Epson hasn’t really gained a foothold in the UK netbook market, but they’ve had a few models in Japan over the past few years. And, there’s more to come. The company has announced a new 10 inch netbook with a 1,5 GHz Intel Atom № 550 dual core processor called the Epson Endeavor Na04mini. Like most netbooks, it has a10,1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. You can also choose a 64GB SSD option instead of a hard drive.
The netbook has a 6 cell, 4400mAh battery and weighs about 2,4 pounds.
04/18/2011
— Filed under: Hardware
Tags: Epson Endeavor, notebook
Today I am going to look at the Gateway ID49C13U notebook computer. This machine is aimed at the general computer user that also has a media-consuming fetish. The notebook has a nice price and has features that look good on paper. Read on to find out all the details on the Gateway ID49C13U notebook.
Specifications
The Gateway ID49C13U I am testing sells for about $850 direct from Gateway. It has an Intel Core i5—460M processor running at 2,53 GHz and runs the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. It has 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, WiFi, a 6-cell battery, NVIDIA GT 330M GPU and the screen is 14-inches with LED backlighting and a resolution of 1366 x 768.
Benchmarks
To test the Gateway ID49C13U I will use my iTunes encoding test, movie encoding test, and Battery Eater Pro. The first test up was converting my MP3 Stone Temple Pilots Core CD to AAC format using iTunes. The Gateway ID49C13U took 1 minute and 22 seconds to convert the content. That is an excellent score putting the machine at the top of the rankings for best performance with the machines I have tested.
The next test was my movie-encoding test where the Microsoft Magic of Flight video is converted from 1080p HD to XviD HD with Lame MP3 sound. The Gateway ID49C13U took 208 seconds to convert the video putting it just outside of the top five, which is a good performance. The next test was Battery Eater Pro for battery life estimation. With the notebook in power saving mode the battery was good for 73 minutes of run time. That is not a very good score in battery life putting the notebook on par with some of the gaming machines I have tested.
In Use
After all the tests were done, I fired the notebook up and used it to do some work. I really like the matte silver finish of the notebook; it stays clean and looks very nice on the notebook. The screen is very glossy and has glare issues like all glossy screens do. The screen does offer nice color reproduction and decent contrast. Streaming video from Hulu had only a touch of pixilation and streamed smoothly and fluidly in windowed and full screen mode. The Gateway ID49C13U has a DVD drive and movies played in it were of good quality as well.
The keyboard is a bit small considering the screen size. I would like to see larger keys. The keyboard also had some significant flex in the center when typing. Typing feel was good and the keyboard has good tactile feel. You can type on it without any major issues. Under the keyboard is the track pad and this is where things went off track for me.
The trackpad is a one-piece unit that feel like glass, though it likely plastic. It has lines painted on the bottom that separate the right and left buttons from the main trackpad body. The track pad glows blue when it is in use. The problem I had was that the trackpad often simply refused to activate the left click button if you hit it anywhere other than the exact center. I often hit the far left corner of the left mouse button area and the track pad just didn’t do anything. I would at times have to hit the button three times and ultimately look down to be sure I was in the center of the trackpad.
I also found that the tap to click feature of the trackpad was hit and miss. At times, I could tap all I wanted and the track pad just wouldn’t respond. Other times it would respond to the tap as a click without any hesitation. The trackpad performance ruined and other wise acceptable experience for me.
The final thing about the machine is the sound system. It has a sound system with decent volume and no bass to speak of. In my moderately loud test environment I did have to strain to hear some times. You can fix that issue with a set of headphones or speakers. The notebook has a headphone output just for this need.
10/28/2010
— Filed under: Hardware
Tags: Gateway, notebook
New notebooks are as visually striking as HP’s Envy. The gorgeous machine’s laser-etched lid, smooth curves and rock-solid frame stand out in a sea of comparatively-mediocre alternatives.
However, since its October 2009 launch, the Envy line hasn’t quite lived up to its billing. The original 13in and 15in models were widely reported to suffer from poor cooling, an awkward trackpad and lacklustre battery life. That they cost in excess of £1,000 didn’t help their case, either.
But HP hasn’t given up on its quest to produce one of the world’s most desirable notebooks and has followed up with a second-generation installment in the form of the new-and-improved HP Envy 14.
Armed with a 14,5in display, the latest Intel processors and dedicated AMD graphics, it has all the ingredients to fulfil the Envy’s high-performance ambition.
It’s still every bit as visually stunning, and it’s now priced at a tempting £999.99. Is it the ultimate Christmas treat?
Design
We’ve already touched on the subject, but let’s make it doubly clear; the HP Envy 14 is beautiful. And, unlike many other PCs, its beauty isn’t tailored toward a specific genre.
Whether you’re young or old, male or female, Mac or PC, you’re likely to be swooned by the Envy’s elegance. Using a magnesium alloy chassis, the system’s 28,2mm-thick frame feels centrally robust and rigid, and it’s finished with a laser-etched, brushed aluminium carbon relic lid.
The Envy has clearly taken design cues from Apple’s MacBook — and there’s no harm in that — but HP’s laser-etched attention to detail — right down to the etched, backlit HP logo — helps give the Envy 14 its own unique look and feel.
But whilst the magnesium-alloy chassis provides an admirably solid central frame, both the Envy’s lid and base are constructed from lesser materials and do bend under pressure. The overall package doesn’t quite feel as robust as a unibody MacBook, but HP would rightfully argue that you can’t buy a 15in MacBook for less than £1,499.
And there’s more to the Envy 14 than just a shiny, artistic lid. Open her up and you get a feel for how this notebook has been designed with great care and affection throughout.
The swirling laser-etched pattern extends to the slightly-raised palm rest, and both the keyboard and trackpad come across as precise and simplistic. The end result — right down to the flush glass LCD display — is exquisite.
Specification
Alright, so it’s a lovely-looking machine, but does it have the performance to match? Well yes, yes it does.
HP offers a range of Envy 14 models with a choice of Core i5 or Core i7 processors, but our review system — the HP Envy 14—1050ea — fits its £999 billing with a 2,4GHz Intel Core i5 450M processor with integrated Intel HD graphics, 4GB of DDR3 memory, and a dedicated 1GB AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics card. AMD’s software will let you switch between the Intel and Radeon GPUs, so you needn’t sacrifice battery life during less GPU intensive tasks.
A 500GB, 7,200rpm hard disk is on hand for storage duties, as is an integrated slot-loading DVD writer. HP’s TrueVision HD webcam is integrated as standard, and there’s a healthy set of ports and expansion slots that include an SD/MMC card reader, HDMI and mini DisplayPort outputs, three USB 2,0 ports (one of which doubles as eSATA), headphone and mic jacks, and Gigabit Ethernet. If you prefer to go wire-free, both Wireless N and Bluetooth also feature as standard.
On the multimedia front, HP’s chosen display is a 14,5in LED BrightView Infinity panel that provides a modest 1,366×768 resolution, and the system’s Beats Audio makes use of HP-exclusive technology to deliver sound that’s endorsed by the likes of Dr. Dre (the kids will know the name).
A 64-bit install of Microsoft’s Windows 7 Home Premium features alongside HP’s instant-on QuickWeb operating system, and a user-replaceable eight-cell battery provides the machine with power.
A detachable panel reveals access to the battery and 2,5in hard disk, and removing a few internal screws provides pain-free access to the system’s two DDR3 memory slots, too.
What’s clever is that the Envy 14’s base — which, we should add, is finished in smooth black and doesn’t show any visible screw heads — offers a port to which you can attach an additional battery slice. The slim secondary battery is designed to sit flush with the base of the notebook and claims to double overall battery life. It’s a good idea, but a) the battery slice fetches around $200 at US retail and b) we can’t find a single UK retailer that has it up for sale.
On paper, it’s shaping up to be one of the best notebooks a thousand gold coins can buy. But it’s never quite that straightforward, is it?
10/27/2010
— Filed under: Hardware
Tags: HP, notebook
Smart move, smart look, easily available technology and perfection in whatever you do; yes whatever you want to have and do with your notebook is packed in a nutshell for you in the form of the Gateway ID Series Notebook.
07/8/2010
— Filed under: Hardware
Tags: Gateway ID, notebook
