Lenovo’s Yoga 11S strikes a compelling pose

COMING JUST A few months after the Windows RT–based IdeaPad Yoga 11, the $999 Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S (go.pcworld.com/ yoga11s) introduces a few compromises of its own.

The convertible machine chugged through our graphics tests, and the 1.5GHz Intel Core i5-3339Y Ivy Bridge processor kept the Yoga 11S in the middle of the pack (at best) in the rest of PCWorld’s benchmarks.
On the plus side, the Yoga 11S’s solid-state drive delivers lickety-split boot and wake times.

Ivy Bridge wasn’t designed with superthin hybrid systems in mind. The underside of the Yoga 11S becomes noticeably warm when you’re doing anything but basic Web browsing. The machine is whispersilent;
a heftier fan may have been a smart compromise. Also, like virtually all Ivy Bridge laptops with touchscreens, the Yoga 11S struggles to stay alive for an extended period, giving up the ghost after4 hours, 33 minutes in our battery test.

The Yoga 11S is a winner in the design department. Like its predecessor, it sports a hinge that lets you flip the display 360 degrees. Aside from the tablet and laptop configurations, this sturdy machine can work in tent mode and in stand mode (in which the form resembles a 90-degree clamshell, but with the keys facing down).

The 11.6-inch IPS display impresses with vivid colors and deep blacks. The 1366 by 768 resolution is a bummer in tablet mode, but it holds up well during laptop usage on account of the small screen.

Weighing 2.7 pounds and measuring 0.67 inch at its thickest part, this hybrid device falls firmly in the “notebook first” class, but using it as a tablet doesn’t feel awkward—except when your fingers bump the keyboard,
which sits bare at the bottom of the portable when you put it in tablet mode.

Speaking of the nonbacklit island-style keyboard, it provides good spacing, a solid tactile feel, and a decent amount of key travel. My only real qualm is that the keys sit a little too shallow and close to the deck. The buttonless clickpad and the ten-point touchscreen both support Windows 8 gesture controls and are wonderfully responsive.

No hybrid has ever come so close to marrying a laptop’s ergonomics and performance with a reasonably portable 11-inch design. If Lenovo ever decides to update the IdeaPad Yoga 11S with one of Intel’s power-sipping fourth-generation Core processors, the result could be convertible perfection.



Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S

PROS:
• Excellent all-around design
and ergonomics
• Vivid IPS display
• Full version of Windows 8

CONS:
• Mediocre battery life
• Middling performance
• Bulkier than a standard tablet

BOTTOM LINE:
Offers a major improvement over the
original ARM-powered Windows RT Yoga,
but falls short of being the ultimate hybrid.

PRICE:
$999

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HP Mini 1000

Netbook has a killer keyboard, so-so speed

HP'S MINI-NOTE 2133 STOOD OUT with its high-res screen, Windows Vista OS—and high price.The new, low-priced Mini 1000 doesn't seem as distinctive, however, since its specs ate almost identical to those of its competitors.

The Mini 1000 is impressive, with solid construction, a stylish and svelte case, a superb keyboard, and a super-blight screen. The glossy black lid now sports a subtle Swirl pattern. The keys are no longer slick and shiny but subtly textured, and the screen has grown from 8.9 to 10.2 inches. Despite the larger display, the Mini 1000 has slimmed down to lx10.3x6.6 inches (HWD) and 2.5 pounds, making it the smallest, thinnest netbook yet with a full 10-inch-wide keyboard.

The standout feature of the Mini 1000 is its 92 percent keyboard.The keys feel solid, without the usual tapered edges, civing them flat tops with a slightly larger surface to hit.The layout is excellent, with none of keys found on other net books.The wide touch pad is very responsive; its buttons are easy to press, although we wish they were below the pad instead of off to the side.

The 1,024x600-pixel display is so bright that blacks looked gray at full brightness. Turning down the brightness solves this issue. The display is sharp and has a very wide viewing angle, but its glossy finish is sometimes annoying. Though I-W plans to offer an 8.9-inch screen as an option, the high-res 1,280x768 screen from the Mini-Note 2133 will not be available.

The 2133's anemic VIA processor has been replaced by the netbook-standard 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, backed by 1GB of DDR2 memory and running Windows XP Home Edition SP3. HP included a 60GB hard drive with our review unit; 8GB and 16GB SSDs, 2GB of RAM, and a Linux OS with a friendly "Mobile Internet Experience" front end will be available as options.

Performance is in line with that of other Atom-powered notebooks.The Mini 1000 scored 135 on Cinebench 9.5.Tasks like e-mail, Web browsing, word processing, and light numbercrunching were all smooth, but as with all netbooks, in terms of multimedia the Mini 1000 is more suited for video and audio playback than content editing and conversion. The netbook completed out Windows Media Encoder test in 27 minutes and 8 seconds and our Mines encoding test in 19 minutes and 24 seconds, which is almost identical to the $439 Lenovo IdeaPad S10's scores. With the included three-cell battery, the Mini 1000 lasted 2 hours and 21 minutes playing back an MPEG-4 movie; lighter usage, such as writing and browsing the Web, squeezed out another 20 minutes.

The integrated GMA 950 chipset does a fine job with Windows applications and full-screen video playback, but its poor 3DMark06 score of 91 means garners will be best off reliving five-year-old classics. The speakers are creatively placed behind a grille inside the laptop hinge, and although they don't have a
lot of volume, the audio clarity is superb.

For networking, the Mini 1000 includes 802.11b/gWi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 radios, as well as a 10/100 Ethernet port. You'll also find a pair of USB 2.0 ports, a combination headphone/microphone jack, an SD/MMC slot, and a VGA Webcam with a microphone.Though the notebook has a VGA monitor output, it uses a small custom connector, so you'll need to purchase an optional adapter cable to use an external monitor.



The Mini 1000 offers standout, solid construction and comfort. It is a worthy competitor in the netbook market, giving users the small size of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 without the compromised keyboard. Unfortunately, we're not convinced that its keyboard and weight are enough to offset the $80 to $120 price premium over competitors from Asus, Lenovo, and MSI that provide nearly identical performance.

Denny Atkin

Computer Shopper January 2009

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MSI GX720

MSI is getting serious about its gaming series. In addition to its other models, the GX720 is ready and able to meet your performance needs. The GX720 offers the Penryn-based, 2.53Ghz Intel Core Duo CPU. Overclockers will appreciate the Turbo Drive Engine button-they can give the processor a 16% jolt with the press of a finger.

Right away, I was impressed with the GX720's multimedia features, and more specifically, the audio capabilities. The speaker system on this notebook is worth noting; it will apease your eardrums thanks to the virtual Dolby 4.1 surround sound (four speakers and a subwoofer). The audio was crystal clear, even when I listened from across the room.

As for the 17-inch widescreen display, MSI has added the Eco Power Management System, which lets you adjust your power settings according to five preset modes: gaming, movie, presentation, office, and turbo battery. The Eco Power UI is convenient, especially since it includes a playback pad, Web cam (2MP) launcher, and Bluetooth activator.

The GX720 features a full-numeric keypad to the right of the standard QWERTY board. Further, I liked the uniquely marked WASD button that provide an at-a-glance directional reference. And, for the aesthetically minded, the deep red casing, and black brushed aluminium do the GX720 justice.

by Joanna Safford

MSI GX720
$1,799 (as tested)
MSI
www.msimobile.com

Computer Power User January 2009

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HP Pavilion dv5t

Entertainment looker flaunts media features




WHO SAYS TRAVEL has to be boring? HP aims to make it as entertaining as possible with the Pavilion dv5t, a notebook built as much for games, music, and movies as for everyday computing.

Glam and glossy, the 5.8-pound dv5t features a shiny black lid with an illuminated purple-and-white HP logo embedded near one corner, an LCD flush with the bezel, a dazzling silver keyboard, and a wrist rest and unusually smooth touch pad painted to match.

Like previous Pavilions, the dv5t sports an LED button strip just above the keyboard, with media controls such as mute, volume, and play/pause, plus wireless on/off and QuickPlay buttons. We found the volume-cntrol bar a bit confusing: It's not immediately clear how you're supposed to interact with it.

HP earns top marks for expansion and connectivity, stocking the dvt with VGA and HDMI 1.3 ports, a 5-in-1 media reader, modem and Ethernet ports, a mini-FireWire port, and four USB ports-one of which doubles as an external Serial ATA (eSATA) port. A slick, 23-button infrared remote is included; when you're not using it, you can store it in the notebook's ExpressCard slot.

That remote will probably get quite a bit of use. There's no TV tuner, but if you're pairing the notebook with an HDTV (the 15.4-inch screen tops out a 1,280x800 pixels), you'll welcome the Blu-ray drive/DVD burner. The discrete 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT graphics card had no trouble cranking out 1080p video to an HDTV.



The dv5T also rocked our benchmark tests, eliciting stellar scores in our productivity benchmarks, though its 3D gaming results were less impressive. It earned a respectable 40 frames per seconds (fps) in our 1,024x768 F.E.A.R test, but barely 20fps in Company of Heroes, and even lower scores at its native resolution.-Rick Broida

Computer Shopper November 2008
www.hp.com

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Fujitsu LifeBook A6210

Versatile traveler for work and play

IF YOU NEED A NOTEBOOK suitable for both business and pleasure, the Fujitsu LifeBook A6210 merit serious attention. It has all the performance and features a business user could want, plus multimedia features for life beyond work.

The A6210 has solid build quality, and while it's not especially thin, the 6.6-pound system is still plenty portable. Its full-size keyboard is spill-resistant, with a positive key action. The 15.4-inch displayis sharp and vibrant, delivering good image quality, a wide viewing angle, and a comfortable 1,280x800 native resolution. Audio quality from the built-in stereo speakers is rich and clean, but could use more top volume. We also wish Fujitsu had included media-control keys to complement its quick-launch and volume buttons.

The A6210's business features include a Webcam for videoconferencing a fingerprint reader; and Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi for connectivity. There are HDMI and VGA ports for outputting video, four USB ports, an external SATA port for connecting external storage, a FirewWire jack, a memory card reader, and PC card and ExpressCard slots. (A Blu-ray optical drive is available as an option.) An optional ExpressCard TV tuner and remote control can turn the A6210 into a full-on home theater PC.


Equipped with a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 3GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Home Premium (or Business), the laptop delivered strong results on our productivity tests, and lsted 1 hours and 40 minutes on our DVD-rundown test, typical for a machine in this class. The 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics engine in our system proved adequate for casual gamers, but not for demanding 3D titles. Fujitsu backs the A6210 with a one-year warranty (expandable to three years), with 24/7 tech support. -Jamie Bsales

Computer Shopper November 2008
www.fujitsu.com/us

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Acer Aspire One

Netbook is One step behind the competition




THOSE WHO HAVEN'T YET TRIED OUT A NETBOOK-the new category of cheap ultraportable laptops that have quickly followed on the heels of the Asus Eee PC's runaway success-may need only a few minutes with a model like the Acer Aspire One to understand the reasons behind their popularity.

Like others in the genre, the $329 Aspire One is a featherweight (2.2 pounds that's perfect for throwing into a bag or backpack or for typing away in bed. And like the original Eee PC and the new MSI Wind U100, it uses Linux to keep startup and shutdown times short, and it offers a Windows XP option.

The Aspire One probably won't disappoint its target audience of students or users looking for an inexpensive, highly totable second system, though the 8GB of solid-state storage is a real liability. (The Windows XP version comes with a conventional hard drive.) Both version of the Aspire One do offer a dedicated SD memory-card slot, an additional multiformat memory-card slot, and three USB ports, which you can use to attach external storage.

The glossy lED-backlit screen on the Acer has good viewing angles and is more than fine for everyday use, but it gets washed out in bright light and suffers from a moderate amount of glare. Speaker volume is decent, though audio lacks warmth becaue there's almost no bass output.

The Aspire One uses Intel's new, low-power Atom mobile processor, but because its Linux OS needs fairly meager system requirements to run, the Acer comes with just 512MB of memory. (A $349 Windows XP configuration comes with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drve, and Acer also offers a $399 XP version with a 160GB drive and an extended-life battery.) We didn't experience any hiccups doing everyday tasks like word processing and Web browsing at the same time. Bootup time was indeed impressive, taking only 20 seconds to get the main interface screen. It did take another 30 seconds, however, for the device to find and connect to our wireless network.

As you might imagine, a laptop that measures just 1.1x9.8x6.7 inches (HWD) doesn't have a full-size keyboard, but it is large enough to make touch-typing possible. We suffered the occasional spelling mishap with the slightly cramped keys, though, and had problems with the touch pad, even after we turned down its sensitivity.

Acer has gone to great lengths to make sure that the Linux underpinnings have ben gussied up enough for consumer accustomed to a Windows-based GUI. The main interface is divided into four sections-Connect, Works, Fun, and Files-under which the Aspire One's apps are grouped. The home screen also features an Internet search bar to further speed up jumping online.

Free software is plentiful, including Firefox, a universal instant-messaging client, an e-mail client, an RSS reader, and direct links to Google Maps, Microsoft Hotmail, and Wikipedia. The free office suite OpenOffice.org helps fill out the Works quadrant; you get apps for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, calculator functions, calendaring, photo and paint apps, a utility to utilize the Aspire Pne's built in Webcam, and a number of games. Files houses icons that let you access your documents, music, photos, videos, downloads, and miscellaneous files.

In addition to its memory-card slots and USB ports, the Aspire One offers VGA out, an Ethernet port, and headphone and microphone jacks. It ship with a three-cell battery, but because it doesn't feature an optical drive, we couldn't normally test its stamina with our DVD-playback benchmark. In our everyday use, however, it lasted roughly 2 hours and 20 minutes per charge. That duration doesn't reall jibe with the idea of the netbook as an ideal traveling companion-if you're looking for the Aspire One to say juiced fo a cross-country flight, you'll need to secure the optional six-cell battery separately.



With its availability at Best Buy and Circuit City stores, the Aspire One is going to be successful. That doesn't make it the best choice in its category-particularly this configuration, with its puny amount of onboard storage-but it does have an appealing price, and it largely succeeds in showcasing the (albeit limited) charms of the netbook, a laptop that can finally serve as a lifestyle accessory for the masses.-Sean Portnoy

Computer Shopper November 2008

us.acer.com

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Lenovo ThinkPad SL400

Sturdy performer has a stellar screen




LENOVO'S $1,163 THINKPAD SL400 is a well-priced think-and-light business system that has the sturdy feel (and bulky design) of a midsize.

With its smudge-resistant black finish and glossy cover, the SL400's design is pure corporate. The keyboard is soft and easy to work with, and fans of Loenovo's signature TrackPoint pointing stick will be happy to see it here. (There's also a traditional touch pad under the keyboard.) The 14.1-inch matte screen (running at 1,440x900) with an antiglare finish looks as good as (if not better than) some glossy screen we've looked at lately, and it's much better suited for a crowded conference room or office.

Besides looking good, the system's design also functions well, keeping it cool and silent. Its bulk and 5.5-pound weight-especially when paired with the optional nine-cell battery (the standard battery is a three-cell model)-push this system close to midsize models, but the unit more than makes up for this heft with its variety of connectivity options: four USB ports, a FireWire jack, an Express-Card slot, a multiformat memory-card reader, 802.11n Wi-Fi, VGA out, Bluetooth 2.0, and an HDMI output.

Our review unit, armed with a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 and 2GB of RAM, demonstrated improved performance over other thin-and-lights in its price range, though the jump was far from dramatic. Ang gaming is not one of the ThinkPad SL400's strong suits-its 256MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M discrete GPU has limited potential.



Battery life was considerably stronger. With a nine-cell battery, the system lasted 2 hours and 59 minutes in our DVD-rundown test. Prospective DVD-watchers should also know that the speakers of ThinkPad SL400 are a but on the weak size.-Serguei Servianov

Computer Shopper November 2008
www.lenovo.com

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HP Compaq 6730b

Costly biz machine brings the battery life



NO ONE WILL MISTAKE the $1,387 HP Compaq 6730b for anything other than what it is-a button-down business notebook-but it runs circles around lower-end models. As suitable sa it may be for suit wearing travelers, however, the 6730b seems overpriced and underpowered-at least in the graphics department-compared with the similar Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 (see the review below).

The 6730b weighs a hair under six pounds and measure 1.3x14x10.5 inches (HWD). Its matte-silver finish and black keyboard are dull, but the 6730b has one decorative bit of flair: an LED-lit, touch-sensitive strip of quicklaunch and volume-control buttons. (It even works when the notebook is off-simply tap the Info button to launch HP's QuickLook2 for instant access to Outlook 2003/2007 data.)

Based on Intel's new Centrino 2 platform, our test unit came with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a DVD burner with LightScribe, and Intel's GMA X4500 HD integrated graphics. The 15.4-inch widescreen LCD has a native resolution of 1,280x800, an antilare coating, and a fairly narrow viewing angle. The 6730b also supports Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi; other hardware perks include four USB ports, an ExpressCard slot, a memory-card reader, a VGA WebCam, and a fingerprint sensor. It also has a mini-FireWire port and a serial port.



A decent performer (except in games, thanks to its integrated graphics), the 6730b is a great choice for long trips. It lasted just under three hours in our battery-drain test, which means you should get close to six hours of runtime with the power-managementfeatures enabled.-Rick Broida

Computer Shopper November 2008
www.hp.com

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Asus Eee PC 1000H

King-size netbook is a comfortable winner



ASUS LAUNCHED the "netbok" category with its popular Eee PC 4G, which was quickly eclipsed by offerings from competitors such as Acer, HP, and MSI. Now, Asus has fired back with the Eee PC 1000H, a bigger, more powerful unit that adds a touch-typable keyboard, a nicer screen, a larger hard drive, and better performance to the successful Eee formula.

The machine is definitely the heavyweight of the netbook category, measuring 1.5 inches high at its thickest point, 10.5 inches wide, and 7.5 inches deep, and weighing 3.2 pounds (with a six-cell battery). That said, it still closer in size and heft to other netbooks than to full-features ultraportables, and it's more portable thatn standard-size notebooks.

The extra size buys you some real advantages, such as a bright 10-inch 1,024x600-pixel LED-backlit screen; a keyboard large enough for touch typists with big fingers, though the odd placement of the up-arrow key between the right Shift key and the forward slash takes some getting used to; and a fine multitouch touch pad, which is unfortunately armed with ridiculously stiff buttonns.

The Eee PC 1000H uses Intel's Atom N270 low-power mobile processor, and it has 1GB of RAM-sufficient for running the OS, Windows XP Home Edition, and most light tasks (you can expand it to as much as 2GB). The audio is the best we've heard from a netbook, making this a viable entertainment center when you're on the road. The Eee PC 1000H we tested features a generous 80GB hard drive, which can be expanded using the SDHC memory-card slot and three USB ports, though there's no ExpressCard or PC Card slot. Expansion is rounded out by a 10/100 Ethernet port, VGA out, and headphone and microphone jacks.

Other handy features include a utility to enable or disable 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth or the 1.3-megapixel Webcam; several power-saving modes that allow you to balance performance and battery usage to your liking; and three screen resolution modes (including the unusual 1,024x600 and 1,024x768 "LCD Compress") to make the most of th esmallish display.

The lack of an optical drie prevented us from running our usual DVD rundown test, but the Eee lsted 5 hours and 48 minutes doing a variety of tasks with Wi-Fi disabled. In more typical usage with Wi-Fi enabled, we averaged about 4 hours and 45 minutes per charge.-Denny Atkin

What's the Deal?
Asus zooms back into the netbook market with the Eee PC 1000H, a slightly larger and more powerful version of the model that created the new category of laptop earlier this year.
What it's for: Very basic notebook functions, such as typing documents and surfing the Web, that don't require huge amounts of processing power.
Who it's for: People looking for a supplementary system or one for their children, or those who know they won't need to run complex applications that require intensive computing resources.
What's included: Intel Atom processor; 1GB of RAM; and an 80GB hard drive, on which Windows XP Home Edition comes preinstalled. (Another version offers Linux as an alternate OS.)



The bottom line: If you're been looking to enter the netbook fray but have been afraid to give up the benefits offered by larger laptops, the Eee PC 1000H could be the no-compromises compromise you've been waiting for.

Computer Shopper November 2008

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