PC Magazine - 2009 04.pdf - Libertad Zero - Blog

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DESKTOPS LAPTOPS DISPLAYS first looks hardware Quick looks Visit pcmag.com for the full reviews of these and scores of other hardware products. ASUS Eee Top 1602 $599 list l l l h m iBuypower Video Pro $1,799 direct L l l m m Gateway UC7807u $800 street l l l h m Dell Latitude E4300 $2,789 direct l l l l m Dell Inspiron Mini 12 $524 direct l l l l m HP EliteBook 2530p $2,099 direct l l l l m Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 $2,699 direct l l l h m iZ3D 22-inch LCD Monitor $399 list l l l m m Gateway FHD2401 $469.99 list l l l m m 12 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION APRIL 2009 PROS CONS BOTTOM LINE SPECS • Compact all-in-one PC • Runs Windows • Nice styling • Touch screen • Quad-core power and speedy memory for video editing • Blu-ray burner • Decent expansion possibilities • Comes with VHS-to-DVD converter and Adobe Premiere Elements • Well designed • Attractive price • HDMI port included • Slot-loading DVD drive is a nice touch • Full-size keyboard is responsive • Color options • Huge hard drive selection • Very good performance • Very good battery life • Rugged • Excellent keyboard • Big 12-inch screen • Good resolution • Very thin • As light as its 10-inch netbook peers • Top-notch Ubuntu Linux OS • Multiple battery options • Standard and extended battery together yield over 20 hours of battery life • Built-in optical drive • Very good keyboard • Dual pointing devices • Multiple wireless technologies • Runs an Intel quad-core processor • Fierce Nvidia 9800M GTX graphics card • Integrates both spinning and solid-state drives • Excellent gaming scores • Very good 3D effects • Wide viewing angles • Great color and text reproduction • Good motion handling • Stylish design • Only 1GB of RAM • Smallish mouse lacks back button • Weak 3D graphics • Screen is single-touch only • Loud fans • Lacks eSATA • A little pricey compared with similar hardware • Too heavy for a 13-inch form factor • Mouse buttons are too resistant • Trails the competition in performance • SSDs make it pricey • Stiff pointing stick • Slow, 4,200-rpm hard drive • Expensive for a netbook • VGA is the only video-out port • Weak speakers • Battery life without the extended battery is unimpressive • Resolution should have been higher at this price • Could use a higher-capacity battery • Weak light grayscale performance • Limited image adjustments • Lacks multimedia/entertainment features • Narrow viewing angles • Lacks multimedia ports • Tilt-only stand features The Top 1602 is the first truly integrated all-in-one nettop. It may create a new category—an Internet terminal that replaces your desktop. The Video Pro is a system that is at the tipping point between fairly priced and overpriced. If you plan to upgrade components, the Video Pro will work for you. If you’re still starting out, try a cheaper alternative. The UC7807u’s basement price and desirable design can make customers, especially online shoppers, look past its overfed frame. The E4300 is a powerful business ultraportable that lets you choose from a trio of fashionable colors, and its 13-inch widescreen is a first in the Latitude line. Sure, the Mini 12 costs more than other netbooks, but it’s the only one with a 12-inch screen. If battery life ranks high on your list of business needs, the Elite- Book 2530p won’t disappoint. While the Qosmio X305-Q725’s fiery design may not appeal to everyone, its quad-core processor and an Nvidia GTX graphics card are parts that extreme gamers yearn for. The iZ3D does a super job of displaying 3D images and works with many of today’s gaming titles, but you don’t get much in the way of connectivity and image adjustment options. This monitor delivers bold colors and very good text readability, but its grayscale and viewing angle performance are subpar. 1.6-GHz Intel Atom n270 processor; 1GB DDR2 SDRAM; 160GB, 5,400-rpm SATA hard drive; 128MB Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics; Windows XP Home. 2.83-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor; 8GB 800-MHz DDR2 SDRAM; two 500GB, 7,200-rpm SATA hard drives (RAID 0); 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card; DVD±RW drive; Blu-ray burner; Vista Home Premium. Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 (2.0 GHz); 3GB DDR2 SDRAM; 250GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive; 32MB Intel graphics; 13.3-inch, 1,280-by-800 CCFL screen; 5.3 pounds (6.0 pounds travel); 49-Wh battery; Vista Home Premium. 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP9400; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM; 128GB SSD; 64MB Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD; 13.3-inch, 1,280-by-800 display; 3.9 pounds (4.8 pounds travel); 60-Wh battery; Vista Business. Intel Atom Z530 (1.6-GHz); 1GB DDR2; 60GB; 4,200-rpm hard drive; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500; 12.1-inch, 1,280by-800 LCD widescreen; 2.7 pounds (3.2 pounds travel); 24- Wh battery; Ubuntu Linux 8.04.1. 1.86-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L9400; 3GB DDR2 SDRAM; 80GB SSD; 64MB Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD; 12.1-inch, 1,280-by-800 LCD; 3.7 pounds (4.6 pounds travel); 55-Wh battery; Vista Business. 2.0-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000; 4GB DDR3; 384GB (320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive and 64GB SSD); 1GB Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX; 17-inch, 1,680-by-1,050 LCD, 9.2 pounds (11.4 pounds travel); 58- Wh battery; Vista Ultimate 64-bit. 22-inch LCD; 1,680-by-1,050 native resolution; DVI-D and analog VGA inputs. 24-inch LCD; 1,920-by-1,200 native resolution; HDMI, DVI-D, and analog VGA inputs; 16:10 aspect ratio.
Amazon Kindle 2 $359 direct L l l l h PROS Super-thin. Improved screen. Better button layout. 2GB capacity (1,500 books). Free integrated cellular modem. Text-to-speech capability. Buying new titles is dead simple. Wide selection of books, magazines, and blogs. CONS Still no touch screen. No native PDF or DOC support. Reads only proprietary e-book format. Interface could be more intuitive. Click here for more. Handy 2-in-1 charge cable AmAzON KINDLe 2 A Darn Good Read With a new look, an enhanced screen, text-tospeech capability, and a host of additional design improvements, Amazon’s Kindle 2 offers everything that made the original Kindle a best-seller—and more. The price remains high, but avid readers will make back some of that cash on discounted e-books. Although I would love to see a more open file format, the Kindle 2 is still the best e-book reader you can buy. With an ever-increasing catalog of magazines and blogs coming to the platform (see the sidebar), the Kindle 2’s appeal will extend far beyond the bookstore. This version shares the original’s general form factor, but it’s slimmer and lighter, and it features an improved keypad arrangement. The Kindle 2 weighs 10.3 ounces and measures 8 by 5.3 by 0.4 first looks CoNsUMEr ElECtroNiCs inches (HWD), which is much thinner than a paperback book and about half the thickness of the first Kindle. Although it still has the same white plastic frame, the rubberized back has been replaced with brushed aluminum. This Kindle feels more solid than its predecessor, but the Sony Reader PRS-700’s mostly metal construction still feels more durable than either Kindle iteration. The Kindle’s proprietary roller wheel has been replaced with a more useful five-way joystick. Also gone are the too-large page-turn buttons, replaced by new, smaller Next Page buttons that are still situated on both sides of the device. The QWERTY keyboard sets the Kindle apart from other e-book readers, but it’s mainly intended for searching keywords, making notes, and occasionally entering a URL. Perhaps the Only 0.3 inch thick APRIL 2009 PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION 13
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