Reviews Of Laptops And 2-In-1 PCs
Laptop PCs and 2-in-1 convertible tablet/laptop devices are the cornerstone personal computing systems for getting both work and play done on the road. From the big gun firepower of gaming laptops and desktop replacement machines, to ultra-lights and hybrids, we've got you covered here for what's hot in mobile computing.
Upgrading your notebook's legacy hard drive to a new, fast SSD is a substantial upgrade that makes good sense for a number of reasons. First, Solid State Drives offer orders of magnitude higher performance under certain conditions, with blazingly fast random access times. They also produce much less heat versus a standard 2.5-inch...
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Recently, we've seen the meteoric rise of netbooks in the mobile space. Their ultra portability in conjunction with the global economic climate seems to have led consumers to think twice about spending large amounts of cash on mobile devices. This is especially true when netbooks offer the same basic services (word processing, internet...
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Let's face it: the mobile arena is more crowded than ever, and with that overpopulation comes confusion. Specifications begin to run together, prices seem to be all over the map, and actual standout features are harder than ever to locate. If you've grown frustrated by trying to separate the worthwhile from the worthless, trust us, we feel...
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Synopsis: The M17x is Alienware's current flagship gaming notebook. It features an anodized aluminum shell that is available in a variety of colors, including silver, black, and red, and its 17" LCD sports a covering comprised of a single sheet of glass, that runs from edge-to-edge. The M17x also features 'BinaryGFX' technology which gives...
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Lenovo's S10-2 is an somewhat of an odd proposition for netbook buyers. For those who completely missed out on the IdeaPad S10, this is a welcome update and a solid overall contender in the netbook space. For those familiar with the original, two feelings are apt to surface: bitterness and / or confusion. Indeed, the changes found on...
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It's hard to believe that the machine we'll be inspecting in the pages ahead is actually real and shipping. It's not so much a feat of engineering as it is a feat in product development. You see, we just wrapped up our evaluation of Asus' 1008HA Seashell three weeks ago, and already we're being treated to the second "Seashell" model to...
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Lenovo’s notebooks span the entire spectrum, offering low-cost models such as the G530, netbooks such as the IdeaPad Y530, and high-end models such as the ThinkPad W700. Today, we’re taking a closer look at Lenovo’s newest offering, the ThinkPad T400s, a thin and light model that’s designed to give users a blend of portability, performance,...
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Lenovo is a company that offers a wide range of notebooks. From multimedia notebooks, to gaming notebooks, to value notebooks to netbooks, Lenovo has their bases adequately covered. We've spent some time with a few of the company's prior offerings, but we've never quite seen a product like this. The simplistic G530 is a computer that's...
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We’ve seen plenty of gaming notebooks that are meant to dazzle potential customers with outrageous designs, ultra high-resolution displays, twin GPUs, and quad-core processors. The MSI GT627-216US isn’t such a notebook. Instead, the GT627-216US takes a more subdued approach to offer budget-minded gamers a powerful machine at an affordable...
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Anyone who has followed Asus' continually expanding Eee PC line will understand just how significant a diversion the product we'll be looking at in this showcase is for the company. Since the very beginning, Asus' pioneering netbooks designs have looked about like the Eee PC 1000HE that we reviewed back in February. Simple, if not boxy enclosures...
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Synopsis: HP's HDX 18t Premium Series Notebook is a mammoth 18" desktop replacement machine with a wealth of multimedia-targeted features and capabilities on board. With a stylish, glossy exterior, large keyboard area with touch-sensitive illuminated buttons, a TV tuner and remote control, this machine screams Media Center PC. It has...
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For the longest while, Dell seemed perfectly content to continue producing notebooks with a minimalist design. Sure, they were perfectly up to snuff internally, but externally they lacked the more agressive lines and personality captured in some of the high-fashion machines from the likes of Alienware, HP and a few other boutique...
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As of late, much of the spotlight on Asus products has focused on the company's diminutive Eee PC netbook line. With a near constant stream of new models to fit nearly any possible set of requirements, it's easy to see why the Eee brand has become Asus' most recognizable. That said, the company's mobile product offerings are definitely about...
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Asus continues to broaden their Eee PC line of netbooks, as we roll through the first quarter of 2009. Clearly, however, Asus was aiming more for evolutionary than revolutionary with its latest Eee PC 1000HE. Even though it's largely unchanged from its siblings, there are still enough refinements to the product here to take notice. For...
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Toshiba’s Qosmio X305 is the company’s flagship gaming notebook line, with configurations that include dual graphics cards, dual storage drives, and the latest Intel Core 2 quad-core processors. At CES, Toshiba introduced a new Qosmio X305, the X305-Q725, which competes with the company’s higher end X305-Q708, but at a much better price ($2,699.99...
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Synopsis: As Gaming Notebooks go, there are always going to be trade-offs to make and a balance to strike between performance, weight, and cost. The Asus G50Vt strikes a happy medium, weighing in at 7.5lbs and around $949 at retail outlets like Best Buy with higher-end SKUs online. Our system, powered by a Core 2 Duo P8400...
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Lenovo's IdeaPad series of notebooks is quite different than the company's popular line up of ThinkPads. Ideapads are currently available in three series of products. The "U" series designates an ultraportable style with 11.1" or 13.3" widescreen displays and Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The "Y" series is for family entertainment...
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Every sign we've seen thus far leads us to believe that netbooks are going to be very popular this holiday shopping season. With good reason, too – they fill a void which has existed since the dawn of mobile computing. Truly cost efficient, rugged, little notebook computers with enough processing power and screen resolution to...
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The Lenovo ThinkPad X300, released earlier this year, was quite an exciting product and Hot Hardware wasn't the only publication to award it an Editor's Choice (our review). With its svelte form-factor, LED backlighting, solid state hard drive and unique, ultra thin optical drive, the X300 is a standout product packed full of cutting...
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Synopsis: Dell's XPS M1730 is a powerful Desktop Replacement notebook designed with the performance enthusiast in mind. Sleek styling and custom lighting adorn this beastly, semi-portable machine that weighs in at well over 10lbs. Gaming and multimedia performance with the M1730 is top notch, with frame rates across its beautiful...
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In the last six months we've seen a wide variety of cost effective, yet powerful, video cards hit the market. First came NVIDIA's superb GeForce 8800 GT last October which, despite being introduced at an upper mid-range price point, provided top-notch performance not far off from the best cards of the day at nearly 1/3...
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Long gone are the days when the primary differentiating factors between competing laptops models were just battery life and weight. Don't be mistaken---battery life and weight are still important; but with so many folks now using a laptop as their only computer, laptop manufacturers have stepped up their efforts on the very look of their notebook...
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