cool gadgets

TeleNav Introduces Its First GPS Navigation Device

2008-11-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

TeleNav, a veteran creator of GPS navigation software for cell phones and other mobile devices, enters the competitive GPS hardware market today with the TeleNav Shotgun, a $299 personal navigation device with optional cellular-based Internet service to update its points-of-interest database, provide real-time traffic and fuel-price data, and enable destination entry via Telenav's Web site and browser plug-ins.

Building on the company's expertise with GPS phones, the Shotgun comes with a preinstalled SIM card and three free months of TeleNav Connected Service. The device is based on Windows Mobile, but does not use any Windows Mobile sync features. However subscribers to the service can use free plug-ins for Firefox, Internet Explorer and the Google Toolbar to easily send addresses on Web pages to the device.

Ironically, the Shotgun appears just a week after Dash Navigation announced that it would be ending production of its groundbreaking Dash Express, the only other GPS navigation device to date with built-in cellular connectivity (which generally is more robust and easier to use than other connections used by GPS devices, such as FM radio, or through Bluetooth-connected cell phones).

However, cellular connectivity doesn't come cheap. After the free trial, TeleNav Connected Service will cost roughly the same as Dash's service (TeleNav is charging $10-$12 a month, depending on whether you pay as you go or are willing to pre-pay), but isn't as innovative. It doesn't perform regular Yahoo searches, for example, and its APIs aren't available for other companies to create custom location-based services (Dash offered this feature). However, the company believes the business travelers it targets will be willing to pay for easy access to the bread-and-butter data services it does deliver.

The Shotgun's compact form factor (it weighs only a tad more than four ounces, is only three-quarters of an inch thick, and has a 4.3-inch LCD display) may also appeal more to frequent travelers than the rather bulky Dash, which would not be suitable for tossing into a purse or briefcase. We'll be taking a closer look in the next few days.

Apple's iPhone: So Far, the Best Phone Ever?

2008-11-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

The iPhone is having a stellar year. First, it blasts past RIM's Blackberry in sales. Then it ousts Motorola's RAZRas the top-selling handset of all time. And, now a reportfrom mobile phone warranty firm SquareTrade says that Apple's iPhone is the most reliable smartphone on the market, surpassing both Blackberrys and Palm Treos.

SquareTrade's tests were conducted on 15,000 phones covered by company warranty. In its first year, the Blackberry has a failure rate double that of the iPhone. The iPhone's failure rate was listed at 5.6 percent, compared to 11.9 percent for the Blackberry and 16.2 percent for the Treo.

At the time of the study, the iPhone was 15 months old, and SquareTrade was unable to say with certainty how the phone would perform an extra year out. The company's projections of how the phone would perform two years in, however, still have the iPhone skidding in below the Treo's and Blackberry's numbers by a considerable margin: 11.3 percent compared to the Blackberry's 14.3 percent and the Treo's 21 percent.

The study focused on handset malfunctions and not accidental damage caused by the consumer, though. And accidental damage is where the iPhone trips up. Due to its sleek, slippery design, the iPhone fails due to accidental bang-ups 33 percent of the time. Twelve percent of iPhone owners reported accidental damage in comparison to the other two companies, which reported 9 percent. At least we know it's kind of our fault rather than the manufacturer's fault, though.

It's also important to note that SquareTrade did not take into consideration malfunctions that would be covered by software and/or firmware updates, so all those early-on 3G and battery issues were not a part of the study.

2008-11-11T03:34:00.000-08:00

Lenovo's slim and stylish offering ups the ante in netbook race

Lenovo, one of the top notebook PC manufacturers, has hit a home-run with the IdeaPad S10 – as it enters the fast exploding segment of mini-laptops. At first glance, it looks like a cross between the compact Acer Aspire One andMSI Wind, but the S10 stands its ground admirably among the flock.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is sleek, eye-catching, and typifies Lenovo's tradition of thin and light designs. The S10 weighs just under 1.25 kg, and is slightly over an inch thick. It doesn’t have the conventional laptop slant and looks surprisingly compact for a 10.2-inch screen netbook. Just as small as the Acer Aspire One, the Ideapad S10 makes the Asus Eee PC 1000H look big and bulky. Also Lenovo is synonymous with sound build quality, hence it's no surprise the Ideapad S10 feels so nice and solid.

The Ideapad S10 sports a pearl-white exterior like the MSI Wind, and the 10.2-inch non-glossy screen is outlined with white plastic, as is the rest of the chassis. But the S10 doesn't just have looks in its favor. A 160GB, 5400 RPM hard disk coupled with 1GB of RAM at 667 MHz - a rare combination among netbooks today - is enough to handle storage and performance needs of most potential users. Where it is complicated to upgrade the hard disk and RAM of other netbooks, the Ideapad S10 is fairly easy to disassemble and upgrade. It is driven by the inexpensive and low-power consuming 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and runs on Windows XP Home edition. A 1.3-megapixel webcam sits above the screen and an in-built mic is recessed on the left-hand palmrest.

Working with the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is easy, once you tune into the small form factor. The screen doesn't disappoint outdoors, and the viewing angles are okay. Its keyboard is as good as the one on the Acer Aspire One, with well-defined keys providing good feedback and no flex. Keys are arrayed with shortcuts, though the interchanged positions of Control and Function keys was a personal peeve. A design novelty in the IdeaPad S10 is the placement of the speakers on the front edge below the touchpad. So, if you're sitting with the netbook on your lap, all the sound is directed to your waist; but it's a boon if you're in the habit of relaxing on a couch and working with a laptop on your belly. Audio from the curiously placed speakers isn't too loud, but crisp and clear. From browsing the Internet on Firefox to working on Microsoft Office, transferring files over Bluetooth and listening to music over Wi-Fi, or even watching a movie: the experience was very good.

However, multitasking while listening to music and surfing a Flash-heavy Web site provided minor hiccups on more than one occasion. Also, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 came pre-installed with a lot of useful software like Norton Internet Security and OneKey Recovery 6.0, an easy-to-use backup and bootable recovery software that can be launched with a curved hotkey placed above the keyboard.

Despite its strong points, the IdeaPad S10 isn't without its blemishes. It runs a little hotter than normal, making it uncomfortable for extended usage on the lap, and the 3-cell battery lasted close to three hours. A multicard reader and ExpressCard expansion slot are fine, but just two USB ports is cutting it a little too short. The touchpad is very tiny and difficult to work with, too.

If you want a netbook that lasts you close to five hours, the Asus Eee PC or MSI Wind is a better bet right now. But if high-battery life isn't a priority and if you can shell out Rs. 25,000 for a slim, stylish, well-built netbook, the Ideapad S10 is a good choice.

A Month With MACbook Air

2008-11-11T03:29:00.000-08:00

“Yes, it’s a MacBook Air,” I explain to people who’ve heard of it, and “No, it’s a notebook computer, not a paper notebook,” I am forced to tell the Ageing Parent. I could sit and stare at this thing for hours, so I don’t have any objections to spending the month with it...

Day 2:
I can’t get over how thin and light the Air is—in my hand, it feels as thick as one of our anniversary issues, and just a tad heavier. I can carry it around with me for hours and not feel the weight! The brushed aluminium is beautiful, the glossy screen is beautiful, the touchpad is the size of a football field and the MacBook-like keyboard is a dream to type on. I’m just gushing all over.

Day 7:
I’ve spent all this time playing with the multi-touch trackpad, which, incidentally, is the largest I’ve seen on any laptop. Ever. With older MacBooks and MacBook Pros, using two fingers to scroll was a dream—on the Air, I can now use two fingers to zoom and rotate as well! Swiping the touchpad with three fingers lets me go to the next or previous item—be it a photo or document. This isn’t, however, as snappy as the iPhone or the iPod touch.

The mono speaker under the keyboard is tinny, soft, and, well, mono—but at least it’s clear.

Day 14:
After playing with OS X Leopard for so long, I’ve finally started to get some bits of work done. The 1.8-inch 80 GB, 4200 rpm PATA hard disk that our model came with is plain awful. You can actually tell the difference between it and other laptop drives even for the smallest amount of data. I wanted to hook up my external hard disk to it, but that meant I had to disconnect my USB mouse—the single USB port begets multiple profanities. My normal-sized headphone jack fits into the recessed connector rather uncomfortably too.

Day 20:
The model I’m holding has clearly been used before—there was a host of software installed when we got it, and I’ve installed more—I suspect that this is contributing to its recent unnatural slowness. Perhaps if I were to format the disk and re-install the OS... Cue in the painful realisation that this blasted device has no DVD drive.

So I install the DVD drive sharing software (no, just sharing the drive using Windows doesn’t work)from Apple’s installation disks on to my Windows PC, turn on DHCP on my wireless router (I hate doing that) and start the over-the-air installation procedure. Not much clicking required, but this I didn’t take too kindly to—“Estimated time: about 4 hours”. Good heavens.

Thankfully, after an hour, the estimated time falls to an hour and a half. Or so I thought. The installation freezes midway, and I have to start it all over again! Finally, it’s 3 a.m., and I’m working on a clean install of Leopard—definitely more responsive than before, but there’s really no escaping that slow hard disk.

Day 30:
It all boils down to one question—if I had the money, would I spend it on the Air? Of course not. It’s wonderfully slim and light, but that’s only because it’s wonderfully empty—no wired Ethernet, only one USB port, that pathetic hard drive—where do I begin? Even if I had a lakh to throw away, I’d probably throw it at the MacBook (and have some left over, too)—it’ll give me all the OS X goodness I desire, and qualifies as a real computer as well.

2008-11-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

A powerful business workhorse, with solid build quality.

With the new Latitude E5400, Dell has carved out an impressive laptop for your business needs. It hits a sweet spot with regards to solid build quality, the right combination of features, performance, and price tag.

First off, as is the case with most Dell notebooks, design matters. Despite its all-black industrial design, the Latitude E5400's looks aren't lackluster. With a metallic hinge and latch system, Dell has improved stability and security of the notebook, and the chassis is rock solid as well. The 14.1-inch matte screen (max resolution 1280 x 800), encased in a lid with smooth metallic finish, is average at best.

Powered from the Intel Core 2 Duo P9500, clocked at 2.53GHz (1066 MHz FSB, 6MB L2 cache), the Latitude E5400 has a very fast processor. Complementing it is a handy bunch: 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB), 160GB (7200rpm) hard drive, and Intel X4500 HD graphics accelerator, along with an 8X DVD writer. All this is based on the latest Centrino 2 platform, Mobile Intel 45 Express chipset. Packed with this potent combination, rest assured you won't face a dearth of processing power and should be able to multitask with ease.

The Latitude E5400 came pre-installed with Windows XP Professional only, though it included a Windows Vista Business disc. This initiative from Dell caters to satisfy both who are happy with XP and folks eager to try out Vista. We ran our benchmarks on Windows Vista and realized just how good this laptop is. WorldBench 6, our in-house real-world benchmark suite, pegged the Latitude E5400's overall performance score at an impressive 98, falling a point shorter than the 99 garnered by Dell Studio 15.

PC Mark 2005 score of 5350, PC Mark Vantage at 3498, and 3D Mark 06 score of 814, all agree to the fact that the Latitude E5400 is a very good machine. Seldom is gaming associated with a business laptop, but F.E.A.R and Doom 3 played at medium settings averaged 15fps and 19fps, respectively. It has the potential for handling casual gaming well, if the rigors of a tiring day call for a quick stress buster. However, the six cell battery fell short of the four hour mark, lasting 3 hours 50 minutes on MobileMark 2007.

In terms of usability, input devices become all the more crucial in a business laptop. Those who have never navigated using a trackpoint don't know what they're missing. On the E5400, once you get used to controlling the cursor with your index finger and the touchpad keys with your thumb, it is crippling to shift back to a traditional touchpad. Apart from that, the Latitude E5400's keyboard was well laid out, with full-sized keys and minimum flex. However, the traditional touchpad lacks palm detection, and led to berserk mouse movements whenever my palm encroached on the area while typing.

The speakers are mediocre and positioned vertically on either side of the keyboard. A fingerprint scanner is tucked away on the right. A well-looked after software bundle includes Dell ControlPoint (similar to Lenovo's ThinkVantage), useful for installing a host of recommended system apps and utilities. Among the standard input-output ports, the inclusion of an S-video, PC Card Type II and 3-in-1 memory card is especially handy, along with VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, docking port and draft-N Wi-Fi.

For a 14-inch laptop, the Latitude E5400 weighs 2.56 Kg, and priced at Rs. 65,259 with a three year warranty. But at that price, the Dell Latitude E5400 includes everyday business features and is well worthy of your choice for a business laptop.

Big beast

2008-10-31T11:28:00.001-07:00

King Of The Ring

Sony VAIO AR18GP

Specifications
Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16 GHz; 1 GB RAM, 17-inch widescreen LCD; GeForce Go 7600GT (256 MB); 160 GB HDD (RAID 0); Blu-ray writer; 802.11 a/b/g

Our Verdict
The AR18GP's 17-inch screen uses Sony's XBRITE technology to reproduce colours accurately. The display is ready to screen HD movies at 1080p HD resolution. Powering this display is the powerful NVIDIA Go 7600GT, which allows some serious gaming. Relying on two 80 GB hard drives in RAID 0 configuration, the AR18GP has twice the transfer speed compared to the other laptops in this category.

This happens to be the first laptop in the world to ship with a Blu-ray writer. Battery life is two hours-good for Desktop replacements.

Runner-Up: ASUS F3JM

Tiny ones on move

2008-10-31T11:27:00.001-07:00

Zen And The Art Of Bonsai

ASUS U5F

Specifications
Intel Core Duo T2500 2 GHz; 1.5 GB RAM; 12.1-inch widescreen LCD; 120 GB HDD; DVD-RW; 802.11 a/b/g

Our Verdict
Roaring under the delicate exterior, this beauty boasts of hardware that can put other laptops to shame. 1.5 GB of RAM and a 120 GB hard drive make you wonder if it's a laptop's specs you're looking at! Along with memory card reader, there's also an Express card slot, keeping your options open for any compatible upgrades. All this comes in a compact package at 1.6 kg. A good investment for those who want mobility without compromising on performance.

Runner-Up: Acer TravelMate 3012

Bests of laptops

2008-10-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Usual Suspects

Dell Inspiron 6400

Specifications
Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16 GHz; 1 GB DDR2 RAM; 15.4-inch widescreen LCD; ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (256 MB); 80 GB HDD; DVDRW; 802.11 a/b/g

Our Verdict
Here's one true-blue performer. Despite being in the "thin and light" category, its scores equalled those of the Desktop replacements. The 15.4-inch display with a maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050 and good readability under sunlight is just wonderful; combine this with a high viewing angle to ensure less eye fatigue!

The keypad is firm, with responsive keys. The click buttons are fairly large and convenient to use. The laptop features Dell's MediaDirect buttons, which let you more easily control media playback. For casual gamers, ATI's Mobility Radeon X1400 with 256 MB of RAM won't lag while playing most new games. Battery life is decent-in excess of two and a half hours. A stable performer par excellence!

Runner-Up: HP Pavilion dv2025TU

Bests of the beasts!

2008-10-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

Just Your Regular Laptops

Compaq Presario V6102AU

Specifications
AMD Turion X2 TL-50 1.6 GHz; 1 GB RAM; 15.4-inch widescreen LCD; 100 GB HDD; DVD-RW; 802.11 a/b/g

Our Verdict
The dual-core CPU and whopping 1 GB of RAM on this laptop make for blazing-fast performance. The keypad and mouse pad are good enough to make it comfortable for extended use.

The 15.4-inch screen is bright and eminently readable; the viewing angle is 160 degrees-the highest in its category. The NVIDIA 6150 chipset churned out good graphics scores in gaming and other benchmarks. Media control buttons and a Wi-Fi switch make for easy control. The integrated memory card reader supports the most popular formats-SD, MMC, XD and MS Pro. The Compaq Presario V6102AU comes preloaded with much of the software you'd need. Considering the reasonable price tag, this laptop is very well-suited for most first-time laptop buyers.

Runner-Up: ACi Ethos Duo 1430

Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000

2008-10-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

Just A Compact Laptop Webcam

The LifeCam NX-6000 is a compact 2MP webcam with an inbuilt microphone, made for laptops, and it will easily fit into your pocket. The cam lens can be rotated vertically and also pushed into the body of the device when not in use. The LifeCam comes with a
carry pouch.

The camera attaches to the laptop using a clip-on-like mechanism. A little indicator with “Microsoft” on it flashes when the camera is in use. Although not hot enough to cause any real damage, it still does get pretty warm. Pressing the sole button on the camera starts Windows Live Messenger.

Like all USB devices these days, installation is very simple. Plug it in and Windows XP (Service Pack 2) detects the camera and the microphone without your having to install any drivers.

A Vista-styled software called LifeCam is provided. It lets you record photos, audio, and movies. Visual effects can be added as well to make things a little more fun. Panning and zooming can be done, but only at lower resolutions. The software lacks face-tracking features.

The LifeCam software can send images and clips through e-mail or upload it to Windows Live Spaces at the click of a button. Video is a little grainy at lower resolutions such as 640 x 480 and 800 x 600 as expected from most webcams, but still image clarity is pretty good (but can be a little blurry at higher resolutions). Being interpolated, the 7.6 MP image quality is quite poor.

Video resolution ranges from 160 x 120 all the way up to 2MP—1600 x 1190. Video recording performance drops considerably the moment the resolution crosses 800 x 600. Recorded audio quality is all right, but the mic picks up ambient noise easily.

The Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000 retails at Rs 5,730—costlier than most desktop webcams, but for its small form factor and good image and video quality, it’s worth the money for anyone who demands quality in videoconferencing while on the field.

RATINGS
Performance : 4
Features : 4
Build Quality : 4
Value for Money : 3.5
Overall : 4

Specifications
2MP; 3x digital zoom; inbuilt microphone; Vista Certified

Contact : SES Technologies Pvt Ltd.
Phone : 0124-4158000
E-mail : geethakb@microsoft.com
Web site : www.microsoft.com/india
Price : Rs 5,730

Computing comfort

2008-10-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

You know you want one, but an informed decision you can make not. We can change that. In test...32 of best!

The words portability, connectivity, and convenience describe the need for laptops best. It's important to be connected at all times these days: knowledge received late is knowledge lost in many cases. Then there are those emergencies when you just have to jot down a few notes, and a paper and pen aren't within reach…

Then there are those for whom a laptop is not a necessity but part of their lifestyle-a classy extension of oneself, a wardrobe accessory, or even a status symbol.

Anyone who has ever attended a LAN party will testify to the pain in the neck, shoulders, and other regions that result from lugging a bulky cabinet, LCD, or worse still-a CRT, and peripherals about. Now think convenience. Although a laptop is still not a Desktop replacement for gamers, a good mouse coupled with a reasonably-configured laptop will see you through most fragging sessions just as easily.

Inbuilt goodies like memory card readers, wireless connectivity, and Bluetooth are something 99 per cent of Desktops won't have. Although a fast Desktop would still leave the best-performing laptops grovelling in the dirt, the point here is that notebooks are a solution for various needs-and manufacturers are tailoring them to suit those.

A word about the reviews that follow: Acer, Dell, and Fujitsu are going through a product refresh cycle. The older models are no longer available, and the new range wasn't out at the time of this writing. Expect reviews of laptops from those manufacturers in our Bazaar section in the issues to come.

Value Laptops
This category is the most populous of the four. Compaq aside, we have mostly home-grown brands here. In fact, if you want a big-brand laptop and are restricted to the 45K price point, we suggest you dump the idea of a big brand altogether. While we haven't yet gotten to US prices, its good to see Indian vendors taking such aggressive price points. Bear in mind that hardware scales with price, so a Rs 20K laptop will most certainly win no processing accolades.

ACI was present in force in this category with four models. Compaq and Intex featured a model each; LG and HCL featured three apiece. Zenith made it to the party with two laptops.

Features
The most attractive notebook here is the Compaq Presario v3225AU. The palm-rest and even the outer lid feature the same treatment HP uses on its high-end DV series. This material is extremely smooth to the touch, and it seems it will easily withstand the rigours of daily use. It's a real pity that HP chose to use the same material on the touchpad. This makes it too slippery-just not enough feedback. Slightly less painful-but painful nevertheless-are the too-soft mouse keys. The Presario v3225AU also has a slightly flawed keypad: use it a bit and you'll notice the keys have too much travel. However, keypad feedback is largely subjective, and some people like soft keypads. (We don't.) On a positive note, the layout of the keypad is very good.

All the ACI laptops except for the Ethos C have great keypad feedback. Our gripe was the lack of shortcut keys-an Internet key and a media player button just do not cut it. The Ethos C does feature shortcut keys to switch off Wi-Fi and the touchpad, though.

The Zenith Director with its silver and grey colour tones will appeal to the corporate user segment, which, as you can see from the name, is its intended audience. The only ergonomic issue we could find was the largish spacing between the keys-not good unless you're used to it. The Presidio, too, featured a great keypad, and in a tiny body. We didn't place this one in the ultra-portable category because of its weight and thickness.

Intex's M54N doesn't feature a very good finish, but we'll forgive that considering the price. What we won't forgive is the tacky, chromed shortcut key buttons. The carry bag is beautiful and sturdy.

Some of the ACI laptops-the Ethos series-feature a little subwoofer directly underneath the touchpad. This is supposed to provide improved bass, but it just doesn't!

Performance
The Core Duo processors here gobble up all the benchmarks that have anything to do with number-crunching.

The second-most important aspect of a laptop is the storage subsystem, which often becomes a bottleneck. The two LG RD400s and the Compaq Presario v3225AU have a strong storage subsystem, as the scores testify. If your applications lean towards this trend-for example, transferring large files, or opening large images in PhotoShop, you know where to look-at this price point.

Compaq Presario v3225AU
Exceptionally good value

The ACI Duo 1430 and 1430D offer very good multimedia performance, as their scores in 3D Mark 2005 and our game tests revealed. This makes them suitable for playing the occasional game… movie playback is also guaranteed to be skip-free, although the quality of the LCD panel should have been better, in keeping with such good graphics performance.

The Conclusion
The Presario v3225AU isn't shy on features, with touch controls similar to that of the DV series, and dedicated buttons for wireless connectivity-not to mention superb build and attractive looks. This one just had to be a winner. The Digit Best Buy Gold is with the Compaq Presario v3225AU: unbeatable value at Rs 32,990.

Zenith Director
Sturdy, rugged, great value

The T2350-powered Zenith Director is our Digit Best Buy Silver winner: unbeatable value and great performance for the price-only Rs 29,700.

If you want something half-decent to game with in this price category, ACI is the only way to go, with the Ethos Duo 1430D actually featuring NVIDIA graphics hardware (the GeForce Go 7300 series).

If you're looking at something compact at a ridiculously low price, the Zenith Presidio will surely please your aesthetic sensibilities as well as your wallet. At Rs 28,700, it's a steal. Drop in a little more memory and watch this little notebook really run-very suitable for most everyday applications.

Performance Laptops
There exists a cadre of users that will not be satisfied with just good performance at a value-for-money price point. They'll want better graphics-perhaps a discrete graphics solution; more CPU horsepower; and memory bandwidth to handle it. These are the users who will also be likely to need more storage space. We discuss, in this section, laptops that cater to this user profile.

Features
There was a lot of beauty in this category-from the dusky, all-black, matte-finished Lenovo R61 ThinkPad, to the flashy and even more eye-catching HP DV6226tx. While the R61 seems to draw you in subtly, the DV6226tx simply grabs you by the scruff and demands attention with the kind of piano finishes we've seen on much more expensive hardware. Equally attractive is ASUS' F3Jc: it features a very pleasing black and dark grey finish.

The LG X Note P1 has a very alluring shape, and the quality of fit and finish is excellent. The white, matte-finished body immediately attracts more than just a cursory glance. A pity they used navy blue on the lid-it gives the effect of a school uniform. Or could that have been intentional…?

HP DV6226tx
A great buy!

Once again, the coating treatment given to the DV6226tx's palm-rest, ditto the outer lid, is absolutely top-notch. Equally tasteful is the subtle and flowing patterns adorning the entire top body and inside, which we're told is inspired from Japanese rice fields. It seems, in Japan, paddy is grown not in straight rows but in flowing, curved patterns. Whatever the inspiration, the result is stunning!

Equally cool are the media buttons above the keypad: they're touch-activated and a cool backlit blue! Also bundled is a tiny IR remote for Media Center purposes. This tasteful blue extends to the power jack area, which will illuminate when the adapter is connected to the mains. All this blue is attractive without hitting you in the face in any way. The speaker grille is also attractive, and proudly sports "Altec Lansing." As we'd expected, sound quality and volume levels are better than on most other laptops.

The R61 is all about quality. It has that subtly sturdier build that comes from use of quality material both inside and outside. All ThinkPads come with hard drive protection inbuilt, and the R61's hard drive head will park if the sensor inside the notebook detects a sharp change in G force (as in a fall). Loads of nifty little features like a light near where most laptop webcams are ensures that your keypad stays illuminated even if the rest of your room is not. The R61 also features a brilliantly crisp resolution-1440 x 900-something all but extinct in this category.

ASUS' F3Jc has a beautiful keypad-well-laid out, and even better feedback. The feedback from the touchpad is also positive and accurate, in fact, it's on par with the excellent ThinkPad R61. A far cry from this is the HP DV6226tx; as with the Presario v3225AU, the touchpad offers insufficient feedback due to its slippery-smooth surface.

Incidentally, ASUS' F3Jc also has DVI connectivity-a welcome and rare feature. Equally rare was the fact that this laptop ships with two batteries-one compact for regular use, and the other a large 7200 mAh battery pack.

Performance
The Lenovo R61 features a jaw-dropping T7700, the absolute top-end laptop processor from Intel's Core 2 Duo line-up. Running at 2.4 GHz and featuring an 800 MHz FSB, this CPU happily ate up all the data it was being fed by the 2 GB of fast 667 MHz memory that the R61 has under its hood. Coupled with the Intel 965PM a.k.a. the Santa Rosa platform, the R61 is an Ã¼ber-number-cruncher.

ACI's Matrix 1501 is another hot performer, featuring the T7200 processor and 2 GB of memory. Additionally, this laptop features the ATI X1600 graphics processor with 256 MB of dedicated video memory-enough to send most casual games into orbit.

A shade behind these come the ACI Matrix 1425, HP DV6226tx, and ASUS F3Jc, featuring the NVIDIA 7400/7300 Go.

The Conclusion
When it comes to ergonomics, none can hold a candle to the HP DV6226tx and the Lenovo R61, although HP's keypad feedback is an adverse factor. Try as they might, the HCL Z22 CDP and the LG X note P1 BP33A can't stand in the same league as the others in this comparison, even though the X note P1 is shockingly costlier than the HP DV6226tx.

It's no surprise, then, that the combination of good processor, great graphics, and excellent pricing, along with a lot of goodies (like the great speakers, touch controls, and wireless remote) help the HP DV6226tx bag our Best Buy Gold award. This notebook makes a very good buy if you're looking for a powerful and attractive solution, or even if you're interested in a good multimedia solution with a lot of show and functionality.

ASUS F3Jc
Good performer, great value

Very close on its heels comes the attractive, powerful, and ergonomic ASUS F3Jc, our Best Buy Silver winner. In fact, there's less than a point of a gap between our Gold winner and this one: it is a good performer that builds upon a solid feature list and ergonomic package.

Although LG's X-Note P1 is also an attractive solution, one look at the price makes it seem lacklustre-it's more expensive than the superior DV6226tx, and within a hairsbreadth of the excellent ASUS F3Jc.

Lenovo's excellent ThinkPad R61 deserves a mention here. It doesn't win Gold, but this is mainly due to its astronomical price: Rs 1,55,000, which is more than double that of the next-costliest option (the Matrix 1501). The high price is mainly due to the T7700, which is a costly part, and, of course, the ThinkPad branding. However, cheaper CPU options are available in the ThinkPad lineup. If you must have the best possible CPU and are willing to pay for the peace of mind associated with the rugged ThinkPad brand, the R61 is definitely the quickest way there.

Gaming, did you say? The only notebook here worthy of your attention and your cash would be the ACI Matrix 1501. Though it's boxy, and the touchpad isn't the best around, the combination of a strong processor with a sterling graphics solution make it ideal for gamers. The price (Rs 77,999) will hurt a bit, but the performance should take some pain off the sting.

Ultra-portables
While 17-inch laptops have blurred the line between laptops and Desktops-in fact, they're called Desktop replacements-they've moved away from what a notebook PC is meant to be: nicely portable. So if you're frequently on the go, or just want something light and slim, yet powerful, in short a real notebook, then an ultra-portable is for you. We must caution you though-ultra portables are generally costlier than a similar-specification-bearing "regular" notebook.

Features
The vanilla-plain ACI Dimiq 1200 and the boxy HCL W9504 PMP730 are (you guessed it!) the simpletons of the ultra-portable world. The Compaq Presario B1950 is also rather plain-jane, though we must say the build quality of all three models is quite good.

Sony Vaio SZ 483N/C
The ultimate mobile powerhouse

If we could reward outright beauty, we'd have to have cataracts in both eyes not to accolade Sony for the raw sex appeal exuding from the Vaio SZ483N. An absolutely gorgeous-looking hunk of carbon fibre-yes, real carbon fibre-and brushed aluminium alloy encompasses some of the fastest hardware you'll see under a 12.1-inch form factor. This laptop is also ultra-light, courtesy the carbon fibre, and has brilliant ergonomics. Placement of switches and even keypad layout is typically Sony-precise. The only sore point with the ergonomics is the mushy keypad; there is also excessive key travel. The presence of biometrics security via a fingerprint scanner is another utilitarian feature, and we found logging in very convenient-no passwords, just a finger-swipe.

Equally brilliant is the Stamina mode, something the Vaio series proudly sports. There's a switch provided, right next to the Wi-Fi on/off switch that actually switches between Intel onboard graphics and an NVIDIA 7400 Go solution, with a system restart of course.

ASUS' W5Fe is another standout looker with a secondary 2.8-inch LCD screen embedded in the laptop cover. This tiny screen can be used to control a media player. Incidentally, using this screen doesn't eat up system memory: it has 1 GB of Flash memory all to itself. ASUS is to be commended on the brilliant touchpad and keypad feedback.

LG's X-Note C1 looks neat-it's a tablet-PC-type swivel. This is misleading (fooled us!) as it isn't a tablet PC (no touch-screen). The quality of build is good, and though keypad feedback is very good too, the keypad itself isn't too well laid-out. Still, it was heartening to see this sturdy little contestant sport a Core Duo processor with a gigabyte of RAM and a GeForce 7300 Go graphics solution.

Compaq's Presario B1950 had an ace up its sleeve that some of the costlier HP models couldn't match-its touchpad has a matte finish unlike the smooth finishes on the DV6226tx and DV9223tx, and therefore provides more feedback and greater accuracy while scrolling.

Performance
Although performance is definitely not the forte of ultra-portables, prepare to be shocked when you look at the figures the ultra-thin, ultra-light Sony Vaio SZ 483N chalked up. Sporting a top-of-the-line series T7400 Core 2 Duo and a GeForce 7400 Go solution, this notebook is eminently suitable for all your mobile computing needs. The white LED display is crisp and clear, and working with Windows Vista Ultimate was a pleasure. Add to the equation a massive 160 GB hard drive under that tiny hood, and you'll learn to overlook that Rs 1,24,990 price tag. The Vaio SZ483N also has an excellent wireless solution, and a bandwidth of 2.36 MB/s is enough for even the heaviest browsing and downloading.

A surprise performer was the tiny 10.6-inch-screen-bearing X-Note C1 from LG. With a Core Duo processor that admittedly isn't in the Vaio's league, and a modest GeForce 7300 Go GPU under the hood, this notebook is a great performer too.

The only other laptop that clung to these two leaders was the ASUS W5Fe, whose tenaciousness has to be seen to be believed, considering the lack of dedicated graphics. The ASUS does outscore the X-Note C1 as storage space goes, however.

Among the performance minnows, the Dimiq 1200 fights a valiant albeit doomed-from-the-start battle against the Presario B1950 and the HCL W9504. It's placed last.

The Conclusion
Our hearts prevailed here. The gorgeous Vaio SZ483N wins our Best Buy Gold award by a mile and then some! Seriously, take a look at our tables, and you'll see nothing even comes close to the Vaio in this category: a surefire case of done and dusted. This laptop should be the ultimate weapon of choice for the discerning road warrior.

The next-best thing according to us, and our Best Buy Silver winner, is ASUS' funky and functional W5Fe, at a price of just under a lakh.

If you want something reasonably fast in this category but aren't willing to shell out a penny over 50K, the Compaq Presario B1950 is definitely worth taking a long look at. It's got all the features, it's light, ergonomic, and has a great touchpad-all this in a sturdy body that isn't too hard on the eye. Though definitely not a showstopper, it gets the job done.

ASUS W5Fe
Two screens-we love it!

As funky as the LG X-Note C1 is, we don't recommend busting 100 grand on something so frivolous when at 25K more, Digit's Golden Boy can be yours!

Lifestyle Notebooks
Ever feel proud driving down an expressway in your new Honda City only to be overtaken and dusted by a two-bit kid in a BMW M3? While we don't earn enough to be in either drivers' shoes, we understand (really!) how either one would feel. For people who really wish to wear their attitude, we've got not one but five of these babies, just in case you happened to be on the losing side of our analogy.

Just ASUS and HP make it to this category, where flaunt takes equal ranking with quality-and, of course, performance. Each of these laptops is different in a big way. They are targeted at different audiences.

Features
The largest, TFT-wise, is the 17.1-inch HP DV9223tx-a massive laptop that looks the proverbial Goliath to the ultra-portable Davids. Top-quality material and build is something we've come to expect from HP now, and this laptop epitomises it all. The black piano finish is classy, and the same, subtle rice-field-style design we spoke about on the HP DV6226tx is present here. Once again, a set of blue backlit touch controls give a dash of colour to the functionality. In fact, there are more such controls, given the larger surface area HP had to play around with. The speakers are once again Altec Lansing, and once again excellent. The key travel is a little more than we'd like, and the slippery touchpad we have (sigh!) learnt to live with. Once again, a Media Center remote is bundled-couch potatoes, take heed!

ASUS G1S
Great for gaming, multimedia

ASUS' G1S looks like a large hunk of plastic with a carbon fibre top. This is an all-thrills, some-frills gaming laptop that is very clear about its reason for existence. Though not built on slim, attractive lines, the G1S isn't meant to be so, going instead with the beefy look. Pandering to the frag-happy fraternity is no easy task, but ASUS has been up to the challenge for some time now. The G1S uses a lot of green from the embedded dual fluorescent LED strips down each side of the cover to the very green-looking ASUS symbol for gaming, that for all the world looks like an "eye" to us to liven up things. There's a G2S, too, not tested here, that comes with blood-red lighting and matching colour tones.

That said, the G1S has a lovely, spacious keypad that returns brilliant feedback. The only issue is the misleading markings on the small Shift keys: we kept hitting the wrong key as a result. The matte-finished touchpad returns sweet feedback, and is smooth enough to not fatigue your finger while scrolling around during prolonged use. Equally nice are the play buttons on the front, mounted atop a grey steel bezel. Not so classy is the fluorescent green surrounding the webcam-a little overdone in our collective opinion. Incidentally, the G1S has a terrific set of speakers for a laptop.

The ASUS Lamborghini VX1 has a hood-umm, lid-just like its namesake. Did we mention it even looks like the famous automobile? With excellent materials and build quality, the VX1 is simply stunning, supermodel stuff, but then it has a pedigree to live up to! Once again an excellent keypad layout; brilliant feedback on both the keys and the touchpad make this laptop a pleasure to work with. The material on the palm rest area (some sort of buffed metal) is even better than HP's excellent piano finishes. The screen is a gorgeous 1400 x 1050 pixels, the highest-resolution TFT in this test.

ASUS' S6F is as tiny as its brothers are large. In fact, this would make a champion ultra-portable. It's small enough to pass off for a ladies' handbag, and the leather coating simply lulls your senses into believing it's little more than just that-a fancy handbag! Then there are the jewelled hinges and the ultra-attractive indicator LEDs for various functions. We also liked the unique coating on the keypad, and the dark grey really looks good. If any laptop was meant to look like a fashion accessory, this one looks the part. The screen, though tiny, is nonetheless crisp, and the keypad and touchpad work beautifully.

HP's TX1016au looks like it just stepped off a Versace ramp. Decked out in silver and black finery, the TX1016au is a Tablet PC complete with a swivelling screen, a bundled pen (no smudgy fingers on me please!), a wireless remote, and (oh joy!) a biometric device (fingerprint scanner). The swivel is extremely well-built: excellent fit and finish. The keypad is sufficiently tactile, although we didn't like the tiny Shift keys. The touchpad, which is sieve-patterned (heavily dimpled) returns ample feedback, but will result in a sore fingertips after extended use.

Performance
Based around Intel's latest Crestline (965PM) chipset, the ASUS G1S puts an Intel T7300 CPU and 2 GB of memory to proper use. The graphics solution is what any gamer worth his salt will be interested in, however, and with a GeForce 8600GT with 256 MB of integrated DDR3 memory, the G1S ripped through all our game benchmarks. As 136-odd frames in Doom 3 testify, this laptop can be used for gaming at reasonably high resolutions on most of the current crop of games.

The DV9223tx features the next-best graphics card-a Go version of NVIDIA's GeForce 7600 with 512 MB of video memory. Although not in the G1S' league, this is the second-fastest gaming solution from among all the categories. Both the VX1 and the GS1 feature blazing processors, though none of the other three could be termed slow. The only AMD solution was on the TX1016au, a Turion X2 TL 60 that will handle all the processing you can throw at it without breaking into the proverbial sweat. An integrated graphics solution of the GeForce Go 6150 cadre ensure this is no slouch in the multimedia department either. The DV9223tx manages to conceal a whopping 320 GB of storage space in its admittedly large shell.

The ASUS S6F lags behind even the TX1016au, but who's noticing anything behind all that leather anyway? Even though the TX1016au lags behind the group, it's not what you could term a slowcoach. Unless you plan on serious gaming, the TX1016au should pull through most applications.

The Conclusion
There were two very serious inter-brand rivalries throughout our tests as ASUS and HP fight it out, with neither willing to give ground to the other, and any victories won were extremely hard-fought! At the top, the G1S goes the distance with the DV9223tx. What it gains in performance, it loses on features. They end up within 0.5 points of each other. The second battle takes place a couple of rungs lower as the VX1 takes on the TX1016au-these two boys also finish within a point of each other.

The little S6F loses out on performance points, but is nonetheless a powerful mobile platform in a tiny shell.

After some debate, we decided that since it was such a closely-fought contest, there should be two Gold awards, and no Silver. The ASUS G1S (Rs 99,000) and the HP DV9223tx (Rs 89,990) both win the Digit Best Buy Gold award.

If you want something fashionable that is guaranteed to get drool out wherever you go, the TX1016au is something you should seriously look at. Not only is it brilliantly-priced for a dual-core laptop with 2 GB of memory, you get a host of nifty add-on functions-biometric security, a touchscreen and a tablet form factor (swivel), and a backlit array of touch buttons for media playback.

The ASUS Lamborghini is for those who aspire towards the car but fall short by a million-odd dollars. It's costly, but then you get to flaunt the badge at a tiny fraction of the price. It's fast, too, and extremely functional. We'd have loved to indulge in this sinful fantasy, but at Rs 1,77,000 (the yellow version costs a shade under Rs 2,00,000), even organ-donating won't make up the deficit…

Closing Thoughts
Notebook computers have taken strong steps towards becoming adequate processing powerhouses. While they still aren't in the Desktop league and perhaps will never be-as the yardstick for Desktop performance also keeps increasing-they can easily compete on processing power, be it CPU or GPU, with the best Desktops of three years ago. They've become customisable too, with vendors offering a choice of components.

Intel's current Core 2 Duo based platform, the Santa Rosa, has brought with it a host of new, powerful features-as well as price cuts throughout Intel's older chipset line-up, namely the Napa and Sonoma platforms. Intel has chosen to go the platform way, offering the Centrino as a three-part solution consisting of the processor, the chipset, and the wireless solution. AMD chooses a different path by offering just the processor, and leaving it up to the vendor to choose the chipset and other components. With the current range of Core 2 and Core processors, it seems Intel's platforms are suddenly formidable, and if sales figures are any indication, Intel has been steadily encroaching on AMD's notebook market share ever since the Core 2 Duo. Santa Rosa offers a staggering number of features, which includes wireless 802.11n support, Vista-supporting display adapters, and an 800 MHz bus with low power states. (Santa Rosa is also known as Centrino Pro.)

HP DV9223tx
Full-fledged entertainment

Further on the horizon lurks Montevina, scheduled for a 2008 second quarter release, and support for the upcoming Penryn range of processors with power consumption figures in the range of 29 W on the 45nm fabrication process.

AMD has been cooking up the successor to their Kite and Kite Refresh platforms in the form of their upcoming Turion platform, which will feature more energy-efficient Turion X2 processors, possibly on a smaller fabrication. Support for the emerging 802.11n, HyperFlash, and Hybrid Hard Drive support, along with support for faster memory, is also on the cards. AMD's Fusion processors are also expected in 2009, and this should also cause a chipset overhaul.

With Vista and its heavy Aero interface already being bundled with most notebook computers these days, and the ever-increasing army of resource-hungry applications emerging, we'll soon need every bit of processing juice manufacturers can muster.

Chic Tech

2008-10-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

What do women want?We take a look into the minds of techsavvy women to find out what they want to buy, and why

"Ooh, look: a pink laptop! I want!"
"Computers are so boring… I'd rather be out shopping!

Sound familiar? All guys (or should we say MCPs) should immediately identify with this. Much of what follows will be a pin-prick deflating a lot of male egos. Technology has fallen as the last remaining bastion of male dominance. Two of every 10 of you reading this article is female. That's the impressive demographic of our readers, given the fact that we certainly aren't a complete beginner's guide to technology. This fact alone tells us that the gender bias of technology is ending, if it hasn't already.

Between three and four years ago, technology companies found themselves in a quandary. While trying to sell their products, apparently, salesmen (or should we say salespeople?) often took it for granted that female customers knew nothing of tech. This resulted in a loss of sales, because no-one, male or female, likes to be treated like a clueless moron. It was found that salespeople who treated men and women alike, and only explained features when they were asked for an explanation, were the ones who sold the most. Thus began the end of sexism in all things tech.

Women today are coding much of the software we use, running tech companies, playing games, and are as tech-savvy as can be expected. We conducted a survey of as many women we knew-from engineers to artists, dancers to technical writers, teachers to beauty queens. In what follows, we hope to give all of you a better picture of how women use technology, and get a feel for how tech-evolved they really are.

Harshini Shah, a Client Service Executive from Mumbai, perhaps puts it best: "Men are more interested in gadgets than women are, but times are changing. Currently, we women use technology purely for basic convenience. Take the case of a cell phone: paying extra for features such as Bluetooth, GPRS, etc., does not seem logical to us-unless we're going to use them. However, a phone with radio or MP3 support has become more of a necessity than a luxury to us, and we'll pay for it."

Too many men, on the other hand, buy stuff and features they don't really need-because of the "cool" factor. Men just seem to have a higher level of inquisitiveness. Whether that's a good or bad thing, we'll let you decide for yourself, but we men will sit and read manuals, and open up every screw, just to see what's underneath. Women-at least the ones we spoke to-are just happy when things work. They prefer to use and create only when necessary, and do not have the curiosity to take apart and see what makes something tick. Which is something you know, and which is a perfectly okay thing.

Anything But Pink
During our interviews, we found that women hated being stereotyped not just by men, but by companies as well. We asked them all whether they would be inclined to buy products targeted at women: pink MP3 players, or phones with calorie calculators, or a menstrual cycle time-table. This elicited an emphatic "No!" from most. Although looks were important to all the women we polled, all of them hated the clichÃ©d women-only colour combinations of the devices targeted at them. As for calorie and menstrual cycle watchers, none of the women thought it too practical. Some did agree that they would like those features in their phones, so long as the devices were not pink or purple. Yes, that's right-and we believe manufacturers should take note.

We also quizzed the women about the importance of various parameters of personal devices, and asked them to rate Looks, Features, Price, Performance, and Customisability-in decreasing order of importance-when it came to a buying decision. The results? Features won by a landslide. Looks came next, then performance and price tied for third, and customisability came in last.

Loveleen Pasricha, a Sr. Image Manager at Media Solutions, Delhi, says, "The first thing to look for is whether I need the gadget. Next I look at the features it has, and try to find the best combination of the features I need and the most affordable price."

Software
When it comes to software, which is perhaps what all of us in the digital age use the most, the consensus was "easier to use." Of the ladies we spoke to, those who use Microsoft Office at work or home all seemed to have only praises for the MS Office suite. When asked how they would like software to be improved, a lot of women cited Office 2007's metamorphosis as significant-because a lot of features that were earlier hidden were now revealed. Interestingly, when we at Digit first started using the Office 2007 beta and trials, we found that the men resisted the changes more. Women seemed to adapt to it a lot faster. Today, of course, we all love the Ribbon, regardless of gender.

My favourite software would have to be iTunes, because it's user friendly and I'm addicted to podcasts. I also love software that is skinnable and customisable. As for gadgets, I look for features and value for money; looks aren't really that important. I don't think gadgets and gizmos are targeted at just men anymore; I think they're unisex, and targeted more at different age groups."
Sarah-Jane Dias. Miss India World 2007

Gadgets Galore
Our little survey told us that most women have computers at home, and it seems laptops are the preferred PC solution. Some had both laptops and Desktops, while a minority had only a Desktop: roughly 70 per cent had laptops, and 20 per cent of those also owned Desktops (though the Desktops were all older models). This is consistent with the sales figures for increased laptop sales that all PC vendors are reporting-so women are right up there with changing technology trends.

Absolutely no surprise was the fact that everyone we polled owned a cell phone-men, women, children. Nokia was the popular choice, with a few Sony Ericssons thrown in, and hardly any of the others. However, interestingly, the majority of those who had bought a phone in the last two years made sure it had MP3 playback and camera functionality. Music and camera phones are the order of the day, with radio functionality coming in a close third.

The only exceptions to the music phone rules were those who own a portable media player. Again, no prizes for guessing which was the most popular: the iPod. Though there were a few who owned a Creative or a Philips portable media player, they're grossly outnumbered by iWomen…

Gaming
The women we polled admitted to only casual gaming. Cell phones and PCs were the favourite platform, followed by those addictive iPod games. Only a handful had a gaming console at home, and even then it was mostly because of the presence of a male sibling. However, almost 5 per cent had no male siblings, and still owned a gaming console. A wild guess tells us that this is not radically lower than the figures for males in India.

Cynthia Dsouza (Mumbai) and Loveleen Pasricha (Delhi) both have gaming consoles at home, and no male siblings that we could attribute this phenomenon to. They both just love their gaming, especially racing games, and spend over three hours a week on them-a lot when you consider that they're not college students but working professionals. Incidentally, Cynthia owns a PS2 and an Xbox 360, while Loveleen has a PS2 and a PSP; both are looking forward to buying a PS3.

F1
We have a joke going about the office about when a female colleague was asked to restart the computer by the System Admin over the phone. After several repeated calls, the admin went down to her floor to see what was wrong and found her switching her monitor on and off, trying to reboot! This was quite a few years ago, but perhaps we still tell such stories because we at Digit consider ourselves alpha-geeks, which automatically brings with it our chauvinism. But enough rambling...

Here's what some of the ladies had to say about software, and what they want/expect from it

"I love the user friendly tutorials and wizards that software have incorporated today. This makes it easy for anyone to accomplish tasks."

-Karina Noble,

A teacher of Indian,

origin in Canada

"I just want software that does not crash and gets the job done quickly and efficiently."

-Loveleen Pasricha,

Sr. Image Manager,

Media Solutions,

New Delhi

"I use Picasa for pictures and iTunes for music. Anything that's easy to use is good software."

-Harshini Shah,

a Client Service Executive,

Maximus, Mumbai

"We professionals have no problems, but software should be designed to make it easier for those new to technology-men or women."

-Diana McGowan,

Executive Director,

Education Abroad,
Australia

"Software should be easy to use. The whole software industry has a long way to go, when it comes to easy adoption for the masses."

-Romasha Roy
Choudhury,

Business Director,

Cynapse, Mumbai

What we're getting at is that women are generally the butt of technology jokes, and we found that there just isn't enough justification left to continue telling them. Today, hordes of both men and women are employed in the BPO / services industry, and more often than not, when you dial a helpline, you get a woman on the other end helping you with your problem. It makes us wonder whether the women in this industry tell jokes about technology-challenged male callers!

When they require help with something tech-related, most of those we quizzed admitted to using one of three solutions: dialling the manufacturer's helpline, using the age-old dial-a-geek-friend service, or searching online for help. Of the three, looking for solutions online is the least popular, and most had male geek friends on speed-dial. However, this happens to only be true about PC troubleshooting. Purchase decisions are a completely different matter.

Buying Advice
When it comes to buying PCs most admitted to asking friends or family for help-mostly males. Some just depend on their system assembler, or base buying decisions on ads. For laptops, the general consensus is that branded products cannot be bad anyway, so you're pretty safe just buying the latest model that falls within your budget. Most owned Core Duo- or Core 2 Duo-based laptops, with Windows XP being the most popular, but quite a few were running Windows Vista.

The scenario is quite different when buying personal products such as cell phones or MP3 players. Harshini says, "I'm usually the one who gives buying advice to my female friends. If I need advice myself, I generally speed-dial one of my male geek buddies, because none of my women friends know much more than me about technology."

Karina Noble prefers to follow her own decisions, as does Mousumi Chatterji, a technical writer at LionBridge, Mumbai. Mousumi says, "I try and buy things on my own, and do the necessary research. I don't want to end up blaming someone else if I don't like what I buy." A colleague of Mousumi, Sharada Menon, also prefers to buy things on her own after visiting the manufacturer's Web site and looking for features and reviews online.

Interesting here is the fact that most of the women insisted that they weren't rash or impulsive shoppers-not for technology, that is. They preferred to first read about the product, ask either friends who already owned the same model, and even spend as much as an hour with the gadget (most often a mobile phone) at the retail outlet before putting any money down.

Net Anywhere
Quite a few of those we polled used their mobile service providers for Net access when away from their desks. GPRS seems to be the favoured protocol. When asked what they do online, 95 per cent of the answers contained the word "chat." Most of the ladies have Yahoo!, MSN, or Google Talk. Social networking is popular; Orkut and Facebook account for most of the surfing bandwidth.

Other activities involve using the PC for work, researching things for their respective jobs, playing games.... Mousumi says, "I am fascinated by Microsoft Office and Adobe and Flash MX. When I'm not working, I'm usually dabbling in SEO for friends."

Also very common were Reliance or Tata data cards, which you just plug into your laptop's PCMCIA and then stay connected.

So What Does It All Mean?
What it all boils down to is the fact that women are a lot more tech-savvy than we give them credit for. Some may call our data skewed, though, because we only polled the middle and upper-middle class. We did this because the majority of women in this class have the education and money to be able to purchase tech products and services-and thus the biggest female target audience of manufacturers.

Currently, both software and hardware seem to be heading in the right direction-by just demystifying technology, making it simple to use and understand. Everyday technology, or consumer technology, which is what most manufacturers are focused on, seems to already have piqued the interest of the fairer sex. Down with pink products, we say-quite happily.

D-Link DSL-2640T Wireless G ADSL2+ Router

2008-10-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

Decent for a small network

The D-Link DSL-2640T is a three-in-one device—an ADSL modem, a 4-port router, and a wireless access point all packaged in stylish silver-grey plastic.

The D-Link DSL-2640T is just what you need if you have more than one computer and need to share your ADSL broadband connection. It is ADSL2/2+ compliant, and is therefore capable of theoretical download speeds up to 24 Mbps. 802.11 b/g wireless capability allows it to transmit data at up to 54 Mbps. The 4-port fast Ethernet switch lets you connect four computers to it, and you can also add a few laptops to your home network using the integrated Wi-Fi access point.

You can set up the DSL-2640T in a jiffy. The easy-to-understand browser interface has a Wizard that puts you in the driver’s seat and lets you configure the router the way you want. Security has not been neglected either, with support for enhanced wireless security using WPA and WPA2. The integrated firewall with NAT, SPI, and DoS capabilities further strengthen the safety of your PC from hackers. You can even block out offensive URLs or complete domains.

Though we could not test the ADSL performance, we tested the Wi-Fi capabilities of the device. Scores were average compared to the other two ADSL routers we tested earlier this year. It could transfer sequential files at a rate of 1.22 MBps in the closest zone, while it managed 0.55 in the farthest zone, putting it a shade ahead of the ASUS WL-600G but a step behind the Netgear DG834G as far as overall performance is concerned.

D-Link has provided an ADSL splitter so you can connect the telephone line to the router and still not miss a call. The accompanying CD contains a manual and a Wizard that are good enough to ease any of your worries about installing the device. In sum, this is a decent ADSL router for setting up a small office or home network.

Specifications
ADSL/ADSL2 compliant; Ports: 1 x ADSL RJ-11 for 24/26 AWG twisted pair telephone wire, 4 x 10/100 LAN RJ-45; Wi-Fi standard: 802.11b/g

RATINGS
Performance  3.5
Features  3.5
Build Quality  4
Value for Money  4.5
Overall  4
Price : Rs 4,300 (plus taxes)

One Thing Too Many

2008-10-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Want to print,scan,fax,copy all at once? Enter the Jacks of all Trades; join us as we search for the Master

Last year, we had estim We had assumed last year that inkjet MFDs would soon dwindle out in the face of the falling prices of laser devices; turns out that this was not to be. In fact, the market still teems with inkjet devices as it did year ago. Inkjet printers still rule the photo printing roost - laser printers can only dream of coming even close.

We've divided our contenders into Home, Office and Professional, based on their price and the features they offer.

Home MFDs
MFDs are not really meant for home use - at least that's what you're told - but with prices rivalling those of inkjet printers, we see MFDs making their way into homes as well.

The MFDs in this category cost below Rs 6,000, and lack features such as Fax, since this is not of much importance to home users. We selected five MFDs: one each from Brother (DCP-130C), Canon (PIXMA MP160) and Lexmark (X1270), and two from HP (Deskjet F380 and Photosmart C3188) to test in this category.

Features
Printing
An MFD's primary and most important function is printing. The Brother MFDs use piezoelectric technology to fire ink drops onto the paper surface as against the thermal technology employed by Canon, HP and Lexmark.

The Brother and Canon MFDs come with four separate ink cartridges - one each for black, cyan, magenta and yellow - this is economical if you end up emptying the tank of one single colour. With a two-cartridge (one black and one for all three colours) system, you have to replace the colour cartridge even if the other colours haven't been spent.

Barring the Canon PIXMA MP160 - which has a paltry input tray paper capacity of just 20 sheets - all the other MFDs accommodate 100. Though this is not a very important thing at home, a higher capacity certainly doesn't hurt.

Scan, Copy, Fax
All the MFDs feature 48-bit flatbed scanners capable of scanning A4 size documents. A scanning resolution of 600 x 1200 is the most common, but the HP MFDs have better resolutions of 600 x 2400 and 1200 x 2400 - the HP Deskjet F380 and the HP Photosmart C3188 respectively.

You can scan directly to a destination on your PC (like an e-mail or image management application) from the Brother DCP-130C and Lexmark X1270, something which the rest of the MFDs in this category couldn't do. These MFDs also came with image editing and OCR software.

Canon PIXMA MP160.
Performance plus good value

Copying is a breeze with all the MFDs supporting colour as well as black-and-white copying. Except the Lexmark, all the MFDs support multi-copying. The Brother DCP-130C supports 99 copies in this mode, which is the highest among MFDs across all categories. The Lexmark and HP F380 do not have indicators to indicate the number of copies.
Fax and Automatic Document Feeding (ADF) were absent in all, but they are not missed much.

Build Quality And Other Features
The Canon MP160 has a flimsy scanner lid, which seems to be easily susceptible to damage. The Lexmark didn't seem too sturdy either, but at least the scanner lid is a tad better than the Canon's. Brother and HP have commendable build quality. It is relieving that none of the MFDs have trays sticking out, so there's no possibility of breaking one.

The Brother DCP-130C has the smallest footprint and is very compact but is still the heaviest, so shifting it around the house will be a bit annoying.

While the HP F380 and the Lexmark do not feature any LCD interface, Canon MP160 has a 7-segment display - something is better than nothing at all. Brother has a one line LCD display which provides you all the necessary information, while HP Photosmart C3118 has an icon-based display which is also very easy to understand.

The Brother DCP-130C comes loaded with media features such as support for a variety of memory cards and PictBridge. The HP Photosmart C3188 being a proper photo MFD, has buttons to Reprint photos as well as proof sheets. Interestingly, it features memory card slots but not PictBridge!

Performance
Printing
The Canon PIXMA MP160 prints really fast - the normal quality text document printed in 9.3 seconds flat. It was also the fastest in printing the combi-document at normal quality. Even while printing at the highest speeds, it prints exceptionally well. The edges of the text are crisp and the ink does not blot the paper even in high quality. When printing at the best quality, the HP F380 and Lexmark are the slowest. The Lexmark is the slowest with photo printouts as well. The Canon MP160 and HP C3188 have excellent photo print quality, and the Brother produced a print that looked faded - its "photo MFD" title does not reflect in its quality.

Scanning And Copying
While 200dpi black-and-white scan times were around the same for the devices, the difference became more evident at higher resolutions and in full colour. Lexmark slowed down the most in this case, while Canon was the least affected.

HP Photosmart C3188 All-in-One
A value photo MFD with good features

The scans produced by both HP MFDs, seemed to have problems distinguishing between adjacent shades in the light and the dark colours. The rest could produce scans of acceptable quality.

The copy quality of Canon MFD was the best, followed by the HPs. All in all, none of the MFDs was particularly disappointing and copies are good enough to save you a trip to the photocopy centre in a crunch.

How We Tested

The Test Rig
Our test machine is fairly entry-level - a Intel Pentium 4 560 3.2 GHz processor on a Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 motherboard with 1 GB of 533 MHz DDR2 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT graphics card, and a 120 GB 7200 rpm ATA IV Seagate Barracuda hard disk. We used Windows XP with SP2 as the OS.

Media used
Text/combi-document printouts: 100 gsm (grams per square metre) paper from Berga (A4 size) Photo printouts: 160 gsm glossy photo paper from Novajet (A4 size)

Features
We look for features such as PictBridge, memory card readers, fax, input tray capacity, number of cartridges and so on for the device in general. For the scanner part, we've considered the maximum scan resolution, bit depth, scanner type and the presence of automatic document feeders (ADF). For the copier aspect, we want the ability to work as a standalone device, the maximum number of pages that can be printed in multi-copy mode, reducing or enlarging a copy, and so on, were noted.

The Printer Tests

We use a text document to test the raw print speeds of the printer part of the MFDs. To test the ability of the MFDs to handle the various aspects of a regular document, we create a combi-document, with a mixture of black text, graphs and images. We test print quality at Normal and Best for the combi-document, and just Best for photo prints. We also clocked the time taken in each case.

The Scanner Tests
To test the scanners for speed, we scan an A4-size image five times and average the time taken for each scan - the scanners start out cold, so we need to compensate for the warm-up time.

We import the same image at 150 dpi and 600 dpi in Adobe Photoshop CS2, and scan a full text document in black-and-white at 200 dpi. The scanner then undergoes a test to determine its colour differentiating abilities using a Kodak IT8 card with different shades of colour - each a little different from the preceding one. Next, we use the resolution chart - a chart with five boxes with parallel lines packed very close, and each subsequent box with lines packed more densely. We scan the resolution chart at 300 dpi. This test gives us a measure of the scanner's capability to capture minute details - whether it's able to discern between the lines or not. Finally, an OCR test to checks the scanner's ability to differentiate light and dark areas: a print article is scanned into ABBYY Fine Reader Pro 8.0 PE, and checked for wrongly-interpreted letters. We then count the number of misinterpreted characters.

The Copier Tests
We copy the text document in black and white, and the combi-document in colour, and rate the MFDs on their speed and print quality.

Office MFDs
MFDs have always been used more for offices, where it is always better to have a single device and save on space. So it is no wonder that half of the total number of MFDs that we tested, came under the Office MFD category.

In the price range of 6000 to 10000, we tested nine MFDs in this segment - two from Brother (the DCP-330C and MFC-240C), Canon PIXMA MP460, four from HP (the Officejet 4355 All-in-One, Officejet 5610 All-in-One, Officejet 5680 All-in-One, and Photosmart C4188 All-in-One) and Lexmark X4270.

Features
Printing
The HP and Lexmark MFDs have two ink cartridges, while the Brother, Canon and Epson have four each. This is a very good feature for offices, where this MFD will have no downtime due to an empty cartridge.

The Input paper tray capacity for all the MFDs is 100 and this is more than enough in a moderately sized office with moderate workload.

Scan, Copy And Fax
For the price, the HP Officejet 4355 and Lexmark X4270 pack in a lot of features. The 4355 boasts a good scan resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi. The Lexmark X4270 is a direct competitor, but has a lower scan resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi. The gripe in both cases is that these feature a sheet-fed scanning element and are therefore slower than their flatbed counterparts. There is also the chance of documents getting crumpled in the scanner. Fax , complete with handset, is also part of the parcel in the above two MFDs. The HP 4355 can create up to 200 copies, which is the largest number in the entire MFD line-up in this test.

HP Photosmart C4188 All-in-One
Performance matches features

The HP C4188 and 5610 feature high-resolution scanning at 1200 x 2400 dpi, enabling them to pick up even the fine print from documents. The Brother DCP-330C and HP C4188 have flatbed scanners while the HP 5610 has the option of sheet-fed scanner too. A sheet-fed scanner, in conjunction with the automatic document feeder (ADF), relieves you from the task of feeding a number of pages to be scanned - simply stash the paper in the ADF and the device will automatically pick the papers one by one and scan them in proper order without your intervention.

The Epson MFD doesn't have fax, and the Canon PIXMA MP460 has no fax or ADF - a sore point, since these are important features in an office scenario.

Build Quality And Other Features
The HP Officejet 4355 and Lexmark X4270 are extremely compact MFDs - they are built ruggedly overall but the trays that protrude out of these MFDs are a little flimsy and need to be taken care of. Unlike the 4355, whose trays can be folded when not in use, the tray of the Lexmark has to be dismantled and stored separately which is a bit of a pain. The Epson is also built fairly well, though its scanner lid is a little fragile. The Lexmark comes bundled with a 4-port USB hub

Download this Inkjet MFDs pdf file

The HP Officejet 5610, Photosmart C4188 and Brother DCP-330C are all built very well and are good enough to bear the rigours of the office, but the HP 5610 has protruding trays that, though not flimsy, get easily dislodged from the MFD with the slightest force. The HP 5610 is a no-frills, rugged office MFD with a mono LCD, while the C4188 is a photo MFD with special features such as memory card reader, reprint function and a special side input tray to store 4 x 6 photo papers. Both the HP C4188 and the Brother DCP-330C have a swivel colour LCD. The C4188 has a Photo Fix function that lets you apply effects to images on memory cards to improve the print quality.

CANON PIXMA MP460
Quick copies,crips prints

One feature that we liked about all the HP and Brother printers is the fact that their cartridges replacement compartments are conveniently placed on the front left corner and therefore you don't need to poke your hands inside the bay. This is a good design improvement and well won't be surprised to see an increasing number of printers and MFDs incorporating such design. Mono LCD screens were present in the Brother MFC-240C and HP 5680, while the Canon MP460 had a swivelling colour LCD that lets you view photos from a memory card or camera connected to the PictBridge port, and even and resize it. Just like the 5610, the 5680 is a no-frills MFD - just for office use - and therefore does not feature memory card reader or PictBridge.

Performance
Printing
The Epson CX3900 is one of the slowest at black-and-white, normal quality text prints, but it took the same time at the best quality, leaving the HP 4355 and Lexmark lagging behind. The Lexmark was the slowest of all MFDs at photo printing, taking an agonising 18 minutes. These three, the lowest priced in the lot, display black text print quality at par with each other, while in the colour print, the HP and Epson are better, while Lexmark produced prints that appeared sprinkled with ink droplets.

Amongst the Brother DCP-330C and the HP C4188 and 5610, the HP MFDs are the fastest at normal quality text printing, but the 5610 proves the slowest of the three once you enable colour and turn up the quality. Text prints are good with all the MFDs, but the HP C4188 is the best with the combi-document and photos. The Brother MFD does print well, but the colours appear faded - as with all MFDs from Brother.
The Canon PIXMA MP460 is clearly the fastest, and even manages excellent photo quality in that time. This is probably more suited for a small photo studio rather than an office. That said, it does not disappoint with text and the combi-document printing either.

Scanning And Copying
The Lexmark X4270 scans really fast - taking just 9 seconds for black-and-white, but is one of the slowest when it comes to colour scans. The HP 4355 and Epson were slower than Lexmark in the black-and-white scans.

The HP C4188 scans fast in black-and-white, but is a little bit slow in colour, but it captures the shades of colours of the IT8 card very well. The scanner on the Brother DCP-330C is also good, and the HP 5610 falters while distinguishing between adjacent shades in the dark and light colours.

The HP 5680, despite looking similar to the HP 5610, takes up to twice the time to scan a full colour photo at 600 dpi. The fastest among the 5680, Canon PIXMA MP460 and the Brother DCP-240C was the Brother, taking just 13.8 seconds for black-and-white scans. It also captures the most detail in the scanner test among the above three, followed closely by the MP460.

The Canon PIXMA MP460 copies at good speeds - though not at the fastest - and the quality of its copies is so good that it is very difficult to distinguish between the original and the copy at first look. The rest of the MFDs also copy with acceptable quality, and none of them attract any complaints. The Epson and Lexmark are the slowest at colour copies, so they aren't suitable for making copies of your colour presentations if you're in a hurry!

Footnotes

This is not about any particular category of MFD, but about all the MFDs in general and our experiences with them.

For the convenience of users, HP has a Dial-a-Cartridge system in many cities in India. If you run out of ink, you can dial a toll-free number and order a cartridge which arrives at your doorstep.

A general nuance about HP MFDs is the long time that it takes to install the software. On our test rig, it took us 15 minutes on average for all the HP MFDs in the test. Though this is a one-time affair, HP needs to pay some attention to this - it's plagued us for a few years now.

Brother MFDs are good for office - that's what they're meant for - but a peculiar thing we noticed about them is their seming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: they spend around two minutes cleaning the cartridge every time they are switched on for a photo print. Despite that, the colours are faded - we're left wondering what kind of cleaning was done. One more issue we faced with Brother was that none of their MFDs could pick up the 160 gsm photo paper, so we had to replace it with the lighter 110 gsm paper to get things moving.

All the MFDs came with software suites that include photo editing as well as OCR software, so you need not purchase additional software as these are more than sufficient for general needs.

Professional MFDs
The MFDs in this category sport special features such as the ability to print photographs at professional quality, networking, and so on. Prices start at around Rs 15,000 and can go up to Rs 25,000 and beyond. Naturally, these fall outside the realm of SoHos and small businesses.

The heavyweight MFDs in this category are the Brother MFC-440CN, Canon PIXMA MP600, Epson Stylus Photo RX650 and the HP Photosmart C6188 All-in-One.

Features
Printing
Two of the MFDs - Brother and Epson - feature piezoelectric printing, while the HP and Canon MFDs are based on thermal inkjet printing technology.

HP Photosmart C6188 All-in-One
Master of all trades!

While the Brother and Canon had four ink cartridges each (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow), the HP and Epson had six (Black, Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta, Cyan, Light Cyan, Yellow). The extra cartridges are meant to increase the accuracy of the colour reproduction and our tests will verify if this is indeed the case.

Scan, Copy And Fax
The Brother MFC-440CN is expensive - this is probably thanks to the network feature and the huge 400-page fax memory that lets you receive faxes even when you run out of paper. It has a scan resolution of 600 x 1200 dpi, which is the lowest of the lot. The HP C6188 boasts a high scan resolution of 4800 x 4800 dpi, while Epson scans at 3200 x 6400 dpi. The fax MFDs - HP and Brother - featured ADFs and both flatbed and sheet-fed scanners, while the non-fax MFDs - Epson and Canon - had only flatbed scanners.

Needless to say, all support multi-copying - the Brother, Canon and Epson can do 99 copies each, while the HP stops at 50.

Build Quality And Other Features
All the MFDs are very ruggedly built. The only chink in the Brother MFC-440CN's armour its weak input tray. Brother MFDs have been the heaviest in the other categories, but in this category, it is the lightest (though by no means ~light~) at 8.4 kg. The HP is the heaviest at just under 13 kg. The weight is relevant only during the initial setup and isn't a problem later, since these MFDs are not meant to be moved around. Each MFD features a swivelling colour LCD screen that lets you preview images and even apply effects to them.

The control panel on the Canon MFD is hidden under the LCD screen, and also has a unique rotary control wheel (similar to the iPod), which we found very intuitive.

The HP Photosmart C6118 - which is a photo MFD - has a reprint function that lets you restore and make copies from an original photo. All but the Brother MFD also support creating photos from negatives. The HP also has a Photo Fix function, which can apply effects like red-eye reduction to scanned photos before printing.

PictBridge and memory cards were standard fare, though the Epson RX650 supports more memory card standards. The Canon and Epson feature IrDA, so you can print directly from an infrared device like your camera phone. Bluetooth would have been better, since this is de facto now, and faster and more popular than infrared. The HP and Brother featured Ethernet ports that let you use them on a network. HP goes one step further and supports Wi-Fi (802.11g) that allows Laptops and PDA phones to access it.

Performance
Printing
The Canon MP600 seemed to have an insatiable hunger for paper - sheets went in, and normal quality black-and-white prints came out in just 7.8 seconds!. The slowest was the Brother with others falling in between.

Print quality of the MFDs was exceptional, except the Epson, wasn't too special. Photo prints of the Epson are clear and sharp, but overall, prints have a yellow tinge that deviates from the original.

Canon-PIXMA-MP600.
Amazine,life-like photo prints

The Canon and the HP were the best in terms of print quality across the tests, and should be every professional photographer's dream come true.

Scanning And Copying
All the MFDs in this category were good at scanning, but the HP Photosmart C6188 was exceptionally good. It produced the best scans we have seen in this test and takes just 9.1 second for a black-and-white scan. The Epson Stylus Photo RX650 is the slowest, taking over 22 seconds for the same. It also took over three minutes to complete a colour scan, quite obviously the slowest.

Contact Sheet-Inkjet MFDs

Brand	Company	Phone	E-mail
Brother	Brother International (India) Pvt Ltd	40988900	info@brother.in
Canon	Canon India Pvt Ltd	1800-345-33-66	info@canon.co.in
Epson	Epson India Pvt Ltd	1800-425-00-11	sales@eid.epson.co.in
HP	Hewlett-Packard India Sales Pvt Ltd	0124-2566111	kakuni.mahto@hp.com
Lexmark	Cyberstar Infocom	9343661888	sangeeta.nandy@cyberstarindia.com

As before, the Canon MP600 is the fastest and best copier - it reproduces even the finest of details with great accuracy.

Which One To Buy?
In the Home category, the Canon PIXMA MP160 - with the best print, copy and scan quality and fast, at that - is the ~Digit~ Best Buy Gold winner. With its print quality, memory card reader and Photo Reprint function, but no PictBridge, the HP Photosmart C3188 All-in-One takes the ~Digit~ Best Buy Silver in this category.

The populous Office category, was the most competitive. The HP Photosmart C4188 All-in-One has photo printing features like a photo paper cassette, a colour LCD and memory card reader, and also performs well - especially for photo printing. At Rs 7,999, this gets the ~Digit~ Best Buy Gold for the category. With its speed and excellent print quality, the Canon PIXMA MP160 takes the Silver, let down only by its Rs 9,995 price tag.

It's ironic that the winners don't have fax - if it's an essential feature for you, we recommend the Brother DCP-330C and MFC-240C. The Lexmark X4270 and HP 4355 are good if you're on a budget, and if your workload is moderate; the HP 5610 and 5680 will handle bigger workloads better.

Photo printing, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, memory card reader, fax, you name it, the HP Photosmart C6188 All-in-One has it all. Its performance matches its features, and at Rs 15,999, is a very attractive choice for anyone setting up a photo studio. Without a doubt, this is the ~Digit~ Best Buy Gold winner in the Professional category.

The Canon PIXMA MP600 is a stylish MFD that specialises in photo printing. It produces lifelike photo prints - better than those by any other MFD. This MFD manages to produce such results par excellence at the fastest speeds. With a very intuitive interface, this MFD grabs the ~Digit~ Best Buy Silver in the Professional category.

Cooler Master NotePal W2

2008-10-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

Try Something, Accomplish Something Else!
The Notepal W2 from CoolerMaster is a notebook cooler designed to tackle heating issues associated with laptops. We put it through punishment for a month and it comes off with flying colours on many fronts.

The cooler is made out of aluminium, with three holes in the centre, which are covered with a steel mesh. Behind the steel mesh are three 1500 RPM sleeve-bearing fans for ventilation. The laptop sits on the top surface. The surface is concave, thus leaving room for the fans to circulate air between the hot laptop and the aluminium surface.

The aluminium surface is at an angle, which dramatically improves ergonomics when using the notebook on a desk. The relative angle between the laptop keyboard, eyes and the screen becomes more comfortable and reduces strain on the wrists and neck. Our reviewer, who uses his laptop on a daily basis, noted this after using the NotePal W2 for a little over a month.

On the cooling front, we didn’t see any perceptible difference. However, in notebooks with venting on the back, the fans do help in lowering the temperature, but slightly! The fans draw power from the laptop’s USB port. However, the USB hub on the NotePal ensures you don’t lose any ports. The fans can be switched off via the power button—pretty useful it you are sitting in an air-conditioned room.

The NotePal W2 is sturdy, well finished and comes in three colour options—Silver, Black and Titanium. Priced sensibly at Rs 1,400, we recommend it more for its ergonomic advantages than cooling.

RATINGS

Features : 3

Performance : 3.5

Build Quality 4

Value for Money : 3

Overall : 3

Specifications:
Two USB Ports, Dimensions: 40 x 30.8 x 5.1 cm, Fan speed: 1500 RPM +/- 20%, Noise: 21 dBA, Current: 0.1 A, Supports 17-inch laptops including widescreen

Price : Rs 1,400

Shhh... The Show’s Starting.

2008-10-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

A home entertainment system without a good DVD player would be like a soccer match without a football. We’ve tested 16
players, each with somthing unique to offer in the realm of digital entertainment. Here’s where you get to decide which one is the best for you…

We at Digit have always welcomed the dominion of digital entertainment. It’s a realm where hours are spent in blissful leisure, senses tuned in to the wonderful sights and sounds that only a 50-inch plasma screen coupled with a 500W RMS surround sound system can give you. But wait…besides that 5000:1 contrast ratio screen and that 12-inch subwoofer, aren’t you missing something? Unless you intend having your PC in your designer living room (ugh!) you’re stuck for a proper source. Simply put—what do you use to playback all your multimedia content? Well a good DVD player should do the trick. It can’t playback all the formats your Winamp / VLC + PC combination can, but it does look a sight more at home in your living room where aesthetics is everything, and space is a premium ill afforded to such eye sores as an ugly beige box.

DVD players, as we call them for lack of a better term (for they are jacks of many formats and not just masters of one) are in fact one of the hottest selling consumer entertainment products, and having a sleek, black / silver box beneath your TV has become a de facto standard now, up from the status symbol it was years ago during the age of VCRs. DVD players have become the staple of many a movie junkie, and although they can be used for music and photo files as well, their major use was intended as (and is) playback of video. The VCD players of yester year have given way to DVD players—these players play dual layer DVD videos, (called DVD 9), as well as VCDs, as well as the more recent DivX and AVI formats. High Definition (HD) resolutions are supported by some players which will also generally have the designation HD Ready, HD Compliant or such. Although HD formats like TS, MKV and WMV are meant primarily for PCs, even DivX and AVI files can be encoded at HD resolutions like 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p which are the most common resolutions for HD content.

The rear of your DVD player demystified

When buying a DVD player, it’s very important to also decide on the other components of your entertainment setup so as to maintain a synergy between components. Some DVD players come with bundled surround speaker systems like the Moser Baer MBI AV 780, which had a 5.1 setup bundled. For others, you may have to choose a set of speakers (refer to our speaker test in this issue). You will also have to choose a television, while regular 21- and 29-inch CRTs work fine for VCDs, they are unsuitable for viewing widescreen content. Throw in the fact that 95 per cent of all video sources today are widescreen and you have a serious problem of thick black bands appearing on the top and bottom of your CRT TV. Of course, such banding is also common on LCD and Plasma TVs, but it’s a lot better considering most of these TVs have aspect ratios of 16:10.

But that’s another story for another time, without further ado lets get into the thick of our test. Of the 16 DVD players we tested this month there were two very unique players—the LG DP271B and the Moser Baer MBI AV 780, both very different beasts but their exclusivity was enough to warrant them to get their own special box.

How We Tested

We divided our DivX players into the following categories on the basis of the resolution of content playback supported.

1. Native HD resolution players
2. DVD players

Features:
We tested mainly two aspects of features for each player:
1. Connectivity: includes the physical connects present on the player for audio, video and miscellaneous connects

2. Formats supported: includes the codec and format support for audio, video and image files

Performance:
1. Video Playback: we played back VCDs, DVDs, and HD content (on players supporting HD) and checked for video quality. We also checked for skipping of frames, colour reproduction, as well as scanning problems. For HD content we used 720p and 1080p clips

2. Audio Playback: we checked for audio quality on MP3 playback. Our Test MP3s used were encoded from original SACDs at 320 Kbps at high quality settings

3. Image Quality: we used a variety of JPEG files, at different resolutions on our photo CD

4. We also checked the video formats that each player was capable of, in case a format is listed as played, we actually tested to validate this claim

We used a 32-inch 1080p supporting LCD panel from Vu Technologies. Colour, Contrast and Brightness settings on the display were kept constant throughout the test. Progressive Scanning was enabled throughout, as was 5.1 audio. For the Non-HDMI DVD players we used Component as our choice for video, while the HDMI port was used on players supporting it. The Altec Lansing MX5021 was used as our reference for music, while Logitech’s Z5500D was used as while benchmarking videos, 5.1 surround and Dolby DTS 2 were also enabled throughout the video tests.

Audio Test Files:
1. Guns and Roses—November Rain
2. Eagles—Hotel California
3. Eric Clapton—Layla
4. The Corrs—Brid Og Ni Mhaille

Video Test Files (Select Scenes):
1. Transformers (DVD 9 and 720p)
2. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (DivX, 1080p)
3. Sahara (DVD 9)
4. Pitch Black (DVD 9)
5. Underworld (DVD 9)
6. Eragon (VCD)

Images:
Various subjects shot at 7.0 megapixels (Canon A710IS) and 10.0 megapixels (Nikon D40x)

Non-HDMI Players:
Eleven of our test subjects were of the non-HDMI variety and we’ll look at them first. Onida’s Candy was one of the funkiest, and definitely the most chic looking player across all categories. A bright red colour theme—candy red, if you will—extends to the remote control unit as well as the top body of the player. The unique shape like a half cut cake simply adds to the overall look that Onida has tried hard for—cool, young and hip. That aside, the Candy sports all the hardware under its small hood to seriously vie for your hard earned cash. What we really loved was the option for changing country code that was available in the menu system—boon for playing DVD movies manufactured for playback in a different region. Also available, and easily accessible on the brilliant menu system were a lot of settings that are sometimes missing from such player setup menus like the ability to set and adjust Luma, Gamma, Saturation, Dolby compatibility settings, and even the filtering frequency for sound, individual channel volume adjust and channel delay. The Candy’s remote works at very wide angles, and functioned flawlessly at a range of 12 feet, which is more than we can say for some other players. Another nifty feature is noticeable while skipping chapters in a DVD—the Candy displays the total amount of time elapsed and the total duration of the video so you have an additional indicator—a very small boon, but a plus nonetheless.

LG DP271D—No Idiot Box, This

After last month’s PMP test we thought we’d seen it all as far as portable multimedia went. How wrong we were! Enter this little box. The DP271D is a compact DVD player, small and very cute-looking with the same piano-white finish on its lid that some of LG’s XNote laptops have. In fact the entire device looks like a miniature laptop. It’s got an eight-inch LCD screen that swivels much like a tablet PC. Stereo speakers provided on the lid are quite powerful but the housing does take up precious screen space (we figure LG lost an inch in screen size with a wide bezel and large speaker vents). There are two powerful headphone jacks—cosy! The build quality and fit is very good, no squeaks or loose joints, although the buttons feel a little hard, especially the four way navigation button. The menu is very linear, well laid out and intuitive, and rather feature rich. There’s a USB port provided—useful for playing movies off a removable drive, while an AV out ensures you can plug this in to a larger screen. The DP271D has a flip type DVD flap that is worked by a robust spring which we feel will bear the rigours of daily use well. Juice is provided courtesy a 2500 mAh clip on battery pack (much like a laptop), and our tests reveal battery life is good for two DVD movies of 105 minutes each—impressive.

Although the LCD doesn’t look a very quality unit (cost cutting we fear) it seems to do a fair if not great job. Our VCD, DVD and DivX tests found the DP271D a little shy on the full gamut of colours, we conclude the panel is a six-bit TN (Twisted Nematic) type. Other than that, contrast seems OK, although a little smattering of colour was noticeable on darker movies like Underworld. DVDs like Transformers looked very good, and it was easy to tilt the screen to orient the player any way to suit our convenience. The screen orientation can also be changed.

Music quality was pretty good, and the volume level surprisingly good—no PMP can come close to this on speaker volume, the earphone jacks are also adequately powered for most low-impedance headphones / earplugs. For an MRP of Rs 8,490 the DP271D is a good bargain, add to that the fact that you could probably shave off a thousand bucks or so (actual street prices will be lower), and this is a good buy. But it’s not a device for everyone. If you have a PMP and are happy with it, forget this. The hassle of carrying optical media with you will mean this isn’t suitable for short journeys like bus and local rides. However, if you’re going for a weeklong tour, and want to chill in your hotel room and watch a movie before getting some shut-eye, this may be just up your alley.

With very clear DVD playback, no blurriness and distortion noticeable (other than what is normal for viewing DVD content on a large widescreen LCD) the Candy scores big time as a DVD player. VCD quality is about as good as a 352x240 pixel video can look on a 1366x768 resolution screen. The Candy passed our music tests without any hiccups, and without discernable issues. Onida gets their picture quality spot-on with the Candy, and our high-resolution images looked good with acceptable pixelation. After such a good showing on the performance figures we’d have loved to see some more connectivity options like a VGA / DVI connect or even USB—a big plus for those who want to play movies off their portable hard drives and thumb drives. With a six-month warranty, we figured Onida has been a bit stingy—especially at a price tag of Rs 3,400—not expensive for the performance on demand—but we wish it had a one-year warranty. Also, this player will not look at home in a suavely designed living room—it’s got too much attitude, and it shows.

Intex’s N-20VK was one of the plain-jane players—just a cool blue LED that illuminates the drive tray which is made of a translucent fibre based compound. We’re thoroughly tired of the blue lights on PC cabinets, notebooks, external hard drives and now DVD players, and we’re hoping some vendors are reading this! The Intex N-20VK sports a good finish and acceptable build quality—no complaints here. The ¼-inch jack means you can sing along with your favourite MP3s—a neat plus, considering this player is no slouch with MP3s. The N-20VK didn’t do badly at DVDs and we figured that while we’d seen better, we certainly hadn’t seen worse. However, we noticed the this player just lagging behind in some of the tests, and this added up when we looked at the price tag—just Rs 2,800—a lot of player for the price, to be sure, but definitely not the best performance out there. That said, the N-20VK has one terrific plus—a VGA port, meaning you can connect this to your PC monitor as well.

Moser Baer had a trio of players in this test and by far the most striking player was the Black Panther—first of all it’s half the width of a regular DVD player, which may or may not be attractive—it does make the player look a little bulky from the front. To further enhance this effect, Moser Baer has provided this player with high foot pegs—a real eyesore considering the sleek and wide look is in—is different bad? You decide. The Black Panther played back DVDs of any region somewhat like the Onida Candy, but the settings were visible, not changeable. The pathetic remote control unit seemed to have a problem at a distance of more than five feet, and within this distance, even slight angles will obstruct functionality. Other than that, we had no complaints whatsoever—the Black Panther really struts its stuff when it comes to any kind of video playback—all our VCD, DVD and DivX tests went off smoothly and without a hitch, and with good visual quality, minimal pixelation and good contrast. A good player, compact and feature rich, along with great performance—at a price of Rs 2,990, the Black Panther seems to have clawed all the good points into its kitty, it’s the second best performer too. Just make sure to look before you leap...er...buy, because the squat, burly look may not appeal.

Moser Baer MBI AV 780—Just Pop In A DVD

We have reviewed complete entertainment systems before. Such systems are tailored for people who can’t be hassled with component synergy but just want something that is built to perform perfectly together. The MBI AV 780 is an inexpensive attempt at the same—a DVD player plus 5.1 surround speakers bundled into one. The DVD player is the largest amongst all our test candidates, courtesy the inbuilt amplifier. Nevertheless, it’s a solid unit that exudes build quality, and has an attractive front, that looks very busy with quite a few buttons and a knob, and a lot of small print advertising its features. The speakers follow the same grey / black colour tone of the player, and the black mesh grilles on the satellites looks downright classy. The subwoofer felt a little too light to be really effective, it also looks like it has a rather small driver (four inches). The rear speaker cables are long enough for a small hall, but if your player is around 20 feet away from each speaker you’re going to have problems. With auxiliary RCA 5.1 outs and the 6 channel clip type connects for its own speakers, audio connectivity is taken care of. Optical and coaxial outputs are also provided. S-Video, Component and Composite outs should handle all your video needs (no HDMI here). There’s also a jack for an FM radio antenna, and with MW support added, this player is a full-fledged radio. Once again the remote unit although well built and with soft buttons just refused to work unless operated slap bang in front of the player—ridiculous and a very irritating problem, especially for couch lovers.

On the performance front, there wasn’t anything to complain about in the way of video quality and the MBI AV 780 proves that price and performance can coexist peacefully. The audio was somewhat of an issue with the underpowered subwoofer, although the satellites are powerful and movies feel really good, they aren’t for music where their tendency to be piercingly bright is immediately apparent. If its movies you want, the audio will satisfy you, we only wish for more power in the lower frequencies. Issues aside, what we have here is quite simply excellent value for money (Rs 7,490)—a fully ready home theatre. All you need is a large screen to go with it. If you are looking for a good DVD player and 5.1 surround speakers, why not kill two birds with one stone?

The other two Moser Baer players—the MBI 838 and the MB-6988S were very different lookers, the MB-6988S looks slim at first glance, but the bottom part of the body protrudes and so do the foot pegs, spoiling this effect. Luckily it won’t look so bad when placed on a flat surface, especially one that’s below eye level. The MBI 838 is slimmer, but both have equally tacky buttons that are hard to press, a shame, this, and annoying too. Once again, we had a few remote interface issues with these two, but the Black Panther has to take the cake in this regard. The front LCD display on the MB-6988S is bright and very readable but looks a little garish after some time, moreover it doesn’t exude that quality look that the displays on the Samsung and Philips models have. Both these models have USB ports—a real boon when you have all your DivX titles dumped on a 2.5 inch external drive. Even USB drives can be used, although if the drive is too slow, the movie will lag. In fact, any video files VOB (DVD), DAT (VCD), AVI and even MPEG4 can be kept on a thumb drive / external hard drive and watched at your convenience—very nifty and ultra utilitarian. The MB-6988S also supports memory cards like SD / MMC / MS so you can simply pop out your digital camera’s memory card, slot it into this player and enjoy your creations immediately. Of the two, the cheaper (Rs 2,990) MB-6988S impressed us marginally more in a few of the video tests, in other areas we’ll call it a draw. Overall, at the same price as the smaller and better performing Black Panther, the MB-6988S doesn’t make much sense to purchase, unless the lure of a memory card reader and USB port attract you.

Intex N20VK

Besides the excellent Candy, Onida had three other models, the DFX-5957, DFX-5988 and the DFX-5985 priced at Rs 3,100, 3,300 and 3,000 respectively. So the Candy is the most expensive model amongst the foursome and as our performance tests showed, by far the most suited for a quality home entertainment system. All three players sported a sleek look; no ugly protrusions (read foot pegs), and while the DFX-5988 was the best looking, with a steel silver / dark grey body, all three boasted of similar features. We were surprised to see the connectivity options—nothing extra it seems Onida meant for these to be plain vanilla DVD players. After the excellent candy we’d partaken in earlier, this we just couldn’t swallow, no matter how hard we tried. Photo images weren’t very good, and looked the most aliased and pixelated from amongst all the players. In terms of performance, all three DVD players are similar, making the model designations hardly significant (considering the very similar features), and quite simply put, your money is better spent elsewhere.

Onida Candy

Further down the line, two Philips players attracted us with their looks. The build quality that this brand imparts has to be seen to be believed. Smooth, brushed metal, attractive steel grey powder coating, sleek as a wind tunnel-designed thoroughbred, both the DVP3136 and the DVP5150X will draw at least a cursory glance, and that’s while switched off, although the latter is a better looking player. With sleek remote units, that look as good as they function (Ah, the joys of soft, yet firm buttons). Philips has got aesthetics covered to be sure. What we did miss was any sort of PC display connectivity (there’s no VGA). A new incorporation from Philips has been support for DivX Ultra, basically a standard for compatibility of various DivX standards as far as subtitles, sound channels and even the encoded video go. Besides Philips none of the brands in this test had support for this new and emerging standard. Both the players have no support for USB or memory cards, but performed quite well, and a few niggles aside, both make for good components in a home entertainment setup. Although the DVP-5150X costs a thousand rupees extra, besides the outer body finish, this isn’t really noticeable in any way once both get working. The DVP-3136 also supports Hindi as a setup language—a boon to be sure for people who are more comfortable with it. The stereo channels have spring clips, and not RCA ports. Both these players performed very closely to the leaders of the pack—the Candy and Black Panther—although the difference in quality won’t be noticeable unless you have both players running and are discerning enough. At Rs 3,999 and 4,999 for the DVP-3136 and DVP-5150X respectively, economy you will not get; which is the only blemish on an otherwise nearly spotless report card.

Decision Maker

If you’re looking for:

A cheap DVD player that performs adequately then look no further than our Best Buy award winner, the Intex N-20VK. At Rs 2,800 and with a good feature set and performance to boot we’d guarantee satisfaction here.

Something that’s connected, and HDMI and digital audio are your primary needs, but at the same time the player should perform well and equally importantly look good, then Samsung’s DVD-1080P7 will easily do the trick. With sleek supermodel looks and the performance of a thoroughbred you can’t go wrong with this player. Add to that a sweet price of Rs 5,990 and this is your best bet. Did we mention it’s our performance winner in the HDMI player category?

No hassles, a DVD player with complete surround setup. The Moser Baer MBI AV 780 will surely satisfy. It’s got oodles of performance, is reasonably feature rich, and comes complete with subwoofer and punchy satellites all for a modest price of Rs 7,490

Something portable that plays DVDs, and not a PMP. We just may have what the doctor ordered! LGs DP271D is a very compact fully functional DVD player with a very cute remote, and an eight inch LCD screen. Its powerful loudspeaker is much better than any PMP and with two headphone jacks it’s a cinematic experience for two. The good battery life is a plus, and with a number of settings available and very acceptable performance the DP271D bears our highly recommended moniker. The price—Rs 8,490 makes this device an absolute steal. Just remember to carry your DVDs safely!

Samsung’s DVD-P172 was the only player from the Korean giant in this category. The quality of plastics used is top notch. The entire dark grey / black and silver tone goes well, this player suits nearly any décor. We liked the soft-buttoned remote control which Samsung claims will work with any of their flat-screen displays as well. Even the DVD tray exudes quality, a nice slow action, not a jerky motion like most other players. The LED panel has a soft light that is quite easy on the eyes, while retaining legibility. Like the Philips players Samsung also does without memory card and USB connects. In terms of performance, Samsung’s DVD playback quality was as good as we’ve seen in this category, while VCD quality wasn’t a touch behind what we’d call really good. With a good showing on the performance front, a good price—Rs 3,400—and undeniably good looks, the DVD-P172 makes for a good buy especially if both the best performers’ looks fail to inspire you.

Our Choice
Our Best Buy award goes to the Intex N-20VK. Excellent value for money at Rs 2,800, it’s well built, reasonably feature-rich and a decent performer. If you’re on a shoestring, here’s your player. Our best performer in this category is the Onida Candy. A sterling little performer at Rs 3,400 with funky looks that will definitely attract attention (even if it’s the wrong kind). Some may think it garish, some may think the design’s weird, but it puts its critics to rest when you fire up any sort of compatible movie. Moser Baer’s Black Panther also deserves mention here. It’s a little more sober than the eye catching Candy, and marginally trails on the performance front. For Rs 2,990 the Black Panther most definitely deserves to prowl our markets and makes a very good buy if you should decide on something better performing than the N-20VK but cheaper than the Candy.

HDMI Players
This category consisted of just three players spanning three brands. HDMI and HD are big buzzwords in the market—everybody looking for a home entertainment system wants to ride the wave. Very little is known, however, about HD content, and just like any technology in its nascent stages of early growth HD isn’t without its fair share of niggles. On the PC, players like VLC make short work of playing any HD video regardless of resolution or file format, DVD players (even 1080p-supporting DVD players) had issues. Sadly, HD content on these players will only play if the file (mostly AVI format) is actually encoded in a supported HD resolution like 720p (1280x720 pixels, progressive scanned) or 1080i (1920x1080 pixels, interlaced). If the file is encoded at any other resolution, however minute the difference, the DVD player will cough up an error. Since HD videos are best enjoyed on a digital output signal, HDMI is the preferred connect when viewing any high definition content. Note that the HDMI connect will also carry audio signals, and you have to use your television’s audio out to route these to the necessary speakers.

Mitashi’s DHD-911 is a rather plain looker made a little better by the proud brand name embossed on to the top metal cover. The remote control was anything but plain—grey body with bright blue buttons—a little gaudy but we liked it. Buttons are reasonably soft, imparting good positive feedback during use, and the unit works flawlessly at a distance of 12 feet. Connectivity wasn’t on short supply either with the usual HDMI, S-Video, Composite, Component and audio RCA being accompanied by both USB and Memory card support. This would have to be Mitashi’s highlight—the sheer connectivity options, and the other advantage we see is the transparency of settings in the setup menu, very similar to the Moser Baer Black Panther. So what’s the downside here—performance? No! The DHD-911 is an excellent performer, and is highly recommended for any sort of DVD- or HD-viewing—especially at the bargain price of Rs 3,990—it’s a lot of player for the money spent.

Mitashi DHD - 911

Philips’ DVP5986K was the second HDMI ready player we tested and it had quite a few tongues hanging out with its design. The remote was suitably curvaceous and functional for all its looks. For once Philips, dropped in a USB slot—very appreciated. Another nifty feature is the addition of an audio in for karaoke. DivX Ultra support is another little bonus, though it’s not of much use right now. We’d have liked separate RCA audio outs (useful for floor-standing speakers) and an optical out—neither was available. Comparing the DVP5986K to the DHD-911 proved interesting—the former is definitely superior in nearly all the tests, and the margin of victory ranges from hairline to runaway victory. Rs 5,999 isn’t cheap, but neither is the product you acquire for the price. It’s the perfect companion for all your movie entertainment escapades, but read on to finally decide.

On to the final contender and an even better looking player (if that is possible). Samsung’s DVD-1080P7 is an example of metal machined to perfection. Although opinions were divided about the overall winner for the best looking player, the DVP5986K and DVD-1080P7 are both very good looking, and deserve a living room makeover. With a similar remote to its cheaper sibling DVD-P172 (which isn’t a bad thing) the DVD-1080P7 makes no bones about its purpose. A 1080p ready player with HDMI, Samsung forgot to include surround sound RCA connects, so you’ll have to make do with stereo or use 5.1 channel via HDMI—not very convenient, but we’ll reserve judgement for now. This was the only player without USB support; memory card reading facilities were also absent—we’re still being lenient but our patience is being tested now. The remote control was a pleasure to use, but after Mitashi’s transparent menu system, the menus on the Philips and Samsung players do leave a lot to be desired. Oh, they’re well laid out, intuitive even, but they haven’t got the options...

Samsung DVD-1080P7

Performance was by far this player’s forte—with brilliant image, video and sound quality the DVD-1080P7 makes an ideal companion for a high-end home theatre setup. For DVDs and HD content, we haven’t seen anything better—and the HDMI output does really propel the display quality beyond the realms of what Component connects are capable of. At Rs 5,990 this player makes a sensible buy, and we don’t feel cost should be a restraint in this case—given the quality you get. Although the difference in performance between this player and the previous Philips model (DVP5986K) is less than 10 per cent, the price is nearly the same making your decision a no-brainer.

Our Choice:
Our Best Buy award goes to the Mitashi DHD-911—unbeatable at Rs 3,990. It’s got connectivity, features, lots of available settings and great performance to boot. The slightly costly Samsung DVD-1080P7 is all about exclamations when it comes to describing its performance. It’s quite simply the best performer on show here, trailed closely by the Philips DVP5986K. We’re awarding Best Performer to the, well, best performer—the DVD-1080P7 gets its just reward.

BenQ’s range of Joybooks sets new benchmark

2008-10-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

BenQ’s new range of laptops, provide a fusion of visual technology and design excellence

BenQ, a digital network devices brand announced its foray into the laptop segment in India with a range of sleek, designer Joybooks. A perfect fusion of visual technology and design excellence, the new range will offer three distinct models, BenQ S32W, BenQ R43 and BenQ Q41. BenQ Joybooks aim to provide an incredible digital life experience with their UltraVivid Technology and true-to-life display.

BenQ Joybooks are characterized by a variety of design concepts that contribute to their striking and elegant looks. Sure to make an impression on the corporate women, the S32W model has a silver strip with a diamond-cut logo on the outside to match the artistic POP art pattern, 3D image embedded in the svelte aluminum body and a ripple textured touchpad. All these design elements fabricate an elegant appearance for the S32W Joybook model.

The BenQ Q41 Joybook is specially designed for users who seek newer and unique features in their gadgets. The Q41 Joybook model has an auxiliary 2.5 inch screen on the outer panel that allows users to view photos, play games and listen to music even when the Joybook’s lid is closed. The BenQ R43 Joybook comes with a polished deep black lid and a band with an inscribed laminar film that depicts and shines with the city skyline to give the Joybook a shimmering appearance, making it perfect for those who want to add to their glam quotient.

On the launch of the new category, Adrian Chang, President, BenQ Asia Pacific Corp. said, “BenQ has done exceedingly well in the digital lifestyle devices market in the Asia Pacific region and has been witnessing an increasing demand for computing products in India. India is a key market for us and with our entry into the laptop category with our Joybooks, our commitment to add delight to the digital life experience of the users is re-emphasized.”

Lenovo 3000 Y500

2008-10-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

Feature-rich, priced just right

This time we got the chance to test the Lenovo model that plays the role of ~computerji~ in the popular TV serial ~Kaun Banega Crorepati~.

Sporting a silver-metallic finish, the unit is quite sturdy. Weight is 2 kg. Ergonomics-wise, the keys require light strokes and are placed close together, while the generously-sized touchpad feels smooth to work with, and has ample space for wrist support around it.

The WXGA display provides excellent picture quality; viewability from wide angles isn't a problem. It doesn't lack in the performance department either, and that's to be expected â€“ the Y500 runs on a Core Duo processor, and churns out from 38 fps at 1024 x 768 in ~Call of Duty~. It completed our DVD to AVI video encoding test in 182 seconds, which is good.

The feature set is sound: the buttons on the front can be used for battery management, there's a 1.3 megapixel camera on top of the display, and there's a media centre called "Shuttle Center" which can also be controlled using the bundled remote.

The face verification feature is another cool feature: it can distinguish faces accurately, and looks at your face for logging you in to Windows. It even logs a cam-shot of the last user who failed the verification process, though it should be noted that the verification process can be bypassed altogether just by closing the window â€“ no real security here.

The sound subsystem situated on the front of the unit features Dolby-certified surround sound, and can be turned on or off via a switch; ditto the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Battery life is about average with a running time of 2:33 hours under stress. The laptop was almost perfectly cool despite all the stress, thanks to the vents provided on the left and back of the unit.

The price of the Y5000 - Rs 56,000 - is just right, we think, for its configuration.

Specifications
Intel Core Duo T2250 (1.73 GHz); 512 MB RAM; 80 GB 5400 rpm HDD; 15.4-inch 1280 x 800; Intel 945GM chipset; onboard graphics; slot-in DVD-RW; Intel 802.11a/b/g; Bluetooth, 10/100 Ethernet; FireWire; 1.3 MP camera; TV-Tuner, 6c Li-ion batteries; Windows XP Home

Performance : 4
Features : 4
Ease of use : 4
Value for money : 3.5
Overall : 4

Contact : Lenovo India Pvt Ltd
Phone : 080-22108412
E-mail : pc@in.lenovo.com
Web site : www.lenovo.com
Price : Rs 56,000

2008-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Good 420
The XPS 420 is the top of the line Dell desktop model for the Indian market. Cramped with features, the XPS 420 is a multimedia powerhouse aimed at gamers, enthusiasts, etc

This new model features a new completely revised chassis. Finished in shiny black plastic, the front panel is a smudge magnet and attracts much dust as well. The side panels finished in brushed aluminium with a big XPS logo scream for attention. One unique thing about the XPS 420 is the presence of small LCD screen on the top (Windows Sideshow) an extension of Vista’s Sidebar. This small LCD can be used for showing small tidbits of information via the sidebar gadgets. New gadgets can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Web site.

The base configuration consists of Intel Quad core Q6600, 2 GB of DDR II 667 MHz, 250 GB hard drive and 8600 GTS graphics card. These components are powerful enough to ensure a high-end rig experience, though we think the 8600 GTS is aging and expect dell to replace it soon with the newer 9600GT card.

The 20-inch LCD monitor comes bundled with the system is breathtaking. The screen is glossy and reproduces crisp images. Movies are fun on this monitor, so is editing photographs and the sheer space on offer will allow you to open two word pages side by side. The LCD also has an embedded 2 MP Web camera, which can be used for chatting, taking photographs and capturing video. The capture quality is good and colours are faithfully reproduced.

There is also an MPEG 2 transcoder with front mounted AV ports, which can be used for importing video from camcorders and encoding it to DivX. The accompanying software, however, isn’t user friendly and requires lot of patience to learn. Additionally, there is the 19-in-one memory card reader with Bluetooth 2.0 module, wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse and a Hauppauge TV tuner card with remote. Miscellaneous items include micro fibre cloth for wiping the LCD, soft and hard mouse pads and a folder with the necessary manual and CDs all perfectly packed in the box.

The cabinet can be opened without any tools. All it requires is pulling a single latch to release the side panel. On the inside, everything is neatly packed. Since Dell has opted for the BTX form factor, the system requires just one fan to cool itself. The cables and wiring are tied down and routed optimally without affecting the air flow. The single 120-mm fan is placed right after the huge CPU cooler and throws out hot air from the front of the cabinet. Throughout our testing process the system remained cool and quiet. Though the cabinet is tall and the internals are neatly organised, there isn’t much space for future upgrade; just two hard drive slots that’s what you get here.

On the software front, Dell has bundled in Adobe’s Elements Studio package consisting of the Lite version of Photoshop Elements, Premier Elements and SoundBooth CS3. The typical Dell in-house software is present and they provide complete control over every aspect of this beautiful machine.

The XPS 420 performs admirably in all aspects, thanks largely to the powerful hardware that’s under the hood. The Q6600 simply chewed through the test we put it through and has enough grunt to transcode home videos on the fly. Though the 8600 GTS ran through the entire graphics test delivering playable frame rate, we think it’s best to upgrade to a higher card. Dell offers 8800GT in lieu of the 8600GTS and if your pocket permits you should upgrade for better gaming experience. Overall, the system performance is more than satisfactory, despite Vista running on the system, it was responsive with hardly any lag.

Priced at Rs 69,169, we feel the XPS 420 is overpriced considering the weak graphics subsystem. However, it is very difficult to recreate the overall look and feel that the XPS 420 has—the beautiful case, neatly packed interiors, stupendous hardware and the tiny LCD screen on the cabinet! If you have money to blow and appreciate style, then the XPS 420 fits the bill.

Specifications
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2 GB DDRII, 250 GB, Media Xcelerator, 8600 GTS, 20-inch LCD screen with 2 MP Web cam and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

RATINGS

Features : 4.5

Performance : 4

Build quality : 4

Value for Money : 4

Overall : 4

Price : Rs 69,169

Intel Classmate PC

2008-10-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

No Child’s Play This

PCs have ushered in innovative ways of learning—self-paced, interactive, and fun. However, given the cost, using a PC in day-to-day educational activities is limited to degree students. Schools have their computer labs, but really, one does need access to one’s own work and content at will—so Intel has come up with a novel solution, the Classmate PC, designed for school-goers. It looks like a toy—small buttons, round touchpad, dual-tone finish, etc. Open the lid and you are greeted with a little 800 x 480, 7-inch display, and a dinky little keyboard—probably good enough for a child. Switch on the machine and you are in for a surprise—a full-blown Windows XP Pro!

Under the hood, running at 900 MHz, an Intel Celeron M does the duty. The machine doesn’t feel sluggish, because of the 2 GB NAND Flash that’s used instead of a hard drive. 2 GB space may seem laughable, but then, this is a concept machine; Intel has a definite plan to introduce higher-capacity NAND and eventually a hard drive. But for now, with Windows XP, the machine is left with just 700 MB of space for applications—too little.

The PC has one Ethernet and two USB ports, Wi-Fi, and earphone and mic jacks, but lacks an optical drive—understandable, because the machine will be part of a network that includes a server from where content and applications will be pushed down. Security and content filtering is the objective here—schools can implement policies that, for example, restrict what the PC will be used for.

There is some Intel exclusive/enhanced software bundled along with the machine. For example, the display switcher allows changing the resolution of the screen from the native 800 x 480 all the way up to 1280 x 786 in four steps—special drivers from Intel. In addition, there’s Intel’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which works at the BIOS level, locking the PC out if it fails to update its digital certificate from the school server. This makes the hardware useless if stolen.

Though a nice concept, acceptability will largely depend on the kind of e-learning content that can be delivered, how it will be made available, and the final barrier, cost. We expect that niggles like the storage will be ironed out in future iterations.

ASUS Lamborghini VX1

2008-10-30T03:21:00.001-07:00

The Poser’s Accessory

If you’re looking to burn virtual slick rubber, the ASUS Lamborghini VX1 promises to be a treat. The sharply-contoured lid—and its exotic finish—is reminiscent of its namesake’s bonnet. Distancing itself from the AMD Turion 64 X2-based Acer Ferrari, the Lamborghini uses an Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.166 GHz).

DisplayMate tests revealed a clear, crisp 15.4-inch LCD screen, as expected from such a product; unfortunately, it’s not widescreen. The 1680 x 1050 resolution means plenty of space for applications. The 140/100 degree viewing angles seem about right.

The NVIDIA GeForce Go7400 VX Turbo powers the graphics—enough muscle for most games. Two GB of 667 MHz DDR2 RAM ensures the Lamborghini doesn’t run out of torque. The 160 GB hard drive provides ample boot-space, something its namesake lacks!

The well-laid-out keys are soft and silent; response is quick. The touch-pad is small enough to be comfortable. LEDs illuminate the two buttons of the tracker pad, but unfortunately, not the pad itself. The brushed metal finish around the keyboard and mouse adds a distinct, sporty flavour.

Leaving aside the aesthetics and ergonomics, the Lamborghini is a decent performer; it encoded our test 100 MB video file in 1:36 minutes. An overall score of 6855 in PC Mark 04 indicates the power of this laptop, which is based on Intel’s Centrino platform. It runs for around 1:40 hours on a single charge.

As you’d naturally expect, the Lamborghini is lightweight and slim—no problems carrying it around. (You’d probably want to.) The provided bag is an assorted combination of suede leather and nylon.

Right from the start, ASUS imbues the Lamborghini with looks, performance, and an attitude a mile wide… the attitude extends to the pricing, unfortunately. Like its namesake. (That’s why we said it was a poser’s accessory.)

If you’re the kind who sees yourself in a Lamborghini in real life—or, perhaps, if you actually do—go ahead and pick up this laptop. It’ll go well with the car, believe us. If you’re a lesser breed, just look at the picture alongside and drool.

RATINGS
Performance : 3.5
Features : 3.5
Build Quality : 4
Value for Money : 2.5
Overall : 3.5

Specifications
Core 2 duo T7400 2.166GHz; Intel 945PM Express chipset; NVIDIA GeForce Go7400 VX 512MB; 2GB DDR2 667 MHz; 15” SXGA; 160 GB HDD; 4x DVD-RW; dimensions: 331 x 272 x 25.4; weight: 2.43 kg; integrated 802.11a/b/g; Bluetooth v2.0

Price : Rs 1,77,000 / 1,96,000 (Black/Yellow)

Lenovo 3000 N200

2008-10-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

Feature-packed, Santa Rosa-powered

Lenovo’s 3000 series line-up makes up its mainstream laptops. The latest addition is the N200 and is based on Santa Rosa, the latest laptop platform from Intel.

A biometric scanner lets you log in to Vista with a swipe of your finger. Setting up the software for the finger scanner is simple, and logging in is convenient.

The performance in PCMark 2005—a test for measuring mainly the graphics subsystem performance—was more then satisfactory. The 1 GB of RAM makes sure Vista runs fine. The benchmark for FarCry recorded a frame rate of 5.70 fps, and Doom 3 did 9.3 fps, both of which are pretty bad, but comparable to most mid-range laptops of today. The memory and drive benchmarks in SiSoft Sandra show pretty good results—a 42 MB/s drive index and a score of 3786 for memory.

The 15.4-inch screen does a maximum resolution of 1280 x 800. It is crisp and vibrant—decent enough for day-to-day use, but you start to see the bandings in colour gradients with HD videos—a sign of a poor LCD.

The keyboard is sturdy; the keys have decent travel, and most importantly, lack the flimsy, plasticky feel you find in quite a few cheaper laptops these days. The right edge of the touchpad acts as a scrollbar. The blast of hot air from the left vent is noticeable, which clearly indicates that the laptop runs quite hot. The speakers are lacking in power, and despite the low volumes we kept it at, the laptop only stayed powered on for 2:41 hours on a full charge.

It’s down to the extras, because the performance is pretty standard. You get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, four USB ports, and a FireWire port. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be turned on and off with the slide of a notch instead of through the OS. There’s a VGA connector for an external monitor, a 5-in-1 memory card reader, and a 1.3MP webcam.

Gaming is out of the question because of the lacking graphics subsystem, but the N200 should be fine for students and business users for regular work—and the occasional movie or two.

Specifications
Core 2 Duo T7100; 110 GB HDD; memory: 1 GB; 15-inch widescreen; resolution: 1280 x 800; 5-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, XD, MS, MS Pro)

RATINGS
Performance : 3.5
Features : 3.5
Build quality : 4
Value for Money : 4
Overall : 4
Price : Rs 52,000

Acer Aspire 3684NWXCi

2008-10-30T03:19:00.000-07:00

Good for the price

The Aspire 3684NWXCi laptop is for value-conscious buyers. With a silver-and-black exterior, it looks quite presentable. Though slim in design, the Acer 3684 weighs in at 2.4 kg—moderately heavy.

Ergonomically speaking, the keyboard is well laid-out; however, the keystrokes are bit hard—touch typists should try it before deciding to buy it.

An Intel Celeron M 440 at 1.86 GHz runs the laptop, and that’s partly responsible for the low price. The Aspire 3684 has 512 MB of DDR2 RAM—we’re all praise for Acer for being so generous! Having an 80 GB hard drive with a Combo DVD / CD drive is praiseworthy, considering the price.

In PC Mark 05—a synthetic test that measures overall system performance—performance was decent; the score was 2121, good for a budget-category laptop. 388 points in 3D Mark 06 means the laptop is good enough for games like Quake 3, Counterstrike: Source, and Call of Duty. Our real-world tests revealed enough power to multi-task between regular applications such as media players, word processing applications, browsers, etc.

The six-cell Li-ion battery pack managed to power the Aspire 3684 for 2:18 hours—which is reasonable, but expect more time in real-world usage because our battery test is gruelling.

HD video playback (1080p WMV) is smooth. The widescreen 14.1 inch TFT renders sharp images with good contrast. Acer doesn’t miss out on connectivity options in this budget offering—you get wired and wireless networking as well as Bluetooth.

The Aspire 3684 comes pre-loaded with Linpus Linux, which has a command-line interface… thankfully, Acer does bundle Windows XP and Vista drivers alongside just in case you feel like installing (an original copy of) Windows.

Priced at Rs 23,499, we think the Aspire gives local brands a run for their money. The lack of a proper OS is the only chink in its armour; otherwise, every thing seems to be on target for the value-conscious.

Specifications
Intel Celeron M440; 512 MB DDR2 533 MHz; 14.1-inch widescreen TFT; DVD/CD-RW Combo drive; 80 GB SATA hard disk; Dimensions: 14.3 x 10.8 x 1.3 (W x D x H) inches; Weight: 2.4 kg

RATINGS
Features : 3.5
Performance : 2.5
Build Quality : 3
Value for Money : 3.5
Overall : 3

Price : Rs 23,499

Inspiron 1720

2008-10-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

As You Like It
With the Inspiron 1720, Dell ups the ante in the super-performance notebook category. A 17-incher, the Inspiron 1720 is quite bulky, but the good design hides this.

You get to choose from eight colours for the lid—jet black and seven other satin finishes. The custom paint job, however, is modest, and will not last too long.

The 17-inch glossy widescreen (1920 x 1200) panel is beautiful; colour reproduction is vibrant, and it has a wide viewing angle.

The full-sized keyboard is a delight to type on—silent and great tactile response. The Matshita BD-RE UJ-220 Blu-ray drive means you won’t need to upgrade the optical drive in a long, long time! However, DVI as well as HDMI connectivity has been left out—criminal.

500 GB of storage should be enough for most users, and 4 GB of RAM is adequate for most applications, games, and for the bundled Microsoft Vista Home Premium.

The NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 256 MB powers the graphics subsystem; a score of 5318 in 3D Mark 05 is very good indeed. This Inspiron churned out 96.4 fps and 65.31 fps in Doom 3 and FarCry respectively at 800 x 600—decent for moderate gamers.
In terms of performance, the Dell Inspiron 1720 scores better than the Digit Best Buy Gold winner (the HP DV6226tx) in the Performance Laptops category of our July 2007 laptop test. The 85 Wh nine-cell battery managed to power this beast for 2:48 hours in our tests.

The Inspiron 1720 can be configured at Dell’s Web site. The base price for the Inspiron 1720 series starts from Rs 58,650—price varies according to the components you choose. The laptop carries a one-year warranty with the option of on-site support for up to three years.

Specifications
Intel Core 2 Duo T 7500 (2.2GHz); 17-inch widescreen XVGA; NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 256MB; 500 GB SATA hard drive; 4 GB DDR2 667MHz RAM; 85 Wh battery pack

RATINGS
Performance : 4
Features : 3.5
Build Quality : 3.5
Value for Money : 3
Overall : 3.5

Price : Rs 1,56,200

HP Compaq 2510p

2008-10-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

The Tough Ultraportable

Designed from a pure usability point-of-view, this little baby is built like a tank. The construction is rugged in general, and we liked the sturdiness of the hinges in particular. It’s not as flashy-looking as its competitors, but it’s sleek, and weighs just 1.29 kg. With an Intel dual-core processor and a decent amount of RAM, while running Windows Vista Business, this laptop packs in enough power to cater to business needs. The proc-essor’s and hard drive’s focus is on increased battery life.

The 2510p sports a widescreen (WXGA). An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness.

The keyboard is very comfortable to type on, but the touchpad is a little too smooth. There’s also a highly responsive pointer-stick. The keyboard layout is good, and just above the function keys is a line of touch-sensitive cool-blue backlit buttons for functions such as Turning On/Off wireless, Volume control, etc.

The 2510p features connectivity in the form of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as well as Gigabit LAN—and even a legacy modem. It has a PC Card interface, SD memory slot, two USB ports and a FireWire port. You can buy the HP 2400/2500 Ultra-Light Docking Station to add more ports. There’s also a D-Sub connector so you can hook it up to a projector.

Security is taken care of by the biometric fingerprint reader and a host of utilities that can encrypt your hard drive and restrict data access to only authorised users. Even theft or removing the hard drive will not expose your data to prying eyes.

There’s not much to complain about with the 2510p; a webcam would have been a great value-add. A faster hard drive would have improved performance drastically, while reducing battery life marginally. And remember, this laptop is not made for gaming. With a one-year warranty and HP’s great support system, the HP Compaq 2510p is a reasonably good buy.

RATINGS

Features : 4

Performance : 3.5

Build Quality : 4.5

Value for Money : 4

Overall : 4

Specifications
Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor U7600 @ 1.2 GHz; Mobile Intel GM965 chipset; 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2@533 MHz; 80 GB 1.8-inch 4200 rpm PATA hard drive; Intel GMA X3100 graphics with 384 MB shared; DVD-RAM drive; 12.1 inch WXGA anti-glare LCD; Ports: 2 USB, 1 IEEE 1394, Gigabit, RJ-11, D-Sub; Wireless: Intel 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0; Dimensions: 282.3(W) x 212.8(D) x 24.7(H) mm; Weight: 1.29 Kg; Battery: 3-cell (28 WHr) high capacity Lithium-Ion
Price : Rs 89,990 plus taxes

Sahara AL 096

2008-10-30T03:04:00.000-07:00

Low On Frills, High On Price

The Sahara AL 096 is very solidly built and has a business-like look, with a grey-black finish and no decorations. The hinges are well-built and offer little play, which is a good thing. It weighs over 2.5 Kg—making it a little heavy to carry around.

Equipped with an older Core Duo processor and 1 GB of RAM, of which 256 MB is reserved for sharing, there is still enough power to handle normal office applications. The 120 GB hard drive offers ample storage space. A DVD multi-write drive takes care of backups. There are three USB ports for expansion, but no FireWire. WiFi and Ethernet ports are there, but Bluetooth is absent. A D-Sub port lets you hook up a projector for presentations.

The 17-inch widescreen LCD looks good and has a wide horizontal viewing angle, the vertical angle is a bit narrow. It has a matte finish, so it is easier to view it even if the light source is at the front, as there is very little distracting reflection. The ATI RADEON Graphics label (mis)leads one to believe that there is discrete graphics inside, but it’s really an onboard ATI XPRESS 200M graphics chip—good for 2D display, and decent for 3D (not for any new generation games, though).

The keyboard has a very positive feedback and feels good to type on for long download. A separate numeric keypad would be more than welcome, and there are just a few shortcut keys. The touchpad has a slippery finish, which is a bit irritating to move your fingers over. As far as response goes, though, the touchpad does fine.

The Sahara AL 096 costs a surprisingly high Rs 36,999. It lacks a webcam, a card reader, and even a microphone (so you need to connect an external one). Even the sound level of the speakers isn’t audible even when there isn’t much ambient sound. The battery life lasts two and a half hours—again, not impressive. The steep price isn’t justified by Windows Vista Home Basic; there isn’t any worthwhile bundled software either. To sum it up, the price is just not right.

Ratings

Features : 3

Performance : 3

Build Quality : 4

Value for Money : 2.5

Overall : 3

Specifications
Intel Core Duo T2250 1730 MHz; ATI Radeon XPRESS 200M (256 MB shared); 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz RAM; 120 GB 5400 rpm SATA hard drive; DVD multi-writer; Ports: 3xUSB 2.0, D-SUB, RJ-45, Modem; WiFi: 802.11g; Windows Vista Home Basic
Price : Rs 36,999

Lenovo Y410

2008-10-30T03:02:00.000-07:00

Y So Plain Looking?

The Y series from Lenovo is touted as the home entertainment series—the good speakers and a few additional multimedia buttons are a step in the right direction; the plain décor isn’t! The Y410 is a good-looking notebook overall, though—the outer body panels have a quality finish, and this 14.1-inch unit feels sturdy.

The glossy, 1280 x 800 display is clear, crisp and vibrant, with good contrast ratio. The keypad offers good feedback, but it’s a little squishy. The shortcut keys are well-laid-out, and you’ll have no issues with using the nifty little add-on keys like the volume adjustment, mute, or even the “Novo” key, which switches between power modes to optimise battery or performance. There is a neat array of multimedia keys that allows you to listen to music without logging in to Windows (after inserting an audio CD).

The Y410 is available in configurations including a speedy Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8 GHz) and an NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS with 128 MB of video RAM.

The one we received had a Core 2 Duo T5450 and Intel’s GMA 950 graphics solution, which is good enough for most multimedia work, including HD movie playback; just don’t expect to game without a graphics card.

With an overall PC Mark 2005 score of 3251, a 3D Mark 2005 score of 673 and a SiSoft Sandra 2007 drive Index of 39 MBps, the Y410 doesn’t really excite as a “high-end” product—at Rs 38,500, it makes sense as an excellent value solution. It’s got loads of pre-installed software; we’d have liked to see Windows Vista Home Premium instead of Basic, though. Whether you’re looking at a multimedia notebook, or something to use in college or in office—the Y410 has both your needs and your wallet covered.

RATINGS

Features : 3.5

Performance : 3

Build Quality : 3.5

Value for Money : 4

Overall : 3.5

Specifications
Core 2 Duo T5250; 1 GB RAM; Graphics: Intel GMA 950; 1280 x 800; 14.1 inches; 160 GB HDD, 5400 rpm; Weight: 2.4 kg

Price : Rs 38,500

ASUS EeePC

2008-10-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

One PC Per Child Anyone?
The eSys Sub 10K Fighter PC is a minimal desktop PC that is aimed at people with the most basic of needs. The configuration of the PC isn’t hot—no dual-core processors or even an entry level graphics card on it. The processor is a 939-pin AMD Sempron 3000+ on a VIA K8M800-based motherboard that has everything integrated.

The performance is as low as we expected—3DMark 2005 churned out a score of 1618—pathetic. Even a basic PCI-E graphics card would have helped—and the motherboard only has an AGP slot for expansion. HD (1080p) videos were unwatchable, and the lack of a dual-core processor means that video encoding performance also takes a big hit—almost double the time of what an entry level dual core processor would take.

The cabinet is fairly small, but sturdy. Still, it’s quite obvious that quality wasn’t the highest priority when this PC was built. If looks aren’t important to you, you will be fine with the cabinet, but the monitor will still embarrass you.

One could use the “what do you expect for that price” analogy,but the bottom line is that it could use a little design love.

The low price tag of Rs 9,990 makes everything an acceptable compromise, especially for those who do nothing but chat,e-mail and surf all day,or for schools and educational institutions.

RATINGS

Feature : 2.5

Performance : 2.5

Value for Money : 4

Build Quality : 3

Overall : 3

Specifications
AMD Sempron 3000+, 512MB DDR400 RAM, Onboard VIA S3G Unichrome Pro IGP, 120GB Seagate Baracuda HDD, 15” CRT monitor.
Price : Rs 9,990

eSys Sub 10K Fighter PC

2008-10-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

RATINGS

Feature : 2.5

Performance : 2.5

Value for Money : 4

Build Quality : 3

Overall : 3

Specifications
AMD Sempron 3000+, 512MB DDR400 RAM, Onboard VIA S3G Unichrome Pro IGP, 120GB Seagate Baracuda HDD, 15” CRT monitor.

Contact : Esys Information Technologies Ltd
Phone : +91-9313890776
E-mail : ankurjain@esysmail.com
Web site : www.esys.in
Price : Rs 9,990

Acer 4720Z

2008-10-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Recently my cousin brother bought a new Acer 4720Z laptop so that he could use when he goes to UK for his higher studies. Although I recommended him to buy a laptop from UK itself he preferred to have a laptop on reaching there itself rather than have to shop around for one there. Here I’m going to give you my opinion of the laptop. Now before going into the specifications let me first explain what he uses the laptop for mainly. Most of the time hes going to browse the internet , type up his assignments, chat with his friends and maybe use Skype. Previously his father had bought 2 Acer laptops which amazingly haven’t done bad at all for him. In fact it has been 3 years since their purchase and it seems to be doing fine which further influenced his decision. My cousin didn’t have the time for Dell to make the delivery of their laptop the Dell Inspirion 1420 or 1520 so that goes out of the window. The final option he was thinking of was one of the Lenovo Series which was pretty good ion my honest opinion. In fact his friend bought one as I last heard.

What you see above is the actual laptop. Viewing the picture you can see that it doesn’t look bad for a laptop in the entry level segment. The specifications for the laptop are given below.

Specifications

* Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core T2330 (1.6GHz,1MB L2 Cache,533MHz FSB) Mobile Intel® GL960 Express Chipset
* Linpus Linux BE
* 1GB DDR2-667 (Max 4GB)
* Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 with up to 64MB
* 160GB(5400rpm)
* 14.1″ WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT LCD (1280×800 pixel) / S-Video Out
* DVD-RW
* 5-in-1 card reader
* Acer CrystalEye Webcam
* Dolby Digital Live audio
* 56K Fax/Modem
* 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
* Acer InviLink 802.11b/g
* Integrated Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
* Weight 2.45kg
* Warranty - 1 year ( Asian - Pacific Region International Warranty included. He opted for this one rather than the European region one. WHich I have no clue why he did the same.)

Although the laptop came with Linpus Linux my cousin asked the dealer if he could have Windows XP or Vista installed on the laptop and the dealer readily obliged to have Windows XP installed on it for him. The dealer also gave him a carry bag by Acer itself which didn’t seem bad either. The USB plugs and other ports seemed to be placed appropriately. You can see them in the pictures below.

Now lets take a view at the laptop with it opened. On the top you can see that there is the Webcam which manages to capture video at 640 x 480 resolution. Which is more that enough for Video Chatting over the internet. However I do have a problem with the screen which seems to be very glossy (Read you could use the screen s a mirror) hence it tends to be greatly susceptible to smudges and scratches. The highest resolution displayable by the screen is 1280×800. Also it seems that you could view the contents of the screen from any angle you look at which my cousin believes is a positive while I’d rather not have a person looking over me seeing what I type.

The 4720z comes with a 5 in 1 card reader and also an IEEE 1394 port so folks who use Camcorders or Digital cameras alot will definitely benefit from that.

If you hope that the Dolby Digital Live audio is going to provide you with an excellent audio solution to listen to your music then you definitely are going to regret what you will hear. Although you couldn’t expect much better quality from a laptop especially within this segment.

The keyboard is very fragile and I felt like I might break a key or two while typing. This may rather be subjective to a persons feeling of how their keys should be, however I would prefer a bit stronger ones. . There are various shortcut keys/buttons set up for your everyday tasks which can be configured as needed by the person who uses the laptop.

The battery charge definitely lasts for more than 2 hours cause I was fiddling around with it for that much time. Didn’t have enough time to test the whole time period though.

Since I had the laptop for some time with me I decided to run 3d Mark 06 on it and see how good (bad) it would do. It scored a whooping 412 !

Conclusion:

Considering the price of the laptop was Rs. 32,000 (Incl tax) it definitely is not a bad buy. It provides most connectivity options one is going to need considering that it offers WiFi, Ethernet Lan Connection and Bluetooth. Although that has become one of the standards nowadays and is most likely always included. The 1394 and Card Reader are also worth while if you use them alot or if you have any devices which can use the port.

My main issues with the laptop is it seems rather fragile. The laptop does not include a latch for the screen to hold on to the body. Furthermore the exterior of the laptop seems like it would bend inwards with the least amount of pressure. The keyboard does seem to be fragile as well.

If you are just looking for a laptop to do your everyday chores of typing up a paper or browsing on the internet then this isn’t a bad choice. However if you intend on using this laptop beyond anything other than the above. I would advise you to choose something else. By the way if you are a gamer… Run! You shouldn’t even be looking at this laptop.

for more info log on to :http://laptopstochill.wetpaint.com/

2008-10-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lenovo ThinkCentre A61e

Green PC
Go Green! Seems to be the mantra these days and every manufacturer is doling out power efficient products. Lenovo’s A61e is based on AMD’s DTX form factor—the first of its kind, consisting of their power optimised processor, chipset and graphics.

The A series of desktops from Lenovo are oriented towards business and hence don’t expect this PC to churn out big numbers—it isn’t meant too. The A61e is designed to consume less space—an important aspect for most businesses. We found the dimensions very compact for a full fledged PC—great for Media centre PCs. Despite the diminutive form factor the PC doesn’t get hot—thanks to good ventilation and low power components.

The configuration offers a decent balance between performance and power consumption. AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 BE-2350 (power optimised) processor along with ATI’s X1200 onboard graphics power the PC’s critical systems. The motherboard is custom built, and hence we could not trace its manufacturer. Other goodies include 1 GB of memory, 160 GB hard drive, DVD writer and Gigabit Ethernet. The PC doesn’t run directly off the mains, rather it requires the provided power adapter similar to a laptop. The tight fit of components means, upgradeability is limited. However, the system admin will appreciate the tool-case, which opens by sliding a single latch.

Along with the A61e, Lenovo has bundled the familiar black keyboard and optical mouse. The A61e can be ordered without any display. However, our test unit had their 20-inch LCD monitor. During our tests, the LCD fared well and delivered good tonal accuracy. The LCD is fit for any office related work, i.e. Word processing, spreadsheets, browsing etc.

When we upgraded the memory to 2GB the PC shifted its gear and delivered reasonable results. With all the eye candy on, Vista requires at least 2 GB for other applications to work. With Windows XP, we had no problem with the stock configuration. The performance was satisfying. We tried Ubuntu 7.10. The PC did boot, but with minor glitches such as wrong screen resolution, no sound, etc., which needed some fixing.

The A61e without the monitor is sweetly priced at Rs 15,800.

RATINGS

Features : 3.5

Performance : 3.5

Build quality : 4

Value for Money : 4

Overall : 4

Specifications
AMD Athlon 64X2, 1 GB DDRII, 160 GB HDD, DVD-RW, X1200 onboard graphics, Keyboard, optical mouse, Gigabit Ethernet and PC DOS.

Price : Rs 15,800

For more info on other popular modals log on to

http://laptopstochill.wetpaint.com/

2008-10-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

May Not Be Music To Your Ears

The SES668 Music Station is essentially an iPod dock with killer looks. The dome-shaped design looks good and the use of silver highlight on a jet black body adds that extra style—something missing on most cheap docks.

On the top of the speaker sits the dock receptacle. The receptacle accepts multiple base connectors thus allowing the use of almost all generation of iPods, expect for the newer wider body Nano. The base connector is large enough to hold most iPods in place.

On the four corners of the squares, are the buttons for powering on and volume control, and one is a dummy button. The buttons are hard to press with distinct clicks, however one can keep them pressed to increase / decrease the volume. The volume control isn’t smooth and boosts in huge steps.

The dock requires 12 V and it is powered via an adapter that runs off the mains. There is no option for alternative power source like batteries, if the mains are down. The iPod can be charged via the dock and the USB connector allows it to be connected to a PC for data transfer. The dock also has an auxiliary input thus allowing an alternate sound source.

On the performance front, the dock didn’t perform as per our expectation. Bass is non-existent and the drum beats often sound flat, highs are not reproduced at all and the mid-range is completely muddled. Also there is no way to control the playback from the dock, and you will have to use the iPod.

Though affordably priced at Rs 1,350, the SES668 Music Dock isn’t the right solution for your iPod. We suggest that you up the ante and invest in JBL or Bose if you care for music quality, else stick to the stock earphones.

RATINGS

Features : 3.5

Performance : 2

Build quality : 3

Value for Money : 2.5

Overall : 3

Specifications
USB charging, USB data transfer, Auxiliary input, mobile phone compatibility and CD/DVD player.

2008-10-23T04:31:00.000-07:00

Altec Lansing inMotion iM600

iPods On The Move

Altec Lansing’s inMotion iM600 is an iPod dock that doubles as a radio and speaker for your PC or any other MP3 player.

The dock itself is stylish and compact, and is a small rectangular block but can be unfolded on a table. All the iPod models can be docked, including the latest iPod Touch. You can charge your iPod or synchronise your music as well.

There are controls for volume adjustment at the base of the dock and the track switching buttons on the top. The volume control buttons are hard and tacky, whereas the smaller track controlling buttons are very soft and tiny. There does not seem to be any button for pausing or stopping tracks. Other than that, the dock is simple to use and comes with an inbuilt display on the front, which shows the source of the track and volume control. There’s also a compact little remote control, like those found on many of their desktop speakers sets.

The iM600 has good music quality, but it lacks bass in the tracks due to its flat design. It is loud though, and there is little or no distortion with the volume set to maximum. The SFX button doesn’t really do a whole lot other than making the sound slightly better.

The dock comes with an auxiliary connector, which means you can connect any other iPod MP3 player to it, or even your computer for that matter. You also can use it as an FM radio, and the antenna comes well tucked into the back of the dock. One of the biggest plus points of this product is the inbuilt chargeable Li-ion battery that charges itself when powered on. This dock is then mobile but docking an iPod in a moving vehicle might not be a good idea—the base plug could damage itself or the iPod connector from the vibrations.

The Altec Lansing iM600 is priced at Rs 7,500. It’s a tad costlier than we’d like it to be, but the functionality, flexibility and performance that it offers is hard to come by in such a product, especially in the Indian market.

RATINGS

Performance : 4

Features : 4

Build quality : 4

Value for Money : 3.5

Overall : 3.5

Specifications:
Dimensions: 28.3 x 4.3 x 15.2 cm (Folded), Weight: 0.9 kgs, Battery capacity: 2150 mAh