Laptop Reviews

Hands-on review of one of the latest Netbooks from Samsung

N140, Netbook, Review, Samsung

This is my user review of the Samsung NC10 Netbook.

Nc10, Netbook, Review, Samsung

It’s the ultimate status symbol—with a price to match. Once is shaking up the very clichéd netbook category, this time with a design that is not only half as light and half as thin other machines in its class, but also includes a battery that lasts twice as long as many models. Sony didn’t stop there, adding integrated 3G and GPS for those mobile tycoons who are able to afford its sticker price ($1,299 to start, $1,499 as configured). Yes, this ultraportable is not for everyone, but for those who want to travel really, really light, the VAIO X (VPCX115KX/B) may be worth the splurge.vgp-bps12

Design

Sony touts the vgp-bpl8 as the world’s lightest notebook, and at 1.4 pounds (with the four-cell battery), it is; even the, which has a similar processor but a smaller 7.0-inch screen, weighs 1.8 pounds. When you put the extended battery on the VAIO X, the weight—2.2 pounds—is still more than half a pound lighter than most 10-inch netbooks.
Measuring 11.0 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches (without the extended battery), the VAIO X rivals the in terms of thickness; however, its footprint is similar to other netbooks with the same screen size. When the extended battery is attached (by means of two screws that give the underside a quasi-steampunk feel), the back of the system is raised up by about 0.3 inches, and slants towards the user. The battery ofso doesn’t lie flush with the underside of the system; it’s designed with gaps in it to aid in the cooling of the netbook.
So how was Sony able to achieve such a thin and light netbook? The VAIO X’s chassis is made of a magnesium alloy, and the lid is built from carbon fiber. This material allows the screen to flex, which can be a bit unnerving, but Sony said that it’s designed to bend somewhat. Also, by using an Intel Atom Z-series processor, which uses less power (and creates less heat) than the N-series Atom chips in most netbooks forhe company was able to make the netbook incredibly slim without requiring a fan.
The lid of our review unit was matte black, as was the inside, with a bronze underside that felt slightly rough to the touch. Sony also offers the netbook with a Champagne Gold lid, but only for the model with a 128GB SSD (more on that later).

Keyboard and Touchpad

Like other Sony vgp-bps8, the keyboard on the VAIO X is island-style, but at 88 percent of full size, it’s a bit smaller than most netbooks with 10- to 12-inch screens. Measuring 9.5 x 3.5 inches, the keyboard is about half an inch smaller in both directions than the  even though the VAIO X has a larger keyboard deck. This is because there’s about half an inch of space on either side of the keyboard.
With the exception of an undersized right Shift key, the keys of were decently spaced and sized, but overall, it felt slightly cramped. Also, as a result of the netbook’s thinness, there’s less travel to the keys than on other systems, so we ended up hitting them harder than we’re accustomed to.
The VAIO X’s touchpad was a decently sized 2.1 x 1.6 inches, and offered little friction. However, like the keyboard fort could have been a smidgen larger, especially considering it’s capable of recognizing multitouch gestures, such as pinch and zoom. Two mouse buttons below are also small but responsive.

Display and Audio

As befitting a netbook that costs $1,500, the VAIO X’s 11.1-inch screen has a higher-than-usual resolution of 1366 x 768; we’ve only seen this standard on the This is becoming a more common option, however, such as on the While this resolution tends to make icons too small on 10-inch netbooks, we didn’t mind it as much on an 11-inch screen.
When watching content streamed over the Web or played offs hard drive, we were impressed with the crispness and wide viewing angles of the display; we could turn it nearly 90 degrees to either side without seeing image reversal or egregious reflections.
Being as thin as is, we’re not surprised at the lack of audio quality in the VAIO X. Songs were thin and tinny; the bass line in Aerosmith’s “Dream On” streamed over Pandora was nonexistent, and the speakers could barely fill a small office with sound.

Ports and Webcam

Despite its small stature,manages to cram in most of the connectivity options seen on almost every other netbook. On the left side are two USB ports and a headphone jack. On the right is a VGA port and Ethernet. Just underneath the front lip is an SD Card reader and a Sony Memory Stick slot. On a system this expensive, we were surprised at the omission of an HDMI port, although since this netbook isn’t designed to output HD content, it’s not a huge loss.
While not overly detailed, video from the VAIO X’s VGA webcam was well balanced, and showed accurate skin tones in a call over Skype

Review, Sony, Vaio

The Wind U160 is the latest Intel Pine Trail based-netbook from MSI boasting an impressive 15 hours of battery life. Like its sibling, the U135, which we reviewed in February, the U160 is equipped with the Intel Atom N450 and Intel GMA 3150. With a slightly larger battery and nearly identical parts configuration, can this new model beat the U135’s battery life of six hours and 30 minutes? Read our full review to find out.

MSI Wind U160 Specifications:

Windows 7 Starter Edition (32-bit)
10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA (1024 x 600)
Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB, 512KB Cache)
1GB DDR2 SDRAM onboard (1 slot available)
Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
250GB Seagate 5400.6 hard drive
802.11BGN Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
4-in-1 media card slot
Dimensions: 10.24 x 7.09 x 0.74 inches
Weight: 2.4 pounds (not including weight of AC adapter)
6-cell Lithium-ion battery (65Wh)

Build and Design
The MSI Wind U160 has a very good looking appearance with a glossy piano black finish inside and out. Compared to the U135, MSI went with a cylindrical hinge design on the U160, which allows the extended battery to blend with the shape of the back of the netbook. Gateway and Sony have also used a similar design on some of their notebooks. The common trend with these configurations is including the power button at the end of the hinge, which MSI also does.

The battery design on the U160 elevates the rear of the notebook with the rear half of the battery pack sticking out under the computer. ASUS uses a similar scheme but works the wedge shape into the design making the lift less noticeable.

Build quality is very good with strong hinges, rigid body panels, and a nearly flex-proof frame. While the screen cover seems to resist flexing under strong finger pressure, the small bit of flex is transmitted into the LCD causing some mild distortion. Besides the screen cover, the rest of the system was very well-constructed. Paint quality was above average and resisted most mild scratches from day-to-day use.

Users looking to upgrade the Wind U160 will find easy access to the system memory, which is a common on most netbooks that only include 1GB of RAM-with an access cover on the back side. The hard drive and wireless card require the entire back panel to be removed to access them. Going that extra step isn’t terribly difficult, but it may be overwhelming for someone who hasn’t previously dismantled a computer.

Screen and Speakers
The Wind U160 offers a 10-inch glossy LED-backlit display that rates below average compared to other similarly sized netbooks. On our review model, we noticed significant backlight bleed around the edges when the brightness is near the top of the scale. During the boot sequence, this is especially visible when the backgrounds are black.

Turning the backlight down to 50-70% reduced bleed, but it was still slightly visible if you were in a dark room watching a movie. Color and contrast are comparable to other competing netbooks thanks to the glossy screen surface. If there was less backlight bleed, it would be a great machine to watch movies on while traveling.

At peak brightness, the screen is easy to read in bright office conditions and outdoors if you are in an area that the sun wasn’t reflecting off the screen. Viewing angles are average with the vertical viewing range spanning 15-20 degrees forward or back before colors started to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, keeping colors looking true even at steep angles.

The speakers on the U160 are lap-firing, meaning that if you have the netbook on your lap, the speakers sound muffled since they can be easily blocked by your clothing. When sitting on a flat desk surface, the speakers sound very crisp with clean high notes and some midrange. Low-frequency response is nonexistent, but expected for almost all smaller netbooks and notebooks.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The MSI Wind U160’s keyboard is a nearly identical to the keyboard on the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE. They are Chiclet-style keyboards and share the same layout, key size and key shape. The only visible differences are the printed labels that appear bolded on the MSI version. Comparing both models side-by-side and the U160 feels more solid and attached to the frame, whereas the 1005PE’s keyboard bounces slightly. Tactile feedback is nearly alike, with the same key strength and noise when fully pressed.

The touchpad on the MSI Wind U160 seems rudimentary compared to most other notebooks and netbooks. Compared to the U135, MSI took a step in the right direction by including driver support. Webpage scrolling is limited to only touchpoints. I had to go into the menu to realize that you don’t scroll with a finger swiping action; instead you hold your finger in one of the finger-sensing zones to scroll. While it’s better than before, it still feels like a huge step back when compared to the latest multitouch touchpads on most notebooks and netbooks.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the MSI Wind U160 follows the industry average with three USB 2.0 ports,Sony VGP-BPS13A/B VGA-out, a SDHC-card reader, audio jacks, LAN and a Kensington lock slot. The Wind also features a dedicated wireless on/off switch to quickly disable the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth card without fumbling with keys or software settings.

Review, U160, Wind

Space constraints in most offices today have called for office equipment that not only take up the least space, but can also perform multiple functions at the same time. Canon has heared this plea and come up with a wide range of all-in-one devices that make back office functions very easy and convenient to perform. The Canon PIXMA MX7600 is one such device.

The PIXMA MX7600 multifunction printer is an upgraded version of Canon’s MX700, which users criticized for not having an autoduplexer and advanced faxing options. The MX7600 not only addresses this issue, but also comes up with more than superb photo printing quality that regular laser printers simply cannot hold a candle to, even if it’s an inkjet! That, combined with a sleeker look, has made the MX7600 the device of choice for many offices to date.

Capabilities:

- Photo Printing

- Scanning

- Copying

- Faxing

Each box of the PIXMA MX7600 comes complete with the following:

- The PIXMA MX7600 multifunction printer

- 5 cleaning sheets

- 1 Power Cord

- 1 Print Head

- 1 Telephone line cable

- A Document Kit, which contains:

- CD-ROM Setup and User’s Guide

- Easy Setup Guide (for the USB and the Device)

- Network Setup Instructions

- Quick Start Guide

- Leopard Setup Instructions

- Ink Tanks

- 1 for PGI-7 (Black)

- 1 for PGI-9 (Black/Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Clear)

Photo Printer

The maximum color print speed of the MX7600 is 23 pages per minute (ppm).

The maximum mono print speed is 28 ppm.

The maximum photo print speed is 43 seconds.

Using inkjet technology, the PIXMA MX7600 has a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi.

This device can read several data storage units, but an adapter is required to read miniSD Card, RS-MMC, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, microSD Card and xD-Picture Card.

Scanner

Its flatbed scanning function has a scan resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi for Optical scans, and 19200 x 19200 dpi for Digital scans. It will have to be connected to a PC to function.

It scans in color.

Copier

The copier function is the same location as the scanner. For Mono copies, the maximum copy speed is 28 cpm, while the maximum copy speed for Color copies is 23 cpm.

Special copying functions are available, including two-sized, two-on-one, borderless, collated, four-on-one, image repeat, and fade restore. Aside from a fit to page option, you can also magnify copies in 25% to 400% intervals.

Fax

The device can fax in color and has a modem speed of 33.6 Kbps.

The Canon PIXMA MX7600 has earned a lot of raves online because it has proven to perform relatively faster than its contemporaries from other brands. What is particularly impressive with this device is its print ability, which technical reviews have found to be clearer, crisper, and a lot faster. Sold at an average retail price of $400, it’s definitely a practical and wise buy.

canon, Multifunction, MX7600, PIXMA, printer, Review