The Laptop review

The Extensa 5220 Value series from Acer is a light, compact laptop with "big" laptop performance at mini-laptop prices. It's great for short travel, weighing just 2.9 kg and is alos a good laptop for browsing the internet, checking your email and downloading music.

Features

• Intel® Celeron 540 Processor Technology
  
• 1GB DDR2 RAM / 80GB Hard Disc Drive
  
• DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM
  
• Windows XP Professional (great for business users)

The laptop is powered by an Intel® Core™2 Duo 2.10GHz Processor with 1 MB L2 cache, which is good for around £300. It ships with 1GB RAM which is fine for Windows XP, should you wish to upgrade to resource hungry Vista at a later date then it is very affordable to upgrade to its max capacity of 2GB by ordering DDR2 laptop memory from suppliers such as Crucial.

This cheap little Cheap Laptops">laptop has an 80GB SATA-150 hard drive, which can load up large files quickly.

The 5520 has Ethernet (Gigabit Ethernet compatible) networking for use in the office or with a fast home multimedia network. For wireless use it has a wireless card that supports both old (11Mbps) and newer IEEE 802.11g (54 Mbps) networking.

Measuring 15.4", the screen's graphics are provided by an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 which will do a good job with anything less than a full blown 3D shoot 'em up.

An 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive is ideal for up to 8.5 Gb backup of files to DVD. For smaller file transfers between computers and devices such as mp3 players and cameras the laptop also has a multi-card reader that is compatible with SD, Sony Memory Stick and
Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard and xD-Picture Card.

The laptops comes with a 1 year warranty and a trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 that lasts for 60 days. Of course, you can still use the wonderful Office 2003 with XP so there's no need to use it if you don't want to!

The MSI PR600 Plus laptop from MESH offers high computing performance at a relatively cheap price of just £529 (£450 ex vat).



Specification:

• Windows Vista Home Premium (Good for most users, some may wish to consider upgrading for more features / control)
  
• Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 Processor (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
  
• 2GB DDR2 667MHz Memory (Fast memory)
  
• 160GB SATA Hard Drive (Fast hard drive for laptops)
  
• 15.4" Widescreen ACV (stands for "Amazing Crystal Vision")
  
• Bulit in extras including a 1.3 megapixel webcam and multi-memory card reader
  

MESH currently offer this already cheap laptop with a free carry case, USB Mouse and best of all a 2 Year collect and return warranty for UK Mainland customers.

Visit MESH to find out more

Acer, has announced the new TravelMate 7730, a professional notebook designed for professional business users looking for multitasking efficiency, enhanced productivity and solid wireless connectivity.

Acer has strived to fine-tune the details of its TravelMate line and has improved both the ergonomics and performance, making the TravelMate 7730 the ideal tool for SMB users looking for a professional notebook that offers the utmost security for critical data, exceptional performance and perfect communication in a streamlined and ergonomic design.

Exceptional performance
Equipped with Intel Centrino Processor Technology, the TravelMate 7730 is driven by the latest Intel® Core™2 Duo processor, the Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset (which makes you wonder why they don't provide some DDR3 RAM) up to 4 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory, to speed up response time and easily handle multitasking and productivity demands. Depending on the model, the TravelMate 7730 comes with either integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500MHD, or discreet NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT/9300M GS graphics to boost graphic performance for best-in-class 3D graphics and high definition multimedia performance.

Moreover, the 17" WXGA+ high-brightness wide screen display can accommodate considerably more information, allowing users to view spreadsheets, charts and emails in native widescreen resolution thus increasing productivity.

One or two large Serial ATA hard disks (up to 320 GB) offer generous storage and allow the system to boot up and load applications faster. Extra storage options are given by a multi-in-one card reader and a DVD-Super Multi optical drive that provides more than enough space to store and manage files and folders of any size.

With support for Intel® Turbo Memory 2 GB application start-ups are accelerated by twice the speed thus reducing idle times and helping you get more done in less time.

Connectivity
Wherever you go, the TravelMate 7730 offers solid wireless connectivity thanks to Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100/5300 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, featuring MIMO technology, supporting Acer SignalUp™ with Nplify™2 wireless technology, in addition to LAN, modem and Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR connectivity.

Videoconferencing
The TravelMate 7730 can be specified with a VoIP Bluetooth phone and Acer Video Conference Manager Pack that, together with the integrated Acer CristalEye camera enables you to set up videoconferences wherever you are.

Security
True user identity controls are guaranteed by the Acer Bio-Protection digital imprint reading solution which supports Pre-Boot Authentication (PBA), one of the most secure control programs for mobile platforms on the market and Acer FingerLaunch, which offers a secure way to launch programs or authenticated documents with a simple swipe.

Physical security is managed through DASP technology which combines innovative hardware and software solutions to protect the notebook hard disk from hits and falls: Acer DiskAnti-Shock Protection, a special material plate able to absorb hits and insulate the hard disk, helping to prevent disk damage.

The TravelMate series comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Home Basic. Furthermore, additional preinstalled software includes:

Watch out for the flimsy built-in tools and fickle extras, but look out for excellent features and value with TravelMate laptops.

Acer Empowering Technology (Acer eDataSecurity1, ePower, eRecovery, eSettings Management); Acer Bio-Protection1; Acer Crystal Eye1; Acer GridVista™; Acer Launch Manager; Adobe® Reader®; Corel® WinDVD; McAfee® Internet Security Suite; Microsoft® Office Ready 2007; NTI Media-Maker™; NTI Shadow™.

All Acer notebooks come with a standard 1 year Carry In (International travellers warranty - ITW) which can be extended to 3 years’ cover with the Acer Advantage service that also covers accidental damage to the notebook.

We'll post more information once we've got our hands on one. In the meanwhile, the TravelMate 7250, for example, can now be picked up for just 389.99 and has 2Gb RAM and Vista.

The Asus X53SR laptop is a great all round laptop, with a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for superb performance, & a great graphics card providing an excellent viewing experience.

It's quite high performance for a cheap laptop, but it doesn't look great and has a relatively short battery life. However, if you want better "bang" you have to fork out more hard earned "bucks" so it's a good all rounder. I wouldn't recommend it for the high powered exec, but if you want a practical, powerful desktop replacement that you can shove in a drawer to save space or a machine for light travel it's a bargain at just £549 inc VAT from PC World this Easter - that's £250 off.

The Fineprint
This Asus X53SR laptop has a DVI port, so you shouldn't have a problem hooking it up to an HD TV using a HDMI adapter. This could be great if you haven't invested in a DVD player, or perhaps want to watch HD Prison Break from the err ...Internet...

Unfortunately, the HD DVD drive is what it says on the tin "HD" ie. Toshiba's standard that recently lost out to Sony's Blu-Ray. Still, you're not paying extra for that and it will read all your software and "Fisher price" DVDs no problem so what's there to complain about?

Processor: INTEL CORE 2 DUO T5450, 1.66 GHz. Not bad for a laptop
Memory: 2048 MB DDR2 (fast) DRAM. Enough for a basic Vista machine
Storage: 160 Gb hard drive
CD / DVD:Super Multi DVD1RW (reads and writes to CDs and DVD-RW)
Battery life:2.5 hrs (manufacturer)
Weight2.95 kg

Asus X53SR laptop

Apple have launched the world's thinnest notebook, called the MacBook Air. It isn't a cheap laptop - but we thought you'd like to hear more.

The MacBook Air has a fresh, brand new ultra compact thin design. Accoding to Apple, the Air is the thinnest notebook computer available, and indeed it's remarkably sleek. At its widest point, it's a hair over three-quarters of an inch (that's 1.94cm) and it's very light, weighing in at exactly 1.36kg.

The new model Macs are equipped with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, offer larger hard drives and ship with 2GB of memory as standard in most models. All MacBooks and MacBook Pros can now house up to 4GB of memory, making them ideal for the multimedia apps such as Photoshop and Cubase that have long made Macs the creative man's (and wo-man's) tool of choice.

A far cry from the modest little EEE PC we just brought up. But, if you need a powerful and reliable tool for multimedia on the road here's the lowdown.

MacBook Air

• Light, small and super thin.
  
• Base processor is a 1.6 Core 2 Duo.
  
• 2 Gb memory
  
• 80 Gb hard drive
  
• 5 hours batt
  
• 13 inch screen

£1,199

Needless to say at less than 2cm thick, the MacBook Air doesn't have a built in optical drive. Instead, you can use a remote optical drive which makes living without a built-in drive much easier than the traditional docking station alternatives (if you've had a docking station, you'll know what I mean).

Here comes the cheap bit. Education offers. Students and teachers can save up to 8% on Macs and up to 80% on Apple Software products!