Laptops, Netbooks, Notebooks, NetTops, Eee PC, SmartTops, Mobile PC, Tablet PC

Toshiba’s Satellite Pro range is designed for business use, but solid build quality, strong usability and decent specifications make the C660-1UX suitable for home use. Its sturdy plastic chassis has all the resilience you’d expect from a business machine. The textured, matt finish feels great and protects well against scuffs and scratches. Build quality is impressive throughout, with no flex in evidence on any of the panels. Even the thick screen is well put together and sure to withstand frequent family use. Read the rest of this entry »

Advents Monza E1 is an eye-catching machine aimed at first-time buyers. Despite offering a decent specification for the price, though, it is undermined by poor performance and flawed usability.

With its bright red lid and palm rest, the chassis looks great and the textured plastic finish and mock brushed-aluminum panels set it apart from the glut of plain black laptops on the market.

The lid and main panels all feel firm and there are no noticeably weak points on the chassis. At 2.5kg this is a laptop built for use at home, rather than on the move though. This was highlighted by the awful 107-minute battery life, meaning there’s not even enough power to watch a full movie. Read the rest of this entry »

Medion’s Erazer X6815 is a powerful and impressive all-round laptop with more than enough punch for your pound, thanks to the inclusion of Intel’s sophisticated second-generation Core i 7 processor.

Gamers are the intended audience, which is obvious from the included GeForce GT S55M graphics card. Despite the powerful components, Medion has kept the price down to £699, and at this price it’s an absolute steal.

Unfortunately there are some build concessions. For a 15.6-inch laptop, the ERAZER is quite the chubbster. At 2.7Kg and with a 37mm chassis, its heavy compared to other models of the same size, although it’s still compact enough to carry around without breaking your back in the process. Read the rest of this entry »

When Intel developed the Ultra book, the first company to take up the project was Acer. The ultra-thin notebook is out now. It betters the MacBook Air with its 0.51-0.68 inch thickness.

And don’t miss the 13.3-inch display, metal casing and the placement of the keypad and the navigation pad. Not surprisingly, the navigation pad controls the cursor. In order to achieve the slim form factor, Acer has moved the Aspire’s two USB ports, 1 HDMI port and the power jack to the back. This is not only inconvenient to access but also uncomfortable when charging or when a pen drive is connected. Along with Windows 7 Home, Acer has packed in an Intel i5 1,6GHz processor, 4 GB RAM and 320 GB storage. The display is bright and watching videos and images is a breeze. Dolby Home Theater v4 is onboard for a great sound experience. Also, the laptop did not heat up much. The company claims the three-cell 3,280 mAh battery lasts for over six hours. However, on above average use, its life was closer to five hours.

The X53E is a seriously smart laptop. Brushed metal surrounds the keyboard with a striking red finish, and even the red lid looks the part. The Core i3 CPU is sufficient, and the 640GB hard disk provides ample storage.

It gets off to a great start: build quality is good and sturdy, and the display delivers ample brightness. This, however, is tempered by ergonomic issues. A slight bounce in the keyboard’s base and an irritating half-length Shift key drag it down, and the Altec Lansing speakers ate among the worst on test. Good looks simply aren’t enough to mask these flaws.

You wouldn’t know to look at it, bill Dell’s diminutive Latitude E6220 is this month’s second-priciest machine. It will set you back £1,751, only £50 less than Sony’s VAIO Z.

It lacks the looks and lightness of the Sony, but the Dell gets straight down to business. The build quality is superb, with no give at all in the base or lid and the no-nonsense keyboard eschews Scrabble riles for solid keys that are comfortable to type on.

The Dell has integrated 3G and dual-band 802.1 In Wi-Fi; there’s a fingerprint reader alongside the two responsive track pad buttons; and you get a generous three-year, next-business-day warranty. The only compromises arc the lack of an optical drive and USB 3 ports. Read the rest of this entry »

HP’s Pavilion dm4 is by tar this month’s cheapest laptop at £560, but you wouldn’t know it from the outside. The streaked design makes it a classy affair, and build quality is reasonable – we found little give in the wristrest or the lid, so we’d be happy carrying this laptop around.

We’ve few complaints about the keyboard and trackpad, either. The former mixes a sensible, well-spaced layout with a fine key action, and the latter’s burtons are reassuringly clicky and responsive.

Ami thankfully, when it comes to stamina, price isn’t a huge factor. The HP’s 5,225mAh battery lasted for 7hrs 23mins in our light-use test, putting it in a respectable seventh place. That’s enough for a good stretch away from the mains. Read the rest of this entry »

With a dull-grey plastic exterior, the 5750G doesn’t initially excite, but inside lurks a powerhouse. Acer has crammed in a Core i7 processor alongside 8GB of RAM and a 750GB hard disk. That makes for serious desktop performance, and NVidia’s GeForce GT 540M chipset also delivers enough power to run our test at 33fps.

High-end specs on the cheap take their toll, however. Plasticity build is the first compromise, and the display’s 1,366 x 768 resolution and dim brightness levels make a poor partner for the power on offer. If all you crave is power then the Acer is hard to beat, but others here strike a far better balance.

Among the more stylish laptops lure, the FX720 looks ordinary and feels unremarkable. The textured black pasties give a hollow feel to the base and leave the lid flexing too easily.

The keyboard’s square keys don’t give much in the way of feedback, and the bounce in the base lends a lightweight, rank feel. The loud but rough speakers, meanwhile, are merely competent.

The 17.3tn display improves things, however, with a 308:1 contrast ratio and accurate colour reproduction. Performance is equally sound, thanks to the Core i.5 processor and Nvidia graphics within. It’s undeniably rough around the edges, but at this price the FX720 majors on value.

After a brief trip back to HP’s design team, the dv7 has emerged resplendent. A slick of brushed metal stretches across its lid and keyboard, and the splashes of black and silver look stunning,

HP has also addressed our main complaint by giving the touchpad dedicated buttons. It transforms how the dv7 feels in use and makes a better bedfellow for the spacious keyboard.

The Intel Core i5 processor and AMI graphics deliver healthy power, and a huge 17.3in display, good speakers and a Blu-ray reader make for a formidable entertainment laptop. The only disappointment is the display quality; it literally pales in comparison to some of its rivals.

Dell’s XPS logo has adorned sonic fine laptops over the years, and its XPS 15 is no exception. Visually, it isn’t the most stunning addition to the range. A sea of silver and grey stretches around its portly, thick-set curves, and a huge nine-cell hatter; juts out of the underside, propping up the laptop’s rear.

Instead, the XPS 15 has it where it counts. The hacklit keyboard feels great to type on and the wide-gamut display pampers your eyes with a Full HD resolution and eye-popping visuals. If anything, it’s too vibrant; the wide gamut panel regularly veers into oversaw ration.

Pop a Blu-ray movie into the XPS I5՝s drive and any qualms about its colour reproduction rapidly evaporate. The sheer detail and depth of the images on offer are something to behold, and the JBL-branded speakers make their mark. Using Waves’ Man Audio technology – a cut-down version of the Waves sound-enhancing tools more often found in music studios – music and movies sound lull and clear, leaching startling: volumes for mere laptop speakers.

Acer describes its Aspire Ethos range as designed for “discriminating” users – and with a quad-tore Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a Blu-ray drive as standard

Part of the Acer’s considerable weight is due to the battery. It’s a sealed unit that Acer claims will manage three times as many recharge cycles as a conventional battery. It lasts a fair while in day-to-day use, too: in our light-use test, it powered the Acer to a table-topping 7hrs 46mins, Thai stamina is matched by performance. A benchmark score of 0.83 puts the Acer at the front of the pack, and the GeForce GT SSSM graphics chip earns it third place – 44fps. But the Acer’s real party trick is its removable touchpad. A latch along the front edge releases it. Read the rest of this entry »

Easily the most gorgeous machine on test, with a curved chassis that weighs in at just 1.3kg and measures just 19mm at its thickest. The Series 9 is made of the same material – duralumin – used in tighter jets, but while the frame is impressively strong, the lid bends far too easily for our liking. However, despite frantic twisting, the 13.3-inch screen remained stoically in one piece and delivered bright. 1366×768 HD playback. Read the rest of this entry »

The Asus U36J is built for travel slender and light enough to slip into your carry-on, but tough enough to survive a battering from airport baggage handlers and regular forays on to public transport.

The bright and vibrant 13.3-inch display is easy to view from most angles, meaning more than one person can watch movies on the 1366×768 pixel WXGA screen, should you choose to allow them. There’s no built-in DVD drive, so you’ll have to load up the 500GB hard drive with flicks before you set off. The basic integrated graphics struggle with HD video, so you’re stuck with standard-def movies. Read the rest of this entry »