For its keyboard, of course, it has an island-style layout. This makes Sony which was known for long before other PC makers jumped on board and started ditching those pillowy and closely arranged keys. Then, below the thick speaker strip (but above the keyboard) you will find multimedia keys, as well as buttons to launch Sony’s VAIO Care and Media Gallery software. Moreover, the glowing green power button is still built into the side of the hinge, which is an attractive touch. It has full-sized Chiclet-style backlit keyboard.

This notebook weighs 6.6 pounds and has 15.3 x 10.4 x 1.6 inches. This type of VAIO F is still light enough to carry around the house with ease. For the most important part, the VAIO F Series never became uncomfortably hot. After 15 minutes of streaming a Hulu video at full screen, the temperatures is about 86 degrees Fahrenheit on the underside of the notebook, 97 degrees in the center of the keyboard, and 98 degrees on the touchpad. Then, on the bottom of the notebook—near the vents on the left side—the temperature is 110 degrees.

This notebook is completed with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system. There is also 3-in-1 memory card reader. For the USB ports, there are 3 USB 2.0 ports. It has also HDMI/VGA and FireWire. Then, there is 6 GB DDR3-1333 dual-channels RAM (1x 4GB, 1x 2GB). Its hard disk drive is 640GB 5400RPM Toshiba hard drive. Besides, it is also completed with Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6250 AGN wireless LAN. Then, there is also Internal Bluetooth. Those looking to upgrade the VAIO F will find it relatively easy to do. There are separate compartments on the bottom for the RAM and also its hard drive. Both RAM slots are occupied in your works.

Samsung claims the Series 9 weighs 2.88 pounds and measures 0.62 to 0.64-inches thick. In comparison, the Air tips the scales to 2.9 pounds and is 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68 at its thickest. Still, the differences are as minimal in person as they are on paper while the Series 9 does seem slightly thicker in hand, it’s really not a difference you’d notice everyday, and just like the Air, picking it up off your lap or table requires little to no muscle.

The chiclet keyboard and touchpad duo is one of the best we’ve seen on a Windows laptop. The keyboard itself is extremely well laid out and the keys themselves feel nice and smooth. The panel doesn’t bend, though we could have done without the glossy plastic surrounding the keys and the screen. Naturally, we’re just elated to see the backlight and the fact that you can adjust the brightness manually with the F7 and F8 buttons. It really makes a world of difference when you get caught in dimly lit environments something we wish Apple had remembered when it cut out that feature on its new generation of Airs. The touchpad or what Samsung is calling a SuperButton ClickPad has integrated mouse buttons, and it’s actually the best we’ve seen on a shipping Windows laptop.

The 13.3-inch display on the Series 9 is yet another place the it rises above the rest. The 1366×768-resolution, 400-nit screen boasts Samsung’s SuperBright Plus technology, and its one heck of a viewing experience. The matte screen is extremely crisp and colors just look dazzling. The ambient light sensor automatically adjusts brightness, but we opted to disable that function while plugged in and cranked it up to the max.

On both sides of the laptop, you can find dropdown doors that expose a set of ports. They aren’t easy to get to, as you’ll have to lift the laptop or flip it over because they’re practically at the base. The ports on the right side include USB 2.0, a headphone jack, and a Micro SD slot. On the left side you can find another USB port, mini HDMI, and a proprietary Ethernet port that you’ll need the included dongle for. Aside from the Ethernet port, the Air 13-inch’s selection of ports is very similar. Sound from the stereo speakers is blasting out from the side of the palm rests, and its quality is more impressive than I imagined from a laptop this thin.

The Series 9 runs on a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M processor, as opposed to the Air 13-inch’s two-generations-old Intel Core 2 Duo. It’s the first Ultra Low Voltage processor to arrive at our bench with Sandy Bridge technology, which meant good things for performance.

Give its standard voltage processor, we never really had that high of hopes for the Series 9′s battery life, and actually, we doubted Samsung’s claim of seven hours. However, it fared much better than we anticipated. On our standard video rundown test, which loops the same video at 65 percent brightness and WiFi on, the six-cell 6300mAH battery lasted four hours and twenty minutes. That’s quite a taxing test, and in typical use with brightness hovering around 75 percent, we got closer to five hours of juice. Yes, of course, that’s not as long as the X220 we just tested, but that had a much larger battery and an additional slice cell. Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air lasts 25 minutes longer on a charge on our battery test, but in use we got closer to 6.5 hours of use with similar brightness adjustments. Either way, we’re content with the Series 9′s endurance considering its high performance parts and the fact that dragging around its small, one piece charger isn’t a bother.

Samsung includes a three-year warranty with the Series 9 NP900X3A, which at least adds some value to the high sticker price of the laptop: most other laptops only have one year of coverage.

Spreading 3.2 pounds across a footprint this big almost makes the R705 feel almost hollow. With the lid open, you can grasp both front corners between thumb and forefinger and lift it effortlessly. At just one inch deep, no one will confuse it with a MacBook Air, but it still looks slim and slides into a crowded backpack or messenger bag easily thanks to tapered edges.

The black, squared-off keys are a lot like those on Toshiba’s Mini NB305 netbook in terms of their Technia font, and they’re similarly quite small. We’re just not sure why they’re shrunken – there’s certainty enough space on the deck to fit larger keys but there’s more room in between each one, so maybe that’s the idea. This may end up bothering some with larger fingers, but for what it’s worth, we typed this review quite comfortably. By the way, the R705 is definitely the sort of laptop you’d expect to have a backlit keyboard, but it’s just not an option.

The plastic touchpad is decently sized and comfortable for pushing around the cursor. The pad does support multitouch gestures, and while pinch-to-zoom worked fine, two-finger scrolling failed more often than not and the right side doesn’t function as a scroll strip.

Inside is an Intel Core i3-350M processor running at 2.27GHz, paired with 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB hard-drive and a DVD burner. There’s also integrated Intel HD graphics, WiFi a/g/n – with support for Intel’s Wireless Display “WiDi” technology – and gigabit ethernet, while ports include two USB 2.0, a combo eSATA/USB, HDMI and a memory card reader. OS is Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit). Unlike Toshiba’s Portege R700 models, the R705-P25 is a fixed configuration; that means you can’t add Bluetooth or pick from the faster Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs, nor swap the 5,400rpm HDD for an SSD.

As for battery life, Toshiba reckon the R705 is good for up to eight hours from its standard 6-cell 66Wh pack. Unsurprisingly that’s on the ambitious side, and with average use as described above the Portege lasted just over five hours at medium brightness. Playing a DVD on repeat saw that knocked down to a under four hours, however, which is something to bear in mind if the integrated optical drive is a key draw to the ultraportable.

Remind us to thank Toshiba for celebrating its 25th year in the laptop business with the R705. Despite some heat issues, the $800 Portege R705 was simply impressive. Flat out, consumers haven’t been able to get such a feature-packed ultraportable at such an affordable price until now, and the cheaper price tag doesn’t result in a shoddy build as we expected it might. If you’re looking for a thin and light 13-inch laptop under $900, the R705 beats all the others on the market – and that’s not something we say often.

The LifeBook T2020 retains virtually all of the physical features of its predecessor, the sober, professional-looking LifeBook T2010. The only thing about the T2020 that screams “2009,” however, is its flawless 12.1-inch screen. The 1280-by-800-pixel panel looks exceptional, with much brighter and more-vivid colors than a typical matte laptop screen produces. Graphics, photos, and text are all very sharp and well defined, and the screen maintains its visually appealing contrast and intensity indoors and out.

The included stylus permits very smooth and easy writing on the tablet in most applications, including essential ones such as Microsoft Word and Google Gmail. After it picked up on my specific handwriting (a rather sloppy scrawl), the T2020′s transcription app began to recognize even my most illegible words. The only way to activate tablet features of this laptop is with the included stylus so you don’t have to worry about fingerprints and smudges on the screen. And to help you avoid losing it, the stylus fits snugly into a readily accessible compartment on the side of the laptop.

The T2020 has a Intel Core 2 Duo U9300 1.2GHz processor and a 120GB hard drive. It didn’t show any signs of lag at all. It booted-up quickly and had no problems surfing the Web or running the benchmarks. It did make a little noise when running the benchmarks, so you will know when this tiny machine is hard at work and there was a little CPU whine when idling.  The T2020 is an improvement from its predecessor, the T2010. The benchmark scores are improved and the GS45 graphics and processor are to thank. Remember though, the T2020 isn’t for gamers or power fiends.

Few tablet PCs offer stellar performance, and the LifeBook T2020 is no exception, struggling to run Windows Vista with its 2GB of RAM and 1.4GHz processor. The result was a score of 65 on our WorldBench 6 test suite, landing this machine toward the back of the ultraportable pack. The limp Intel integrated graphics didn’t help this machine regain much ground, either.

The laptop has two USB ports: One is located on the right side of the keyboard, and the other on the back next to the ethernet port. That arrangement should discourage you from trying to connect any external storage device that requires two USB ports. You’ll also find a FireWire port, a PC Card slot, and a flash card slot good for Memory Stick and SD Cards. On the inside, 802.11n for Wi-Fi connectivity.

On the other hand, the LifeBook T2020′s battery ran like a champ, holding out for 7 hours, 17 minutes in our power drain tests. So, it may not run quickly, but it’ll last long enough for you to get the job done.

The Fujitsu LifeBook T2020 doesn’t warrant much hype, and it isn’t the best portable machine for playing media. But that’s not why you might want to buy this $1550 laptop (our unit’s price, as of April 13, 2009). Its strengths are its ability to handle computing basics, its solid tablet PC features, and its battery life good for a day’s work on the run.

The Acer Company have seen this trend as a good opportunity for them to release the 10.1 inch Window 7 based edition, but they haven’t announced the name for that product. This is for making the consumers become more enthusiastic and other reasons that Acer did not mentioned.

This Acer tablet has its touch screen display and dials 1.3 mega pixel camera, and HDMI output. Those cameras are placed in the rear and front of the board. The “HD” camera is for video calling like conference, video chatting and more. This is going to be a good quality of image and video recording. The connectivity is Wi-Fi, and it has 3G and gyroscope. The processor that is integrated in this tablet is using AMD’s dual-core C-50 Ontario APU platform is also there. APU is for Accelerated Processing Unit. This APU will spend power only 9 W and it is including the built-in Radeon HD 6250 graphics chip. The Ontario has DirectX 11 that is able to display graphics and lots more compare to 1080p procreation. This dual core has 1 GHz or 1.2 GHz processor. This Android-powered Acer tablet will support 1200 x 800 high resolutions, high color screen and supported by multi-touch screen. This thing makes the tablet become more attracted by many people.

Compare to other Acer tablets, this tablet not only provide the operating system but also others. But for sure, Acer promises that this device can function as HD entertainment tablet PC. It can be used for play and share HD videos. The capability of the video is 1080p. This device also supports DLNA in order to make faster if users want to share multimedia between tablets.  The weigh of this tablet is not more than 2.2 pounds and thickness is 0.6 inches. The case of this tablet is 15 mm thick. There is a dock station available on this tablet with total extent keyboard. This is to make the users convenient if they want to utilize this tablet with physical keyboard. This is a perfect choice for a slate PC. It can be function as a netbook.

The price of this Acer 10.1 inch Window 7 has not been officially announced. The detail specs are still unveiled. So be prepare to wait and see for the Acer 10.1 inches Window 7 based edition in February, for it’s real name and its price. it will be a total surprise for consumers.

The most revolutionary is about the mobility that possess in tablet laptop. Users are still able to connect on internet while they are walking, sitting, standing on the line and other situation.

Touch screen in tablet laptop gives the practical use for consumers. They just need to use that pen to operate the tablet laptop while walking around or standing anywhere. If you plan to draw digital art than you can simply do it with the pen and begin to make that picture in that existed space. No keyboard needed to write down data that you want to create and no mouse needed to point out keys. Or if you do not want to use that pen, you just point your finger tips to that touch screen. In case, users want to work on the desk, they can also plug in that mouse.

The model of screen is swivel or rotates for the tablet laptop with convertible figure. This will make more comfort for users, especially if they only have limited room to do the job or simply need certain condition to make it more comfort. When the keyboard is position in normal place it looks just like traditional laptop, but if the screen is rotated, it will appear as digital notepad. And when the screen is folded down, it will look like there is no keyboard at all. This rotate able screen is delivering the flexibility for users to look at the most comfort position of that screen.

If talking about price, it is clear that traditional laptop is cheaper than tablet laptop. Tablet laptop is more expensive about $300 more ordinary laptops.

The Satellite T235′s keyboard is one of the best we’ve used on any consumer notebook, even more comfortable than that on the Satellite T645. The keys are generously spaced, offer strong tactile feedback, and have no flex at all. The 3.3 x 1.5-inch touchpad offered just the right amount of resistance, allowing us to navigate around the desktop with ease. It also supports multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. Its two discrete buttons provided good tactile feedback without feeling stiff.

The 13.3″ LED-backlit screen on the T235D appears to be identical to the display panel used on the T135 and T135D. Colors didn’t appear quite as overly saturated as the screen on last year’s model but the contrast ratio still looks below average with fairly light black levels and a lab test contrast ratio of just 182:1. Horizontal viewing angles are good out to at least 45 degrees to either side before you start to notice color distortion. Vertical viewing angles are below average as the display becomes over exposed or colors begin inverting after moving the screen 15 degrees forward or back. Overall screen brightness is good enough for indoor usage under bright office lights or in the shade outdoors. The glossy screen makes reflections something of a problem if you try to use the screen outdoors under direct sunlight.

Port selection is fairly good when compared to ultraportable notebooks and netbooks, but we’re starting to believe that every notebook (even budget-priced consumer notebooks) should have at least one USB 3.0 port. USB 2.0 is fine for now, but we’re seeing more and more accessories that take advantage of USB 3.0 and laptops need to keep up with the times. The T235D includes three USB ports (one of which is a combo eSATA/USB port), VGA and HDMI-out, LAN, audio jacks, and a Kensington Lock slot. Expansion slots include just the 6-in-1 SDHC-compatible card reader.

With only a 1.2-GHz Intel Pentium U5400 CPU, 5,400-rpm hard drive, and integrated Intel HD graphics, we didn’t expect the T235 to be as snappy as it was. Whether we were playing HD video, transcoding an MPEG-4 file, or circling the globe in Google Earth, the notebook handled each program with aplomb. Only truly demanding tasks, like playing the game Far Cry 2, slowed the system down. The Satellite T235′s 5,400 rpm, 320GB hard drive booted Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) in 63 seconds, which is just slightly below the 60.3-second category average and about the same as the AMD-powered T235D, which took 61 seconds.

On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi, the Satellite T235-S1350 lasted a strong 6 hours and 11 minutes, which is roughly 40 minutes longer than the category average (5:32) and about 50 minutes longer than its AMD-powered sibling, the Satellite T235D. Still, slower competitors like the MSI X350 (7:05), the ASUS UL30A (9:55), and last year’s Satellite T135 (7:23) lasted longer.

In theory, the Sattelite T235 would make the ideal consumer laptop for many shoppers. In practice, Toshiba falls a little short in execution. The Toshiba Sattelite T230/T235 is a fine thin and light notebook with good overall performance for general use, but it lacks a quality finish (both literally and figuratively).

Build quality falls somewhere between the T-series and Edge-series ThinkPads. The 15-inch L512 didn’t seem to have as much chassis flex as the larger Edge 15 that we reviewed last month, but it still had more than the similarly sized T-series. Screen protection is very good on the L512, showing no distortion on the LCD with heavy pressure applied to the cover.

The keyboard is very comfortable to type on and has a very similar look and feel to the keyboards on the T-series ThinkPads. The layout has been slightly tweaked, using a single row of function keys instead of the two rows seen on higher models. Tactile feedback is excellent from the keyboard with soft key-presses that give off a very mild click when fully triggered. Media buttons have been moved from above the top row as seen on the T-series to the left side of the keyboard. Lenovo still gives buttons for speaker mute, microphone mute and volume up and down.

Lenovo seems to have switched back to a Synaptics touchpad on the L512. The previous SL510 we reviewed used an ALPS model touchpad, so this is a nice update. The touchpad supports multitouch gestures including two finger tap, pinch zoom, rotation, three finger press and three finger flick. Sensitivity is excellent out of the box and once you “break in” the touchpad surface, cursor movement is very fluid. Tap and drag movements were flawless, which can be a weakness with some touchpads, releasing the item too soon or not at all. The L512 also includes a pointing stick for those interested in using that form of navigation over the touchpad. We found the interface very snappy with minimal wandering after you lifted off from the pointer.

Alike L412, Lenovo Thinkpad L512 is also intended for businessman, employees and students. The technologies integrated in it help them to be productive in their day to day activities.

The processor options are Latest Intel core i3 or i5 integrated with Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading technology. The 15” HD backlit display of Lenovo ThinkPad L512 incorporates antiglare feature with 16:9 resolution. Graphics option includes Intel integrated or ATI Mobility Radeon graphics. Other features it incorporates are :

• HDD 500GB with 5400 revolutions per min
• Up to 8GB DDR3 RAM
• Choices of 3G or 4G connectivity
• Gobi 2000 module support for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon
• connectivity- 4 USB ports, combo eSATA/USB port, display port(Audio) VGA
• Operating system Windows 7

The overall features coupled with Windows 7 boost up the booting process up yo 57%. Shutdown process also become faster. As the Laptop is targeted for entrepreneurs, it is integrated with features like powerful web conferencing. Lenovo Thinkpad L512 also comprises of “ThinkVantage” Technologies tools such as Access Connections to enhance the productivity. Same features will also available in Lenovo Thinkpad L412

Design

Design quality is a step above most consumer netbooks with a very sturdy chassis and durable finishes inside and out. The brushed metal screen cover held up well against everything except fingerprints-easier to wipe off than scratches — and also added some extra protection for the LCD. When closed, the netbook had very little flex, which is just what you would expect from a business-grade system. The only aspect that seemed to clash with the business-theme was an abundance of glossy finishes, including the touchpad, keyboard bezel, and screen bezel that increase reflection and attract fingerprints more compared to matte or rough finishes.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the Mini 5103 is easy to type on with its Chiclet-style design. Spacing between keys was wide enough to help reduce mistakes while typing, and the design was very comfortable to type on for hours at a time. The slightly-smaller than full-size design did take some adjustment to get used to, since some of the outer perimeter keys are condensed compared to keys around the center of the keyboard. The tab, `, and 1 buttons were smaller than average to help make room for other keys. Typing pressure needed to activate each key was minimal, with each key only needing a soft touch to engage. Key noise was minimal, allowing me to type without annoying others in meetings or coffee shops.

The HP Mini 5103 has a unique Synaptics touchpad in that it has no multitouch capabilities enabled. Unlike the majority of the current netbooks on the market, HP didn’t opt for a unit with more than single-finger input. This is probably because it featured a multitouch display, but in any event it would have been nice for when you didn’t want to interact with the screen directly. Sensitivity was excellent out of the box, requiring no adjustments during the review. The glossy surface was easy to slide across and didn’t seem to have problems with a wet or oily finger. The touchpad buttons are adequately sized, coated with the same rubbery paint as the rest of the chassis. Feedback was shallow, with a mild click emitted when fully pressed.

Features

As with its predecessor, the 5103 sports a speedy 7,200rpm hard drive. The 160GB capacity, however, falls short of the 250GB ones found in the Toshiba NB305-N410 and Acer AO521-3782. Attached to the motherboard is a Broadcom HD decoder card, which allows you to playback high definition video, since the dual-core processor isn’t powerful enough by itself. All my 720p and 1080p video files played back beautifully, even though its viewing capacity is limited to a 10-inch widescreen.

Performance

The HP  Mini 5103 is now being offered with the latest dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor. In our tests this significantly increased the responsiveness of the operating system, with programs loading faster, webpages scrolling smoother, and startup and shutdown times improving. Our review unit was also equipped with a 7200RPM hard drive which also added to the better user experience.

In normal daily activities the dual-core processor was nice when it came to flexing the multimedia power of the notebook. We were able to decode 720P videos played locally on the notebook and also play 720P HD videos on sites like YouTube without stuttering. Currently to get that level of performance you need to include an external decoder card to help with HD video decoding. Compared to other single-core Atom netbooks we didn’t notice an increase in 3D performance, although it could be a side-effect of the higher resolution panel on our configuration.

Battery life

Intel promised that the extra core wouldn’t impact battery life and the 5103′s battery life is still impressive for a netbook. On our video rundown test, which loops the same standard definition video at 65 percent brightness with WiFi on, the 66Wh battery lasted for six hours and 16 minutes. That’s decent for a netbook, but not as long as the 5102′s eight hours. However, it’s important to note that the Broadcom chip and the higher-resolution 1366 x 768 display on the 5103 could be affecting the endurance. The plus six hours of battery life is much better than the runtime we’ve seen on AMD’s Nile systems, but very in line with the ASUS Eee PC 1215N.

The HP Mini 5103 offers a lot of features we like; good looks, great build quality, nice screen, good battery life, and high performance. With a starting price of $399 this system isn’t that much more expensive than other consumer netbooks, meaning all those cool features don’t come at a huge premium. HP has a good thing going with the current Mini 5100-series netbook and they understand this since they have kept the same design for three generations now. The brushed metal exterior finish combines good looks with durability and on the inside the rubbery paint gives a unique texture usually reserved for business notebooks. If you are in the market for a new netbook, don’t mind the looks of a business notebook, and want excellent build quality (look no further than the HP Mini 5103).

The 15.4-inch screen, diagonally measured, offers ample size for long periods of usage without undue eye fatigue. The anti-glare finish that is incorporated into the display makes it very usable under varying lighting conditions and, for the most part, eliminates the glare that is common to most laptop computers under bright lights.

There’s an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor at the heart of the computer running at 2.40 GHz clock speed with a 3MB L2 cache and 1066 MHz front side bus speed. While that’s likely adequate for most business users, there are four upgrades available up to an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 running at 2.80 GHz, a 6 MB L2 cache and the same 1066 MHz front side bus speed. Though most users will be best served by maximizing processor speed, there are also a couple of downgrades available that still offer pretty snappy performance for most needs while saving some money.

Going hand in hand with the processor to define the computer’s performance is the memory. The 6730b comes standard with 2 GB of DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable to 8 MB. A 320 GB hard drive is included in the package price. That can be increased to 500 GB for a reasonable price or reduced to 160 GB for those who prefer to economize a bit.

We mentioned earlier that connectivity is among the HP Compaq 6730b’s strong points. Here are some details. The computer comes ready for wireless networking with built in Wi-Fi supporting the 802.11a/b/g and draft-n standards. Additionally, wireless broadband can be included from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon Wireless. This is, of course, and option and the preferred carrier must be specified at the time of ordering. Use of this service requires activation of wireless broadband service from the selected carrier. For additional information about the carriers, take a look at our side-by-side comparison of Mobile Broadband services. Recognizing that wireless internet connections aren’t always available, this computer is outfitted with a 56K dial-up modem for yet another means of staying in touch.

Sensitive business information can be protected by a couple of options for relatively low cost. A fingerprint reader can be added to the device as can a smart card reader. The HP Compaq 6730b comes equipped with a CD/DVD reader/burner including LightScribe disc labeling which allows you to burn labels onto the created discs. A second 250 GB hard drive can be substituted for the CD/DVD drive. Also optional is an integrated VGA webcam.

Connectivity to Bluetooth wireless devices is available with the HP Compaq 6730b but there’s a rather odd relationship between this option and the available warranty. If you want Bluetooth, you have to opt for the three year warranty. Without Bluetooth, only the one year warranty is available. We fail to see the connection but suspect that marketing has more to do with it than technical necessity.

Up to about six hours of battery life can be expected from the 6-cell, 55WHr battery but that depends in great measure what’s being done with the computer. As always, using features like Bluetooth and wireless broadband will quickly reduce the time that you can operate without plugging into an AC outlet. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional is the standard operating system for this computer. For those who prefer, it can be downgraded to Windows XP or Windows Vista, though we can’t quite imagine why anyone would want to do that, especially regarding Vista.

Since the introduction of the first VAIO P last year, Sony has insisted that the VAIO P is not a netbook. No sir. It’s a “Lifestyle PC.” What’s a “Lifestyle PC,” you ask? I’m not sure but somehow the Sony VAIO P seems to fit perfectly. For starters, netbooks generally cost under $500, feature 10- to 12-inch screens with relatively low resolutions, and function similarly to standard laptops. The newest VAIO P, on the other hand, starts at $900, features a small screen with a huge resolution, and functions somewhere in between a UMPC and a standard laptop. It doesn’t really function similarly to a phone aside from the built-in accelerometer and the fact that it’s small.

Design

The VAIO P’s unique form factor is, by far, its greatest asset. At 9.7 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches, the VAIO P is small enough to fit in a woman’s purse or in a man’s long coat pocket. And at 1.4 pounds, it weighs half as much as a netbook, yet has a full-size keyboard that’s fit for touch typists. If you’re familiar with the original P series, you’ll notice that the biggest design difference is the color. While the original P had a classy metal keyboard and deck with tasteful lid colors such as Garnet Red or Onyx Black, the new P has a plastic keyboard and deck that matches its lid and comes in loud neon shades like lime green or hot pink. Conservative white and black colors are available, too.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on the market feature poorly built keyboards that show significant flex/bounce when typing pressure is applied. Thankfully, most netbooks have remarkably firm keyboards due to the fact that the chassis is so small there isn’t much empty space inside the notebook for the keyboard to flex or bounce. The keyboard on the VAIO P is less cramped than what we’ve seen on the 7-inch and 8.9-inch netbooks, but the Sony keyboard is still very compact. Most netbook keyboards are quite frustrating to use because the small footprint and tiny keys require you to use a “hunt and peck” style of typing rather than traditional touch typing methods. This means that passwords get mangled, emails look like gibberish, and playing games that require keyboard commands becomes quite aggravating.

The touchpad is, well, completely absent on the VAIO P. Rather than a typical touchpad the VAIO P uses a touchpoint or trackpoint pointing stick similar to what you find on many business-grade notebooks. The trackpoint is quite sensitive and easy to use, and even though I usually prefer to use touchpads I found the trackpoint to be very enjoyable. The left and right touchpoint buttons are located in the correct position beneath the space bar and have a shallow feedback and produce a light “click” when pressed.

Display

Note to self: Be careful what you wish for. I’ve personally been cursing the 1024×600 netbook screens since the very beginning, so to see that Sony somehow managed to cram 1600×768 pixels into an 8-inch LED backlit screen is truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately, trying to actually behold text on websites is another story. Unless the screen is about six inches from your face, forget about reading most of the web without zooming. Thankfully, Sony’s not only included zoom-in and zoom-out function keys, but a handy quick-resolution toggle button that kicks the 1600×900 display down to a much more legible 1280×600 in a matter of seconds. However, you run into that godforsaken 600 lines of vertical resolution that plagues cheap netbooks. It cuts off information windows and makes web page scrolling an almost non-stop activity. In the end, I found myself using the VAIO P most often at the full 1600×768 resolution with a liberal amount of zooming.

Ports

Port selection was something of a surprise with this Sony, since some netbooks that are slightly larger have fewer ports than what the VAIO P offers. You get two USB ports, two memory card readers, a headphone jack, and a dedicated expansion port used to connect a dongle that provides Ethernet/LAN and VGA out. The dongle connects to the AC power adapter so you can either keep it with the power adapter or carry it separately. There isn’t much to complain about here, although there might have been enough space in the chassis design to support an additional USB port or Firewire.

Performance

Regardless of how cool the Sony VAIO P looks there are many potential buyers who only care about one thing: performance. This is one area where the VAIO P might be a tough sell for some. In order to keep temperatures and power consumption as low as possible in this little notebook, Sony decided to use a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor rather than the 1.6GHz Atom processor used in larger netbooks. While this helps keep the VAIO P from overheating and promotes better battery life, the bottom line is the VAIO P has a pretty weak processor.

Like most Atom-based netbooks, the VAIO P has enough processor performance for basic tasks like web browsing or working in Microsoft Office, but don’t expect to use this as a multimedia entertainment notebook. Since Sony includes Windows Vista with the VAIO P we also decided to test the new Windows 7 beta during our benchmark tests. Thankfully, Windows 7 seems to improve the overall performance of the VAIO P and makes this mobile computer a much more useful laptop. Windows Vista is okay, but Windows 7 makes the VAIO P much, much better.

The new C1 Convertible Tablet PC from Panasonic seams to address especially to medical field, but not only. When projected it, Panasonic considered the case in which you have to carry your tablet PC all day long, so he made it really lightweight – 3.2 lbs (with one battery)/ 3.7 lbs (with two batteries). An other aspect considered by Panasonic was the solidity, therefor the C1 is rugged enough as if you accidentally drop it or spill something on it will not be damaged. Having a magnesium alloy case, a spill resistant keyboard, it was designed to resist at 30” operating drop (to base only), 26 sides 12” drop (non-operating), 225 lb pressurized vibration and 6 ounces spills.

Design

You could try to find a lighter 12-inch convertible, but you won’t. At just 3.2 pounds with a single battery and 3.7 pounds with an optional battery in the second bay, the C1 weighs less than the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (starting at 3.5 pounds), the Dell Latitude XT2 (3.6 pounds) and every other competitor on the market. On the other hand, this Toughbook is on the chunkier side, measuring 1.2 to 1.7 inches thick. The XT2 has a 1.1-inch profile, and the X201 is 1.3 inches.

What you get in return for that extra girth is serious durability. The C1′s magnesium alloy case has been tested to withstand 12-inch drops to any side (non-operating), as well as a 30-inch drop on the base (while operating). We know this Toughbook is tough because we tried the latter torture test during this review. The first time a rubber bumper on the back right of the machine popped off, but we easily put it back on. The second time nothing happened at all; this business rugged machine just kept running. We even dropped the unit a third time from 30 inches to no ill effect. The C1 also survived a 6-ounce water spill and a 180-pound man standing on top of the lid (with a board in between to evenly distribute the weight).

Whether you’re roaming the hospital or you’re out in the field, the C1 is easy to use and carry. That’s because this convertible features an ergonomic hand strap on the bottom of the unit, along with a raised dome underneath that makes the machine easier to grip with one hand. A unique triple-hinge design–two for opening and closing the lid and one for rotating the screen–makes this tablet less susceptible to failure over time. We needed to use more force than we’re accustomed to when switching into tablet mode and back again, but the screen location lock was reassuring.

Keyboard

As far as ruggedness goes, “business-rugged” means the machine can handle more of the typical abuse notebooks are subjected to. You can spill liquid on the keyboard and it’ll simply drain off rather than destroying the computer, though the C1 is not sealed in a rugged sense. You can drop it from 2-1/2 feet, which is better than most consumer notebooks, though not in the truly rugged class where machines must handle drops from three or four feet or higher. And the C1 can handle 225 pounds of crushing pressure (evenly applied over the entire surface, I assume).

Ports

The left side of the C1 houses two USB ports, Ethernet and modem jacks, and the power connector. You’ll find an old-school PC Card Type II slot on the right side, along with the digital pen holster, a third USB port, and a VGA connector. The front edge of the notebook has a power switch, wireless switch, headphone and mic jacks, and an SD Card slot. This configuration did not include a webcam, but it’s available as an option, as is a fingerprint reader.

Batteries

As for batteries and long battery life, Panasonic did something quite novel for notebooks here: there are two batteries and you can hot-swap them. That is quite common in tablets and slates, and Panasonic uses this arrangement in its H1 tablet. We haven’t seen full battery specs, but they must be pretty powerful as one of the 3,000 mAh batteries is supposed to drive the C1 for five hours, and with both of them you can go ten hours. That’s excellent, and the ability to simply swap out a battery without shutting the machine down is most welcome also.

Display and Audio

Versatility is the name of the game with the 12.1-inch matte screen on the C1 (1200 x 800 pixels), which has a 4:3 ratio. It’s designed to let workers use pen input or touch. This convertible also supports multitouch, so you can zoom in on objects (like photos or maps) with a pinch gesture. These gestures worked smoothly on both pictures and websites. Touch accuracy was also strong.

The C1′s display was plenty bright, but the picture appeared a bit washed out and grainy until we tilted the lid back. Horizontal viewing angles were nice and wide, though. For a business-rugged notebook, the C1 pumps out surprisingly decent sound. The speaker on the right side of the laptop produced loud volume when we cranked some “Quiet Little Voices” on Slacker. That’s good news, since this notebook will likely be used in some noisy environments.

Performance

Performance, finally, is provided by one of Intel’s new 2010 Core processors, the Core i5-520m, to be precise. In Intel’s new lineup of Core processors (which cleverly and instantly relegated Core 2 Duos to being last year’s chips), i3, i5, and i7 processors sort of represent Intel’s “good,” “better,” and “best,” with the differentiation primarily provided via a bevy of Intel technologies such as integrated graphics, Turbo Boost, Virtualization, Trusted Execution, etc., etc., all worthwhile though not always needed for all applications. As is, the dual core Core i5-520m Pana chose for the C1 has integrated graphics, uses speedy DDR 3 memory, can overclock itself to almost 3GHz, and acts like a four core chip thanks to hyperthreading. Its thermal design power is 35 watts, a good deal less than a desktop chip, but a good deal more than some of the low and ultra-low voltage chips often used in tablets and such. So the C1 is likely a pretty fast and powerful machine, and that makes the claimed long battery life even more amazing.

HARDWARE
Laptop Case
Now, we’re going to start with cleaning the outer case of your laptop so you can keep it looking new and fresh. Use a damp cotton cloth to clean the exterior of the laptop. It is recommended that you just use water, but if there is something on the case that cannot be cleaned with water, it is suitable to use rubbing alcohol. Do not use any household cleaners though.

Screen
Keep your notebook or laptop closed when not in use, this will help keep your screen clean. Try to keep small children away from your LCD devices, especially laptops. Some children may confuse a laptop for an etch-a-sketch like toy and create a masterpiece on your shiny new laptop. Ouch! Wipes are good for cleaning LCD on the road or when traveling. One person has suggested Absolute Vodka as a good cleaning solution! Make sure you cover your mouth when sneezing or couching around any LCD screen. It is not a good idea to use mineral or tap water because they may leave white spots from the dissolved salts. Purchase a can of compressed air – this comes in handy for removing dust and cleaning your keyboards or hard to reach places. If you buy any LCD cleaning product, try to get one that has an anti-static element in it. This will help keep down the dust and lint on your LCD screen. If you use any LCD screen in a dusty place, you may considering buying a protective covering. It is best to buy this directly from the manufacturer to ensure the cover fits your device perfectly.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keys on a laptop keyboard are different from a standard keyboard and they usually cannot be removed. So, to clean this, use the same damp cotton cloth you used to clean the exterior of your laptop. Just wipe the cloth over the keys and some of the dust and dirt particles will be removed. You can also use compressed air to get some of the debris out from in and around the keys. It’s a very good idea to clean your laptop’s touchpad every once in awhile. It can help your laptop to look new, as well as, improve the quality of the motion and response of the touchpad. You can use the same damp cloth to clean this one too. Just run the cloth over the touchpad area and make sure you squeeze in around the corners to catch any debris that may be sitting there.

Get the dust out
Dust and hair (especially from pets) can fill your laptop’s vents, causing the machine to overheat. Pick your notebook up to check the underside. If you see dust bunnies covering the vents, brush or blow it out with compressed air. More adventurous types can unscrew the bottom of their notebook and give it a more thorough cleaning, including the fan. Just be careful you’re not voiding the warranty on that particular model.

SOFTWARE
Remove old file and program
There’s no reason to let junk pile up. Delete programs you don’t use regularly to help save space. In the Control Panel, select Programs And Features. Right-click on the columns, and select Last Used On. This should show you the last time particular programs were used. Uninstall those apps that you haven’t used for a more than a few months by clicking Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall A Program. Select the program you want to delete and click Uninstall.

Get rid of unnecessary startup items
Programs that automatically launch when you boot your laptop can be memory hogs. Speed up your system by getting rid of those you don’t really need, such as instant messenger programs or video managers.

From the Start menu, type msconfig in the search box, and press Enter.
Select the Startup tab—this shows what programs launch when you turn the notebook on.
Next to each program is a check box. Deselect the apps that you want to disable, and click OK. You will need to reboot your notebook for the changes to take effect. Make sure you know what you’re deactivating, though!

Clean out old and unused files
Opening certain online content automatically downloads ActiveX controls and Java applets. These are stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder on your hard disk, and simply take up space. Tidy up your The storage device that holds your OS, programs, and data.
Learn Morehard drive by throwing these out. From the desktop, select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Then select Disk Cleanup. You can choose the drive you want to clean and the files you want to delete. Soon, you’ll have plenty of room for those new MP3s.

Design

Measuring 1.3 inches thick and weighing 3.8 pounds, the black VAIO Y is made for travel. It’s also made to last. Sony decked out the top and bottom of the chassis in magnesium, giving the notebook a nice rigidity; twisting the machine in our hands with the lid closed resulted in zero flex. The competing ASUS UL30A has a light silver brushed aluminum lid, but the deck is plastic. The HP Pavilion dm3 has aluminum on both the lid and deck, which gives it more of a consumer feel. Some may feel the VAIO Y looks too much the part of a business machine, but we like its fit and finish. Other elegant details on the VAIO Y include a textured grid pattern on the deck, which has a nice feel. Like other Sony notebooks, this one sports circular hinges; the right side houses the power button, and the left has the power jack. Above the keyboard is a speaker strip and two buttons: VAIO and Assist. The VAIO button launches VAIO Media Gallery software, while the Assist button pulls up VAIO Care for quick access to support and troubleshooting options.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The VAIO Y has a comfortable Chiclet-style keyboard that is easy to type on for long periods of time. Compared to the Vaio Z the spacing is a bit different, putting dedicated Page Up/Down and Home/End keys on the right side of the keyboard, instead of including them as secondary functions over the direction keys. This caused some shrinking of the right shift button and left control button as well as slightly tighter spacing. The keyboard also lacks one of the luxurious backlit keys seen on the VAIO Z, but that was expected given the much lower starting price. Keyboard support is excellent with no noticeable keyboard flex under strong typing pressure. Key responsiveness is great as well as very quiet key actions that don’t emit much noise when fully pressed.

The touchpad on the VAIO Y is a Synaptics model that is very responsive and has no discernible lag. The touchpad includes some multitouch features, including two-finger scroll which the Z actually skipped in favor of the chiral-scrolling motion. Refresh rates were excellent, preventing any “trails” from the cursor drawing fast circles on the screen. The touchpad settings out of the box were near perfect, with no tweaks needed during the review. I also found the touchpad buttons to be easy to trigger with the edge of your thumb and had shallow feedback when fully pressed. Overall the touchpad was very good and one of the nicer models seen on a thin and light notebook.

Ports and Webcam

There are few surprises when it comes to the port selection on the VAIO Y. Like most ULV notebooks, this one lacks a DVD drive, so looks elsewhere if that’s and important feature to you. The left side houses the power jack, VGA port, HDMI, one USB 2.0, a FireWire port, and headphone and microphone jacks. The Ethernet ports, two more USB 2.0 ports, and an ExpressCard/34 slot line the right side. Up front you’ll find separate Memory Stick and SD Card slots.

Display

The Sony VAIO Y comes standard with a 13.3-inch WXGA panel with no upgrade options for higher resolutions. Compared to other CULV-based notebooks the screen rates above average with good color and contrast. I have to admit that this screen was a step down from the one seen on the VAIO Z, which had a higher color saturation and deeper black levels (at nearly triple the cost!). For users looking to enjoy a movie on the road, enjoy a YouTube clip during class or type a term paper during a study session the screen is perfect. Backlight levels were good for bright indoor viewing conditions, with the surface measuring 196nit at full brightness. Viewing angles were good, although colors did seem to have a narrow sweet spot of roughly 10-15 degrees before colors started to shift or invert vertically. Horizontal viewing angles were much better, spanning over 60 degrees from the side.

Battery

Much like the ThinkPad Edge 13″, the VAIO Y doesn’t live up to the lofty claims by Sony in terms of battery life; it’s not even close. Sony claims that you can get up to 8 hours of life from a single standard battery. We got just over 3. Of course, our test represents expected life while you’re actually working, but even if we would’ve left the machine idle for long stretches, we can’t imagine that 3 hours ever stretching to 8. It may get 4 or 5 hours if you play your cards right, but 8 seems overly optimistic. Overall, 3 hours of life while working isn’t bad for a standard cell in a CULV machine, but Sony’s claims make it more difficult accept the 3 hours. We honestly expected to get somewhere close to 8 hours, and as you can see, we were let down in a big way.

Performance

Like many other ultraportables in this price range, the VAIO Y features Intel’s 1.3-GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor. This dual-core CPU, along with 4GB of RAM combined to offer snappy performance. The system scored 2,906 in PCMark Vantage; that showing is above the ultraportable category average (2,739), much better than the ASUS UL30A (2,442), and slightly higher than the HP Pavilion dm3 (2,874). The VAIO Y also beats the Intel version of the Toshiba Satellite T135 (2,701). Anecdotally, the VAIO Y proved to be a good performer; we noticed only a bit of lag when we tried to zoom in on our Manhattan office while we had Pandora streaming in the background, and most applications opened quickly.

Design and Durability
While the Portege R600 sported a silver aluminum body that felt somewhat flimsy, the R700 trades flash for a sturdier-feeling black magnesium cover. The chrome hinges are plastic, as are the darker gray touchpad buttons. The overall look is somewhat subdued but handsome. Those looking for more flair should opt for the Best Buy-exclusive model, which has a dark blue lid. Weighing 3.2 pounds, the Portege R700 is one of the lightest laptops you’ll find with both a roomy 13-inch display and a built-in optical drive. The pricier 13-inch Sony VAIO Z weighs an even 3 pounds, but the R700 is still easy to take anywhere, measuring a compact 12.4 x 9 x 0.6–1 inches. The R700′s durability extends beyond its magnesium finish. Toshiba used a honeycomb rib structure for the base and palm rest for extra resilience. You also get hard drive protection and a spill-resistant keyboard.

Keyboard
The keyboard uses flat, widely spaced island-style keys. While perfectly usable, the keys are noticeably more rectangular than most, as if they were shortened to save space. Typing is also a little on the clacky side, but not so much as to be a dealbreaker. We do appreciate the large dedicated Page-up, page-down, Home, and End keys along the right side–they’re usually relegated to alternate function keys on most laptops. Our biggest complaint is that the keyboard is not backlit. We’ve seen that feature on other Toshiba laptops in this price range, and it’s always an appreciated extra.

Display and Audio
The R700′s LED-backlit 13.3-inch display (1366 x 768 pixels) is fairly bright and looks less washed out than the 12-inch panel on the R600 series. When we watched a 720p episode of Glee on Fox.com, colors really popped, and we could easily make out wrinkles in Mr. Schuster’s forehead. We noticed just a little bit of visual noise, and viewing angles were narrow. When we streamed Phoenix on Pandora, the twin speakers above the keyboard were loud enough to fill a small room. Still, we wouldn’t go past 75 percent volume; The Killers’ “When You Were Young” sounded harsh when we really cranked it.

Port
The inclusion of a combo eSATA/USB port, HDMI and an SD card slot gives the Portege R700 a big advantage over the MacBook in terms of ports and connections. Even though in some countries the system has an Intel Wireless Display transmitter, it’s a shame the R700 does not come bundled with the Netgear adapter required to wirelessly beam video to your television. The first round of Wireless Display laptops from earlier in 2010 all included the adapter.

Performance
The R700 is in a different league than its predecessor when it comes to performance. That’s because this ultraportable packs a 2.4-GHz Core i5 processor, compared to a relatively wimpy 1.4-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU on the R600 we reviewed in April 2009. The R700 scored a whopping 6,657 in PCMark Vantage, nearly triple the R600. That showing is also more than double the ultraportable notebook average, and it beats the HP EliteBook 2540p (6,002), Fujitsu LifeBook S760 (5,890), and Lenovo ThinkPad X201s (6,106). The only ultraportables we’ve tested recently that surpass the R700 are the ThinkPad X201 (7,050), which has a slightly faster 2.53-GHz Core i5 CPU, and the blazing but much pricier Sony VAIO Z (9,936), which sports dual SSDs and Nvidia graphics.

Some of the tips below involve editing the advanced power settings in Windows Power Options.  To access the advanced power settings:

1. Open Power Options either by clicking the icon in the All Control Panel Options menu or by double-clicking the Windows battery icon in your system tray.
2. Select Change plan settings next to the power plan you are using (balanced, power saver, etc).
3. Select Change advanced power settings.

The amount of heat given off by a component will be the same no matter what notebook it’s used in. The differences from notebook to notebook, however, are based on air and heat flow within the system, the amount of power consumed, and notebook chassis material. While notebooks made from sleek-looking aluminum and other metals are increasingly popular, such systems tend to feel hotter. That’s because of differences in thermo-mechanical properties of the materials, according to Rajiv Mongia, principal engineer for Intel’s Thermal Technologies team. For example, an aluminum chassis will feel hotter to the touch than a plastic chassis of the same temperature.

1: Enable Active Cooling
Make sure that, in the Windows power settings or in your notebook’s proprietary power management software, the highest level of cooling is enabled. The menu option for enabling active cooling varies from notebook to notebook, but in some cases, the option will actually say “active cooling” and in others the option will say “maximum performance” as opposed to “maximum battery life.”

2: Enable all power saving options for the CPU, graphics, wireless card, etc.
It’s simple physics. The more power your notebook consumes, the more heat it generates. If you’re willing to sacrifice a little performance by running your notebook’s key components in low power modes, it will generate less heat.

To use less juice and generate less heat, we recommend changing the advanced settings in the Windows power manager’s, both for “on battery” and “plugged in” states:

• Wireless Adapter Settings: Maximum Power Saving
• Link State Power Management: Maximum power savings
• Graphics Power Plan: Maximum Battery life or the equivalent, based on what video card your notebook has installed.
• PCI Express -> Link State Power Management: Maximum power savings
• Processor power management -> Maximum processor state: Set to a lower percentage such as 30-percent.

3: Unplug Your Notebook
Some notebooks are manufactured to consume more power (and generate more heat) when plugged in than on battery alone, even with the exact same power settings enabled. After lowering all your power saving settings (as in tip #2), you may want to try pulling the plug.

4: Put the notebook on a table or desk
Many of a notebook’s vents are located on the bottom of its chassis, so when you put the notebook on your lap, you’re partially obstructing those vents.  And if you put the notebook on a on a fabric surface like a bed or couch, you’re really choking its airflow. If the bottom of your notebook is getting really hot, consider putting it on a table or using a lapdesk that sits between you and the notebook.

5: Using a cooling pad
Some might say that this is the most obvious tip and should appear first, but cooling pads add bulk to your notebook bag and make your system less portable. So while cooling pads like the great Cooler Master Notepal U2 may be the only choice for a burning hot notebook, they shouldn’t always be your first.

No hard feelings, tx2, but there was always something just a little “behind the curve” about your design and feature set, and we’re kind of glad HP decided to go all-new with its TouchSmart tm2 followup. The 12.1-inch laptop is powered by new Intel Core 2 Duo procs and even discrete ATI Mobility Radeon graphics if you’re man enough, and claims 9 hours of battery life off its standard 6-cell. Most importantly, the capacitive multitouch screen is finger and pen friendly. The physical design takes some cues from HP’s new Envy laptops, including the controversial unibutton touchpad and lovable aluminum build, and seems decently thinner, lighter and stronger than the tx2. The laptop should be out on January 17th with a starting price of $949.

Design
The TouchSmart tm2 certainly catches your eye with its aluminum lid and deck decorated with a wave-like, laser-engraved illustration. (HP calls it Riptide.) This treatment isn’t as in-your-face as what you’ll find on the Envy line, which we appreciate; it’s only on the right part of the lid and to the right of the large touchpad. The bright and glossy 12.1-inch display (1200 x 800 pixels) has a thick black bezel surrounding it, which houses two loud but tinny Altec Lansing speakers along the bottom. The chiclet-style keyboard and touchpad are also black. Weighing 4.4 pounds, the tm2t is considerably lighter than its chunky plastic predecessor, the 5-pound tx2z. That’s partially because this notebook omits an optical drive. The tm2t also has a thinner profile, tapering from 1 inch in the front to 1.5 inches in the back to accommodate the beefy battery. (The tx2z measured 1.2 inches at its thinnest point.) This slope on the bottom of the machine actually makes it easier to hold in tablet mode. The tm2’s sturdy hinge creates a bulge on the back, but it allows users to rotate the screen in either direction. Overall, this convertible feels solid, but we noticed that the touch display makes the system somewhat top heavy. If we tilted the display more than 20 degrees backward the whole notebook would start to topple while on a desk or in our lap.

Display
The tm2′s 12.1-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel resolution screen is quite crisp, but the main adjective that comes to mind when describing it is glossy. We know we mention the need for more matte displays almost weekly, but in this case we were really beside ourselves – it seriously could double as a mirror. Viewing angles of the screen are also less than stellar; when we flipped the screen around and tilted it back to about 45 degrees, colors just faded, and we simply couldn’t make out images. Speaking of flipping the screen around – the unit’s bi-directional 360-degree hinge feels solid, and matching grooves along the edge of the keyboard and lid keep it locked in place when converted into slate mode. While we do have those major issues with the gloss of the screen, the capacitive touchscreen layer was extremely responsive to finger and stylus input. Dragging a finger down the screen to scroll was very responsive, and light taps on icons / within menus was all it took to navigate Windows 7 Home Premium. Windows 7′s touchpack comes preloaded, and we had a ball zooming in on the earth in Surface Globe. While we do love the Garden Pond screen saver, which lets you put multiple fingers on virtual water, HP’s own DigiFish Dolphin application let us “swim” with the creatures and zoom in and out. Yes, if you’re like us, it will keep you amused for at least… oh, five minutes.

Keyboard & Touchpad
The pad was way too sensitive during our testing; just brushing up against it ever so slightly while typing caused the cursor to jump up a few lines. On other occasions the tm2t would select a few lines of text when we didn’t want it to and we would accidentally delete sentences or entire paragraphs. The TouchSmart tm2t sports a spacious layout, and we like that it has dedicated action keys above the numbers. You can do anything from adjust the brightness to turn Wi-Fi on and off quickly and easily. Although we like the soft touch finish on the keys, which prevents slippage, the keys felt a bit chintzy and hollow as we typed, especially toward the edges of the keyboard. We also don’t like how HP unnecessarily shrunk the up and down arrow keys, to which we had to adjust. Selecting text (when we intended to) and even clicking on web links also proved more of a challenge on this notebook than most others we’ve tested. That’s because the cursor would often move just as we were about to press down on the left touch button. There’s more: the overactive pinch to zoom gesture would sometimes enlarge or shrink a web page when we just wanted to move around.

Software

In addition to its TouchSmart software, the tm2 comes preloaded with HP’s usual programs. Just like we mentioned in the dm4 review, a lot of stuff should go straight to the Recycle Bin – including the preloaded eBay and Shutterfly shortcut on the desktop. However, the HP dock that’s mounted to the top of the desktop is a nice addition once you customize it with applications you’d actually use. HP’s QuickWeb is also there, but we’ve never really ended up hanging in the pre-boot OS much.

Performance and Graphics
While this system’s no speed demon, the 1.2-GHz Core i3-U330 processor and 3GB of RAM inside the tm2t combine to offer fairly snappy performance—when you’re not fighting the touchpad. While its PCMark Vantage score of 3,806 is below the category average (4,033), the notebook barely flinched when we had several tabs open in Google Chrome while streaming Hulu in HP’s TouchSmart software in a smaller window.  Using its discrete graphics, the tm2t outclasses most other notebooks in its weight class; it turned in a 3DMark06 score of 2,882, considerably higher than the 2,127 average. The machine also notched very good frame rates in World of Warcraft, reaching 109 fps at 1024 x 768 and 35 fps at native resolution. The tm2t also managed 37 fps at the lower pixel count, though it dropped to an unplayable 17 fps at 1280 x 800.

Design

The design of the Inspiron 14 looks like an enlarged version of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 10 netbooks. At first glance you can easily see that Dell designers are trying to establish clearly identifiable designs for all Dell notebooks: all Inspiron laptops look similar, Studio laptops have the same general design as other Studio laptops, and one Studio XPS notebook likewise looks like other Studio XPS notebooks. At this point shoppers should be able to identify Dell’s entry-level products (Inspiron), mid-range products (Studio) and high-end products (Studio XPS) with little more than a glance.

The chassis of the Inspiron is constructed from a combination of exterior plastics and an alloy interior framework for a balance of affordability, durability, and light weight. While the Inspiron 14 doesn’t feel quite as durable as the new Studio 14z, the Inspiron 14 should survive the average use and abuse by college students … although the plastics may start to show some wear and tear after some time inside a book bag.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The full-size keyboard features comfortable, terraced keys that offered good tactile feedback and response. We were able to reach our normal typing speed immediately, and none of the keys were undersized or in weird places, so it was also easy to execute keyboard shortcuts. We appreciated the generous, 3.8 x 2-inch touchpad with discrete left and right mouse buttons. Though it’s multitouch-enabled, the touch surface wasn’t overly sensitive as we’ve seen on some other Dell systems. At first we found the sensitivity too low; two-finger scrolling took more precision than we expected, and it took a few hours to get used to. The Synaptics driver offers settings and tweaks (go to Control Panel > Mouse) for the multitouch gestures and a sensitivity slider to make adjustments.

Display and Audio

14r-1The glossy 14-inch, 1366 x 768-pixel WLED display offered decent color depth, but only within optimal viewing angles. We had to tilt the screen in a narrow 10-degree range to keep washed out or distorted colors at bay. We noticed this regardless of whether we were surfing the web, writing in Microsoft Word, or watching video.

Horizontal angles aren’t that wide, either; two people can comfortably share the screen, but beyond that it’s hard to see clearly. Even at the optimal angles we noticed some slight pixelation when watching a 720p trailer for The Discoverers and a standard definition episode of Lost via Hulu.

The speakers, located just under the front lip of the notebook, pumped out plenty of volume, but their placement compromised the quality. Soft ballads like George Michael’s “One More Try” came through a little muddy at 75 percent volume, and even listening to brash dance tracks like t.A.T.u.’s “Not Gonna Get Us” wasn’t completely satisfactory over just a little background noise. Still, thanks to SRS Premium Sound, bass was acceptably present and we were able to hear a distinct distance between vocals and instruments in high-quality MP3.

Performance and Features

We didn’t have an opportunity to benchmark the pre-production unit of the Inspiron 14, but Dell made it very clear that this notebook is aimed at students who want a good laptop for general use at an affordable price and don’t need all of the features found on the more expensive Studio 14z. For example, the Inspiron 14 lacks FireWire and eSATA and the starting price only includes Intel integrated graphics. On the other hand, the optional 1600 x 900 screen, optional Blu-ray drive, and optional ATI discrete graphics give the Inspiron 14 some impressive bang for the buck.

This is where the $449 starting price of the Inspiron 14 looks extremely impressive compared to the $649 starting price of the Studio 14z. Sure, the starting price of the Studio 14z includes a better processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics and a better selection of ports, but the Inspiron 14 still offers a built-in optical drive and dedicated 7-in-1 media card reader. Bottom line, back-to-school shoppers are going to have two very impressive options from Dell this year.

Improving: Help techs report that the the majority of troublesome notebook elements will be the hard drive, screen, and also keyboard. When you probably won’t desire to substitute an expensive laptop computer screen, you aren’t the right tools and even any slight physical inclination could change the hard drive, keyboard, along with other parts, by incorporating affected person tinkering.

Starting your own notebook case may void the actual warranty, therefore if your digestive system is still below warrantee, allow producer cope with maintenance. Notebooks are usually delicate, therefore never force something. Vince Dougherty, that has restored countless laptops for Wine Country Computers inside Healdsburg, California, says the most typical blunder is actually while using the wrong-size screwdriver. A single slide plus your motherboard is actually ruined. Prior to doing other things, remove the notebook’s battery and detach the cord. Make sure to ground yourself before you decide to open the particular case, both having a grounding strap (the most dependable approach), or perhaps simply by pressing an item of grounded metal (a light or even normal water pipe is going to do), whilst pressing metallic component for the case’s outside.

Replace your hard drive: Incorporating a new hard drive to some notebook is usually less difficult as compared to doing the same thing over a desktop Personal computer: You just remove several anchoring screws from the base from the case, go or raise the particular hard drive assembly out of the system, and also exchange a brand new generate in to the set up (always deal with drives through the sides). Many laptop Computers work with a standard a couple of.5-inch hard drive, but ultralights along with other diminutive techniques may use a scaled-down 1.8-inch generate. Drives are also made of different heights; the most common tend to be 12.a few millimeters and nine.five millimeters. Check your laptop’s documentation, or perhaps go to the vendor’s Web site to ascertain the actual drive size compatible with your own machine. The 2.5-inch, 100GB travel less expensive than $200. Third-party vendors such as Drive Solutions and NewEgg.com frequently cost less than notebook producers. Talk with your laptop dealer to learn whether you’ll need a SATA or perhaps parallel ATA product. Buy just through vendors that provide a money-back guarantee–any reliable vendor will give you a single long lasting a minimum of 1 month.

Increase your own RAM: Most laptops come with only a couple of memory sockets, that might abandon absolutely no open slots for updates. Adding memory may well demand that you simply throw out a minumum of one current memory module. The RAM about most notebooks chilling out guiding any detachable cell. The particular modules slide right into a slot and therefore are secured at the comes to an end through clips or even retainers. Crucial and also Kingston will advise you the kind of RAM your laptop requirements. The high-quality adventures they promote are worth the tiny, extra expense over no-name RAM.

Keyboard: Installing a new keyboard usually demands disassembling the laptop’s case, however in other areas it’s simple: Very first snap the old keyboard away, and snap the particular replacement keyboard within. You could expect to pay $50 to $100 for a brand new laptop keyboard. Suitable substitute keyboards might be obtainable just from the notebook’s vendor.

Touchpad: Whenever I am in severe work mode, my personal netbook’s touch pad will not be as simple will be able to use being a mouse. The miniature USB vacation mouse with retracting cord is cheaper compared to $30 from all of these and other suppliers, plus a instant variation (Bluetooth or infrared) expenses somewhat a lot more. I propose the born mouse regarding hectic travelers; there aren’t any power packs to concern yourself with, no tiny Bluetooth or RF transmitter to lose.

Ports: In case your laptop provides only a couple of USB ports, a tiny four-port USB hub is important allowing you to connect more products. Portable printers, scanners, along with other power-hungry USB peripherals may require a self-powered hub just like APC’s $35 4-Port Travel Hub, that is sold with the very own power adapter. To connect a mouse, keyboard, or perhaps thumb drive, the nonpowered USB hub will be all you need.

Hub: A little wireless router enables you to move hotels, an office, or even elsewhere with a set, high-speed World wide web connection. The $60 AirPlus G DWL-G730AP Instant Pants pocket Modem coming from D-Link corresponds a tiny transporting case.

Firewall: Anyone moving from one accommodation or instant hotspot to another requirements firewall defense, and also the firewall built into Windows XP Service Pack 2 simply won’t perform. If your This department prohibits one to set up firewall computer software on your own company laptop, Kensington’s $40 Private Firewall device are able to keep your digestive system safe from criminals although you’re traveling. Merely put the particular thumb drive into a wide open USB interface, perform a fast configuration, and your shields are usually upwards.

Directed: Employing a notebook computer in the darkened airliner or some other light-challenged space can be difficult since you cannot see the keyboard (unless of course it can be backlit). As opposed to squinting from the light from the netbook’s Lcd, test Kensington’s $25 Flylight 3. These devices comes with an Led light on one side of its flexible neck of the guitar, plus a USB connection at the other. The Flylight is smaller than average light enough to adopt anywhere, this means you will illuminate any notebook work area without having disturbing others.

Screen: About extended, boring flights, handful of seatmates may resist sneaking any look or a couple of at your notebook screen. 3M’s Laptop Privateness Computer Filtration slides over the notebook’s screen, and easy-to-attach clips maintain that in position to stop the actual snoop seated alongside you from kibitzing your bet on Solitaire. The screen will be costly, beginning with $45 for a twelve.1-inch design, nonetheless it help keep your own matters private.

Power Adapter: In case you are sick and tired of carrying the stack regarding power stones wherever you go, you will want to industry ‘em in for the one that perseverence almost all your own products? APC, Belkin, Kensington, and also Targus help to make cellular general power adapters with connector tips for laptops, mobile phones, Pdas, as well as other units. Their costs cover anything from $70 to be able to $130, determined by electrical power and also accessories. Tip choice may differ from merchant to vendor, therefore look into the match ups checklist on the businesses Website for each of your electronic units before you decide to lay down your own environmentally friendly.

Dock and cover: A docking station allows you to link a monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound system, USB units, as well as network link to be able to your laptop computer in just seconds. The majority of laptop distributors provide customized docking stations for some designs, but these have a tendency to expense 100′s of dollars. Targus’s $130 Universal Notebook Docking Station With Video clip links to be able to any kind of laptop via USB a couple of.. The only capture: The USB a couple of. link can not match up the speed of a immediate VGA monitor link, so that it may produce a bandwith bottleneck when running fast-moving games or even additional graphics-intensive applications.

Peripherals: Should you continually switch among your own desktop and also laptop Pcs, work with a keyboard-video-mouse change to work possibly Computer through a single keyboard, monitor, and also mouse. Numerous suppliers promote KVM switches that need a lot of converter cables and internet connections, yet Kavoom KVM) is a computer software “switch” in which works more than a network link. An easy simply click lets you toggle in between computers. The program expenses $30 for just two Personal computers, and another $10 for each extra Pc.

Style
The HP EliteBook 2540p is actually billed as an ultraportable business notebook, consequently corporations — and many buyers — anticipate a superior quality associated with materials, superb functions as well as an innovative design. HP’s other EliteBook notebooks fulfill or even exceed those anticipation, however how about the littlest member of the EliteBook loved ones? The main physique of the EliteBook 2540p is covered within the brand new “HP DuraCase” and “HP DuraFinish,” which is essentially a tough plastic material and strong the mineral magnesium metal inner shell – similar its forerunner — and strengthened by a brushed metal external spend that actually resists scratching through steel wool. The base of internet connected computers seems very strong as well as would definitely endure protrusions and bruises that other laptop computers may not. There’s absolutely no bend in the solid keyboard set. The bottom of the notebook can also be likewise rigorous as well as strong along with just a tiny amount of flex in the region instantly underneath the notebook’s eye drive.

The external spend from the display casing is actually metal, but the inner screen bezel is actually plastic. Unlike the actual 15-inch EliteBook 8540p all of us previously examined, the display cover flexes somewhat whenever significant stress is applied to the biggest market of the cover. However it is nevertheless much stronger than we usually see upon other top quality 12-inch company notebooks. Whenever HP states how the EliteBook 2540p was designed “to fulfill the actual army requirements (MIL-STD 810F) with regard to high/low temperatures and dirt,” these people mean the actual notebook should withstand many years of make use of as well as abuse. With all this particular rugged durability included in the design, you have to anticipate a trade-off, which in this case is actually weight. Some 12-inch business class notebooks suggestion the actual scale from three lbs or even less. The EliteBook 2540p has a starting weight of 3.38 pounds with a 6-cell electric battery, but the added durability more than comprises for a small pounds improve. Lastly, just as that the gray as well as african american outside and sleek style fits an expert atmosphere, so do the actual internals. The EliteBook 2540p uses 3 simple plastic covers about the bottom of the notebook (every locked in place with Phillips head screws) so the hard drive, cellular cards as well as Ram tend to be readily available with regard to quick updates. There’s a 4th small expansion slot include on the bottom of the notebook, that is for the dedicated Bluetooth greeting card. The remainder of the actual notebook interior is actually protected through Torx screws that should deter employees through playing around within their work-issued notebooks.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The secrets about the 2540p tend to be coated within HP’s DuraKey coating, which makes them scratch-resistant as well as allows for a nice, gritty finish. We were able to kind quickly, matching the all-time greatest score of eighty-eight words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Check. However, we found the layout to be a little flat, whereas the X201s’ keys possess a chunkier feel that appeals in order to contact typists.

Whilst company users will value using a directing stick, we are not really fans of its concave form. We choose the somewhat convex TrackPoint upon Lenovo’s Thinkpad line. Nonetheless, all of us could move the actual cursor over the desktop along with fairly subtle actions, and we never experienced as though all of us didn’t have total control. The corresponding buttons, that have the rubbery complete, tend to be easy—but not really as well easy—to press. Actually, we quickly came to prefer while using pointing stick to the touchpad, especially because the touchpad measures a little two.7 by 1.four inches.

Features
The actual EliteBook 2540p offers an excellent port selection, however depending on the design configuration, your choices can alter. For example the design with no built-in eye drive includes a two.5-inch hard drive and an extra Hardware port.

Durability and Protection
In addition to the the mineral magnesium metal casing, scratch-resistant areas, as well as spill-resistant keyboard set, the 2540p had been examined in accordance with army specifications (MIL-STD 810G), which includes a drop check through several feet, amongst others tests. HP states the actual notebook can also endure up to 300 pounds associated with stress. Protection features include the finger marks reader, and also a 3d accelerometer that parks the hard disk head any time a fall. The actual 2540p additionally comes with a host associated with HP-branded protection tools, including HP Extra Key, which will help you get back to the computer in the event that you have forgotten your password, and also the Disk as well as File Sanitizer utilities.

Overall performance and Benchmarks
Program overall performance was excellent as well as over what you may expect to observe when compared with thin and gentle notebooks available on the market right now. The actual HP EliteBook 2540p as well as Lenovo Thinkpad X201 tend to be the smallest ‘ninja-like’ notebooks available today. All of us used the Thinkpad X201s for comparison since it gets the same Core i7-640LM processor chip. The actual quicker X201 would be equivalent to the base design 2540p, that has the quicker Core i5-540m processor chip and a 7200RPM 2.5-inch hard disk. Each versions master offering desktop-level performance in every method except 3-D performance. The actual Apple company GMA Hd images is preferable to previous generations but nonetheless lags at the rear of a dedicated images card.

The Core i7-640LM can certainly decode 720P or even 1080P video, play Hd Expensive as well as encoded films in i-tunes. The only system overall performance complaint that we found was the actual rather sluggish 1.8-inch hard disk in designs that include a good optical drive. The model i was sent for evaluate utilized a New laptop drive that peaked just below 50MB/s. Users looking for higher amounts of overall performance should probably opt for the non-optical drive set up that lets you use a standard 2.5-inch drive or configure the actual program having a SSD.