The last decade as throughly transformed PC gaming. On the other hand, exclusive AAA releases are rarer than they used to be, and hardcore gamers are feeling abandoned. On the other, casual and mainstream gamers have turned in droves to titles like World of Warcraft, which offer a gaming experience unique to the PC. Game like WoW have, as part of their mass-market appeal, forgone cutting-edge graphics in favor of more stylized but technically simple graphics that can run on more computers.

Still, casual gamers must deal with broad spectrum of hardware available. One of the most common questions is “Will the Intel HD graphics card work with WoW?” Intel is technically the world’s biggest graphics chip maker, as they place Intel HD Graphics into all of their new computers. They’re particularly common in laptops because of their low power draw.

So, can Intel HD graphics run WoW?

The short answer is – Yes.

But as always, there is more to it than that.

What is Intel HD Graphics?

Intel has been shipping integrated graphics processors (IGPs) with desktops and laptops using their processors for years, but it’s only recently that Intel started using the “Intel HD” brand name. The first Intel IGPs given the Intel HD name shipped with the Clarkdale line of Core processors, known to most people as Core i3 and Core i5 (and a few Core i7s also ended up with this technology). Previously, Intel’s call its IGPs by the name Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA).

The decision to switch to Intel HD Graphics was not arbitrary. Prior to Intel HD Graphics, all IGPs were part of the motherboard chipset. The first incarnation of Intel HD Graphics placed them onto the processor die instead, as well as updated the architecture to improve performance. The number of shader processors, for example, was bumped from 10 to 12, and the maximum clock speed available was bumped from 800 MHz to 900 MHz. These changes were serious, so Intel changed the name as well.

Performance increased substantially because of these improvements. Although still very slow when compared directly to any discrete GPU of similar vintage, it is at least possible to run games like World of Warcraft at acceptable framerates (30 FPS and above), provided that you’re willing bump the details settings down. The same holds true for many other games that were released a few years back. For example, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Dragon Age: Origins should run at low detail settings.

Intel HD Graphics 2000/3000

While Intel HD Graphics are a big improvement over GMA, they’re still the bare minimum required in most games. Not satisfied to stop there, Intel has released yet another significant revision with its latest line of Core processors

Although still known by the name of Intel HD Graphics, the latest versions have the 2000 or 3000 suffixes attached. There is one major difference between them, and that’s the number of shader processors – the 2000 has 6 and the 3000 has 12. Otherwise, they’re the same.

Intel HD Graphics 2000  has performance similar to the Intel HD Graphics shipping on the previous generation of Intel processors. That’s surprising only because it actually manages to keep up with its predecessor – it’s doing about the same amount of work with half the shader processors. Intel HD Graphics 2000 remains capable of playing World of Warcraft, but not at high resolutions and detail settings.

The Intel HD Graphics 3000, however, is much more interesting. This part actually offers performance on par with some entry-level discrete GPUs and is capable of achieving almost 60 FPS in World of Warcraft if you have the detail settings turned to fair and are playing are a resolution 0f 1024×768. Even at the more common laptop resolution of 1366×768, the game remains playable at this level of detail.

What if I have GMA?

If you have a Core 2 Duo processor in your desktop or laptop, you don’t have Intel HD Graphics. You instead have the older GMA, and it’s much slower.

That doesn’t mean playing WoW is impossible, but you’ll be lucky if you clear an average of 20 FPS. That’s playable, but only just barely – and if you enter a high-traffic area like Stormwind the game will likely turn into a slideshow.

Conclusion

So, will the Intel HD Graphics work with World of Warcraft?

Yes, they will. They’ll also work with other relatively recent games. Even newer titles like Rift and Starcraft 2 are playable on Intel HD Graphics if you keep the detail settings low. You should not expect to play any modern 3D game at 1080p resolution on Intel HD Graphics – even the new 3000 incarnation. But if your expectations are realistic, you should not have a problem.

Web browsers are tricky. There are a lot of them available besides the big three (those being IE, Chrome and Firefox, of course) but many are lacking. Usually the problem is not bugs or a bad interface, but rather a lack of features that define them from the most popular options. Indeed, many alternative web browsers seem to be simple re-hashes of Firefox or Chrome, but with one or two differences.

Slimbrowser could be one of the few that shines. This free alternative web browser offers a buffet of features and, just as importantly, a lot of customization. But can it really compete with the most popular web browsers around?

Features Galore

One of the ways alternative web browsers try to stand out from the crowd is by offering every feature you can imagine. Slimbrowser is no exception. The more unique features include a built in HTML editor, ad blocker, auto-login manager, Facebook support and a language translation service. You’ll also find a lot more common features such as a pop-up blocker, form filler, download manager, and spell checker.

Not all of these features are worth going into, but some of them do stand out. I’ll start with the Language Translation feature, which has its own entry on the browser’s menu bar. Using the options found there you can translate any webpage without the use of an external plugin or web service. You can translate specific text sections or the entire webpage. You can even translate the entire user interface, which can come in handy if you’re an international reader looking for an alternative browser (although, as is often the ca

se with automatic translation, the results aren’t perfect).

Another feature I enjoyed was auto-login. This tool lets you save login information for any website and then access that website from a bookmarks-style menu. You’ll then log in with a single click. This could lead to security issues if used on a computer that is not kept private, but it’s a handy extra.

All of the features are customizable. The Language, Groups and AutoLogin features have dedicated entries on the menu bar, and most other features can be easily accessed by the tools sub-menu. The adblocker and pop-up blocker can both be easily adjusted, and even the download manager can be tweaked if you don’t like the way it works and looks by default.

User Interface

By default, Slimbrowser has several additional tool bars open which aren’t necessary. That seems a bit odd for a browser called Slimbrowser, but unwanted tool bars can be turned off by simply right-clicking and then de-selecting them from the menu that appears. Once you’ve adjusted it to your personal tastes, you’ll find Slimbrowser to be on par with Firefox in how it uses screen real-estate.

Slimbrowser offers a fool menu bar at the top of the browser’s interface, a feature that again is similar to Firefox. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The menu options take up space on your display, but the provide easy access to Slimbrower’s many features. Honestly, as a Chrome user, I found that the old-school menu bar was not a bad thing. Finding and adjusting options is much easier with Slimbrowser than it is with Chrome or the upcoming IE9.

The default apparency of Slimbrowser is fine, but it’s completely skinnable.

Performance

Browser speed is a big deal. No one wants to be left sitting and waiting for a website to appear if they could instead use a different browser and already have access to the content they’re looking for. Even a difference of a few seconds can feel like ages, particularly if you’re in a rush – trying to find the address to a restaurant before heading out the door, for example.

Fortunately, browser performance isn’t hard to gauge. I ran Slimbrowser through the Peacekeeper browser bench. The results, I must say, weren’t pretty.

I found this rather surprising because Slimbrowser felt quite snappy. But the issue can be found right on the Peacekeeper benchmark results – Slimbrowser is based on Internet Explorer 7, which isn’t exactly modern technology. The poor benchmark results weren’t because the browser was slow, but rather because the browser was actually incapable of running two of the benchmark tests.

To further explore this, I ran the Acid 3 test, which gave similarly poor results.

Yep – that’s what happens when you browser is based on IE7. I did not notice any of the websites I usually visit looking funky, but obviously there are some issues here.

It’s not all bad news, however. I also took a look at the memory usage of the browser with CNN.com, Makeuseof.com and Metacritic.com loaded, each in its own tab. I then compared it to the other major browsers. This time, the results were more in Slimbrowser’s favor.

• Google Chrome: 264,231 K
• Internet Explorer 9 RC: 221,843 K
• Slimbrowser: 151,456 K

Conclusion

Overall, I do think Slimbrowser is an alternative web browser that will have a lot of appeal to some users. The bones are old, but they’re willing, and they support a lot of nice features. More importantly, the browser uses a lot less memory than newer browsers, so it may run more smoothly on older systems with less memory. Which wouldn’t be all that surprising – older hardware usually does agree with older software.

When you were little your parents may have told you that your head was in the clouds. Little did they know just how literal this phrase might become. Today’s Internet is becoming increasigly focused on cloud computing, and it is turning information into an artifact that is at once easier to use and more difficult to wield.

Social implications aside, there is something damned nifty about being able to store data in one remote location and access it anywhere else. That is the inherit usefulness that makes cloud computing attractive even to individuals. Most of us are no longer using just one-device but rather an array of devices including desktop and laptop PCs, tablets, smartphones, and etc.

So, let’s take a look at three of the best cloud computing applications.

Dropbox

There has been a lot of press surrounding Dropbox lately, and most of it has been good. As much as I like to provide alternative viewpoints, I don’t think that any round up of the best cloud computing applications would be complete without Dropbox.

When you install Dropbox a new type of folder – creatively named a Dropbox folder – is created on your computer. Anything you stick in that folder is placed into the Dropbox cloud. If you have other devices with Dropbox installed they also will have Dropbox folders, and the changes you make on any one device is reflected on all devices. Better yet, you can access the files from a web browser and share them with friends.

Dropbox works on numerous devices. Both PC and Mac computers can use Dropbox, as can iPhones, iPads, Android phones. Their website lists support for Blackberry as “coming soon.”

There is a downside to Dropbox. If you keep your Dropbox storage under 2GB, then you can use it for free. However, if you need more storage you have to pay for it. 50GB will cost you $9.99 a month, while 100GB costs $19.99 a month. I’ve always found these monthly subscription rates for services that provide online storage outragesous, and Dropbox is no exception.

Still, 2GB will store a lot of photos and documents, so most users won’t have a problem keeping under the 2GB limit.

Windows Live Sync

The objective of Windows Live Sync is, on the surface, very similar to Dropbox. Windows Live Sync wants to help you keep files synced among multiple devices, and it does it by letting you designate shared folders on your computer.

However, the method used by Live Sync is much different from other cloud computing applications in that there is no actual cloud server. When you sync computers using Live Sync, the information they have is not stored in the memory of any third party server. Instead, each computer with Live Sync monitors the informaton kept in the synced folder of other computers. If the folder on any one computer is changed, the changes are reflected in the other synced computers. You can also browse and any file on synced computers through a web browser. The end result is similar to Dropbox, but there is no cloud server involved.

Compared to Dropbox, Live Sync has a major advantage because there is no storage limit. Your information is stored in a cloud, but the cloud is made up only of your computers. Live Sync is harder to use, however, due to a confusing web interface. Live Sync also only supports PCs and Macs.

CloudApp

This Mac and iPhone-only cloud computing application is geared towards people who love social media and want to engage with it as easily as possible. It is built around the idea that you should be able to quickly send any information to the cloud, at which point the information can be easily shared with others.

When you install CloudApp a new cloud icon appear on the Mac interface in the upper right corner. If you want to send a file to the cloud you simply need to drag-and-drop the file on to the cloud icon. It will be automatically uploaded to your CloudApp cloud storage. It is also possible to take screenshots of your display and send them to CloudApp. Management of your cloud storage is done entirely through a web interface.

Everything you upload to CloudApp is given a relatively short URL address, the purpose of which is to make sharing the file easy. Just copy-and-paste into Twitter, Facebook, or whatever social media outlet you like to use. Now your friends can access the file.

There is no storage limit, although that does not seem likely to last forever. Despite the lack of storage limit, CloudApp is unlike the other cloud computing applications here in that it is not really geared towards long-term storage. The interface can become bulky if you have too many files. CloudApp is really about here-and-now sharing with friends.

Conclusion

These are not the only worthwhile cloud applications out there, but they are my favorite. Personally, I use Windows Live Sync most frequently, because I do not mind the more confusing interface and I having my own “personal” cloud.

This is fairly self-explanatory. I did a video review of the Apple Macbook 2010, which is now posted on Youtube. Check it out!

What’s the best laptop brand? That is actually a very hard question to answer. While there are many detailed reviews of laptops, these can only cover the most immediate questions such as performance and design. Other important issues, like customer service and reliability, cannot be covered in the scope of a product review.

This makes picking a laptop purely off reviews a risky proposition. Sure, it might be great now. But what if you have a problem, and customer service is completely unhelpful? What if the laptop kicks the bucket in two years?

This guide will give you a full review of the brands, looking not only at the initial quality of the products but also long-term reliability and customer satisfaction. The information in this guide is compiled from multiple sources, including Laptop Magazine, Consumer Reports, CNET and others.

Acer

Although the Acer brand doesn’t carry as much clout in the United States as it does in other parts of the world, Acer is one of the largest PC vendors in the world. This is an accomplishment which Acer has only recently been able to boast of, as Acer had been one of the smaller vendors until recently.

In the United States market the Acer brand generally stands for value. Acer’s Aspire One netbooks and laptops have consistently been among the least expensive products in their respective markets. Acer is not alone in this pursuit of value, however, and is sometimes unable to undercut competitors like ASUS and Dell.

In terms of overall build quality and design, Acer tends to lag noticeably behind the competition. It is rare for an Acer product to have a serious design problem, but lack-luster displays, flexible keyboards, and flimsy construction plague many Acer products. Acer products generally earn recommendations because they provide powerful hardware relative to their price, not because the products are well put together. Exceptions include the new Acer Ultrabooks and some of the Timeline laptops.

According to Squaretrade, Acer’s reliability is poor, with a two year failure rate of just under 15% (the third worst). Customer support and overall customer satisfaction are also weaknesses of Acer. Acer’s customer service is known for limited hours and slow turn-around time on email support. According to the recent 2011 Laptop Magazine brand review, Acer’s customer support continues to degrade in quality. The phone support is slow and often vague in its assistance, while the website “doesn’t even correctly identify the company’s products.”

Verdict: C

Acer is all about value. They make a solid laptop every now and then, and Acer has some good ultraportables and netbooks, but there are often higher quality products available from other brands. The very poor customer service and poor reliability are problems.

Recommended Acer Laptops:
Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook
Acer AS5749Z-4449 15.6-Inch

Apple

Everyone knows Apple’s reputation. The brand is known for expensive, high quality products which are inflexible in terms of customization but are extremely well put together.

This reputation is one which is well deserved. From a design standpoint, Apple is on top of the world. Even their least expensive product, the white plastic MacBook, feels more solid than most competing laptops. The aluminum MacBook Pro line is in a class of its own. The MacBook Pro laptops have excellent keyboards, best-in-class displays, and large trackpads with solid multi-touch support. It is very, very rare for a MacBook Pro to not receive an editor’s choice award in a review.

Overall reliability doesn’t quite live up to Apple’s can-do-no-wrong reputation, but is still robust. Consumer Reports rates Apple’s failure rate at 17%, a little better than average, while Squaretrade rates the two-year failure rate at just over 10%, which is just slightly above average.

If something does go wrong, however, you’re very likely to end up with a happy resolution. Apple’s customer service is the best in the industry. This is thanks to short hold times and prompt resolution of problems. The Apple Store also gives Apple customers the option to visit the Genius Bar, where users can meet with a technician face-to-face.

Verdict: A

Apple is among the best. Their products are expensive, but they are worth the price. If you want a premium laptop an Apple laptop is usually going to be the best choice.

Recommended Apple Laptops:
Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-Inch
Apple MacBook Air 13.3-Inch

ASUS

One of the industry’s most innovative brands, ASUS is another example of a manufacturer which was not that well known in the North American market but which has recently been able to pick up steam. As with Acer, part of ASUS’s popularity has come from the outstanding value represented by many of ASUS’s laptops. Unlike Acer, however, ASUS is known for creating well designed, innovative products on the cutting edge of consumer laptop technology.

This is most apparent in their netbooks and ultraportable laptops. The ASUS Eee PC line is arguably the brand which proved that there was a market for netbooks, and over the last two years the Eee PC netbooks have been consistently superb. ASUS also has revolutionary ultraportables using ultra-low voltage processors which are capable of eight hours of battery life. Gaming laptops are another strong point of the brand, as the G53 and new G73 both provide excellent performance and value.

ASUS has been able to back up its innovative products with a solid reputation for reliability and customer service. While Consumer Reports lacks enough data to rank ASUS, Squaretrade’s data shows that ASUS laptops are the most reliable in their survey with a two year failure rate under 10%. Customer service is good over the phone, but the tech support website is confusing to navigate.

Verdict: A

ASUS is an excellent brand and is responsible for some of the most innovative products today. ASUS’s specialty is in netbooks and ultraportables, and anyone looking for a laptop in those categories should absolutely check out ASUS products.

Recommended ASUS Laptops:
ASUS Zenbook 13.3 Ultrabook
ASUS A53SV-XE2 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop

Dell

Once the world’s largest laptop brands, Dell took some lumps after the turn of the century which resulted in a loss of market share. Dells were functional, but boring. In response, Dell has dramatically stepped up its efforts to provide innovative laptops such as the Dell XPS and Alienware M11x.

Yet in spite of those efforts, Dell’s real strength remains in mainstream laptops. The Dell Inspiron laptops are generally good value, and I’ve particularly liked the Inspiron 14z I recently reviewed. The Vostro small business laptops are also decent choices for consumers, and some can be had with better-than-average warranties at no extra charge. Dell’s mainstream offerings are made more attractive by numerous customization options. While most laptop manufacturers sell just a handful of pre-configured models with a couple of options, Dell offers a wide range of options including better display panels and discrete graphics.

In addition, Dell’s Alienware brand is more competitive with ever, offering solid gaming laptops at prices that are competitive with many other boutique brands like Origin and Maingear (which are not covered here due to their small volume).

The reliability of Dell’s laptops is either average or poor, depending on who you ask. While Squaretrade ranked Dell in the middle of the pack with a two year failure rate of around 12%, Consumer Reports ranks Dell last with a failure rate of 20%. Dell’s customer service seems to be improving thanks to lower phone support hold times and better problem resolution. However, Dell could still do better in this area.

Verdict: B

Dell is a good brand if you want a well designed, moderately powerful, no-frill mainstream laptop customized to your needs.

Recommended Dell Laptops:
Dell Inspiron i14z

Fujitsu

Tiny Fujitsu has always had a hard time gaining traction in the western laptop market. The problem with Fujitsu’s laptops is their lack of any exceptional traits. They don’t feel cheap or perform slowly, but from a design standpoint Fujitsu’s laptops are the modern-day “beige box” computer. Fujitsu laptops are not particularly thin, or light, or fast, or good-looking. They don’t have good battery life, or great keyboards. They do have a few models with good screens.

This might also be forgivable if Fujitsu’s laptops were inexpensive, but they’re not. If you do manage to find a Fujitsu laptop at a retailer – fewer and fewer seem to even carry Fujitsu products – you’ll probably find that it costs over $1000. That puts in the territory of Macbooks, Thinkpads and other highly regarded brands, and Fujitsu can’t compete in that company.

Reliability data on Fujitsu laptops isn’t available. The company doesn’t sell many laptops, and as a result there isn’t a large enough sample size to gain any useful data. Customer service data is also hard to find, although the company’s website doesn’t inspire confidence.

Verdict: F

Fujitsu is almost never worth consideration. I am not able to think of even one Fujitsu laptop I would recommend. The company needs to completely overhaul its design approach if it wants to compete in the modern laptop market.

Gateway

Acquired by Acer in 2007, Gateway has been something of a fading brand. From a design standpoint, Gateway laptops offer very little to talk about, which is unsurprising as Gateway products often use a shared chassis with Acer products. Gateway products can be rather pleasing visually, but keyboards, trackpads and displays are strictly average.

By and large, Gateway’s main selling point is the same as Acer’s – value. Gateways tend to be a bit more stylish and attractive than Acer products, but in many cases the chassis used is nearly identical, and a large number of Gateway laptops now share components, such as keyboards, with Acer laptops.

As with Acer, reliability isn’t great. According to Squaretrade, Gateway is the second to worst brand with a two year failure rate just under 15%. Consumer reports lists Gateway as average with a failure rate of 17%. Gateway’s customer service has taken a nosedive since Acer’s purchase of the company thanks to a new customer service program that places less emphasis on phone support. That would be fine if Gateway’s website was incredible, but it isn’t.

Verdict: C

Gateway offers a few products that are compelling, particularly when online retailers run sales, which are frequent on Gateway products. However, Gateway is far behind the competition when it comes to designing quality laptops, and Acer’s poor customer service has infected the brand.

Recommended Gateway Laptops:
Gateway NV55S04u 15.6-Inch Laptop
Gateway NV75S02u 17.3-Inch Laptop

HP

Currently the world’s largest PC brand, Hewlitt Packard offers a huge variety of laptops. Design quality is, unfortunately, all over the map. HP’s ProBook business line and Envy line of premium laptops are both examples of what HP is capable of. HP also makes some very solid netbooks, such as the HP Mini 311.

The company’s mainstream Pavilion laptops have shown improvement over the last year. HP appears to be taking design elements from its upscale Envy line and applying them to less expensive laptops, which results in better-looking and more functional products. HP is doing a good job of making sure these improvements cover most of their range, and the number of their laptops that I would consider of average quality or better is increasing. Most HP laptops now feel solid and are pleasant to use.

HP’s reliability is among the worst in the industry. According to Squaretrade, HP laptops have a two year failure rate of around 16%, making HP the least reliable brand in their findings. Consumer Reports has little better to say, ranking HP as the second worst with a failure rate of 19%. HP’s customer service has improved substantially in over the last year, however. Laptop Magazine found that HP representatives were helpful and hold times were under 2 minutes. You may never even have to call, however, thanks to HP’s solid web support.

Verdict: B

HP’s makes some great consumer laptops, including the Envy line.  HP’s corporate products are competitive with those from Lenovo. HP’s greatly improved customer service is a major advantage, but is balanced by poor reliability.

Recommended HP Laptops:
HP g7-1260us Notebook PC
HP ENVY 14-1210NR

Lenovo

Spun off from IBM’s personal computing division, Lenovo is carries the sacred torch of the Thinkpad business laptop brand. Thankfully, it has treated this well regarded brand with respect. Today’s Thinkpads are among the best ever constructed. The T, X, and W series Thinkpads are particularly good. They offer the most durable construction in the industry, amazing keyboards and excellent trackpads.

In addition to the Thinkpad line, Lenovo has also created the new IdeaPad group of consumer computers. Quality of these products varies, but has been improving over time. The Z series is a solid if unexciting line of mainstream laptops, while the U series offers unique, luxurious build quality and design. Lenovo’s IdeaPads are often a great value, but suffer from poor battery life.

Surprisingly, Lenovo’s reliability isn’t outstanding. Squaretrade ranks Lenovo as fourth worst brand in the industry, with two year failure rates of around 13%, while Consumer Reports places Lenovo in the middle of the pack with a failure rate of 17%. Customer service is good, however, thanks to average hold times and helpful staff. It also seems that Lenovo still makes extensive use of IBM customer service centers located in the United States, which means that there is no language barrier to deal with (unless you have trouble understanding a southern accent!)

Verdict: B+

Lenovo’s Thinkpad products remain the standard for those who want a rugged laptop with an outstanding keyboard and trackpad. The IdeaPad line is very competitive, and some models offer unique design unlike any other brand in the industry.

Recommended Lenovo Laptops:
Lenovo G570 15.6-Inch Laptop
ThinkPad Edge E520

MSI

MSI’s presence in the laptop market has always felt a bit tentative, as if the brand isn’t really sure if it belongs there or not. MSI has tried to stand out with the slim X series laptops, which mimic the thin design of the Macbook Air, but these laptops proved to be poorly built. MSI has recently tried to instead gain traction in the gaming laptop market, and has some products that provide a good value, although the ASUS G series is often a better choice.

MSI laptops are usually not well designed when it comes to keyboards, touchpads, and general build quality. Reviews of the MSI X340, for example, stated that “Even a light key-press produces a visible flex in the surrounding keys, and the whole thing tends to bounce rather disconcertingly as you peck away. “ MSI’s netbooks and gaming laptops do not suffer from these issues to the same extent, but still are no where near the best laptops in terms of quality.

Reliability data is not available for MSI because of MSI’s status as a relatively new player in the market. Customer service is poor. The MSI website is almost useless as a resource for resolving issues, so you will have to call in even for the most basic of problems. The company doesn’t offer 24-hour support, either, further limiting support options. Hold times are usually not long, however.

Verdict: D

MSI is trying to gain traction, but is having trouble. Although its laptops have not gone down in quality, they are falling behind larger competitors like HP and Dell, not to mention ASUS.

Samsung

A relatively new and still small laptop brand, Samsung has been trying hard to muscle its way into the market. Samsung is, of course, a very large consumer electronics brand that sells everything from HDTVs to phones, and their quality in other markets has generally been good. So far this quality seems to be trickling into their laptop products as well.

From a design standpoint, Samsung’s products tend to be uninspiring, a few exceptions aside. Unfortunately, the company has been spinning its wheels in this regard, and many of the newer Samsung laptops seem no more attractive – and in some cases, less attractive – than those sold a year or two ago. Because competitors like HP and Dell are making strides in the areas of build quality and design, Samsung is becoming less competitive.

Reliability is still up in the air because of Samsung’s status as a new player on the market. As is often the case with the newer brands, Samsung’s website provides poor customer support. The phone support is accurate and quick, but because other companies have made improvements to their own service, this is no longer as pleasing.

Verdict: C

Samsung is still new to the market, so it is hard to say if their laptops will prove reliable. The company does offer well built products that provide good value for the money. However, Samsung hasn’t made the advancements I’d hoped over the last year; they’ll need to step up their design and customer service if they want to stay competitive.

Recommened Samsung Laptops:
Samsung Q530 15-Inch Laptop
Samsung Series 9 13.3-Inch Laptop

Sony

Sony is the closet thing which the laptop market has to a premium brand (with the obvious exclusion of Apple). There is nothing in Sony’s lineup which is targeted to be a “budget” model. The pricing of their mainstream laptops usually starts around $600, and Sony offers numerous models above $1000. Sony is competitive in most markets, although the brand doesn’t offer a dedicated line of gaming laptops and doesn’t compete in the sub-$400 netbook market.

You don’t always get what you pay for. I’ve been disappointed by some of Sony’s recent laptop offerings. The problem is not that they’re becoming worse, but that competition is getting better. Vaio laptops that once were head-and-shoulders above the rest in design and quality now seem average. At least Sony still offers crazy colors – if you want a pink or lime green laptop, this is your brand.

The reliability of Sony’s products is about average. Squaretrade rates Sony as having a two year failure rate of just over 10%, making Sony the third most reliable brand. Consumer Reports ranks Sony as being the third least reliable brand with a failure rate of 18%. Sony also offers good customer service. Sony provides very comprehensive web service and hold times are short if you do need to call in.

Verdict: B-

Sony is an excellent brand. Their products are expensive, but usually worth the extra cost. I am a little concerned about their design, however; some of their laptops haven’t had their chassis significantly redesigned in some time.

Recommened Sony Laptops:
Sony VAIO EH2 Series 15.5-Inch Laptop
Sony VAIO F2 Series 16.4-Inch Laptop

Toshiba

One of the oldest players in the laptop market, Toshiba paints itself with an extremely broad brush. The brand doesn’t seem to boast itself as being a specialist in any one area and instead does everything. Netbooks, gaming laptops, mainstream laptops, ultraportables – if there is a market, this brand offers a product in it.

Usually this results in a dumbing-down of the brand overall, but Toshiba offers excellent products in every category. It is particularly strong, however, in netbooks, multimedia laptops and ultraportables.

Toshiba’s great products are backed up by great reliability. Squaretrade ranks Toshiba as the second most reliable brand with a two year failure rate of just under 10%. Consumer Reports gives Toshiba the top spot, with a failure rate of 15%. Customer service is average, thanks largely to a website which isn’t as helpful as it could be. If you have to call in you’ll typically find that hold times are short and that the customer service representatives are helpful.

Verdict: A-

Toshiba is a solid brand. Anyone looking for a netbook, gaming laptop or ultraportable should look at what Toshiba has to offer. The brand’s mainstream products are a little bit underwhelming, but considering the brand’s excellent reliability reputation and customer service I think you should still give them a look.

Recommend Toshiba Laptops:
Toshiba Satellite L755D 15.6-Inch Laptop
Toshiba Portégé R835 13.3-Inch Laptop

Overall Rankings and Conclusion

I am not going to make any attempt to rank the brands by any sort of numerical system. The information I have comes from multiple sources, and trying to mesh them together into a number would be ridiculous. However, I do think that there are a few distinct “tiers” of manufacturers.

First we have the top-tier brands. These include Apple, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba. These brands offer products which are well designed and reliable and also have reasonably good customer service.

Below that we have a second tier of brands. These include brands such as HP, Dell, Samsung, Sony and Acer/Gateway. These brands aren’t always able to offer the best products, but they do excel in certain markets. HP and Dell offer great budget laptops, Toshiba has great reliability at low prices, and Acer/Gateway offers a lot of hardware for your money.

Bringing up the rear we have MSI and Fujitsu. These brands offer few compelling products and are generally only able to compete based on value, if at all. You may be able to find a quality laptop from these manufacturers, but most often the best laptop brand is found elsewhere.

This article was last updated on: 11/4/2011

Information here is based on the sources below, and also on the experience of Matt Smith, author of this blog and professional reviewer for publications such as Bright Hub, Digital Trends and PC Perspective.

Sources

Consumer Reports

CNET Best Laptops

Laptop Magazine 2010 Brand Ratings

Laptop Magainze 2010 Tech Support Showdown

Squaretrade Reliability Report

As I noted in an earlier post, the AMD Neo processor is starting to show up in quite a few new netbooks. One of the netbooks is the ASUS Eee PC 1201T, a powerful 12 inch netbook which promises to provide significantly better performance than what can be obtained by a system using Atom.

Netbooked has received and reviewed a fine example of the breed, and overall seems to be pleased.

I am pretty pleased overall with the ASUS Eee PC 1201T apart from the battery life (2-3 hours), limited upgradability and perhaps the noise. Other than that the form factor allows for comfortable usage for long periods of time. Keyboard is great to type on and the trackpad is large and has responsive scrolling.

Interested? Check out the full review.

Geoff Gasior over at the Tech Report just posted his review of some of the newest solid state drives. Included in his round up are the Corsair Nova V128, the Kingston SDDNow V+ 128GB Drive, the Plextor PX-128M1S and the Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue drive.

These are all drives which have come within the last few months and they represent a diverse range of solid state driver controllers. The Kingston uses a controller from Toshiba, the Plextor uses the Marvell Da Vinci, and the Western Digital uses the Jmicron JMF612. Because the solid state drive performance is heavily dependent on the controller these tests give us an indication of how other future drives using those controllers will fair. And how did they fare?

Well, with the exception of the Corsair Nova V128 drive – which uses an already established Indilinx controller – the answer is “not good.” All of the solid state drives in this round-up were tested against the class leader, the Intel X-25M. The Kingston SSDNow V+ and the Western Digital SiliconEdge both showed serious performance issues in random read/write tests. They were in fact so bad that in some tests they were slower than mechanical hard drives. Now that just stinks. The Plextor was also just plain slow, and it wasn’t just in certain tests – in pretty much every benchmark the Plextor drive was much slower than any of the other solid state drives.

The Corsair Nova, however, came out looking pretty damn good. It was often behind the Intel X-25M, but managed to beat the X-25M is a few IOmeter tests and file copy tests. It provides a viable alternative to the Intel. But this was also a bit of a disappointment because it isn’t really a surprise. Indilinx based drives have been doing well for awhile now. It would have been nice to see a new controller debut which could keep up. In any case, go to the Tech Report for the in-depth review.

Source: The Tech Report

Finding solid information about laptop brands can be difficult. Consumer Reports does rate laptops, but it only rates a handful and its reliability data is no where near as detailed as the data the magazine collects about cars. Consumer websites like ResellerRatings can give you an indication of customer satisfaction, but these website aren’t always the most objective. One of the best sources of information is Laptop Magazine’s annual round-up of the best and worst brands, and the 2010 edition of this information was just posted on Laptop Magazine’s website. So who are the winners and losers?

The big winners were Apple and Lenovo. This isn’t unexpected. Both Apple and Lenovo have received high ratings from Consumer Reports as well and have ranked well in previous Laptop Magazine brand round-ups.  In both cases the victory was largely because of excellent performance, great keyboards and touchpads, and solid customer service.

And who were the biggest losers? Undoubtedly they were MSI and Fujitsu. Both ranked terribly in all categories with the largest defeats coming in performance, design, and value. This also isn’t surprising. I love many of MSI’s products, but the company just hasn’t had much luck getting into the laptop market. As for Fujitsu, well – I honestly have no idea what they’re up to, as all they seem to make is overpriced ultraportables.

There is a fairly sizable gap between the top brands and the mid-range on Laptop Magazine’s 100 point scale. Apple’s score was an 80, followed by Lenovo at 75, Sony and Toshiba at 72 and ASUS at 69. The mid-pack was lead by HP with a score of 63, Dell at 61, Samsung at 59, Acer at 57 and Gateway at 56. The losers really lost big, as MSI’s score was 45 and Fujitsu’s was 43.

In addition to the scores, Laptop Magazine has sizable write-ups about their reasoning behind the scores for every brand. Check out the full article for all of the details.

Source: Laptop Magazine

Solid state drives. They’re all the rage, and for good reason. They’re small enough that they can be used in netbooks and notebooks but they have performance which those running massive workstations will love. But they’re also a rapidly evolving product, with new versions and variants constantly arriving. Sorting through it all can be a bit confusing.

Thankfully, hardware websites have been tackling the problem in droves. The latest is Hardware Secrets, which has rounded up some popular 128GB drives (and one 160GB drive) to see how they compare. The drives from Corsair, Crucial, Intel, Kingston, Mushkin, Patriot and Western Digital are included. So how did they fair?

For sequential read, the three programs we used confirmed Intel X-25M 160 GB as the fastest solid state drive under this kind of task. The other two drives that had great performance on sequential read were Corsair Nova 128 GB and Digital SiliconEdge Blue (both confirmed by two out of three programs to be the next choice after Intel’s unit).

The Intel drive’s performance lead in that area was expected, but Hardware Secrets also found some surprises – for example, the Intel drive was the worst in sequential write speeds. If you’re looking for a 128 GB solid state drive this article is a must read.

Source: Hardware Secrets

It looks like Engadget got their hands on one of ASUS’s latest mainstream notebooks, the ASUS U30Jc-1A, which continues the ASUS tradition of names which make no sense. What is a U30Jc-1A? Well, it is a notebook with a Core i3 processor and Nvidia 320M graphics with Optimus. It has a 13.3 inch screen and, unlike many laptops of this size, it actually has an optical drive. But did Engadget like what they saw?

If you ask us, ASUS has struck gold with the U30Jc’s Core i3 and NVIDIA Optimus combo, and we’re crossing our fingers that Sony, Apple, Alienware and others follow ASUS down this path. While other 13-inchers may be lighter on the shoulder and some other mainstream laptops may pack more power, the $899 U30Jc buys you an incredible three-way balance of performance, graphics and endurance. And that’s not something we say very often about a laptop that doesn’t even set you back a grand.

Why yes, yes they did.

There are a few problems with it. The screen is the typical glossy-shiny stuff that is so common on laptops as of late and the viewing angles aren’t that hot. Engadget also noted that the optical drive makes the laptop heavier than its competitors, at over 4 pounds, and thicker as well. Still, those are minor complaints. The battery lasts about 5 hours and the Nvidia graphics even allow for some light gaming.  Oh, and here’s the big one to me – the keyboard is actually good. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Source: Engadget