For a pretty small chunk of change you get a relatively light and pretty fast laptop computer with a very long battery life. Combined with a 13.3 inch monitor this makes the perfect travel companion for those that need full a full-sized laptop computer for working on the move. The extra size gives the feeling of spaciousness in the system, but without sacrificing the long battery life that makes netbooks so attractive.
Here are the main features:
13.3 inch wide screen monitor1.3GHz ultra-low voltage dual-core processor500GB hard drive3GB memoryDraft-N WifiBluetoothThe new range of ultra-low voltage Intel processors are really pushing the boundaries of low power and performance. The benefit of this is that the processors are much more efficient, allowing much longer battery times, while still allowing bigger monitors and more processing power. This means the power to use faster programs when needed, while not sacrificing usage time when on the move.
The screen is clearly smaller than 15 inch and bigger laptops, and bigger than the 10 inch netbook screens. This middle ground is actually pretty perfect and picks up where the smaller sizes leave off and takes the best of what the larger sizes have to offer.
Smaller netbook monitors are a little cramped, with the low resolution often necessitating scrolling from left to right in many applications. Larger monitors offer better resolutions, which allow normal viewing, but don’t actually offer enough extra to start fitting more than one window on the screen at one time. The 13.3 inch has enough resolution to comfortably view a webpage without sideways scrolling, and it big enough for easy viewing.
Not much to say about the 500GB hard drive. I’m always leaning towards online storage for important data. This hard drive is big enough for whatever you have, but remember that computer hard drives are one of the weakest links in the system. Although reliability is pretty awesome, please backup when necessary.
Talking of backups, there is no optical drive on this computer, so an external DVD burner will be needed for writing and reading DVDs and CDs.
3GB of RAM is plenty. The optional upgrade to 8GB is not worthwhile and there will be negligible, if any, performance difference. Put that money into an external DVD writer.
Networking includes both wireless and traditional wired options. The wireless supports up to 802.11n, but is backwards compatible with b/g. Draft-N allows up to 300Mb/s connectivity and wider range than the older standards, and the RJ-45 port is a good backup just in case. Bluetooth is also included and supports microphones and stereo speakers.
Other bits and pieces include built-in microphone, built-in webcam, three USB ports (one is dual eSATA/USB), normal laptop keyboard without numeric keypad, VGA port and HDMI video port.
Overall this laptop hits that magic sweet spot between a netbook and a full-sized desktop replacement laptop.
Pros:
Long battery life“Just-right” sized monitorMultiple networking optionsVGA & HDMI video outputCons:
Tags: Laptop and Notebook Computer Reviews, laptop computer reviews, mid-sized, portable, ultra-low-voltage, ultrathin, windows 7View the original article here
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