The 6-pound Acer Aspire AS5732Z-4598 also has a web camera (without microphone), stereo speakers, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Ethernet LAN, two USB ports, a multi-in-1 digital media card reader, and a VGA output.

The Aspire AS5732Z-4598 is currently priced at $499.99 on Newegg.

Its “Pros” are:

- attractively built, solid construction
- lightweight
- cool operation
- quiet
- very clear display
- nice keyboard with num pad, large trackpad
- fine graphics pefromance for HD videos
- nice webcam.

The “Cons” of the Aspire AS5732Z-4598 are:

- lacks built-in microphone
- only 2 USB ports
- battery life is average to short, users report 2-3 hours
- graphics chipset is weak for 3D gaming
- glossy lid is prone to scratching and is a fingerprint magnet
- the touch pad is too sensitive
- the speakers aren’t the best
- no caps lock and num lock LED lights, no dedicated volume control buttons
- a lot of preloaded bloatware software
- CPU cooling fan blows out bottom instead of rear.

For full reviews, you can visit the Acer Aspire AS5732Z-4598 page on Newegg.

The 6.34-pound DV6-2162NR also has a web camera, microphone, Altec Lansing speakers, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Ethernet LAN, four USB ports, an eSATA/USB port, ExpressCard/54 slot, a 5-in-1 digital media reader, and HDMI and VGA outputs.

It is available via Amazon for $703.95.

Customer reviews say the HP Pavilion DV6-2162NR’s “Pros” are:

- screen is bright and clear
- fast, handles multitasking well
- runs very cool
- large HDD at 7,200rpm (many laptops are only 5,400rpm)
- graeat touchpad and keyboard with numeric pad
- good amount of ports
- finish is beautiful.

Its “Cons” are:

- one user has reported that with typical energy-saving settings, the battery life last 2.5 hours
- speakers are a little tinny
- disappointing webcam
- finish is a fingerprint magnet.

For full reviews, visit the HP DV6-2162NR page on Amazon.com.

The 6-pound Lenovo G560 06793JU also has a webcam, microphone, HDMI and VGA ports, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, two USB ports, and a multi-in-one media card reader.

The G560 06793JU is currently priced at $669.99 on Amazon.

The “Pros” of the reviewed notebook are:

- fast, great specs
- elegant design
- bright clear and crisp LED screen
- decent battery life
- high quality keyboard
- thin and light for its size
- good value.

Its “Cons” are:

- trackpad does not follow the finger well
- stiff trackpad buttons
- the number pad is a bit cramped
- loud fan
- large amount of pre-installed software
- one user has reported static from headphones
- one user has reported that the serial number of his notebook indicates that the unit is meant to be sold in China, and that it has to be shipped to China if its broken in order to get fixed.

You can read the full reviews and purchase the Lenovo G560 06793JU on Amazon.com.

The 5.2-pound DV4-2161NR also has a web camera, microphone, Altec Lansing speakers, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Ethernet LAN, three USB ports (third shared with eSATA), an ExpressCard/54 slot, a 5-in-1 digital media reader, and HDMI and VGA outputs.

It is available via Amazon for $629.99.

According to customer reviews published on Amazon, “Pros” the HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR are:

- excellent design
- affordable price
- small and lightweight
- big bright display
- fast processor
- plenty of RAM
- large HDD
- great speakers
- web camera quality is above average
- runs quiet
- optical drive is removable for less weight.

Its “Cons” are:

- short battery life (users have reported it lasts between 2 and 3 hours)
- runs hot
- some users have reported problems with touchpad that has “a mind of it’s own”
- the screen could be brighter
- preloaded bloatware
- glossy design is a fingerprint magnet.

For detailed customer reviews you can visit the DV4-2161NR product page on Amazon, where you can also purchase the laptop.

The 4.7-pound MacBook has a white Unibody chassis made of plastics and includes the iSight web camera, microphone, stereo speakers, AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth, two USB ports, a mini DisplayPort connector, a full-sized-keyboard, and glass multi-touch trackpad.

The MacBook MC516LL/A is available via Amazon for $949.98.

According to the customer reviews published on Amazon and Best Buy, its advantages are:
- user friendly
- Geforce 320M GPU and the 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor are better than the GeForce 9400M and 2.26GHz CPU in last year’s model
- battery life of between 3 to 6 hours depending on usage
- incredible touchpad
- mini Display Port now supports both video and audio via the Mini-DP to HDMI adapter
- reasonable price.

Its disadvantages are:

- battery does not last 10 hours, as it was advertised
- expensive when compared to the MacBook Pro MC374LL/A 13.3-inch which has more RAM, aluminum Unibody, and more features.
- only sold in white.

You can read full reviews of the MacBook Pro MC374LL/A on its Amazon and Best Buy product pages.

The 5.72-pound AS5745G-3690 also has stereo speakers, Dolby Home Theater audio technology, a webcam, microphone, HDMI and VGA ports, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Gigabit LAN, four USB ports, and a multi-in-one media card reader.

The notebook is currently priced at $769.99.

According to the customer reviews published on Newegg.com, “Pros” of the Acer Aspire AS5745G-3690 are:

- fast Core i5 processor
- ample memory
- decent graphics – can run most newer games (GTA IV, Fallout 3, Spore) at up to medium settings and can run older stuff like Sims 3 & Half-Life 2 at high settings; runs Modern Warfare 2 on high settings with no lag
- battery life is good – users have reported they get 3,5 and 4 hours on a single charge
- good sound
- keys are crisp and responsive.

The “Cons”:

- some users would like to have a 7,200rpm HDD instead of the included 5,400rpm (standard in most notebooks).

For full customer reviews, you can visit the Acer Aspire AS5745G-3690 product page on Newegg.

Priced at around $230, the VIZIO M220VA delivers 20,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, a brightness of 250 nits, 5ms response time, 170/160 degrees (horizontal/vertical) viewing angles, 60Hz refresh rate, matte display finish, 2 x 3W front speakers, and SRS TruSurround HD & SRS TruVolume virtual surround sound.

Regarding ports, there are 2 HDMI / HDCP connectors, an RF connector for internal tuner, Component YPbPr plus Stereo Audio, and RGB.

The HDTV’s dimensions are 20.63″W x 14.09″H x 5.03″D with stand and 20.63″W x 14.09″H x 2.27″D without the stand.

It’s VESA mountable and Energy Star 4.0 compliant, and comes with the One Year Parts & Labor Warranty and Free Lifetime Technical Support.

According to customer reviews published on Amazon, the M220VA has many advantages including:

- affordable price for a LED-backlight LCD TV
- picture is bright, crisp, and contrast is great
- blacks are rich and solid
- no ghosting when gaming due to fast 5ms response time
- matte finish doesn’t reflect ambient lights like glossy screens
- sound better the on TVs with speakers on the back or facing down
- decent number of inputs
- the remote control is easy to use
- thin and very light
- solid energy saver.

The reviews say its disadvantages are:

- rapid motion is more blurry than on (more expensive) 120Hz TVs
- the viewing angle up and down is not so good
- a bit weak speakers
- stiff and a little fickle non-ergonomic remote
- HDMI and component inputs are on the back, so it may be difficult to plug in the cables if you don’t have enough room between the wall and the TV.

For full VIZIO M220VA user reviews, you can visit the product page on Amazon.

According to the customer reviews on Newegg.com, the G Series G51JX-X1′s “Pros” are:

- fast quad-core CPU with 8 logical threads
- GeForce GTS 360M provides a decent gaming performance
- full HD display
- screen is amazing, both in brightness and image quality
- four RAM slots, opposite to two in most laptops
- some users got the machine with 1333MHz RAM, others with 1066MHz, both are fast
- fast 7,200rpm hard drive
- 10,000 points in 3Dmark 06 benchmark
- Windows Experience Index:
Processor 6.9
Memory 5.9
Graphics 6.8
Gaming graphics 6.8
Hard drive 5.9
- good Wi-Fi connectivity
- illuminated keyboard and soft touch rubberized palm rest
- nice touchpad feel
- quiet and effective cooling
- solid construction
- bottom of the laptop let you access CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD
- light compared to an old desktop-replacement system
- a great bargain, best bang for the buck.

Users who reviewed the Asus G51JX-X1 also found its “Cons”. These are:

- short battery life
- runs hot
- keyboard flex
- BSODs reported by some users (most likely due to faulty Nvidia GPU drivers)
- screen has a fairly poor viewing angle
- LED backlight of LCD is darker at the right side
- weak speakers
- keyboard lags (most likely due to Synaptics trackpad drivers vs keyboard drivers conflict)
- LED backlight of keyboard is darker at the center
- bigger and heavier than other 15.6″ machines
- the outside lights can’t be turned off if the laptop is on A/C
- annoying bloatware
- some users don’t like ‘Republic of Gamers’ wing design on the notebook’s lid.

You can read full customer reviews of the ASUS G51JX-X1 on Newegg.

The difference is that the reviewed 450 has a wired USB connection, a slightly different design, and lacks some multimedia buttons, whereas the K350 is a wireless keyboard for multimedia oriented consumers.

Both models have a unique curved “wave” design of the keyboard itself, with a raised area in its middle for more comfortable wrists position and shorter distance between the buttons and fingers. Also, CTRL, ALT, and Space are bigger than on standard keyboards. However, the ergonomic design isn’t as extreme as in some other curved keyboards and it’s easy to get used to it, if you had previously used a standard flat keyboard.

Additional ergonomic features of the Comfort Wave 450 are a two level height adjustment (4 and 8 degrees) of tilt legs located on both front and rear of the keyboard, as well as a pleasant padded rubberized palm rest.

Since its a business keyboard, Logitech has excluded dedicated previous and next track buttons, but still on the top there are media player launcher, play/pause, volume control buttons, browser, mail, search, and My Computer keys, as well as a calculator launcher on the right end of the device. LED indicators are located in the center. Unfortunately, quick-launch buttons are not programmable.

With the palm rest attached, dimensions of the Wave 450′s footprint is 47cm x 26cm (18.5 x 10.2 inches). It comes with a 5.9-feet USB cable. According to product specifications, its long-lasting keys can endure up to 10 million strokes.

In my opinion, the tactile feedback is optimal, the button noise is low, and the build quality is excellent.

With its price of around $30, the Logitech Comfort Wave 450 is a good choice if you want a high-quality ergonomic keyboard at an affordable price.

Note: You can also read the customer reviews at Newegg.

The reviewed N450 integrates the CPU, the memory controller, and the graphics processor on a single piece of silicon, in order to reduce power consumption. These chips are separated in the previous N270/N280-based netbook platform.

The new Atom is clocked at 1.66GHz and has 512KB of L2 cache. Its maximal thermal design power (TDP) is 5.5W for the whole package including the CPU, GPU, and memory controller. The processor supports Hyper-Threading, SpeedStep, and Execute Disable Bit technologies, as well as 64-bit computing and SSE, SSE2, SSE3, and SSSE3 instructions.

For this test, I have used the Asus Eee PC 1005P. Besides the N450, the 10.1-inch netbook features 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Starter OS.

The specifications of the tested N450 Atom CPU are very similar to those in the N270/N280 chips. The same applies to its computing performance, as you can see from the benchmark results below:

PC Mark 05 CPU Test (higher is better)
N450 – N280 – N270
1515 – 1479 – 1444 PC Mark 05 CPU Points

SiSoft Sandra Processor Arithmetic & Multimedia (higher is better)
N450 – N280 – N270
4.14 – 4.06 – 3.89 (GIPS) Dhrystone ALU
3.50 – 3.46 – 3.33 (GFLOPS) Whetstone iSSE3
8 – 8.68 – 8.31 (MPixel/s) Int x8 iSSSE3
7 – 6.84 – 6.56 (MPixel/s) Float x4 iSSE2
1.3 – 1.27 – 1.22 (MPixel/s) Double x2 iSSE2

Hyper PI & wPrime (lower time is better)
N450 – N280 – N270
01m 30.7s – 01m 31s – 01m 35s for 1M digits of PI calculated in Hyper PI
117.203 – 117.171 – 122.344 seconds for 32M in wPrime

Regarding graphics performance, the netbook is not capable of playing modern 3D games with its 3D Mark 06 score of only 145 points. The same applies to high definition videos. A Coral Reef Adventure 720p HD trailer had a smooth video playback, but the sound lagged. The same trailer in 1080p, as same as playback of a Youtube 720p video in Chrome browser, looked like a slide show. The Youtube clip in 360p ran smoothly.

The Atom N450-based netbooks are HD video capable if they feature Broadcomm’s BCM 70015 dedicated HD video decoder. For example, the decoder is present in the HP Mini 210 HD, select Dell Mini models, or the upcoming ASUS Eee PC 1005PR. Also, the upcoming netbooks with the N450 and Nvidia ION graphics chip, such as the ASUS 1201PN and Acer Aspire One 532G, will support HD video, as well as some 3D gaming on lower detail settings.

The Eee PC 1005P with its 6-cell battery ran 7 hours and 5 minutes on a single charge, with Internet surfing, playing a couple Youtube videos, word processing, and MP3 playback. The netbook was in “Power Saving” mode with WiFi turned on and the screen brightness set to level 3 out of 5 (60%). With the same settings, the 1005P achieved 5 hours and 42 minutes of run time in Battery Eater default benchmark.

This review and benchmarks show that differences between the Intel Atom N450 and N270/N280 are minor in terms of performance. However, the new Atom platform enables users to do the most common computing tasks, while providing a great battery life.

The HD 4200 supports DirectX 10.1 and has the UVD chip for hardware decoding of high definition video. The GPU is a part of the 2009 AMD Mainstream Platform for laptops, also featuring the AMD AMD Turion II Ultra, AMD Turion II, and AMD Athlon II dual core processors, and a single-core Sempron.

In this review, I have tested the Radeon HD 4200 on-board graphics in a HP Compaq CQ61z laptop. Along with the 4200 GPU, the CQ61z includes a 15.6″ 1366×768 display, the Athon II M300 2GHz CPU, 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 500GB hard drive, and Windows 7 OS. The notebook has a basic AMD Vision sticker, meaning that the system is designed for watching online videos and DVDs, web surfing, and music playback.

However, the reviewed laptop can be also used for gaming and HD video. 3D graphics benchmark tests show the 4200 is better than the recently reviewed 2008 AMD Mainstream Platform’s Radeon HD 3200 mobile GPU, while HD video playback is almost the same on both chips.

Here are the benchmark results:

3DMark 06
1805 3DMarks
594 SM2.0 Score
722 HDR/SM3.0 Score
1600 CPU Score

Windows 7 Experience Index
4.1 Desktop Performance for Windows Aero
5.4 3D Business and Gaming Graphics Performance

Crysis
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 19.6fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 7.8fps
Low Settings (1024×600) – Average: 29.1fps

Far Cry 2
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 19.7fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 11.5fps
Low Settings (1024×600) – Average: 26.8fps

World in Conflict
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 33fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 11fps

Half Life 2 – Lost Coast
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 57.6fps
Maximal Settings (1366×768) – Average: 49.9fps

Quake 4
Ultra High Settings (1280×720) – Average: 21.2fps
High Settings (1280×720) – Average: 34.9fps

HD Video Playback

I have played two wmv video files at resolutions of 720p and 1080p on the CQ61z. The CPU load was between 35% and %45 during 720p and 45% – %60 during 1080p playback. The video clips ran smoothly in both cases.

Conclusion

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 can be used for some basic 3D gaming, as well as for HD video playback. In older games, such as Half Life 2 and Quake 4, the HD 3200 shows excellent performance, even on high settings. In newer games, such as Crysis and Far Cry 2, the Radeon HD 4200 shows lower performance, but you will still be able to run the games on low settings.

The tested 64-bit chips have 512KB of L2 cache and a 45W power consumption. They are built using the 65nm production technology. The Semprons have an 800MHz HyperTransport link, whereas the Athlon LE-1640 uses a 1000Mhz HT. Supported instruction sets include MMX, 3DNow, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, and x86-64. In addition, the 1640 supports virtualization.

AMD Sempron LE-1250

AMD Sempron LE-1300

AMD Athlon LE-1640

As expected, the LE-1250 and LE-1300 have similar performance, while the Athlon is somewhat faster as you can see from the benchmark results below. The test configuration includes the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, a 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive, a Cooler Master 620W PSU, the Thermaltake Shark case with front and rear fans, and Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS.

Windows Vista Experience Index for the Sempron 1250 and 1300 is 4.1 and 4.2 respectively, whereas the Athlon 1640 scores 4.4 points.

The tested CPUs have very similar temperatures, which were approximately between 26C and 28C on idle and 35C-37C under load (PC Mark 05 CPU test). Please note that the fan speed during the test was 3,000rpm and that Athlon’s heatsink has a slightly larger surface.

For everyday tasks such as web surfing, email, word processing etc, you won’t notice much difference in performance between the benchmarked processors, which currently have price differences of less than $5.00. If you need larger quantities of affordable entry-level single-core AM2 processors without virtualization support, you can buy the Semprons and save a few dollars per CPU. However, if you need a virtualization-enabled chip and a better performance get the Athlon LE-1640.

You can mount an optional 120mm fan on the top of the chassis, a 120mm fan on the rear, and two optional 90mm fans on its right side.

Chieftec Aegis CH-05SL-B-OP has two USB ports, mic-in and audio-out connectors, and an IEEE 1394 port on the front. The front panel is made of black plastics, while the door sport silver plastics and metal mesh.

The only two things I don’t like on this case is flexing when opening the front door and its weight of almost 29 pounds. On the other side, everything else gives an impression of a high quality computer case.

The CH-05SL-B-OP case currently (04/27/2009) costs $94.99 after instant savings and is also available in black (CH-05B-B-OP).

Besides a clock speed increase of only 0.06GHz, the N280 features a faster front side bus. It’s 667MHz, which is up from 533MHz in the N270.

Other specs are the same. Both benchmarked CPUs have a core based on “Diamondville” 45nm chip and have 512KB of L2 cache. The CPUs support Hyper-Threading, SpeedStep, and Execute Disable Bit technologies, as well as MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, and SSSE3 instructions. Their maximal thermal design power is 2.5W (1, 2).

Intel Atom N280

Intel Atom N270

For this test, I have used a 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One D150 netbook with the Atom N280 vs an 8.9″ Aspire One A150 with the N270. These Intel 945 (i945GME) chipset-based netbooks have 1GB of DDR2 memory at 667MHz, with a latency of 4-4-4-12, and Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 950 integrated GPU. Both netbooks run Windows XP Home OS.

The D150 has a somewhat faster CPU, but the difference is marginal:

PC Mark 05 CPU Test (higher is better)
N280 – N270
1479 – 1444 PC Mark 05 CPU Points

SiSoft Sandra Processor Arithmetic & Multimedia (higher is better)
N280 – N270
4.06 – 3.89 (GIPS) Dhrystone ALU
3.46 – 3.33 (GFLOPS) Whetstone iSSE3
8.68 – 8.31 (MPixel/s) Int x8 iSSSE3
6.84 – 6.56 (MPixel/s) Float x4 iSSE2
1.27 – 1.22 (MPixel/s) Double x2 iSSE2

Hyper PI & wPrime (lower time is better)
N280 – N270
01m 31s – 01m 35s for 1M digits of PI calculated in Hyper PI
117.171 – 122.344 seconds for 32M in wPrime

As you can see, differences between the Intel Atom N280 and N270 are minor, which is expected since the CPUs are very similar. Even N280′s faster FSB doesn’t help much in benchmarks, as well as in real world use. I haven’t noticed any difference in responsiveness and speed when using the netbooks for web surfing, e-mail checking or watching Youtube videos.

Images:

The Mobility Radeon HD 3200 (RS780M) is a part of AMD’s “Puma” mobile platform that also includes dual core Turion and Athlon processors. The DirectX 10-compatible integrated graphics chip features 4 ROPs, 40 unified shaders, and a 32-bit bus width. The HD 3200 in the tested HP Compaq 6735s laptop has a GPU clock speed of 500MHz and a 500MHz memory clock. The amount of shared video memory was 256MB (default) during the benchmarks.

The test system:

HP Compaq 6735s
AMD Turion Dual Core Mobile RM-70 CPU at 2GHz, 512KB L2 cache
ATI Radeon HD 3200 (RS780M) 256MB (up to 512MB) shared video memory
3GB DDR2 PC6400 RAM
320GB 5400rpm SATA HDD
15.4″ 1280×800 Display
Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit OS

The benchmark results:

3DMark 06

1390 3DMarks
462 SM2.0 Score
542 HDR/SM3.0 Score
1421 CPU Score

Windows Vista Experience Index

3.5 Desktop Performance for Windows Aero
3.7 3D Business and Gaming Graphics Performance

In older games 3D games, such as Quake 4 and F.E.A.R, the HD 3200 shows very good performance. It provides playable frame rates at medium settings.

Quake 4

Low Settings (640×480) – Average: 39fps
High Settings (800×600) – Average: 31fps
Maximal Settings (1024×768) – Average: 25fps

F.E.A.R.

Computer at Medium Settings, Graphics at Minimum (640×480) – Average 144fps
Computer at Medium, Graphics at Medium (800×600) – Average 32fps
Computer at Medium, Graphics at High (1024×768) – Average 19fps

In newer games, such as Crysis and Company of Heroes, the Radeon HD 3200 shows lower performance. But still, you will be able to run the games.

Crysis

Low Settings, 800×480 – Average 28fps
Low Settings, 1280×800 – Average 16.4fps

Company of Heroes

Lowest Settings, 1280×800 – Average 32fps

HD Video Playback

I have played two wmv video files at resolutions of 720p and 1080p on the laptop. The dedicated UVD (Unified Video Decoder) chip, that comes with the Radeon HD 3200, hardware-decodes the high definition video content, offloading the CPU. The CPU load was between 40% and %50 during 720p and 50% – %65 during 1080p playback. The video clips ran smoothly, without a glitch.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Mobility Radeon HD 3200 can be used for some basic 3D gaming, as well as for HD playback. That’s great for an integrated notebook GPU.

Various 5315 configurations are priced between $460 and $650 in the US market.

I have tested a $499 AS5315-2808 model with:

- Intel Celeron Processor 550 (1MB L2 cache, 2.0GHz, 533MHz FSB)
- 1GB DDR2 667 SDRAM
- 120GB hard drive
- integrated Super-Multi drive (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM)
- 15.4″ WXGA (1280 x 800) CrystalBrite (glossy) TFT display
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
- Two 2W integrated stereo speakers
- 802.11b/g WLAN
- 10/100 LAN
- V.92 modem
- Three USB 2.0 ports
- ExpressCard/54 slot
- VGA and S-video TV-out ports
- 11.1v 4000mAh Battery
- Windows Vista Home Premium OS
- 6.2 lbs Weight

Chassis Design, Display, Speakers

Although budget notebooks often have a cheap look, the Acer Aspire 5315 provides an interesting and stylish chassis design, produced with help of BMW Group designers. The notebook’s lid has a glossy dark gray finish, while the keyboard, touchpad and surrounding areas are matte white. The keyboard is comfortable for use, as same as the touchpad. However, the touchpad buttons are a little bit stiff.

I am quite satisfied with horizontal viewing angles of the 15.4-inch display. Vertical viewing angles are not so wide. Moving your head up or down while working on your laptop gives you an impression of color inversion, so you will have to find the best angle and stick to it.

The display has a glossy coating, called CrystalBrite. It certainly gives more vivid colors than the same display with a matte finish, but it also reflects ambient lights more.

Stereo speakers in the 5315 are not so powerful, as same as in majority of other notebooks, but they sound nice. However, left speaker jingled a little bit, when I played music with volume set to the maximum.

Performance, Battery Life, Heat, Noise

The reviewed notebook configuration has a PCMark 05 score of 2491 points and 324 3DMark 06 points. Its Windows Vista Experience Index is 2.4. The Aspire 5315 provides a decent performance for some light tasks such as web browsing or word processing, but 1GB of RAM is not enough for smooth Windows Vista experience. Of course, its GMA X3100 integrated graphics is not suitable for gaming at all.

The laptop comes with a Hitachi HDD with a rotational speed of 5,400rpm and 8MB of cache. The hard drive has an average performance for present-day laptops. The average transfer rate was 41.5 MB/sec in HD Tune test.

The notebook’s fans are not loud. I am satisfied with its cool operation, but I also noticed the trackpad area can get warmer than other parts of the laptop after a few hours of continuous work. For me, that amount of heat is tolerable.

The 11.1v 4000mAh Li-Ion battery in the Acer Aspire 5315 provided 1 hour and 40 minutes of run time during DVD playback, with wireless turned off and screen brightness set to 90%. A light operation (word processing, web surfing, a couple of .mp3 and Youtube video clip playbacks) with wireless on and 90% brightness drained 5315′s battery for 1 hour and 50 min. Under the same conditions, the battery life can be extended to 2 hours and 10 minutes by switching the Wi-Fi module off and decreasing display brightness to 40%.

Conclusion

The Acer Aspire 5315 is a decent laptop for budget-minded users, who do not expect high processing and graphics performance. But, I wish it has a screen with better vertical viewing angles, a longer battery life, and more RAM for hardware-demanding Windows Vista.

If you want a sub-$600 mobile computer without sacrificing screen size and storage space, the Aspire 5315 can be a good buying choice. But, be sure you also check other cheap notebooks first. For those who don’t care about display size and storage, and prefer greater mobility, there is the Asus Eee PC ultraportable for a similar price.

The EAH3850/G/HTDI/512M has 512MB of GDDR3 video memory, a 256-bit memory interface, and 320 stream processing units. Its core and memory are clocked at 668MHz and 1650MHz respectively. These are stock speeds for the 3850 GPU, which is based on 55-nanometer production technology. The card is DirectX 10.1, PCI Express 2.0, and ATI Crossfire compatible.

This 3850 has an active cooling with large fan (the card occupies two slots) and is powered via a dedicated power cable from the power supply. A 500W PSU is a minimum for the EAH3850.

The unit has two DVI ports, and an S-Video output, while HDMI output with HDCP support is provided via a DVI-HDMI adapter. The card has a built-in multi-channel 5.1 surround audio which can be transmitted to a HDTV through the adapter, so there’s no need for additional audio cables.

Along with the HDMI adapter, in the package there are also a DVI to VGA/D-sub adapter, short HDTV cable, power cable, CrossFire bridge, copy of Company of Heroes – Oposing Fronts game, CD with drivers, user’s manual, and a CD wallet.

Asus EAH3850/G/HTDI/512M Tests, Benchmarks

I have tested the EAH3850 512MB on a system featuring the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ processor at 3.2GHz, Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, the Cooler Master M620 620-Watt power supply, and Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

The configuration scored 9177 3DMark 06 points.

The Desktop Performance for Windows Aero and 3D Business and Gaming Graphics Performance tests in Windows Vista show 5.9 points in the both categories.

The EAH3850 512MB is good for playing Crysis on lower resolutions.

The card has a decent performance in World in Conflict with medium and high graphics details, even under high resolutions.

The reviewed unit is excellent for playing Company of Heroes at 1280×1024 in Directx 9 mode, with the other settings on high. DirectX 10 significantly reduces frame rates.

The Asus EAH3850 512MB runs F.E.A.R. smoothly with all settings on maximum.

HD Video Playback, Temperature

I have played the Coral Reef Adventure trailer in a high-definition 1080p .wmv format in Vista’s Windows Media Player and found that the picture was sharp and clear. ATI Radeon 3850 GPUs are claimed to have a built-in UVD (Unified Video Decoder), but the reviewed Asus unit behaved like it doesn’t have it. The playback run smoothly, but processor utilization during the playback varied between 25 and 34 percent, which is unusually high for a GPU with UVD chip.

Asustek claims the EAH3850/G/HTDI/512M runs “20°C cooler than the reference 3850 design”. My test showed it operates at 31°C on idle, and 50°C under heavy load, which are very low temperatures for a GPU. Additionally, the fan is not loud at all.

Conclusion

Priced at around $180, the EAH3850/G/HTDI/512M is a decent graphics solution for mainstream gamers. According to some reviews, it provides better performance than an around $35 more expensive Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 256MB, when the EAH3850 is overclocked. Also, cool operation and a lot of accessories + free game included recommend this card as a good buying choice.

The Celeron E1200 – model BX80557E1200 – comes with a heatsink and fan. The CPU can be purchased for under $60.

Intel Celeron E1200 Benchmarks

I have compared the E1200 with two similar chips – the single core Celeron 420 and dual core Pentium E2140, both with a 1.6GHz clock speed and 800MHz front side bus. The dual core Celeron has very similar performance to the E2140, which is around $13 pricier.

CPU	Intel Celeron 420 (Single Core)	Intel Celeron E1200 (Dual Core)	Intel Pentium E2140 (Dual Core)
Frequency	1.6GHz	1.6GHz	1.6GHz
L2 Cache Size	512KB	512KB	1MB
Socket	LGA 775	LGA 775	LGA 775
Front Side Bus	800MHz	800MHz	800MHz
64 bit Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wattage	35W	65W	65W
Manufacturing Technology	65nm	65nm	65nm
Price (NewEgg, 02/23/08)	$43.99	$58.99	$71.99

The three CPUs were tested on a Windows Vista powered desktop PC, featuring the Asus’ P5K-VM motherboard, 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 memory, an Nvidia GeForce 7300GT video card, Western Digital’s 320GB hard drive at 7200rpm, and a Cooler Master’s 620W power supply.

Both dual core chips have identical Windows Vista Experience Index score in CPU calculation tests – 4.7 points. The Celeron 420 lags behind with 3.8 points.

In a PCMark 05 test, the E1200 is only 6.6% slower than the Pentium E2140, which has twice larger L2 cache memory size.

In PCMark 05 CPU-specific benchmark the difference is even smaller. The Pentium is only 1.2% faster.


The 3DMark 06 benchmark, aimed to test computer’s performance from a gamer’s standpoint, shows the both E1200- and E2140-powered configurations have almost the same speed.

The E2140′s advantage in the Cinebench 10 3D content creation test goes up to 10.3 percent over its Celeron dual core sibling.

All of the three tested processors are almost equal in weakness when playing Crysis, even at the lowest resolutions and detail levels (minimum requirements for Crysis under Vista: Intel Pentium 4 at 3.2 GHz, Intel Core at 2GHz, AMD Athlon 3200+).

In World in Conflict real time strategy, the dual core CPUs have the same average frames-per-second score and are more than twice faster than the Celeron 420.

The tested configurations provide decent gaming performance in F.E.A.R.’s built-in benchmark, but only under lower resolutions.

Regarding temperature, the 420 and E1200 Celerons run at 27C -30C on idle and under load respectively, with fan speed of around 2100rpm. The Pentium E2140 runs hotter – between 30-35C – but its fan spins at only around 900rpm, so it is much quieter than the both Celeron processors.

Conclusion: Celeron E1200 – Cheap Dual-Core Replacement for Pentium E2140

If you want to have a Socket 775 CPU with two cores for just $60, the Intel Celeron E1200 is currently the only choice for you. In almost all tests, the E1200 and Pentium E2140 give very similar results, but the Pentium’s larger cache is its advantage in some of the benchmarks. The E1200 is a decent and affordable dual core alternative to the Pentium with the same clock speed.

Buy: Intel Celeron E1200 1.6GHz LGA 775 65W Processor

This particular product – model ADX6400CZBOX – comes with heatsink and fan. AMD also offers the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition ADX6400CZWOF with an unlocked multiplier. It ships without a cooling device.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ vs 6400+ Benchmarks

I have replaced an old Athlon 64 X2 4200+ at 2.2GHz with the 6400+ in a Windows Vista desktop PC machine featuring the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 memory, the Asus EAH3850 512MB video card, and a Cooler Master 620W power supply. The performance improvement after this upgrade is significant and goes up to 46 percent in some tests.

The upgrade from the 4200+ to 6400+ increases Windows Experience Index in Vista OS from 5 points to 5.5 points, in both overall and CPU calculation tests.

In the default PCMark 05 test the 6400+ is 30% faster than the 4200+.

In PCMark 05′s CPU-specific benchmark the difference is even greater. The 6400+ CPU is approximately 46% faster.
The default 3DMark 06 benchmark shows the 6400+ is 18 percent faster.

In 3DMark 05 CPU-related test the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ CPU has an advantage of 43% over the 4200+.

Obviously, the 6400+ outperforms the 4200+ in Cinebench 10, which is based on Cinema 4D software for 3D content creation.
Crysis, a hardware-demanding first person shooter game, shows greater performance advantage of the 6400+ CPU, especially when playing in lower resolutions.

World in Conflict real time strategy game runs a lot smoother with the AMD’s top of the line Athlon CPU.

However, the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ has some disadvantages when compared to the 4200+. These are greater power consumption and higher temperatures during work. The 125W 6400+ and 89W 4200+ processors with their stock coolers generate 35C and 25C temperature on idle respectively. Under heavy load (PCMark 05 CPU test) these temperatures are 48C and 35C.

Conclusion: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ – a Good AM2 CPU Upgrade

Currently priced at around $160, the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ is certainly much pricier than the $70 4200+ processor. However, it is an affordable price for a 3.2GHz CPU and it is worth it, if you consider its huge performance advantage over the slower and cheaper 4200+ chip. On the other side, the 4200+ runs cooler than the 6400+. If you use your desktop PC only for light work (such as web surfing or word processing) the slower CPU will suit your computing needs with less generated heat and lower power consumption. But, for hardware demeaning users, i.e. gamers and video editors, the 6400+ is a good choice. This does not apply to overclockers. They should rather buy the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition and pair it with some of the more powerful after-market CPU coolers. Considering its price/performance ratio, I can recommend for sure the 6400+ as a Socket AM2 upgrade option or for a fresh AMD-based PC build.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Processor

The card has a core clock speed of 620Mhz and 1700Mhz memory clock, which is higher than 540Mhz and 1400MHz respectively in the GeForce 8600 GT reference model.

Made for budget-minded gamers and multimedia users, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty incorporates support for DirectX 10 games and NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology for hardware decoding of high definition multimedia content.

This video card is HDCP-capable. It has two Dual-Link DVI ports providing a resolution of up to 2560×1600 and a TV-Out/HDTV connector for an output of up to 1080p. There is also a SLI Bridge for dual card configurations. The unit does not require an additional cable from the power supply and takes up one slot in a computer case.

Besides the GPU, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Fatal1ty Professional retail package includes an S-Video cable, DVI-VGA adapter, drivers CD, and a free Company of Heroes game DVD.

XFX offers the Double Lifetime Protection warranty for its 6, 7, and 8 Series graphics cards, which means that if you decide give the card away to someone, XFX will still honor the protection plan for the second owner as well.

XFX GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Fatal1ty Benchmarks

I have tested the XFX GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Fatal1ty on a system featuring the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor at 2.2GHz, the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, and Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit operating system.

This configuration has a 3DMark06 score of 5138, 3DMark05 score of 10100, PCMark05 score of 5465 points, and a Windows Experience Index base score of 4.0 (Desktop performance for Windows Aero: 4.0; 3D business and gaming graphics performance: 4.5).

In Quake 4 game benchmark, at a 1280-by-1024 display resolution and Ultra-High graphics detail settings with anti aliasing (AA) turned off, the average performance is 80.16 frames-per-second. When I turned AA on, the average frame rate dropped to 45.64fps.

F.E.A.R can be played at a 1280×960 resolution and Maximum settings at 43fps on average, according to a built-in performance test.

Optimal settings for playing Crysis on the tested machine with the XFX GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Fatal1ty are a resolution of 1024×768 pixels and Medium detail settings with anti aliasing turned off. An average frame rate was 23.5. At Very High settings and AA turned off, average is only 5fps.

Company of Heroes at a 1280×1024 resolution with DirectX 10 turned on, AA off, and with graphics settings recommended by the game, gives an average of 28fps. At 1280×1024 and the highest settings with AA off the average is 14fps, while with AA on it’s 13fps.

A high-definition movie playback (Coral Reef Adventure trailer in a HD 1080p .wmv format) consumed between 17% and 22% of CPU power.

During the tests, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty temperature was 72C. On idle, it was 58C.

Conclusion

Priced below $150, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT 256MB Fatal1ty Professional Edition is a decent factory overclocked graphics solution for budget gamers and those looking for a silent but powerful GPU for a media center PC. The card is not suitable for playing the latest games on higher screen resolutions, but for those still having 17-inch displays it can be a good choice. Also, if you intend to buy the XFX’s 8600GT Fatal1ty, be prepared to sacrifice higher graphics settings and anti-aliasing in the name of better frame rates.

Although it is small and low-priced, the MSI K9AGM2-FIH provides users with all features found in a decent Home Theater PC system. Its HDMI port, which is HDCP-compliant, enables an easy one-cable audio/video connection to HD TVs and monitors, while the Realtek ALC888 chip manages the 8-channel sound system.

The K9AGM2-FIH supports AMD Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, Athlon FX and Sempron AM2 CPUs and has a HyperTransport FSB speed of 1GHz. There are two DDR2 DIMM slots (240pin / 1.8V) supporting up to 4GB of dual DDR2 400/533/667/800MHz system memory.

The ATI Radeon X1250 integrated GPU can handle the Aero user interface of Windows Vista operating system. This graphics solution includes Avivo technology for vibrant images and smooth video playback, and supports DirectX 9.0.

Along with HDMI and VGA outputs, on the motherboard’s back panel there are a 6 in 1 audio jack, four USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a Firewire, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, and a Parallel port.

Regarding internal slots and I/O connectors, there are a PCI Express x16 slot, a PCI Express x1 slot, two PCI slots, four Serial ATA 2 connectors with support for RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 mode, one ATA 133 connector, and a Floppy drive connector, as well as three USB 2.0 pinheaders supporting additional 6 ports, SPDIF In and Out connectors, TV-Out, audio and Firewire pinheaders, and a CD-In connector.

The reviewed motherboard is not overclocking friendly. In its BIOS, for better performance, you can setup only memory timing options, such as CAS Latency, Min RAS Active Time, RAS Precharge Time, and RAS to CAS Delay. In addition, you can select how much system memory the integrated GPU can utilize for graphics purposes.

Besides the K9AGM2-FIH, in the retail box there are MSI driver/utility CDs, SATA, SATA power, and IDE cables, a backpanel I/O shield, and a user manual.

MSI K9AGM2-FIH, ATI Radeon X1250 Benchmark

The tested system includes the MSI K9AGM2-FIH, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, a Western Digital’s 320GB 7200rpm hard drive, and Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit operating system.

The PCMark05 score of the benchmarked system is 3833 points.

I have tested the ATI Radeon X1250 chip in the MSI K9AGM2-FIH motherboard and found that it really enables flawless playback of videos, including high definition formats. Coral Reef Adventure trailer in a high-definition 1080p .wmv format, played in Windows Media Player consumed around 50% of CPU power. However, the playback was smooth and without a glitch.

As expected, the gaming experience is not as great as in systems with dedicated video cards, including the most affordable newer GPUs. The motherboard with its integrated X1250 scores 308 3DMark06 points and 1052 3DMark05 points. For comparison, the Asus GeForce 8400GS low-end video card, paired with the same motherboard, achieved 1580 3DMark06 and 3412 3DMark05 points.

The recommended setup for Quake 4 game under the MSI K9AGM2-FIH and ATI Radeon X1250 GPU are low graphics detail settings and 640×480 pixels resolution. With these settings game runs smoothly, with 109,4 frames-per-second on average during benchmark. World in Conflict Demo at 800×600 and very low settings gives an average of playable 25fps. The integrated GPU cannot handle hardware demanding Crysis Demo, but F.E.A.R. is playable at lowest settings and resolution.

Conclusion

The K9AGM2-FIH mainboard is a good solution for building a silent small home theater PC, since it features a Micro ATX form factor, an HDMI port, and the ATI Radeon X1250 quiet and cool integrated graphics, and currently has a price tag of around $70. On the other side, some AMD 690G-based Micro ATX motherboards have a DVI-D port in addition to a VGA, so users requiring DVI-D or dual monitor connections should take a look at mobos such as the Asus M2A-VM HDMI.

Buy: MSI K9AGM2-FIH at xPCgear | Asus M2A-VM HDMI at xPCgear

Along with 256MB of DDR2 video memory, the reviewed NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT-based graphics card features a 128-bit memory interface and 16 stream processors. The card’s core, shaders, and memory are clocked at 500MHz, 1093MHz, and 667MHz respectively. The core and shaders are clocked higher than in 8500GT reference model (450MHz, 900MHz), while the memory is slower than the 8500GT’s default of 800MHz. XFX has implemented a passive thermal solution called Ultrasilent Cooling in this XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB PCI-E video card. The card is powered through a PCI Express slot, and does not require an additional cable from the power supply. The card is NVIDIA SLI-compatible.

The HDCP-ready PV-T86J-UAHG provides a Dual Link DVI, supporting digital output up to 2560×1600 pixels, an analog VGA port, and an S-Video/HDTV output with up to 1080i resolution.

This GPU comes with a single S-Video cable, a drivers CD, and a user manual.

Regarding warranty, XFX offers the Double Lifetime Protection for its 6, 7, and 8 Series graphics cards. “Double Lifetime” means that if you decide give the card away to someone, XFX will still honor the protection plan for the second owner as well.

I have tested the XFX GeForce 8500 GT unit on a Windows Vista Ultimate machine featuring the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor at 2.2GHz, the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, and 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory.

• Introduction
• Crysis & XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB (PV-T86J-UAHG)
• World in Conflict & XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB (PV-T86J-UAHG)
• F.E.A.R. & XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB (PV-T86J-UAHG)
• Quake 4 & XFX GeForce 8500GT 256MB (PV-T86J-UAHG)
• HD Content Playback
• Conclusion

The MSI RX2600PRO-T2D256EZ/D3 has 120 stream processing units, a 128-bit bus width, and 256MB of DDR3 memory, while the company also offers a DDR2 version – the T2D256EZ/D2. The T2D256EZ/D3 has a 600MHz core clock speed and a 1400MHz memory clock, and supports resolutions up to 2560×1600. It has two dual link DVI connectors and a video out port, and comes with a HDTV cable, DVI to HDMI adapter, DVI to VGA adapter, S-Video cable, and an S-Video and Composite cable.

MSI gives a 1-year warranty on this video card.

Unlike some of big higher-end power-hungry graphics cards occupying two brackets in a computer case, the RX2600PRO-T2D256EZ is a single-slot PCI Express solution and does not require a cable from the power supply. However, the card is not so small, since it has a large aluminum heatsink.

I have tested this GPU unit on a Windows Vista Ultimate machine featuring the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor, the Asus M2N-E SLI motherboard, and 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory.

• Introduction
• MSI RX2600PRO-T2D256EZ/D3 DirectX 10 Benchmarks – Crysis, World in Conflict
• MSI RX2600PRO-T2D256EZ/D3 DirectX 9 Benchmarks – F.E.A.R, 3D Mark06
• HD Content Playback Performance
• Conclusion

The 720N has a 0.264mm pixel pitch. It features a horizontal scanning frequency of 30-81 kHz and 56-75 Hz vertical frequency. This monitor connects to a computer’s video card via an analog VGA interface. The manufacturer provides a three-year warranty for this monitor.

According to our opinion, the reviewed SyncMaster 720N delivers a very bright and clear image on every inch of its LCD panel. The viewing angles are really wide, so you will have no problems with watching movies or TV from any position in your room. Using the 720N and the GeForce 7300GT video card, we have played some 3D games such as FarCry, Colin Mc Rally and F.E.A.R, and concluded that the display’s 8ms response time is quite satisfactory for gaming. In addition, during fast scrolling of web pages and documents, the fonts are readable unlike on LCDs with 12ms, 16ms or longer response time.

The Syncmaster 720n is also suitable for dual monitor configurations, since it has a narrow left and right bezels measuring around 0.59 inches. When you put two of these displays side by side, you get a total of approximately 1.18-inch space between the active screen areas, which is not bad.

The Samsung SyncMaster 720N can be found in the market for around $160. However, for an additional $20-$30 you can find the Samsung SyncMaster 920NW, the 720N’s 19-inch widescreen (WXGA) cousin, with a 1440 x 900 resolution, a higher contrast ratio of 700:1 and a response time of 5ms.

But, if you want to save some desktop space with an XGA LCD monitor, the Samsung SyncMaster 720N is a good choice, considering its price and display quality.