Laptop Reviews Archive

Asus G73JH Gaming Laptop Review Roundup

Posted in: Laptop Reviews

Overview

The G73JH is the latest G-series gaming laptop from Asus. This 17-inch laptop is packed with Intel i7 Quad Core processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and the ATI Radeon HD 5870, which is one of the most powerful graphic card available today. What we really like about this laptop is the price — it’s around $1000 cheaper than the Alienware M17x with the same configuration.

Here’s an extremely cool commercial of the Asus G73JH gaming laptop:

Asus G73JH-A1 Specification

  • 1.6GHz Intel i7-720QM Quad-Core Processor
  • 8GB DDR3 1066MHz
  • 4 SODIMM Sockets; up to 8GB
  • 1TB (500G 7200RPM x2) HDD
  • Blue-Ray Disk Combo Drive
  • 802.11 b/g/n
  • 17.3-Inch Full HD LED Display
  • ATI 5870 Graphics with 1G GDDR5
  • 2.0M Webcam
  • Windows Home Premium 64-bit Operating System
  • Gaming Backpack and Mouse included

Performance And Battery Life

The overall performance you get from the combination of Core i7 CPU, 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, and 8GB DDR3 RAM is really great, especially considering the laptop’s price. In most of the expert tests, which includes gaming, image processing, multitasking, and audio encoding benchmark tests, the Asus G73JH scores pretty well. You will be impressed with its performance especially when you use it for hardcore gaming or running multimedia entertainment system. The battery life is below 2 hours which is pretty short compare to other categories of latpop, but is expected on a large gaming laptop like the G73JH.

Benchmark test results for the Asus G73JH:

  • PCMark Vantage Score: 6,460 (category average 4,977)
  • 3DMark06 score: 12,460 (category average 6,997)
  • Windows 7 Home Premium Boot Time: 67 seconds
  • Get frame rate of 110 frames per second in Far Cry 2 at auto mode (1024 x 768) and 51 fps at full resolution
  • Lasted for 1 hour and 53 minutes on Laptop Magazine’s Battery test which involve continuous Web surfing over WiFi
  • Lasted for 1 hour and 29 minutes on CNet’s video playback battery drain test

Design

The ASUS G73JH has a “stealth” look. It has a chassis that’s coated in black, rubberized material, and its unique shape with angled surfaces and sharp lines is clearly inspired by the design of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. The build quality of the G73 is pretty strong, and it feels very solid when being held. Also, at 16.6 x 12.8 x 2.3 inches and 8.8 pounds the machine is pretty heavy. The entire laptop is built of thick and good quality plastic.

Video Reviews

Unboxing video:

Hands-on review by Xoticpc:

Conclusion

The Asus G73JH is a good looking gaming laptop that provides more than enough power to handle any modern game at a very competitive price.

Availability

The Asus G73JH-A1 (with Blu-ray drive) gaming laptop is currently available at Amazon for $1,988, while the Asus G73JH-A2 (without Blu-ray drive) is available for $1,750.

Source: Amazon, Laptop Magazine, CNet

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Asus U30JC Review Roundup

Posted in: Laptop Reviews

Asus U30JC

Overview

The Asus U30JC is one of the first thin-and-light laptops that combine the new Intel Core i3 CPU with the NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics. The result is a powerful laptop that provides great gaming performance and long battery life at the same time.

If you have not heard of the Optimus technology before, it’s Nividia’s new switchable graphics solution, which automatically turns your GPU on and off on the fly. Previously, switchable graphics required you to actively turn off the discrete graphics card when you didn’t need it. But with Optimus technology, the users don’t have to think about when they want to use the different graphics options: Optimus will take care of deciding which graphics processor is best for the application or content.

Video demo of Nvidia Optimus technology vs switchable graphics:

Asus U30JC Specification

  • Intel Core i3-350M Processor (2.26 GHz)
  • NVIDIA GeForce 310M Graphics Engine with 512MB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM with NVIDIA Optimus technology
  • 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz DRAM (2GB x 2 slots), 4GB Max
  • Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
  • 320GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
  • Super Multi Optical Disk Drive
  • Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System
  • 13.3-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display
  • 0.3MP Webcam
  • HDMI Port
  • 8 cell 5600mAh battery

Performance And Battery Life

The combination of 2.26-GHz Intel Core i3 CPU with NVIDIA GeForce 310M Graphics and 4GB of DDR3 RAM gives the laptop a very strong performance. Below are some of the benchmark test results for the Asus U30JC:

  • Score 5,334 on PCMark Vantage (Average thin-and-light laptops score 3519, while the Macbook scores 4259)
  • Booted to Windows 7 Premium in a speedy 54 seconds
  • Score 3,711 on 3DMark06 when the Nvidia GT 310M GPU is activated (Average thin-and-light laptops score 1701, while the Macbook scores 4778)
  • Get frame rate of 73.4 frames per second in Unreal Tournament III at 1,366×768-pixel resolution
  • Lasted for 7 hours and 7 minutes on Laptop Magazine’s Battery test which involve continuous Web surfing over WiFi
  • Lasted for 4 hours on CNet’s video playback battery drain test

Design

The Asus U30JC comes with a brush aluminium lid. The chiclet style keyboard are made from matte black plastic, while the area around the keyboard is a metallic silver plastic. Overall it looks pretty good although some design-savvy consumers might find it lacks a certain slickness.

The biggest drawback of this laptop is its size and weight. Measuring 13.1 x 9.5 x 1.2 inches and weighing 4.8 pounds, the Asus U30JC is bulkier and heavier than many other thin-and-light laptops.

360 degree view of the Asus U30JC:

Conclusion

Asus has found a winner by combining the Core i3 CPU with NVIDIA Optimus GPU. The strong performance and long battery life of the U30JC makes it one of the best 13-inch laptop around. While other 13-inchers may be lighter on the shoulder, the Asus U30JC provide an incredible three-way balance of performance, graphics and endurance at just $899 which is highly competitive compared to the rest.

Availability

The Asus U30JC is currently available at Amazon for $899.

Source: Amazon, Laptop Magazine, CNet

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Apple MacBook 2010 Review Roundup

Posted in: Laptop Reviews

Last year in 2009, Apple introduced the unibody Macbook, a budget-friendly entry-level product that has many of the core features of the Macbook Pro. The $999 starting price has no doubt make the MacBook a popular choice for first time Apple buyers. This year, Apple has updated the Macbook with better specs while keeping the $999 price level making it an even better deals.

The Macbook 2010 update:

  • Faster CPU: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU instead of 2.26 GHz from the 2009 version
  • More Powerful GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 320M instead of NVIDIA GeForce 9400M from the 2009 version
  • Larger battery capacity: The updated MacBook has gained the same 63.5 watt-hour battery as the 13″ MacBook Pro, leading to up to 10 hours of “wireless productivity” according to Apple’s estimates.

In terms of design, the 2010 version of Macbook has the same unibody design carried over from the last gen MacBook. The casing is made from a single piece of polycarbonate. Compared to the Macbook Pro, the aluminum casing and black keyboard definitely looks sleeker, but the all-white MacBook seems somewhat friendlier.

The chiclet style keyboard and large glass multi-touch trackpad are comfortable to use. While there are some Windows Laptops that try to mimic the Macbook’s island-style keyboard and buttonless touchpad design, none of them are as good as those on the Macbook.

In terms of performance, the 2010 version of Macbook performs much better than the previous version of Macbook, thanks to the 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo processor. It scored 4,259 marks in PCMark Vantage (running on Windows 7 via BootCamp), well above the previous MacBook which scored only 3,691. It also comes out ahead of the 3,714 thin and light notebook average.

Graphic performance has improved a lot as well. The MacBook’s integrated Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of shared memory notched an impressive 4,778 on 3DMark06, far above the previous generation MacBook (2,160) and the category average (1,829). In 3D gaming tests, frame rates were 30% improved over the last gen MacBook with the NVIDIA 9400M.

Battery life is not as long as 10 hours which the manufacturer claims, but it lasted for 7 hours plus of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi, which is longer than most other thin-and-light notebooks in the market.

Overall, the new Macbook is a great machine with stellar industrial design, superior ergonomics, and above-average performance and battery life. But what you should think about is whether you should be getting a Macbook or Macbook Pro (13-inch). Both machines overlap each other in most ways — they have the same processor, GPU, and glass multi-touch trackpad, but the $1,199 Pro gets you double the RAM, a backlit keyboard, FireWire 800 and an SD card slot. For only $200 difference, why not just go Pro? This is especially true for those who like to use their Macbook for multitasking with processor intensive applications (read this customer review).

Also, if Mac OS is not what you definitely need, there are some Windows laptops that come with better specs at a lower price level (e.g. Asus U30JC with Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB HDD, and NVIDIA GeForce 310M with 512MB VRAM and Optimus technology for just $872). With a Macbook, you are paying extra for its chic design, superb build quality, and the pleasure of running Mac OS which is a near stranger to viruses and driver update maladies.

The 2010 version of Apple Macbook is currently available at Amazon for $969.99 with the following specs:

  • 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
  • NVIDIA Graphics
  • 250GB Hard Drive
  • 8x Double-layer SuperDrive
  • 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
  • 10-hour Battery Life
  • Glass Multi-Touch Trackpad
  • 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with support for millions of colors
  • Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging

Video of the 2010 MacBook from MobileTechReview.com:

Source: Mobile Tech Review, Laptop Magazine

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Apple Macbook Pro 15-inch (Core i7) Review Roundup

Posted in: Laptop Reviews

Apple made 2 major improvement to its 15-inch Macbook Pro:

  • upgrade of processor from core 2 duo to Core i7
  • automatic graphics-switching technology that makes moving from integrated to discrete graphics mode all but invisible to the user

This results in much better performance. Some test results of the 15-inch Macbook Pro with 2.66-GHz Intel core i7 and 4GB RAM:

  • Running PCMark Vantage in Boot Camp score 6,699 — nearly double the mainstream average of 3,885 and also the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro’s score of 3,285
  • Booting into Mac OS X 10.6 took 44 seconds; while booting into Windows 7 takes 1 minute and 25 seconds
  • On 3DMark06 (running in Boot Camp), the discrete Nvidia GPU scored 6,746, double the category average and 800 points above the older 15-inch MacBook Pro

Another great thing about the new Macbook Pro is that even with the improved performance, it still manage to keep a very good battery life. Laptop Magazine gets 7 hours and 54 minutes of battery life from their test which involve continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi on this laptop; while Engadget gets 5 hours 18 minutes from their Standard definition video rundown test with 65 percent brightness.

The long battery life and superb performance is partly the result of the capability to automatically switch between integrated and Nvidia discrete GPU. When doing tasks which don’t require a lot of graphic processing power, the discrete GPU that’s not in used is shut off. When software senses that an application is using graphics frameworks such as Core Graphics, OpenGL, or Quartz Composer, it will turn on the discrete GPU. This way the laptop gets better battery life while still delivering more horsepower when needed.

Overall the new 15-inch Macbook Pro has a much better performance over the previous version. The only drawback would be the price. The base model of this laptop is now $1,799 instead of $1,699 of the previous version. But we think it’s well worth the value.

The new Apple Macbook Pro 15-inch (Core i7) is currently available on Amazon for $1,729.96 with the following specs:

  • 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
  • 320 GB Hard Drive
  • 8x DVD/CD SuperDrive
  • 4GB DDR3 RAM
  • 15.4 inch LED-backlit display, 1440-by-900 resolution
  • Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with automatic graphics switching and 256 MB dedicated graphics memory
  • Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System

Reviews of the customer who have bought it from Amazon:

“The macbook worked right out of the box,set-up was easy.I had a pc laptop (whose company name I won’t say) and had all sorts of problems (slow boot-up, and screen and registry problems) I got so fed up, I decided to get rid of it.
While looking at laptops at Best Buy store, I looked at the macbook pro “15.4″ which..” (continue reading)

Apple Macbook Pro 15-inch (Core i7) Unboxing Video:

Source: Amazon, Laptop Magazine, Engadget

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