Prime Notebook Computer Review » Battery

Fujitsu LifeBook MH380

tito — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:28:44 +0000

Fujitsu’s LifeBook MH380 provides a few unique aspects to the netbook market including a standard 1366×768 resolution display panel and a new scroll wheel funtion. While these provide a different experience for users than the average netbook, performance and battery life are very average. The fact that it is larger and heavier doesn’t help in the portability department either. The biggest problem though is the $450 price tag that is well above average.

Design
Weighing 3.0 pounds and measuring 1.9 inches thick, the MH380 is one of the heaviest and chunkiest netbooks. The fact that the six-cell battery juts out from the bottom of the system doesn’t help matters, either. Still, this is one of the more attractive netbooks we’ve laid eyes on, thanks to the glossy ruby red lid and deck. This chassis also has modern rounded edges and a classy chrome treatment on the inner hinge. Unlike the earlier M2010, Fujitsu wisely minimized its infinity symbol logo. Too bad there aren’t other color options. Although the MH380 felt solid at first, we noticed that the bezel and hinge creaked a bit as we raised and lowered the display, which raises some doubts about long-term durability. Also, the lid picked up some fingerprints during our testing, though we’ve seen worse.

Keyboard & Touchpad
The Netbook’s upper lid opens up farther than normal, which is useful when typing on small machines such as this one. Oddly, Fujitsu centered the Lifebook’s round screen hinge far back from the keyboard, in line with the bulky battery that juts from its bottom like a long kickstand. It gives the Lifebook a unique appearance, but offers no real value. Fujitsu includes an array of four LED indicators at the top and bottom of the keyboard; however, they mostly served as a distraction. The Netbook’s small chrome power button, which is above the Num lock key, is the only discrete button other than the keyboard’s keys.

As far as that keyboard goes, it’s a throwback and an annoyance: this Fujitsu has one of the few tapered keyboards left in the Netbook world. While the keys have good travel and feel, they’re a little too small, especially on the right side of the board where the comma, period, and shift keys lie. Fujitsu squeezed directional-arrow keys in on the keyboard and changed the relative position of all those keys, shifting the shift key to the left and making other keys hard to find, much less to press. The Netbook’s palm rest space is adequate, but it is not exceptional.

Fujitsu’s keyboard changes are minor compared with what it did to the Netbook’s touch pad. According to Fujitsu, customers requested the design that it implemented on the MH380, which carves off a good third of the touch pad’s real estate and gives it to a circular concave dimple of plastic that acts as a scroll wheel. It took us a while to figure out how to use it, but the wheel lets you dial your finger clockwise or counterclockwise to scroll Web pages or documents. Most touch pads just use the far right strip to accomplish this. The remaining postage-stamp-size square of touch pad is barely enough to work with, and the tiny buttons beneath it are just as bad. If you’re going to be bold enough to introduce a feature like this to grab attention, it had better be an improvement over what it’s replacing in the first place.

The Netbook’s touch pad has a somewhat annoying momentum-scrolling option automatically activated, which makes the pointer slide around the screen as if it’s on ice. You can deactivate the setting in the touch pad control panel, but the software buries it in a number of submenus.

Display and Audio
You might think that a 1366 x 768-pixel display on a 10-inch netbook is overkill (most top out at 1024 x 600), but it makes a big difference when surfing the Web. You can see more of your favorite sites on the MH380 without scrolling. The LED-backlit display is also quite bright, with excellent horizontal viewing angles. Photos looked vibrant and well saturated. A Hulu episode of Fringe looked fine until we blew it up to full-screen mode, at which point playback started to stutter (though that’s a biproduct of weak integrated graphics).

The twin speakers on the front of the MH380 delivered loud and clear sound when we cranked up Coldplay’s “Fix You” in Pandora. We noticed very little distortion, even at 100 percent volume.

Performance
Like most recently released netbooks, the MH380 is powered by Intel’s Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 5,400-rpm hard drive. This netbook turned in a score of 1,389 in PCMark05 (which measures Windows performance), which is lower than the netbook category average (1,466) as well as the scores for the HP Mini 5102 (1,408) and ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-P (Seashell) (1,410). However, this is slightly higher than the Sony VAIO W Series (1,368). On the other hand, the MH380’s Geekbench score of 918 is higher than the category average (854), second only to the VAIO W Series’ 921 among the above systems. The 5,400-rpm, 250GB hard drive took a relatively long 1 minute and 19 seconds to boot into Windows 7 Starter Edition. The MH380 fared better on the LAPTOP Transfer Test, taking 4 minutes and 27 seconds (19.1 MBps) to transfer 4.97GB of mixed media files from one folder to another on the system, well above the 16.2 MBps average but behind the Eee PC 1005PE-P (26.4 MBps).

Increase Notebook Battery Life

anti — Wed, 05 May 2010 06:50:52 +0000

Anyone with a notebook or tablet PC knows that at the end of the day, battery life is still the key mobility factor when using a notebook on the road. Some users might turn to extended batteries, while others already have one and are looking to squeeze out handful of minutes before they run out of juice somewhere. An area that many notebook users overlook is the software that is running in the background on many notebooks that acts as a leech, sucking away at your power and making your notebook work harder than it should. With a few minutes worth of simple changes, you can easily crank out some more time from your notebook following our guide.Most of this guide will target notebook running Windows Vista, but many of the same tweaks hold true for Windows XP.

Keep your processor working at a walking pace
Most notebooks offer power regulation software, and almost all have the ability to change profiles using the Vista power manager. Click on that battery icon on the bottom of your screen, and make sure your notebook is set to Balanced or Power Saver. High Performance is great if you are encoding video or playing games, but it makes your processor work harder than it has to, using more power and throwing out more heat.

Tune your radio dial
Keep an eye on your wireless devices, and disable them if they are not in use. If you have your Bluetooth or WiFi device running at all times, you are using chopping off useful battery life that could have been used doing something else.
Change your viewing habits
The biggest power draw on your notebook, especially if it is a large one, is the screen backlight. While it may look big, beautiful, and shiny, you are really hurting your battery performance with the backlight at a high level. Start by putting the backlight to the lowest setting, and increase it slowly until you find the lowest setting your find bearable. Remember that this will vary depending on the room you are in, meaning you might have it set brighter in an office setting, but much lower at home at night.

Don’t be tempted by movies
If at all possible, stay away from using DVD’s or CD’s in your laptop while using battery power. The drive creates a huge power draw on the system while running. On top of the drive, your processor is also working hard to decode the audio and video, sometimes knocking off close to 30% of your overall battery life. If you must watch movies, try to stick with digital content that you download or stream online. iTunes and Hulu.com are excellent alternatives to the evil discs.

Kill unwanted background activities
Right out of the box, almost all notebooks have the following processes running in the background, which eat up precious CPU cycles and trash your hard drive.
Automatic Updates: While keeping your system up to date is a good thing, this should be optional to have done at your own leisure.To disable this activity, go into your control panel and click on ‘Windows Update”. In the next window click on “change settings” on the left side, and make your way to the next screen. Now change your selection to “Never check for updates”, and click OK. Please note that this may make your system vulnerable if you don’t manually check for updates on a regular basis.

Windows Indexing: Windows disk indexing helps to reduce search times when trying to find a particular file on your hard drive, but will wreak havoc on your battery life in the process. To disable indexing, open “My Computer” and right click on your hard drive. On the first screen that shows up, uncheck “Index this drive for faster searching”. You will need to proceed through a few prompts, as well as clicking “ignore all” if prompted. This may take quite a bit of time depending on how full your drive is.

Anti-Virus Software: AV software is a huge performance hog, but also a life saver depending on what type of sites your visit or what sorts of files you encounter. I am relatively savvy enough to steer clear of harmful items in my daily activities, and have yet to need any AV software for years. Not only can they be a huge resource hog and bog your machine down, they sap away a lot of battery life if they start scanning in the background. Be warned that removing AV software from your system can be risky, and should be done at your own discretion. If need more than one hand to count the number of virus problems you have had in the past, don’t follow this suggestion.
The next step of this guide requires you to use the Task Scheduler, and disable a few services that your computer queues up at various times while you are using your computer. This can be accessed by going into your program list, then Accessories, then System Tools, finally clicking Task Scheduler.

In the list of Active Tasks, the following items cause the most unwanted activity in the background. To disable any of these items, double click the selection which will take you to another screen listing more details on that activity. Now all you need to do is right click the item, and click disable to stop it from bothering you in the future.

Consolidator: Runs in the background for the Customer Improvement Program.

Scheduled Defrag: Defragments your hard drive, and will bog down your system in the process.

Clean up after yourself
Having additional programs working in the background when no longer in use can reduce system performance and decrease battery life. If you are done using a certain application, exit out of it properly instead of just minimizing it to the background. Also note that some programs drop down into your taskbar when you click the X at the top right of the screen. These can usually be killed by right clicking them in the taskbar, and clicking exit.

AAEON Releases 10.2 Rugged Tablet Computers–RTC-1000A

anti — Sat, 01 May 2010 05:52:39 +0000

AAEON Technology, established in 1992 in Taiwan, manufactures and markets a wide range of OEM/ODM industrial and embedded computer systems, mobile PCs, rugged Tablet PCs, Netbooks, Box PCs, PC104s, ETX, Medical PCs and Computer on Modules, Panel PCs, Industrial LCD Displays, and related accessories. AAEON has branches worldwide including the United States, Europe, China and Singapore.

The RTC-1000A is a rugged Tablet PC designed in a variety of industrial, military, government and other vehicular, shopfloor or field applications. Measuring a very compact 10.6 x 7.25 x 1.9 inches and weighing about five pounds, the RTC-1000A is powered by an ultra-efficient Intel Atom N270 processor running at 1.6GHz. RAM is up to 2GB. Running Windows Embedded Standard 2009, the RTC-1000A can run either off a 2.5-inch hard disk or an optional solid state disk. The smart 9-cell 7,800mAH Li-Ion battery pack provides five to seven hours of life between charges.

The RC-1000A has wide-aspect ratio 10.2-inch display with a 220 nits backlight (a sunlight-readable version with 450 nits is available), a touch screen (and, optionally, an active digitizer) and WSVGA (1024 x 600 pixel) resolution. There are three USB ports (two standard ones and one mini-USB), RS232 serial, both PC Card and CF Card readers, gigabit Ethernet, a modem jack, and a pass-through connector to a cradle. Wireless connectivity is via 802.11b/g WiFi and Class I Bluetooth. A 3.5G modem module is optional.

In terms of ruggedness, the RTC-1000 has an operating temperature range of between 32 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit with a hard disk. If lower temperature operation is required, there’s an optional hard disk heater that’s good for -4F. SSD versions range from 14 to 140F. Sealing is at the IP65 level, hich means the unit is totally protected against dust and can also low pressure water jets from all directions. The unit can survive 3-foot drops and has also been tested for vibration, ESD, EMC/Safety, humidity, etc.

A row of ten numeric buttons along the bottom of the LCD allow rapid data entry. There’s also a function key, a security button, a quick launch button, backspace, enter, and a four-way navigation diamond.
Note that Aaeon also sells this platform in an Intel Core Duo U2500 based version, the RTC-1000D, which is otherwise virtually identical. In our experience, U2500 systems (10 watt thermal design power) provide about 50% more overall performance than Atom N270 based systems (2.5 watt thermal design power). With the sleek Windows Embedded OS, performance is generally not an issue, so the choice may come down to price, heat dissipation and battery life.

Asus’s Top 10 inch Class Netbooks : Asus 1005PE-P

tito — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:58:59 +0000

This 10 inch netbook is the follower of perhaps the most popular netbook ever existing, the 1005HA. Called EEE PC 1005PE, it upgrades its predecessor with the new hardware platform, but also brings a couple of new goodies on the table. And all these were enough to make it the best selling netbook on Amazon.com in less than a months after it was launched. All in one, is right now perhaps the best laptop you can get in terms of features/price. Comes with the best battery life (up to 14 hours), good display, ergonomic keyboard/touchpad, nice software pack and very good connectivity options. In fact, the only things I can really brag about are the same glossy case and display that Asus used us with. But if you can stick with these, the 1005PE is definitely the mini laptop for you.

Design
From the outside, the 1005PE looks the same as the 1005HA; both are members of ASUS’ Seashell family. Though less svelte than the inch-thick 1008HA, the 1005HA pulls from the same gene pool with its curved panels and sharp look. Gone, however, is the uniform body of the 1008HA; no plastic covers the edges or hides the ports. Its glossy dark blue lid (also available in black, pink, and white) is covered in a scratch-resistant Infusion finish. The look is sleek, but you’ll have to be willing to put up with fingerprint smudges.

The 1005PE is thicker than the ultraslim 1008HA. It measures 10.2 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches, compared to 10.3 x 7.0 x 1.0 inches. The 1005HA is also a bit thicker than the Toshiba mini NB205 (1.3 inches), but has the same thickness as the older Eee PC 1000HE. The 2.8-pound 1005PE didn’t put any strain on our shoulder, even with the charger (which brings the entire package up to 3.4 pounds).

Display & Audio
The display is a standard 1024 X 600 pixels display measuring 10.1 inches diagonally. The screen is a glossy one which has a very good brightness and contrasts showing live colors but, as usual, it suffers from glares and reflections in bright light conditions. When it comes to viewing angles of the display, I would say that the vertical viewing angles are quite average and the horizontals ones are just a bit better. However, you do not need to be worried about it, as you are not supposed to watch an HD movie in this netbook with a couple of your friends.

We were impressed with the sound quality nevertheless especially keeping in mind the average quality of the budget netbook speakers. The speakers sounded very good even at high volume level without any distortion. The high to midrange sound were very good and it is quite obvious not to hear any bass range without a dedicated subwoofer which the 1005 PE did not have. A good pair of headphones are recommended for the audiophiles as is always.

Keyboard and Touchpad
For the 1005PE, ASUS opted for an island-style keyboard, similar to that on the Eee PC 1201N. While the keys may seem smaller than those on the 1005HA and 1008HA—both of which have a more traditional layout—we found the 1005PE easy and comfortable to type on. However, ASUS took a slight step back, as unlike every other netbook since the Eee PC 1000HE, the right Shift key is shrunken, and not directly below the Enter key. We give the Toshiba mini NB205’s keyboard a slight edge in terms of size and comfort.

The 2.5 x 1.5-inch pad touchpad, similar to that on the 1005HE, blends in with the system’s deck and is covered with small braille-like dots. Unlike some netbooks, the pad had very little friction, and navigating the desktop didn’t require much backtracking. As with other Eee PCs, the touchpad also supports multitouch gestures; using two fingers to pinch and zoom in on a Web page in Internet Explorer was easy, and the image quickly rendered in its new size. ASUS equipped the 1005PE with a single mouse button. Unlike some netbooks we’ve used, this implementation was comfortable for making selections. However, we still prefer the Toshiba mini NB205’s larger touchpad and dedicated right and left buttons.

Ports
It has VGA Out, USB Port, Security lock slot and power jack in the left side and a 4 – in – 1 card reader, headphone and microphone jack and another two USB Port and a necessary Ethernet slot in its right side. It does not miss out on any important slot but it does not also have any advanced ports like firewire or HDMI port. However, the port selection should be more than enough for normal usage.

Performance
Configured with the new 1.66-GHz Atom N450 processor, the 1005PE offered similar performance to netbooks equipped with Atom’s last-generation processors. This Windows 7 Starter Edition system scored 1,410 on PCMark05, which is about 90 points below the category average. When compared to other Windows 7 Starter netbooks with older Atom processors, the 1005PE ran in the middle of the pack, beating out the Samsung N140 (1,357) but falling behind the Samsung N130 (1,514). The HP Mini 311, which has an Intel Atom N270 chip and Windows 7 Premium, managed 1,917. The 1005PE scored 918 on Geekbench, which is 85 points higher than the netbook average. Overall, the Eee PC 1005PE held up well when performing everyday computing tasks. Conducting video calls over Skype while surfing the the Web with multiple tabs open didn’t cause any system hang-ups. Most applications, like WordPad and Internet Explorer, opened within 3 seconds.

On our LAPTOP Transfer Test, in which we copy a 4.97GB mixed-media folder, the Eee PC 1005PE notched a score of 26.4 MBps, which is 11.0 MBps faster than the category average, and 4.2 MBps faster than the 1008HA.

Pros:

fancy looking, as part of the Seashell EEE PC series

amazing autonomy out of the 6 cell battery, best in its class (up to 14 hours on paper, 11+ hours in practice)

standard hardware features: N450 Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard-drive

improved keyboard, now with independent chiclet keys and more ergonomic

extra features are also very nice: good speakers, decent webcam and mic, etc

comes with a useful software pack (Asus EEE Docking, Data Sync, SHE software for overclocking, EEE storage)

you can easily upgrade RAM but hard-drive access is a little bit more difficult

offers LAN, Wi-fi N and Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR connectivity

Cons:

Has the same touchpad with tiny bumps and single click button. They could have improved this part too.

The glossy exterior is a fingerprints’ magnet (update: there is also a matte version available now, see info bellow, in the pricing section )

Ultra-glossy display is difficult to use outside or in strong light conditions

Spec

CPU 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450

Operating System MS Windows 7 Starter

RAM 1GB

RAM Upgradable to 2GB

Hard Drive Size 250GB

Hard Drive Speed 5,400rpm

Hard Drive Type SATA Hard Drive

Display Size 10.1

Native Resolution 1024×600

Optical Drive

Graphics Card Intel GMA 3150

Video Memory 128MB

Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1 EDR

Mobile Broadband

Ports (excluding USB) Ethernet; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; VGA

USB Ports 3

Card Slots 3-1 card reader

Warranty/Support One-year limited, six months for battery, 30-day Zero Bright Dot/24/7 toll-free phone

Size 10.2 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches

Weight 2.8 pounds

DIY Replacing Notebook Keyboard

tito — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:58:07 +0000

These instructions will help you to remove and replace keyboards on various laptops. I will not be able to cover all models but you’ll get the idea. Steps for removing and replacing the keyboard are similar for most laptops. Different manufacturers have different way of placing the keyboard on the System Board. Some manufacturers might change the way the keyboard sits on the system board for different models. So it’s not really possible to give a magic pill to help you remove a laptop keyboard because that would demand an understanding of your particular laptop model.

Warning!

if your laptop is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, do not open the case or you can loose the warranty.

always remove the battery and unplug the AC adapter before you open the laptop case.

if you damage the keyboard connector on the motherboard you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.

proceed on your own risk.

Before replacing a laptop keyboard you need to remove the AC power, remove the battery, remove the keyboard bezel. Insert a small flathead screwdriver under the keyboard bezel and carefully lift it up. Continue releasing plastic latches and removing the keyboard bezel with your fingers. Be careful, on some models the bezel might be connected to the motherboard as it shown on the picture above. If you accidentally pulled the cable, connect it back. It is not necessary to disconnect the keyboard bezel from the motherboard in order to remove and replace the keyboard, just put it aside so you can access the keyboard screws. Remove three (or more) screws from the top of the keyboard. Carefully lift up the keyboard from the laptop case. Laptop keyboard replacement is child’s play once you have removed the keyboard bezel. After that all you need to do is unscrew it from the system board and then pull off a plug from the socket. But it’s easier said than done.

Now that you have pulled off all the screws, take the keyboard in your left hand and gently pull it in the direction shown. You will observe that a cable from the keyboard is attached to the system board. If you have a plug at the end of the ribbon cable, just plug it in, if it is just a ribbon cable, examine the connector on the motherboard, you should be able to see a locking mechanism that you could pull up with your thumb and index fingers, make sure this is fully raised, insert the cable in, then push it back in locking the ribbon cable in place.. Next we will gently pull off the cable plug in vertical direction such that it comes out of the socket. To install the keyboard, follow the above mentioned steps in the reverse order.

Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T-353G32Mn The Big Screen

tito — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:16:34 +0000

Today we have the thin, sexy and expensive Dell Adamo, but with the current economy, who wants to spend thousands of dollars on a notebook? – Acer has unveiled a line of its own thin notebooks that have great battery life and a wealth of other features. Today we are looking at the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T-8480, which we will just call the Timeline from here on out. Acer promises all day computing on a single charge and the machine is thin and nicely designed as well. If you are in the market for a thin and sexy notebook that won’t break the bank, the Timeline we are checking out today may be just what you need. Read on for all the details.

Design
The Aspire Timeline 4810T has brushed aluminum that not only gives it a sleek look but also contributes to its lightweight nature, coming at only 1.6kg. The Aspire Timeline 3810T is 24mm thick and rising just 5 mm at it’s highest. The machine’s keyboard offers reasonably large keys so regardless of your hand and finger size, using it for long periods of time won’t prove tiring or troublesome. The trackpad complements this offering responsive performance and good feel though we have to say this trackpad doesn’t feel as good under our fingers as the Lenovo T400s (also reviewed on ITP.net) pad. The key tops are very glossy, smooth and flat making for a different feel than I am used to with most keyboards that have a slight concavity to the tops of the keys. Typing feel for the odd keyboard is good with a tactile feel and a decent click when keys are pressed. After a while, you do forget that the keys are flat. The 14-inch screen of the notebook is definitely geared more towards multimedia use than general productivity with its glossy finish. I have said it before; I am not a big fan of highly glossy screens because of the glare you have to deal with. You are in for some grief if you try and use the notebook outdoors. The screen works well, though, and has good color reproduction and no major issues with smearing or tearing when watching video online.

Performance
One of the big claims that Acer makes with the Timeline is all day computing from a single charge. Acer figures that the battery is good for a full eight hours of use per charge. If you read the benchmark section you know that with Battery Eater Pro and the Timeline set to 50% brightness and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off I was able to squeeze over four and a half hours from the battery. That is almost half the runtime that Acer promises, but as I said before, Battery Eater Pro is harder on batteries than most people will be in the real world. The battery life of the little machine is very impressive. Performance was the only area in which the 4810T struggled to impress and this was largely due to a lack of processing firepower. The machine relies on a Core 2 Solo 1.4GHz (single core) processor and while this will run most applications on the market, it won’t win any races. This fact shone through when we ran our PCMark Vantage benchmark as the Aspire scored a rather basic score of 1602 in the overall PCMark Suite test. The T400s by comparison managed a far higher figure of 5248.

Today we have the thin, sexy and expensive Dell Adamo, but with the current economy, who wants to spend thousands of dollars on a notebook? – Acer has unveiled a line of its own thin notebooks that have great battery life and a wealth of other features. Today we are looking at the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T-8480, which we will just call the Timeline from here on out. Acer promises all day computing on a single charge and the machine is thin and nicely designed as well. If you are in the market for a thin and sexy notebook that won’t break the bank, the Timeline we are checking out today may be just what you need. Read on for all the details.

Design
The Aspire Timeline 4810T has brushed aluminum that not only gives it a sleek look but also contributes to its lightweight nature, coming at only 1.6kg. The Aspire Timeline 3810T is 24mm thick and rising just 5 mm at it’s highest. The machine’s keyboard offers reasonably large keys so regardless of your hand and finger size, using it for long periods of time won’t prove tiring or troublesome. The trackpad complements this offering responsive performance and good feel though we have to say this trackpad doesn’t feel as good under our fingers as the Lenovo T400s (also reviewed on ITP.net) pad. The key tops are very glossy, smooth and flat making for a different feel than I am used to with most keyboards that have a slight concavity to the tops of the keys. Typing feel for the odd keyboard is good with a tactile feel and a decent click when keys are pressed. After a while, you do forget that the keys are flat. The 14-inch screen of the notebook is definitely geared more towards multimedia use than general productivity with its glossy finish. I have said it before; I am not a big fan of highly glossy screens because of the glare you have to deal with. You are in for some grief if you try and use the notebook outdoors. The screen works well, though, and has good color reproduction and no major issues with smearing or tearing when watching video online.

Performance
One of the big claims that Acer makes with the Timeline is all day computing from a single charge. Acer figures that the battery is good for a full eight hours of use per charge. If you read the benchmark section you know that with Battery Eater Pro and the Timeline set to 50% brightness and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off I was able to squeeze over four and a half hours from the battery. That is almost half the runtime that Acer promises, but as I said before, Battery Eater Pro is harder on batteries than most people will be in the real world. The battery life of the little machine is very impressive. Performance was the only area in which the 4810T struggled to impress and this was largely due to a lack of processing firepower. The machine relies on a Core 2 Solo 1.4GHz (single core) processor and while this will run most applications on the market, it won’t win any races. This fact shone through when we ran our PCMark Vantage benchmark as the Aspire scored a rather basic score of 1602 in the overall PCMark Suite test. The T400s by comparison managed a far higher figure of 5248.

Quick Guide to Efficient Notebook Battery Usage

tito — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:10:35 +0000

Even with improving technologies and longer lasting batteries, it is still a pain in the butt having your laptop with a dead battery, in the middle of a 8 hour flight. Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. I have seen on how to squeeze every second of juice from your lappy’s battery. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are some easy ways to do so.

Defrag regularly – The faster your hard drive does its work – less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.

Dim your screen – Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.

Cut down external devices – USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.

Add more RAM – This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.

Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD – As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical ones.

Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

Take care of your battery – Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)

Hibernate not standby – Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.

Keep operating temperature down – Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra tips by LapTopMag.com.

Set up and optimize your power options – Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).

Don’t multitask – Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!

Go easy on the PC demands – The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge – pick your priorities wisely.

Get yourself a more efficient laptop – Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.

Prevent the Memory Effect – If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ – Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect.

Turn off Wi-Fi and BlueTooth – Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking. Turn off Auto-save features in Microsoft Office and other applications, turn offscheduled tasks.

Looking for the longest battery life laptop ? Actually, many factors affect the amount of time that a laptop battery can deliver power before it must be recharged.H ow to extend laptop battery life? Here are some more tips to improve your notebook’s battery life:

If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.

Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can’t create as much power.

Make sure to plug your laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.

If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.

For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.

Samsung N210 : Excellent Keyboard Notebook

tito — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:20:04 +0000

After the success of the N140, Samsung took another step towards creating the ultimate netbook with the NC10. The N210 takes all of the elements that contributed to the success of the previous two models: matte plastic for the screen and the inside of the case, a comfortable keyboard and, most importantly, battery life, which has surged forward again thanks with Intel’s new Pine Trail platform. What makes this $379 system stand out is its distinctive, scratch-resistant finish and an instant-on feature with a cool widget-based interface. However, the competition from Acer and ASUS is heating up, with both manufacturers offering long-lasting netbooks under $300.

Design
The 2.8-pound N210 has a similar design to previous N series netbooks but with some welcome aesthetic flourishes. A textured pattern of small rectangles with rounded edges embedded in the pearl white lid (also available in black) is covered by a clear shell. This multi-layered treatment adds a sense of depth while warding off scratches. We’re also pleased that the N210 eschews fingerprint smudges both on the lid and the matte deck under it. The transparent shell also creates a border around the bezel, and viewed from the side, echoes the shape of the chrome strip that borders the keyboard deck. Unfortunately, the power button is still a slide-switch on the front lip of the system; we prefer an easier-to-find button. In addition, SD cards still stick out a half an inch when inserted into the slot on the front edge.

Keyboard & Touchpad
The keyboard uses small flat chiclet keys measuring 13.5 x 13 mm and they’re pretty responsive. Some people will like the look and feel, but others won’t. Samsung has struck a good compromise between robust keys and quiet typing. We’re glad to see that some keys, like Ctrl, Alt and Shift are larger than normal, which makes using them for keyboard shortcuts much easier. The multitouch touchpad doesn’t get left behind either. It’s one of the best we’ve ever seen on a netbook. Moving your finger across it is smooth, fast and accurate, and using it is an excellent experience. You can easily do without your mouse most of the time. Multitouch makes things like zooming or scrolling (with two fingers) easier, and is very handy.

Display and Audio
The N210’s 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 LED-backlit matte display offered bright colors and deep blacks despite the lack of a glossy finish. In fact, we were able to use the N210 comfortably in direct sunlight. Vertical viewing angles were very good, as we were able to push the display all the way back—about 50 degrees from vertical—and not encounter color distortion. Horizontal viewing angles are a bit narrow, but two people will be able to share the screen with no problem. Samsung made audio quality a priority in their N140, and the N210 follows in that system’s footsteps, pumping better than average sound from the small speakers tucked under the front lid of the netbook. At 60 percent volume the speakers were able to fill a medium-sized room while playing “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z. Even at 100 percent we didn’t notice any distortion.

Ports & Webcam
The range of inputs and outputs is pretty basic, with three USB 2.0 ports (one of which you can still use for charging other devices even if the netbook is switched off); an Ethernet port; a line in and line out; VGA and a three-in-one memory card reader. Bluetooth and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi are also available. Underneath, a single flap opens to give access to the RAM, the only internal component you can change yourself. The 0.3MP webcam delivered images with decent color and backlight balance. At this quality we weren’t surprised when our Skype friend noted that our image blurred each time we moved while chatting, even if it was slight. Samsung bundled CyberLink YouCam with the N210 for adding effects to stills and video capture, plus one-touch uploads to YouTube.

Performance
The 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU and 1GB of RAM delivered a score of 1,362 on PCMark05, about 100 marks below the category average. This score is close to the HP Mini 210 (1,365) but still trails the Toshiba mini NB305-N410 (1,383) and ASUS Eee PC 1001P (1,384) a bit. The Geekbench score of 925 is not only well above the netbook average (854) but the same score as the category-leading mini NB305. We experienced snappy performance when we had 3 or 4 programs open, but the N210 struggled once we got up to 6 or 7 at one time. While writing this review in WordPad, we also ran Google Chrome with up to 4 tabs, Internet Explorer, Notepad, as well as Windows Media Player and encountered few problems. Once we upped the number of tabs in Chrome we noticed more lag. The 250GB, 5,400 rpm hard drive completed the LAPTOP Transfer Test in 3 minutes and 44 seconds, for a speed of 22.7 MBps. This score is once again well above the average netbook (16.1) but also ahead of much of the N210’s competition, including the Eee PC 1001P (17.5), mini NB305 (20.6), and HP Mini 210 (17.3). The business-class HP Mini 5102 only beats it by 3 MBps (25.7). Given this speed, we were surprised that it took the netbook 1 minute and 22 seconds to boot into Windows 7 Starter, but suspect that trialware loading at startup is the culprit more than the hard drive itself. The average is just 59 seconds. With Intel’s integrated GMA 3150 graphics driving the N210, its 3DMark06 score of 153 isn’t surprising. The category average is 222, but that figure includes systems with Nvidia Ion graphics. When compared to other GMA 3150 (Pine Trail) netbooks, the N210 is average. We were able to stream a standard definition episode of The Colbert Report but at full screen the clip hitched, even after buffering. Casual gamers will appreciate that gameplay on one of the included Shockwave titles—Dairy Dash—was surprisingly smooth and fast. However, when playing a Facebook game (Pet Society) our virtual creature moved sluggishly.

Battery
A combination of the low-consumption Pine Trail platform and a new six-cell 5900 mAh battery allow the N210 to really do well here, with a battery life of 7 hours 6 minutes in our stand test (video playback with WiFi turned off, headphones plugged in and brightness set to 100 cd/m²). That’s 1 h 33 longer than the Samsung N140, and 2 h 17 longer than the NC10! The MSI Wind U115 is still up there at the front with 7 – 9 h 52 of battery life.

Spec
CPU 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450
Operating System MS Windows 7 Starter
RAM 1GB
RAM Upgradable to 2GB
Hard Drive Size 250GB
Hard Drive Speed 5,400rpm
Hard Drive Type SATA Hard Drive
Display Size 10.1
Native Resolution 1024×600
Optical Drive
Graphics Card Intel GMA 3150
Video Memory Shared
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n

Bluetooth

Mobile Broadband
Ports (excluding USB) Ethernet; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; VGA
USB Ports 3
Card Slots 3-1 card reader
Warranty/Support One-year parts-and-labor/24/7 toll-free phone
Size 10.5 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
Weight 2.8 pounds

Lenovo ThinkPad SL510

anti — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:17:26 +0000

Last year, Lenovo attempted to shake up the business notebook market by introducing its SMB-oriented ThinkPad SL Series notebooks. These budget systems had the famous build quality, keyboard, and trackpoint of a typical ThinkPad, but bargain prices and stylish design touches meant they weren’t exactly your father’s ThinkPad. The ThinkPad SL510, as the new 15-inch member of the line (starting at $529; $1,024 as reviewed), offers key changes, such as a lighter chassis and a 16:9 screen. This laptop is a bit on the bulky side, and we would opt for a slower processor to save money, but it remains a compelling choice for small-to-medium companies.

Design
At 15.0 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches and 5.6 pounds, the ThinkPad SL510 is a bit bulky to carry, though it’s lighter than many other 15-inch notebooks. In terms of style, the system has the familiar black plastic ThinkPad design theme. Its black keyboard has a light blue Enter key, as well as the familiar red trackpoint nub in the middle. Status lights and the power button appear to the right of the keyboard, while the volume buttons sit on the left.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard was very comfortable to type on and felt very similar to the keyboards on the T-series ThinkPads. The layout is different, missing the extra row of function keys at the top, but the main area has been left intact. Key action was great, with a soft spring movement, giving off a mild click when pressed. Key spacing is nearly identical to regular ThinkPads, with barely any difference noted switching between my T60 and the SL510. The biggest difference is the newer keyboards are slightly quieter. On the left side of the keyboard are some quick-access buttons, used for muting system volume or the microphone, as well as adjusting volume levels.
The touchpad is an ALPS model that looks and feels identical to the newer textured ones seen on the latest ThinkPad models. It is flush mount to the palmrest, and given a soft texture that is supposed to help with traction under varying conditions. I am personally a fan of the old matte plastic style, but given enough time the newer one might grow on me. In general I found the touchpad to be as responsive as the Synaptics model found on higher-end ThinkPad models. The only weakness I saw was tap to select, where the cursor would sometimes not let go of a selected object without a very deliberate click. This is common with many ALPS touchpads, but can be avoided most of the time.

Display and Audio
The system’s 15.6-inch, LED-backlit screen is available in either glossy VibrantView or Antiglare matte varieties. Our review unit came with the matte screen that produced sharp images, but colors were muted, and viewing angles were poor. Even from 45 degrees, colors washed out significantly. When the screen is tilted down slightly—as you might have to do if you’re looking across a conference table at someone—the color change is even more dramatic. To be fair, the system is probably too large to fit on a tray table in the first place.

Ports and Webcam
The SL510 comes with a standard array of ports, including VGA, HDMI, audio in/out, Ethernet, ExpressCard/34, and four USB ports, one of which that doubles as an eSATA connection. A 7-in-1 memory card reader also allows you to get data from cameras and other devices. The 2.0-megapixel webcam provides workable, but unremarkable image quality. When we used it to make a Skype call from our office, the smooth video was accented with somewhat muted colors.

Performance
The SL510’s 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and 3GB of DDR3 RAM allowed the system to achieve 3,493 on PCMark Vantage, a benchmark that measures overall system performance. This score is slightly higher than the mainstream notebook category average of 3,225, and well ahead of the HP ProBook 4510s. However, the original ThinkPad SL400 scored a very similar 3,411, and the ThinkPad T400 notched a higher 3,576. In casual use, the system was smooth and responsive as we navigated the desktop and composed documents in Microsoft Word.

Graphics
The SL510 is available with both discrete and integrated graphics options. Our review unit came with an integrated Intel GMA X4500 graphics chip that returned a weak score of 1,011 in the benchmark 3DMark06, which was about a third of the category average (3,413). However, the HP ProBook 4510s did even worse (831), though the SL400 (2,251) did better—likely due to its discrete graphics chip.

Battery Life and Wi-Fi
On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi, the ThinkPad SL510’s 6-cell battery lasted 3 hours and 56 minutes, which is 20 minutes longer than the category average for mainstream notebooks. However, the HP ProBook 4510s lasted 4 hours and 31 minutes, and the original ThinkPad SL400 lasted 5 hours and 20 minutes

Key Specs
Processor: 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700
Memory: 3GB RAM
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Screen: 15.6 inches (1,366×768 native resolution)
Graphics: Integrated Intel X4500MHD
Weight: 5.7 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1.4×13.5×9.7 inches
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)

Conclusion
The Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 proved to be a reasonable compromise between price and quality. While it doesn’t offer the nicer touchpad or rugged build quality of the T-series, it retails for almost half the starting price. The SL-series is a good option for users looking for only basic qualities in a notebook like a standard WXGA screen or integrated graphics. It still offers a great keyboard and extended batteries if you plan on typing documents all day without breaking the wallet. Overall if you are looking for a notebook that will be sitting on a desk most of the day and staying out of harm’s way, the SL510 is worth taking a look at.

Travel Companion : Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Notebook

tito — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:50:54 +0000

Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S provides a perfect balance of style, productivity, reliability and affordability. Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S is a mid-range laptop with the finest component that are equally suitable for corporate as well as home users. The operating system for Sony Vaio VGN is the latest Windows 7 which comes with a number of great improvements to make your life more productive and comfortable. According to experts, Windows 7 is the best version of Windows available today.

Design Dimensions and Weight
One of the reason people switch to laptops from desktops is mobility. You can’t carry desktops with you when you work outdoors but yes notebooks are designed to coup with this problem. Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S comes with robust silver chassis with a modest weight of 2.7kg. If your nature of job requires traveling, you can rely on Sony Vaio as it would never let you down when it comes to performance and reliability. With slim dimensions of H29 x W370 x D249mm, and a robust brushed aluminium casing, Sony Vaio could very well be a reliable travel companion.

Processor Performance and Graphics
The Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S has an Intel Pentium T4300 processor, and has dual Core technology one of the best on the market now!. It has 3GB DDR2 RAM and 2.16GHz Dual Core T4300, this allows you to run multiple applications with less stress on the laptop for a smoother experience. Also enjoy superb quality videos and pictures on the 15.6 inches X-Black Wide screen LCD display for vibrant colours and sharp image resolution.There is also Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M which allows movie watching and playing 3D games without any problems.

Display Screen and Battery Life
Enjoy high-quality videos and pictures on the 15.6-inches X-Black Widescreen LCD display which reproduces vibrant colours and sharp image resolution. Sony comes with an energy saving illumination technology which doesn’t let the screen dry access battery juice. Despite having a high quality screen, a fully charged Sony Vaio VGN can provide 4 hours of battery life which is justified if you realise the overall specifications of this machine.
A 15.6-inches screen is suitable for ordinary picture size but you can also connect an external plasma or large screen monitor to Sony Vaio VGN through VGA port. Viewing angles are impressive, as you can easily view couple of web pages side-by-side and enjoy videos in their real formats without any irritating side bars.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Typing on Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S is very easy and comfortable. The Keyboard on the Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S is well designed for ease of use and comfort with large keys. palm rest and a touch pad which is very highly responsive.

Camera and Connectivity
For video conferencing, you can use the webcam fixed on the front screen panel. Getting online is also possible with the built-in Wi-Fi technology which connects you to any Wi-Fi enabled network so that you enjoy a smooth uninterrupted internet service. For data sharing through wire, there are 3 USB ports and an Ethernet port for networking.
Hard Disk and Optical Drive
The storage capacity is excellent, you have a massive 320GB of hard drive space which give you plenty of room for storing movies, music, pictures document and all your applications. It has a DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM DVD to play all your favourite cd’s DVD’s. You can also Burn your important data files on blank CDs and DVDs using the optical drive.

Verdict. Verdict
Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S is a sleek and practical laptop offering some high quality specs and decent battery life which is always demanded. If you are hunting for a performance laptop from a leading brand with an affordable price tag then go for Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S without any doubts.