NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Sungju TangoX Nano

Sungju TangoX Nano

The Koreans have the up and coming release of the Sungju TangoX Nano Touchscreen UMPC to look forward to which, apart from sporting extremely compact proportions also comes with in-built Skype/VoIP capabilities courtesy of a removable integrated handset.

The TangoX Nano has a VIA C7-M ULV processor running at 1.2GHz, 1 gig of DDR2, your choice of a 40 or 80 gigabyte HDD, HD audio, a 7” 800×480 touch-screen. There is also a 4-in-1 memory card reader, Ethernet NIC, WiFi in A/B/G flavors, 2 USB 2.0 ports, DVI out, and the removable, yet built in, Skype/VoIP phone that you see next to the screen.

It is mere millimeters larger than the Eee and weighs an unnoticeable .05Kg more than the Eee. Measuring in at a mere 270 x 171 x 29.4 mm and weighing just 0.92kg. No word on price, but it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to get one outside of Korea anyways.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - VIA OPENBOOK MINI-NOTE

VIA OpenBook Mini-Note

The VIA OpenBook mini-note, intended to promote its C7-M ULV based Ultra Mobile Platform and greater video playback support, in a compact and stylish clamshell form factor that weighs just 1kg. Combining the low-voltage and economical processor with the company’s own VX800 digital media IGP chipset, the OpenBook has an 8.9-inch screen and a flexible internal interface for high-speed broadband wireless connectivity that provides customers with the ability to select from a choice of WiMAX™, HSDPA and EV-DO/W-CDMA modules appropriate to their market. In addition, under a unique collaborative approach, the CAD files of the external panels of the reference design are offered for downloadunder a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license to give customers such as OEMs, system integrators, and broadband service providers greater freedom in tailoring the look and feel of their device to meet the diverse needs of their target markets. The VIA OpenBook measures 240 x175 x 36.2mm, also has dual 2-megapixel webcams (internal and on the outer lid) together with up to 2GB of RAM, which should cater reasonably for the choice of Vista Basic, XP or various Linux flavors. It has three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port and audio-in/audio-out jacks, as well as a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/SDIO/MMC/MS). Both traditional hard-drives as well as SSDs are listed, and battery life is up to three hours courtesy of a 4-cell 2600mA lithium-ion pack. A second wireless connectivity module provides WiFi, Bluetooth and optional AGPS.
The VIA OpenBook supports a wide range of operating system environments, including Microsoft Windows Vista Basic, Microsoft Windows XP, and various Linux distributions. The device features up to 2GB DDR2 DRAM and can be equipped with a choice of hard disk drive and solid state storage options.
Featuring a 4-cell 2600mA lithium-ion battery, the VIA OpenBook delivers up to three hours of battery life.

Enabling Global Broadband Wireless Coverage
The VIA OpenBook reference design has a unique internal interface for the addition of a choice of extended connectivity modules, enabling customers to offer HSDPA, EV-DO/W-CDMA, and WiMAX connectivity options to the their device that are appropriate for their target markets, and to forge deeper relationships with local carriers and service providers, creating new business models for the mini-note segment.

Making Customization More Accessible
The CAD files for the external panels of the VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design are being released under the Creative Commons Share Alike Attribution license, giving customers the flexibility to bring their own innovative style and brand value propositions to the mini-note market segment. Through this flexible approach, customers can reduce product development costs and speed time-to-market. The CAD files can be downloaded from the www.viaopenbook.com website.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - ACER ASPIRE ONE

Acer Aspire One

The ACER ASPIRE ONE initially available in blue and white colour, competes directly with Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) and small notebooks such as the HP Mini-note and the Asus Eee PC. Presented an all-new communication device designed to make online activities fast, simple and cool.

With a specifically optimized software interface to support connectivity needs, the ACER ASPIRE ONE measure just 9.8-inches x 6.7-inches x 1.14-inches and weighs a little more than two pounds (0.9 Kg) with a battery life of up to six hours.
It offers a simple Linux interface with pre-installed software separated by functions and presented in four distinct areas on the screen – Connect, Works, Fun and Files. The ACER ASPIRE ONE comes standard with 802.11b/g WiFi built-in and in the future may be configure with built-in 3G wireless technology.

The ACER ASPIRE ONE has an 8.9-inch CrystalBrite LED backlit display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. Integrated in the top of the screen is an Acer CrystalEye webcam for live video streaming, video chats and conferences.

The ACER ASPIRE ONE is equipped with Intel Atom processor, Linpus Linux Lite or Windows XP Home, and comes with 512MB or 1 GB of RAM memory installed.
There are two alternatives for data storage: a NAND flash module of 8GB or an 80GB internal HDD. In addition the ACER ASPIRE ONE reads five different types of memory card – Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD-Picture Card. One Mail software suite lets users manage up to six email accounts with a single application interface, including office accounts. A small icon to the right of the message shows the appropriate mail account.

The ACER ASPIRE ONE uses Messenger for Instant Messaging, an application that allows users to simultaneously access Skype, Microsoft Messenger and various other instant messaging services. The software can be used with the integrated video camera for instant video-chats and video conferences.
Additional software such as OpenOffice 2.3, one Mail, Messenger, Acer eRecovery Management, Acer Launch Manager, Adobe Reader, McAfee Internet Security Suite, Microsoft Office Trial 2007 are also installed.
This new ultra mobile PC will be available in early Q3 through Acer authorized resellers and selected retailers throughout North America, with pricing beginning at US$379.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - DELL MINI INSPIRON

Dell Mini Inspiron

Upcoming mini laptop or UMPC from Dell that we got the scoop on last month. Dell source coughed up the info that the mini notebook will be called the Dell E, which is an 8.9-inch competitor to the similarly named Asus Eee. Then there's the E Slim, which is a 12.1-inch screen, 0.8-inch thick competitor to the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300.
The system has 3 USB ports, a card reader, VGA out, Ethernet, and a “red candy shell”. From the looks of the pictures it has a decent-size keyboard and a trackpad with two mouse buttons below it. No word on the pricing, CPU, memory, or even the hard drive.
Dell's further segmenting the notebook with E Classic, E Video and E Video+, which has more RAM, flash storage, webcam and Bluetooth. E Slim will get WiMax shortly after its original release date as well. The smaller Dell E looks to start at $299 in August, whereas the E Slim still has no price, but is supposed to hit August-September.
Will you wait for the Dell Inspiron mini-notebook?
Source Info: laptopmag, gizmodo.

GIGABYTE M528 MID and M700 UMPC

The emphasis for the Best Choice of COMPUTEX TAIPEI Award has always been on technology, innovation and market potential. This year, in addition to experts from the industry, academia and research sectors, the judging panel included experts from the international design community and international awards committee. According to the panel, this year's criteria were more extensive and reflective to the current industry trends, providing better recognition of the participants’ creativity, technology and product features. Among the 550 candidate products, 39 were ultimately chosen as the best to be showcased at COMPUTEX2008.

In COMPUTEX2008, over 240 vendors and 550 products, a 26% increment from last year's enrollment, competed for the 7th Best Choice of COMPUTEX TAIPEI Award, and 125 products made it through the preliminary selection. Among the final 39 products winning the Best Choice Award, GIGABYTE alone includes 5, consisting of 2 mobile devices -- M528 and M700. GIGABYTE's M528 Mobile Internet Device (MID) and M700 Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) had previously won the 2008 Taiwan Excellence Award. In a demonstration of their high quality, the two products went on to receive the Best Choice of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2008 Award as well.

GIGABYTE MID M528 has a stylish, simplistic design, elegant appearance, and is compact in size. Equipped with a 4.8” LCD display and weighing only at 340g, it is convenient to be carried around. M528 provides excellent performance. With a built-in 3.0M pixels camera for entertainment and a 300K pixels webcam for video conference, information comes as easy as a grip. In addition, the wireless communication design of M528 allows users to connect to the Internet and to process e-mails and messages at anytime. Meanwhile, the QWERTY slider keyboard and handwriting recognition device make e-mails replying easy and convenient. M528 also has a built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) for consumers to navigate their surroundings at anytime and anywhere, enhancing the experiences in the stylish slider with a single finger and the superior performance with both hands.

GIGABYTE M700 is a newly integrated, multi-functional 3C product with an elegant simplistic design in fashionable ivory. In addition to the 7” LED backlight display, ultra lightweight body of 650g, M700 is equipped with a built-in expandable Express Card slot supporting both HSPDA and WiMAX.Consumers can conduct both video web communication and instant-message sharing with friends through the unique-designed twin-lens camera. Moreover, a built-in GPS, brand new touch screen operation, and robust multi-media features in M700 provide users with a variety of selection of operating modes, creating infinite possibilities to experience the conveniences brought by modern technology.

The Best Choice of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2008 Award ceremony will be held at 10:00AM on June 3rd (Tuesday) at “Booth Section M” on the 4th floor of the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Nangang Exhibition Hall. GIGABYTE's award-winning M528 MID and M700 UMPC will be on display on the 1st floor of the same location for consecutive 5 days (June 3rd ~June 7th) during COMPUTEX2008 exhibition. We look forward to your visit and comments.

NOTEBOOK UMPC REVIEW TOSHIBA PORTEGE R400

NOTEBOOK UMPC REVIEW TOSHIBA PORTEGE R400

Design and Features
What a difference a year can make. Toshiba’s R400 made quite the impression when it was launched — a small, lightweight, brilliantly sensitive tablet that packed in features with some serious style.

Now, it’s boxy and large for what’s offered inside, and is seriously out of style and overpriced. The tiny, super-recessed touch pad. The squishy mouse buttons. The keyboard that flexes in the middle whenever you type. The lack of optical drive, despite the size of the laptop and that the smaller Portege R500 has one. The tablet-screen that only rotates one way. The old PCMCIA slot, and Windows Sideshow module — a technology that has died a death of a thousand non-adoptions since the R400’s initial release. And finally, most horrendously — the hardware has not been updated in over a year, all that differs is the insertion of a Telstra-certified HSPDA module, which apparently justifies an AU$400 increase over the RRP from a year ago.

The tablet screen is still fantastically sensitive and accurate, although when using the stylus it feels a bit like a ballpoint pen with a ball that occasionally sticks, meanwhile the screen coating feels uneven and rough in some patches and smooth in others.

It’s still a 12.1-inch, 1,280×800 tablet, with the OS auto-switching the display between portrait and landscape modes when you flip the screen around and convert from laptop to tablet mode. A button can be held down on the screen to rotate the screen in whichever direction you’re holding it, which works fine, so long as the end pointing away from you is inclined upwards. While this presents no issues for two of the rotations, when in secondary portrait mode (with the right of the screen facing away from the fingerprint scanner) the 3G module disables itself, and when in secondary landscape mode (with the top of the screen facing the fingerprint scanner), the fonts are fuzzy and unclear.

Also mounted on the screen is a lock button for the OS (the equivalent of CTRL+ALT+DEL), a mail shortcut button, a mini joystick which emulates the keyboard arrow buttons and can be clicked to emulate an “Enter” key strike, and the aforementioned fingerprint scanner. To the right of this, built into the base, is a single speaker. Yes, this thing packs mono, something that is outperformed even by the diminutive EeePC and MiniNote.

In terms of connectivity only two USB ports are offered, along with VGA out, headphone and microphone jacks, and a gigabit Ethernet port. Wi-Fi is bundled in as well, supporting 802.11a/b/g.

Performance
As mentioned, the specs have not changed for a year — a 1.2GHZ Core Duo (yes, Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo) U2500 powers the installed Vista Business OS along well enough with 2GB RAM, and the integrated Intel GMA950 graphics chipset is acceptable enough for business use. The rotational speed of the 80GB, 4,200rpm hard drive is a blight, but nothing show stopping. This totalled to a PCMark05 score of 2,184, and the expected poor showing of 216 in 3DMark06, making it a clear business machine.

Turning off all the power-saving features, setting screen brightness and volume to maximum and playing an XviD file saw the battery on the R400 lasting one hour and 51 minutes, which isn’t amazing, but is certainly passable — we can only assume the digitiser pulls a good whack more power than a usual screen.

The biggest problem is that all of this old technology is offered for the ludicrously absurd sum of AU$4,180 — both Toshiba’s design and price have stayed firmly in the past, while the rest of the world has gone rushing past.

NOTEBOOK UMPC REVIEW TOSHIBA PORTEGE R400

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW FUJITSU-SIEMENS ESPRIMO MOBILE D9500

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW FUJITSU-SIEMENS ESPRIMO MOBILE D9500

Fujitsu-Siemens’ announcement of the expansion of its Esprimo range peaks with the high-end D9500, a professional notebook computer targeted at the mid-range market. It’s a mid-sized desktop replacement model with a 15.4-inch WXGA screen, weighs in at a fairly svelte 2.5kg and offers the latest in wireless connectivity.

It certainly seems to be designed for the professional market. A gunmetal silver finish on the outside and black interior aren’t particularly inspiring from an aesthetics point of view, and at first glance the designers seem to have taken a minimalist approach to the control set. You won’t find much in the way of shortcuts or extra buttons dotted around the keyboard, which simply provides you with an on/off switch and shortcut to the wireless connectivity activation panel.

In the latter you’ll find Intel Pro Wireless 4965 a/g/n LAN, Bluetooth 2.0 and the latest UMTS/HSDPA mobile data technologies, so you should have no trouble jumping online or connecting to external wireless devices on the move. It’s handy to be able to activate and deactivate any or all of these connections via a simple shortcut control, making it easier to prevent unnecessary power-drain as well as increasing security where necessary.

Elsewhere you’ll find an Intel Core Duo T7700 2.4GHz processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 120GB hard drive. There’s also a DVD super multi drive present, although in terms of multimedia prowess we have to question the D9500’s potential. The screen, while clear enough in low light conditions, isn’t particularly vibrant even at the highest brightness setting. It’s also quite susceptible to glare from direct sunlight or interior lighting.

We were also less than impressed by the built-in speakers, which sit under the front lip of the notebook, a position that no doubt contributes towards sound getting lost during operation; they’re all but useless in any but the quietest environment.

Being aimed at business users this shouldn’t be a big problem for most people, but in today’s competitive market we believe it’s important that notebooks be built for as many potential uses as possible. This point is further highlighted by the integrated X3100 Intel graphics, which puts gaming out of the picture as well.

But when viewed in its intended light, the D9500 is a perfectly capable machine with some impressive wireless connectivity. Wired ports are few - four USB 2.0, VGA and S-video out and the appropriate network and modem connections don’t exactly scream adaptability - but Fujitsu-Siemens does laud the addition of a common port replicator to aid transition between home and office environments, although this must be picked up separately.

Finally, you’ll get around 8 hours of battery life provided you attach the optional second battery, which, considering the lack of high-demand components, is fairly middle-of-the-road.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW FUJITSU-SIEMENS ESPRIMO MOBILE D9500

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW AMILO SA 3650

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW AMILO SA 3650

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW AMILO SA 3650

• Next-generation AMD dual-core mobile processor technology
• genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic or Premium
• 13.3-inch WXGA display with BilliantView technology
• ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 graphics (shared memory)
• 250 or 320 GB hard disk capacity
• Up to 4 GB memory*
• Integrated SATA SuperMulti-format DVD burner (with double layer support)
• AMILOcam (low-light technology, 1.3 Mpixel) and digital array microphone for video chatting
• Integrated WLAN, LAN (10/100/1000)
• Interfaces: DVI-I, eSATA, USB 2.0, ExpressCard, S/PDIF, 15-in-1 card reader, 8x lane lasso
• Integrated Bluetooth 2.1
• Special Features: silent mode function, spill-proof keyboard, supporting AMILO GraphicBooster
• Weight: 2.4 kg

The integrated next-generation AMD X2 dual-core mobile processor technology delivers multi-tasking performance for ultra-slim and light-notebooks. This means extended battery life, no need of any plugs and the freedom of answering your e-mail or surfing the Internet when and wherever you are. Just flip open your AMILO and get connect to the world instantly.
Wireless LAN is standard for Fujitsu Siemens Computers notebooks. Whether you are on your way or you do not like any cable tangle in your home network. Additionally high-definition video, mega pixel photos, gigabyte song collections demand faster services and bigger WLAN pipes. The so called Draft-N next generation Wireless-N standard delivers you the needed performance: it’s up to five times faster and expands wireless coverage over the 802.11a/b/g standard.
The spill-proof keyboard protects your notebook against damage caused by accidental spills. It has a tray-shape all around the keyboard with a capacity of up to 50 cc. So you have enough time to save your data and shut down your notebook to protect your investment and your precious memories.
With its integrated AMILOcam, this notebook is for comfortable video telephony without any additional accessories. Your partner’s image appears perfectly on your display, even in dim conditions thanks to the low-light technology. BrilliantView technology enables wider viewing angles and is backlit with LEDs for exceptional brightness.
The standardized integrated Bluetooth® provides the possibility to connect and exchange information wirelessly between devices by radio communication system. So synchronize the calendar of your mobile phone and your AMILO notebook without any cable or use a wireless Bluetooth® headset to listen to the music collection stored on your laptop.
Just click on your silent mode button and the fan noise is reduced distinctly by clocking down the processor speed and the graphic card. You will be able to dedicate your full attention to your work or enjoy listening to music on your notebook in best and undisturbed quality.
Don’t just play games – step inside them. With BrilliantView screen technology, white is even whiter, colors appear more vivid, and everything is sharp and clear. This makes the screen easier to view - even outdoors. BrilliantView puts you right in the middle of the action.
You can watch and burn DVDs very easily with the super multi DVD drive. It also lets you pack an incredible 8.5 GB of photos, videos, music or files on a single disk - anything you store on your notebook you can burn to maximum-capacity DVD.
The unique 15-in-1 flash card reader lets you instantly access music, photos and videos stored on 15 different types of memory card. Just pop one in and you’re ready to watch, listen and enjoy. The 15-in-1 card reader supports SD, MS, MMC, MSPRO and xD picture card storage cards and add-
itionally 10 further formats via adapter.

* DISCLAIMER: Up to 1 GB may not be available with 32-bit operating systems due to system resource requirements if system is preinstalled with 4096 MB RAM.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW AMILO SA 3650

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - MSI Turbobook GX600

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - MSI Turbobook GX600

Turbo buttons were all the rage 10-15 years ago. They allowed users of old 386 or 486 desktop PCs to enjoy a quick speed boost with a minimum of fuss. However, we can’t ever remember seeing such a system on a portable machine — until today that is.

The MSI Turbobook GX600 has a built-in turbo button that the manufacturer says can instantly increase its performance by as much as 20 percent, and cut boot times by approximately 50 percent. But does it work? Are there any drawbacks to this AU$2299 machine? Is it ultimately pointless? Let’s find out.

Design
The Turbobook GX600 looks gorgeous with the lid closed. The glossy black finish gives it a modern aesthetic that is in line with what the rest of the industry seems to be doing. Unfortunately, it all goes to pot when you open the lid.

The main problem is the presence of two garish red “vents” on either side of the machine just above the keyboard. The right-most grille is surrounded by an equally vomitous aluminium panel that looks really out of place. It does, however, serve to highlight the presence of the power button, Wi-Fi switch and the aforementioned turbo button.

The turbo button, the dodgy silver panelling and the off switch live at the top right of the laptop, We have major reservations about the keyboard and mouse on the GX600. Most 15-inch laptops have decent keyboards, but that isn’t the case here. The GX600 uses a US-style keyboard, which has a painfully small enter key, an even smaller right shift key and cursor buttons that are so miniscule they might as well not be there.

It’s possible to get used to the rubbish keys with practice, but if you survive that, you’ll then have to contend with the mouse trackpad. This, we felt, was too wide. It’s all too easy to make contact with the trackpad with the heel of your palm as you type, which triggers a mouse button press. As you can imagine, clicking the cursor in the middle of a Word document causes text to go all over the place. It’s possible to temporarily disable the trackpad, but this requires two separate keypresses and is a pain in the backside.

The GX600 has a good array of ports including HDMI and D-Sub video output On a positive note, the GX600 does have a good array of ports. We like the fact it has front-facing audio jacks, which makes it nice and convenient for connecting a mic and headphones; there are four USB ports (two on the left and two on the right), and three separate video outputs: HDMI, D-Sub and S-Video.

Features
The Turbobook GX600 uses an Intel T8300 CPU running at a default frequency of 2.4GHz. As promised, we were able to overclock the CPU to 2.8GHz at the press of a button — but only while the laptop was connected to the mains. Unfortunately, the 3GB of DDR2 667MHz memory can’t be overclocked in the same manner, nor can the mid-range GeForce 8600M GT graphics card.

The GX600 really doesn’t make the most of its 15.4-inch screen. The quality of images is fine for the most part, but the viewing angle is rather limited. The display quality has a tendency to deteriorate if you’re not looking at it from a dead central position. This is especially true along the vertical axis.

The GX600 uses a 15.4-inch display. Our review sample shipped with a panel running at a native resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels, but MSI says final retail models will run at 1,680 x 1,050 pixels, which is good news. We can’t talk about image quality on those final samples — since we’ve yet to see one — but we were pleased with the colour reproduction, contrast and speed of the panel used on our pre-production sample.

There’s plenty of storage in the Turbobook GX600. It packs a 320GB hard drive, which is ample space to house most people’s collection of films and games. For reference, the average standard definition DivX movie is approximately 0.7GB, while games such as F.E.A.R. take up around 7.5GB. If you do run out of space, you can always back up your data to a separate USB hard drive or via the DVD rewriter nestling in the left side of the laptop.

The keyboard and mouse look usable, but in reality they’re very tricky to get to grips with MSI also includes a 1.3-megapixel webcam just above the screen, and an optional Freeview TV tuner, although our review sample didn’t include the latter. It did, however, include all the usual extras you’d expect from a laptop sporting the Intel Centrino badge, most notably a wireless network adaptor that supports 802.11b/g and the high-speed Draft-N wireless protocols. Ethernet is also supported and is of the Gigabit (1,000Mbps) variety — not the slower, more common 10/100Mbps type.

Software is relatively scarce, but you do get a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium edition, which may or may not be a consolation depending on your view on the OS. We happen to think it’s not as bad as many people make out.

Performance
With a name like “MSI Turbobook GX600″, you’d expect this laptop to be brutally quick. It’s by no means the quickest we’ve seen, particularly when it comes to gaming, but it’s quick enough to spar with the fastest Centrino laptops on the market. It achieved a PCMark 2005 score of 5,409 when running in standard mode, and a far more impressive 6,070 once we launched into turbo. That’s not too far off the 6,616 achieved by the more expensive Alienware Area-51 M9750.

Its 3D gaming ability isn’t as impressive, though. It scored 3,807 in 3DMark 2006, and hitting the turbo button didn’t make much difference — with turbo enabled, it scored 3,870. For reference, the current crop of high-end gaming laptops will score approximately twice as much as this.

Battery life on the Turbobook GX600 isn’t particularly inspiring, but then we never expected it to be. It lasted 1 hour 5 minutes in our intensive Battery Eater test — a figure you can also expect to achieve should you decide to run CPU-intensive applications while away from the mains.

With all this talk of red-hot turbo action, there must be a mention of temperature. We’re pleased to say the laptop doesn’t get particularly hot or noisy. The temperature increases once you hit the turbo button, and while we don’t recommend using it on your lap, it won’t exactly burn a hole through your table. System boot times were the same regardless of whether the turbo button was switched on or off.

Conclusion
The Turbobook GX600 is a mixed bag. It’s great for anyone who does CPU-intensive work, as its overclocking feature works brilliantly and vastly improves core performance. Its graphics performance is rather average, however, so anyone who plays games might be better off with an Alienware M9750 or Dell XPS M1730.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - MSI Turbobook GX600

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Gateway P-6831 FX

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Gateway P-6831 FX

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Gateway P-6831 FX

It’s a given fact that computers have been getting smaller since the days of vacuum tubes and ENIAC. What was once a glorified calculator that took up a space the size of a football field can now fit in something the size of your watch. Tasks that used to take months to compute on a mainframe can now be calculated in minutes on a midrange desktop system. Even in a relatively short period of time, we still see progression so that your top-end desktop gaming powerhouse from two or three years ago can be surpassed by a modern laptop.

That’s all well and good, but a big problem a lot of people have with gaming notebooks is that their size relative to typical laptops is rather large, making them less convenient to carry around. Relatively short battery life is another drawback. But perhaps the biggest drawback is a very simple one: price.

We recently looked at the Dell XPS M1730, which is arguably the fastest gaming notebook currently available. With its 8800M GTX SLI graphics chips and overclockable Penryn X9000 CPU, you get performance that surpasses most desktops from 18 months ago, or if you prefer performance that will match a reasonably configured midrange desktop system. If you put together a Core 2 Duo E8400 system with something between GeForce 9600 GT 512 SLI and 8800 GT 512 SLI graphics, you should have roughly comparable performance. The problem is that such a desktop system can be assembled for less than $1500, whereas the powerful XPS M1730 costs about three times as much.

What would be really nice is if we had a viable midrange gaming laptop alternative — something that offers reasonable performance for under $1500. We’re not talking about any of the junk shipping with integrated graphics, or low-end stuff like GeForce 8400 or even 8700M GT. And while they’re reasonably fast, even single GPU 8800M GTX notebooks like the AVADirect (Clevo) M570RU start at over $2000. How about a laptop with graphics performance that can at least match the GeForce 9600 GT? After all, the 9600 GT can be had for a mere $150 and it doesn’t seem to consume that much power; how hard can it be to put something like that into a laptop?

In fact, it’s not really all that difficult, and NVIDIA launched exactly that sort of chip in late 2007 with the GeForce 8800M GTS. It has 64 Stream Processors, just like the 9600 GT. Most of the gaming laptops have opted for the more powerful (and more expensive) 8800M GTX with its 96 SPs, so we were quite interested to see exactly how much performance you give up by going with the 8800M GTS. Unfortunately, we can’t really do an apples-to-apples comparison here, because Gateway didn’t stop at cutting down the GPU. In the system we received, they also trimmed the CPU performance quite a bit, dropping all the way to a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5450. That certainly means CPU performance isn’t going to match up well against something like a 2.8GHz X9000; what we want to find out is whether it can still provide adequate performance.

If you’ve ever looked at buying a gaming notebook, you have likely been very disappointed in the offerings that cost less than $2000. In fact, up until Gateway dropped the P-6831 FX on the mobile gaming market, we honestly haven’t seen anything that would even qualify as a good midrange gaming notebook. Gateway didn’t just break a $2000 price barrier, however. Available at locations like Best Buy for a mere $1350 (and currently with a $100 rebate), the P-6831 FX completely redefines the midrange gaming notebook. Let’s look at how they managed to do this.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Gateway P-6831 FX

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Notus A12

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Notus A12

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Notus A12

Zepto’s Notus A12 weighs only 1.37 kg and is therewith certainly lighter than many other notebooks. It is also well equipped, with Bluetooth 2.0, Draft-N-WLAN up to 300MBit/s, 6.5 millimeter thin 12.1″ display with LED back light, TPM module for encryption, flat magnesium case and a battery that keeps it running for quite a while.
The Zepto Notus A12 integrates core components like processor and chipset of the UMPC class and thus offers the relatively low performance of a UMPC. However, it also inherited the very low energy consumption of computer dwarfs. On the other hand, the Zepto Notus A12 is regarding seize, weight and display definitely a very light subnotebook, the displays of UMPCs’ are smaller by far.
Note that the Zepto Notus A12 is a notebook that is based on the Getac 8212 barebone made by the specialist for industry notebooks Getac (Mitac). According to Getac, the Zepto Notus A12 is a “durable notebook”, which means it is durable and resistant against environmental impacts. Depending on the configuration, it is thus comparable with the Rock Pegasus 210.
The Zepto Notus A12 deserves the title subnotebook. With a size of 29.5 x 21.0 x 3.4 centimeter it fits into every briefcase. An expensive, but very robust magnesium alloy is used for the outer parts, which saves space, reduces weight, and at the same time improves stability. The result is a feather light but very durable subnotebook with 1.37 kilogram.
If the display lid is shut it lies neatly on the base unit and doesen’t need an extra transport hooks. The hinges do that job and keep the lid safely shut. In this state the notebook looks like it could be carried around like a folded newspaper. We can easily open the only 6.5 millimeter thin notebook lid with our small finger.
Comforting for travelers: Keyboard, touch pad and other sensitive components like the hard disk are protected against splash water, vibrations, falling, and shocks. The workmanship of Zepto’s Notus A12 can only be described as outstanding.

The interface equipment of the Zepto Notus A12 consists only of essential ports and connections, like earphone and microphone ports, three USB 2.0 ports and an analog VGA connection. Even stereo speakers are not included for weight reasons, every gram counts for subnotebooks. A tiny mono speaker has to be sufficient for sound output. At least a PCMCIA card slot for PC expansion cards and a 4-in-1 card reader (MMC, MS, MS Pro, SD) are included.

In order to satisfy people who travel a lot, the Notus A12 integrates the fastest cable and wireless network standards available. Gigabit Ethernet and WLAN (802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) with up to 300MBit/s, as well as fast Bluetooth 2.0+EDR should be enough for the most demanding user. An analog 56K modem is also built-in. A connection for a docking station and fast internet via UMTS/HSDPA would have been nice too, but are not included.

Fingerprint scanner, Smartcard reader on the flat front side, and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) make the life of data thieves harder. Typical Zepto, the customer can select any operating system, and is not restricted to a specific one. An external USB-DVD burner is also available for 91 Euro. Drivers for the Notus A12 are at the time of this writing only available for Windows Vista 32 Bit on Zepto’s support site.

Two hot keys facilitates controlling Zepto’s Notus A12 a bit. The left P1 key can be set to any function the user desires, while the right Eco key switches to energy saving, or back to normal mode. Keyboard, power switch and hot keys are protected against splash water to keep the damage from accidents with liquids as low as possible. According to Zepto, the Notus A12 should be appropriately protected against infiltrating liquids.

A keyboard with 83 keys is integrated into the Zepto Notus A12. The main keys are with 1.2 to 1.3 x 1.4 centimeter effective size surprisingly large for a subnotebook. But the space key shrunk to 6 centimeter. Despite this, the keys of the Notus A12 are satisfactory. The notebook keyboard works relatively quiet and typing feels good. Nevertheless, we mistyped at the beginning, because the left Fn key was moved. Pressure point and stroke are clear and short, and there is no noticeable bending of the keyboard.

The touch pad is easy to use too, and its workmanship can keep up with the keyboard without problems. Its size of 6.1 x 3.4 centimeter seems pretty large for a subnotebook, but the actual touch sensitive area is with 5.0 x 2.8 centimeter much smaller than expected. Especially on the sides one frequently hits the inactive border area, without moving the mouse arrow at all. Supporting haptics, for example a noticeable border, would have been helpful. The two touch pad keys are responsive and appear optically as well as mechanically reliable and work quietly.

The only 6.5 millimeter thin 12.1″ WXGA LCD display of the Zepto Notus A12 is outstanding. Toshiba produced the panel LTD121EW6S and used an energy saving LED back light . The resolution of the glossy display is with 1280 x 800 pixel “good” for a subnotebook. Unfortunately it is not very bright, with only 135.7cd/m2. On the other hand, it becomes obvious that LCDs with LED back light have better overall illumination the lower their maximum brightness. Our Notus A12 achieved a “very good” 88.7 percent illumination. This means that the brightest spot in the upper center of the 12.1″ screen with 142.1cd/m2 is only 13% brighter than the darkest area in the left upper corner with 126.0cd/m2. The glossy display manages with a black value of 0.8cd/m2 a contrast ratio of 176:1, which is not really impressive. Additionally, the otherwise colourful picture looks a little bit hazy.

The overall performance of the Notus is significantly below Core 2 Duo level. This doesen’t come as a surprise, since the Notus A12 uses energy saving hardware components of mini computers. Intel introduced the Intel Ultra Mobile Platform 2007, with the code name “McCaslin” for MIDs (internet capable mini computers) and UMPCs, at the IDF in 2007. One of the main advantages of components based on that platform is the extremely low energy consumption during typical UMPC usage of less than 10 watt. Usual notebooks need far more, but also offer far more performance.

Zepto’s Notus A12 is powered by a ULV 945GU-express chipset (codename “Little River”) and a A110 single core processor (codename “Stealey”). The A110 is a Pentium M (”Dothan”) based on outdated 90nm technology with a small 512KByte L2-cache and a clock rate of up to 800MHz, as well as a front side bus of 400MHz. It is obvious that low energy consumption of less than 2 watt were more important than performance. Our Notus A12 also contained 1024MByte DDR2 RAM , which is already the maximum possible amount and certainly not too much for Vista.

Instead of the small flash memory UMPCs usually use, the Zepto Notus A12 contains a 80GByte hard disk in 1.8″ format. The MK-8009GAH made by Toshiba is a 4200r/min hard disk and manages an average transfer rate of19.4MB/s . Not very much, but again: Less is more when it comes to energy consumption and weight. The MK-8009GAH is only 59 gram light and draws between 0.07 to 1.8 watt. An optical drive is not included with the Zepto Notus A12, but an external burner can be ordered for 91 Euro together with the Notus A12.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Notus A12

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Znote 3415W

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Znote 3415W

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Znote 3415W
These days Zepto entices customers by a big price reduction for its Znote 3415W ‘Power’. Besides a Penryn-CPU T9500 and a huge RAM capacity of 4GB also the mass storage capacity is big. The 200 GB hard disk runs at a revolution speed of 7,200 rpm, and a GeForce 8600M GT ensures high performance graphics. All aboard!

The Znote 3415W by Zepto looks modern and elegant. However, due to its size of 36.5 cm x 27.0 cm x 3.9 to 4.5 cm, it appears to be a little bit bulky, yet, not extraordinary for this notebook category. Furthermore, with a total weight of 2.9 kg the Znote 3415W is everything but not one of the lightest of the popular 15.4 inch multimedia notebooks.

The silver-grey-black metallic lid is one of the highlights of this 15.4 inch notebook. However, it demands intensive cleaning every now and then, because this finish is sensitive to fingerprints and dust, which are always visible after usual use. But, that’s not all. It is unfortunately also sensitive to tiny scratches.

But, this glossy lid works without problems. Despite a transport hook is missing, the lid is safely kept close. It is more or less non-pressure-sensitive if the force is moderate. The pressure test does not lead to distortions on the screen. The two firm and self-locking hinges are able to support any opening angle without problems. Furthermore, there is hardly any see-saw after adjusting the opening angle.

The inner part of the Znote 3415W is simple black without striking lights or glitter. Only the silver illuminated power switch and web cam with chrome surround attract attention. But, the touch-sensitive hot keys in front of the screen and the fingerprint reader are rather decent. Furthermore, the position of the indicator LEDs is disadvantageous . The are hardly visible, if you do not leave your usual working position.

The interface equipment is standard for a 15.4 inch multimedia notebook. It consists of four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire (i.LINK, IEEE 1394), audio ports, S-Video out, and VGA. The two USB 2.0 ports at the left notebook side are high power ports. If some peripherals require more power, you can switch this feature on by pressing the power USB button and, these higher-power devices, e.g., iPods or external hard disks, obtain more power through the USB host. You can even recharge an iPod via this port if the notebook is turned off.

A modern ExpressCard/54 slot and a 3-in-1 card reader are also standard features of today’s 15.4 inch multimedia notebooks. But, the fingerprint reader, which is located at the right palm rest area and makes user authentication without password possible, is not. The built-in 2 MP web cam does not only allow video chats with friends. Because it can also distinguish faces, it allows access control by videos. In spite of the otherwise good interface equipment there is one point of critique left: A digital video out (DVI, HDMI) is missing.

Wireless data communication is possible via Gigabit LAN, which is today’s fastest wired LAN connection - provided the remote devices supports it too. The usual modem interface is of course also available. Stable wireless communications is either implemented by Intel’s PRO/Wireless 4965AGN or Zepto’s Wpro WLAN module (AzurWave/Ralink). Both of them support 802.11 Draft-n, which allows transfer rates of up to 300 MBit/s. Bluetooth 2.0, which makes modern wireless telephony possible, is available for 28 Euros extra. However, a UMTS/HSDPA option is not available.

Frequently used system function can be user-friendly launched by seven hot keys. Two of them are left beside the keyboard, one of enables recharging the battery to 70% of its capacity within one hour. The other one allows energizing the two USB ports at the left side even if the notebook is turned off. However, we checked whether we could recharge a Trekstor player with hard disk via this port, but it did not work. The other five hot keys, touch-sensitive keys in front of the screen, launch the default e-mail application, the default web browser, WoW Video/Audio, and control the sound system. The indicator LEDs cannot be easily read off.

The Znote 3415W is equipped with a matte black keyboard with 87 keys. Their size is 1.5 cm x 1.3 cm, so they are a little bit smaller than those of desktop keyboards. But, the keys are comparably tightly attached to the base construction. The key travel is short and the feedback firm - a matter of taste. The big keys, e.g., space-bar and enter clatter clearly audible. At first typing mistakes are likely, because the keyboard layout does not follow the usual standard: E.g., the left ‘Fn’ key and the ‘Ctrl’ key are in reverse order and the ‘Del’ key is not totally at the right top. The area of the ‘9′ and the ‘F10′ key slightly gives when typing.

The touch pad has a size of 7.0 cm x 3.7 cm, which is rather big. But, controlling the mouse pointer by touch pad is difficult: It is not sufficiently sensitive, so, it is difficult to precisely control the mouse pointer. Also an optically marked scroll area is missing. But, both of the touch pad buttons have a user-friendly short travel, however, they are unfortunately loud.

Contrary to the specifications published at Zepto’s web site, the reviewed Znote 3415W was neither equipped with a WSXGA screen nor with a WXGA+ screen. Instead it came with a 15.4 inch WXGA screen (39.12 cm) with a 16:10 aspect ratio. This panel was made by Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (CPT, CLAA154WB034A) and is a reflecting display. The average brightness of it is 160.2 cd/m², which is just good. But, due to its reflecting surface the Znote 3415W is not really fit for outdoor usage.

But, the illumination is 88.6 percent, which is quite even. The brightest area is 175 cd/m² in the centre of the screen, the darkest is 155.1 cd/m² in the left top area. So, the Znote3415W is one of the top notebooks of its category here. This gets most obvious when running office applications with white background.

The contrast of this screen is not that good. A black value of 0.8 cd/m² gives together with the maximum brightness a contrast ratio of about 219:1, which is just average. But, the colour diagram proves that the colour representation is just right, because it does fortunately not follow the trend to cold colours (blue tint) of today’s flat screens.
Now we are highly interested how this 15.4 inch display rates in our subjective evaluation. But also directly compared to our 20 inch reference screen, a Viewsonic VP2030b, it rates good. Directly comparing pictures with pictures displayed on the calibrated Viewsonic, we especially like the neutral and natural look of portraits. The colours are strong, but could be even more luminous considering it is a reflecting display. However, gradients do not look absolutely good on this screen. A clear dithering gets obvious here.

As already mentioned in the introduction the Znote 3415W is equipped with a very fast dual core processor by Intel. The Core 2 Duo processor T9500 with 2.6 GHz clock rate comes with 6MB second-level cache and a fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB). So, the computer was very fast regardless of the specific benchmark or test we ran and also with our editorial work. Therefore, there is no need to bother about performance in any way.

The same is true for running Windows Vista. It does note only run smoothly on the Znote 3415W, the Znote is very agile. The two available RAM slots at the bottom side of the notebook are occupied by fast DDRII-667 modules. The reviewed notebook was equipped with two PC5300 module with a capacity of 2GB each, so providing a total of 4 GB RAM. However, the 32 bit version of Vista can only address 3 GB, but also the 64 bit Vista can be installed on the Znote 3415W.

The Znote 3415W is equipped with a fast middle class video chip, a Geforce 8600 GT by Nvidia. The GeForce 8600 GT can access 512 MB of dedicated GDDR2 memory and handles usual picture and video editing and multimedia with ease. Also the results of the video benchmarks are considering it is a multimedia notebook good.

A Travelstar 7K200 HTS722012K9SA00 with 120 GB RAM allows fast data transfer. This SATA harddisk by Hitachi is equipped with 16 MB (!) cache instead of only 8MB and runs with a revolution speed of 7,200 rpm. The HDTune benchmark proves that this 2.5 inch hard disk has an excellent average transfer rate of fast 46.6 MB/s. So, it even outperforms our reference hard disk, a ST910021A (100 GB, 7,200 rpm) by Seagate, which only reaches nearly 42 MB/s, in this aspect. Furthermore, the Znote 3415W comes with a DVD burner SN-S082H by TSST (Toshiba Samsung Technology Corporation).

In the meanwhile the Geforce 8600M GT by Nvidia became an appreciated general purpose middle class video card. It is no problem to run some older, yet demanding games on this notebook, some of them even at a resolution of 1,280×800 pixels and high detail level. However, today’s games do not run smoothly, especially, if they are configured for anti-aliasing, dynamic light/shade and volumetric particle effects. However, also today’s most powerful desktop video cards games are used at their full capability when running games like Crysis and World in Conflict (WiC).

In general the gaming performance of the GeForce 8600M GT combined with the powerful T9500 is not bad. It reaches 3,451 points with ForceWare 156.10 (driver 7.15.11.5610) in the 3DMark06 by Futuremark. Nevertheless, it is not as good as similarly equipped notebooks with Geforce 9500M GT video card, the successor of the 8600M GT. Older games like Doom 3 run smoothly. We measured 79.2 fps when running at a resolution of 1.024 x 768 pixels and with details level ultra. However, Crysis and WiC only run smoothly, if the detail level is low.

The fan runs faster under average load, where we measure 34.2 dB(A). A noise level of 39.9 dB(A), which is clearly audible, can only be measured under full load. Once the fan runs that fast, you can also hear a high-frequency noise, which we didn’t like. The maximum noise level is 41.3 dB(A), which is loud, but fortunately it is a low frequency noise. The burner is very quiet. In contrast to the Znote 3414W, which is actually equipped with the same DVD burner, a SN-S082H by TSST, the one inside the Znote 3415W is more quiet (44.4 db(A)).

The ‘power’ version of the Znote 3415W is indeed very powerful. Furthermore, its operating noise is quiet. The equipment can be customized with any of the up-to-date Penryn processors, a big and fast 200 GB hard disk, 4 GB RAM and 300 MBit/s WLAN. So, it is an ideal bundle for demanding power users. To summarize, the Znote 3415W rates good in the multimedia notebook category.

However, it looses points, because a digital video out like DVI or HDMI is missing. A UMTS/HSDPA option is not really an obligatory requirement. Nevertheless, some competitors do provide it. The input devices are in general alright, but, compared to competitors there is still a potential for improvements. But, the display of the Znote 3415W is evenly illuminated.

This Znote costs about 1,190 Euro. So, the price-performance ratio is also good. If you would upgrade the ‘Value’ version to a ‘Power’ version, the price would be 1,700 Euro, which would be definitely too high.

NOTEBOOK & UMPC REVIEW - Zepto Znote 3415W