Thursday, June 23, 2011

HP ProBook 5330m notebook pc review

HP can go ahead and call its new 13.3-inch ProBook 5330m a business laptop but we’re going to call a spade a spade — it’s a killer laptop even for those that don’t own a business suit. And well, a glance at the picture above should give you a pretty good idea of why we feel that way. The brand new brushed-aluminum chassis feels solid to the bone — the bottom is made of magnesium alloy — and it’s two-tone color scheme makes it a bit more daring than the other aluminum laptops out there. On top of that, the .99-inch thick / 3.99-pound machine has a beautiful backlit chiclet keyboard, an HD webcam, and Beats Audio enhanced speakers. You see why we’re thinking this is one is a bit more living room than boardroom? It’s also one of HP’s first DataPass 3G enabled laptops — jump past the break for the details and some hands-on impressions / shots!

HP ProBook 5330m bring the look of HP EliteBook Premium business systems, but hews closer to the more budget-minded ProBook S-Series. brushed aluminum lid is decorated with elegant HP logo and the cover and the pages will continue to look metallic. Smooth, soft to touch base incorporates an elegant setting.

Like other HP business laptops, the 5330m comes loaded with QuickWeb, and instant on browser that you’ll launch using a dedicated button that sits above the keyboard, next to the facility key. If the computer’s been powered down, you are able to expect the browser to load in about 12 seconds, at which point you will see a browser built on Firefox, together with loads of easily customizable “tiles” — a comparatively new addition we’d opt to describe as widgets. With these, that you could glance at CNN and BBC headlines, weather, stock prices, and Twitter (our personal favorite) when you find yourself not using the browser.

The HP ProBook is a great alternative for the Apple MacBook Air, in fact it may even be better, if you compare its Intel Sandy Bridge full-voltage dual core processor to the very dated Core 2 Duo low voltage processor of the Apple MacBook. Also the HP ProBook 5330m battery has a backlit keyboard and proprietary flash storage, unlike the Apple MacBook.

The 5330m is a whole lot more such as the MacBook oxygen in some cases, since it includes a 13.3-inch show and have been produced from metal. However, the $799 beginning cost indicates how the notebook can be lacking in some essential areas. The layout has left a entire lot to get desired, so we do not think that Apple need to be concerned about that aspect of things.

The HP ProBook 5330m has a standard set of ports with no surprises. On the right side are a headphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, and an Ethernet jack. On the right are a Kensington lock slot, VGA out, HDMI out, an SD card reader, and a USB/ eSATA port for a total of three USB ports overall. We wish HP provided at least one USB 3.0 port for higher speed connections, but most notebooks still lack this next-gen connection.

Another innovative feature of the HP Probook 5330m is the wireless solution HP has come up with: a pay as you go solution called HP Datapass. With this feature HP ProBook 5330m ac adapter users can buy bandwidth directly from HP, without having to subscribe to a contract. The advantage of this is that it is not necessary for the company or the user to subscribe to yet another wireless deal. Pricing for the wireless bandwidth starts at $5.

The 5330m comes with a 13.3-inch, 1366 x 768, display. It also comes with a matte finish, which makes it easy to view the screen from various side angles. Although colors appear very much accurate, the display is nothing to write home to. Some users may find the 200-nit brightness useful in working comfortably on the screen.

The ProBook 5330m's a hell of a laptop for what you'll likely pay: even if you opt for the lowest-end, $799 pre-configured model, you'll get an encrypted 7,200RPM drive, 3G radio, and fingerprint reader. And though we can't promise its design will be your cup of tea, it is lightweight enough for travel and built from high-quality materials, to boot.

ProBooks have a come long way, given that just a few years ago they didn’t use metal in their designs. The 5330m is completely clad in brushed aluminum. It’s a two-tone design, using a platinum trim to surround a darker, silvery tone. Ideal for the road, the 5330m tips the scales at 3.9 pounds and fits easily in a small bag.

HP ProBook 5330m power adapter is a powerful business laptop which qualifies all the quality of a gorgeous business laptop as it is eye catchy, light weight, thin and amazingly portable. Apart from good powerful specs, it features technologies like Fingerprint Sensor, HP Beats Audio, gesture support to Touchpad and much much more.

The ProBook 5330m comes packed with plenty of features. For security purposes, there's HP ProtectTools, which as the name implies, protects your computer from unauthorized access. You're able to log in via a standard password or the more complicated fingerprint scanner and facial recognition process, provided you take time to set them up.

The system includes a 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB with 7,200 RPM drive, integrated Intel HD graphics, and a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional. The machine is capable of handling whatever we do email, blog, streams music, YouTube videos, and downloading and playing a 720p and 1080p videos. it got some 40 seconds boot time, somewhat fast for a Windows machine. The integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics is really worth, it scores a benchmark of 3,389 on 3DMark06 manages well.

There’s also support for ‘business’ security features such as TPM and Intel vPro. The HP ProBook 5330m basically screams “bring it on [insert competitor with ultra-thin notebook here]“, while giving its own cousin, the HP EliteBook 2560p, a run for its money and looks (In fact I’m surprised HP didn’t rebrand this as the EliteBook 2660p or something!).

So how does this all seem to work? Well, HP obviously didn’t go and buy its own spectrum and start its own wireless network. Instead, it’s relying on a company called Peregrine Network, which resells white-label pay-as-you-go service to device manufacturers. The laptops we saw were connected to Sprint’s 3G network, but since HP’s systems can be outfitted with the hybrid CDMA / GSM Qualcomm Gobi chipset for connectivity, Peregrine and HP can buy wholesale capacity on any of the major networks — and indeed, HP hinted there would be more partnerships to come. Interestingly, according to the terms of service agreement, Peregrine will handle both the billing and customer support for HP DataPass customers.

In our tests, the HP ProBook 5330m's 3.3 x 1.6-inch touchpad provided very smooth and accurate navigation around the desktop without any jumpiness. Multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom were also smooth, and we appreciated the strong tactile feedback from the two discrete mouse buttons.

HP's website boasts that the HP ProBook 4525s battery life on this guy is up to 5 hours and 45 minutes. After moderate use for three hours of web browsing and YouTube, I got the battery down to about 30%, so you can expect to use it reliably for a little longer than that.

The 5330m's small four-cell HP ProBook 5330m battery lasted three hours and twenty-six minutes in our battery rundown test, which involves playing a movie off the hard drive over and over with WiFi on and the screen's brightness set to 65 percent. Typically, we like to remind readers that that's a taxing test, and that you might expect longer battery life if you plan on staying inside your browser. In this case, though, we were on track for a similar time of four hours when we went about our usual routine, which includes checking and responding to Gmail messages, reading various blogs, streaming music through Grooveshark, and writing reviews, like this one. After an hour of doing all those things in the cloud, our battery life rating fell 30 percent.

Specs:
  • Intel Sandy Bridge full-voltage dual core processors: i3, i5 and i7 second generation;
  • 13.3-inch matt anti-glare display and 1366×768px resolution;
  • 0.99 inches thick;
  • Weight: 3.9 pounds;
  • 2GB RAM;
  • 3 USB Port;
  • VGA web cam and media card slots;
  • Intel Integrated Graphics HD3000;
  • Two DDR3 1333 MHz RAM slots;
  • up to 8 GB of memory;
  • 2.5 inch user-accessible storage bay lets you select between a 500 GB hard disk or 128 GB solid state drive from HP ;
  • “Beats Audio” branding for the notebook’s speakers;
  • Full-sized backlit chiclet style keyboard;
  • Big multi-touch trackpad with dedicated left and right click buttons;
  • Removable/replaceable 4 cell battery giving you about 4 hours batterylife.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Review of HP EliteBook 2760P

HP isn’t looking to keep its 12.1-inch EliteBook 2760p convertible tablet a secret today, but honestly it would not matter even supposing the corporate tried — the ever-reliable FCC made a number of pictures and documentation available in a filing by Sierra Wireless. That is the company that supplies the Qualcomm Gobi3000 dual-mode GSM / CDMA radio on this tablet, you notice, which ought to be a pretty option for business travelers — though we do not see any mention of it within the first three Elitebook 2760p models confirmed on HP’s website. What’s that, you are saying? Confirmation? Yes, indeed, as HP is already listing three versions starting at $1,499, with the bottom model nabbing you a 2.3Ghz Core i5-2410M, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi and a 320GB hard disk drive. FCC pics below, and many more details at our source links.
Convertible notebook tablets are nothing new and in the past Windows XP was the painfully difficult to use OS of choice. Now HP’s EliteBook 2760P offers the slightly more touch friendly Windows 7 Professional and is targeting the Corporate business segment. It features a 12.1-inch 16:10 1280×800 antiglare display with the latest generation Sandy Bridge series Core i7 CPUs with TurboBoost technology. Multitouch interaction is fully supported for your fingers along with a stylus pen. The notebook weighs in at 1.79KG and provides 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Hard Drive storage scales to a maximum of 250GB. The GPU is the integrated Intel HD 3000 and you’ll find a slot loading DVD drive at the side.

Tech Specs of HP Elitebook 2760p:
  • Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 32bit
  • Windows 7 Professional 64bit
  • FreeDOS
  • Processors: 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 Mobile Processors with TurboBoost
  • 2nd Gen Core i5 Mobile Processors with TurboBoost
  • Chipset: Mobile Intel QM67 Express w/ vPro support
  • Weight: Starting at 3.94 lb (1.79 kg)
  • Dimensions: 11.42 inches in height x 8.35 inches in width x 1.27 inches in depth
  • Random Access Memory: 8GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • Internal Storage: SATA II Hard Disk Drive from 250GB to 320GB
  • Solid State Drive from 128GB up to 160GB
  • Display: 12.1″ diagonal LED-backlit WXGA UWVA anti-glare display with multi touch. 1280 x 800
  • Graphics: Intel HD 3000 Graphics
  • Audio: SRS Premium Sound, stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack
HP Fansite has leaked the specifications of new HP EliteBook 2760P. HP EliteBook 2760P is powered by Intels new Core i7/i5 processors with an integrated HD 3000 graphics core, up to 16GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 750GB mechanical or 160GB flash storage, and it sports a 12.1-inch matte LED backlit display.

The EliteBook 2760p replaces this EliteBook 2740p (review), however maintains identical kind issue instead of obtaining an upgrade in appears like the HP EliteBook 2760p ac adapter that was conjointly announced. The HP EliteBook 2760p can use the newest Intel Core i5 and Core i7 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processors with TurboBoost. These processors will permit for remote manageability with Intel vPro technology.

Its design is good and looks differ, its touchscreen is moveable can be moved while watching HD movies, HP Elitebook comprises with 12.1 inch HD LED display screen supporting full HD resolution, from 1.4 GHz to 2.7GHz with Intel core i5/i7 processors, with memory ranges from 4GB,8GB and 16GB DDR3 RAM (2 memory slots), built in HD Graphics technology, bluray drive (optional) and standard DVD R/W, SATA Hard drive starting from 500GB and 3.0 USB ports, LAN, Wireless LAN (wifi), Bluetooth and is compatible with MS Windows 7 Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate (64-bit) version. An optional 3G and 4G component can be added to enhance its features and web performance. This Elitebook is equipped with intel Sandy Bridge core processor to use less power and give high performance and maximum HP EliteBook 2760p battery backup. It has not announced when HP is releasing Elitebook 2760P.

The HP EliteBook 2760p laptop has a Core i7-2620M, Core i5-2540M, i5-2520M or i5-2410M processor, QM67 Express Chipset, integrated Intel Core Graphics, up to 16GB memory, 160GB SSD or 320GB HDD, which size of 29 x 21.2 x 3.23cm and weights 1.8kg.

The 2760p is designed to handle the harsh realities of the business environment and meets MIL-STD 810G standards for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude and high temperature. On the security side, the 2760p includes standard HP security tools including HP ProtectTools and also has an option for a 320GB Self Encrypting Drive.

The Elitebook 2760p is a new convertible computer from HP, launched around the same time as the 2560p. The 2760p is actually some sort of a replacement for one of the previous convertible computers (2740p, to be exact), but comes with improvements in terms of hardware, rather than with a design and size revamp. So if you’re familiar with the 2740p, you’ll know that the new iteration remains true to the 12.1 inch screen and the 16:10 aspect ratio.

The previous generations had a relatively non-standard 1.4″ PATA drive, which is pretty much the same type of hard drive found in the old Apple iPod’s, the drives being as small as they were didn’t allow for much space and they were also slow (4200RPM). It seems HP’s been able to cram a normal 2.5″ drive laptop drive into the same chassis, so now you get the improved performance and storage capacity regular laptops already enjoy.

The 2760p is a convertible laptop with a 12.1-inch convertible screen that flips around for users to take notes using a pen input. With a 6-cell battery and a hard drive, the laptop provides 8.5 hours of HP EliteBook 2760p battery life.

Even if people think of slates when they hear the term tablet companies like HP are the pioneers behind the original tablet PC concept and don’t want to give up the convertible tablet form factor, especially since business users are still more attracted to them than slates. The latest convertible model from HP is the Elitebook 2760p featuring the latest generation Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs, full voltage version, which is amazing considering the 12.1 inch form factor that makes cooling a full power laptop CPU a challenge.

One of the largest personal computer and laptop manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard, is reported to develop a new laptop and convertible tablet. The manufacturer has currently leaked documents on the new HP EliteBook Laptop and EliteBook tablet, complete with the detail of the two business gadgets. Both Laptop and tablet is powered by Intel’s Huron River platform, with HP EliteBook 2760p power supply Convertible Tablet as the official marketing name.

Right now the launch date for the 2760p hasn’t been dictated by HP but you should probably keep an eye on this HP Business listing page for the model over the next few days.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Black Notebook Review

The Lenovo ThinkPad W520 is Lenovo's upgrade to the W510 mobile workstation notebook. This 15.6-inch notebook is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-2920XM processor and equipped with up to a discrete NVIDIA Quadro 2000M GPU, switchable to Intel HD integrated graphics. ThinkPad W520 Laptop Computer - Intel Core i7-2620M (2.70GHz, 4MB L3).
The laptop is about 1.3 inches thick and starts about 5.5 pounds.The chassis looks as same in principle as in the T520. The display lid consists of carbon-fiber / glass-fiber hybrid, while the bottom includes glass-fiber reinforced plastic.The Lenovo ThinkPad W520 is Lenovo's upgrade to the W510 mobile workstation notebook. This 15.6-inch notebook is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-2920XM processor and equipped with up to a discrete NVIDIA Quadro 2000M GPU, switchable to Intel HD integrated graphics. Like last year’s model, the full HD (FHD) displays on the 1920 x 1080 resolution models have a 95% color gamut and a huey PRO color calibration system application.

Mobility may be flawed, but performance more than makes up for it. One of Intel’s Core i7 2620M processors is on board, which will comfortably run the most intensive software for the foreseeable future. Multimedia performance is just as strong, with a dedicated Nvidia Quadro 1000M GPU handling graphics – perfect for editing HD video and playing the latest games.

ThinkPad workstations have always been known to be top-of-the-line, updated systems in terms of performance, FHD display, build quality, Lenovo ThinkPad W520 battery and power consumption, and carry a host of features such as the Fingerprint Reader, nice upgrade options, and a great port selection. This workstation is expected to live up to those who have high ThinkPad standards and expectations.

The ThinkPad W520 features the same industry-leading keyboard design we've seen on any number of ThinkPads. The classic-style keyboard has enlarged Esc and Delete keys and the best tactile feedback of any keyboard we've tested, springier even than some of its fellow ThinkPads. Because of the improved feedback, we scored 86 wpm on the Ten Thumbs Typing test, a bit better than our typical 80 wpm.

There are three options available for WiFi. The particular configuration we reviewed came with an Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (Puma Peak) 3x3 AGN wireless card that can theoretically reach a connection speed of as high as 450 Mbit/s. This wifi card has greater signal range than that of the other configurations available. UMTS is usually available but wasn't advertised in the model we tested, but since all W520 models are equipped with antennae for UMTS, you shouldn't have to tinker with too much to get it working. For models of the W520 that don't have a SIM card slot within the battery slot—like ours—a potential connection for a SIM card (PCIe) can be found after removing the keyboard. A guide for doing this can be found on Lenovo's support site. You can also connect an mSATA SSD to this PCIe slot, but only one device can be attached at a time.

As far as details go, the ThinkPad W520 has a FHD 1920 x 1080 resolution, LED backlit, matte screen display with a color gamut of 95% and an aspect ratio of 16:9. Lenovo has tried, largely, to make everything about the display appeal to graphic artists and others need more of the color spectrum. The high color gamut and FHD will attribute, however, to a huge difference in what opinions users have about the display. Because of the added color range and default display settings, some people will think that it’s too saturated and in effect colors look distorted, or as one editor here put it, “way too saturated.” But others (particularly graphics artists) will revel in the wide range of color and find it to be useful.

The version of the ThinkPad W520 that I worked with came equipped with a larger nine-cell battery pack that provides a very high 94 WHr capacity. The downside is the battery pack extends out behind the hinge of the laptop which makes it a bit less portable. In DVD playback testing, the laptop lasted just under six hours before going into standby mode. This puts it at the same overall level of running time as Apple's MacBook Pro with its integrated Lenovo Thinkpad W520 battery pack but in a package with much higher performance. One should also be aware that the 130W power brick for this laptop is very large which is something to be aware of for frequent travelers.

Lenovo has release a new mobile workstation notebook with 15.6-inch, namely Lenovo ThinkPad W520. The ThinkPad W520 is comes with Turbo Boost processor for speed performance and based on 2nd generation Intel Core i7 Quad Core Extreme Edition processor. ThinkPad W520 mobile workstation is available in two version processor option, a 2.70GHz Intel Core i7-2620M Processor with 15.6-inch HD LED Backlit Anti-Glare display with resolution of 1366 x 768 pixel without feature Bluetooth for starting price tag $1,299.00 or a 2.20GHz Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor with 15.6-inch HD LED Backlit Anti-Glare display with resolution of 1600 x 900 pixel with Bluetooth 3.0 for price start at $1,499.00.

There are two navigation devices that can be used on the ThinkPad: a touchpad and a TrackPoint. The touchpad has little bumps on it that feel a little funny at first, but you get used to them after using it for a while. It supports gestures such as two-finger scrolling, pinch zooming, two-finger rotating and three-finger flicking. However, we had some problems with its responsiveness while using it. It often didn't register taps and sometimes two-finger scrolling required a couple of tries before it would work. There is a comprehensive mouse driver where the sensitivity of the pad can be adjusted, but this didn't fix our problem. The TrackPoint is very convenient to use if you're resting the ThinkPad on your lap, and it was very accurate and easy to use in our tests. However, it did sometimes get in the way while typing.

The optional color calibrator allows users to enjoy greater color fidelity. After we activated the color calibration software and closed the lid as directed, the ThinkPad W520 took about three minutes to adjust the screen color and make colors, such as the yellow in an JPG of tulips, a little more vibrant. Professional photo editors with trained eyes will appreciate the Pantone software's ability to calibrate for different tone responses (1.8, 2.0, or 2.2) and white points (D65, D50, D75, Native).

The ThinkPad W520 comes with a 9-cell battery that protrudes slighly from the back of the chassis. Lenovo claims that our review configuration should run for up 8.9 hours with this Lenovo Thinkpad W520 charger battery. We tested the battery by asking the ThinkPad W520 to play a DVD video continuously. Lenovo provides its usual comprehensive power management application, and we chose the Video Playback option for our test. This power plan doesn't do a great deal to minimise fan usage, and we found its noise disrupted the quieter moments of our chosen video. If your presentations are silent you'll certainly notice the fan kicking in at regular and frequent intervals.

Although its power demands are much greater, the W520 still offers plenty of battery life. For the business user on the road or enthusiast sitting in class, this notebook could easily get you through most of a coast to coast flight or a few classes.

The W520 offers an impressive, extensive span of ports. Just as the W510, this workstation has two USB SuperSpeed 3.0, one USB 2.0, one USB 2.0/eSATA, VGA, DisplayPort out, FireWire 400, ExpressCard/34, SDHC-card reader, and a headset combo jack. Work professionals will be pleased at the two USB 3.0 ports and 4-in-1 card slot included and will have the option of adding a Smart Card Reader. At this point Lenovo has not yet released an option for Blu-Ray as they did last time. Our system has a multiburner optical drive.

Like the W510, the FHD screen on the W520 is fabulous. It’s bright and has good contrast. The high Gamut screen has good color support and it’s probably the smart choice for anyone considering a portable workstation. As with most if not all of the business computers Lenovo makes, it’s a matte screen. I don’t think I will ever buy a glossy screen laptop. Well, I haven’t yet. Anyway, the screen is very nice and I haven’t seen any complaints with it on the W510.

Options, meanwhile, include up to a 1920 x 1080 display (to replace the standard 1366 x 768 panel), up to 8GB of RAM, up to 500GB of regular hard-drive or up to 160GB of SSD, and both Bluetooth 3.0 and integrated WWAN. The regular model comes with a DVD burner, 6-cell battery and WiFi b/g/n.

Lenovo's ThinkPad W520 is a fast 15.6in. notebook with a high-quality display whose limited portability isn't helped by a brick-like Lenovo ThinkPad W520 AC adapter. If you do take the W520 on the road, then its battery performance ought to be adequate. The superb screen, discrete graphics and high-capacity hard drive lend themselves to multimedia-intensive activities, but the W520 should handle all manner of resource-hungry applications with ease.

Specifications:
  • Intel Core i7-2920XM Quad Core Mobile Processor
  • 8GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Memory
  • 500GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
  • 8x DVD+/-RW Modular Dual Layer Burner
  • 15.6" WUXGA (1920x1080) Display With 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
  • NVIDIA Quaddro 2000M Dedicated Graphics With 2GB Memory
  • Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n Wireless, Bluetooth
  • Two USB 2.0, One USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire, ExpressCard/34, Fingerprint Scanner, Color Calibrator
  • 14.7" x 9.7" x 1.3" @ 6 lbs.
  • Windows 7 Professional