Acer Aspire 5810T (Timeline) review

Acer has got a new row - Timeline. Notebooks are more slimm and have new keyboards. The next advantage is the battery life which is much longer than before. This notebook is the best choise for ordinary notebook due to its price.

The design has changed alot - the cover is covered by silver-gray metal with dull surface, notebook is slimm and the keyboard is redesigned as well. This notebook shows that there are not necessary glossy materials to reach modern design requirements.

Maximum opened angle is 130 degrees and eventhogh the cover is very slimm the durability stays very good. Even when you press from the bask side nothing is bent and there are no waves on the display. Base of the notebook is well built as well, you can pick the notebook just by one corner without any problem.

On the front side is a card reader, on the back side is just a battery. On the right side we can find optical drive, USB port, ethernet and power. Left side has got audio, two USB ports, HDMI, analog VGA, cooling output and last USB port on the rear. I was just missing express card slot and i think the USB with eSATA would be fine as well.

Dimensions (378x259x25-30mm) are similar to others just the height is very low - that makes notebook so attractive because weight is only 2,42kg and the 65W power source is very small as well.

New design of keyboard gives bigger spaces between keys, full numeric block was added. Writing is very comfortable just the cursor keys should be a bit bigger.

HW parametres

Brand new CULV platform makes the consumption very low and keeps the price on acceptable level. Notebook has CPU Core 2 Duo SU9400 1,4GHz (800MHz FSB) with 3MB L2 cache. Consumption only 10W. Chipset GS45 has got integrated graphics. 2x2GB of newer DDR3-1066 makes the RAM swift enough

Single-Thread mode

• Fixed point unit test: 19 277
• Floating point unit test: 12 498

Multi-Thread mode

• Fixed point unit test: 34 331
• Floating point unit test: 21 937

Cinebench 9.5

• Rendering (Single CPU): 274
• Rendering (Multiple CPU): 475
• Multiprocessor Speedup: 1,73

Windows Vista – CPU

• Index CPU: 4,6
• Index RAM: 4,9
• HWiNFO32: 2381 MB/s

Performance is a bit lower than we are used to on ordinary Core 2 Duo, but compared to Atom it is much more. For working there is not a problem and you will not recognize that the speed is lower than ordinary Core 2 Duo

Display and graphics

Acer Aspire 5810T has got display 16:9 with HD Ready (1366x768) resolution, glare surface and LED backlight. Colors are above average, but view abgles are not very good. Graphics is computed by GMA 4500MHD.

Tests 3D Mark

• 3DMark 2001: 4243
• 3DMark 03: 1854
• 3DMark 05: 985
• 3DMark 06: 700

Cinebench 9.5

• Shading (CINEMA 4D): 321
• Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting): 748
• Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting): 971
• OpenGL Speedup: 3,03

Graphics performance is low, but suitable for work or playing movies. Older games can be played on this notebook as well.

Cooling system

Because there is not alot space in the notebook there is just a small cooler that runs all the time but fortunatelly is not loud. Considering the slimm design i must say that the cooling system has been constructed very well

Battery

Battery has a good capacity 63 Wh. Due to low power consuming HW the pattery can run excellent time – 8 hours and 26 minutes. There is function PowerSmart which can turn off optical drive to save more energy. With Wifi turned on and surfing on the websites the battery can last about 6 hours.

Conclusion

Acer Aspire 5810T with attractive design is very cheap. Due to ULV platform you can work very long without electricity and therefore this notebook would be the best choice for many users.

+ slimm and durable construction
+ very long battery lifetime
+ good keyboard with numeric block

- worse reproductors
- ExpressCard slot is missing

notebook Asus K50IJ short review

Notebook Asus SX078C from the row K50IJ is a very interesting multimedial notebook with a new conception of inner layout. This innovation eliminates warming those part of notebook where you put your hands. Design is still like other models - having glare black surface.

Notebook has got CPU Intel Core2 Duo 2GHz T5870, 800MHz with only 2MB L2 cache, Graphics card is integrated Intel GMA 4500M and display is only 1366x768px

Uncommon 3GB DDR2 (older type) could be expanded only to 4GB. Suitable 320GB SATA dics with 5400rpm is the better part of this notebook. Ethernet, bluetooth, SD/MMC reader and audio i/o is not missing.

Weight is not bad at all, 2.6kg if we consider 370x256x35mm is a good value.

The construction is, as it is usual for ASUS, very solid and eventhough this is a cheap model nothing is bent and all parts fits perfect together.

Whole notebook is black and looks very ellegant.

On the right side are audio I/O connectors, video D-Sub, 2x USD, Ethernet and power. On the left side are two USD ports and optical drive. In the front is SD/MMC card reader and on the rear side is just Kenigston lock.

Keyboard is very comfortable and eventhough this is only 15,6'' notebook it has got numeric part of keyboard.

Display is vero good quality because it is LED backlighted - that is very uncommon for a notebook of this low price level. Therefore the colors are more bright and contrast is very good.

HW tests:

Windows Vista

• Index CPU: 4,9
• Index RAM: 4,7

Tests 3D Mark

• 3D Mark 2001: 12 371
• 3D Mark 03: 4 587
• 3D Mark 05: 2 657
• 3D Mark 06: 1 516

Cooling:

The cooling system of the laptop is excellent, there is almost no heating under the part where you put your hands and the coolers are very silent and you almost can not recognize if the cooler is running or not.

Battery:

Due to the integrated graphics card can the notebook run long on battery power. When working the notebook can run 3 hours 25 minutes on battery. When on maximum performance the battery life is 2 hours 20 minutes.

Conclusion:

Notebook Asus K50IJ very popular notebook because for a little cost offers great design and very good display. If you are looking to have a notebook for work or watching films this one is the best choice. Due to the price and therefore no dedicated GPU and older HW parts the notebook is not good for playing games anyway.

+ interesting design
+ display with LED
+ numeric keyboard
+ very good value for the price

- Bluetooth aruns over USB

Toshiba Satellite A500 review

Japan manufacturer has inovated multimedial notebooks and now there is a description of a new 16'' A500. Inside is Centrino 2, dedicated ATI graphics card and alot of equipment - connectors, numpad,..

Description

Toshiba Satellite A500 is very similar to older models. There is alot of glare plastic in black color with silver decoration.

Cover has got rounded corners, glare black surface made of plastic with a big logo in the middle. Maximum angle of the cover is 130 degrees, cover is held by magnet when closed.

Notebook has got overall durable construction and the design is modern. The glare surfaces are not the best option because your fingerprints will remain on them clearly visible.

Connectors are on the sides, on the rear sire is nothing because of the cover opening patent. In front is only memory card reader (SD/MMC/MS/xD). On the right side are optical drive, two USB ports, power, Kenigston lock. On the other side are two audioconnectors, wide expresscard slot, eSata/usb port, HDMI output, Ethernet, analog D-Sub and one more USB port

There are really alot connectors, missing is only FireWire.

As i have written the design is mostly durable and robust, nothing is bent when manipulating. Worse is only the cover durability - it is soft and when pushed there are waves on the display.

Notebook is bigger size 384x259x41mm and has got a bigger profile. Weight almost 3kg is just for casual wearing if you add the 90W power source which is bigger than i expected.

Due to the bigger display the keyboard has got numeric part. The better step from tha older models came with dull keyboard which is much better that previous glare surface keyboards.

HW parametres

Notebook is running on Centrino 2, processor Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 having 2.1Ghz, this one has only 800MHz FSB and 2MB L2 cache. There are 4GB RAM but those are older type DDR2-800

Single-Thread mode

• Fixed point unit test: 25 762
• Floating point unit tes: 16 439

Multi-Thread móode

• Fixed point unit test: 51 519
• Floating point unit test: 32 881

Cinebench 9.5

• Rendering (Single CPU): 379
• Rendering (Multiple CPU): 704
• Multiprocessor Speedup: 1,86

Windows Vista – CPU

• Index CPU: 5,1
• Index RAM: 5,0
• HWiNFO32: 2973 MB/s

The processor is not the fastest on the market but for usual work is more than suitable.

Optical drive is LG brand and it is standard DVD Super Multi type

Display and graphics

Display 16", having HD-ready resolution (1366x768) has glare surface. Angles of sight are not very well, colors are above average.

Graphics card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 has 512 MB DDR3 800MHz. The weird is that there is no option to switch between dedicated and integrated graphisc card although the integrated one is inside.

Tests 3D Mark

• 3DMark 2001: 18 090
• 3DMark 03: 10 843
• 3DMark 05: 7819
• 3DMark 06: 4091

Cinebench 9.5

• Shading (CINEMA 4D): 440
• Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting): 1695
• Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting): 4091
• OpenGL Speedup: 9,29

Performance of the graphics will let you play newer games, but sometimes you will have to adjust to lower details and resolution. But for the price of this model is the performance good.

Cooling system

System is very well adjusted when working the cooler is barely running and only source of noise is HDD. Even when you need maximum performance the loudness of the cooling system is very good.

Battery

Battery 43 Wh can run 2 hours 46 minutes. The v=battery is old style - is not able to show the remaining time - just percents of battery life. There is a button with ECO option but that one uses just software options to lower the consumption.

Conclusion

Toshiba Satellite A500 is good for everyone who is looking for a multimedial notebook with modern design and they do not plan to take it outside often.

+ good reprodustors
+ equipment

- glare surfaces
- soft LCD cover

Sony VAIO FW41M review

It has been a whole year since Sony announced the new row VAIO FW. If Sony can do something very well then it is multimedial notebook. The design is still very interesting for any customer and the display is really good for watching films or playing games.

HW parametres

Processor Core 2 Duo P8700 with frequency 2,53 GHz (1066 MHz FSB, 4 MB L2 cache) has got still the same energy consumption - 25 W. It is the best performance Core 2 Duo with 25W.

Single-Thread mode

• Fixed point unit test: 32 689
• Floating point unit test: 20 857

Multi-Thread mode

• Fixed point unit test: 62 393
• Floating point unit test: 39 737

Windows Vista – CPU and RAM

• Index CPU: 5,4
• Index RAM: 5,9
• HWiNFO32: 2862 MB/s

Optical drive does nut support burning blu-ray disc but can read those. If you need Blu-ray burning drive it is placed in more expensive model FW41ZJ

Display and graphics

16,4“ ratio 16:9 has Full HD (1920x1080). Display is glossy and backlight is made from two light tubes. For a notebook this display is very good, just one small problem are darker places on the side due to the no-led backlight. When working you will not recognize but if you have just white screen you can see that.

There is a bigger jump on the GPU from the last model - previous Radeon HD3470 was replaced by much better Radeon HD4650 with 512MB GDDR3

Tests 3D Mark

• 3DMark 2001: 25 785
• 3DMark 03: 15 569
• 3DMark 05: 11 048
• 3DMark 06: 5781

Performance is good enough even for playing new games, but some of them will not run well in native resolution.

Cooling

Considering the fact that there is much better GPU the cooling system remains well made and there is no overheating. The cooling system is not loud and suitable for this type of notebook.

Battery

There is 53Wh battery. Notebook can work 3 hours and 29 minutes, thats not that bad because the GPU consumes alot of power.

Conclusion

+ good battery lifetime
+ very good display

- USB ports are not very well placed
- Sides of display are not backlighted properly

Acer TravelMate 8371 review

Laptops from the row Acer TravelMate are designed firstly as a working notebooks. New model is taking some advantages from the multimedia row Aspire Timeline - style, slimm design and durable battery.

Small and light notebooks with high-economy processors were very expensive in past. Now after price reduction of economy platform Intel those notebooks are getting to ordinary users.

Acer TravelMate 8371 has slimm profile and cover from metal, there are also some design and color changes. The cover is glossy so there are often remaining fingerprints but those are not much apparent.

Mechanically the notebook is on very good level, cover is solid and there are no defect on the display even when pressing on the cover. The construction is solid as well, nothing is bent when you pick up the notebook by just one corner. Display can be opened at maximum 130 degrees.

Equipment includes basic standard, on the left side is multifunctional card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD), two USB ports, Ethernet, Docking connector and power input. On the right side are audio connectors, third USB slot, cooling system output and analog D-Sub videooutput. There are no connectors on the front side. The docking option is very good, on the other side i miss ExpressCard slot. Due to the slimm design there is missing some DVD drive as well..

Dimensions (323x228x25) are good when you often transport your notebook and considering 13'' display the weight 1,71kg is fine. The 65W power source is not big.

TravelMate 8371 is running with the economy version of Centrino 2. Tested configuration contained Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 frequency 1,4Ghz (800MHz FSB) with 3MB L2 Cache. CHipset Intel GS45 has got integrated graphics.

Notebook has got 4GB RAM - two modules DDR3 FSB 800MHz

Single-Thread mode

• test of calculations with fixed point: 17 257
• test of calculations with floating point: 11 101

Multi-Thread mode

• test of calculations with fixed point: 34 301
• test of calculations with floating point: 21 944

Cinebench 9.5

• Rendering (Single CPU): 253
• Rendering (Multiple CPU): 464
• Multiprocessor Speedup: 1,83

Windows Vista – CPU

• Index CPU: 4,6
• Index RAM: 4,9
• HWiNFO32: 2501 MB/s

Processor is focused as a low-consuming and therefore the performance is lower, but if you compare with Atom CPU it is still more than double. When working the speed is good enough.

Wide-angle display 13,3'' 16:9 and HD Ready resolution 1366x768 is backlighted with LED offers good contrast and lower consumption. The display is dull which i find better for travelling notebook.

GPU is just integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD which as economy as well but will not run well with any new games. Since the notebook will be used for work i think that this does not matter

Tests 3D Mark

• 3DMark 2001: 4185
• 3DMark 03: 1878
• 3DMark 05: 1007
• 3DMark 06: 706

Cinebench 9.5

• Shading (CINEMA 4D): 299
• Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting): 759
• Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting): 992
• OpenGL Speedup: 3,32

Cooling system

Notebook does not getting hot alot due to the used components and therefore the cooling system was easy to build. Cooler runs nonstop but is very silent.

When working the notebook has almost the same temperature all the time, when on maximum performance is the temperature higher but you can feel just on touchpad that it goes warm. It is not a problem to work with this notebok placed on your legs.

Battery

Battery has hot a capacity 56 Wh. Standard working time is 9 hours 38 minutes. So as you can see using all economy saving technologies brought the time to great value. Battery goes on full in almost 2 hours of charging

Conclusion

Acer Travellmate 8371 is a notebook with very good price for travellers. If you want to have high mobile solution and you can miss optical drive then this one can be a good one for you.

+ very good time on Battery
+ slimm design
+ good price

- small touchpad buttons
- digital output missing

Lenovo ThinkPad T400s review

There is a new light version of ThingPad. This model has got very good performance considering its weight, not even the LED backlight is missing, there are SSD and eSATA...

At the end of the year new models of thinkpads are released, this model is comming with several changes, those are revealing what we can expect from the new models - redesigned keyboard, new connectors and brand new docking stations.

Letter 's' signs that it is a lightweight model. SOmething simillar can be found on the model X200 where the s version is lighter and inside is a classical processor replaced by ULV version.

At the first view the laptop is slimm. Some edges became round so the laptom is not so "box-like" as sometimes people say about the older models. Anyway design is still like the previous concept - the whole laptop is black without any contrast design parts.

I was afraid that due to the light weight and slimm design of the laptop the durability will be much lower. But that is not true - it is very durable laptop and the construction can whithstand very rough manipulation. The display cover is very slimm but even with the heavier press there are no waves in the LCD display.

The battery is in the front and therefore there are no connectors on the front panel. On the left side there is only combined input/output of a sound card and one USB. On the right side there is only DVD drive and that means all the others are on the rear (power, VGA, LAN, USB, eSATA/USB, Display Port)

The laptop is very well equipped, there is missing only FireWire but that one is missing on almost all laptops nowadays. Very important is the possibility of docking station, the new docking stations for this laptop can support two DVI or eSATA.

The target group are the people who needs maximal mobility but do not want to get rid of comfortable display and swift CPU. Majority of 14'' models is about 2,4kg but this one is only 1,78kg and dimensions 335x240x25-30. The power adapter is 345g including the cable.

HW parameters:

Single-Thread mode

• test of calculations with fixed point: 30 778
• test of calculations with floating point: 19 861

Multi-Thread mode

• test of calculations with fixed point: 58 409
• test of calculations with floating point: 37 688

Cinebench 9.5

• Rendering (Single CPU): 448
  Rendering (Multiple CPU): 815
  Multiprocessor Speedup: 1,82

Windows Vista – CPU and RAM

• Index CPU: 5,3
• Index RAM: 5,9
• HWiNFO32: 3079 MB/s

Tests 3D Mark

• 3DMark 2001: 6917
• 3DMark 05: 1663
• 3DMark 06: 1100

Cinebench 9.5

• Shading (CINEMA 4D): 524
• Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting): 1337
• Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting): 1735
• OpenGL Speedup: 3,31

Cooling system is very silent and even after several hours of full performance it is not going to be louder. It is one of the most silent laptops tested recently

The battery could last 5 hours and 30 minutes in a standard test. With maximum backlight and bluetooth turned on it could last 4 hours. The DVD can be replaced with a second battery.

+ silence
+ vcomfortable keyboard
+ excellent build quality
+ performance and equipment (DisplayPort, eSATA)

- baterry runs out quickly in sleep mode
- indication of power and battery charging is missing