HP Voodoo Envy 133
Admit it: You've
said to your boss
that you need an
ultraportable laptop
because it would
give you easy and
instant access to
your work data. But
the truth is, the
main reason anyone
buys a sleek, slim
ultraportable is to
turn heads. The
HP Voodoo Envy 133
is one such shiny
new toy, with just
enough features to
legitimize it as a
slick business box
as well.
Like the
Apple MacBook Air,
the Envy 133 sports
enough interesting
design choices for
it to be a genuine
attention-getter.
Unfortunately,
however, it also
shares the Air's
anemic guts and high
cost: The model we
tested, which sports
a $2349 price tag,
comes equipped with
an Intel Core 2 Duo
1.6-GHz CPU
(SP7500), 2GB of
RAM, and a poky 80GB
hard drive that
spins at 4200 rpm.
And the system
didn't exactly sail
through WorldBench
6, receiving an
overall score of 64.
Welcome back,
Samsung. The company has been
lying low in the U.S. laptop market, but
after kicking the tires on the
Samsung X460, I can honestly say Samsung
was missed. In the X460 you get a 14.1-inch,
thin-and-light, all-purpose laptop that's
perfectly road-ready and goes toe-to-toe
with
Lenovo's ThinkPad X300--even though the
X300 is an ultraportable- class machine. The
X460 is smartly priced, too: The
configuration of our review unit goes for
$1699. That money buys you solid performance
in the form of a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
P8400 CPU, 3GB of RAM, and a discrete
graphics processor
Lenovo
ThinkPad SL400
Usually,
ThinkPads don't come cheap: You expect to
pay dearly for the classy keyboard, the
rugged chassis, and whatever top-notch parts
lie under the hood. That isn't quite the
case with Lenovo's SL400 laptops. These
affordable, all-purpose machines start in
the neighborhood of $650, yet they still
offer much of what you expect from a
ThinkPad. The
ThinkPad SL400 configuration we tested
was at the upper end of the series, selling
for about $1223 (as of October 23, 2008),
and it's a fairly solid deal. Inside sits a
reasonably speedy Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26-GHz
P8400 CPU backed up by 2GB of RAM and a
256MB nVidia GeForce 9300M GPU. Not too
shabby. In our tests this combination
performed well, garnering a score of 84 on
our WorldBench 6 benchmark test suite--a
strong enough showing for the SL400 to
finish near the top of our results
Sony VAIO
VGN-Z598U
You've probably
heard of the "Apple
tax," the premium
you pay for an Apple
product. The same
could be said for
some of Sony's more
distinctively
designed laptops,
such as the
Sony VAIO VGN-Z598U.
This ultraportable
starts at $1499, but
our review unit's
configuration
inflated the total
to an
eye-bulgingly- high
price tag of $4450.
If money is no
object (yeah, as if
that were the case
these days), then by
all means, scoop up
this overstuffed but
lightweight beauty.
Primary blame for
the sticker shock
goes to a pair of
128GB solid-state
drives, which jack
up the starting
price by roughly two
grand. But our test
unit also packed a
2.53-GHz Intel Core
2 Duo P9500 CPU, 4GB
of RAM, and a
dedicated nVidia
GeForce 9300M GS
graphics processor
into its tiny
12.4-by-1.3- by-8.3-inch
frame. The twin SSDs
probably contributed
to the VGN-Z598U's
astounding
WorldBench 6 score
of 107, the highest
we've seen from an
ultraportable. And
despite its powerful
configuration, the
VGN-Z598U weighs
only about 3.3
pounds (4.2 pounds
with the power
brick).
Apple MacBook Air
The
MacBook Air is a
superslim
ultraportable laptop
that you can slip
into very thin
spaces. As with
anything else that
Apple crafts, the
Air's industrial
design is
phenomenal. But its
beauty is little
more than skin deep.
Despite having a
1.6-GHz Intel Core 2
Duo L7500 (a
relatively powerful
CPU for an
ultraportable) , the
Air scored behind
some of the other
ultraportables we
tested in its
3-pound weight
class--even models
that had slower
processors. After we
installed Apple's
Boot Camp software
and Windows Vista,
the Air posted a
mark of 57 on our
WorldBench 6 tests.
You might suspect
that the Air's being
a Mac could have
something to do with
those results.
Perhaps it did, but
previous Apple
laptops haven't had
any performance
issues on
WorldBench-- in fact,
for a time, a
MacBook Pro held
the title of the
fastest laptop we'd
tested.
The Air's
performance might
not be the best, but
its design is
spectacular. The
anodized
brushed-aluminum
casing is cool to
the touch, and even
the most anti-Mac
person can't help
but appreciate it.
Miraculously, the
Air houses a
13.3-inch,
1280-by-800- pixel
display; a roomy
keyboard; and a
double-wide,
multitouch trackpad
within its petite,
0.75-inch-thick
frame. The gorgeous
keyboard's cut-out
key design is not
only unique but also
provides huge keys
that feel great.
They're amply
spaced, too, so you
won't find yourself
regularly hitting
the wrong keys.
Aside from a
headphone jack, a
USB port, and a
mini-DVI port,
however, it isn't
well equipped. It
lacks an optical
drive, and to
connect to a network
via ethernet you
must purchase a $29
USB adapter. And
starting at the
machine's base price
of $1700, you pay a
lot for the Air's
style
Acer Aspire
One
Acer's first Aspire
One mini-notebook
was a
Linux-based model
that impressed us
despite its modest
components. Now the
Windows XP Home
version of the
Aspire One is
here, equipped with
a larger hard drive
and more RAM. Though
it isn't superswift,
the latest Aspire
One is a fine
netbook at a
fantastic price of
$349. That's $100
less than the
next-most-affordabl e
XP-based model, the
Lenovo IdeaPad S10.
The XP-based Aspire
One retains the
physical profile,
excellent keyboard,
and small but crisp
8.9-inch screen of
the Linux model.
Significant changes
lie beneath,
however: A 120GB
hard drive replaces
the Linux model's
paltry 8GB flash
drive. An SD Card
slot for additional
storage supplements
the unit's
five-in-one card
reader. The system
also bulks up to 1GB
of RAM (the Linux
model had 512MB).
Yet the price is
virtually unchanged.
Unfortunately, this
Aspire One produced
a mark of just 34 on
the PC World Test
Center's WorldBench
6 tests, landing
toward the back of
the pack of
Atom-based netbooks
we've evaulated
(whose scores have
averaged around 36).
Even worse, the
Aspire One's
three-cell battery
lasted for just 2
hours, 16 minutes.
As a result, you'll
probably want to
spring for the
six-cell battery,
which costs an extra
$100--thereby
negating the Aspire
One's price
advantage
Asus N10Jc
Is
it an ultraportable
laptop or a jumbo
netbook? That's the
question surrounding
the
Asus N10Jc. At
first glance the
N10Jc seems like a
do-over of Asus's
Eee 1000H 80G XP
netbook, albeit
with some superior
components and
design. At the same
time, it strays very
close to
ultraportable- laptop
territory, despite
bearing a price
($650) that's
inexpensive for an
ultraportable but
steep for a
mini-notebook.
What primarily
differentiates this
model from
rank-and-file
netbooks is its
inclusion of a
discrete graphics
processing unit,
nVidia's GeForce
9300M GS. That GPU
isn't the fastest
graphics option on
the block, but the
N10Jc is the first
netbook I've seen
that lets users
toggle between the
discrete GPU and the
integrated graphics
chip on the
motherboard.
Also under the hood
are the same 1.6-GHz
Intel Atom processor
and 1GB of RAM that
just about every
other mainstream
netbook offers. The
N10Jc has a 160GB
hard drive, too,
like the one that
the
Lenovo IdeaPad S10
carries. We
evaluated the N10Jc
in high-performance
mode; at that
setting it earned a
WorldBench 6 mark of
36--middle-of- the-pack
among current
netbooks
HP Mini 1000
The
Mini 1000 is
HP's
second-generation
foray into the
netbook market,
and it has a couple
of advantages over
its predecessor (the
HP 2133).
Gone is the older
model's Via C-7M
processor; gone,
too, is the pipe
dream that any
current netbook
could handle Windows
Vista. The Mini 1000
that we received for
testing runs Windows
XP, and contains
Intel's 1.6-GHz Atom
processor, 1GB of
RAM, and a 4200-rpm,
60GB PATA hard
drive. With that
configuration, it
falls in with the
rest of the current
netbook pack. In
spite of its Atom
processor, however,
the Mini 1000
slipped a little
toward the back of
the group in our
WorldBench 6 tests,
eking out a score of
30.
With the Mini 1000,
HP does a good job
keeping most of the
things that worked
on the 2133, while
upping the
performance and
managing to cut
prices in the
process (well, not
counting the
beautiful,
fashionista- oriented
Vivienne Tam
edition).
Thankfully still
present in this
model is the
fantastic keyboard.
The oversize, square
keys look like they
belong on a
full-size laptop. In
fact, the main
QWERTY and number
buttons are large
enough to fit your
entire fingertip--no
need to carefully
hunt-and-peck on
this keyboard.
The Mini 1000 starts
at $399; the
configuration we
reviewed will set
you back $549
Lenovo
ThinkPad W700
The
Lenovo ThinkPad W700
is not only a
desktop replacement;
it's also a
desktop-size
machine. This laptop
incorporates many of
the latest mobile
workstation features
while also packing
in a few
unusual--and very
welcome--goodies for
the graphic artist
or CAD designer.
Our test system
(normally priced at
$3963) was equipped
with a 2.8-GHz Core
2 Duo T9600 CPU, 4GB
of RAM, and 64-bit
Windows Vista
Ultimate. You can
also choose either a
3.06-GHz Core 2
Extreme ($600 extra)
or a 2.53-GHz Core 2
Quad Extreme QX9300
(a mere $1000
extra). In our
WorldBench 6 tests
the W700 earned a
score of 99, only a
few points shy of
the best mark we've
seen from a laptop.
The ThinkPad W700
isn't exactly
stylish: It's a huge
and functional
business box. For
the most part it
looks and acts like
a ThinkPad. That
means you get
excellent keys with
lots of travel, a
logical layout (with
a separate number
keypad located to
the right of the
main keys), and both
eraserhead and
trackpad pointing
devices. Typing
doesn't get much
better than this.
And high-end
graphics pros may
think mobile
computing doesn't
get much better than
this, too. The W700
includes a ton of
graphics memory,
which proves useful
in applications like
Photoshop, and you
can specify a
17-inch wide-screen
display with either
1440 by 900
resolution or the
1920 by 1200
resolution of our
test system.
Graphics users also
will appreciate the
W700's unusual
add-ons: a built-in
color calibrator and
a built-in Wacom
drawing tablet.
The ThinkPad W700
may seem
understated, but
it's a top-flight
laptop. For
on-the-go graphics
artists or anyone
looking for the
ultimate mobile
workstation, it's
hard to beat.
Apple MacBook Pro
A1286
At
first glance Apple's
updated MacBook Pro
appears nearly
identical to its
predecessor. But
it's not. Inside and
out, the new 15-inch
MacBook Pro has been
remodeled,
redesigned, and
reengineered.
Instead of
assembling the
laptops piecemeal
and splicing the
components together,
Apple has introduced
a unibody
architecture that
constructs the
entire machine out
of a single piece of
recyclable aluminum.
The unibody
composition makes
the new laptops
easier to service
and fix, and great
for do-it-yourself
types who, in the
past, have lamented
how difficult it was
to swap out the hard
drive or battery.
The redesigned
MacBook Pro makes
accessing those
particular
components
easy--just push the
lever on the bottom
of the case, and
you're in.
The MacBook Pro's
bright, glossy,
15.4-inch,
wide-screen,
LED-backlit monitor
is pure joy to
behold. The
1440-by-900- pixel
screen is no longer
encased in a metal
bezel, but rather
seems to float on
its own, ringed by a
deep black frame.
You no longer have a
choice of screen
finishes,
unfortunately, and
many users will
grumble about the
glossy surface. But
our reviewer found
it striking, showing
grayscale gradations
that are virtually
undetectable on
matte screens. The
results also have a
3D quality that
makes everything on
screen burst with
energy and vivid
color
HP HDX18
With an 18.4-inch
display, an ample
keyboard, and a host
of plugs and ports,
the
HP HDX18 is a
desktop replacement
that may actually
make your desk look
snazzier. It's not
quite a desktop-PC
destroyer, but its
multimedia-mindedne ss
proves that HP is
ready to put up a
fight.
In
our WorldBench 6
tests, the HDX18
produced a
commanding score of
102. That isn't the
fastest we've seen,
but it's close--and
it's more than
powerful enough to
play some games as
well as video. A
2.8-GHz Core2 Duo
CPU (T9600), 4GB of
RAM, and nVidia's
512MB GeForce 9600M
GT graphics
processor fueled our
review unit.
The HDX18 is
huge--the first
tipoff is the
8.9-pound,
17-by-11.26- by-1.72-inch
case. And the
18.4-inch display is
capable of
showcasing full
high-definition
video in all its
glory; everything
from Blu-ray movies
to the newest games
comes across looking
great
