HP - Envy 17 3D review

After Avatar kickstarted the current craze for 3D movies and games, it was almost inevitable that HP would devise something to rival NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology. And the laptop computer they've chosen to showcase their 3D alternative is the HP Envy 17 3D.
Two words immediately sprang to mind when we first laid eyes on the HP Envy 17 3D laptop: "classy" and "massive".
Let's start with the "massive" aspect. We're talking about a whopping 17.3in monster, measuring 275x416x387mm, and weighing a hefty 3.41kg.
Heavyweight perrformance
‘Desktop replacement' is a term often bandied about with cavalier abandon - but the expression could have been coined especially for the Envy 17 3D. It will only just fit inside an executive briefcase, and is certainly not the kind of thing to be tossed casually into a rucksack.
Yet at the same time, the Envy 3D is sleek and sexy. Its solid chassis is made from its subtly patterned silver aluminium, and bears a backlit HP logo on the corner of the lid. Inside it has a deliberately minimalist look, with a single slender silver power button on the expansive work surface, and both the keyboard and (surprisingly less user-friendly than it should be) touchpad jet black and subtly recessed.

The Envy 17 3D is a thing of beauty, with carefully understated white backlights under the keyboard (the sturdy chiclet variety so beloved of the latest generation of notebooks, which comes with a complete number pad).
Bristling with ports
As you'd expect from a high-end laptop, the Envy 17 3D bristles with ports, including VGA, HDMI, one USB 3.0, 3 USB 2, eSATA, Ethernet, a 5-in-1 memory card slot and a mini-display port - in other words, everything a high-powered business executive (or an avid gamer) might desire.
Under the bonnet lurks an Intel Core i7-720QM CPU clocked at 1.6 GHz with 6 GB DDR3 RAM. Decent as the 500GB SATA hard drive is, we were slightly disappointed HP couldn't stretch to a 1TB model. Graphics are supplied by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 chipset with 1GB of built-in memory.
Total entertainment
Naturally, that '3D' tag betrays the ultimate aim of this machine - not just to look chic and perform plenty of multitasking (both of which it fulfils in spades), but to be an entertainment machine. Hence the inclusion of a Blu-ray optical drive and with a Full HD (1920x1080) native resolution 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity display that fairly leaps out at you, it's so vibrant. Colour photos in particular are so rich you almost need shades to view them, and 2D videos really come alive.
Audio on this machine is superb by the standards of regular notebooks, thanks to the Beats sound system with its integrated subwoofer.
As for the heart of the matter, the 3D operation, HP makes use of a similar active-shutter style of 3D glasses as the NVIDIA system. It comes into its own when watching Blu-ray 3D films - we tried it on the Shrek movies, and slime never looked so appetizing!
Gaming options
As far as games are concerned, only a handful of titles (including World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2) are compatible with the ATI technology, and the jury's still out about how much it improves gameplay - even though the depth of field is impressive.
One word of warning when playing conventional 2D FPS games on the Envy 17 3D, though - the base becomes almost scaldingly hot and if one of the air vents is covered, the game will crash out.
As you might expect, given the machine's powerful spec, battery life isn't brilliant - you'll be lucky to manage two hours from each charge - but this baby wasn't intended to be hauled about on rush-hour trains, so I doubt if that will prove significantly off-putting.

Samsung - NF110 review

10.1in netbooks have enjoyed an increase in popularity over the last couple of months, mostly due to their size, price and improving performance. Last week, we took a look at the Acer Aspire One D255. Now it's Samsung's turn in the spotlight, after the company has joined the bandwagon with no fewer than nine 10.1in machines, including the new NF210 and NF110 - the latter of which we're putting to the test.
The NF110 comes in a simple two-tone design - black lid, white interior - with a thin burgundy strip running around the dividing edge to add an extra level of sophistication. Despite its slim dimensions (265x189x29mm) and ultra-portable weight (just 1.28kg), it feels sturdily built. Those who like a bit of style in their PC will appreciate the wave pattern that rises in a smooth crescendo to either side of the keyboard.
The ‘island' keyboard itself lies in its own sunken bay within the base, and is the familiar 93% chiclet model with large separated keys that are firm and smooth to operate. The touch pad is similarly ‘sunken' - thus kicking one common trend that likes to make touchpad boundaries invisible - and responds well to two-finger Windows 7 controls. Although the mouse bar is made in a single piece, it has a groove in the middle to demarcate between left and right buttons, and the rocker feels comfortable when working.

Most of the NF110's other exterior features are standard for this class of netbook: 3 USB ports, VGA and Ethernet connections, headphone and mic sockets, plus a 4-in-1 memory card slot for SD, SDHC, SDXC and MMC formats. The resolution of the 10.1in display is also the current favourite of 1024x600, with an energy-efficient LED backlight that's more than sufficient for most users' needs.
In many respects the NF110 is indistinguishable from its big sister the NF210, apart from the power of the CPU - the NF110 carries an Intel Atom N455 clocked at 1.66GHz, while the NF210 has the more punchy dual-core N550 clocked at 1.50GHz. Both models share the same Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 graphics card, 250GB S-ATA hard disk and rather limited allocation of 1GB RAM.
Given these relatively meagre resources, though, the NF110's overall performance is surprisingly impressive. Multitasking with documents, internet and Windows Media Player running simultaneously provided no problems at all, and watching movies on BBC iPlayer revealed good colour contrast and sharpness with barely a hint of juddering. The quality of the NF110's surround sound was also beefier than usual for a netbook, and the demo racing games that came with the machine created a respectably frenzied atmosphere.
The other area in which the NF110 scores heavily over the rival Acer Aspire One D255 is in its battery life - we managed a minimum of six hours at heavy usage, compared to only four hours on the Acer.

Acer - Aspire One D255 review

Netbooks appeal to a variety of users, from the youthful, highly mobile social networking crowd to business people needing a small, light computer that can perform multiple undemanding tasks and provide swift access to the Net. And it's their very popularity that causes maunfacturers a problem: it's getting harder to find unique selling points that make one model stand out from the crowd.
Acer's Aspire One series has already garnished a good reputation for portability, reliability and affordability. The latest version, the D255, attempts to get itself noticed by including two operating systems - Windows 7 Starter and Android 2.1. We'll shortly see whether this strategy has obvious attractions for the target audience.
Visually the D255 is quite striking, appearing in five shades that Acer have grandly named Aquamarine, Diamond Black, Sandstone Brown, Ruby Red and Seashell White, with the key colour on the lid matched by the palm rest area. The keyboard and the rather thick bezel remain resolutely black whichever hue you opt for. Although it's thin (less than one inch) and light (around 1kg), the netbook doesn't feel flimsy.

In most other respects, the exterior is no different from many of rival 10.1-inch netbooks. It has three USB ports plus VGA, Ethernet, the usual sound jacks and an SDHC/MMC card reader, as well as the centrally positioned 1.3M webcam. The LED-backlit display has the standard native resolution of 1024x600 and provides generally well defined images and bright colours.
One exceptional asset is the extremely light MiniGo AC power supply, which comes with interchangeable plug adapters - very useful when you're travelling around Europe. The keyboard is the familiar chiclet style 93% standard-size which feels comfortable and smooth to operate. Acer makes the most of the space by spreading it to the edges of the base. The touchpad is reasonably responsive and, happily, incorporates multi-touch functions - though we'd have preferred the mouse buttons to have been separated rather than incorporated into a single bar.
Under the bonnet you'll find a dual-core Intel Atom N550 CPU clocked at 1.5GHz, which packs a fair bit of power. Unfortunately there's only 1GB of RAM - 2GB ought to be standard by now, especially as the D255 has to cope with two operating systems. The built-in Intel GMA 3150 graphics chipset can just about manage BBC iPlayer HD videos as long as they're not too demanding. Shame there's no HDMI output, though.
Which brings us back to the big selling point - the dual OS. If you have an Android-based phone, you might appreciate having the same system on your netbook. But apart from being able to get you online quicker than Windows 7 Starter, and thus giving you quicker access to your e-mails, it's unlikely you'll be spending much time with the handful of apps here.
As for battery life - we found with continuous video usage at full-screen resolution and Wi-Fi turned on, we could only manage four hours before it all went dark, although Acer claims double that (presumably in sleep mode). Seems like you might be very glad of that lightweight power adapter...

Samsung - N350 review

With its glossy outer shell, the N350 looks very similar to Samsung's N230 netbook we reviewed a couple of months ago. They are both 10.1-inch models, but the big difference is that this new model has one of Intel's new dual-core Atom processors beating away inside.
Samsung's done a great job in terms of making the N350 as portable as possible. Although it has the same width (264mm) and depth (188mm) as the N230, it's a fair bit thinner, at just 23mm compared to the N230's 34mm. At 1kg, it's also around 200g lighter. The end result is an extremely compact and portable netbook. However, there's a good reason for its lightweight nature: a smaller-than-average battery. We'll talk more about this in a moment.
Flip open the lid and you're greeted by the 10.1-inch display. The screen has a netbook-standard resolution of 1024x768, but it differs from most in that it lacks a glossy coating. While glossy displays make movies and photos look more vibrant, they also attract reflections like there's no tomorrow. This matt display, on the other hand, keeps reflections to a minimum and makes outdoor use possible. The display is further helped by being ludicrously bright. When using it in dimly-lit environments, we found we had to crank it down to half-brightness just to save our eyes.

Powering the N350 is Intel's Atom N550 processor. This is a dual-core CPU running at 1.5GHz and, thanks to support for Hyperthreading, Windows views it as a quad-core chip. However, as with all netbooks running Windows 7 Starter, Samsung has only been able to supply the processor with 1GB of memory. The N350 does feel a little more sprightly compared to single-core netbooks, but it's not a massive leap in performance. We still experienced those small-but-frustrating delays when performing relatively simple tasks.
Graphics are handled by the integrated Intel GMA 3150 chipset. This has a clock speed of just 200MHz and, as with all netbooks that rely on integrated graphics, means the N350 isn't suited to gaming.
Other specs include a 250GB hard drive that ticks along at 5,400rpm, and an integrated webcam. Also built in are 802.11n wireless, 10/100 LAN and Bluetooth. Unsurprisingly, Samsung hasn't found room in the budget to fit a 3G module, so mobile broadband will require the use of a separate USB dongle.
Samsung knows a thing or two when it comes to creating netbook keyboards, and the one on the N350 is great to type on. Its chiclet-style design is comfortable and the keys have just the right amount of feedback. With minimal flexing, it also feels solid and there are no nasty clacking noises when typing. Samsung's made good use of the space available, stretching the keyboard across almost the entire width of the chassis. Some of the keys towards the right edge have been slightly reduced in size, but it's not a massive issue.
The touchpad has a good texture and is comfortable to use, but the two buttons sitting below it are very thin and have a bit too much travel. When pressing them during testing, we frequently bashed our thumbs against the edge of the casing.
Samsung includes a three-cell, 2950mAh battery with the N350, which is rated at just 33Wh. During intensive use with the screen's brightness at full whack and wireless switched on, we measured a power draw of 11W. As expected, this resulted in the battery being drained in three hours, which really isn't that great. Switch the wireless off, drop the brightness down to half-mast and steer clear of processor-intensive tasks, and you should be able to achieve four, possibly even five hours.
We're certainly not against netbooks with small batteries, and some people will happily take a reduction in battery life if it means a lighter and more portable netbook. However, a shorter-than-average battery life should result in a lower-than-average price - and that's not the case with the N350.

ViewSonic - ViewPad 10 review

Say what you will about Apple's iPad tablet computer, it has certainly livened up the computer market. Every manufacturer seems to be falling over themselves to hang onto Apple's coat tails - and the resulting mess of designs, operating systems, hardware specs and prices is becoming thoroughly confusing for consumers. Is it a phone? Is it a PC? Is it fodder for next year's car boot sales? While it's entertaining to watch, if you're one of those brave souls spending real money on these products, it helps to have a bit of friendly advice.
ViewSonic has jumped in with two tablet devices - a 7in mega-smartphone based Android 2.2 (Froyo), and the 10in dual-boot tablet without phone capabilities reviewed here. This comes with the latest Windows 7 Home Premium OS installed - but, on the Android side, you're stuck with the rather-long-in-the-tooth version 1.6. Both run from a 16GB solid-state disk (SSD).

In the box, the ViewPad 10 comes with a charger for the 3200mAh Li-polymer battery, plus two CDs containing the drivers and user guide. A quick-start poster explains basic functions such as the three hardware buttons next to the display - but confusingly, it also talks about 3G mobile connectivity, which is not enabled in this model (despite it having a 3G SIM card slot at the top). It does have 150Mbps 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, though.
The ViewPad 10 is pretty chunky, with its 14.5mm thickness accommodating the twin USB ports, headphone jack, a mini-VGA port, microSD card slot and power connector at one end of the device. It's about 150g heavier than the iPad, making it less comfortable to hold for long periods.
The brushed aluminium back of the device is classy, but the loud creaks our sample emitted when we held it near the end with the ports somewhat spoiled the quality feel. There's a cooling vent on the back, plus vents for the two tiny speakers. There's another vent on the top edge for the fan that cools the 1.66GHz N455 Intel Atom CPU - this is definitely noticeable, but not too annoying.
Power, Home and Enter buttons are located next to the screen, with three small blue status LEDs above it. Android started in 17 seconds, and even Windows took just 36 seconds to load from cold. Of the two, Android gives by far the best touch-screen user experience, with a huge keyboard and snappy response. But it still thinks it's a little phone, so the menus are huge and you tend to get stuck with the mobile versions of web sites.
The slickest app is the Aldiko e-book reader, although the screen's 16:9 aspect ratio doesn't work well for books. Others, such as the camera (the ViewPad 10 includes a front-facing 1.3-megapixel model) and web TV apps, don't take advantage of the screen's resolution, either, making them pretty pointless.
You don't get access to Google's Android Market, just a third-party App Store with a pretty uninspiring collection of apps. Email and general web browsing work well, although there's no Flash support - annoying, given that this is one of the chief reasons to choose an Android device over one running Apple's iOS 4. You can't access files on the Windows partition when running Android, so any shared files need to be stored on a microSD card (not supplied).
Windows 7 is a different kettle of fish. The problem is that its touch features, while good, are tacked on to a keyboard-centric OS, and are more suited to stylus use - making it fiddly to use with fingers on a screen as small as this. You get used to it after a while, but it's always a bit hit-and-miss. The on-screen keyboard is OK, but forget about handwriting recognition unless you have an especially pointy finger. The big attractions, of course, are familiarity and the fact that you can plug in any USB device and run any Windows application that suits the hardware specs. However with only about 3GB free on the SSD, you'll soon need to resort to a microSD card for file storage.
Video performance isn't stellar, but looping a 720p HD clip gave us 2.5 hours of battery life. The 1,024 by 600 screen is bright, and viewing angles aren't too bad from the sides or the top, but viewing from below at more than about 45 degrees from the vertical (with the device flat on a desk in front of you, for example) is nigh-on impossible, due to the drop-off in brightness and contrast. Of course, you can get round this by turning the thing upside down, but it's still an annoyance. Also, the aspect ratio makes most apps look pretty peculiar in portrait mode.

HP - Mini 210-2000 review

Netbooks have come a long way from the early, heady days of the ASUS Eee PC and whereas much was made at first about their ultra-portability and quick access to the Internet, nowadays more is expected on the power and performance side, even though they will never fully compete with lower end notebooks.
The HP Mini 210 series was introduced to upgrade the reasonably popular Mini 110 and although it still has a 10.1-inch LCD screen, the latest Mini 210-2000 model has seen significant improvements over both the Mini 110 and the first versions of the Mini 210 released earlier in the year.
The eye-catching, red, smoothly tapered, brushed metal cover will be an immediate attraction and the earlier Mini 210s that had a black keyboard and work surface have now been supplanted by a cool silver finish. The hinges are large and feel comfortably secure, containing within them the 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery which unfortunately bulges markedly outwards from the otherwise seamless flow of the design, yet provides nearly five and a half hours of action.

HP has wisely decided to make use of every square inch of operating surface by pushing the keyboard right to the extreme edges. Your fingers will glide swiftly but firmly across the large responsive chiclet style keys, although the curiously supersized right shift button has forced the up and down arrows to be unnaturally shrunk. The touchpad is smooth but scrolling feels stiff and the left and right mouse buttons at the bottom are all of a piece with the rest of the unit, meaning that the whole touchpad rocks as you use it.
On the plus side, specific keys for Wi-Fi, sound mute, caps lock and touchpad lock are backlit by beautifully understated white lights. Running round the outside you'll discover no fewer than three USB ports together with VGA, Ethernet, headphone jack and a multi-card reader for Memory Stick, SD and MMC memory cards.
When it comes to the power under the hood, you'll discover the Mini 110's Intel Atom N280 CPU has been replaced by the more impressive Intel Atom N455 clocking at 1.66GHz with 1GB RAM, which when allied with the native Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 graphics card allows a good degree of multitasking.
Previous complaints that first editions of the Mini 210 had no 802.11n wireless have now been silenced and there's little in the way of stuttering when streaming HD videos on BBC iPlayer and YouTube. Hard drive space has been expanded to a handy 250GB and the native 1024 x 600 display resolution provides enough brightness to play the included HP mini-games comfortably even in strong daylight.
It's also worth highlighting HP's pre-installed QuickWeb technology which allows you to bypass Windows start-up and have swift access to the Net, e-mail, music and photos; ideal for Facebook users desperate to get back to Mafia Wars...

MSI - FX600 review

There are plenty of notebooks out there, but fewer with multimedia facilities and a Blu-ray drive. MSI's FX600 is one of them and is designed as a desktop replacement for those who don't need a fixed machine. It manages with a 15.6-inch widescreen LCD panel, so can only display 1080 HD content downscaled to 1,366 x 768 pixels, but 720 may be HD enough for you. There's a 1,280 x 720 webcam built in, just above the screen.
The case has a matt finish with a texture MSI calls chequered flag. It's a relief just to have something that isn't high gloss and desperate to take every thumbprint and scratch. Open the lid and the keyboard surround and touchpad are also textured. The touchpad is recessed and nicely sensitive in use and the mouse buttons are a see-saw toggle at the front.
The keys are large, with a conventional layout, a separate numeric pad and a row of special function keys behind. The function keys, for things like volume control, wireless on/off and turbo mode, are rather badly embossed, with no coloured legends on their tops.

At either end of this bank of function keys are decent twin speakers which are THX accredited and give well above average sound, for a laptop. Still more suited to movie soundtracks than music, they do a reasonable job on games, too.
As well as the Blu-ray drive, the edges of the machine hold three USB sockets - one a combo with an eSATA connector - HDMI, VGA, gigabit LAN and mic and headphone jacks. There's a card reader which can take SD and MemoryStick cards.
The machine is built on an Intel Core i3-330M with 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard drive. Graphics are provided by an nVidia GeForce GT325M with 1GB of its own memory. This is more than enough for video and movie playback and will happily run games like Call Of Duty 4 with decent frame rates.
Although the battery pack has six cells, TestBattery returned just under 3 hours 20 minutes on a single charge. This isn't great, though it's long enough to play a full feature film. It makes the FX600 more a machine to move between, say, home and office, than to take with you on a long trip away from a power socket.
The FX600 comes with 64-bit Windows 7 Home and an ArcSoft suite provides support for the WebCam and a useful painting applet. There's WinDVD for video playback and a Cinema Pro function claimed to improve movie colours and sound, though we didn't notice much difference.