Prime Notebook Computer Review » Solid-state drive

Powerful Intel Core i5 CPU from Asus Eee Slate EP121 (32GB)

tito — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:06:53 +0000

Asus has a fresh take on the oft-maligned Windows tablet in the fast-running Eee Slate EP121, a touch-screen slate coupled with its own Bluetooth keyboard. The Asus Eee Slate EP121 pushes the boundaries of what we expect from Win 7 tablets by casting itself as a high-design, high-powered system and thanks to a fast Intel Core i5 processor. The Eee Slate EP121 costs $999 with a 32GB solid-state drive (SSD) and 2GB of RAM, or $1,099 for a 64GB version with 4GB of RAM (although we have yet to see the higher-end version actually for sale for less than $1,399).

The body of the EP121 feels solid and well-made, thanks to the edge-to-edge glass and thin metal bezel. The back is white textured plastic, but the trade-off is that the tablet only weighs about 2.5 pounds, which makes it feel very light in the hand. It may be the most iPad-like Windows tablet we’ve tried in terms of look and feel (even though it’s a good bit larger).

Using that onscreen keyboard is a bit easier than on some other tablets we’ve tried, because of the larger screen size. But it’s never going to be anyone’s preferred input method. Instead, we’d rather use the bundled Bluetooth keyboard, which is designed to match the EP121 and has a slightly curved, ergonomic shape. The keyboard worked fine, but we wish it included either a tiny touch pad or even a ThinkPad-style trackpoint. Instead, your only cursor input options are a fingertip, the included stylus, or a USB or Bluetooth mouse.

Armed with the powerful Intel Core i5-470UM processor and Intel HD graphics, the Eee Slate EP121 delivers impressive mobile performance. Available with 32GB and 64GB solid state drives, it delivers smooth multitasking performance and sufficient storage. The Eee Slate EP121 operates familiar programs like Microsoft Office and Outlook, master your finances with Quicken, and edit photos in Photoshop Elements. The Eee Slate goes beyond simple tablets to let you do more.

Accelerate startup speed with FastBoot Technology is a performance boost developed by a unique collaboration between ASUS and Microsoft. With Windows 7 Home Premium, it’s easy to create multiple Windows 7 PCs on your home network. You can access and share your files, favourite photos, videos, and music on any PC from any other. You can even print from one PC to a printer connected to another PC. You can enjoy unplugged computing longer, thanks to the enhanced power management Windows 7 provides.

From streaming HD video to reading ebooks, a big, 12-inch, ultra-bright, high-definition screen with excellently wide viewing angles, brings crisper, more colourful visuals to your entertainment of choice. Watching movies, TV shows, ebooks, and games are breathtaking. The Eee Slate EP121 is a PC, you can get your programs, movies, ebooks, and games from almost everywhere on the web, no need for an app store. It comes pre-loaded with Amazon Kindle, and works with all eReader programs. With full Flash 10.1 playback support, enables you to enjoy a fully-supported media experience from virtually any Web site. Access your media and connect to your Xbox Live, PCs, and other compatible devices, thanks to Windows 7 Live. Microsoft Touch Pack and the ASUS @Vibe online store brings you an abundance of fun apps and touch-enabled games to enjoy at your free time.

The Eee Slate EP121 has wireless N and Bluetooth 3.0, allows you to enjoy high-speed connectivity to the Internet and Bluetooth-enabled devices. Every Eee Slate comes with a thin, full-sized Bluetooth keyboard, digitizer pen, and folio case that performs as a portable monitor stand. The display uses capacitive pressure-sensing multi-touch detection for pin-point precision while writing and drawing. The display panel is built with Gorilla Glass that is amazingly robust against scratches, drops, and damages.

Battery life is arguably more important for a tablet than any other kind of portable computer, as one would very rarely use a tablet while it’s plugged into a wall socket. The Asus EP121 ran for 3 hours and 33 minutes in our video playback battery-drain test. That’s low for a 12-inch laptop of any type, and also pales in comparison with the iPad, which is a totally different kind of tablet but has set a new benchmark for tablet battery life.

This the most powerful tablet, it allows to run anything you wish, it is ideal for industries such as design and education where digital drawings are done on a regular basis. With incredibly fast processor, plus a wacom pen, this is the real tablet revolution. If you are looking for a tablet with the ability to run windows 7 applications, and want to use it in a corporate environment, this is your product, as it can meet security requirements.

The Comparison of Notebook Computers and Laptops

tito — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:43:46 +0000

Notebook computer is a light-weighted battery-powered personal computer which can easily and simply be transported or on-the-go personal computer. Notebook computers are smaller in size and lighter in weight. They can fit in the briefcase and can be suitably carried to places with no electricity available as long as the batteries are in the full condition. You must be wondering, but who exactly be the first one invented notebook computer? Adam Osborne was the first one who invented notebook or what so called laptop in 1981. His invention was named “Osborne I” and was not precisely laptop due to the bigger size compared to these-day laptop, but more to the computer that can be carried easier.

Notebook computer and laptop are the same in the way that they are powered with batteries that need to be recharged at specific time, portable computers, thinner, smaller, and lighter compared to the personal computers. But most of the communities can not really distinguish the essential differences between notebook computers and laptop, particularly when you are in the confusion of which one you should buy because both are portable computers with batteries provided. Let’s take a look at the differences table below:

Subject

Notebook Computers :

Processor, The processor in almost notebook computers are the cheapest one, thus you cannot experience enough satisfaction when watching movies or playing games.
Hard Drive, Notebook computers use SSD (Solid State Drive) instead of HDD (Hard Disk Drive). SDD is smaller and has no moving parts like HDD that causes SDD to be faster in writing and reading data compared to HDD.
Disc/DVD Drive, Notebook computers are not provided with disc drive. If consumers experience the necessity to have disc drive, there are several notebook computers which sell disc drive separately.
Screen Dimension, Due to the smaller display size of notebook computers: range from 12 to 14 Inch TFT Screen, it will not meet the customers’ satisfaction. With minimum graphic, it matters particularly when watching movies or playing games.
Keyboard Dimension, Notebook computers have the smallest functional keyboard, thus most of the customers are having difficulty to type. Consider more if you are intended to purchase notebook when you will do a lot of typing in the future.
Transport, Incredibly easy to carry.
Price/Cost, Notebook computers are more affordable.

Laptops :

Processor, The processor built in the laptops is a lot better compared to the notebook computers.
Hard Drive, All laptops use HDD and works at a slower rate in reading and writing data.
Disc/DVD Drive, Laptops are provided with built-in disc drive and are capable with reading and or writing CD/DVD.
Screen Dimension, Laptops have larger display size and better graphic resolution. So customers will be more satisfied in watching movies or playing games, as well as reading and viewing data.
Keyboard Dimension, Laptops are provided bigger keyboards and typing becomes a lot easier.
Transport, Rather heavy to be carried compared to notebook computers.
Price/Cost, Laptops have more complete components rather than notebook computers, and thus the price becomes more expensive.

In summary, notebook computers are provided to the consumers who need more intense portability and less power, they are extremely needed by consumers with high intensity of traveling. Laptops are more considered for substituting the function of personal computers to more less-spaced computers.

Notebook Hard Drives Component Guide

tito — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 06:52:18 +0000

While most notebooks sold today come with standard hard drives, an increasing number are available with solid state drives (SSDs). Standard, mechanical hard drives have moving parts that rotate a metal head over a magnetic surface. SSDs, on the other hand, store data on non-volatile NAND flash memory chips. Because they have no moving parts, SSDs are much faster, more durable, and incredibly power-efficient. But upgrading to SSD will make a dramatic difference in everyday tasks such as opening applications and documents, copying files, and booting. While hard drives aren’t the cornucopia of confusion that processors or RAM can be (and if you don’t think this is confusing, you’ve never worked retail), there are some crucial points to make.

Capacity

So how much space do your games, media files, and documents need? High-end games such as Crysis or World of Warcraft take between 10 and 15GB of disk space. However, simulation games such as The Sims 3 tend to use 5 to 7GB. So, with a 128GB drive (a common size for SSDs), for example, you can fit all of this with room to spare:

Operating System (depends on your operating system, including virtual memory, hibernation files, etc.)–20 to 30GB
Applications: Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.–10GB
Music: 5,000 Songs (approximately four minutes each)–20GB
Photos: 3,200 images–10GB
HD Video: 5.5 hours (approximately)–20GB
One Large Game–15GB
Total Memory Used–105GB

That said, the smallest notebook hard drive these days is 160GB, and it’s not difficult to find a low-cost notebook selling inside a 250 or 320GB unit.

SSD

Before upgrading your notebook’s hard drive to SSD, read reviews of any drive you may be considering. Look for a model with a good quality controller chip. If you’re buying a new notebook with an SSD built-in, you may not know the exact make and model of the SSD your notebook comes with, unless you have the notebook in front of you, or read a review from an objective source. Fortunately, most current notebook vendors use quality SSDs that have high-speed controllers from Intel, Samsung, or Toshiba.

Hard Drive

If you’re getting a notebook with a regular hard drive, speed is key. If given a choice, pick a 7,200 rpm model over 5,400 rpm, because the higher rotation speed means data transfers that are approximately 25 percent faster. Modern 7,200 rpm drives also have solid power-saving features, which means they won’t significantly impact your notebook’s battery life. Even if you don’t need all the storage space, we recommend a hard drive with at least 320GB.

External Drives

If you’re going to go external, you have two options: build your own drive, which can be cheaper (and oftentimes smaller), or buy a ready made external drive.

External drives have two ways of connecting to your notebook: USB 2.0 or FireWire (IEEE1394). Some drives offer just USB 2.0, some offer FireWire, and some offer both, and what you want is dependent on how you’re going to use the drive.

So, what if you want to assemble your own? Well, you can purchase an enclosure for 3.5″ drives, but you can also get one for 2.5″ drives. So if you’ve replaced the drive in your notebook, you can always buy an enclosure for that old one and use it as an external for added storage space. 3.5″ externals always require an external power supply, but the 2.5″ ones can often be powered off of two USB ports, so that’s food for thought if you even want your external drive mobile. But again, that’s a 2.5″ drive, so you’re sacrificing speed and capacity. Assembling an external drive is usually fairly simple and most enclosures come with good instructions.

Fujitsu-Siemens quietly intros Stylistic ST6012 tablet PC

anti — Tue, 04 May 2010 05:59:19 +0000

Of all the current Tablet PC vendors, none has more experience than Fujitsu Computer Systems which has been designing and selling pen slates for well over 15 years. This experience is plainly obvious in the design, high quality, and overall execution of the Stylistic ST6000 Series of Tablet PCs, the successor to a long line of ST5x00, ST4000 and earlier Stylistic pen computing slates.

With the 6000 Series, Fujitsu finally bowed to the pressure of converting to a fashionable 16:10 ratio “wide format” display. While the 5000 Series used the “old” 4:3 aspect ratio, the ST6012 comes with a transmissive 12.1-inch display with WXGA 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. While older Fujitsu slates were usually available with a variety of displays both in size (10.4 and 12.1 inches) and display technology, the 6000 Series, for now, seems limited to the 12.1 inch transmissive LCD. This is an indoor/outdoor-viewable display with a wide 160+ degree viewing angle.

Overall dimensions have not changed much. If you look at the older ST5100 model, you can see that the design already provided room for a wide-screen format. What has changed is some of the ergonomics. Whereas the 5100 Series had all of its hardware controls arranged on the right side (when used in portrait mode), the new model moved the four cursor control keys to the upper left. The overall look has changed as well, with the silver metallic finish of the 5100 being replaced by matte black.

The complete redesign afforded Fujitsu the opportunity to update the Stylistic’s innards with Intel’s latest processor technology. The ST6000 uses a 1.4GHz Intel SU94000 Core 2 Duo processor that provides more punch, but is rated at the same thermal design power of about ten watts, which means battery life of the new machine won’t suffer. The new chip is complemented with Intel’s GS45 and ICH9-M chipset and Mobile Intel GMA 4500M HD circuitry for graphics. For wireless, the new Fujitsu slate is available either with the Intel WiFi Link 5300 or the Atheros HB92, so Fujitsu continues to make WiFi available from either Intel or Atheros.

On the connectivity side, things have changed a bit. There is no longer a modem port, and IEEE1394 FireWire also has gone by the wayside; with USB 2.0 so fast, there really isn’t a need for it anymore for most applications. The PC Card slot has been replaced with an ExpressCard slot, another sign of the times (the model offered in the US lists a PC Card slot), and there is now a 1.3 megapixel integrated vidcam. Else, Fujitsu offers Bluetooth v2.1, 3G/UMTS wide area wireles (three dual band WLAN and two UMTS antennas, according to Fujitsu literature).

As far as the operating system goes, Fujitsu offers a “TwinLoad.” The ST6000 models come with pre-installed Vista Business, but users also get downgrade rights and can easily change to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.
As usual, Fujitsu offers several optional stands and docks and other accessories needed for business or vertical market applications.

Battery life remains impressive: initially listed as up to six hours with the standard 56 watt-hour battery, and up to nine hours with the high-capacity 84 watt-hour battery, Fujitsu upped the estimates to 7.5 and 11.5 hours. 2.5-inch hard disks are shock-mounted and come in larger capacities than ever, ranging up to a 250GB 5400rpm SATA drive. Optionally you can also get a 64GB solid state disk.

As of early October 2008, the ST6000 model was listed on the Fujitsu Siemens website in great detail. As of this update (March 2009), the ST6012 is also on the Fujitsu USA site with minor differences in specs.
There isn’t much information on ruggedness. Fujitsu has a general white paper on testing, wuality and reliability, but it does not show what tests are performed on which product (see here). As is, Fujitsu mentions a shck-mounted hard disk, a Fujitsu Shock Sensor Utility, 41-95 degree operating temperature, but no sealing or drop spec. This information is becoming increasingly important.

The Stylistic ST6000 platform is a reliable, well executed slate computer from a blue-chip vendor that gets the job done. The new models are technologically up-to-date, provide a good balance between performance and battery life, and remain light and handy. Note that the ST6000 and ST5100 lines are now the only remaining full tablet in Fujitsu’s lineup; all other Tablet PC models are notebook convertibles (T1010, T2020, T4220, T5010).

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.