The laptop has been around since late Summer, but only recently has it got its full feature list 3D fans wanted. Earlier this month, a press release was issued from Toshiba indicating that the laptop got Nvidia 3D gaming support. We covered this here.

When it comes to overall features and capabilities, this laptop is an all-around great package for anyone. It comes packaged with a Blue-ray drive, HDMI, USB 3,0, and a 15,6» 1080p HD display. Its spec list isn’t shabby either. It comes with a Core i7 (quad-core) CPU and a Nvidia Geforce GT 540M GPU. The base model comes with a 750GB hard drive and 6GB of RAM.

My main gripe that I have is that it only allows for one user to view the image being displayed in 3D. You also have to sit at a specific angle to get the most clarity and depth. However, this is still to be expected from any autostereoscopic displays on the market today.

The laptop comes with something called «Active Lens Technology,” which allows multiple windows to be displayed on it for images to show in both 3D and 2D. This means multiple users can still take advantage of it, although it fully only supports one user for 3D viewing.

Another gripe that may be a hard sell to non-3D enthusiasts is the laptop’s price. It currently costs $1,829 on Amazon. However, a cheaper version with less impressive specs exists as well. This version is called the F755—3D 320 and costs $1,151,98 right now on Amazon.

I would also like to point out that if you are a very mobile laptop user who doesn’t like carrying around external power connectors, this laptop may not be for you. The battery life isn’t too impressive with only a few hours on a full charge. However, this is an enthusiast laptop that aims at entertainment consumption and less on productivity. You probably don’t want to use it exclusively for typing Word documents on the go as there are cheaper solutions for that.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this laptop for any 3D gamer. It will play the latest games with great resolutions. The rewritable Blue-ray drive makes the package very appealing for 3D movie fans as well.

Our sample arrived in a boring card board box that is clearly aimed at online distributors or direct sale customers and not the retail shelf.

Inside the box we found that it came with everything you will need to properly use the monitor. In the box you have the 14 inch display, a six foot long (1,8m) USB 2,0 cable, driver CD, instructions and a protective case for the screen. The ThinkVision LT1421 is only available in one color, raven black.

The Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 screen size is 14 inches with an LED Backlight TFT panel that has a resolution of 1366 x 768. The image quality is fairly decent and while it won’t be winning any beauty contests or performance awards it gets the job done.

Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 Screen Features:

* Viewable image size: 14,0″
* Optimum Resolution: 1366×768
* Aspect Ratio: 16:9
* Pixel pitch (mm): .227mm
* Dot/Pixels per inch: 112 dpi
* Brightness: 200 nits or cd/m2 (typical)
* Contrast Ratio: 400:1
* Pixel Response Time: 8ms (typical)
* Color Gamut: 45%
* Viewing Angle at 10:1 CR:
* Power Consumption: <0,1 watts standby, 4,2 watts typical, 5 watts maximum
* Weight: 1,8lb; 0,84 kg without cover
* Warranty: 3 Year Limited

The back of the Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 is fairly simple with just a brightness adjustment button with 16 brightness levels, a kickstand, and the micro-USB 2,0 video input port. There is also a spot for a Kensington lock right next to the tilt stand. Along the bottom edge of monitor are two rubber pads to keep the display from sliding on a desk.

Now that you have a general idea of what this monitor is and what it does, we can move along and show you how to set it up and how it performs.

Look and feel

For those of you who haven’t yet seen the XPS 14z, you might be a bit surprised by its ‘Applesque’ features. Go online and you’re likely to find tons of comparisons between the Macbook Pro 13-inch and the XPS 14z, with good reason too. The similarity in the build, specifications and design make it pretty obvious that this is Dell’s retaliation to Apple. However, that’s not to say the 14z is in any way a replica of the Macbook Pro. Open up the laptop and you’ll begin to see a fair bit of differences.

Dell claims that the XPS 14z is the «thinnest fully featured 14-inch laptop» in its category. With a thickness of 0,9-inches, it’s certainly not skinny, but the wafer-thin top panel does add to its sleekness. Unlike the Macbook Pro which is made out of a single piece of aluminium, the XPS 14z does not feature a unibody design. The keyboard, surrounding frame and palmrests are coated in a metallic finish, and the edges of the lower body and trackpad have chrome detailing. It looks impressive, but definitely not as premium and solid as the Macbook Pro.

What is absolutely amazing about this laptop though is the 14-inch LG Shuriken display which Dell has squeezed into a frame that would normally fit a 13-inch screen. What this means is that when you open up the laptop, you’ll be greeted with a lot of screen space. The display itself takes up the top of the chassis almost entirely, leaving a very thin border around the edges. The 1,366×768 resolution is pretty much on par with the Macbook Pro, but it is a downgrade from the1,920×1,080 screen that its XPS 15z counterpart offers. At the bottom of the screen you’ll notice a coiled hinge and the screen itself is inset into the bottom half of the laptop, so it sits at a much closer angle than other laptops.

The keyboard sports the classic chiclet design which is almost a norm on most laptops today, but the keys are well spaced out and slightly curved, which made typing on it an absolute pleasure. Dual patterned speakers on either side of the keyboard do mean that the size of the keyboard itself has been cut down, but with the generous size of the Shift and Enter keys, I’m really not complaining. The arrow keys are quite tiny, and remind me very much of the Macbook Pro. The added bonus of backlit keys are always a welcome addition.

Dell has not opted for the popular unibody touchpad seen on many laptops, and instead has separate left and right click buttons. The trackpad itself was very roomy, and I liked the soft-press buttons too. The touchpad was also quite accurate, supporting gestures like two-finger scrolling and pinch to zoom with relative ease.

The most important feature users would look for on a heavy duty laptop like the XPS 14z would obviously be the ports, and there is no room for disappointment here. The thickness of the laptop means there’s room for an optical drive (DVD burner), something you won’t get on an Ultrabook. Additionally, there’s a 7-in-1 card reader, two 3,5mm jacks for headphone and microphone, a mini Display port, HDMI port, two USB ports (including one USB 3,0 port) and an Ethernet port. The ports have been liberally distributed around the sides and the back, so you’re never stuck with a tangle of wires.

A handy addition to the laptop is the presence of a battery meter — a row of five white dots that light up when you press a button to tell you how much battery power you have remaining. This feature used to be available on Macbook Pros earlier, but Apple has discontinued it with later models.
Media and software

The XPS 14z comes with quite a bit of preloaded software, not all of which you’ll find useful. This includes Skype 4,3, Zinio Reader 4, Roxio Creator Starter and McAfee virus protection. Your program bar will also be accosted with the plethora of Dell programs including Dell Data Safe, a data protection software. My review unit ran Windows 7 Professional, although you can opt for Windows 7 Home Premium instead.

The laptop is perfect for any sort of media activity, whether it’s watching videos, playing games or listening to music. The large screen is very comfortable for watching movies and videos played back with good contrast ratios and sharpness. The speaker volume was ample and I rarely had to turn it up all the way, although it does get a little tinny at maximum levels. Heat dissipation occurs through a vent in the side and one on the bottom and thankfully the XPS 14z doesn’t heat up if propped up on a bed or in your lap, not something I can vouch for with the Macbook Pro.
Performance

The Dell XPS 14z comes in two variants, one running a 2,5GHz Intel Core i5—2450M processor with 4GB DDR3 memory and 500GB HDD, and the other running a 2,8GHz i7—2640M processor with 8GB DDR3 memory and 750GB HDD. You can also replace the hard drive with a 256GB SSD at an additional cost, which will also bring down the weight a bit. The discrete graphics I mentioned earlier are Nvidia GeForce GT-520M with 1GB video memory. Not exactly a gamer’s fantasy but nevertheless good enough for regular PC gaming. My review unit had the more high-end configuration and I was never dissatisfied with the performance. Downloading large files, using the browser, typing out a word document and playing music files in the background simultaneously was a piece of cake on the XPS 14z. The ample storage is the one factor that puts it miles ahead of Ultrabooks, with which you can get a maximum configuration of a 256GB SSD.

I ran the PCMark benchmark which gave me a score of 8,202, which was a tad lower than the Macbook Air’s 9,748. The Novabench score was 721, almost double the ASUS Zenbook’s 453. Dell says the laptop offers 6 hours of battery life, which is quite accurate. I managed to get about 4 hours of continuous video playback.
Our verdict

After a week of use, I found that I could pretty much use the Dell XPS 14z as my primary computing device. If you’re looking for a PC on which you can get your work done as well as play Crysis 2 on the side, this might not at all be a bad bet. In terms of tech specs, build and performance, the XPS 14z is almost on par with the Macbook Pro. If your primary concern is not portability or thinness, the Dell XPS 14z should be at the top of your list.

Love: Large screen, good selection of ports, fast

Hate: A bit heavy, only two USB ports

Unusual glass design stands out from other ultrabooks
Potentially powerful components
Handy volume control wheel

Bad

Expensive
Fatter and heavier than most ultrabooks

Ultrabook is the buzz word at CES in Las Vegas this year, with a swathe of launches planned. HP aims to separate the Envy 14 Spectre from the chaff by covering it in glass.

It will be available towards March, starting at £1,199, which will get you an Intel Core i-series processor and a 128GB SSD.

We haven’t taken the Spectre into our top secret testing facility yet, so it hasn’t been subjected to the rigours we’d normally put a laptop through, but make sure you check back soon for a full review.
Design and build quality

With ultrabooks coming at us left, right and centre, it’s all too easy to see them as one big grey blur of slim chassis and Intel processors. HP evidently hates nothing more than to be lost in the crowd, so it’s gone to great lengths to make sure the Spectre sticks out.

Instead of a muted grey colour, a huge slab of black glass covers the entire lid. It’s an extremely bold statement and one that we were keen on in our brief hands-on time. It’s encouraging to see companies appreciating that we don’t all want to carry around identical-looking laptops.

If alarm bells are ringing at the idea of lugging a big sheet of glass about, worry not, as HP has used Gorilla Glass — famously toughened and extremely resistant to scuffs and scratches. We still reckon it will shatter like a Fabergé egg if it takes a tumble to a concrete floor though. But the same can be said of most technology, so it’s not an immediate concern.

The black glass makes the top of the Spectre look rather similar to the glass-fronted iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Apple’s phones also use Gorilla Glass so we at least have some experience that it can take a few knocks, although we expect it to be an absolute magnet for fingerprints.

HP’s efforts to make the Spectre stand out have sadly had a negative impact on the overall weight. At 1,72kg, it’s at the top end of the ultrabook scales, and considerably less bag-friendly than the 1,3kg Asus Zenbook UX31. At 20mm thick, it’s also rather porky too, especially in light of the various ultrabooks cropping up at CES this year boasting about their 15mm bodies.

Under the lid you’ll find a keyboard that seems similar to those found on other Envy models, so we expect it to be quite comfortable for longer periods of use. It’s backlit too, so you needn’t get up to pop a light on when typing into the night.

The wrist rest is made from more Gorilla Glass, which makes it stylishly shiny, but we can’t help but feel it’s overkill — would metal have really been so bad? The trackpad is a decent size and supports multi-touch gestures such as two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom.
HP Envy 14 Spectre trackpad
Even the wrist rest is made of Gorilla Glass so you’re likely to smear your banana all over the shiny surface in no time, you grubby ape.

Like much of HP’s computer range, the Spectre comes with Beats Audio branding, so expect the low frequencies to have been given a boost. There’s also an unusual analogue wheel on the side of the body for quickly altering volume — this machine has music on its mind.

In general, while the Spectre is a refreshing change from many of the new ultrabooks, we’re not sure it’s a change in the right direction. The glass panels make it much thicker and heavier than its competitors, which frankly defeats the object of it being an ultrabook in the first place. The focus of the Spectre is clearly more on design than on portability, so if travelling light is your top priority, other ultrabooks will likely suit you better.
HP Envy 14 Spectre volume wheel
Now that’s innovation — a wheel to turn the volume up and down. Astonishing that nobody thought of it before.
Screen

The Spectre packs in a 14-inch screen, which is bigger than the typical 11 or 13-inch displays found on most ultrabooks. It offers a 1,600×900-pixel resolution — the same as you’ll find on the 13-inch screen of the Asus Zenbook UX31 — so we’re a little disappointed not to see a few more pixels here.

We only had a brief hands-on test in the Las Vegas showroom, but it seemed relatively bright and clear. It should do the job adequately, at least for most tasks. We’ll have to wait until we can test it properly in our full review before giving the final verdict on this display.
HP Envy 14 Spectre screen
The bright and clear screen held its own among the glitz and neon of Las Vegas, but we’ll see how well it performs in our full review.
Performance

HP has been pretty light on final technical specifications for the Spectre, although it did at least say that it will be running Intel’s Core i-series processors and will come with a 128GB solid-state drive.

Other ultrabooks let you customise Core i3, i5 and i7 processors with up to 6 or 8GB of RAM, so we expect the same here. Solid state drives (SSDs) are smaller, faster and use less power than traditional hard disk drives so it’s good to know your precious processing grunt and battery life isn’t being sapped away by an outdated storage drive.

We weren’t able to perform our usual battery of tests so we’ll have to leave that for our full review. With a mid-range configuration of Core-i5 processor and 4GB of RAM though, we would expect it to be able to tackle all manner of office applications and handle HD video with aplomb.
HP Envy 14 Spectre ports
HP held its cards close to its chest in Vegas when it came to revealing the full spec, but the Spectre will have Intel’s Core i-series processors and a 128GB solid-state drive.

It comes pre-loaded with Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements, so you can get straight down to photo and video editing without a moment’s pause. We predict it will be able to cope with editing your holiday snaps and some footage of your cat being cute, but don’t expect it to handle raw images or render high-definition content without screaming like a banshee.
Outlook

While it’s refreshing to see HP offering an ultrabook with a different look to the plethora of new models arriving, we can’t help but feel that the glass panels detract somewhat from the slim and light nature of the genre. With a steep starting price tag, HP might have a challenge on its hands convincing people to shell out their cash.

Design details

One look at the ASUS Zenbook and I was in love with the design. The brushed aluminium body, patterned with barely discernible concentric circles, makes the lid look absolutely classy. Measuring in at 9mm at the rear and just about 3mm at the front the Zenbook is seductively sleek and weighs just a little more than a kilogram.

The brushed aluminium design is not just restricted to the lid, it continues all over the body. Resting on four tiny rubber pads under each corner of the base, the Zenbook has an array of air vents facing outwards to regulate the air flow. To further facilitate heat dissipation, ASUS has also used unique beryllium copper alloy in the components of the Zenbook.

Finger talk

As was the case with other Ultrabooks, the Zenbook, too did not have a backlit keyboard. The chiclet layout and brushed aluminium keys were certainly pleasing to the eye but keystrokes did not register easily, and I often had to use a bit of extra pressure while typing.

The unibody trackpad on the ASUS is demarcated from the bezel by a slight depression on the sides. Although the tactile feedback on the clicks was solid, sometimes it would get confused between plain scrolling and multi-touch gestures. So scrolling down web pages was a pain because the touchpad would end up zooming in to the screen instead. Similar problems occurred while we were working with text documents as well. Highlighting something to ‘Cut+Paste’ was a bother. Overall, the trackpad wasn’t exactly a pleasure to use as much as the feel of the smooth unibody held its appeal.

Music to the ears

The screen spans 13,3-inches and sports a 16:9 widescreen ratio. I watched the Jack Nicholson starrer ‘Chinatown’ on the Zenbook and the glossy, reflective screen was a bit of a bother. The viewing angles on the display aren’t great either, but Ultrabooks don’t really boast of displays as their forte.

Taking a leaf out of its higher-end laptops, ASUS has integrated Bang & Olufsen speakers in the Zenbook as well. It was no surprise then that the audio quality was par excellence and for most of the media we played, the acoustics rang loud and clear through the room. Even when the volume had to be pumped up to the max, there was barely any distortion in dialogues or music that I listened to.

Custom design includes an oval voice coil for clearer vocals, oversized shielded speaker magnets for more impact and better bass, plus aluminium rings to secure speakers and reduce vibration. The choice of aluminium in the construct helps conduct and insulate sound well, thus preserving the quality of acoustics in the Ultrabook. The proprietary Smart Dynamic Range Control also lets you tweak settings to adapt to the kind of audio you are listening to.

Performance and connectivity

The strongpoint of the Zenbook, as is the case with most other Ultrabooks, is the battery life. I was constantly hooked on to the Web, playing back videos, streaming music and typing away on it , and it only flashed red after 6-odd hours of usage.

The Zenbook wins a bag of brownie points for the decent range of connectivity ports it offers — one USB 2,0 port, a USB 3,0 port, a 3,5mm audio jack, a micro HDMI slot, a mini VGA port and an SD card reader slot. Way more options than the Acer Aspire S3 or the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s (the other two Ultrabooks currently available in India) had on offer. The USB 3,0 port is also marked with a USB Charger+ icon which means you can plug in your USB-powered devices to charge them quicker then with the ordinary USB port.

Powering the Zenbook is an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1,6GHz, with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The combination works to make the laptop deliver low boot times. Coupled with the proprietary ASUS Super Hybrid Engine II, it also makes sure that, even after hours of inactivity, the Zenbook can resume from sleep in just about two seconds.

Apart from the instant resume functionality, the Zenbook also backs up your data to the SSD, should the battery level drop below 5 per cent thereby eliminating the chances of you losing your data due to a drained battery.

I ran the standard NovaBench test on the ASUS Zenbook and it hovered around a total of about 453, quite a low mark when compared to the Acer Aspire S3 at 476 and the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s at 473.

Final word

With a Rs 89,999 price tag, the ASUS Zenbook is currently the costliest Ultrabook on offer, topping the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s which sports almost as attractive a design and similar tech specs. If you are searching for just another lightweight and powerful but slightly more affordable notebook, you have two other options to choose from. However, if you want to pay the premium for excellent audio quality and a slightly better build quality, you know where to look!

Love: Attractive design, good battery life, great acoustics

Hate: Unresponsive trackpad and keyboard

In terms of build quality, Dell has kept up with XPS tradition and used metal extensively. The entire shell and palmrest is brushed aluminium, though the issue with this is that so much metal makes this 13,3-inch laptop heavier than competing devices. At over 2Kg, the XPS 14z is equivalent to most 14-inch laptops in terms of weight — you can get 13,3-inch notebooks that are easily under 2Kg. There is an indication light for charging on the hinge, but there are no indicators for hard-drive activity or power status.

The backlit keyboard is comfortable to use for long typing sessions and the large track pad responds well with good support from the anodised aluminium and magnesium alloy palm-rest. Even though we didn’t much like the hinge (it clearly detracts from looks of the laptop), full marks to Dell for build quality. Our review unit came with a top-of-the-line configuration — a second generation quad core Intel Core i7 processor running at 2,8Ghz, 8GB RAM, 750GB hard drive, Nvidia GT520M graphics card and Windows 7 Professional.

The Windows Experience Index rates the hardware as a 5,9 — no surprise there. What we did not like was the limited number of ports. There is a single USB 2,0 and a USB 3,0 port, Ethernet, HDMI and DisplayPort — all present neatly on the rear to minimize wire clutter. On the left side is the card reader and audio jacks, while the right side hosts the slot loading optical drive and a battery status indicator.

There are heat dissipation vents present on the side, back and bottom — useful as with such hardware it is bound to get heated up. The XPS 14z boasts of being the first Skypecertified laptop for video chat. The webcam quality is very pleasing — great output, both in terms of video and audio. Another impressive feature of the laptop is the sound. The onboard JBL speakers are loud and clear — good enough for a small room.

With a 6-cell battery, we were able to get around four hours battery life — slightly short of the claimed 5 hours. Our particular unit comes for Rs 82,589, however you can get a cheaper variant with Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM , 500GB hard drive and Nvidia GT520m graphics for Rs 66,900. If you are looking to spend Rs 80,000 the XPS 14z is a great value for money offering, however do take a look at the Sony Vaio SA35GG (Rs 80,000) that has a similar hardware configuration with a 13,3-inch display and weighs just 1,7Kg.

ASUS № 45J Mystic Edition frontThe new № 45J Mystic Edition laptop got its styling inspiration from the Exclamation Mark album that Chou recently released with recording label Sony Music Entertainment Taiwan. The back or the lid of the laptop is where you’ll see the styling inspiration from Chou’s album, on the lid there is a ship anchor with Jay Chou’s name and other shapes in a pencil styled sketch. The design that’s on the lid of the laptop is located to one side while on the other side there is Jay Chou’s personal signature.

The overall color of the machine is White and Blue (light) with a little Silver, the keyboard has Blue accents and so does the border which surrounds the display the speaker grill and keyboard keys are Silver. (see the design in the photo below)

The main specifications for the new laptop computer are very good, but the full list of specifications hasn’t been released for the № 45J at this time. From what Asustek specifies their new № 45J Mystic Edition laptop will feature a 14,0″ screen (1366×768), a fast 2,30 GHz (2,9 GHz Turbo Boost) dual-core Intel Core i5—2410M base CPU with the option for having a faster quad-core Intel Core i7—2670QM CPU, capable NVIDIA GeForce 2GB discrete graphics come standard, an integrated webcam, 2-second resume from sleep is also included and makes me think the № 45J might have solid state storage, and finally Asustek is including an external subwoofer with every purchase (probably the same one that ships with the Asus № 55SF and № 75SF).

Pricing isn’t available to me now but the ASUS № 45J Mystic Edition is going to be available in limited quantities for mainland China and Southeast Asia only.

Netbooks, having enjoyed so much excitement during their early days, have now retreated for the most part from the public eye. Part of the reason is likely the rise in tablets, and now Ultrabooks, but netbooks themselves are also partially responsible. There simply has not been much movement in the market. Intel’s Atom, the most popular processor, has received only minor revisions. Excitement is lacking because there’s not a lot to be excited about.

There are, however, a few products that have managed to separate themselves from the masses. One of these is HP’s dm1z, an AMD powered netbook/ultraportable with an 11,6» display. Nothing in the PC hardware world stays the same for long, however. To make sure this laptop keeps pace, HP recently updated the dm1z with AMD’s newest E-Series processors, the E-300 and E-450. In addition, Beats Audio has been stuffed inside the tiny chassis.

While the base HP dm1z with an AMD E-300 processor is $399,99, our review unit’s AMD E-450 is a $25 upgrade. We were also given an upgraded 500GB hard drive which will set you back another $30. RAM was also upgraded from 2GB to 4GB, but at the time of this writing that upgrade is free, bringing our unit’s as-configured price to a modest $454.99.

That may seem like a lot for a netbook, but this one straddles the line between the netbook and ultraportable categories. However you choose to define it, the little HP’s portability and battery life will need to excel in order to justify a price that rivals the low end of the desktop replacement market.
Simple Curves

You won’t have trouble looking at the HP dm1z. While far from luxurious, it features the simple, smooth design that is found in many of HP’s recent products. Matte surfaces are the order of the day everywhere except the display bezel, which is sure to be a hit with enthusiasts.

Though made entirely of plastic, material quality is good and the chassis feels tight. These are things that can’t be taken for granted in a laptop with a base price under $500, regardless of its size.

HP-Pavilion-dm1z-review-silver-angle-lid-open

My only complaint is the display hinges. They’re painted a cheap color of silver that reminds me of the interior trim of a base-model economy car, and they feel even less robust. It’s possible to deform the plastic using just light pressure from your finger, and while they’ll probably last as long as any other part of the laptop, it’s an issue that is hard to ignore once you notice it.

Connectivity options are robust, and nicely molded into the laptop’s thin sides. On the left you’ll find one USB 2,0 port and HDMI, while along the right you’ll find two more USB 2,0 ports, VGA, a card reader and individual headphone and microphone jacks.
Maximum Keyboard, Minimum Laptop

The HP dm1z has an 11,6» display with a large bezel, which means that the overall dimensions of this laptop are substantially larger than most 10,1» netbooks. The advantage of this is more room for the keyboard, and HP uses every inch of the space available.

As a result, the size of the keyboard — both overall and of each individual key — is on par with many 13,1» Ultraportables on the market today. Of particular note are the right-side function keys such as Backspace and Shift — they’re larger than those found on some 15,6» laptops.

HP doesn’t waste space with the touchpad either. The gap between the spacebar and the touchpad is about one-half of an inch, and it rolls down to the front of the laptop, where two individual touchpad buttons are placed. Even with this space-maximizing design, the touchpad is not gigantic, but it’s more than large enough for most users. Better still, the touchpads textured with a nice dimpled pattern that makes use simple even in the dark.

Try as it might, the dm1z is not able to provide a user interface that is as comfortable as a good 13,3» laptop, but it’s close. Lack of space for the user’s palms is the main disadvantage. I have fairly large hands, however — those with smaller limbs will have fewer issues.
Small and Beautiful

Though the display on this laptop isn’t large, it offers the same 1366×768 resolution that is found on virtually every laptop with a display size between 11 and 16 inches. This means that, small though this laptop may be, it has no disadvantage in usable display space compared to its larger brethren. In fact, the perceived sharpness of the display is much better than larger laptops because of the higher pixel density.

Quality is high in other areas, as well. Gradient test images were smooth and black levels are exceptional, rivaling the best laptop displays I’ve ever tested. A large amount of dithering is required to make this possible, judging from the mottled appearance of some dark areas in images. That’s a trade-off I think most users can live with.
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If there’s any issue, it’s a lack of backlight brightness, but even this is compensated for by a panel that is low on gloss. Reflections are still visible, but in normal use they’re not a serious distraction.

HP decided to make the dm1z a part of its line of Beats Audio laptops, and the results are apparent the instant you begin listening to music. There’s little distortion and a tiny bit of bass available — enough, at least, to produce something recognizable when a track starts to thump. Maximum volume is high as well, so you’ll have no trouble filling an office or even living room with music

The Long Haul

Given the small size of the HP dm1z, it’s not surprising that it slips easily into almost any backpack or messenger bag you could imagine. Only those silly netbook bags, which were often built only for 10,1» devices, might not have enough space.

HP-Pavilion-dm1z-review-silver-left-side-ports

Though I found that the laptop felt chunkier in-hand than its .8» thickness suggests, backpacks aren’t as prone to being fooled by subjective impressions. Weight is only average at 3,52 pounds, but you’ll usually have to go with an even smaller laptop if you want less heft. Even then you’ll save only a half-pound. You’ll never notice that difference without a scale.

HP-Pavilion-dm1z-review-silver-right-side-ports

HP ships the dm1z’s stock configuration with a 6-cell battery, which is a good amount of juice for a small computer such as this. As a result of the battery’s size, and the low-power AMD Fusion APU, the laptop stood up to the Battery Eater test for three hours and thirty-four minutes, which was extended to an impressive eight hours and twenty-eight minutes by the much less intense Battery Eater Reader’s Test. These results are among the best Digital Trends has ever measured.
Pop-Up Scaremongering

Pre-installed software on the HP dm1z is the usual shtick. Norton antivirus was quick to encourage me to install the software so that the computer would not be immediately hacked by Russians, and provided a reminder every time I used the computer. Though annoying, most laptops ship with some scare-mongering antivirus or another, so it’s not as if going elsewhere will save you from this plight.

Otherwise, there’s not much to report besides the typical bundled offers that most people won’t use. HP is currently offering a free 1-year subscription to LoJack for laptops, which might be handy for business travelers — thought I suspect they would not be using this product as their primary travel companion.
Netbook Performance Outside of Games

As mentioned earlier, our review unit came with AMD’s E-450 processor. A minor update to the proceeding E-350, it is a dual-core part with a clock speed of 1,65 GHz, a mere 50 MHz increase. More relevant is the Radeon IGP built in to the processor, which is now clocked at 600 MHz rather than 492 MHz. The processor was backed up by 4GB of RAM, so there was plenty of memory available.

While any increase in clock speed is appreciated, a mere 50 MHz bump in a part with low per-clock performance is nothing to be excited about. In SiSoft Sandra the E-450 returned a combined processor arithmetic score of 8,53 GOPS, while 7-Zip showed a combined score of 2433. These results are significantly lower than those provided by an Intel Core i5. Even the low-voltage Core i5 in the Acer Aspire S3 more than triples the E-450’s SiSoft Sandra results and doubled the 7-zip results. While some might debate that the HP dm1z is too large to be a true netbook, they certainly can’t debate it is too powerful to be a true netbook.

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Or maybe they can — if they approach it from the perspective of graphics. The HP dm1z returned a PCMark 7 score of 1083, which is still low, but reduces the margin of the laptop’s defeat. Running 3DMark 06 resulted in a score of 2710, which is lower than Intel’s HD 3000 IGP, but much better than that provided by Intel Atom netbooks, which are still saddled with the ancient GMA3150.

That graphics solution usually manages a score of just 150 in 3DMark 06. No, I didn’t forget a zero. While an Atom netbook will struggle to play some games sold ten years ago, AMD’s E-450 can run many modern 3D games at playable framerates so long as you keep their detail set to low.

These results, poor though they may be compared to Intel Core powered laptops, represent the best you can expect from a modern netbook processor. This is the price you pay in exchange for over eight hours of battery life in a laptop that costs less than an Apple iPad.
Conclusion

HP’s dm1z is not the prefect netbook. It’s also not the perfect budget ultraportable. But it’s closer to perfection, when approached from either perspective, than any laptop on the market today.

As a netbook, it’s expensive. But if you don’t select any of the options besides the AMD E-450 processor you’ll be receiving a perfectly functional Windows computer for $424,99 that, unlike its smaller competition, offers a comfortable keyboard and touchpad as well as a usable display. In other words, the HP dm1z is what netbooks originally claimed to be but never were — an affordable and enjoyable Windows PC in a portable package.

As a budget ultraportable, the HP dm1z suffers from poor processor performance. Yet it’s also much less expensive and much more portable than the beefier Intel-powered Ultraportables that will so easily thrash the dm1z in SiSoft Sandra or 7-Zip. In addition, this laptop matches or nearly matches more expensive competitors in graphics performance, available RAM and hard drive capacity.

The only alternative I can recommend is the aging ASUS Eee PC 1215N, which is slightly bigger (it has a 12,1» display) and therefor slightly more comfortable for larger folks like myself. If you’re of more typical size, however, the dm1z can’t be beat.
Highs:

* Attractive design
* Large keyboard and touchpad
* Sharp display with decent black levels
* Good audio quality
* Long battery life
* Admirable graphics performance

Lows:

* Annoying Norton antivirus
* Poor processor performance
* Still too small for some users

The next Xbox console is in the works and whether you call it the Xbox 3, Xbox 720 or Xbox Next, it’s certainly a system that’s going to make a bit impact on the industry. According to Gamasutra though, it’s going to do it without the man who helped bring you the Xbox and Xbox 360.

Don Conyer is the general manager of the entertainment division of Microsoft and was the project lead on both of Microsoft’s game consoles. He’s also the one behind Xbox Live improvements and a unified design for the system.

According to Gamasutra, Conyer won’t be leading the development of the next system. Instead, Emma Williams will be taking the lead. She’s no stranger to the Xbox — Williams helmed the team that created the latest Xbox interface update.

There’s no indication that Conyer will be leaving Microsoft — simply taking on a different role.

Source: Gamasutra

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.

Cons: Expensive; Laggy performance at times; Takes too long to charge the battery; Stylus not very useful

The Verdict: The Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 is a sleek Android tablet with very fast 4G LTE speeds, great sound, and universal remote capability, but it doesn’t offer the best performance and takes too long to charge.

When Motorola launched the original Xoom last spring, the first Android Honeycomb tablet turned heads with an attractive, widescreen-friendly interface, but its bulky design, high price, and buggy performance held it back. Now that a slew of other Android tablets have come to market, Motorola’s back with the Droid Xyboard 10,1, a sequel with a lighter and thinner design, a new 1,2-GHz TI OMAP 4430 processor, universal remote control capability, and Verizon 4G LTE baked in from the start. (No need to upgrade this slate after you buy.) However, the Xyboard 10,1 is only available on Verizon’s 4G LTE network, where it starts at $529 with a two-year contract. Is this tablet really worth that kind of commitment?

Design

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeAt 1,2 pounds and 9,9 x 6,8 x 0,3 inches, the Droid Xyboard 10,1 is the lightest-and one of the thinnest-10-inch tablets on the market today. It weighs 0,1 pounds less than the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime (1,3 pounds, 10,4 x 7,1 x 0,3 inches) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1 (1,3 pounds, 10,1 x 6,9 x 0,3 inches). The iPad 2 is also slightly heavier (1,3 pounds, 9,5 x 7,3 x 0,3 inches). The original Motorola Xoom (1,6 pounds, 9,8 x 6,6 x 0,5 inches) was significantly heftier, so this is a huge improvement.

The big question is whether you want to be seen carrying this slate. The Xyboard 10,1’s unique chassis definitely stands out in a crowd. The square, angular corners on the front slope at angles, which makes the front face look almost hexagonal. Attractive rubber edges surround the bezel and wrap around the back, making the tablet easy to grip. The sturdy aluminum back consists of a matte-gray middle area that’s emblazoned with a Motorola logo and surrounded by rubberized areas on the sides and bottom. Even the back-facing camera stands out, thanks to a raised plastic box that surrounds the lens and holds a silver HD logo to indicate that it can shoot in 720p.

Some may find the Droid Xyboard’s aesthetic a little too aggressive, but we like it. One thing we didn’t like, though, was the placement of the power and volume control buttons on the back of the tablet; they’re too hard to locate by feel.

Display

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeThe Xyboard’s 10,1-inch, 1280 x 800 screen is one of the brightest and most colorful we’ve seen, measuring 405 lux on our lightmeter test, comfortably above the 370 lux tablet average and on par with the 396 lux offered by the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. When we streamed an HD YouTube trailer for The Avengers on the Xyboard 10,1, images were crisp, smooth, and colorful, even at extremely wide viewing angles to the left and right.

However, colors such as the red in Thor’s cape and the blue in Captain America’s uniform were a bit more vibrant on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1, and images were a little sharper on the Xyboard 8,2, which packs the same amount of pixels onto a smaller screen. Also, we noticed that the screen picked up fingerprints very easily.

Audio

Believe it or not, you can almost use the Xyboard 10,1 as a mini stereo, because the back-mounted speakers are just that good. When we streamed Everlast’s «What It’s Like» from Slacker and played «Forget Me Nots» from YouTube, the music was loud enough to fill a large room and rich enough to match at least a bookshelf stereo. The speakers are conveniently mounted on the back top of the device, a spot you’re unlikely to cover when holding the device in either landscape or portrait mode.
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeVirtual Keyboards

Whether you want to tap a traditional QWERTY style keyboard, trace your words, or hand-write them, the Xyboard 10,1 has you covered with four different virtual keyboards. Enabled by default, the stock Android 3,2 keyboard is the same on every tablet with this operating system, featuring a standard QWERTY layout with large, dark-gray keys.

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeSwype lets you form words by tracing lines between letters and enables much faster entry if it correctly identifies your intended word. However, on a number of occasions in our testing, the tracer incorrectly autocompleted words it didn’t know. For example, it turned «ziva» into «zoos,” and the only way to get our intended word was to erase the autocomplete and tap on the keys.

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeSwiftKey X promises better-quality autocompletes than other keyboards, but its real key feature is a split-keyboard mode that places half the letters on the left side and half on the right with a numeric keypad in the middle. With the split keyboard, we were able to thumb-type in landscape mode, which increased our typing speed.

MyScript Stylus replaces the traditional QWERTY keyboard model with a drawing area you can use to write letters either with the Xyboard’s bundled active stylus or with your finger. You can write the letters in a dedicated drawing area at the bottom of the screen or change modes and draw them directly on top of the text area you’re targeting. Either way, MyScript converts your handwriting into standard ASCII text, and in our testing it did so with reasonable accuracy. At many points, MyScript was able to convert our horrible handwriting into our intended words, but its autocomplete often returned the wrong words. We recommend trying the keyboard’s character-by-character mode, which lets you write one letter at a time and doesn’t attempt to autocomplete your words.

Unfortunately, none of the keyboards support haptic feedback. Though not everyone likes having the screen vibrate when they hit a key, we like having the option to have our tablet more closely emulate a physical keyboard.

Stylus

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeUnlike HTC and Lenovo, which sell styluses for their tablets at an additional cost, Motorola includes an active stylus with the Xyboard 10.1. Unfortunately, the stylus feels thrown in, with weak performance, an uncomfortable feel, and few pen-friendly apps pre-loaded on the tablet. The stylus itself is larger and feels more like a real pen than the HTC and Lenovo styluses, but its thick point doesn’t have any flexibility, so it feels unnaturally hard when held against the glass screen. Worse, we experienced noticeable lag when writing on the screen; tracing letters with our finger seemed faster. Motorola must not expect you to take the stylus with you, as the tablet doesn’t provide a place to store it while you’re in transit.

In addition to the MyScript stylus keyboard, Motorola includes just one app that works natively with the stylus. Skitch is a simple drawing application that allows you to make very basic sketches with just a few colors to choose from, add letters and arrows, and draw on top of photos. The Xyboard also includes ColorNote and Evernote for note-taking, but neither one supports pen input. Fortunately, the pen can work just like your finger to tap the keyboard and icons, so you can use it even on apps that don’t explicitly support it.

User Interface and OS

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeMotorola didn’t make any significant changes to Google’s Android 3,2 operating system, only tweaking the default wallpaper, the applications menu button on the upper right of the home screens, and the shortcut icons for the browser, calendar, email, gallery, settings, and tasks. Despite the changed icons, these built-in applications are exactly the same as on every other Android Honeycomb device.

Users unfamiliar with Honeycomb will appreciate the built-in email, Gmail, and calendar apps that take advantage of the tablet’s wider screen by offering dual-paned views in landscape mode. For example, you can see your inbox on one of the screens and the current message on the other. Honeycomb also makes switching between tasks as easy as tapping the layers button on the lower-left portion of the screen and selecting from a thumbnail list of open apps.

Motorola promises an update to the newer Ice Cream Sandwich OS, but it hasn’t provided a time line. Some may want to hold off on purchasing this tablet until the upgrade comes, because it will significantly improve usability. For instance, you’ll be able to close apps by simply swiping them off the screen. You’ll also get a new People app for managing your contacts, better folder support and improved text input, an enhanced web browser, and new photo-editing capabilities.

Universal Remote Control

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeThanks to its infrared sensor, the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 can also double as a universal remote. Using the pre-loaded Dijit app, we were able to connect the tablet to both our cable box and our TV set with just a few quick taps. After we entered our ZIP code and selected our cable provider, Dijit showed us a useful three-pane view with a list of current programs in the left pane, detail about a selected show in the center, and remote control buttons in the right pane.

Overall, channel surfing with the Xyboard 10,1 was easy and pleasant, thanks to all the additional information Dijit provides about each show, including episode summaries, lists of upcoming episodes, and cast information. However, because the infrared port is positioned on the top surface of the tablet, we could not change channels unless the device was completely flat on our lap-not propped up as we would have liked.

4G Speeds

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeIn our nationwide tests, Verizon’s LTE network offered the fastest speeds of any 4G network, so it was no surprise that the Droid Xyboard 10,1 delivered incredibly fast downloads. In our New York apartment, ESPN.com loaded in average of 6,3 seconds, Laptopmag.com in just 8,6 seconds, and the mobile version of NYTimes.com in just 2,8 seconds. On Speedtest.net, the Xyboard averaged an amazing 26,7 Mbps down and 7,5 Mbps up, with download speeds going as high as 32,2 Mbps.

The Xyboard 10,1 can also tether to your notebook via USB or double as a Wi-Fi hotspot so you can get up to 5 devices online at once with its 4G connection. Unlike with its phones, Verizon does not charge extra for tethering with this tablet.

Performance

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeWith its 1,2-GHz TI OMAP 4430 CPU and 1GB of RAM, the Droid Xyboard 10,1 had no problem playing HD videos, surfing the web, and zooming around the track in demanding 3D games such as Riptide GP. However, we experienced more instances of lag and bugginess on the Xyboard than on most recent Android tablets we’ve tested. Whether it was YouTube locking up and turning into a black screen, shortcuts in the app menu failing to launch when we tapped them, or letters that we typed into the email software showing up a couple of seconds after we tapped them another time, there were a few instances where the Xyboard did not feel smooth.

The accelerometer also seemed slow to register changes. When we moved from landscape to portrait mode or vice versa, we often experienced a couple seconds of delay. Additionally, our jet ski kept bumping into the rails in Riptide GP because the Xyboard was slow to register our tilts.

Despite our experience, the OMAP CPU enabled the Xyboard to yield solid numbers on synthetic benchmarks. On Linpack, an overall performance benchmark, the Xyboard scored 45,56 in single-threaded mode and 39,28 in multi-threaded mode. While the single-threaded number compares favorably to the Tegra 2-powered ThinkPad Tablet’s score of 36,8 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1’s mark of 29,4, those tablets scored much-higher marks of 63,3 and 53,7 in multi-threaded mode. The quad-core Tegra 3 Eee Pad Transformer Prime blew them all away with a single-threaded score of 47,36 and a multi-threaded score of 70.27.

On the graphics benchmark An3DBench, the Xyboard scored a respectable 7,237, just about even with the 7,156 tablet category average, but a bit below the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1 (7,616) and the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet (7,703). The Eee Pad Transformer Prime’s score of 8,050 was miles ahead.
Camera

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeThe 5-megapixel back camera on the Droid Xyboard 10,1 captured sharp, colorful images that had no trace of white washing like we’ve seen on some other tablets such as the Toshiba Thrive 7-inch. Pictures of a cityscape taken in mid-afternoon light were extremely detailed, and colors-such as the green on a roof-really popped.

The camera shot equally colorful and detailed 720p video. When we captured a clip of the same cityscape, images were just as crisp; the camera remained focused even as we panned around quickly.

The 1,3-MP front camera took reasonably detailed images of our face, even in low light. When we conducted a Google Talk video call from our dimly lit living room, our face was fairly bright and motion was smooth, though it appeared blocky to other callers over both 4G LTE and Wi-Fi.
Battery Life and Charging

The Droid Xyboard 10,1 is one of the slowest-charging devices we’ve ever tested. Even after being plugged into an AC outlet for 5 hours, the tablet had only gone from a 15- to 90-percent charge, and then it got stuck at 90 percent and would not charge all the way to 100 percent. Though the device is supposed to charge all the way to 100-percent capacity, a Motorola representative confirmed that charge times of 5 hours are typical and it could take even longer if you use the tablet while it is charging.

On the bright side, unlike most tablets, the Xyboard can charge when connected to your computer’s USB port. However, it charges much more slowly, if at all. We used the tablet for 2 hours connected to our PC’s USB port and the charge level remained at 40 percent the entire time.

How much battery life do you get for all that charge time? On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing at 40-percent brightness, the Xyboard 10,1 lasted a modest 5 hours and 54 minutes, which is way behind the 8 hours that the original Xoom lasted over 3G, but on par with the 6 hours and 8 minutes the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1 got over LTE. The Xyboard might have done better if it could charge past 90 percent.

We’ll update this review when we’ve been able to test the Xyboard 10,1’s battery life over Wi-Fi, but we expect that time to be much longer that its 4G endurance, because LTE radios use a lot of power.
Pre-loaded Apps and Business-Ready Features

Motorola touts the Droid Xyboard 10,1 as a «business-ready» tablet because it comes with a number of apps that corporate users will appreciate. However, almost all of these programs are available free to anyone with an Android device, which makes them a weak selling point for this tablet.

Citrix Receiver allows users to connect to virtual machines on their corporate networks. GoToMeeting lets you to connect to or host online meetings, using its paid service. Fuze Meeting is another paid online meeting service. Polycom RealPresence Mobile lets you connect to your enterprise’s Polycom video-conferencing solution from your Xyboard 10.1.

Of the pre-loaded business apps, only Quick Office HD is not available directly from Google’s Android Market, but it’s just a lite version of Quick Office that can only view, not edit, documents and spreadsheets. If you want to edit or create a new file, you’re invited to pay $14,99 for Quick Office HD Pro.

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeIn addition to the business apps, the Xyboard 10,1 comes with a handful of other pre-loads, most of which are either freeware or trialware. ColorNote lets you write post-it notes, but doesn’t support pen drawing. Evernote is a free note-taking service that syncs with the cloud. Skitch lets you make simple drawings using the pen or your finger. Dijit enables you to use the infrared port as a remote control (see above). For gamers, Motorola includes trial versions of Let’s Golf 2 and Madden NFL 12. As with many other Android tablets, the Amazon Kindle and Blockbuster apps are also pre-loaded.

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargeIf you’re not happy with the pre-loaded apps or the massive selection at Google’s Android Market, Motorola also pre-loads MotoPack, its own app store. MotoPack has a large and colorful interface and is neatly divided up into helpful categories such as For Kids, Home Office, and On Campus, but we didn’t find any apps here that we couldn’t have downloaded from the Android Market.
Motocast

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)Click to EnlargePerhaps the best and most unique piece of software that comes pre-loaded on the Xyboard 10,1 is Motorola’s MotoCast, which allows you to stream music, videos, and photos directly off of your PC. In our tests, setting up a MotoCast account took only a couple of minutes, and our tablet had access to our PC’s music, photos, and video folders right away. Impressively, all the files remained available on the Xyboard, even after we disconnected our PC from the Internet, meaning that they had been cached on the tablet’s memory.
Plans, Configurations, and Value

Though our 32GB review unit of the Droid Xyboard 10,1 costs $629 with a two-year contract and $799 without, the base 16GB model costs $529 with a two-year contract and $699 without. Those who want a ton of local storage can get the 64GB model, which costs $729 with a two-year contract and $899 without. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10,1 on Verizon also costs $529 with contract/$699 without for the 16GB model, but the 32GB model can now be had at a promotional discount of $529.

Wi-Fi-only competitors give you a lot more device for less money. The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, our favorite Android tablet, costs just $499 for the 32GB version and has a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU.

Verizon offers a choice of three different monthly data plans for the Xyboard 10.1. The basic plan gets you 2GB a month for $30, $50 a month buys 5GB, and $80 a month purchases 10GB. The carrier charges a $10 per GB overage fee. Wi-Fi hotspot service is included in all of the plans. Verizon has confirmed that it will be rolling out so-called family data plans in 2012 that will allow users to pay one price for 4G access on multiple devices.

Buying the Xyboard with contract means committing to a minimum of $720 in data fees over 24 months on top of the cost of the tablet. Unless you plan to use your tablet very frequently in areas where you can’t get Wi-Fi, it’s hard to justify this expense, particularly if you’re already paying for data on your smartphone. Users who need the Wi-Fi hotspot feature to get their laptops online might be better off purchasing a dedicated hotspot device, which is much more portable.
Verdict

Motorola Droid Xyboard 10,1 (Verizon Wireless)The Droid Xyboard 10,1 is a vast improvement over the Motorola Xoom. It’s dramatically thinner and lighter, offers a much better display, and boasts best-in-class sound. We also appreciate the super-fast 4G LTE speeds and this slate’s ability to double as a remote control for your TV. However, the Xyboard’s sometimes-laggy performance and glacial charge time give us pause, especially when a minimum commitment of $1,249 over two years is involved. If you don’t need 4G in your tablet, we prefer the quad-core-powered ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which offers an optional keyboard. And if you do want 4G LTE, we’d wait until Motorola upgrades this slate to the new Ice Cream Sandwich software and Verizon debuts a family data plan that lets you share gigabytes between your phone and tablet.