Laptop and Computer Reviews

The Gateway M-1626 is a fixed configuration version of the manufacturer’s midsize M series and is currently available through Office Depot. As with the M-1618 we reviewed last summer, we like the design of the Gateway M1626, which combines a lovely display and a comfortable keyboard inside of a relatively sleek and stylish case. We like the laptop’s price tag even more: at $850, the M-1626 undercuts similarly configured Toshiba Satellite A305D ($999), Dell Inspiron 1525 ($949), and HP Pavilion dv6700z ($915) models. As with any low-cost laptop, you will have to make concessions; in the case of the Gateway M-1626, you’ll have to accept merely average performance and put up with truly lousy battery life. But given the price, we think the Gateway M-1626 would work well as a student laptop or as a secondary computer–provided it stays close to a wall socket or travels with a second battery.
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the Averatec Voya 6494 bears a slight resemblance to Honda’s original Element. Despite its clunky look, the Voya 6494 is relatively trim for a ruggedized 15-inch laptop. And when opened, it presents a surprisingly slick yet corporate look, with a silver-and-black screen bezel, and black keyboard and keyboard tray. It serves up security features that will certainly appeal to business users, including Smart Card and SIM card slots. In addition to the aforementioned rubber bumpers that protect each of its corners, this semirugged laptop also features a rubber mounting system to protect the display, a magnesium alloy outer shell, a spill-resistant keyboard and touch pad, and a shock-mounted hard drive
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The Dell Precision M70 is the top-of-the line workstation notebook from Dell. Its main distinction from the Inspiron and Latitude series of notebooks is the graphics card, which is an OpenGL certified NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400. Graphics cards of this type (the ATI FireGL line is similar) have superior computational precision and are certified to work with applications that engineers, 3D artists, and CAD designers use. Unlike some of its predecessors, this Quadro FX also performs well on gaming benchmarks. The laptop is otherwise similar to the Dell
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Dell Precision M90 is a mobile workstation laptop computer that features Intel Core Duo processor, 17-inch 1920×1200 widescreen LCD, NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M Open GL PCI-Express graphics card with 256MB or 512MB of graphics memory and up to 120G 7200RPM SATA hard drive. The high performance notebook workstation also has a 5-in-1 media reader and weighs 3.81 kg.
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The Sony VAIO VGN-NR160E/S also makes a stylish statement with rounded corners and unique coloring. This Granite VAIO NR notebook features a matte silver hue that showcases the notebook’s subtly textured chassis and clean lines. The widescreen 15.4-inch screen makes it easy to multitask in several open windows, or watch a DVD in its proper aspect ratio. And Sony’s original XBRITE-ECO LCD technology delivers razor-sharp details and crisp, bold colors–all while conserving battery life. The instant AV Mode feature enables you to start watching a DVD or listening to music with the push of a single button–without having to boot up the system.
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The Toshiba Satellite L350 series notebook is a new addition to the 17″ desktop replacement lineup from Toshiba. For a starting price of $749, Toshiba gives customers a TruBrite screen, webcam, integrated ATI Radeon graphics, a dual core AMD processor, and a DVD SuperMulti drive. This notebook is aimed at consumers who want a bit more notebook out of a budget price range, and seems to hit the mark perfectly. Read on to see how well the Toshiba L350 holds up in our testing, and if it is a notebook worth checking out.
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Dell’s taken these points to heart, and the company has reworked the 1520 in the form of the Inspiron 1525. It’s a smaller, lighter version of the previous 15-inch Inspiron 1520. However, after getting used to the brushed metal of the XPS M1530 (which itself starts at only $999), the new Inspiron 1525 has a somewhat cheap plastic feel, and we’re not sure how much abuse it would stand up to on the road. But for a laptop that starts at only $499, it offers a lot of bang for your buck, including an HDMI output and touch-sensitive media controls, which are solid extras for a budget laptop. Our review unit bumps the spec up and includes a T7000-series Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM, for about a still reasonable $1,024–but within Dell’s crowded laptop lineup, you may still prefer the smaller 14-inch 1420 model, or the slightly more expensive (but much nicer-looking) XPS M1530.
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Dell Vostro 1310 business Notebook. ‘Thinner and lighter than the 14-inch Vostro, the 4.8-pound Dell Vostro 1310 looks the part of a business notebook without being boring. Take a closer look at the 12.5 x 9.6 x 1.5-inch system, and you’ll see that the magnesium-alloy and titanium chassis has a little sparkle to it, visible in the lid and the keyboard deck. Above the keyboard is a set of blue status lights for Internet, Bluetooth, and more, plus seven touch-sensitive multimedia keys, which were very responsive on our tests. Above the display is a microphone and 1.3-megapixel webcam, which were fine for video chats. The full-size keyboard is spacious and comfortable, though we did notice some flex when we typed. We had no problems with the very responsive touchpad or comfortable mouse buttons.’
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The Lenovo ThinkPad X300. The newest addition to the ThinkPad X series incorporates the best of the MacBook Air (13.3-inch display, full-size keyboard, thickness less than one inch) with the best of the Portege R500 (solid-state hard drive, thorough selection of ports) while also adding its own great features, such as a built-in DVD burner, WWAN connectivity, and GPS. The X300’s ThinkPad DNA is evident in its instantly recognizable black, square-edged case, but at 0.73 inch thick and weighing anywhere from 2.9 pounds to 3.5 pounds (depending on your battery and optical drive choices), it’s simply the sleekest ThinkPad yet. The biggest criticism of the ThinkPad X300 is its price: the base configuration costs $2,476 and goes up from there. But innovative design, thorough features, and cutting-edge components don’t come cheap, and the ThinkPad X300 is truly unique in its balance of portability and usability. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Unless you put them side by side, you’d be hard-pressed to spot the physical differences between the two new Centrino laptops from Lenovo, the ThinkPad T61 and the ThinkPad R61. Both 14-inch models include all the important parts of Intel’s revamped Centrino platform, including new Core 2 Duo CPUs, extra onboard Turbo Memory (for boosting access times), and 802.11n Wi-Fi. While the slightly bulkier Centrino Duo R61 aims for the sweet spot in the price/performance matrix, the more expensive Centrino Pro T61 is a little thinner, a little lighter, and adds Intel’s Active Management Technology, allowing the IT department to manage the system from afar, even when it’s in sleep mode or powered down. [Read the rest of this entry…]