is reached. In quiet environments the notebook is therewith audible. However, the noise is decent. Under load the X61 T is not much louder. A noise level of 37.1dB is also alright. Sometimes we heard a short squeaking in mode.Acer TravelMate 4200 Charger Although the surface temperatures of the Thinkpad X61 Tablet are generally alright, they are too high in Tablet mode, if you work lap top. At the bottom side the temperature increased to up to 46°C, at the hand ball support it was also as high as 35°C.

The stereo speakers of the X61 Tablet are placed at the notebook’s sides. Their basses are poor, but, their sound is clear, especially high tones sound alright. Considering the size of the X61 Tablet its speakers are good.Acer Aspire 9504WSMi ChargerThe Clearly Exceeds the CaseA special strengths of the X61 Tablet is its long runtime. However, it is only reached with the also, for an additional charge, available 8 cells . Anyway, above 8 hours maximum runtime is impressing. During WLAN operation, which is most common in practice, the runtime also exceeded 3 hours with high brightness. This is still sufficient for lessons, etc. Under full load the X61 Tablet still reached a runtime of nearly 2 hours, which produces evidence for Lenovo’s energy saving qualities.

Lenovo Thinkpad X61 TThe Thinkpad X61 Tablet is a first-class equipped notebook, which costs as much as 2800€. It produces unimpeachable evidence that unique design, fantastic features, and high-quality materials are not only provided by Apple. Furthermore,Acer Farrari 4005WLMi Charger this Lenovo notebook captivates by excellent runtime, good display, impressing quality, and tablet functions, which are robust, but not outstanding. For most of you the X61s, which is equally equipped than the X61 Tablet, but, does not provide tablet function and cost about 600€ less, might be the better choice. Many thanks to the company Planet Notebook, who kindly provided us with the reviewed notebook. Here you can configure and also buy this notebook.

We were pleased by the two power switches, one at the display and one at the case, whereas the switch on the case additionally provides a hold function.The temperature is a little higher at the bottom side and reaches 46°C which might especially disturb in tablet mode, when working on the sofa.Acer Ferrari 4000 Charger

Nice Looking with weaknesses. Subnotebooks by Sony are always interesting. Be it, because of the bright and super slim LED displays, or simply, because of the beautiful Sony look, Sony notebooks have loyal fans. They like them especially, because of the outstanding mobility of these very light notebooks, not to mention the display. Here you can read, why the Sony TZ11XN does not only score high.Acer Ferrari 4001 ChargerAs expected the Sony Vaio TZ11XN pleases by its beautiful and elegant look. Especially the rounded , which can also be seen between the hinges from the front, contributes to the appearance of the notebook.

Another design aspect of the TZ11XN is its keyboard. In contrast to other notebooks, which have separated keyboard units, the each single key of this keyboard is bordered by the surrounding case. The interspace created by this design is filled by glossy coated parts of the case, which is dotted with fingerprints after a short time. Overall this keyboard design reminds on the one of Apple MacBooks. Acer Ferrari 4002 Charger

Regarding case stability the flexural rigidity of the base unit is good and its pressure resistance is good to moderate (bottom side). Carbon fiber makes this possible. However, the extra slim and elegant display, which can be clearly deformed at its top corners, could be robuster. Acer Ferrari 4002WLMi Charger

At the first glance it seem that the workmanship is alright. However, scrutinizing the notebook, you’ll quickly detect weaknesses. E.g., the socket of the power connector, which is at the side of the left display hinge is only loosely attached. The same is true for the plastic covers of both hinges, which can easily be dislocated and moved even by applying only a little force. Also the typical “Sony problem” persist at the TZ11XN: Right, the wobbling . All these points of critique are not really dire, but the impression of quality is diminished. Acer Ferrari 4003 Charger

Apart from the filigree cover the hinges work alright. No wonder, their work is not really hard, because the display is very thin and light. We also need to mention that we reviewed a pre-series notebook, which is not meant to be sold. So, there could be improvements till the final launch. For the benefit of a thin display the transport hook was missed out. The display is drawn close and kept locked by a mechanism. Acer Ferrari 4004 Charger

The number of provided interfaces is a little poor. Most of the ports were placed at the left side of the case. LAN, Modem, and Firewire are hidden behind a cover. A big pro is the integrated DVD drive, which makes a mobile DVD player out of the TZ11XN. Furthermore, a docking port is provided at the bottom side.Acer Ferrari 4005 ChargerAs already mentioned above, the keyboard attracts especially by its “single key layout”. So, the space in between the keys is a little bigger than usual, but this has no impact on user-friendliness. The somewhat smaller and, typical Sony, flattened keys are comfortable in use. Also typing feels very comfortable.

The touch pad is not that good. Partly the pad does not optimally react, and also the position of its two buttons at the very front edge is not ideal for mobile use. However, the surface of the pad is comfortable and the point of pressure of both buttons is user-friendly.Acer Ferrari 4006 ChargerColor DiagramThe biggest advantage of the LED display gets obvious soon – excellent brightness. The WXGA format 16:9 seems unusual wide at the beginning, but, soon we got used to it. The 11.1 inch display provides a passable overview by a resolution of 1366×768.

The measurement results of this glossy display are passable. The maximum brightness amounted to very good 345.4 cd/m², and the illumination is acceptable at 80.7%. The diagram of display calibration depicts three nearly ideal color curves. Subjectively the displayed picture seems to be a little reddish, which might be caused by the special anti-reflection coating. Acer Ferrari 4006WLMi Charger

The black value, i.e. the minimum brightness of the display amounted to 0.6 cd/m² which gives, together with the maximum brightness of 345.4 cd/m², a maximum contrast ratio of very good 576:1. The speed of reaction, checked by scroll tests and the Pixperan test of legibility, is average without any anomalies.Acer Ferrari 5000 ChargerOutdoor OperationThe very bright display stays also well legible in very bright environments and is in general fit for outdoor usage. However, the reflecting surface might cause problems. Although anti-reflexion coated, you’ll sometimes face reflections which essentially reduce the legibility at adverse incidence of light.

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Depending on the chosen performance settings, the emissions range from comfortable silent to really loud. Overall, they are alright, because the dv6598eg stays comfortable quiet in idle mode. The Pavilion dv6598eg’s battery runtime ranges from 1 hour to about 4 hours. So, also a mobile use is possible.IBM ThinkPad X60 Battery,Charger

The Samsung Q45 Aura T7100 Damali is top equipped with 200 GB hard disk, 2 GB main memory and Nvidia Geforce 8400M GS with 256 MB. It takes the lead of the 12.1″ class. It seems to be a real insider tip, because of its real dumping price, good equipment, good looking design. Unfortunately, Samsung follows the new trend, which should actually be boycotted. Just read more about it in this review.IBM ThinkPad X60s Battery,Charger

Let’s leave workmanship, equipment, pressure resistance etc. aside and get to the point: Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Battery,ChargerWhose idea was it to coat a notebook with a glossy surface? Five minutes after we removed the plastic film, the cover was littered with fingerprints and dust. We used a whole kitchen towel up for the pictures to this article. Unfortunately, some designers seem to have completely lost their sense for practice, just to represent glossy surfaces in advertisements and web-pages. These glossy surfaces neither improve haptics nor are there any functional advantages, furthermore, their appearance suffers from fingerprints, and also every scratch can be clearly seen. Unfortunately, not only Samsung follows the trend to glossy surfaces: Toshiba, HP, Nexoc. All join in. Even my Nintendo DS Lite always looks so dirty. Dear producers: Glossy surfaces are too sensible for use with mobile devices like mobile phones, notebooks, or handheld PCs. Now, let’s vent some of my wrath about glossy surfaces on another notebook. Otherwise, there is no more room for the Q45′s positive aspects: Lenovo ThinkPad X61s Battery,Charger

We were pleased by stable hinges, a LED-battery charge status display, and a simple, pleasing design. The battery is not used as foot, so the notebook also stands balanced without battery. Unfortunately, this notebook is very sensible to pressure. It’s easily possible to push the palm rest areas about 1 cm into the case. The flexural rigidity is average. IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet Battery,Charger

One of the strengths of the Q45 is its keyboard, which is well worked up. Typing is very soft with a clear point of pressure and it is always quiet and does not clatter. So, it is perfect for all who write much. However, first you must get accustomed to its layout: The right shift key is too small and too far right. So, you’ll again and again hit the < key, which is located between shift and -, when typing in the ten finger system. Furthermore, there is only one Windows key at the right and the Fn key is left beside the Ctrl key. The cursor keys are rather small, in turn the enter key is ideally big. IBM ThinkPad Z60t Battery,Charger

The touch pad is like the display in 16:10 format and pleases by its rough surface. For short time usage its a good mouse replacement. There is a small scroll zone at its right side, in front of it are the two mouse buttons.The Samsung Q45 does not provide any hot keys. In turn its design is simple and pleasing. Besides: Be honest. Who utilizes the hot keys frequently or really thinks that he is slower without them?IBM ThinkPad Z61t Battery,Charger

Color DiagramThe Q45′s display is a 12.1″ Display with a maximum resolution of 1280×800 pixels, which rates high by a good stability to the vantage point.The brightness would be sufficient for outdoor usage, but the reflecting display makes this hardly possible.IBM ThinkPad R60 Battery,ChargerThe color diagram depicts a nearly ideal red and green color curve. The blue color curve had to be clearly lowered to reach a neutral color representation. Subjectively, the picture calibrated with factory settings seems very homogeneous and artless. The Q45′s display does not blur, even not when playing fast action shooter games, so, its ideal for games too.

The measured minimum brightness of the display (black value) is 0.8 cd/m². Together with the maximum brightness of 166.7 cd/m² this gives a possible maximum contrast of 208:1.Unfortunately, the actually sufficient brightness led to a somewhat too high black value. The contrast is sufficient, and is further intensified by the reflecting surface of the display. Unfortunately, it is, therefore, not possible to work outdoors. Subjectively the display is better than measured. Especially, speed and reaction and brightness are very good.IBM ThinkPad R60e Battery,Charger

Here is the Samsung Q45′s real strong point. The very good office and game performance make it the currently most powerful 12.1″ notebook. Even Doom 3 can be played at “ultra” settings without problems. Also, with Warcraft 3 in the highest settings it reached with 39FPS, a good result. IBM ThinkPad T60 Battery,Charger

Of course DirectX 10 games might cause bigger problems. But, for nearly up-to-date games a combination of T7100, Geforce 8400M GS, and 2GB main memory is sufficient. Of course also the office performance is very good and makes working without delays possible.In idle mode we measured a loudness of about 35.1dB. In quiet environments the notebook is decently audible. IBM ThinkPad T60p Battery,Charger

Even under load the notebook is not very loud and reaches a noise level of only 37.8dB. The noise during DVD playback is also alright with 37.9dB. Subjectively we felt, that the noise of the Samsung Q45 always stays the same, regardless of load, or hard disk access. Of course this is another strenghts of the Q45.Lenovo Thinkpad R500 Battery,ChargerThe Samsung Q45′s surface temperature is alright. It’s neither specially cool nor striking hot. At the hot spot at the bottom side we measured 41.7°C, and a maximum of 34°C at the palm rest areas at the top side. So, working during a longer time should be free of troubles.

The Q45′s stereo speakers are at the bottom side of the notebook. Basses and high tones are weak. The maximum volume is sufficient for DVDs and games, but, you have to live with the poor quality. Compared to other notebooks of this class the quality is above-average.Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Battery,Charger

Also regarding battery runtime the Samsungs Q45 is good to average. 5h and 35min maximum runtime makes also a longer unplugged use possible. Under load a very good runtime of 2h 10min is reached. During DVD playback the runtime is 111min. So, you should reduce the display’s brightness for a longer film.IBM ThinkPad R30 Battery,Charger

Samsung Q45The Samsung Q45 is a top equipped subnotebook, which is sufficiently powerful for current games (at reduced details). IBM ThinkPad R31 Battery,Charger Because of its good price-performance ratio, it’s a beautiful, small, black notebook for school and university. However, if you do not want to play computer games, you can also choose the version, called “Duke”, which costs 200€ less and is equipped with an integrated video chip and a smaller hard disk (160GB). IBM ThinkPad A30 Battery,Charger

Furthermore, also outdoor operation is not really possible, because of the reflecting display. Although the glossy display and the glossy display cover look good, there are more disadvantages than advantages. E.g., even our notebook had already scratches at the display cover and thanks to a glossy surface, you can only see yourself outdoors. Many thanks to the company Planet Notebook, who kindly provided us with the reviewed notebook. Here you can configure and also buy this notebook.IBM ThinkPad A30P Battery,Charger

Evergreen. Whoever thinks that the launch of the Lenovo Thinkpad T61 consigned the Thinkpad T60 to history errs. The T60p has some qualities which are still not matched by the brand-new T61. A special feature of the reviewed notebook is that it was retrofit with a 15″ FlexView UXGA display, which provides first-class overview by a resolution of 1600×1200 pixels and, furthermore, all-time stability to the vantage point.IBM ThinkPad A31 Battery,Charger

The case of the Thinkpad T60p is in general the same than used for the T60, a robust magnesium case with innovative, functional design. A stable metal frame inside the Thinkpad ensures perfect rigidity of the case and at the same time a still acceptable weight.Smaller, but mentionable weaknesses are at the Ultrabay slot and the PC/Expresscard slot, where the case slightly yields under pressure. IBM ThinkPad A31P Battery,Charger

Another feature of the T60′s case is its special trough construction, which effectively drains infiltrating liquids and, so, protects the sensible electronics in its inside and therewith protects against data loss by hardware defects. The design is typical IBM. Black in black without any unnecessary ornaments. Only the red track point in the center of the keyboard and the blue enter key strike a little bit. IBM ThinkPad R32 Battery,Charger

The functions determine the forms. E.g., the clamshell design of the display contributes to the display’s flexural rigidity and protects the notebook against penetrating objects, if it is closed. Also the solid metal hinges improve robustness and durability. They keep the display in its position without any see-saw – this should stay the same, even if the notebook gets old. IBM ThinkPad R40 Battery,ChargerThe ramshorn hook holds the display especially tight, because of the big inter-space between the hooks. It can be user-friendly opened be a single slider at the right front edge of the display.

Most of the T60ps interfaces are at the left side of its case and near the back of the right side. The back side is nearly completely occupied by a clearly protruding 9 cells high-capacity battery. Besides, integrated Bluetooth and Infrared port the T60p provides only a base equipment of interfaces. So, a docking station is recommended in order to amend the provided interfaces.IBM ThinkPad G40 Battery,Charger

Not surprisingly, the T60p also provides the excellent Thinkpad input devices. The keyboard is tightly attached to the case and its layout is clear. Furthermore, the typing comfort is first-class.The same is true for the touch pad and the track point. Both of these mouse replacements convince by top ergonomics and user-friendliness. Especially their buttons are very user-friendly. IBM ThinkPad G41 Battery,Charger

Furthermore, the T60p provides some hot keys for controlling the audio volume, and the well-known blue Thinkvantage key. It makes a quick access to various software tools which ease working with computers possible.IBM ThinkPad R50 Battery,ChargerOverall, there is hardly anything left to be desired regarding input devices. Rather, you’ll get that used to them that you would not like to miss them after years of working with this keyboard and especially with this track point.

Color DiagramReal IBM fans might bemoan the loss of the FlexView panel provided in predecessor series, a display which was extremely stable to the vantage point and provided colorfast pictures. Because this display is no longer offered and Lenovo also follows the trend to wide-screen displays, the company Planet Notebook offers to retrofit the T60p with the much sought after 15″ WUXGA panel with a resolution of 1600×1200 pixels. IBM ThinkPad R50E Battery,Charger

Strengths and weaknesses of this panel are well-known. E.g., the maximum brightness of 150.5 cd/m² in its center is not outstanding. Furthermore, its illumination is only 69% and the average brightness of 129.1 cd/m² is moderate. However, the color diagram depicts that all color curves follow the ideal diagonal curve. So, the color representation at the FlexView Display is colorfast.IBM ThinkPad R50P Battery,Charger

The contrast of the display is because of the relatively low black value of only 0.3 cd/m² very good, and reaches a maximum of 502:1. Speed of reaction is another weakness of this display. While scrolling you can soon see a blurring of fonts and pictures. IBM ThinkPad R51e Battery,Charger

Outdoor OperationOutdoor usage is, because of a non-reflecting surface, possible, but, the low brightness lets the display appear dark in bright environments and makes working cumbersome.IBM ThinkPad R51 Battery,ChargerThe biggest pro of the UXGA panels is of course its stability to the vantage point. Horizontally and vertically, the display stays all the time well legible and colors do hardly change, besides a slight loss of contrast.

The reviewed T60p was absolutely top equipped based on Intel’s 945 platform. This is a powerful T7600 processor with 2.33GHz, 3GB 667MHz main memory, an ATI FireGL V5250 video card with 512MB VRAM, and a fast 160GB 7200 revs hard disk. IBM ThinkPad R52 Battery,Charger

Therewith, this notebook’s benchmark results are impressing and it keeps up with current professional business notebooks, although not the most up-to-date technology is used (Keyword: Santa Rosa).IBM ThinkPad T40 Battery,ChargerAs usual for a business notebooks also the T60p is available in a variety of configurations. CPU, GPU, but, of course also memory, hard disk and display can be freely configured and thereby optimally adapted to your individual demands.

Further information about the video card can soon be found here or in our comparison of mobile video cards. Detailed information about the Core 2 Duo CPU can be found here.Please also look at our benchmark list of mobile processors or at our benchmark list of mobile video cards, in order to compare this notebook to other configurations.IBM ThinkPad T40P Battery,Charger

When the computer has to calculate (not full capacity), the cooling is temporarily turned on but doesn’t exceed 34 dB (A). 36 dB (A) are the maximum in the stress test (Furmark + Prime95). We only provoked this noise level in the stress test, which is a sooner unrealistic scenario. 33 dB (A) are more realistic for games and temporary processor load during normal mode.Sony PCGA-BP71AUC

The Samsung 305U1A gets lukewarm during normal use with a lot of idling. However, a few areas on the bottom get unpleasant during constant high load. We only measure a bit over 30 degrees Celsius on the top during idle. 39 degrees are achieved selectively on the bottom. This could be due to the heat accumulation in the case (Silent Mode, inactive fan).Sony PCGA-BP71CE7

The stress test doesn’t cause heat accumulation due to the active fan, but the cooling capacity isn’t sufficient to keep high temperatures remote from the surfaces. We measure up to 55 degrees Celsius on the bottom. It’s positive that the wrist rest never exceeds 38 degrees. The cooling system nevertheless manages the temperatures well. The CPU maintained its default clock rate of 1.65 GHz during the multi-hour stress test (Prime95 + Furmark). There was no throttling.Sony PCGA-BP1N

The speakers are located above the keys underneath a lattice. The speakers unfortunately only emit a thin, undifferentiated sound. There is no bass and the maximum volume distorts the little membranes. The sound can be changed via SoundAlive Effects, but it doesn’t really improve it.Sony VGP-BPS3A

The effects for music, movies, speech or hearing-impaired users make sense when external speakers or headphones are connected. We would recommend external speakers that can be connected via the combined headphone-microphone jack. Alternatively, the sound can also be transmitted by a TV set via HDMI.Sony VGP-BPS3

Fusion is energy efficient. We measure a low power consumption of 8.2 watts (minimum) in idle and 23.8 watts during load by 3DMark 2006. Depending on the energy profile and activity of the wireless modules, the idle power consumption can also reach up to 11.5 watts. When the 11.6 inch laptop runs the stress test, the effective power climbs up to 30 watts. The battery was fully charged during the tests. The 40 watt adapter is adequately designed for the power consumption.Sony VGP-BPL5A

The Samsung 305U1A meets all expectations placed on a mobile subnotebook, respectively notebook more than clearly in battery life. The 11.6 inch laptop manages exactly 8:27 hours (507 minutes) of WLAN surfing at a brightness of 100 cd/m2. The real battery life could turn out a bit lower because the brightness of 100 cd/m2 is almost the lowest brightness level and won’t suffice in daylight and bright rooms. Sony VGP-BPS5

The battery is first completely drained after 3:12 hours during constant CPU load, induced with BatteryEater Classic (energy mode: High Performance). The Samsung 305U1A consumes from its high battery capacity (66 Wh) and the adaptive CPU clock in idle (800 MHz). The protruding battery and fairly high weight of 1.37 kilograms have to be accepted for this. In return, you get’ll an almost perfect screen for outdoor use in the matt, bright display. Sony VGP-BPS5A

Unfortunately, the 11.6 inch device needs a total of four hours to recharge the completely drained battery. The slow recharging at low amperage is beneficial for the battery cells though. Users who aren’t dependent on long battery runtimes, or use the mini PC mainly with the power cable, can limit the charge to 80% with Samsung’s Battery Life Extender. It extends the cells’ lifespan because the electrochemical load is reduced.Sony VGP-BPL5

Samsung knows how to use the low power consumption of the new APU platform, E-450, to build an extremely mobile subnotebook. The battery life of 8:30 to 10:40 hours is undoubtedly a remarkable feat in this price range. The dream subnotebook of many buyers is created with the bright and matt HD screen: Affordable (€430) and with an outdoor screen.Sony VGP-BPL4A

The good keyboard, low system noise (with Silent Mode) and a comparatively fast 5400 rpm hard disk are further advantages. The latter fetches some extra points for the slow E-450 system. However, the buyer shouldn’t expect big leaps: The processor is better than an Intel Atom, but a lot slower than Intel Core CPUs. The AMD Radeon HD 6320 isn’t suitable for games, but rather for rendering HD material smoothly. Buyers shouldn’t expect any miracles from the hardware support in general calculations. Our random test with CyberLink’s Power Director 10 failed here.Sony VGP-BPS4

We see the biggest drawback of the Samsung 305U1A in the device’s good looking, but wobbly hinge and chassis construction. The high-end aluminum finish and the impression during use don’t match here.Sony VGP-BPS4AThe Samsung 305U1A is suitable for everyone looking for a battery life strong 11.6 inch device for little money. However, the price war is tough. Technically similar 11.6 inch laptops are available for starting at €350. Nevertheless, the aforementioned advantages are certainly worth a small surcharge.

Alternatives with HD resolution for a similar price would be the: MSI Wind U270-E4523W7H (€380), HP Pavilion dm1-4000sg (€390 Euro, now with E-450), Sony Vaio VPC-YB2M1E/S (€399), Lenovo IdeaPad S205 (€390), Acer Aspire One 722 (starts at €350, AMD C-60) or Asus Eee PC 1215B (€360, now E-450).Sony PCGA-BP51A There are equally priced 13.3 inch devices available among the low-priced subnotebooks: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E325 with AMD E-350 starts at €414.

A true traveler? As one of the most well-known and widespread manufacturers in the notebook sector, the company Acer really doesn’t need an introduction. The popular TravelMate series is continuously being updated with the newest technologies in order to always present the customer with attractive value for money offers. How the present TravelMate offshoot, with a strong graphics card, fares in practical use will be examined in the following review.Sony PCGA-BP52

The well-known reputation of the TravelMate range aims completely at more demanding users.Sony PCGA-BP52A A robust case and the, at the same time, quality workmanship are to address the buyer group who work with the device on a daily basis or simply follow the motto “less is more”. Compared to the last tested TravelMate 5740Z, no large quantum leaps have been made in terms of looks. However, there is progress in terms of performance. The case has been slightly adapted and has been given a facelift in the one or other area. The manufacturer uses a 15.6 inch screen with a visible screen size of 39.8 cm. The notebook’s total weight is about 2.4 kilograms.Sony PCGA-BP52AUC

Changes have also been made inside. An Intel Core i5-2540M dual core CPU is now in charge of central processing tasks.Sony PCGA-BP51 It has a clock frequency of 2.6 GHz and an integrated GPU chip. The midrange graphics chip, Geforce GT 630M from Nvidia, takes over demanding applications, such as games. The GPU has a 1 GB, dedicated video memory and a GPU clock of 672 MHz as well as a RAM speed of 900 MHz. The chip is a derivative of the Geforce GT 540M in the broadest sense and likely won’t stand out significantly from its “precursor” in terms of performance. We were curious about how the present combination of a high performance mobile processor and a fairly strong graphics chip would fare in the 3D field. Sony PCGA-BP4V

Robust hinges for the lidAs mentioned earlier, the case has been given a minor facelift in comparison to the 2010 model.Sony PCGA-BP2V The look is more straightforward and less robust than in the last models. The design proves to be stylish and unostentatious. The optical illusion that is supposed to be created on the lid is successful: We first see that it’s not polished aluminum, but a high-gloss plastic surface when looking closer. The conventional looks of the precursor has been skillfully improved and the case appears in a new “shine”. The notebook’s other components, so keyboard, touchpad and the big lid cover basically consist of matt materials. However another optical highlight has been set directly around the touchpad by means of a plastic pattern.Sony PCGA-BPZ51

The manufacturing quality meets the manufacturer’s claim and its goal quite well. Sony PCGA-BP2RThe entire case looks very high-end. The screen has been mounted into the case very well. The corresponding hinges do a good job and provide the lid with a good firmness. This results in high robustness and resistance. The hinges mechanics have been given a good measure of smoothness and stiffness. The display lid construction can hardly be warped. Opening the lid can be accomplished with one hand; closing is just as easy as opening. Acer omits a locking mechanism on the TravelMate. Thus, there is no latch on the test device. The wide opening angle of the lid is surprising. It is only limited by the construction itself. A webcam is built into the upper display bezel.Sony PCGA-BPZ51A

The bottom proves to be a mix of air vents and component covers.Sony PCGA-BPZ52 There is only one of the latter, which might prove annoying for the customer. The manufacturer only allows uncovering the hard disk without ado, if desired. The installed data carrier can be exchanged subsequently. It’s not possible to access the other components (CPU, GPU, fan, etc.) without almost completely disassembling the notebook. A stop has been put to possible, uncomplicated upgrades in this case. This is especially aggravating since it was still easily possible in the 2010 version of the 5740z.Sony PCGA-BP3T

Four rectangular rubber feet ensure the corresponding secure hold. They are placed on the bottom’s corners.Sony PCGA-BP2T Conclusively, it can be said that Acer has given the present TravelMate a plain yet elegant case, which convinces in terms of design, workmanship and materials. Compared to the previous generation, the design has been modified and updated, which can be seen in softer shapes and an improved line management. The device’s upgradeability proves to be less than good. Only the hard disk can be removed without a lot of effort. Quite a bit of tinkering is necessary to upgrade the other hardware components. Caution: Opening the notebook generally leads to loss of warranty.Sony PCGA-BPS21

As stated in past reports (Acer TravelMate 5740G), Acer has made massive cutbacks in connectivity.Sony PCGA-BPS21A Consequently, it’s no wonder that there aren’t many ports on the current test device. These are only the basic connections for basic things. A fingerprint reader, UMTS module, eSATA, docking station port or ExpressCard slots remain to be wishful thinking. Despite the cutbacks, useful ports are still installed. An SD card slot has been built into the front and a Bluetooth 3.0 module is available for wireless data transmission. All ports have been placed on the case’s sides. The rear doesn’t have any interfaces. The notebook has a total of three USB 2.0 ports, one VGA and one HDMI port. Two audio jacks are also installed.We notice that the interface positioning is concentrated on the far front of both sides. Cables can cause space problems beside the laptop when the ports are used extensively.Sony PCGA-BPS21A/B

An RJ45 Gigabit LAN port is available for connecting to the network or Internet. The built-in WLAN module (Atheros AR5B97 (b/g/n)) takes care of the wireless connection. The manufacturer also includes a Bluetooth 3.0 module.Sony PCGA-BPS22

Security issues have unfortunately been moved into the background in the present TravelMate model. Except for the Kensington lock in the upper left corner, there are no other physical protection mechanisms on the exterior. The operating system can be optionally configured with Acer’s ProShield software.Sony PCGA-BPS22A

The offered T7250 CPU with 2.0 GHz and 2MB L2-cache or even the P8400 CPU with 2.26 GHz and 3MB L2-cache can be seen as a quite reasonable alternative to the Celeron CPU. The surcharge here is justified through the surplus of the CPU. As long as no intensive computing applications are planned with the E5500, you should abstain from the more efficient processors in favor of the price.ASUS B53E Charger

A very acceptable office performance was already given from our test sample with the T7250 CPU. In connection with a total of 2GB RAM all upcoming office basics such as word processing, simple spread sheets, internet and mail were completed to our full satisfaction. Not even the rather sobering result of 4615 points in the PC Mark Benchmark test could change that. PC Mark 2005You have also an equally abundant choice of equipment in the mass storage for the notebook. Models with 80 to 250 gigabyte with a velocity of 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm are offered. ASUS B53F Charger

The hard disk from Hitachi (HTS543216L9A300) built in to our test device offered a gross capacity of 160 GB at a velocity of 5400 rpm. The achieved benchmark values, especially the comparatively slow access time, of 20.6 milliseconds couldn’t really convince. This was only possible with its exeptionally low noise during processing.ASUS B53J Charger

The moderate hardware equipment of the Dell Latitude E5500 could score above all in the test criteria emissions, especially in system noise of the notebook. The system fan was either barely heard (32.2 dB(A)) or stayed completely deactivated in ordinary office use. For this, the energy profile had to be changed to energy savings mode.ASUS B53JB Charger

Even under load, better said under selective load of the CPU and the GPU, the notebook was content for a long time with a barely audible idle rotation speed. The velocity raised somewhat after quite a while and ends with a maximum system noise of merely 35.8 dB(A), which is still absolutely inoffensive.ASUS B53JC Charger

The loudspeakers are found left and right of the keyboard, protected by a perforated coverage. They deliver a fairly passable but nevertheless very thin sound, lacking bass. Groovy boogie-woogie piano tunes came out best in the test. To elicit a more sophisticated sound high quality headphones should be fallen back on, which can be fed over the 3.5 mm socket. This provided for a flawless sound in the test.Dell provides three different alternatives for the mobile energy supply. The Latitude E5500 is, therefore, equipped with a 4-cell (37 Wh), a 6-cell (56 Wh) or a 9-cell (85 Wh) main Charger. ASUS B53JE Charger

Depending on the basic configuration attention has to be paid to the chosen Charger, whereas it is usually the good positioned 6-cell version in consideration of value for money, as in our test device. For increased mobility requirements the 9-cell Charger eventually may be recommended, which is available for a surcharge of 133.00 Euros and brings a runtime extension of approx. 50% compared to the 6-cell option.ASUS B53JF Charger

Our test sample could already reach good Charger runtimes with the 6-cell Charger. For instance, the ChargerEaters Readers Test which is substitutional for the maximum expected Charger runtime of the laptop without load at maximal energy savings options. The Latitude E5500 reached 359 minutes, approx. 6 hours, after all. ASUS B53JR Charger

The E5500 could reach in the “worst case” simulation 92 minutes as the minimal expected Charger runtime in the ChargerEater Classic test.

The office device could convince in the practical WLAN surf mode at maximum display brightness in the energy savings mode. The notebook reached a runtime of a good 260 minutes in this test. More than enough was also the dvd play time: with 175 minutes most movies should be able to be watched.ASUS B53S Charger

For those who are hunting for a low-priced but reliable office notebook, might very well find it in the Dell Latitude E5500. However, the specifications of the notebook shouldn’t be set too high considering that Dell had to obviously save in many areas because of the immense cost pressure.ASUS K73 Charger

The smallest cut back in this consideration is still the plastic case. It turns out a bit thicker than its Latitude colleagues with an aluminum chassis and loses points here in regards to ergonomics. It still provides a good stability and allows a mobile use of the notebook, though.ASUS K73E Charger

The supply of ports were also economized. A digital display port, an eSATA connection as well as a UMTS option have been omitted in comparison to the E6500. The serial port can’t replace these but may be of particular interest for a small group of consumers. The placement of the single ports turn out very user friendly, as usual.ASUS K73J Charger

The offered input devices don’t rank behind the significantly more expensive Latitude models. They are suited for intensive daily use without further ado. We weren’t quite satisfied with the trackpoint as a mouse substitution, which gave too little hold in the test. ASUS K73JK Charger

With the 1440×900 pixels resolution WXGA+ display, our test sample probably had the most interesting display alternative for the E5500. The good maximum brightness of the matt and outdoor useable display faces the just awful illumination and moderate viewing angel.ASUS K73S Charger

In regards to performance you shouldn’t await too much from the Latitude E5500. This notebook is a classic office device, thought primarily for basic office applications. In case of higher performance requirements there are more efficient contemporary Intel processors available, but these affect the price of the system disadvantageously. It might make more sense to invest in a faster hard disk and a quicker RAM from which you can generally profit more from in standard applications.ASUS K73SV Charger

Our test device managed to convince with very low emissions, in regards to system noise as well as the surface temperature of the notebook. The Charger life of the test system with the 6-cell Li-Ion Charger profited from the modest hardware components, too. With more than 4 hours in WLAN mode, a mobile use of the notebook is achievable without further ado.ASUS N71 (All) Charger

Generally, the low-priced notebook from the Dell business starter-series delivered a very good show. In direct comparison to the higher quality E6500, the E5500 cuts off quite a bit poorer, but at least the book offers the possibility of a lower price.ASUS N71J Charger

But as soon as you try to update the laptop to the E6500 level (various services, three year warranty, …) you come quickly to the same price level of over 1000.00 Euros which, in turn, brings the consumer quickly close to the E6500. ASUS N71JA Charger

NVIDIA is releasing today the first in a series of laptop graphics drivers which is compatible with almost all recent notebooks. The new driver promises a lot: bug fixes, improvements in performance, CUDA and PhysX support. In this review, you will find out how the new graphics driver performed when it was used to run different NVIDIA graphics cards and play the latest games on them.ASUS N71JQ Charger

For the first time, NVIDIA wants to offer all (GeForce) laptop users the option to download graphics cards’ drivers directly from the NVIDIA homepage. Till now this was only possible for a few models. From now on, however, every 3 months a new graphics card driver, for all notebooks, will be available on the NVIDIA site for download. In this way, laptops will be constantly updated with the latest improvements in performance and bug fixes.ASUS N71JV Charger

Till date, this was the greatest criticism of laptop gamers, as the only way to get new graphics card drivers was to either rely on the kindness of the laptop producers, or to get modded desktop drivers (which do not have any guarantee) from sites like laptop2videogo.com.ASUS N71V Charger

GeForce 179.28 driver

The new GeForce 179.28 driver for notebook changes all that now, and it also promises bug fixes, more performance, and, for the first time ever, CUDA and PhysX support for most of the laptops. NVIDIA especially emphasizes the last two features (the CUDA and PhysX support) as they make their graphics cards shine out of the competition even more.ASUS N71VG Charger

Of course we wanted to take a closer look at the imrovements in performance which the new driver offers. The best we to do this would be to take a few notebooks with the latest graphics cards, and test the driver with them. We will go into more details about our test in the second and third part of this review.ASUS N71VN ChargerLet us begin instead with the official data released by NVIDIA. To get this data, NVIDIA took three older graphics cards of the GeForce 8000M series and compared the very old 156.90 driver to the new 179.28. Thanks to the many improvements made in the meantime, the results of the test were pretty amazing. The performance had increased by 10 to 110% according to the official data.

Stone Age against modern – In this diagram you can see the gigantic advantage of the new driver.NVIDIA also examined the SLI performance with a GeForce 8800M GTX SLI combination. This time they used a somewhat newer, but still very old, 167.66 driver as a reference. The increases in performance that the results show are very impressive. However, they can be easily explained. The first SLI notebook driver sadly had a lot of flaws and was not optimized for games that were released much later.ASUS N71YI Charger Each of the resolution/ AF/ AA levels were also picked after careful consideration. Despite all that, the increases in performance of up to 340% show how important it is, especially for gamers, to constantly update the driver.

For the entry level we have the Nexoc Osiris E623 GT (Clevo M767TUB barebone) with the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS, with 256 MB GDDR2, the 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T5800, and 2 GBs of RAM. With the above specifications, the laptop costs less than 800 euros.Asus K72 Charger

The middle class is represented by the Nexoc Osiris E625 (Compal HL90 barebone) with the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (with a slower 512 MB GDDR2), the 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo P8400, and 2 GBs of RAM. This multimedia notebook costs less than 1000 euros, and thus offers a very interesting price/performance ratio.Asus K72DR Charger

Top of the notch – We took the Nexoc Odin E 805 II (Clevo D901C barebone), with a 17 inch screen, as our representative for the high performance, elite laptops. A desktop Core 2 Duo Q9500 Quad-core with 2.83 GHz runs two GeForce 9800M GTX cards with a SLI connection. Supported by 2 GB of RAM and up to 3 hard disks, this monster is capable of tearing everything that gets in its way, and weighs up to 5.3 kg.Asus K72DY Charger

Our performance comparison is divided into game tests (games with integrated benchmarks) and sythetic benchmarks (like the 3D Mark series). We ran the benchmarks with the graphics driver that had been delivered with along with the graphics cards for the notebooks (the 174.82 for the 9300M, the 175.61 for the 9600M and the 176.09 for the 9800M GTX SLI).

We repeated each benchmark 3-4 times to get the results shown in the following diagrams.Asus K72F Charger

First we tested a series of older games (especially interesting for the weaker test models). For this we chose the games that still required high performance, like World in Conflict (WIC), Half Life 2 – Lost Coast and Supreme Commander – Forged Alliance.Asus K72JK Charger

WiC showed marginal changes between a resolution of 1024×768 very high and a resolution of 800×600 very low. Due to the fluctuations in the benchmark itself, these results are not worth noting. Only with the Odin E805II, with and without SLI, a resolution of 1920×1200, and details set to very high, could we observe an increase in performance of up to 25%. With the SLI configuration, WiC ran with 16 to 20 fps (the benchmark is very demanding and the strategy game does not necessarily need high frame rates).Asus K72JR Charger

In order to better illustrate the performance capabilities of the Ui3520 and to make a better comparison to similar devices, we reverted back to the tried and true Cinebench R10 and the PCMark05 benchmark test. We also ran the somewhat outdated 3DMark01 and 3DMark03 to test the netbook’s graphics capacity.Battery for Asus TL31-1005

We started with Cinebench R10. On this test the Amilo Mini Ui3520 achieved a Single CPU rating of 531 and 829 for Multicore, while Cinebench rated the netbook’s onboard GPU at 271 points. Comparing these values to those produced by the Battery for Asus Eee PC 901 shows that the netbooks’ Cinebench ratings are more or less indentical.Battery for Asus TL32-1005

PCMark05 gave our test sample of the Amilo Mini Ui3520 1363 points putting it just a hairwidth ahead of the Eee PC 901 on this test. This small performance advantage was probably due to the Ui3520 internal hard drive, whose burst rate performance was twice as high as the SDD included in the Eee PC 901.Battery for Asus A42-G73

In 3DMark01 the Ui3520 performed pretty much as expected with 2884 points, again landing it marginally in front of the Eee PC 901. A run through of the 3DMark03 test suite produced a result of 719 points.Battery for Asus 07G016DH1875For undemanding tasks the performance offered by the little Fujitsu-Siemens netbook will not fail to satisfy. Surfing the internet, writing emails and other office tasks are performed effortlessly.

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 comes with a 60GB hard drive from Toshiba (Toshiba MK6028GAL). The 60GBs provided should last quite a while since the Ui3520 is a netbook. Only the noise emissions and performance leave something to be desired. According to HDTune the hard drive’s transfer rates, aside from the burst rate, lie below that of the internal SDD of the Eee PC 901.Battery for Asus 70-NY81B1000Z

Thanks to the energy efficient Intel Atom N270 processor, the Amilo Mini Ui3520 in idle state is pretty much inaudible at an average of 31.2 dB (max 33.3 dB) making it a truly quiet companion. The only irritating component is the internal hard drive, which, when accessing data, emits a clattering noise (measuring 35.4 dB). This noise is quite noticeable and casts a bit of a cloud over the otherwise very amicable Ui3520.Battery for Asus 90-NY81B1000YUnder load the netbook makes itself both seen and heard. While the fan does reach a quite audible maximum of 36.1 dB, due to the very constant fan noise, it never seems obtrusive or irritating.

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 also offers a “silent mode” via key combination, which is supposed to reduce the device’s noise emissions by lowering CPU and GPU performance. In practice, activating this mode only reduces the fan revolution speed by an negligible amount. Given the regular clattering noises upon hard drive access, this feature is well intentioned but insignificant.Battery for Asus A31-U53

We can quite confidently give a positive report concerning the heat emissions from the top side of the Amilo Mini Ui3520. Battery for Asus A31-UL30With a maximum temperature of just over 32 degrees Celsius in the centre left region (32.4 degrees) and at the front (palm rest at 32.6 degrees), the netbook never became uncomfortably warm. The temperatures on the underside also remained at acceptable levels. The highest temperature we recorded here was in the right-back region with 36.2 degrees Celsius, followed by 35.4 at the centre-right, making it quite possible to work with device on lap. The rest of the underside remains comfortably cool and hardly breaks the 34 degrees mark.In heated situations concerning both top and bottom of the machine, the Amilo Mini Ui3520 from Fujitsu-Siemens clearly comes out cooler headed when compared with the Battery for Asus Eee PC 901.Battery for Asus A31-UL50 A31-UL80

Finally we come to the acoustic aspects of the Amilo Mini. One big positive on the Ui3520 is the location of its loudspeakers, which, rather than being placed on the bottom of the unit like on the Eee PC 901 and projecting downwards, are oriented upwards. This tiny netbook unlike certain other models can actually make itself heard.Battery for Asus A32-U53

Despite their size the loudspeakers delivered quite reasonable sound in our practical test, although bass frequencies came through quite thin. Battery for Asus A32-UL30 A32-UL5 The volume produced by the Amilo Mini is entirely sufficient for living room use. Even at maximum volume there was never any booming to be heard from the speakers. On the other hand users wanting to watch a movie or listen to music on the train or other louder environment may have difficulty hearing the speakers’ output satisfactorarily. For this kind of use it’d be better to use some good headphones, which would also compensate for the internal speakers’ lack of bass.Battery for Asus A32-UL50

Using the included 4 cell battery the Amilo Mini produced a quite satisfactory result in the Battery Eater Readers Test (idle, all features off, min brightness, no WLAN, energy saving on), clocking 208 minutes run-time. On the Battery Eater Classic Test (all features on, max brightness, full load), the netbook scored a similarly pleasing 134 minutes. Surfing the internet via WLAN with practical settings allowed almost three hours (171 minutes) away from the power socket.Battery for Asus A32-UL80 A41-U53

With its Amilo Mini Ui3520, Fujitsu-Siemens is expanding its Amilo product series with an 8.9 inch model, marking its entrance the ever expanding netbook market. With a weight of just one kilogram and measurements of 23.3 x 17.5 x 3.58 centimetres, the Ui3520 holds quite a good figure and keeps up quite well with its netbook colleagues.Battery for Asus A41-UL30

Fitted with an energy saving Intel Atom Processor N270 at 1.6 GHz, one gigabyte of DDR2 RAM, 60 to 80 GB of hard drive space and an Intel GMA 950 integrated GPU, the Amilo Mini Ui3520 easily holds its own in terms of hardware compared with its competitors.Battery for Asus A41-UL50

One minor shortcoming (in our opinion) is the strangely situated mouse buttons, which find themselves to the left and right of the touchpad respectively. The buttons nevertheless do meet their purpose quite well, they just need a certain time to get used to: something we still hadn’t gotten a complete handle of by the end of the testing period.Battery for Asus A41-UL80

In terms of connectivity the Amilo Mini offers pretty much all the common interfaces found on even larger notebooks. LAN, WLAN and Bluetooth are all available on board inside the unit’s compact housing. The case also accomodates two USB 2.0 ports, an analogue VGA output, a cardreader and an Express Card Slot 34.The Amilo Mini Ui3520 is available for 399 Euros and comes with a 24 month warranty (collect and return) and is delivered preinstalled with Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3.Battery for Asus A42-U53

Once, the first Eee PC from Asus, equipped with a 7 inch display, set the long-lasting netbook hype in motion. The netbooks rapidly kept on being perfected. At first, a 9 inch screen provided for a bonus of overview until almost all netbooks were equipped with a 10″ display. Battery for Asus was always in the front row and characterized the development of the netbooks like no other manufacturer. Battery for Asus A42-UL30 A42-UL50

It all began with the Eee PC prototype, the Battery for Asus Eee 701 with an almost impossible to use 7″ display and a mini keyboard in PDA design. Even the adjusted Xandrox Linux operating system couldn’t really want to score in being user-friendly. There is no doubt, that these netbooks were a toy for EDV freaks and fanciers of technique.Battery for Asus A42-UL80

That what followed didn’t only surprise the technical press but also many manufacturers, who had a very skeptical view towards the new Battery for Asus concept in the beginning. A run for the small and low-priced notebooks started within the shortest time. The inevitable shortage of samples obviously heated up the situation, additionally.Battery for Asus 70-OA1B1B2100

The broad mass soon called for a bigger display, useful input devices and an even for a layman understandable operating system. The Battery for Asus Eee 901, which was able to tick off most of these points, followed. At this point, many other manufacturers jumped on the train, wanting to nibble at a piece of this obviously most lucrative cake with their models, too. In this regard, the Acer Aspire One or the MSI Wind, for example, are to be especially mentioned.Battery for Asus 90-OA001B9000

At the moment, the notebook trend goes toward compact but complete small notebooks with a 10 inch display and a “surfing capable” resolution of 1024×600 pixels. In the meanwhile, Atom CPUs from Intel are used in over 90% of the models, which provide the dwarfs with an adequate performance and make the use of common operating systems, primarily Windows XP, possible. Battery for Asus is, as usual, in the front row and offers with the Eee PC 1000H an according model with an already big fan club. Battery for Asus AL31-1005 AL32-1005

Battery for Asus remained faithful to the Eee family design style in the current model of the series. At first sight, you might even think nothing has changed concerning the case. How did they manage to squeeze the new 10″ display into that case?Battery for Asus ML31-1005

Using a measurement tape brings assurance in the end. The netbook has very well gained considerably in its measurements and tables a device breadth of 26.6 centimeters, equivalent to a good 4 centimeters case growth. Not only does the display profit from this growth spurt, this procedure was especially good for the keyboard – but more to that later.Battery for Asus ML32-1005 PL31-1005

Like already in the first Eee, a magnesium material is used for the case of the 1000H, in particular the base unit. With this, the netbook receives a very good stability. Neither in the pressure test nor in daily handling with the netbook was an exceeding or alarming deformation noticed in the test. Battery for Asus PL32-1005Quite the contrary, the netbook lets itself be picked up randomly at all edges and corners, including the display and be carried around.

The display has been attached to the base unit with particularly large and seemingly stable hinges in order to make the display do these exercises patiently, even after a longer time. The maximal display opening angle of 165°, practically doesn’t involve any restrictions for the user, and is just as pleasing in this regard. Battery for Asus TL31-1005 TL32-1005

The protruding battery unit makes a somewhat crude and inelegant impression during transportation. No big thing for the protective cover included in the range of delivery of the Eee 1000H. This primarily protects your mobile escort, especially the black high gloss finished display lid from nasty signs of usage. In addition, the slanted position caused by the battery also has a very positive effect on the ergonomics when using the netbook. Battery for Asus 70-NLF1B2000Y

The small, and with only almost 210 grams, very light weighted power supply unit just only just fits into the included cover, as well. The complete package, Eee PC and the power supply unit adds up to a total weight of 1660 grams, with that.Battery for Asus 70-NLF1B2000Z

The typical netbook fare, regarding the ports, is only found on the sides of the Battery for Asus Eee 1000H. There are three USB 2.0 connections, a VGA port for connecting an external display, LAN and audio ports (headphones and microphone) available. A multimedia card reader is offered on the right front side, as well. Practically, as it is common for all netbooks, you have to do without a built in optical drive due to space reasons.Battery for Asus 70NLF1B2000Y 70NLF1B2000Z

Even if the Eee 1000H swims with the broad mass of netbooks with its offer, we didn’t really miss any port in the practical test. The placement of the single ports could convince very well, these being placed more in the side back area and with that makes, even during mobile use of the netbook, a good impression.Battery for Asus 90-NLF1B2000Y

Equipped with a 6-cell Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 5200 mAh (57.7Wh), the Samsung N10 offers already in the basic configuration a performance capable energy source. According to Samsungs supply list, it is possible to equip the netbook with an even bigger 9-cell battery, which then with a capacity of appox. 80Wh provides for a respectively longer battery runtime. Samsung names a price of 209.00 Euros (recommended retail price) for this battery solution.Dell C5974

The Samsung NC10 could convince even in the executed practical battery runtime tests. For instance, the device reached, in consideration of the maximum possible battery runtime (min. display brightness, energy savings mode, WLAN off), in the BatteryEater Readers Test a runtime of a good 512 minutes, so almost 9 hours. The NC10 still survived a good 239 minutes,Dell F5635 this equals almost 4 hours, in the BatteryEater Classic Test under load.A battery runtime of a good 366 minutes, correlating to approx. 6 hours was determined in the practical WLAN surf mode with maximal display brightness – Very good.

The Samsung NC10 has rightly displaced the prior leader, the Asus Eee PC 1000H, from the top lists of various price comparisons. With a very agreeable design and a case which barely leaves any room for critique, the compact mini PC obviously finds keen interest, even if only the typical netbook configuration is offered in many places.Dell G5260

This applies, for instance, to the offered connections, whereas all USB ports are placed rather disadvantageously being relatively far front on the side edges. In the lowest priced starter alternative, starting at 370.00 Euros, you have to do without Bluetooth. Even in the “Deluxe-Edition” with built in UMTS, approx. 500.00 Euros, WLAN Draft-n remains denied to the user.Dell G5266

We found the offered keyboard a bit more pleasant than that of the Eee 1000H in the test. Here, the individual preferences play a role, too.The display could score,Dell U4873 as well, even if the single measuring results mostly turned out minimally worse in direct comparison to the Asus Eee 1000H. Especially important: Outdoor suitability due to the matt display and good display brightness.

One case for the Samsung NC10 is the extremely low emissions of the notebook. The sound setting of the fan as well as the measured surface temperature could convince.Dell YF976The NC10 has a further ace up its sleeve with the high performance 6-cell battery. With runtimes of approx. 6 hours, it barely leaves anything to be desired. If there is, you can equip the netbook with an even bigger 9-cell battery, though.

All things considered, Samsung delivers a very successful performance with the NC10. The executed tests show: The NC10 may, without a doubt, be counted to the current top products in the netbook division and is a serious alternative to the Eee PC 1000H from Asus.Dell 312-0429

Triggered by the release of the Asus Eee PCs (review of the Eee Pc 901), the trend towards small netbooks is pretty much unstoppable. Dell UG679 New developers are jumping on the bandwagon every day, offering ever more alternatives to the netbook-classic Eee PC. The developer Fujitsu-Siemens is no exception, putting its Amilo Mini Ui3520 in the runnings as representative for the ultra compact class machines. With a weight of only about one kilo and a price of just under 400 Euro, the Amilo Mini needs to well assert itself amongst its competitors in the areas of mobility, connectivity, performance, features and size. How well the Amilo Mini Ui3520 compares and how our test sample performed can be seen in the following review.Dell 312-0450

Fujitsu-Siemens (FSC) has equipped the Amilo Mini Ui3520 with an 8.9 Inch WSVGA non-glare display with a maximum resolution of 1024×600 pixels.Dell DH074 For its processing unit, FSC has chosen the N270 Atom CPU from Intel clocked at 1.6Ghz. Furthermore the manufacturer has provided the Ui3520 with 1GB of DDR-2 RAM, a 60GB hard drive from Toshiba and an onboard GPU from Intel, all accommodated in very compact housing. Various connections also make an appearance, whose distribution will be seen shortly. For the operating system, Fujitsu-Siemens relies on the tried and true Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 3 from Microsoft.Dell MJ440

Presumably in order to keep the weight and price of the Amilo Mini Ui 3520 as low as possible, the case is constructed from plastic. This means that the case noticably warped when pressure was applied to certain points, occassionally emmitting a creaking noise. Nevertheless, the case was sufficiently sturdy to use on the road without hesitation.Dell X5458

Due to its reduced size and weight, it was no problem picking up our test machine by one side using just one hand. Even in open position,Dell C6269 grabbing the display and lifting proved to be no challenge for the Ui 3520. Despite the small size of the monitor, its reverse side was, like much of the rest of the case, very sensitive when it came to applying pressure. The reverse of the display lid, like that of many larger notebooks, was easily deformed without any considerable resistance. Above all, it would be important to take this into consideration and take steps to protect the device during transport in a ruck sack or other bag.Dell C7786

The small matte 8.9 inch display is held in place solely by one large hinge. This means the manufacturer has done without a dedicated closing mechanism, which for a display of its size probably isn’t necessary anyway. In the same vein, the display of our test sample closed and stayed closed quite effectively. Also, opening the display lid was performed easily and simply by one hand without too much effort. Thankfully there was no squeaking or creaking noise to be heard here.Dell D5561

The aesthetics and colouration of the Amilo Ui 3520 have been kept relatively plain and simple. Furthermore the netbook has been provided a smooth finish (not high gloss!), which could work well in its favour when cleaning the device. The combination of black and white elements is visually quite successful and lends the notebook a discreet yet defined appearance. Whether or not it suits every user however lies of course with individual taste.Dell D7310

On the reverse of the white display lid, there is the central Amilo emblem in large and clear grey font,Dell F5136 as well as the Fujitsu-Siemens logo further up in smaller writing. In its opened state the netbook is above all dominated by shades of black, particularly in the area between the keyboard and display where the loudspeakers are situated, as well as in the areas framing the display. Only the keyboard and palm rest along with the touchpad and mouse buttons are shaded white, while the keyboard labels themselves are again black. The interplay between black and white is not hugely innovative but nevertheless made an impression on us visually.Dell G5345

There are also optional replaceable add-on covers in various colours available for the Amilo Ui3520. Similarly there also is an optional external optical drive running on USB2.0 that comes with the Nero Software Suite. For added mobility an optional 6 cell battery can also be purchased. Dell X5875

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 also includes an integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, situated centrally above the display. Just a few centimetres to the right of the camera is the integrated digital array microphone for internet telephony or, thanks to the webcam, for video conferencing with friends and relatives.Dell X6825

Besides its LAN connection (Realtek RTL8102E Family PCI-E Fast Ethernet NIC), the netbook also provides a WLAN adapter, an Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter, allowing cable-free connection with other computers or to the internet. The same thing applies to the on-board CSR Bluetooth USB Adapater included.Dell Y4546

The inbuilt keyboard overall leaves a somewhat frail,Dell 312-0305 rickety impression and is prone to warping with harder key presses. For space reasons, the size of the keys is smaller than on an average keyboard, particularly in terms of their height. The result is that the keys measure just 15x13mm, and this makes itself quite obvious when typing. We found ourselves accidentally pressing vertically adjacent keys more than just every once in a while. The miniaturised Right-Shift key could also cause typing problems for some users. Nevertheless with a bit of skill and fingertip dexterity it is quite possible to get used to the typing arrangement. Users with large fingers may however have difficulties ever making good friends with the board.Dell 312-0306

The white touchpad occupies a total of 5×3 centimetres and reacts very quickly and precisely to any finger movement. Dell C6017 The mouse cursor sensitivity is therefore naturally quite high, which makes sense given the touchpad’s small surface. The positioning of the mouse buttons on the Ui3520 is somewhat unusual, however given technical/spacial issues this was probably unavoidable. Instead of being situated beneath the touchpad like on most portable computers, the two mouse buttons are to be found to the left and right hand sides of the pad. Even so, they do the job quite well.Dell 1X284

Overall, while quite usable it’s clear that both the keyboard and the touchpad along with its two mouse buttons require a certain time to get used to, before the user can be completely comfortable with the Amilo Mini Ui3520.Dell 312-0083In comparison to the Eee PC 901, the Amilo Mini Ui3520′s display brightness is quite a bit better. With an average brightness of 182.63 cd/m² and a maximum value of 194.4 cd/m², the Ui3520 remains, thanks to its matte non-glare display which considerably reduces distracting reflections, quite comfortable to use in outdoors environments (provided the screen is shielded from direct sunlight).

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 comes with an 8.9 inch display with a maximum resolution of up to 1024×600 pixels. Both Windows XP and the vast majority of websites can be used without problems at this resolution.The colour reproduction on the other hand is unfortunately not as full or strong as it could be,Dell 312-0101 as is often the case for non-glare displays (at least subjectively). Nevertheless the image production quality varied between average and quite good. And then there is always the advantage of having a reflection-free display.

Similarly, the display’s horizontal perspective stability is commendable being, in contrast to vertical perspective stability, fairly robust against variation in sitting position. Variation in sitting height very quickly caused slight colour alterations. Dell 312-0121

The Amilo Mini Ui3520 takes its performance from an Intel Atom N270 CPU with a 1.6 GHz clock speed, one gigabyte of DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM (1x1024MB stick), and an integrated GMA 950 on-board graphics solution, also from Intel. Given this configuration, this netbook is definitely not designed for 3D gaming or intense graphics work. The hardware is just too meek.Dell 312-0195

Like the Asus Eee PC 901, the Ui3520 is quickly pushed to its limit and has great difficulty keeping up with the computing power of a dual core notebook. The strengths of the Amilo Mini Ui3520 lie in its very manageable size, its mobility and its value price.Dell 2P700

The new Indilinx Controllers can show its strength in the sequential data transfer rates. In AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark it can (partly clearly) outperform its competitors. Even the High-End SSDs 510 from Intel and the Vertex 3 from OCZ are 30% and 13% slower on average.Battery for IBM ASM 92P1140

In using the profiles IOMix from c’t and Worstation, the IOMeter tests check the performance during typical desktop PCs and workstations use. The Octane is slightly slower than high-end SSDs (Intel 510 and Sandforce based ones like the Agility 3), but faster than mid-range SSDs like the Samsung SSD 470 or the ADATA S510 (also based on Sandforce, but featuring a cheaper asynchronous flash memory).Battery for IBM ASM 92P1142

We used the copy benchmarks integrated in AS SSD to check the performance while copying data. The Octane achieves excellent results here too and can partly clearly outperform its competitors. Interestingly, the performance clearly fluctuated during the test. In the ISO sub test it even achieved a maximum rate of 388 MB/s.Battery for IBM FRU 42T4504

In addition to the synthetic tests, we also ran two real-world tests and compared the results with the Intel SSD 510 and the Samsung SSD 470. First of all, we measured the boot times of a used Windows 7 64 Bit installation. OCZ advertises a special optimization called “Boot Time Reduction Optimization”. However, it was not measurably faster than the Intel 510 in our tests (average of several tries). The difference to the older Samsung SSD 470 is also marginal.Battery for IBM FRU 42T4513

In our second test, we started the demanding Battlefield 3 in offline mode. The time until the intro videos start is the same for all contenders (19 s). In comparison, loading from the relatively fast desktop HDD, Samsung HD103SJ (1TB 7200RPM), it took an agonizingly long 75 seconds.Battery for IBM FRU 42T5233

The first SSD with Indilinx Controller after it was bought by OCZ is impressive. The performance convinces and is top in many categories. Just the 4K write performance could be better. Poorly compressible data are no problem for the Octane – contrary to current Sandforce models.Battery for IBM FRU 92P1137

Because of its steep price (770 – 1000 Euros), the 512 GB model unfortunately is not the model bought most often. The cheaper models with lower capacity are also slower. At the time of writing, the price of the Octane (SATA 3, 6GBits) is between the Agility 3 and the Vertex 3. So, the price performance ratio is absolutely fair.Battery for IBM FRU 92P1139

The new controller will have to prove how well it performs in terms of reliability in the next few months. Sandforce based SSDs had some problems in the past months (e.g., blue screen). With a warranty of 3 years, it is at least protected longer than the usual lifetime of a PC. Nevertheless, the user is responsible for data security (backup).Battery for IBM FRU 92P1141

ab 782,80 €Preise werden geladen..* Preis inkl. MwSt.,Battery for IBM 02K6821 zzgl. VersandPreise können sich bereits geändert habenMehr AngeboteProduktinformationenTests und MeinungenPowered by eVendi Ads by GoogleThinkpad in plastics If you’d like a Thinkpad, but are put off by the high price, you could consider the Thinkpad R series. Although made of plastics instead of magnesium alloy, the well-known Thinkpad qualities have been retained unchanged. The case is a little fatter than the usual magnesium case, but regarding robustness it is hardly inferior than the one of the T-series.Battery for IBM 02K6822

Judging the Thinkpad R61 by its design and color choice, you’ll hardly notice any difference to the T-series at the first glance. Also the R61 comes with the well-known Thinkpad “gothic-look”, so to say black as far as you can see. The red trackpoint in the center of the keyboard calls for usage…. Battery for IBM 02K6823V

Handling the notebook, the plastic case gets obvious and is also identifiable as such, because of its different haptics. However, it does neither feel cheap nor of minor value. The roughened surface feels velvety soft and is hardly inferior to the magnesium case of the T series. Battery for IBM 02K6824

The robustness of the case is also comparably. Though the base unit is clearly fatter than the one of, e.g., the T61, flexural rigidity as well as pressure resistance are convincing. Typical Thinkpad there is a weakness next to the optical drive, but, besides this it is flawless. Battery for IBM 02K6825

Just alike the other Lenovo notebooks, also the R61′s display has a somewhat more obvious clamshell design, which contributes to the robustness, especially if closed, and keeps dirt off the surface.Battery for IBM 02K6829VThe huge hinges do not only look like being of metal, they are actually made of metal. The edgy design, which was taken from former Thinkpad generations, proved longterm functionality and still indicates durability. The ramshorn hook with long-distance hooks is also very user-friendly.

Nearly identical to the T61, the R61′s ports are also located at the left and right side of the case. A plus is that the audio ports, and the Firewire port are at the left side, so that the front side is besides a Cardreader free of ports. Alike other notebooks of the Thinkpad series, this notebook has a Docking Port at its bottom side allowing to provide more interfaces by means of a docking station.Battery for IBM 02K6830V

Judging from layout and typing, the Lenovo Thinkpad R61 should be equipped with the same input devices than the T61. This means, keyboard and mouse replacement at its finest.Also the clear and well-structured layout of the keyboard contributes to this impression. Maybe you’ll first need to adapt to the unusual location of the FN key at the left front edge of the keyboard. The size of the keys is without exception alright. Typing, too, does not disappoint. It is soft, with a clear point of pressure, and a good travel and low noise. Battery for IBM 02K6831

Both of the two provided mouse replacements, the touchpad as well as the trackpoint are first-class. Especially the according buttons are excellent, because of a comfortable travel and a soft feeling of pressure. Above the keyboard the R61 provides some hotkeys for volume control, and the blue Thinkvantage key for diverse configurations and invoking a number of further applications.Battery for IBM 02K6832

Color DiagramA number of different display versions are offered for the Lenovo Thinkpad R61. The possible choices range from 14″ wide screen formats ( WXGA, WXGA+) beyond 15″ panels in 4:3 format (XGA and XGA+) to 15.4 inch wide-screen displays with 1280×800 or 1680×1050 pixels resolution. Battery for IBM 02K67020

The reviewed notebook was equipped with a 15.4″ 1680×1050 pixels WSXGA+ panel, a display which provides good overview. Especially under Windows Vista the higher resolution contributes to user-friendliness. Battery for IBM 02K6794

During our review passable values were measured. E.g., the maximum brightness, measured in the center region of the display amounted to good 188.4 cd/m² and the illumination of 80.7% is also alright. The color diagram of the display calibration discovers that all 3 color curves would require correction.Battery for IBM 02K6795

The low black value of 0.3 cd/m² together with a good maximum brightness lead to an also very good contrast ratio of 628:1. We could not uncover any anomalies regarding speed of reaction by the performed scroll tests. Battery for IBM 02K6796

Operation OutdoorsThe matt display and the passable average brightness make the R61 fit for outdoor usage, even in very bright environments. But you should note, that you might need to disable the automatic dimming of the display brightness during battery operation in the BIOS settings, in order to provide sufficient brightness in battery mode. Battery for IBM 02K6797

Horizontally the display’s stability to the vantage point is good facing a loss of contrast at acute angles.

Vertically, you can observe a slight darkening or whitening, whereas you can face these phenomenons mainly at graphics, whilst displayed text stays very stable and well legible.Battery for IBM 02K6798 Also regarding performance a number of alternatives are available. The processors which the Thinkpad R61 can be equipped with range from a Celeron CPU to Core 2 Duo processors by lntel (T7100, T7300, T7500).

An integrated Intel GMA X3100 or a NVidia NVS 140M video card are available choices regarding graphics. While the X3100 video card is sufficient for Windows Vista, the NVS 140M video card, which was built-in in the reviewed notebook, provides a passable video performance. Battery for IBM 02K6867

The performance of the NVS 140M is about the same than of a Geforce 8400M video card. Indeed, it is also based on this chip. So, the R61 is sufficiently powerful in the fields of office of applications and with limitations also for gaming. Stability and drivers specialized for application, hint on that the performance in the fields of applications was considered more important compared to the 8400M. Battery for IBM 02K6878

Depending on the chosen configurations a variety of different choices regarding harddisks and main memory are possible. The R61 notebook we reviewed was equippped with 1GB main memory and a 120GB Hitachi Travelstar harddisk with a revolution speed of 5400 U/min. For standard applications this is by all means sufficient. Battery for IBM 02K6879

Further information about the video card can be found here or in our comparison of mobile video cards. Detailed information about the Core 2 Duo CPU can be found here. Please also look at our benchmark list of mobile processors or at our benchmark list of mobile video cards, in order to compare this notebook to other configurations.3DMark06 SM2.0 Score: 422 points, HDR/SM3.0 Score: 497 points, CPU Score: 1478 points 3DMark03 could not be installed under Vista. Battery for IBM 02K6897

The measured noise emissions are similar to those of the Thinkpad T61. The fan already starts running after a short time and thereafter the noise level is 34.8 dB all the time. The noise could be clearly heard in quiet environments, but was not especially annoying. Battery for IBM 02K6898

Very interestingly, the noise level stayed constant even under load. While the case got clearly warmer next to the fan, the revolutions did not increase and therewith also the noise stayed at the same level.The measured surface temperatures are within reasonable limits. At the bottom side we measured a maximum of 44.5°C, what is alright for desk work, but working at the lap could be a little uncomfortable.Battery for IBM 02K6899 Similar to the T61 also the R61′s sound is quite passable. The sonority could be better, but in total the quality of the sound is acceptable and sufficient for an office notebook.

Unlike the T61 the R61 is by default equipped with a 5200 mAh lithium ions battery. Although the measured runtime is not outstanding, a mobile work is possible. The runtime is in between about 1.5 hours under load and 3 hours in energy saving mode. Battery for IBM 02K7020

Der Android Market und die Nvidia Tegra Zone halten eine mittlerweile umfangreiche Ansammlung von Spielen bereit (kostenpflichtig/kostenlos). Spiele für Tablets sind in Umfang und 3D-Darstellungen nicht mit PC-Games vergleichbar, es hat in kurzer Zeit aber deutliche Entwicklungssprünge gegeben. Nvidia hat seinen Tegra-250-Chip mit einer Mini-Grafik ausgerüstet, die mit 8 Kernen rechnet (4 Pixel-, 4 Vertexshader).Apple A1057

Die abgebildeten Games haben wir ausprobiert, wobei bis auf World War alle ordnungsgemäß und flüssig abspielten. Die Screenshots sollen einen Eindruck der umfangreichen Möglichkeiten zum Zeitvertreib mit dem Slider vermitteln.Apple M8983

Der Slider SL101 arbeitet vollkommen geräuschlos. Dies ist bei allen Tegra-2-Tablets der Fall. Wegen der geringen thermischen Verlustleistung von nur einem Watt kann die Abwärme über das Gehäuse abgeführt werden.Apple M9326

Im Leerlauf und beim Surfen im Web wird das untere Gehäuse nicht einmal handwarm.Apple A1012 21 Grad sind bereits der Höchstwert. Bei durchgehender Belastung durch einen HD-Trailer erwärmt sich das untere Gehäuse stärker als das obere. Wir messen punktuell 33 Grad. Hier, im unteren Gehäuse, befindet sich der Tegra-2-Chip. Der Bildschirmbereich bleibt immer kühl. Der Slider zeigt sich vorbildlich in Sachen Abwärme, die Messungen erfolgten im zusammengeklappten Tablet-Modus. Eine niedrige Abwärme ist nicht immer der Fall. So erlebten wir beim Sony Tablet S (bis 38 Grad) und beim BlackBerry Playbook (bis 37 Grad) deutlich höhere Temperaturen.Apple M6091

Der Lautsprecher ist als Mono-Speaker ausgeführt und sitzt direkt unter dem Klapp-Display neben dem Gelenk.Apple M8244 Dadurch verändert sich die Akustik beim Zusammenklappen ins Negative. Wenn das dünne Klangbild bereits im Tasten-Modus (aufgeklappt) Tiefen vermissen lässt und unausgewogen wirkt (kein Stereo), so verbleibt im Tablet-Modus nur noch ein sehr flacher Klang. Die Lautstärke regeln wir mit einer Wippe auf der linken Seite. An den Kopfhörerausgang passt ein analoger 3.5-mm-Klinke-Stecker. Die Lautstärke für diesen Ausgang und für den internen Lautsprecher kann separat eingestellt werden. Dadurch kommt es beim Abziehen des Steckers nicht zwangsläufig zum Aufbrüllen des internen Speakers.Apple M8244G

Die Energieaufnahme des Slider SL101 messen wir vor dem Schaltnetzteil, das variabel 5 oder 15 Volt Spannung und 10 bis 18 Watt Leistung liefern kann. Das Ladekabel kann als USB-Stecker abgezogen und als Datenkabel zum PC genutzt werden. Eine Aufladung über den PC erfolgt aber nicht (USB 2.0/3.0). Der Akku war für die Messungen aufgeladen. Apple M8511

Im Leerlauf zog der Slider 2.6 bis 4.9 Watt aus der Dose. Das ist sehr wenig für ein Tegra-2-System: Sony Tablet S (3.1-6 Watt), LG V900 (2.2-5.6 Watt), Galaxy Tab 10.1 (3.3-6.7 Watt). Die Last-Aufnahme, hier während des Spiels Galaxy on Fire 2, liegt mit 6.4 Watt deutlich höher. Für einen 720p-Film genügen 5.6 Watt. Apple A1008

Auffällig ist der hohe Standby-Verbrauch von 1.3 Watt. Motorola Xoom (0.1 Watt), Galaxy Tab 10.1 (0.6 Watt) und LG V900 (0.15 Watt) sind hierbei sparsamer. Die Folge könnte ein sich rasch entleerender Akku im Standby-Modus sein.Apple A1061

Die niedrige Energieaufnahme kündigte bereits eine gute Laufzeit an. Dass die Laufzeit mit 9:30 Stunden im WLAN-Test so gut ausfällt, damit hatten wir jedoch nicht gerechnet. Der 18-Wh-Lithium-Polymer-Akku (3 Zellen, 3.700 mAh) sitzt in der Tastatur-Ebene des Gerätes. Die Kapazität ist im Vergleich zu anderen Tablets etwas geringer: iPad 2 (25 Wh) oder Motorola Xoom (24.5 Wh). Apple M8403

Der WLAN-Test bei 100 cd/m² Helligkeit ist ein Mix aus Website-Surfen und Video-Clips. Gleichauf liegt das Galaxy Tab 10.1v (9:35 h). Sony Tablet S (5:30), LG V900 (7:15), iPad 2 (7:30) und Motorola Xoom (7:26) sind abgeschlagen. Die Leerlauf-Laufzeit bei minimaler Helligkeit und Flugmodus (Funk off) von über 13 Stunden bestätigt die WLAN-Messung. Das Aufladen des Akkus dauert im Betrieb drei Stunden. Im Standby reduziert sich diese Zeit auf 2:15 Stunden. Für die hohe Laufzeit sind diese Ladezeiten akzeptabel. Apple M8433

Asus versucht sich an einem Tablet-Allrounder und landet damit fast einen Volltreffer. Abgesehen vom hohen Gewicht und der mittelmäßigen Qualität der Tastatur sehen wir die wichtigsten Tablet-Kriterien als erfüllt an. Die Verarbeitung ist sehr gut, der Klapp-Mechanismus funktioniert ohne Tadel. Das Display hat zwar nur eine (für Tablet-Maßstäbe) niedrige maximale Luminanz, aber Blickwinkel und Farben liegen auf hohem Niveau.Apple M8433G

Die Akkulaufzeit von 9:30 Stunden im WLAN-Test zeigt der Konkurrenz, wo der Hammer hängt. Die Ladezeit von zwei bis drei Stunden ist angemessen. Sehr gut gefallen hat uns die Qualität der 5-MP-Webcam. Sie liefert im Tageslicht rauschfreie, scharfe Fotos ab. Der optische Zoom sollte jedoch nicht ins Spiel gebracht werden. Bei den Anschlüssen macht Asus keinen Fehler: Mini-HDMI und inkl. dem Ladekabel zwei USB-Ports (via 40-Pin-Connector) kann wohl kaum ein anderes Tablet vorweisen.Apple M8956

Wer beim Kauf um jeden Euro geizt, der wird nicht beim Asus Slider landen. 500 Euro sind eine Menge Geld, Apple M8956Gvor allem bei der Billig-Konkurrenz der 10-Zoller ab 200 Euro. Mit solchen muss sich der Slider aber nicht vergleichen, vielmehr mit den hochwertigen Geräten à la Motorola Xoom (ab 450 Euro), Apple iPad 2 (ab 440 Euro) oder Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (ab 450 Euro). In diesem Vergleich, und im Hinblick auf die sehr gute Gesamtwertung und das einzigartige Tastatur-Feature, halten wir 500 Euro (Marktpreis) für angemessen.Apple M9337G

Das Testgerät ASUS Eee Pad SL101 Slider weiß ist derzeit ab 499 Euro bei Notebooksbilliger.de erhältlich.Asus Eee Pad Slider SL101 32 GB: All-in-One-Android-Tablet mit hoher Konnektivität und starker LaufzeitZum SeitenanfangApple A1045

Mit einiger Verspätung hat Intel die neuen Spitzenchips der Sandy Bridge Serie vorgestellt. Der Intel Core i7-2700K ist dabei lediglich ein höher getakteter Core i7-2600K. Die richtige Neuerung ist der Core i7-3960X. Ein 6-Kern-Prozessor mit gigantischem 15 MB Level 3 Cache und einer Taktung von 3,3 – 3,9 GHz (Turbo Boost 2.0). Im Vergleich zu den Quad-CApple A1078ore Sandy Bridge Modellen bieten die neuen Sandy Bridge-E getauften Chips einen Quad-Channel Speicherkontroller und mehr Cache. Im Gegenzug ist wurde jedoch die integrierte Grafik weggelassen.Apple A1148

In unserer Auswahl an synthetischen Prozessorbenchmarks schlägt sich der teure 6-Kerner von Intel hervorragend. Mit durchschnittlich 21% höherer Performance können die ausgewählten Tests die zwei zusätzlichen Kerne gut nutzen. In den Einzelkernbenchmarks wie Cinebench R10 oder Super Pi ist das Ergebnis mit dem ähnlich getakteten Core i7-2700K auf einem Level.Apple E68043

Bei den Systemtests PCMark 7 und Vantage sieht man kaum Vorteile von den zwei zusätzlichen Kernen. Die Unterschiede liegen im Rahmen der Messungenauigkeit und bestätigen den subjektiven Eindruck, dass man für die meisten aktuellen Anwendungen bereits mit 4 Kernen ausreichend Reserven hat.Apple M9325

Ein Haupteinsatzzweck für die schnellsten Prozessormodelle ist klarerweise High-End 3D Gaming. In den 3D Mark Tests von Futuremark erkennt man im Gesamtscore auch eine kleine Auswirkung des 6-Kerners. Mit 2-7% ist der Einfluss jedoch zu vernachlässigen.Apple M9756

Mit drei aktuellen Spielen wollen wir überprüfen ob das Spitzenmodell von Intel überhaupt voll genutzt wird. Es wird schnell klar, das bei Battlefield 3 und Shogun 2 die 4 Kerne des Core i7-2700K voll ausreichen und keine höhere Performance durch die zwei weiteren Kerne im 3960X erzielt werden kann. Nur das aktuelle F1 2011 Rennspiel kann daraus Nutzen ziehen und so im Test einen kleinen Performancegewinn herausholen.Apple A1022

Das neue Spitzenmodell von Intel bietet mit sechs Prozessorkernen und einem riesigen Last Level Cache ordentlich Power. Dadurch kann die CPU bei optimierter Software deutlich punkten und skaliert im Vergleich zum Core i7-2700K Vierkerner sehr gut.Apple A1060

Trotzdem darf man nicht vergessen, dass die meisten aktuellen Programme und Spiele nicht mehr als 4 Kerne benötigen. Daher ist der Core i7-2700K mit seinen 4 Kernen eine deutlich günstigere und auch stromsparendere Alternative für die meisten Power-User. Wer jedoch 6 Kerne voll ausnutzen kann (Rendering, wissenschaftliche Berechnungen, …) und nicht auf den Preis achten muss, kann bei dem Core i7-3960X bedenkenlos zuschlagen. Apple A1079

Für die High-End-Gamer empfiehlt sich jedoch eher der Core i7-2700K und Preis / Leistung Sieger bleiben weiterhin die günstigeren Core i5 2500K und 2400.

Thick and thin. November presented both worlds: Gigantic gaming behemoths with incredible speed met super slim ultrabooks with low weight. Which are our favorites from all device categories?Dell 312-0334Selected devices from the categories tablet, subnotebook, multimedia and gaming/DTR kept us busy in November. Class rather than mass was our motto and thus we neglected office-books (Lenovo ThinkPad T420s), netbooks (Asus Eee PC R051PX) and workstations (Dell Precision M6600). Tablets from Toshiba, Sony and RIM passed through our hands, whereby we liked the folding concept of the foldable Sony Tablet P in practical use a lot. However, another one took the prize.Dell U1223

The subnotebooks were dominated by two Asus ultrabooks which couldn’t convince in mobility. The multimedia devices partly had surprisingly good screens. A device aligned for business was the winner here. Finally, the frame machines from the gaming sector aimed for new top rates in performance, and SSD+HDD arrays called the shots. Find out in this article, which devices are the November winners in every category.Dell J2328

The Toshiba AT100-100 made the start into the small tablet round in mid November.Dell F0590 It is known as Thrive in the USA. As expected, the standard system with Nvidia’s Tegra 250 and Android 3.1 doesn’t show any shortcomings, except one: Android fans would have appreciated the newer Android 3.2 Honeycomb. The case is rather basic in comparison to others because it’s made of rubberized plastic and lacks any aluminum applications. The screen’s low brightness and the intensely reflective TFT are the biggest drawbacks. In return, the price of €360 for the wifi version is attractive.Dell 9T686

With the Sony Tablet P (formerly S2), the manufacturer has accomplished the rare feat of making a foldable mini tablet with two IPS screens. We liked the handling and the operating concept a lot because a 7 inch screen (2×5.5 inches) can’t usually simply be stowed away in a jeans pocket. Viewing angles and screen brightness are very good, just like the six hours of battery runtime. The drawbacks are seen in the insufficiently mounted upper shell and its scratch-sensitivity. This shouldn’t be the case in a €600 device (3G version).Dell 8Y849

The Blackberry Playbook WiFi 16 GB from RIM uses the fast OMAP chipset from Texas Instruments and the company’s own Blackberry Tablet OS 1.0. Dell 8T273The basic, yet very stable device convinces with an intuitive navigation concept (swiping over the sides) and thus manages without buttons or built-in Home, Back and Menu buttons. Although it has been named PlayBook, RIM is aiming at professional users with the security and synchronization options besides a well filled App World (regarding Productivity). Outdoor use of the PlayBook is perfect. We are looking at the brightest tablet screen that we have ever assessed. Moreover, it has a battery life of seven hours and displays rich, bright colors. The smallest wifi version, without 3G, is available for €329.Dell 7T670

The Blackberry skids past the Sony P with a marginally better rating. Both devices have their big advantages. The Tablet P’s are its handy size and the good battery life.Dell 6T475 The PlayBook is at the front with its fast usability and the very bright screen. The poor workmanship, which opposes the BlackBerry’s stability, is decisive for the Sony Tablet’s disadvantage. A drop of bitterness of the PlayBook: The 3G version is not yet available on the German market. Until now, the user needs a BlackBerry smartphone to tether the tablet to the Internet. Dell 6T473

The App World has a lot of tools, applications and games. Tablet OS doesn’t cut back on security functions, such as certificates, authorizations and security wipe.On the Android system side, we see the Sony Tablet P / Tablet S as such due to its handy size. The Dell Streak 7″ is also handy, but doesn’t have a viewing angle stable screen. The HTC Flyer 7″ WiFi +3G proliferates with Access Point function and Magic Stick for perfect stylus inputs. Lastly, everyone is waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7″ successor, the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus with Android 3.2.Dell 312-0296

The ultrabooks are coming! The 11.6 inch Asus Zenbook UX21E made the start. Dell 312-0079Comparisons with the smallest MacBook Air were of course logical in this case. The application performance with the fast ADATA SSD is excellent for an ultra slim mini subnotebook. Especially since Asus doesn’t fear using the comparatively strong ULV processor, the Core i7 2677M (2x 1.8 GHz). The UX21E’s biggest feature is the aluminum case on a par with Apple’s unibody design in terms of quality. The lid and chassis are extremely rigid. The screen shows another extreme: On the one hand,Dell 310-5206 it has a very low contrast and frustrates mobility fans with its glare type. In return, the screen lights up with a brightness of 144 cd/m2, a new top rate. The rather short runtime of less than four hours are due to the 35 watt lithium polymer battery. It’s not been given a bigger capacity for space reasons. The price of €1099 is acceptable for the extravagant, seemingly milled of one piece mini device – although the glare type spoils the main field of use: Mobility.Dell 310-5205

Right on its heels, the big brother, Asus Zenbook UX31 achieved one point more (87%). The looks, Dell XD187 the case and the interfaces are the same as in the UX21 – so just as poor. But at least one of the two USB ports is a USB 3.0. The extremely fast 128 GB SSD ensures strong application performance (Intel Core i5 2557M). It is well in line with a considerably better battery runtime of five to seven hours. Together with the very bright and, again, both reflective and pale TFT, this device can be used on the go. The resolution of 1600×900 pixels is good for serious work. The price of €999 for one of the first ultrabooks is acceptable.Dell XD186

The Fujitsu LifeBook SH531 looks virtually gigantic compared with both ultrabooks. But then, the 13.3 inch model, based on a standard Core i5, only costs €500. We couldn’t find any real advantages in the high-gloss device. The battery life is short (four hours), the screen is reflective, has a low contrast and the gaming performance is extremely low. We see the low emissions in temperature and system noise as a pro.Dell K9343

Samsung’s 3003A-S02DE goes in the direction of the LifeBook SH531 because it is also a fairly bulky subnotebook. However, Dell EUP-K2-B-40Samsung has improved the crucial points and offers a matt screen with a feasible brightness. The input devices, so the keyboard and the touchpad, supply good feedback. The good performance with a Core i5 and a dedicated GeForce GT 520M is impressive. The latter even allows playing a few up to date games in low details. The battery life of 6:20 hours (WLAN test) and the short charge time of two hours encourage mobile use. Unfortunately, the case partly allows warping. The system noise during load and the waste heat of the 13.3 inch model don’t break any records. Only the Silent Mode does its name justice.Dell PC-VP-WP64

The Zenbook UX31 rightfully claims the award just looking at its score. Despite the low build, the fan is almost never audible even during load. That is just as remarkable as the low temperatures of selectively 43 degrees Celsius at most during load. The keyboard with the firm pressure point and the touchpad with the “built-in” keys are pleasant to work with (after the driver update). Those who don’t like the 13.3 inch MacBook Air, but want an extremely thin and high quality computer anyway, should take a closer look at the UX31.Dell G9812

The first generation Zenbook series has made a big splash in the still young ultrabook market. If Asus can keep this up and lower their prices, then we may have a serious MacBook Air competitor in no time.Immediate competitors include the Acer Aspire S3 and 13.3 inch MacBook Air. General competitors include the Lenovo X1, Dell Inspiron 14z and Samsung Series 9. More Ultrabooks, such as the Lenovo U300s, are expected to launch within the coming months. Dell M5701

The Series 7 Chronos is Samsung’s premium multimedia machine and it displays its strengths in many areas. Dell P5413The configuration with a Core i5 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M (can be disabled) provides good performance rates. Since customers want both memory capacity and speed, a 750 GB HDD and an 8 GB ExpressCache are installed. They store frequently required files and thus the load times are accelerated. The slim build and the elegant aluminum looks are in line with the good battery life of six hours, as well as the matt screen. The latter delights with a HD+ resolution, but disappoints with low contrasts and poor viewing angles. Another drawback is the regrettably not perfectly rigid case. The Chronos with a Core i5 is available for starting at €940.Dell XD184

Sony’s Vaio VPC-SE1Z9E/B presents itself as a professional consumer and business device in an overall favorable light.Dell XD184 The rating of 83% isn’t quite perfect, but it has details of the premium business standard. This would first be the contrast and viewing angle stable Full HD screen with a matt surface (VAIO Plus Display). The interfaces, including docking port and battery slice connector, are generous. The integrated 3D module could have made mobility perfect, but the battery life of nearly three hours unfortunately ruins it. The keyboard doesn’t achieve the perfect feedback of business input devices as found in a HP EliteBook or Lenovo ThinkPad. The Radeon HD 6630M graphics is even suitable for an odd game, though not in the native resolution.Dell UD535

A new version of Asus’ premium multimedia device is available in the N55SF-S114V. The 15.6 inch laptop can reap in a good rating for its rubberized and rigid case with a sensitive lid. Dell TD612The temperature and system noise aren’t stressed by the quad core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M in high load. Extra points are due for the low reflection, very bright screen with feasible contrasts. We liked the lateral viewing angles just as much as the sound quality rendered over the included external subwoofer. The keyboard has a layout that needs getting used to.Dell TD611

Acer’s flagship gamer, Aspire Ethos 5951G achieves a rating of 80% in this round.Dell TD429 This isn’t actually bad because it shows that Acer has done a lot of things right. That would be the strong battery life of 5:33 hours (WLAN test), the good sound, the many interfaces and the removable touchpad. The latter can be used as a remote control. However, the device’s big shortcoming becomes evident especially when several people gather around the standard resolution of 1366×768 pixels to consume media: The TFT’s poor contrast, narrow viewing angles, low brightness and a color spectrum considerably smaller than sRGB doesn’t fit to a premium model for just under €1200. The Blu-Ray drive doesn’t seem in line with the low resolution. The screen in the Asus N55SF would have been just right for the Ethos 5951G.Dell KD186

Since we had a tie, we decided in favor of the Vaio due to the better screen. Dell HD438The VAIO Plus Display is exactly the screen that the Samsung Chronos would have desperately needed. On the other hand, the Vaio could have also used the good input devices of the Chronos just as much as the low waste heat during load. The Vaio reaches a temperature of up to 56 degrees here and the CPU throttles in short intervals.A great screen for working inside and out. All professional options are available: A battery slice and docking station can be bought additionally.Dell CGR-B-6E1XX

The short battery life of this 3G model isn’t acceptable for mobile workers. Feedback strong keys would have been perfect.Semi pro: Samsung RF511-S05DE: quad core, GT 540M, matt but poor TFT; Fujitsu Lifebook NH751: quad core, very good TFT; Gigabyte P2532N: strong GT 555M graphics, very good TFT; Samsung Series 7 700Z5A: Radeon HD 6750M, matt but poor TFTDell 312-0416

Pro: Dell Latitude E6520 i7/FHD: matt TFT, good colors; HP Elitebook 8560p-LQ589AW: good WXG++ screen; HP ProBook 6560b-LG658EA: weak WXGA++ screen; Lenovo ThinkPad L520 NWB53GE: perfect inputsDell 312-0366

Click to EnlargeThe Titan really pushes the limit of what should be considered a one-handed device. Acer LC.BTP00.001Its footprint of 5.1 x 2.8 inches meant we had to really stretch our medium size fingers to push the power button on the top of the phone. In addition, holding this device up to our head felt slightly ridiculous. On the plus side, the Titan has a fairly narrow profile of 0.4 inches. At 5.6 ounces, the Titan is heavier than the 5.3-ounce Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which has a similarly sized 4.7-inch screen, and it’s much heftier than the 3.9-ounce Samsung Focus S (4-inch display). However, HTC’s design feels much more solid.Acer LC.BTP00.002

Assuming you’re willing to put up with its girth, you’ll really like the look and feel of the Titan. It has a mostly aluminum back that’s ultra-sturdy, broken up by two small bands of plastic at the top and bottom. An elegantly engraved HTC logo sits beneath the 8-MP camera, LED flash, and speaker. The back is also delightfully easy to remove if you need to replace or pull the battery; one button at the bottom of the device does the trick.Acer LIP6220QUPC SY6

Click to EnlargeThe top of the Titan houses the power button and headphone jack, and the long volume control bar and camera button line the right side. The microUSB port is on the left. Like on all Windows Phones, three capacitive buttons reside beneath the display: Back, Windows/Home, and Search.Acer AS07B31

The Titan gets its name from its 4.7-inch display, which dwarfs the screen on the 4-inch Samsung Focus S. However, this panel has the same resolution as every other Windows Phone (800 x 480 pixels). We would have preferred 720p resolution, like on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, or at least qHD resolution. Alas, Microsoft’s OS doesn’t yet support that kind of pixel density.Acer AS07B41

The Titan’s panel outshone most other phones,Acer AS07B51 though; its average brightness of 425 lux was higher than the Galaxy Nexus’ (416 lux) and much higher than the Samsung Focus S’ (183).Click to EnlargeThere are some benefits to this screen’s huge size. We found it easier to make out text in articles when surfing the web without having to zoom in. The display is also large enough that two people can easily watch a movie at the same time. We enjoyed wide viewing angles and a bright picture when watching the trailer for Mission Impossible 4. However, the 4-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen on the Samsung Focus S offers better contrast and more vibrant colors.Acer LC.BTP00.017

On the bright side, unlike most tablets, the Xyboard can charge when connected to your computer’s USB port. However, it charges much more slowly, if at all. We used the tablet for 2 hours connected to our PC’s USB port and the charge level remained at 40 percent the entire time.Acer 934T2039F charger

How much battery life do you get for all that charge time? On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing at 40-percent brightness, the Xyboard 10.1 lasted a modest 5 hours and 54 minutes, which is way behind the 8 hours that the original Xoom lasted over 3G, but on par with the 6 hours and 8 minutes the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 got over LTE. The Xyboard might have done better if it could charge past 90 percent.Acer UM09E31 charger

We’ll update this review when we’ve been able to test the Xyboard 10.1′s battery life over Wi-Fi, but we expect that time to be much longer that its 4G endurance, because LTE radios use a lot of power.Motorola touts the Droid Xyboard 10.1 as a “business-ready” tablet because it comes with a number of apps that corporate users will appreciate. However, almost all of these programs are available free to anyone with an Android device, which makes them a weak selling point for this tablet.Acer UM09E36 charger

Citrix Receiver allows users to connect to virtual machines on their corporate networks. GoToMeeting lets you to connect to or host online meetings, using its paid service. Fuze Meeting is another paid online meeting service. Polycom RealPresence Mobile lets you connect to your enterprise’s Polycom video-conferencing solution from your Xyboard 10.1.Acer UM09E70 charger

Of the pre-loaded business apps, only Quick Office HD is not available directly from Google’s Android Market, but it’s just a lite version of Quick Office that can only view, not edit, documents and spreadsheets. If you want to edit or create a new file, you’re invited to pay $14.99 for Quick Office HD Pro.Acer UM09E71 charger

Click to EnlargeIn addition to the business apps, the Xyboard 10.1 comes with a handful of other pre-loads, most of which are either freeware or trialware. ColorNote lets you write post-it notes, but doesn’t support pen drawing. Evernote is a free note-taking service that syncs with the cloud. Skitch lets you make simple drawings using the pen or your finger. Dijit enables you to use the infrared port as a remote control (see above). For gamers, Motorola includes trial versions of Let’s Golf 2 and Madden NFL 12. As with many other Android tablets, the Amazon Kindle and Blockbuster apps are also pre-loaded.Acer CGR-B/350CW charger

Click to EnlargeIf you’re not happy with the pre-loaded apps or the massive selection at Google’s Android Market, Motorola also pre-loads MotoPack, its own app store. MotoPack has a large and colorful interface and is neatly divided up into helpful categories such as For Kids, Home Office, and On Campus, but we didn’t find any apps here that we couldn’t have downloaded from the Android Market.Acer 3UR18650Y-2-QC261 charger

Click to EnlargePerhaps the best and most unique piece of software that comes pre-loaded on the Xyboard 10.1 is Motorola’s MotoCast, which allows you to stream music, Acer GRAPE32 chargervideos, and photos directly off of your PC. In our tests, setting up a MotoCast account took only a couple of minutes, and our tablet had access to our PC’s music, photos, and video folders right away. Impressively, all the files remained available on the Xyboard, even after we disconnected our PC from the Internet, meaning that they had been cached on the tablet’s memory.Acer LC.BTP00.005 charger

Though our 32GB review unit of the Droid Xyboard 10.1 costs $629 with a two-year contract and $799 without, the base 16GB model costs $529 with a two-year contract and $699 without. Those who want a ton of local storage can get the 64GB model, which costs $729 with a two-year contract and $899 without. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on Verizon also costs $529 with contract/$699 without for the 16GB model, but the 32GB model can now be had at a promotional discount of $529.Acer LC.BTP00.011 charger

Wi-Fi-only competitors give you a lot more device for less money.Acer TM00741 charger The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, our favorite Android tablet, costs just $499 for the 32GB version and has a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU.Verizon offers a choice of three different monthly data plans for the Xyboard 10.1. The basic plan gets you 2GB a month for $30, $50 a month buys 5GB, and $80 a month purchases 10GB. The carrier charges a $10 per GB overage fee. Wi-Fi hotspot service is included in all of the plans. Verizon has confirmed that it will be rolling out so-called family data plans in 2012 that will allow users to pay one price for 4G access on multiple devices.Acer 3UR18650F-3-QC228 charger

Buying the Xyboard with contract means committing to a minimum of $720 in data fees over 24 months on top of the cost of the tablet. Unless you plan to use your tablet very frequently in areas where you can’t get Wi-Fi, it’s hard to justify this expense, particularly if you’re already paying for data on your smartphone. Users who need the Wi-Fi hotspot feature to get their laptops online might be better off purchasing a dedicated hotspot device, which is much more portable.Acer BT.00903.005 charger

The Droid Xyboard 10.1 is a vast improvement over the Motorola Xoom. It’s dramatically thinner and lighter,Acer LC.BTP01.015 charger offers a much better display, and boasts best-in-class sound. We also appreciate the super-fast 4G LTE speeds and this slate’s ability to double as a remote control for your TV. However, the Xyboard’s sometimes-laggy performance and glacial charge time give us pause, especially when a minimum commitment of $1,249 over two years is involved. If you don’t need 4G in your tablet, we prefer the quad-core-powered ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which offers an optional keyboard. And if you do want 4G LTE, we’d wait until Motorola upgrades this slate to the new Ice Cream Sandwich software and Verizon debuts a family data plan that lets you share gigabytes between your phone and tablet.Acer LC.BTP01.016 charger

ReviewSpecifications.Like a cross between a ginormous phone and small tablet,Acer 3UR18650Y-3-QC262 charger the HTC Titan for AT&T makes other Windows Phones look like Tic Tacs. Sporting a 4.7-inch display, this device gives Microsoft’s lively interface a big canvas for everything from web surfing and Xbox games to watching movies. The Titan is also one of the fastest Windows Phones yet, thanks to a 1.5-GHz processor, and it features an 8-megapixel camera. Read on to find out if this phone is a big hit or literally too much to handle.Acer CGR-B/6H5 charger

The speaker on the back of the Titan was nice and loud when we watched that trailer, as well as when we streamed Bush’s “The Sound of Winter.” The sound was somewhat tinny but certainly clear enough to hear over our sink when washing a few dishes.Acer UM08A31

Click to EnlargeOne of the benefits of the Titan’s 4.7-inch screen is that it allows for a large touch keyboard layout. We never felt the need to flip this phone into landscape mode because the keys were very easy to hit in the standard portrait orientation. Like with all Windows Phones, the keyboard includes dedicated @ and .com keys to speed up typing, as well as a bevy of emoticon shortcuts for composing text messages and emails. Some might prefer haptic feedback, but we didn’t miss it.Acer UM08A51

Click to EnlargeRunning Windows Phone 7.5, the HTC Titan delivers all the benefits of Microsoft’s Mango update. This includes improved multitasking; just press and hold the back button to see thumbnails of all your open apps. In addition, the latest software includes the ability to create groups of your favorite people (such as family or work) so you can message everyone at once or check on just their social-networking updates.Acer UM08A71

Like all Windows Phones, the Titan features a dynamic Live Tile interface that displays updates, eliminating the need for a separate notification window. You can turn almost anything into a Live Tile– from websites and contacts to Foursquare deals–by pinning it to the Start screen. The look of the Start screen can be a little disorienting at first, but you can move tiles around or remove them to completely customize the experience.Acer UM08A72