Thursday, December 20, 2012

HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa review


You don't see an awful lot of laptops with 1TB of storage space, but that is exactly what this big HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa has to offer. Overall, the specifications of the dv7 look quite impressive on paper, although in practice its performance leaves a lot to be desired.
It saves money by using an AMD processor, a 2.1GHz AMD A4-3310MX APU (accelerated processing unit).
This is a dual-core processor with integrated graphics that finds itself short of the grunt to compete with Intel's Core i5 models – in fact, it's core speed would be outclassed by an Intel Core 2 Duo chip from four years ago.  
The HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa's WorldBench 6 score of 84 is only saved from the wooden spoon by the Toshiba Portégé Z830, with its little 1.4GHz Intel Core i3 processor.
It isn't all bad news, though – gaming scores for the HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa are perfectly respectable, with a separate AMD Radeon graphics cards joining with the integrated graphics to help the HP to a framerate of 46fps in FEAR.
While that means some Windows gameplay is possible, most gamers will be looking elsewhere. 
There's 6GB of RAM, too, which is slightly more than the 4GB average usually seen in this category.
A huge, 17in screen is brilliant for both colour depth and sharpness, and provided you don't position the HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa near sunlight or indoor lighting it does a good job. 
The screen's 1600 x 900 resolution is higher than most modern 15in models, but it still doesn't offer enough pixels to natively support full HD (1920 x 1080). At this price, you can see where cost-cutting measures have been made.
The HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa does sound quite decent. A Beats Audio-branded speaker system offers good performance, if below the standard of the Asus N55, with distortion audible at high volumes. 
A optical drive handles the usual plus-and-minus DVD formats, as well as dual-layer DVD media.
The one thing we really like about the HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa, though, was its design. Not only does it look nice with a brushed metal finish lid and modern interior, it has been reasonably well put together, with a robust-looking chassis.
The downside to this build is the HP Pavilion dv7-6101sa's mass – at 3.1kg, this is old-school laptop weight.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3354670/hp-pavilion-dv7-6101sa-review/#ixzz2Fb6BF8x7

Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U review


On the face of it, the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U is identical to the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P. On closer inspection there are some tiny differences to be found save other than the small 'Satellite' logo at the bottom left-hand edge of the keyboard.
It's only when examining the internal components that the differences start to become clear. The key change is the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U's marginally more powerful processor, an Intel Core i5-2467M compared to the i3-2367M, with a slightly faster clockspeed of 1.6GHz. There is also 6GB of RAM compared to 4GB.
This equates to better performance - we were very surprised to see how much though. The Satellite scored 25 points more than the Portégé in our WorldBench 6 tests. Though we'd expected a performance gap, we hadn't expected it to be so great. 
The additional power sips a little more power from the battery; the MobileMark 2007 metrics showed the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U lasting 6 hrs and 10 mins. That’s still a creditable score, though.
Having been built using exactly the same chassis as the Portégé, the Satellite shares many of its faults - the flimsy lid and screen being the most significant. 
However, it has many of its plus points too – the backlit keyboard is very usable, even if its rectangular keys just look wrong. 
There are ports aplenty, including full-sized ethernet, VGA and HDMI, as well as three USB ports, one of which is a USB 3.0 for faster backup to compatible drives. This is certainly something that you'll need to consider with only 128GB capacity afforded by the SSD. 
The Toshiba Z830 range is also among the lightest of ultrabooks on sale at the moment, at less than 1.1kg. However, you wouldn't want to carry them around without a decent case for protection – they're just too fragile.
We were also pleased by the quiet operation of both of the Toshiba Z830 ultrabooks.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3354669/toshiba-satellite-z830-10u-review/#ixzz2Fb657H73

Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U review


On the face of it, the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U is identical to the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P. On closer inspection there are some tiny differences to be found save other than the small 'Satellite' logo at the bottom left-hand edge of the keyboard.
It's only when examining the internal components that the differences start to become clear. The key change is the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U's marginally more powerful processor, an Intel Core i5-2467M compared to the i3-2367M, with a slightly faster clockspeed of 1.6GHz. There is also 6GB of RAM compared to 4GB.
This equates to better performance - we were very surprised to see how much though. The Satellite scored 25 points more than the Portégé in our WorldBench 6 tests. Though we'd expected a performance gap, we hadn't expected it to be so great. 
The additional power sips a little more power from the battery; the MobileMark 2007 metrics showed the Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U lasting 6 hrs and 10 mins. That’s still a creditable score, though.
Having been built using exactly the same chassis as the Portégé, the Satellite shares many of its faults - the flimsy lid and screen being the most significant. 
However, it has many of its plus points too – the backlit keyboard is very usable, even if its rectangular keys just look wrong. 
There are ports aplenty, including full-sized ethernet, VGA and HDMI, as well as three USB ports, one of which is a USB 3.0 for faster backup to compatible drives. This is certainly something that you'll need to consider with only 128GB capacity afforded by the SSD. 
The Toshiba Z830 range is also among the lightest of ultrabooks on sale at the moment, at less than 1.1kg. However, you wouldn't want to carry them around without a decent case for protection – they're just too fragile.
We were also pleased by the quiet operation of both of the Toshiba Z830 ultrabooks.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3354669/toshiba-satellite-z830-10u-review/#ixzz2Fb5y8lKh

Samsung NP530U4BL review


Samsung's NP530U4BL is relatively lightweight but somewhat different from most new laptops – usually ultrabooks – that we've seen recently.
Samsung calls this Series 5 laptop an ultrabook, but we're not so sure. Firstly, it has an optical drive – making it easier to play DVD films or back-up to DVD-R media should you wish. Secondly, it has a large hard disk, here offering 500GB of storage.
That isn't to say that the Samsung is devoid of solid-state silicon, though. There is 16GB of flash storage built into the Seagate Momentus XT hard disk, and data that the system needs to access regularly is stored on the flash part of the drive. This should mean you get some of the performance benefits of SSD, while having a lot more room for storing your files. 
The screen has a matt rather than glossy finish, radically improving usability. We also liked the keyboard, well-spaced out keys and dedicating enough room to the important ones – Right Shift, Return, Backspace and the Spacebar – while leaving enough room for a roomy touchpad at the front of the chassis. 
There's a generous provision of USB ports - three in total, which is decent for an ultrabook; two of them support USB 3.0. There are video ports for VGA and HDMI, an SD Card reader, and a slot for an ethernet cable, which can be closed when not in use to preserve the sleek lines.
However, there are problems, too. There will be inevitable comparisons with Samsung's other ultrabook line-up, the Series 9 – and the Samsung NP530U4BL doesn't come out looking too good.
The black finish of the Series 9 is replaced by the Series 5's somewhat duller metal-coloured grey plastic chassis. The Samsung also runs very hot on the bottom left-hand side, which is a concern.
At 1.8kg it's a good deal heavier than most other ultrabooks, not to mention thicker – the result of incorporating an optical drive and traditional hard disc. This is forgivable, but we also felt that the Samsung didn't quite get the best out of its components. 
A 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M processor and 4GB of RAM deserved to get a better WorldBench 6 score than 100 points. While it isn't tragically slow, most modern Intel-powered laptops score in excess of 110 points.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3354667/samsung-np530u4bl-review/#ixzz2Fb5tnX29

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P review


Toshiba has a number of different Z830 ultrabooks currently on the market, all based on the same chassis design but with different running options.
The Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P is one of the lower-spec models and is aimed at business users. This version takes a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3 processor, when most such laptops have a 1.6GHz or faster Core i5-branded processor.  
Unfortunately, the lower spec doesn't necessarily mean a lower price. In fact, The Toshiba Portégé costs nearly £1000 and the meagre specification and relatively poor performance do little to help justify that cost.
A WorldBench 6 score of 81 points is lower even than the HP Pavilion dv7 with its slow AMD processor and a rather disappointing result in all. 
Battery life is good though – we got the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P to run for 6 hrs 43 mins in our MobileMark tests, just 17 minutes short of the HP Folio 13’s enduring 7 hrs. 
The design of the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P won't be to everyone's taste – it is more functional than anything else. In design terms, the Z830 Series laptops all missed beauty class, a huge bezel above and below the screen making them look like refugees from the 90s.
The keyboard is reasonable, though the Return key is a little small. It is backlit, though, making it easy to use in dark conditions. We like the button that allows you to turn off the touchpad and its buttons quickly, and the Power button is separate from the main keyboard. 
The screen has a matt finish, so reflections aren't a problem, though the colours look a little mute. More concerning, though, is how flimsy the lid appear to be – you can actually see the display wobble back and forth as you type.  
Connectivity options are good, including dual-band wireless that reaches out to 5GHz 11a and 11n wireless standards. Many of the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P's ports are situated on the back edge of the laptop, which means they're kept out of the way.
But the Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P is very light, tipping the digital balances at just 1086g.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3354668/toshiba-portg-z830-10p-review/#ixzz2Fb5otzwA

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530 review


Lenovo is the first big name to send us a notebook based on Intel's third generation Intel Core CPU. It's not in one of the company's flagship ThinkPad models, but instead in a ThinkPad Edge E530. This is a 15.6in, 2.5kg notebook that's suited for home and small business use. It's a plain-looking, yet attractive notebook, but with a build quality that is reminiscent of a budget machine that should cost well under £1000. It doesn't have niceties such as a backlit keyboard, but it does feature a useful set of ports and it sports a configuration that should earn the respect of most power users. See also Group test: What's the best high-end laptop?
Specifications and performance
With an Intel Core i7-3612QM CPU at the helm, the ThinkPad Edge E530 has more than enough grunt to tackle office applications and tough tasks such as media transcoding with ease. It has a standard clock speed of 2.1GHz, four cores and Hyper-Threading, which means you can multitask heavily without noticing too much of a slow down in performance. Visit Group test: what's the best laptop?
In our Blender 3D rendering test, a time of 22sec is all it took to complete our workload; to put it in perspective, it's identical to the time recorded by the Toshiba Qosmio F750, which uses a second generation Core i7-2670QM CPU that runs at a slightly faster standard speed of 2.2GHz. While the third gen CPU wasn't faster in this test, it's an indication of better efficiency, being able to perform the same task at an equal time, with a slower speed.
It was a few seconds faster in our iTunes MP3 encoding test, where it recorded 48sec compared to the Qosmio's 55sec, a noticeable gain. Using AutoGordianKnot to convert a test DVD file to an Xvid file, it took 41min, which is a time that's even better than what a traditional powerhouse laptop such as the ThinkPad W520 achieved in this test. Using Arcsoft MediaConverter 7 to convert a test DVD file to an MKV file, a time of 8min 28sec was achieved, which is another very good showing.
The new CPU also includes Intel's integrated HD 4000 graphics, which provide almost double the performance of Intel's previous generation HD 3000 graphics — in common benchmarks such as 3DMark06, at least. The ThinkPad Edge E530 recorded a score of 7139 in this benchmark when using its integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, a great result. Laptops with HD 3000 graphics get a result between 3000 and 4000.
That's not enough for Lenovo though: the company has also included a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics adapter. This is a new value/mid-range adapter that provides a little more speed than the HD 4000 can produce, and makes the ThinkPad Edge E530 a little more versatile when it comes to all-round computing. With the NVIDIA adapter, a score of 9445 was recorded. In Battlefield 3, running at the native resolution of the screen and with automatic image detail, the game ran consistently between 26-30 frames per second and was very playable.
You could use the ThinkPad Edge E530 as a gaming machine quite easily, unless you're a hardcore gamer with higher-end 3D performance expectations. Switching technology allows the ThinkPad Edge to use the integrated graphics when the notebook is on battery, and the discrete graphics when it's plugged in. Applications can also be customised to use whichever adapter you choose.
The rest of the Lenovo's configuration consists of 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 1TB, 5400rpm hard drive, a 1366x768-resolution LCD panel, a built-in DVD burner and plenty of useful connectivity. You'll find Gigabit Ethernet (using a Realtek chip), dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi (using a Broadcom 2x2 a/b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Half Mini Card Adapter), four USB ports (two of which are USB 3.0-capable), a VGA port, an HDMI port, a combination headphone and microphone jack, and an SD card slot. There is also a webcam and Bluetooth.
The hard drive, with its 5400rpm spin speed, produced decent transfer rates in CrystalDiskMark; it read at a rate of 99.86 megabytes per second (MBps) and wrote at 97.79MBps. In our own transfer tests, where we duplicate data from one location on the drive to another, it recorded a more modest 37.85MBps. We would have liked a faster drive in this unit, perhaps even an SSD. In saying that, the 1TB capacity is definitely a drawcard and still reasonably quick thanks to its high data density.
Battery life
Considering it's a large laptop with a 15.6in screen, a high-end processor and lots of RAM, it performed very well in our battery rundown test. It has a comparably strong 62 Watt-hour battery that lasted 3hr 36min in our test, in which we disable power management, enable Wi-Fi, maximise screen brightness and loop an Xvid-encoded video until the laptop dies.
Many mainstream notebooks, such as the aforementioned Qosmio, last just over two hours in this test. Even notebooks such as the Core i3-based, 15.6in Medion Akoya E6228, which has a similar battery rating, last only just over three hours. The last iteration of the Lenovo ThinkPad T420, which is a 14in laptop with a 57 Watt-hour battery, lasted 3hr 30min, so the Edge 530 is better than that notebook, too. Basically, its battery life is impressive for a such a big unit with so much power under the hood.
Design and build quality
Unlike other ThinkPad models, the ThinkPad Edge E530 doesn't have a screen-mounted light that can shine down on the keyboard, nor does it have a backlight for its keyboard. However, it still retains Lenovo's dual-pointing devices, using Synaptics-based drivers for its TrackPoint and TouchPad. Whichever device you use is entirely up to you and we had almost no problems using either of them. The touchpad is 93x67mm and has buttons that are located under the pad itself. Unfortunately, right-click-and-drag operations failed every time and this is something we have experienced with other touchpads that have a similar design, such as the one on the Toshiba Satellite U840 Ultrabook. Apart from that, the touchpad, which also has little bumps on it that sometimes tickle, wasn't a problem for us; it reacted accurately to three-finger flicks and two-finger scrolling gestures.
If there's one thing that Lenovo does consistently well, it's comfortable notebook keyboards. We love the keyboard on the ThinkPad Edge, which has full-sized keys that feel soft and responsive. It's a keyboard that's very comfortable to use for long typing sessions. A full-sized number pad makes it easy to crunch lots of numbers and there are shortcut buttons that allow you to quickly bring up the Calculator application, the My Computer folder, the Windows search box and the Windows lock/log-in screen.
The main functions of the F-keys are to change brightness and act as media controls, but these can be swapped around in the BIOS so that if you're used to hitting F5 to refresh a Web page, you won't all of a sudden bring up the webcam application. Likewise, the position of the Fn and left Control keys can be swapped around so that the Ctrl key is the one right on the corner. There is a dedicated Print Screen key, which we like, and clearly marked Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys. The arrow keys are a little cramped, but that's a minor quibble.
The overall build quality of the ThinkPad Edge isn't great, and our test model creaked a lot at the front where the bottom and top pieces of the chassis come together. Furthermore, the side that has the optical drive bends a lot and clicks can be heard when the notebook is picked up from this side; these clicks are the chassis colliding with the front bezel of the DVD burner. Basically, it feels like a budget computer system, despite the modern, cutting-edge CPU that it houses.
While using the discrete graphics for gaming, the base can get very warm. Due to the location of the heat sink and the vent area on the left side of the notebook, this heat also travelled up through the WASD keys. It made for a slightly uncomfortable experience. That said, if you're using this notebook for gaming, you'll probably hook up an external keyboard and mouse anyway.
The notebook's hinges are strong and they hold a 15.6in screen that's good for use in rooms with lots of lights. Its matte finish isn't prone to reflecting room lights and glare is minimal. As is the case with most notebook screens on the market though, its vertical viewing angles are shallow and contrast is lost when viewing it from too high or too low. We found its colour reproduction to be adequate for viewing photos and presentations, although we would have liked a little more saturation.
Speakers are located on the front of the laptop and they are merely of passable quality. Don't expect a full range of frequencies out of them, especially on the low end. Furthermore, if you use the notebook on your lap while listening to music through them, they will be muffled. Plug in some headphones or speakers for serious listening and just use the built-ins for YouTube.
Conclusion
All up, this is a fast and very capable notebook. It's perfect for office work, multimedia work, and you could even use it for gaming unless you're hardcore. The build quality of the unit isn't great, and we noticed lots of creaking, but it's a notebook that houses a decent amount of features, including USB 3.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi, and its battery life is great.
Editor's note: at the time of writing, a price for this specific model was not available. However, a model with the same CPU, 6GB of RAM and a 750GB hard drive could be purchased for $899 from Lenovo's Web site, a great price, albeit with a waiting time of two to three weeks.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3357967/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-e530-review/#ixzz2Fb5isHVO

MSI GT70 review


The MSI GT70 is a formidable everyday laptop, as well as an excellent gaming PC. When the unit's closed, it even looks the part. Flip it open, and MSI might have been better off shooting for an under-the-radar aesthetic rather than incorporating what look like elements from a Cadillac body kit. Appearances aside (beauty is in the eye of the beholder), the GT70 is a very powerful laptop with only minor foibles.
What's most surprising about the MSI GT70 is its battery life - 5 hours and 10 minutes. That's positively Methuselah-like for a desktop replacement this powerful - and is partly due to a capacious 87 watt-hour battery and a less voracious third-gen Intel Core i7-3610QM CPU. Our test unit also sported 16GB of memory, dual SanDisk U100 60GB solid-state drives configured in RAID 0, a 750GB hard drive, and a Blu-ray burner. Other, cheaper configurations are differentiated only by more sedate storage options. See also Group test: What's the best high-end laptop?
The MSI GT70's ports and connectivity are state of the art: three USB 3.0 ports, eSATA, gigabit ethernet, and Killer 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (450 megabits per second), HDMI and VGA video out, an SD card slot, and surround audio. The latter is output via two additional jacks sitting beside the normal headphone and microphone jacks. All are gold-plated, which makes them less prone to oxidation and offers a slightly firmer connection, but doesn't improve sound quality.
Speaking of which, while the MSI GT70's 17.3-inch, 1920-by-1200-pixel display and video playback are top-notch, the audio is significantly less so. Through headphones the sound was decent, but from the speakers it was muddy and seemingly distorted at higher levels. I wasn't in love with the signal output to external speakers either. Call the audio just passable, despite all the marketing hype and the onboard subwoofer. Visit Group test: what's the best laptop?
The gaming frame rates delivered by the MSI GT70's Nvidia GTX670M GPU are very playable, if not quite all the way up the scale. At 1920 by 1080, Crysis 2 dragged a bit when set to high or ultra detail. Dirt 3 was just barely workable at maximum settings. You'll probably need to dial down the detail slightly for smooth game play at the screen's full capacity with most modern titles.
The MSI GT70 also turned in a score of 145 on WorldBench 7, which is very fast. The feel of GT70's Windows 7 OS and applications is snappy and them some. Our test system also had one of the quickest Windows boot times we've yet seen from a laptop—a mere 25.8 seconds. That includes the initialization of the Intel Rapid Storage RAID controller as well as the network boot utility.
The MSI GT70 induced more than my usual quota of gazing at the review subject in a theta (trancelike) state, largely thanks to the time I had the keyboard's tricolor backlights in pulsating "breathe" mode. There are also normal, dual, and gaming modes that are a tad less transfixing. The keyboard seems to type nicely and has a full numeric keypad, but that may have been an illusion I suffered while in my semihypnotic state. I also imagined that the touchpad and buttons have a nice feel. The laptop has a prominent on/off switch for the keypad and buttons.
On startup, MSI shows you a somewhat busy desktop. Depending on your point of view, you'll think of MSI as considerately providing a lot of value-added software, or saddling you with a lot of useless craplets. The short list of apps includes Norton Online Backup, Magix Video Easy SE and Music Maker 16, and the Qualcomm Atheros Killer Network Manager. KLM is provided to control the keyboard backlighting, and Cyberlink's YouCam utility is included in the 720p Webcam.
The MSI GT70 is heavy: 3.86kg in combination with the hefty AC power brick. It's also large at 16.9 inches wide by 11.1 inches deep by 2.4 inches high. But it's a desktop replacement, a category you shouldn't be shopping if you're not looking to develop your arm musculature.
The laptop does have several mild annoyances. It has no physical eject button for the Blu-ray player disc tray. Instead, a touch control for this is at the top of the keyboard deck, but the included S-Bar toolbar app must be running in order for it to work under Windows. I don't like toolbars. The button does, however, function at boot time sans software. Also, I was unable to permanently disable the Bigfoot network boot agent in the GT70's BIOS—it kept turning itself back on for some as-yet-to-be-explained reason.
I also ran my own primitive test of the Bigfoot Killer Wi-Fi. You most likely need a 450-mbps-capable router to get the full effect of its bandwidth. My Linksys E3000 router is up to only 300 mbps. Still, the GT70 transferred 15GB of largish files at only 10 mbps—while my 6-year old Asus laptop using 802.11g managed 12 mbps. It can be said fearlessly—your results may or may not live up to the hype.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3358182/msi-gt70-review/#ixzz2Fb5cq7tU

Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook review


(This is a hands-on preview of the Sony Vaio T13, when a full Sony Vaio T13 review is available this page will be updated)
Sony has arrived fashionably late to the ultrabook party. However, you could argue that the Z series, which went on sale in mid-2011, was an Ultrabook in all but name. The new T series is available with 11 and 13-inch screen sizes, both having the same 1366x768 resolution. We took a look at the Sony Vaio T13.

Sony Vaio T13: build and style

We were able to spend some time with the Sony Vaio T13 at Sony's launch event in London a few weeks before it goes on sale in early June. There's no mistaking the Vaio styling with clean lines and the now-ubiquitous Scrabble tile keyboard with separated keys. However, it isn't jaw-droppingly beautiful like the Samsung Series 9 and other Ultrabooks with tapered edges to make them appear thinner than they really are.
The Sony Vaio T13 isn't  the thinest Ultrabook, then, but the benefit is that is has full-size ports so you won't have to fiddle around with adaptors when you arrive at a meeting to give a presentation as you would with the Samsung. VGA, HDMI and gigabit Ethernet ports reside on the right-hand flank along with a combined slot for SD and Memory Stick Duo cards. Opposite them on the left are two USB ports, one of which is USB 3. The same port is also powered even when the T13 is shut down, allowing you to charge your smartphone or other device.
What you don't get with the Sony Vaio T13 is a microphone input - you'll need to rely on the built-in microphone which is designed to work with the 1.3Mp webcam for video chats. Sony says this is 'powered by Exmor for PC' which should mean images aren't as noisy in dim conditions.
This model Sony Vaio T13 - the SVT1311M1E - has a second-generation Core i3-2367M processor which runs at a lowly 1.4GHz. However, Windows 7 Home Premium still felt responsive for everyday tasks such as composing an email. We'll run our usual benchmark suite as soon as our review model arrives, but we expect intensive tasks such as encoding video, will run more slowly than on more expensive versions of the T13 - we expect new versions with Ivy Bridge processors to become available within a matter of months.
There's 4GB of RAM and a hybrid hard disk: a traditional 320GB hard disk spinning at 5400rpm paired with a small 32GB SSD. This helps the SVT1311M1E feel quicker without resorting to an expensive high-capacity SSD. There's no built-in optical drive, so you'll have to install software from either an external DVD drive, USB disk or download it online.
Unlike the Z series, the T13 doesn't have a backlit keyboard. Sony tells us this is to make the SVT1311M1E thinner, and the keys are noticeably shallower than on a standard Vaio keyboard. Their tiny 1.2mm travel makes it more difficult to tell when you've pressed a key as there's not much feedback - a common issue with super-thin laptops. This would be more forgivable if the T13 were as thin as the Series 9, but it isn't.
The combined touchpad and mouse buttons will also put a few people off, especially those who like to rest their thumb on a button. If you do this on the T13 you won't be able to move the cursor as the left and right mouse buttons are below the bottom corners of the touch pad and resting on them will lock the cursor in position. Again, it's something you should get used to fairly quickly.

Sony Vaio T13: display

The 13.3in semi-gloss screen appeared bright in our brief test and had reasonably good vertical viewing angles and vibrant colour. The screen tilts back far enough so you can always get the optimum viewing angle. As with the Z series, small feet on the back edge of the screen give a little extra height as you tilt the screen back which provides a slightly better typing angle.
Sony claims that SSD models will last nine hours between charges, but Windows reported that the  SVT1311M1E's battery was 76 percent full with 3 hr 47 min remaining. If that's to be believed, you should see around five hours between charges with this model. We'll bring you the full test results when we've run our battery tests.
The SVT1311M1E is available to pre-order on Sony's website but will go on sale in John Lewis, PC World and other high street shops in early June. If you'd prefer something smaller and lighter, the T11 starts at £629 for the SVT1111C5E model which weighs 1.4kg. In the UK, the T11 will only be available via Sony's configure-to-order website. It's also possible to configure the T13 to your own requirements - it costs £50 to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional, for example.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3358302/sony-vaio-t13-ultrabook-review/#ixzz2Fb5YGjPL

Asus G75VW review


Asus probably isn't the first company that comes to mind when you think of big desktop replacement laptops that are optimized for gaming. The Asus G75VW, however, is the latest in a long line of gaming laptops produced by the company under the "Republic of Gamers" brand. Considering that gaming laptops often go for well over £2,000, this big machine is relatively budget-priced, and it isn't awful - but it isn't great, either. Although it suffers in general performance, audio quality, and battery life, it has a nice screen, and the price may be right.
Our review model sports an Intel Core i7-3610QM processor, 12GB of RAM, 1.5TB of hard-drive space, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M graphics chip. It also has built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a Blu-ray/DVD combo drive. The G75VW runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. See also: Group test: what's the best laptop?

Asus G75VW: Performance

In our WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Asus G75VW review posted a paltry score of 97. This means that the G75VW is 3 percent slower than our baseline system, which is not an impressive achievement for a desktop replacement laptop. After all, our baseline system is a desktop PC with an Intel Core i5-2500K processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card. A WorldBench 7 score of 97 is far from outstanding for an all-purpose laptop, let alone a desktop replacement specifically designed for gamers.
The Asus G75VW's performance in our graphics and gaming tests was a little better than its WorldBench 7 showing, and much closer to what we expect from the desktop replacement category. In our Crysis 2 graphics tests, the G75VW managed a frame rate of 30.8 frames per second (high quality settings, 1980 by 1080 resolution), which isn't terrible. For context, on the same graphics test the Origin EON17-S produced a frame rate of 43.1 fps, while the MSI GT70 managed a frame rate of 33.8 fps.
Like most huge desktop replacements geared toward gamers, the G75VW doesn't boast impressive battery life. In our tests it lasted for 2 hours, 35 minutes, coming within 3 minutes of the Origin EON17-S, currently the highest-rated product in this category.

Asus G75VW: Design - Chassis, Keyboard, and Touchpad

There are few ways to make a hulking, 4.5kg desktop replacement attractive, but Asus G75VW does a decent job of it by giving the Asus G75VW a wedge-shaped chassis with slick angles and a soft, rubberized plastic black cover. The G75VW looks a lot like its predecessor, the G74SX, but it's a tad lighter and a bit thinner (it measures 415x320x17~52mm). It still comes with a hefty power brick, however.
The interior is also attractive, with a brushed-metal keyboard deck, a rubberized wrist-rest area, and a silvery Republic of Gamers logo. A few pinprick-size white and green LEDs on the bottom-left corner of the computer indicate battery status, Wi-Fi, eco-mode, and the like. The LEDs are bright, but not distractingly so.
As for ports, the G75VW is fairly packed, with four USB 3.0 ports (including one sleep-and-charge), ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks, and a three-in-one card reader. You also get HDMI-out, VGA-out, and a mini-DisplayPort connection.
The G75VW sports a full-size backlit keyboard with matte-black island-style keys. In addition, the keyboard deck is large enough to fit a 10-key number pad, which is located about an inch and a half to the right of the keyboard (some computers cram the keyboard and number pad right next to each other, which is inconvenient for users--especially gamers). The G75VW's keys are widely spaced and easy to press, and offer good feedback.
The large, soft plastic black touchpad has two big, discrete mouse buttons. The touchpad supports multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, and the buttons are easy to press. Regrettably, the touchpad isn't as responsive as I like to see in gaming laptops, and the cursor seems to drag slowly across the screen. Fortunately, you don't have to use the touchpad: Asus includes a USB-wired gaming mouse that has five buttons and a scrollwheel. Since gamers will probably prefer to use an external mouse with this computer regardless, the sluggish touchpad isn't a deal breaker.

Asus G75VW: Screen and Speakers

The G75VW has a 17.3-inch LED-backlit matte screen with a native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. This screen is an improvement over the glossy display of the Asus G74SX (and that screen was actually very good, save for some backlighting glitches). The G75VW's screen is bright and offers an excellent range of off-axis viewing angles. Colours look great, and images and text appear crisp. Media playback - both streaming HD footage and Blu-ray video--looks fantastic, with sharp images and deep blacks.
The laptop has two speakers and a subwoofer, located above the keyboard and placed under a gray metal mesh. The speakers are loud enough, but the default setting has the subwoofer delivering not only the bass, but all of the other sounds as well. The result is a harsh-sounding mess of audio, delivered predominantly from the left side of the machine. You can tweak the sound settings for slightly better results by going to Control Panel > Sound > Speakers > Properties and adjusting the mono-bass from the default setting of 80 down to about 45. This improves the sound quality a little, but audio still tends to have a harsh, raw edge that's painful to listen to. Thankfully, the headphone jack provides clean audio with plenty of depth.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3359659/asus-g75vw-review/#ixzz2Fb5T2ixG

Samsung Series 7 Gamer review


For many PC gamers, owning a powerful laptop that will let them have their fun anywhere is preferable to staying rooted at home with an oversize desktop rig. The Series 7 Gamer is Samsung's answer - but how does it stack up against other high-performance portable laptops?
The Samsung Series 7 Gamer comes equipped with an Intel Core i7 3610QM processor at a stock speed of 2.3GHz, a generous 16GB of RAM, 1.5TB of hard-disk space, a 2-megapixel camera, and a Blu-ray optical drive. (Cheaper, lower-spec versions are available.) See also: Best HIGH-END LAPTOPS.
The Samsung Series 7 Gamer doesn't skimp on connectivity options and ports. It's packed with two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA out, DisplayPort, a multiformat card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, and an RJ45 gigabit ethernet port. As for wireless options, it has Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, as well as Bluetooth 4.0.
In addition, Samsung spared no expense with the graphics hardware, inserting Nvidia's top-of-the-line GeForce GTX 675M graphics card to give this mobile machine real desktop power. On our strenuous graphics tests, which run at ultrahigh settings and 1920 by 1080 resolution, the Series 7 Gamer produced respectable results, running Dirt 3 at an average of 42.2 frames per second and Crysis 2 at an average of 27.7 fps. At those frame rates, the games were very playable and still looked their best.
All of this capable hardware helped the Series 7 Gamer achieve a score of 123 on our WorldBench 7 benchmark suite, which means that it was 23 percent faster than our baseline system. That is a very good score, and the Gamer manages to be powerful while staying at a reasonable price.
One cool feature in the Series 7 Gamer is a dial that allows you to choose a power setting on the fly. The laptop has a total of four modes: Gaming, Balanced, Library, and Eco. The Gaming mode is an all-out power fest, battery life be damned, turbocharging the processor and fans as well as optimizing the audio and video for games. The moment you turn the laptop to Gaming mode, a graphic plays on screen, the background changes, the cursor becomes a bull's-eye, the keyboard glows a bright blue, and the turbo light flashes on.
The Balanced mode is what a default setting may look like, with nothing running to an exorbitant degree. The Library mode keeps the system quiet, automatically muting the sound and turning the fans off. Finally, Eco mode saves power for maximum battery life, adjusting the processor speed and screen accordingly. Although most laptops offer power settings, it is a nice option to have a physical dial for quickly switching them out.
When you're gaming on the go, you might be concerned about how much time you can squeeze out of the Series 7 Gamer before the battery dies out. In our tests it lasted 3 hours, about half an hour longer than other recent high-power laptops. Although that is a reasonable time for a desktop replacement, you will most likely need to keep the power brick close by, and you shouldn't be afraid to shut the machine down; the startup time is a mere 24 seconds. If you want to get more time out of your laptop, consider the MSI GT70, which lasted over 2 hours longer in our tests and sacrifices just a little graphics power.
Of course, a key aspect of mobility is the size and weight of a laptop. Just like other high-performing laptops on the market, this model is fairly heavy, weighing 3.8kg including the large AC power brick. It is also large, measuring 410x285x50mm. The size allows for a nice high-definition screen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, perfect for games and movies. Be sure to find a good, supportive carrying bag if you wish to take gaming power wherever you go.
Despite its large size, the Series 7 Gamer manages to stay sleek without sacrificing any physical features, such as a number pad. The smooth touchpad is roomy, and more important, very responsive. The keyboard is backlit, and when the machine is in Gamer mode, the WASD keys--the keys that PC gamers most frequently use--are outlined and red, just to accentuate their importance. Touch-sensitive volume, mute, Wi-Fi, and brightness controls sit at the top of the keyboard.


Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3363152/samsung-series-7-gamer-review/#ixzz2Fb5HqYzi