The Laptop review (Entries tagged as technology)

Three laptops hovering around 300 pounds mark

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:21:18 +0100

Lenovo 3000 G530 Laptop - NSH22UK

Processor - Intel Celeron 900 / 2.2 GHz

RAM - 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz - PC2-5300 ( 1 x 2 GB )

Hard Drive - 160 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm

Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic

Screen - 15.4" TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colours) - VibrantView

Optical Drive - DVD-Writer - integrated

Graphics - Intel GMA 4500M

Bluetooth - No

Notebook Camera - Integrated - 0.3 Megapixel

Warranty - 1 year warranty

Was £353.97 Now £299.97

It's powerful little economy laptop for £300 from Lenovo. Expect great office use and DVD playback. Note that this laptop comes with the very restricted "basic" Windows Vista so RAM upgrades and some operating system functions are restricted.

Toshiba Satellite Pro L300-1FK Laptop with 2GB RAM - PSLB9E-02U003EN2GB

Processor - Intel Celeron 585 2.16 GHz

RAM - 2 GB (installed) 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive - 160 GB

Operating System - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Screen - 15.4 in TFT active matrix 1280 x 800

Optical Drive - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM

Graphics - Intel GMA 4500M

Bluetooth - No

Warranty - 1 year warranty

Was £362.97 Now £309.97

A rather outdated processor and hardware makes this a second choice after the Lenovo but its an economy laptop. However, if it makes sense you can upgrade your RAM for a reasonable cost and it will work better with Vista Home Premium.

Budget laptop beats the finance blues

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:38:22 +0000

The Advent netbook laptop is a low cost laptop for light home users and is ideal for word processing, accounting and browsing the Internet. Unlike most budget laptops, it is quite lightweight (1.12kg) making it suitable for carrying form place to place. The 10" Widescreen Display display is great for browsing the web and checking email, although the widescreen feature is a bit of a red herring becuase the laptop might not have quite the processor or memory performance you would like for smooth playback of movies.

The laptops uses the old Windows® XP operating system, but wait - that's not such a bad thing becasue a machine fast and big enough to run the overweight operating system would cost twice as much.

Oh yes, whilst we're on cost, that's what you want to know isn't it?

Advent laptop £279 but no DVD drive

The Advent 4211 C is currently available from PC World for just £279 - Wow!

Specs
This laptop comes with Intel’s newest and smallest ever processor, the Intel Atom as used in the eeePC. It's good 1GB Memory which isn't going to be great for games but will run the XP Home operating system without any trouble.

Unfortunately, like the eeePC it doesn't come with a CD or DVD drive! Again, this can be a good thing. A more solid laptop for starters, less to go wrong... OK that's the only reason but it's a valid one.

A generous 120GB hard drive provides ample space for storing music, photos and documents. Its also got 3 USB parts too, so you can plug in an external hard drive or DVD drive.

Additional features include a built in webcam, microphone and Bluetooth, so it's a good tool for Skype, NSN and any other program you choose to use to catch up with friends and family online.

Advent 4211 C Netbook now £279.99 from PC World

Entertainment laptop runs rings round HD video

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:27:48 +0000

The HP DV5-1110EM is a perfect Entertainment Laptop with Blu-Ray DVD drive and Radeon HD3450 graphics card it is equally adapt at watching movies or playing games.

HP Pavillion DV5-1000 series entertainment laptop

The laptop is powered by an AMD Turion X2 processor with 2 processing cores running at a respectable 2.10 Ghz for churning through video like a knife through butter. 3 GB DDR2 memory provides ample space to process and display video or games, although you might want to consider upgrading the OS to something state of the art (like Windows XP... haw haw) rather than using the Vista Home Premium that it is sold with.

Storage is in the form of a 250 GB hard drive, which is above average for a laptop, reflecting its multimedia / home cinema credentials as an entertainment laptop.

You can plug the laptop into your surround sound system to enjoy 3D sound for games, movies and music. 4 USB connections will allow you to plug in your iPod, printer, Skype handset and one more device - so its a sensible balance. If you're interested, it's also got an infra-red port which are rarely used but actually pretty good for syncing a basic Nokia or Sony Ericsson phone.

Many HP laptops have an S-Video output so it's a little dissapointing, but you can connect to many new digital flatscreen TVs with the laptop's HDMI (digital) output.

In most circumstances you'll be more than happy watching your DVDs or the BBC's marvellous iPlayer on the 15.4" High Definition display, but sadly this entertainment laptops lacks a TV output!

Weighing in at 2.65 kg you wouldn't rule this laptop out for business jetsetting, but that's not its purpose in life. For one thing it's also pretty large (259 mm * 357 mm *349 mm) but its high performance graphics and fast processor are also pretty tough on the battery life.

All in all a good little portable media laptop at a good price from a brand you can trust. It's available in Black / Silver from PC World priced £599 inc VAT.

Laptop packs a punch for 300 pounds

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:32:26 +0100

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)

Cheap portable laptop

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!

MESH laptop offers high preformance

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:16:41 +0100

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

Affordable performance MESH laptop

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

TravelMate 7730 released

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:19:05 +0100

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 TravelMate 7730

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.

MacBook Pro and Air

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:18:02 +0000

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.

MacBook Air UK

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!

You can now get a great laptop for 350

nospam@example.com (Robin) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:28:52 +0100

Going on the experience of sales at Cheap Laptops and immediate colleagues, friends and family ACER are a real contender for affordable but capable laptops.

But why is that? Well, for just £352.49 (we musn't forget the obligatory 49p...) you can get your hands on an Acer Aspire 5051WLMi. Now, that's an ACER laptop with economy in mind - ie. you might "aspire" to upgrade to a Travelmate, Lamborghini etc.

What do you get?

For the price it is an impressive package powered by a powerful 2GHz AMD Turion 64 low power processor supported by 1 Gb RAM.

Tabletop laptop

Unusually for laptops it also has a 120 Gb hard drive and a built in DVD +/- RW. Not bad eh? Well, that's the one reason why ACER seem to be killing off Toshiba's long term domination of desktop replacement notebook PCs.

I like to call these laptops "tabletops" because they have quote high end processors and aren't ideal for travel / mobility but can still be popped away in the drawer once you've finished doing your online shopping from Tesco, ordered your wife (or partner!) some sexy lingerie to keep you out the doghouse and poked fun at friends on Facebook.

All of which moves us swiftly on to display.

Can I watch DVDS?

Well, this little laptop has a 14.1" WXGA monitor. That's Wide screen XGA in English and yes, good for personal DVD viewing but perhaps you would fork out for a 17" if you want to share. ACER laptops are alway fully featured and the cheaper models are no exception. The Acer Aspire 5051WLMi has a 5 in 1 card reader to make it easier to grab photos from a digital camera.

The laptop comes with Windows Vista home and a built in wireless interface.