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Asus G51Vx-RX05

Katherine Stevenson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0600

This budget notebook will make gamers smile

If there’s one thing that might take your mind off your financial woes, it’s some good old-fashioned fragging. And Asus is happy to oblige by offering the most affordable full-fledged gaming notebook that we’ve ever tested. The G51Vx-RX05, sold exclusively through Best Buy, costs less than a grand—OK, at $999, that’s a technicality, but still, this 15-inch notebook is cheap. It’s half the cost of the 15-inch iBuypower M865TU gaming rig we reviewed in November.

Of course, Asus had to cut some corners to get there. The notebook’s Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, for example, boasts a mere 2GHz clock speed—that’s 33 percent slower than the iBuypower’s proc. And true to form, the G51Vx-RX05 performed about 30 percent slower than the iBuypower (our new zero-point rig) in our Premiere, Photoshop, ProShow, and MainConcept benchmarks.

A Power Control Panel option in the G51Vx-RX05 lets you overclock the CPU by up to 150MHz. That’s a 7.5 percent boost, which amounted to around five percent of additional performance in our CPU-centric benchmarks: Using the so-called “Extreme turbo” mode, we shaved 11 seconds off our original Photoshop time and a minute off of Premiere Pro. That doesn’t do much to bridge the gap between the G51Vx-RX05 and its higher-clocked competition, but it does add some value to the package.

If you're not crazy about the G51Vx-RX05's blue-backlit keyboard, a function button lets you dim or disable the lights.

Where you’ll find the most value, however, is in the notebook’s GPU. The G51Vx-RX05 sports the same GTX 260M graphics part as iBuypower’s machine. As we noted in our review of the iBuypower rig, this GPU performs head and shoulders above any previous-generation mobile part, serving up playable frame rates in today’s more graphically demanding games. Although iBuypower’s much-faster CPU gives that machine a slight edge in games (and effectively knocks Asus’s rig off our benchmark chart), the G51Vx-RX05’s game performance is still laudable. Compared to Toshiba’s 9800M-equipped Qosmio X305 (reviewed in June 2009), the G51Vx-RX05 was more than 20 percent faster in Far Cry 2 and Call of Duty 4. In Crysis even, Asus’s rig hit 30.48fps with the settings at High—that’s 30 percent faster than the Qosmio performed.

Physically, the G51Vx-RX05 seems solid. Its glossy white cover, glossy black trim, and blue-backlit keyboard give it an unmistakable gaming aesthetic that’s not too outlandish. Its rubberized palm rest adds a nice, comfy touch. And while its 15.6-inch reflective screen sports a relatively low 1366x768 native res, that can actually be a boon in games.

Does the G51Vx-RX05 make compromises? Yes. But in doing so, it delivers on its mission to provide top-notch gaming at an unbeatable price. And for that, this notebook deserves high marks.

iBuypower M865TU

Katherine Stevenson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:15:39 -0600

A 15-inch gaming notebook that holds its own in bigger company

From the looks of it, you probably wouldn’t figure iBuypower’s M865TU for a gaming notebook. Its aesthetic is much more subdued than typical representatives of that class. The chassis is covered in a subtly textured black plastic, with tasteful silver trim around the edges and the touch pad. Unlike other gaming notebooks, backlighting is limited to the power button and an unobtrusive iBuypower logo on the notebook’s lid. Furthermore, the 15-inch M865TU is smaller than many gaming rigs and has a more streamlined formfactor.

But despite its smaller stature and no-nonsense appearance, the M865TU’s got game. That’s courtesy of the Nvidia GTX 260M GPU under its hood. Based on a reworked G92 chip, which uses a smaller, faster process (55nm vs. 65nm) and features slightly higher clocks, the GTX 260M proves more capable than previous-generation G92 mobile parts. For example, the M865TU performed almost 30 percent better in Far Cry 2 and Call of Duty 4 than the 9800M GTX-equipped Qosmio X305 we reviewed in June, with scores of 31.3fps and 58.3fps, respectively, at the notebook’s 1680x1050 native res and the highest quality settings. (This month, we jettisoned the games we have previously used for notebooks reviews in favor of FC2 and CoD4, which are far more indicative of a GPU’s prowess—expect to see these titles integrated into our benchmark chart going forward.)

If not for the tell-tale glossy screen, you might mistake the staid M865TU for a business notebook.

In the applications department, the M865TU is also competent. The rig’s 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo Mobile helped it handily whoop our zero-point notebook in the benchmarks by 30-60 percent. Granted, the story changes when you compare the M865TU to quad-core machines. The Core 2 Quad Mobile part in the Qosmio X305, while clocked at just 2GHz, beat the M865TU by 13-18 percent in the benchmarks that scale with cores (Premiere, Photoshop, MainConcept), although lost to the M865TU in Photoshop by four percent. Naturally, the Core i7 AVADirect D900F (reviewed in September) was even more punishing, winning the multicore-optimized apps by upwards of 60 percent and even Photoshop by 38 percent. Of course, the D900F is a mammoth desktop-replacement rig that costs twice as much as the M865TU—it should dominate.

What we like about the M865TU is that it provides decent application performance, a marked improvement in single-card notebook gaming, and a more portable size and weight—it’s lighter by two or more pounds than other gaming notebooks we’ve tested recently. Sadly, its battery life isn’t much better than the pack’s, lasting just one hour and 40 minutes when playing a movie in power-saving mode. Oh, and the speakers suck.

Acer Confident it Will Achieve Sales Goals of 40 Million in 2010

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:25:41 -0500

PC vender Acer is on quite the roll as of late. They’ve finally become number two in worldwide notebook sales, beating out Dell. Now they expect to be able to ship 40 million notebooks in 2010, and take the number one spot from market leader HP.

Earlier this year Acer was predicting only 33 to 37 million units shipped, but better than expected performance in the second half of the year caused them to raise expectations. One of Acer’s major problems is the ongoing shortage of hardware, including optical drives, LCD panels, hard drives, and graphics chips. Acer Chairman, JT Wang, indicated that even with possible shortages the company would likely reach its goal.

Acer has become a major player in the last few years. Their notebook shipments have more than doubled, mostly due to the success of netbooks marketed heavily to consumers. They plan to continue on this path into next year.

Toshiba Portégé A605

Katherine Stevenson — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0500

A top-of-the-line ultraportable in lower-rent wrapping

In our August 2009 ultraportable notebook roundup we fell hard for Toshiba’s Portégé R600—the lightest, sleekest ultraportable notebook we’d ever tested. At $2,150, however, that notebook isn’t cheap.

This month we tested Toshiba’s more affordable ultraportable, the Portégé A605, to see how this consumer-class model compares with its fancier business-class kin.

In looks, the two machines are quite different. While the R600 wowed us with its silver, svelte stylishness, the A605 looks more commonplace. Inside and out, it’s adorned with that shiny black plastic you see everywhere these days, which looks really good… until you smudge it. Its keyboard, thankfully, has the same fingerprint-proof silver coating as the R600’s, and more importantly, sports the same full-size dimensions that make typing on it easy. The A605, which measures 11.3x8.8x1.2 inches, is close in size to the R600, just not as wafer-thin, and it’s a noticeable three-quarters of a pound heavier. Like the R600, the A605 offers a generous selection of ports and expandability options, including a USB/eSATA port (in addition to two standard USB ports), an ExpressCard slot, and an SD media reader.

One of the few features the A605 doesn't share with the elite Portégé R600 is a transflective screen. This one is still serviceable outdoors, however.

Inside, the R600 and A605 sport the same ultra-low-voltage 1.4GHz Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo proc, the same 3GB of DDR2/667 RAM, the same Intel GS45 chipset, and nearly the same DVD burner (the R600’s has a slimmer profile). Besides all that, the A605’s 320GB hard drive is double the capacity of the R600’s.

Not surprisingly, the two machines perform similarly, although the R600 did ever-so-slightly edge out the A605 in our benchmarks. Photoshop and ProShow are mostly CPU-bound, so it’s hard to explain the small gap in those scores. Perhaps the A605’s larger hard drive plays a part, or maybe extra baggage in Vista Home Premium (vs. Vista Business) is at fault. Other variables could explain why the A605’s battery pooped out just shy of four hours in our video rundown test while the R600’s lasted almost a half-hour longer.

Neither the R600 nor the A605 are the best-performing ultraportables we’ve tested. That honor goes to HP’s 2530p and Lenovo’s X200s (both also reviewed in August), which featured 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo procs. The R600 overcame this deficit with its near-weightlessness. The less-expensive A605 doesn’t have this special quality. It does, however, have respectable performance, a strong feature set, and a damn good price.

Michael Dell Doesn't Think You'll Be a Lasting Netbook Convert After 36 Hours of Usage

Ryan Whitwam — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:15:11 -0500

Michael Dell had some harsh words for netbooks in a recent speech. He claimed that a user might like a netbook just fine, until they’ve used it. “About 36 hours later, they're saying 'The screen's gonna have to go. Give me my 15-inch screen back,’” said Dell. He claimed that consumers really prefer higher end machines in the long run.

Of Windows 7 Dell said, “Performance is kind of coming back.” This may have been a well masked condemnation of Vista’s inability to run acceptably on netbooks. Clearly, he would prefer you buy a more expensive computer, but according to Dell’s CEO, 80% of their business doesn’t come from individual consumers anyway. He pointed out that this dynamic meant Dell could bounce back from the slowdown quickly.

The next time you’re about to buy that cheap netbook, just take a second. Think about what Michael Dell would like you to do: spend more money. He’s probably just saying it because he’s concerned for your user experience, right?

Acer Chairman Expects Company to Notch Up 10% Sales Growth in 4Q09

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:36:48 -0500

Acer owes its rapid strides in the PC market to its success in the netbook segment. Now it expects to benefit from the launch of Windows 7 and a resurgent global economy. Acer chairman JT Wang is confident that the company will meet its revenue forecast for Q4 2009. The company is expected to register a 10% growth in consolidated revenues during the ongoing quarter.

Wang told investors that his company plans to cash in on the upcoming launch of Windows 7 with new PCs based on the OS - all priced between US$499 and US$599. While big and small companies of all ilks are queuing up to enter the e-reader fray, chairman Wang is in no hurry. But that might change once the e-reader market grows beyond 50 million units.

He believes that the entry of Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba into the ultra-thin notebook segment is bereft of seriousness, and this very lack of sincerity is preventing Intel’s ultra-thin notebook technology from taking off.

Hands-On with HP's Envy 13 and 15 Notebooks

Norman Chan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0500

If the Voodoo Envy was HP's answer to Apple's Macbook Air, than the just-announced Envy 13 and 15 laptops are diect responses to Apple's Macbook Pro lineup. Sacrificing edgy styling and ridiculously-thin dimensions (seriously, who cares anymore?), the new Envys are built more for performance to meet the demands of the high-end market. These are definitely not underpowered thin-and-lights -- the 13.1-inch model packs a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo, 3GB of DDR3 memory, and an ATI Radeon HD 4330 discrete graphics card. The 15.6-inch model is even more powerful. And both support an innovative battery slice add-on for prolonged use.

Envy 13

Full specs:

12.59" x 8.46" x 0.8"
13.1" LED Widescreen Display (1366x768)
1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor SL9400
1066MHz FSP, 6MB L2 Cache
3GB DDR3 System Memory
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 Graphics
250GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Brushed Aluminum with Metal Etching and HP Webcam
Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN
2-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader
Beats Audio
2 USB ports, HDMI, RJ-45
Weight: 3.74 pounds

One thing we noticed was the exceptionally bright screen of the Envy 13. The WXGA LED-backlit display has an 82% color gamut and 410 nit brightness. When paired next to a Macbook Air with the same image on both, the HP's rendering looked more vibrant and full.

Battery Slice

The base of the Envy houses a 4-cell lithium-ion polymer battery, which is good for 7 hours of battery life. But included in the box is a thin battery slice, which extends the battery life to 18 hours (HP's estimates). The battery slice is surprisingly thin, adding less than half an inch of additional thickness when magnetically latched to the bottom of the laptop. Its beveled edges make it non-intrusive, and it has a small button on its base to indicate remaining juice.

The base of the Envy 13 -- note the small magnetic connector for the battery slice.

Size Comparisons

Envy 15

The 15.6-inch model is more than just a supersized version of the Envy 13. It has a different laser-etched design all around the magnesium alloy unibody, housing an Intel quad-core (which looks to be the not-yet officially announced Core i7 part). Other specs include an ATI 4830 graphics chip with 1GB of video memory, up to 16GB of system RAM, and two hard drive bays (no internal optical drive). The Envy 15 has its own battery slice, as well, which adds to it's relatively slim 1-inch thickness and 5.18 pound heft.

One thing we noticed was that the resolution of the Envy 15's screen is the same as that on the Envy 13 -- 1366x768. Hopefully, HP will offer a higher-resolution option.

The system properties window indicates that the Envy 15 is using an Intel Core processor, model Q820.

This label confirms that the CPU is indeed a 1.73GHz Clarksfield part, which Intel is rumored to officially announce at IDF.

Hands-On with Lenovo's Multi-touch Thinkpad T400s

Florence Ion — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:00:00 -0500

When we last visited the Lenovo Thinkpad T400s, we gave it a relatively good score based on its sleek, black matte chassis, its comfortable ergonomic keyboard and its reliable on-the-go specifications, which included a 128GB SSD. Now, the T400s has had a minor overhaul in hardware (including a touchscreen LCD) and software and we were lucky enough to get some hands-on playtime with the still-in-beta SimpleTap multi-touch software.

This version of the T400s now includes a capacitive multi-touch screen, which integrates the finger-gesture actions a tablet PC into the desktop interface. Tap twice with your index and middle-finger to initiate the proprietary SimpleTap interface; you’ll be able to control the basic functions of your computer from this menu, including the brightness of the display and the audio settings, as well as any hot keys and web pages you may want to bookmark. Additionally, you can use your fingers instead of the Multi-touch Touchpad or the TrackPoint joystick to navigate around Windows, though we found that using touch to hit small Desktop icons was a chore.

The SimpleTap Menu, which pops up when you tap the screen twice with both your index- and middle-finger

This Simple Tap feature reminds us a lot of the iPhone home screen, with each transparent square tile functioning as its own application. In essence, SimpleTap accomodates new customizable hot keys that are not embedded into the hardware, and can be switched out and utilized in any manner the user prefers.You canadd custom application links or even bookmarks to your favorite websites.

The SimpleTap menu icons can be arranged however you like. Some buttons bring up other options, like the volume menu in the top left corner.

Though it seems to be a bit of an overkill for a laptop that does not have a reversible swivel LCD screen, we can see how the touchscreen could benefit professionals that do not have the luxury of having an external mouse or a tablet with them at all times—like graphic designers, doctors, and engineers using Auto Cad. The screen however, isn't a pen-based digitizer, so you'll have to rely on your fingers.

SimpleTap is currently still in beta mode and the multi-touch gestures are not supported by all programs. Regardless, the new T400s comes equipped with Windows 7 and the Microsoft Touch Pack, which includes a handful of nifty games, a touch enabled screen saver, and the Microsoft Surface Collage, which allows you to arrange your photos into a collage for your desktop. Though it may seem a little out of place to include a touch screen on a non-tablet computer, we’re excited to see if more laptop makers will adopt this hardware in the future.