Cap Phantom

You may consider the M255-E if you are thinking about purchasing a Gateway laptop. At first glance, the M255-E is an attractive enough computer, a nice blend of black and silver. It is not too bulky and can be easily used in most any situation, including the sometimes cramped confines of an airplane.

This Gateway laptop has been promoted as being designed for the business professional on the go who desires ultimate performance at a reasonable cost. And you could visit Gateway’s website and reasonably configure one of these laptops for around $1,100 to $1,200 and still get a lot of value for your money.

The design of the laptop is aesthetically pleasing incorporating slightly more silver than black. The plastic casing is solid, the hinges are strong, and the cover latches snugly. So a considerate laptop user should have no qualms as far as durability is concerned.

The M255-E Gateway laptop also features a glossy “Ultrabright” screen with resolution of 1280 x 800. Watching a movie on this computer is a pleasurable experience. If you are going to be using your laptop more for business, though, you may decide to choose the non-glossy screen option, as the glossy display is a bit too reflective in brightly lit environments.

The computer features the Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, so you will definitely want to purchase a model with enough memory to handle the drain the processor will inevitably cause. In short, 512 MB of RAM is not going to be enough. It will slow down the computer considerably, and you will definitely not achieve an ultimate computing experience you desire.

Battery life for this gateway laptop is adequate. You should be able to squeak out 2 to 2.5 hours with a fully charged six-cell battery. This is with the LCD screen set at maximum brightness. Adjusting the power settings go a long towards improving battery life.

The M255-E Gateway laptop is a good choice for notebook users who wish to save money yet still achieve a decent computing experience. It is attractive and easy to carry and should hold up well under normal usage. It is a solid choice if you are looking for a good mid-grade computer.

Microsoft has upgraded its TV- and media-friendly Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) to MCE 2004, and HP’s Pavilion zd7000 runs the new version. The $2,600 laptop features a big, wide-screen display; a handheld remote; a DVD burner; and an external box that ties in to your television signal. MCE 2004 may be better suited for a PC, especially if accommodating the OS requires a 9.2-pound laptop, plus multiple cables and paraphernalia. Nevertheless, the HP Pavilion zd7000 is among the fastest, best-designed laptops CNET has ever tested, and it’s equipped to please videographers, shutterbugs, gamers, and even those who ponder spreadsheets. However, its sheer weight and heat, plus a battery that conks out just past two hours, may discourage you from taking the laptop off your desk. After looking at several recent big-screen laptops, we think the HP Pavilion zd7000 has the best implementation of a nonstandard-resolution display. In particular, its resolution is appropriate for its screen size, unlike others we’ve seen. HP’s Pavilion nx7000, for example, crams its 1,680×1,050 resolution onto a 15.4-inch (diagonal) wide-screen LCD–that’s 130 pixels per inch, a view so dense, you have to squint.

The HP Pavilion zd7000 (hp zd7000 battery )tops out at a comfortable 100 pixels per inch, displaying a 1,440×900 native resolution–enough to sail through a spreadsheet as easily as through a movie. We love the display’s saturated colors and its sharp, clean text on an evenly lit background. The image fades when viewing from above or the side, however, so gathering friends around for a movie won’t work.

The HP Pavilion zd7000′s size allows for uncluttered, uncrowded hands-on elements. A long, ridged latch opens the lid easily to reveal a full-size keyboard–even the Backspace key is big–with a separate numeric keypad. Keys provide a good “pop” feel and operate silently, and the keyboard is almost free of wiggle and sag. A wide touchpad features a scrolling strip down the right-hand edge; ordinary left- and right-click mouse buttons sit just below it. Stereo speakers line the laptop’s entire front edge and sound at least as good as small external speakers, There’s also a power button for the 802.11g Wi-Fi radio.

HP stocked the Pavilion zd7000 with features on the outside and muscle on the inside. Along the edges, it has a quartet of USB 2.0 ports; a four-pin FireWire port; S-Video; two flash memory slots that read Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, and SmartMedia; and a Type II/Type III PC Card slot. A fixed DVD-R/RW drive accommodates most optical media but, unfortunately, not a backup battery. Inside, there’s a screaming-hot 3.2GHz desktop Pentium 4 (it really does run hot; good thing the Pavilion zd7000 is too heavy to park on your lap for long); Nvidia’s AGP 8X GeForce FX Go5600 graphics controller with 128MB of its own memory; 512MB of 333MHz memory filling both memory slots; and a 60GB hard drive.

Microsoft streamlined and extended Media Center Edition (MCE) 2004 in some useful ways. The basic idea is a separate, no-keyboard interface that lets you use the remote to run utilities for viewing and recording television, organizing and displaying photos, and performing other media-oriented activities. MCE 2004 can teach itself how to work with your set-top box, walk you through calibrating color on your screen, and notify you when someone is trying to call you (if you have Caller ID). It can download current TV schedules unattended and record a TV show while you’re using the system for other tasks. Microsoft also improved the television listings; you now have tools to sort and filter them, and you can find listings based on keywords.

For those moments away from television, HP bundles Microsoft Works 7.0 with Microsoft Money 2003 and Encarta Internet Edition.

The HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE comes in first place in mobile performance in this small test group of desktop replacements. The HP Pavilion zd7000 is the first hp laptop hp laptop battery we’ve tested with Intel’s Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor. The difference between this chip and the normal Pentium 4 is the addition of a 2MB L3 memory cache on the Extreme Edition chip as well as its normal 512K L2 memory cache. The HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE’s mobile performance score has less to do with this major bump in cache memory and more to do with how low the speed of the processor is throttled in order to conserve battery life. In this case, the HP Pavilion zd7000′s 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor does not drop its speed significantly and as a result ends up with the highest MobileMark performance score we’ve yet seen. Unfortunately, the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE’s great mobile performance does not come without a price, as is seen in its battery life score. The Dell Inspiron XPS with its Pentium 4 3.4GHz processor is a distant second in mobile performance, with the original HP Pavilion zd7000 P4 bringing up the rear. Often with desktop replacements, mobile performance comes down to how much battery life the manufacturer is comfortable sacrificing. In the case of the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE, HP chooses mobile performance, designing a system that can run office and content-creation applications very fast in a mobile state.

SysMark 2002 performance: The Pentium 4 Extreme Edition-based HP Pavilion zd7000 outperforms its Pentium 4-based predecessor, with increases of about 14 percent over the older processor. This is due not only to the laptop’s Pentium 4 Extreme Edition chip, which has a superlarge 2MB L3 memory cache, but also to the system’s increased RAM, about (1GB as opposed to 512MB) and faster 5,400rpm hard drive. All of these factors result in a 24 percent increase in office-productivity performance and a 3 percent increase in Internet content-creation performance. However, the great hardware improvement isn’t enough to win out over the Dell Inspiron XPS (dell laptop battery). Although the Dell Inspiron XPS uses the normal version of the Pentium 4, it runs at a faster 3.4GHz. Also, the system includes a superfast 7,200rpm hard drive, which helps give it a performance boost over the competition. That said, the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE’s maximum performance is still one of the best we’ve seen and should satisfy the performance demands of even the most demanding user.

To measure maximum notebook application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo’s SysMark 2002, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop’s performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).

3D graphics performance: The HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE places a distant second behind the Dell Inspiron XPS in 3D graphics performance. The good news is that the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE’s 3D score is a huge 25 percent increase over the older model’s, thanks mostly to the P4EE processor’s huge 2MB L3 memory cache. The 3D performance of this system is great. However, the Dell Inspiron XPS performs even better. Using 3D architecture that is about half a generation ahead of the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE’s, the Dell Inspiron XPS houses ATI’s newest mobile GPU, the Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB, which is the successor to the Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Dell Inspiron XPS beats the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE (laptop battery)by 15 percent. It should be noted, however, that the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE is still one of the highest-scoring 3D laptops we’ve seen. It was just outclassed by newer hardware. Still, the HP Pavilion zd7000 P4EE should have no problem meeting the performance needs of most gamers.

Today we will look at an exciting ultra-compact portable computer optimized for today’s life and travels. The DELL Inspiron XPS system based on Intel Merom processor proved an excellent solution. Read more in our review!

The life of a truly modern man is like a train that is steadily speeding up from its station towards an unknown destination. It is getting faster and faster every moment, and there’s no stopping or even pausing this process. Living at a high speed, the modern man regards time as a great value. Some people are even dreaming about extra hours in the day that would sum up into extra days monthly. To avoid floundering in such unreal dreaming, you can put to good use those hours that you’d just waste otherwise. You only need a portable digital companion, a notebook computer.

There is, however, a list of minimum requirements this digital companion must comply with to satisfy its owner. The notebook must be light and small, yet easy to work with. It must have high-performance but economical components so that it could last long on the dell xps m1210 battery. A large selection of wireless interfaces would also be welcome in a traveling notebook. A good graphics subsystem might also come in handy so that the user could relax a little at some game.

You think it’s impossible? Not at all! The Dell Inspiron XPS M1201 is a vivid example of that. Depending on the configuration, this 12” cutie (it easily fits within the dimensions of the A4 paper format and thus into any briefcase or bag) can satisfy any person who is spending much of his life traveling. Appearances are often misleading, and a cursory glance over the Inspiron XPS M1210 won’t disclose to you the fact that this notebook has one of the most advanced of today’s mobile CPUs coupled with a rather powerful graphics subsystem. Not all notebooks marked as XPS M1210 have a discrete graphics solution on board, though. There is a version that has a tremendous computing power but is weak in 3D and gaming applications because it uses the integrated graphics core Graphics Media Accelerator 950.

It’s the latter version of the notebook that we’ve got for our tests. The Dell Inspiron XPS M1210 is based on a Merom-core CPU with the Core micro-architecture. The Merom differs from the previous core Yonah in a few respects. First, the Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 has a 4MB L2 cache. The execution pipeline is almost the same length in all CPUs with the Core architecture, yet it is longer by two stages in the Core 2 Duo. The most notable improvement is the support of Intel’s 64-bit extensions to the x86 architecture and the so-called Intel Wide Dynamic Execution that means that the CPU core now has more decoders and execution units. The processing of SSE and floating-point instructions has been accelerated. With all these innovations, the Merom core has a typical heat dissipation of 34W as opposed to the Yonah’s 31W. The rest of the components of the Napa platform are left unchanged and the CPU socket will remain the same until the upcoming transition to the Santa Rosa platform.

The stickers they put on the notebook case are the same too, except that the Intel Core 2 Duo Inside sticker now has the number 2 that stands for Merom. The Centrino Duo logo doesn’t allow telling which exactly CPU resides inside the notebook.

Our tests will show how such crucial parameters of notebooks as battery life and performance have been affected by the technical innovations. But first we’ll examine the Dell Inspiron XPS X1210 carefully from all the sides. We’ll also take an ASUS W5F notebook as an opponent to the Inspiron. The notebook from ASUS has a similar hardware configuration, but a different CPU with a different clock rate. The Inspiron XPS M1210 is based on a Merom-core processor with a frequency of 2.33GHz while the ASUS W5F has a Yonah-core 2.0GHz CPU (it is the highest CPU frequency among all the Intel Core Duo processors we’ve ever tested in our labs).

Design and Ergonomics

The first thing you become aware of in the Dell Inspiron XPS M1210 is its smooth outline. The front part is rounded off a little, giving the notebook a very neat appearance. The lid is coated with black plastic and has a silvery band with the name of the series near the display hinges. On the front panel there is a small chromium-plated ledge to make it easier for you to lift the lid up. The sides of the lid are by half painted silver to match the top part of the notebook’s body. The rest of the body is painted black.

The manufacturer put its logotype into the center of the lid.

Before opening the notebook, you can take note of the three connectors in its front part. One is a microphone input and the other two are identical headphones outputs. Not a very common solution, this allows enjoying the multimedia capabilities of the Inspiron XPS M1210 battery together with your friend while on a plane, for example.

Above those connectors there is a block of multimedia buttons highlighted in blue when the notebook is turned on. These buttons include (from left to right):

* Mute On/Off
* Volume Down
* Volume Up
* Play/Pause
* Previous Track
* Next Track
* Stop

We don’t think these buttons are really necessary for an ultra-compact model unless you are going to use it as a player. Due to the small size of the notebook, you will almost surely touch the multimedia buttons unintentionally with your wrists while you’re using the touchpad.

The display lacks a lock as is typical of notebooks of that form-factor. Mechanisms built into the hinges press the lid down to the notebook’s body, and you have to exert some strength to lift it up. The color scheme is all silvery inside, including the magnesium case, keyboard, touchpad, and the screen bezel. There are rubber pads on that bezel for softer contact between the display and the notebook’s body. Centered beneath the display is the Dell logotype.

The Dell Inspiron XPS M1210 may come with an optional 1.3-megapixel web-camera that can turn around by 180 degrees. It resembles the one installed on the ASUS W5F. Our notebook didn’t have that camera, though.

Besides the manufacturer’s logo, there are two sonorous stereo speakers on the bezel, below the display. They are covered with grids and are directed right at the user. This placement is good because the speakers won’t get obstructed with anything.

The display hinges stick out of the notebook’s body, allowing you to unfold it by even more than 180 degrees as is shown in the following photograph:

The Dell Inspiron XPS M1210 is equipped with a widescreen 12.1” display with a max resolution of 1280×800 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:10 (WXGA). The horizontal viewing angle seems to be large, but the vertical one is narrow even visually. The glassy coating of the display makes colors more saturated (Dell TrueLife technology), but also produces flares under improper lighting and reflects every well-lit object behind your back.

We measured the brightness and contrast of the notebook’s display using a Pantone ColorVision Spyder with OptiCAL version 3.7.8 software. We selected the highest possible brightness setting before this test but it would become much lower when the notebook switched to its battery, automatically enabling power-saving measures. The measured values of brightness are high, but the contrast ratio isn’t:

AC power source:

* 110.1cd/sq.m brightness, 27:1 contrast ratio

DC power source:

* 90.9cd/sq.m brightness, 27:1 contrast ratio

The notebook’s keyboard consists of 84 silvery-colored keys with a soft movement and a somewhat rough surface. The Arrow keys are lowered below the keyboard’s baseline to reduce the risk of your pressing them unintentionally. The Fn button is located at the bottom left of the keyboard, next to the Ctrl key, which is in the corner. This is convenient for people who are used to shortcuts like Ctrl+C or Ctrl+V. Numeric buttons and two Windows keys are available: the Context Menu key is over one key on the left of the spacebar and the Windows Logo is on the right of the spacebar. The functional buttons are smaller than others. PgUp and PgDn are placed under the Enter. Home, End, Insert and Delete are in the same row with the functional buttons (you should press them along with Fn to access their additional functions). The letters are painted in black; the functional keys are blue.

Testbed and Methods

The notebook’s hard drive was formatted in NTFS before the tests. Then we installed Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 with DirectX 9.0c, system drivers (from the included disc), and Windows Media Encoder 9.0 with Windows Media Player 9.0. We also installed Windows Media Player 10.0 for such tests as PCMark 2005 and SYSMark 2004 SE.

The following settings were used for the tests:

* Power-saving services – Off
* Audio subsystem – Off
* Network services – Off
* Maximum screen brightness
* Maximum display resolution (1440×900)
* Windows Taskbar is Unlocked
* Windows Taskbar hides automatically
* Classic Desktop theme
* No background image on the Desktop
* No screensaver
* Low security level
* Pop-ups blocking disabled

There were two exceptions: we returned to the Windows XP desktop theme for PCMark 2005 since the program required that. And for SYSMark 2004 SE to work normally, we had to roll each parameter back to its default (as they are set right after you install Windows).

Two power modes were used. First, we selected the Always On power mode for maximum performance and the shortest battery life. Then we switched to the Max Battery mode for the maximum battery run-down time.

Our tests:

1. Performance benchmarks: synthetic (SiSoftware Sandra 2005, SiSoftware Sandra 2007, PCMark 2004 1.3.0, PCMark 2005 1.2.0), office and multimedia (SYSMark 2004 SE, Business Winstone 2004, Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004), and games (3DMark 2001SE Pro, 3DMark 2003 3.6.0, 3DMark 2005 1.2.0, 3DMark 2006 1.0.2, Quake 3, Quake 4, Unreal Tournament 2003)
2. Battery life tests (Battery Eater Pro 2.60)

There are three test modes in Battery Eater:

* Classic (the system is under a high and evenly distributed load)
* Reader’s test (the pages are browsed through each 15 seconds)
* Idle mode

We used the first two modes as they are in Battery Eater, but in the Idle mode (when the test utility doesn’t put any load of its own on the notebook) we played a DVD movie.

Conclusion

Michael Dell’s team has done a good job again, coming up with an exciting ultra-compact portable computer optimized for today’s life and travels. The only significant drawback in the configuration of the Dell Inspiron XPS M1210 that we tested is the lack of a discrete graphics card that would certainly make it even more appealing. Well, the model we actually tested is quite ready for the nomadic way of life many of us have to lead. We called the ASUS W5F with its Yonah-core CPU a mobile intellectual in our earlier review, but the Dell Inspiron XPS M1210, even with its integrated graphics, is much smarter without a doubt!

This year will show us the Merom from other aspects, too. This CPU core is going to have higher frequencies and to work within the framework of the Santa Rosa platform together with an improved integrated graphics core. This sounds to us like yet another performance leap!

Highs:

* Superb ultramodern design
* Excellent performance in office applications (and not limited to them if the configuration includes a discrete graphics card)
* Abundance of wireless interfaces (including support for SIM cards)
* Exclusive TrueLife technology for better image quality
* Appealing and competitive price
* High-resolution widescreen display
* Relatively long battery life

Lows:

* Mirror-like display
* Low performance in games
* Inconvenient placement of the multimedia buttons
* Optical combo-drive
* Rather too noisy
* Dense placement of USB ports (but it’s good that there are as many as four of them here!)

The Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop is a good-looking business laptop with decent standard hardware.

Now it’s official. ASUS is currently the market leader when it comes to netbooks / mini-notebooks. Since the beginning of the line of ASUS Eee PC, has been a fixture on the bestseller list. Thanks to the opportunity and perspective, would be one of the first series netbook market, while the computing world by storm. It allows for a closer look at 3 of the hottest models in this area.

ASUS Eee PC 1008HA Seashell:

One of the biggest complaints of netbooks from ASUS is that it seems that manufacturers have little or no attention to the aesthetics of the device. Until the beginning of the 1008HA, the netbook sports a full range of simple, unadorned (and most boring) design.

The 1008HA is the answer to all styles of consumers out there. To put it simply, this model is simply wonderful! In the closed state of the thickest part is at the center and tapers at the sides. It is very sinuous and has a glossy exterior. It has 1000HE similar information except it has less battery life (6 hours), no Bluetooth, and battery not replaceable. It’s a bit more expensive than usual, but I think the slim, attractive design makes it worth every penny.

ASUS Eee PC 1000HE:

This model is now probably the best netbook on the market. It has some of the most robust data and better features. Powered by an Intel Atom N20 (1.66 GHz), 1GB of RAM and 160 GB in the camps. One of the highlights of this model is extended battery life. The manufacturers claim that they can take up to 9.5 hours is a single charge. During testing, I could get 8 hours after using the class. It also has a Bluetooth link.

Asus Eee PC 1000HA:

This model is a low-end version of 1000HE. It is powered by the Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) and has a 160 GB hard disk. It has 802.11b / g connection (instead of a 802.11b/g/n) and do not come with Bluetooth. It has a small 7-hour battery. This model also proved a good buy for those looking to get a netbook not simple ornaments.

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