When I wrote the Smidgen PC laptop brand guide one of the issues which I touched upon was the overall reliability of the laptop brands as based on several sources of data. Today I want to take a closer look at overall laptop reliability in order to answer some common but typically unanswered questions. The main source [...]
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 [...]
Mobile Internet is the future of computing. Tablets, smartphones and laptops can all benefit from it and I think we’re not far off from seeing the day when laptops start to ship in large quantities with a wired network option (you’ll have to use Wi-Fi or mobile data).
There’s just one problem, really – price. Mobile Internet plans aren’t cheap. Most cost $30 a month on top of an existing cellular data plan, and that’s if you go for a mid-range tier. Some carriers are charging as $60 or $80 for plans with measly bandwidth allowances.
Unlimited plans? Most carriers have abandoned them or are planning to of abandon them, but there are still a few unlimited mobile Internet plans available at affordable prices.
Disclaimer: Mobile plans are regional, and I’m in the United States. These plans were researched from the perspective of someone living in the lower 48.
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Intel has now released its latest rendition of its current processor architecture. Codenamed Ivy Bridge, the CPU portion of the update is modest. It’s still the same architecture as Sandy Bridge, but a new process is being used to make the chips. This allows for a modest performance increase of about 10% to 20% in most benchmarks.
The IGP is a different story. All laptops shipping with new Core i3/i5/i7-3000 series processors will be equipped with Intel HD 4000 graphics. The company has tweaked the architecture and also added four more execution units, upping the total from twelve to fourteen. It’s better, faster, bigger, stronger.
How does that impact performance?
The addition of four execution units is significant and suggests, by itself, an increase of about 25%. But Intel is claiming far more than that – official numbers say the improvement should be around 50%. How does this hold up in 3DMark 06?
It turns out that in this benchmark Intel’s claim is conservative. The HD 4000 graphics solution is almost 65% quicker than Intel HD 3000. In fact, HD 4000 is almost on par with the Nvidia GT 525M in this benchmark. That’s not bad at all, is it?
But what about a real world game? Let’s start off by looking at something simple, like Dawn of War 2: Retribution. This is an older title that Intel HD 3000 graphics could handle, albeit with some difficulty.
In this older game we don’t see a huge leap in performance. Intel HD 3000 already does well enough, and Intel HD 4000 simply makes the game a little smoother, adding five frames-per-second to the average. The Nvidia GT 525M proves its worth by adding additional frames on top of that, coming very close to the magical 60FPS mark.
Now let’s consider Just Cause 2. This game is also a couple years old now, but at time of its release it was considered fairly demanding. In early 2011 only dedicated gaming laptops were able to handle it, and Intel HD 3000 always crumbled when faced with its complexity. Has the situation improved?
Damn! The performance of Intel’s new IGP is over twice that of the preceding version, and even the Nvidia GT 525M is unable to keep up. The game is more than playable at these (low detail) settings on any laptop that has Intel HD 4000 graphics. The game experience is smooth and attractive, despite the fact that many graphics features have to be turned off. It’s incredible how far Intel has come over the past two years.
Intel HD 4000 is capable of playing most older 3D titles and many new ones. Even Battlefield 3 can be played at low detail settings with a resolution of 1366×768. If you want a smooth experience in modern 3D titles you still need to upgrade, but players who want to play less demanding games like Diablo 3 and Dawn of War: Retribution should find Intel HD 4000 to be adequate.
Yes. Absolutely.
The benefits that you see from World of Warcraft will not be as great as the benefits you see in a game like Just Cause 2. That is because the game, like all MMORPGs, tends to be “processor bound.” The game taxes the resources of your computer processor before the game reaches the limits of what your graphics solution has to offer.
Intel HD 3000 was already capable of handling the game at high detail settings. With Intel HD 4000, high to ultra detail settings should be achievable. Your results will be dictated by the processor as much as the IGP, so if World of Warcraft is your game, I recommend buying a laptop with a fast Core i5 dual-core or a Core i7 quad-core.
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Tablets have no sign of slowing their growth. This year we’ve seen new products from major manufacturers like Apple, ASUS, Lenovo, Toshiba and Sony – not to mention literally hundreds of knock-offs available on eBay and at street markets around the world.
Looking back, we may think of 2012 as the year the tablet matured. Some critics have bashed tablets as toys, and although I don’t agree with them, it’s easy to see where they’re coming from. Even the iPad had neither the hardware nor software required to be more than an entertainment device. These new tablets, however, are a different story.
Let’s dive in and round up the best tablets of 2012. They’re fast, they’re enjoyable to use, and they’re as affordable as ever.
Everyone was excited about the release of the new iPad – so excited, in fact, that some crazy hardware rumors about things like haptic feedback started to circulate. When the real product was released, some people felt let down.
That’s a shame, because the third generation iPad is easily the best tablet on the market today. Its “retina” display is a key feature. Small text that can be rendered by the new iPad often appears blocky on other tablets until you zoom in, while images and games have a sharpness not found elsewhere.
The other traditional iPad strengths remain, as well – the processor is fast, there’s an unmatched selection of apps and battery life is outstanding. Better still, Apple did not raise the price – but they did lower the price on .
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2012 may also go down in history as the year the 7-inch tablet started to catch on. Amazon’s Kindle Fire still sells well and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 7-incher is currently the second most popular tablet on Amazon. ASUS is promising a $249.99 7-inch Tegra 3 tablet later this year, as well – if it ever comes, it too is sure to be a success.
The recipe to the Galaxy Tab 2 is simple. At $250, it is inexpensive. It is light, weighing in at less than a pound. It is powered by a reasonably quick 1 GHz dual-core processor. And it runs Android 4.0, so while it seems to be sold as a budget option, it still has the full software enchilada.
There’s really not much to dislike. Okay, the camera is not the best – but seriously, at this price, who cares? Since I don’t like the Kindle Fire for numerous reasons the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch is my small tablet of choice.
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The original Transformer (known by the model number TF101) was the first serious competition to the iPad. It was a light, affordable, powerful tablet with no-nonsense design. The optional keyboard dock was touted as its greatest feature but was, in fact, unnecessary for enjoying the device.
Now ASUS has updated the concept by introducing a new entry-level tablet, the TF300. It is a significant update. The chassis has been redesigned to drop some size and weight, bringing the new tablet to .39 inches thinand 1.4 pounds light. These are not the best figures in the industry, but they are competitive for a tablet starting at $399.
Also competitive is the Tegra 3 quad-core processor. Although the A5X used in the new iPad has more power for handling graphics, Tegra 3 has the edge when it comes to CPU arithmetic. Throw in Android 4.0 and you have the recipe for a slick, responsive device. Even battery life is robust – expect up to 10 hours if you’re trying to stretch it and about 8 hours in normal use.
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If I were buying a brand new tablet today I would take the iPad 3. It’s higher price is justified by its better app selection, unmatched battery life and awesome display. As a geek I appreciate the big and small details that palce it ahead of the competition.
What do you think? Which would you, or have you, purchased? Let us know in the comments!
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Families commonly seek out the most economical products and services, all in an effort to control household expenses in a fluctuating economy. However, consumers rarely see advertisements from computer manufacturers and retailers, alike, about a line of economical of computer systems. Contrast this to a line of economy automobiles. Nonetheless, household shoppers can approach the sometimes-confusing task of finding the most affordable PC by focusing on the economical aspects of the machine on a micro level.
Laptops make up a substantial portion of PC sales, overtaking traditional desktops on the computing market. One of the main reasons families can find affordable laptops is because manufacturers have found ways to build systems using alternate parts at the factory that are cheaper. The Dell Corporation bases Dell laptop deals and pricing on being able to reduce production costs.
For example, gamers and power users prefer a standalone graphics card in order to get the best video and graphics experience while using a PC. These cards can add as much as $50 to $100 to the overall price of a computer. Alternatively, manufacturers have been able to reduce the costs associated with rendering high-quality graphics by integrating the video card with the processor chip, or central processing unit. You see this type of integration in DVD/CD combination drives, as well.
Families can find an affordable PC by looking very closely at the specifications for software components. In particular, operating system developers, like the Microsoft Corporation, develop various editions to suit user needs. Windows 7, for example, comes in a Starter, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate editions. The average family easily accomplishes basic activities on the Home Premium edition, which may include streaming movies, listening to music and email communication. These various software and hardware choices influence prices for Dell laptop deals.
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Have you ever looked at your laptop and thought – gee, this thing is too portable and too slow! What I really want is a suitcase that includes a processor more powerful than 99% of desktops. Something that is really going to melt my face, or at least whatever table I sit it on.
You have? Then Maingear has you covered with the updated Titan 17.
As the name “Titan” implies, this is not your typical laptop. Measuring 2.2 inches thick, it looks like something out of a 1980′s vision of the future rather than a real, modern laptop. But the ridiculous profile becomes understandable once you realize that this laptop can pack a Core i7 3960X processor. Just to be absolutely clear, that’s the desktop version, packing six cores with a base clock speed of 3.3 GHz. As of the time of this writing, it is the most powerful consumer processor in the world.
The Titan 17 doesn’t slack in other areas to fit the larger processor, either. It can pack up two Nvidia GTX 580Ms in SLI as well as 32GB of RAM and up to three hard drives. Also included is a 17.3″ display with 1080P resolution and LED backlighting and a BigFoot Networks Killer wireless network adapter.
The base configuration of the Titan 17 runs $3,499 and is equipped with a Core i7 3930K along with a single Nvidia GTX 580M. Going all-out for the Extreme Edition processor and SLI bumps the price up to just over $4500. And you know what? That’s not nearly as much money as I expected.
If you’d like to know more, check out the full press release.
Source: Maingear
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So far, Intel’s ultrabooks have been met with a decent reception from the press. I’ve written an editorial about their issues, but most of those problems as solvable given time and ingenuity. The ultrabook is not an instant hero, but it’s also far from a flop.
One issue that must be conquered in the short term, however, is price. The high-end laptop market is dominated by Apple and there’s no way for Intel to overturn that company’s brand perception overnight. If Intel wants ultrabooks to truly become common, they need prices to drop.
DigiTimes reports that Intel is working hard to this end by acting as a matchmaker between some of the second-tier laptop brands and major laptop manufacturers. The hope is that this relationship will allow smaller laptop brands like ViewSonic, Epson and Onkyo (yes, they all have laptops) produce laptops for as little as $599.
“With Intel’s matchmaking, prices of these vendors’ ultrabooks are expected to hit as low as US$599-649 to be able to compete against first-tier players, the paper noted.”
Don’t expect to see these laptops at a retailer near you any time soon. Most of these smaller brands have limited distribution, particularly in North America, where big established laptop brands rule the roost.
Intel’s hand in these affairs is just another example of how committed the company is to the ultrabook and how badly they want it to succeed.
Source: DigiTimes
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