Today we’re checking out the i5 powered Acer Aspire AS5741-6073 laptop. This unit sports a 15.6 inch display with a $700 price tag, here are the rest of the details on the Aspire AS5741-6073

* Intel® CoreTM i5-430M Processor (3MB L2 cache, 2.26GHz)
* 4GB DDR3 1066 SDRAM
* 500GB hard drive
* Acer® CineCrystal 15.6″ (1366 x 768) TFT display
* Intel® HD Graphics
* 802.11b/g/n WLAN, gigabit LAN
* Webcam
* Integrated Super-Multi drive; 5-in-1 card reader
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium ; 64-bit version
* 5.3 lb
* 15.6 inch widescreen display
* Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW optical drive

As mentioned the unit sports a $700 price tag and in fact is only $687 at Amazon. And at amazon it’s already received a five star customer review which doesn’t mentioned any downsides to the Aspire AS5741. PCMag have also reviewed the unit and gave it 3.5 stars out of five, stating ‘Design looks dated. Keyboard design makes it a magnet for dirt and dust.’ as cons, whilst liking processor, battery life, and weight.

Featured Tags acer, laptop


Sphere this entry»

Asus have unleashed the EeePC 1201PN notebook on the unsuspecting world. The 12.1 inch notebook squeezes itself into a market niche somewhere between netbook and mid-range notebook with a MSRP of $499. Judging by comments around the web, despite using Nvidia’s Ion platform for its discrete graphics chip, this EeePc lacks the Optimus technology from Nvidia which consequently means a shorter battery life. If you are still keen read on for a full list of specs on the Asus Eee PC 1201PN notebook

* Intel Atom N450 (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 Cache)
* Nvidia ION 2 graphics platform
* 12-inch WXGA (1366×768) LED screen
* 2 GB DDR2 RAM, 2 x SODIMM Slot, 4 GB Max
* 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
* Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System (32 Bit)
* HDMI and VGA out
* Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity
* 0.3 MP Webcam
* 3.1 lb
* 11.65 inches, 8.19 inches, 1.31 inches

Shame about the lack of Nvidia Optimus as an enhanced battery life would have helped the EeePC 1201PN raise its head above the current throng of notebooks around the $500 price tag. We did manage to track down a review for you over at LaptopMag, where it receives 3.5 stars out of 5, not exactly a stellar result.

So it seems the Asus EeePC 1201PN falls a bit short of the mark, but if you really, really want one then you can pop on over to Amazon where you can your hands on one for a slight discount on MSRP at $484.

Featured Tags asus, laptop


Sphere this entry»

It wasn’t that long ago that we were enthusing about the MSI GX640 gaming notebook and here we are two weeks later and MSI have unleashed yet another one on the alien-bashing world. The latest unit, the GX740, sports a 17 inch display, powered by a quad 1.6 GHz Core i7 processor with a Mobility Radeon HD 5870 grahocs card with a go-faster red trim. The price tag will be around $1400, so if you’re still interested feel free to check out the rest of the details

* 17 inch TFT-LCD Widescreen Display
* Quad 1.6 GHz Core i7 processor
* 4GB memory
* Mobility Radeon HD 5870 graphics card (with GDDR5 1GB VRAM)
* 7.1-channel audio output
* Built-in subwoofer
* 5 SRS Premium Sound™-certified high-fidelity speakers
* 500GB, 7,200RPM HDD
* Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity
* HDMI output
* 2.0 Mega Pixel Webcam

The MSI GX740 certainly seems to sport the necessary specifications for a gaming laptop with a nice price tag of $1400 at Amazon. As for reviews, PC Advisor give it the thumbs up with a slight reservation about the lack of a full HD display and Notebook Check give the MSI GX740 a thorough test review with a glowing final verdict.

Featured Tags laptop, msi


Sphere this entry»

MSI have a neatly priced gaming notebook out there at the moment, the GX640-098US. The unit sports an Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor and a ATI Radeon™ HD5850 3D graphics card with GDDR5 1GB VRAM to help repell those nasty aliens. Here are some more features and specs on the MSI GX640-098US

* The GX640 uses the most advanced Intel Core i5 processor, and is the world’s performance leader among gaming laptops, giving users the ultimate experience in speed.
* MSI’s exclusive ECO Engine power management system
* Sleek brushed-metal design
* Contoured touch-style hotkeys
* Prepare to experience a riveting high-definition gaming experience with ATI Radeon™ HD 5850 graphics processors.
* Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor 2.26GHz 3MB Cache
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
* 15.4″ WSVGA+ (1680 x 1050) display
* ATI Radeon™ HD5850 Broadway Pro 1GB DDR5
* Internal Speaker x 2
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3
* 500GB / 7200RPM
* Super Multi DVD Drive
* Gigabit Ethernet LAN
* Built-in 802.11a/g/n
* Bluetooth
* 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)
* 2.0 MP Webcam
* USB 2.0 X 2
* Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1, HDMI X 1
* Mic-in X 1, Headphone X 1
* 14.1” (L) x 10.24” (W) x 1.22” (H)
* 6.3 lbs with (9-cell battery)
* 3-Year Limited Warranty (include 1-Year Global Warranty)

That’s a pretty impressive set of specs and features and it’s all wrappd up in a $1200 price tag. Nice! We tried to track down some reviews for you and all we could find was this one at PCMag where the GX640 gets 3.5 stars out of 5. Downsides for them are the lack of battery life, excess heat output and sticky mouse pad buttons. Of course the price tag, processor, and graphics card are most definitely pluses. Given the negatives we still think the MSI GX640-098US is very good value for a gaming laptop.

Update: The MSI GX640 is available at Amazon for $1106.

Featured Tags laptop, msi


Sphere this entry»

Today we are taking a look at Gateway’s NV52 laptop, an Athlon powered 15 inch range of models. The base unit, NV5207u, sports the following bells and whistles for the minimalist price tag of $500.

* AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 QL-65 Dual-Core Processor (2.1GHz, 667MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache)
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
* 4GB Dual-Channel DDR2 667MHz sDRAM Support
* 320GB SATA hard drive
* ATI Radeon® HD 3200 Graphics
* 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
* 8x DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
* 6-Cell Lithium Ion (4400 mAh)
* 26-37mm (H) x 372mm (W) x 250mm (D)
* 15.6″ HD Widescreen LED-backlit Display (1366 x 768 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio)
* 4 x USB 2.0, VGA Port, HDMI™ Port
* Media Card Reader
* 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)
* Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
* Integrated Webcam
* 2.65 kg

With a price tag of $499 we must admit that the Gateway NV5207u seems to offer some good features for a reasonable price. Unfortunately CNet don’t share our view and give the NV5207u a three stars out of five, citing a weak processor and poor battery performance as the downsides. ZDNet also complain about the processor, comparing it to our canine friends, when giving it a 7.4 rating.

If anyone out there has used one of these suckers or even owns a Gateway NV5207u laptop please let us know what you think in the comment box below.

Featured Tags gateway, laptop


Sphere this entry»

ASUS have now unleashed the Eee PC 1005PR aka Seashell netbook that was up for pre-order not that long ago. The 10.1 inch Atom-powered model now sports a $400 price tag over at Amazon. Your hard-earned $400 will get you a netbook with the following specs

* Intel Atom N450 (1.66GHz, 512KB L2 Cache)
* 10.1 inch 366 x 768 WXGA LED Display
* Intel UMA graphics with Broadcom Crystal HD Accelerator
* 1 GB DDR2 SODIMM memory
* 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
* 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity
* 0.3MP Webcam
* Up to 11 Hours of Battery Life
* Windows 7 Starter Operating System
* 10.31 x 7.01 x 1.44 inches
* 2.8 pounds

Intriguingly it still says pre-order on Amazon’s site but the buzz has it that the Seashell netbook is out there now so if you’re up for a cheap netbook you could do worse than the Asus Eee PC 1005PR.

Featured Tags asus, laptop


Sphere this entry»

On Monday, ASUS unleashed their latest laptop the 13.3 inch U30JC. The unit sports a number of interesting features including NVidia Optimus technology which

chooses the best graphics processor for running a given application by automatically routing the workload to the NVIDIA discrete GPU or Intel integrated graphics

plus it boasts being

one of the industry’s thinnest 13.3” laptops with an integrated optical drive

which is an interesting addition to the hardware list on the U30JC given the lack of optical drives in today’s new laptops. Read on for some more numbers on the ASUS U30JC laptop

* Intel Core i3-350M Processor (2.26 GHz)
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M Graphics Engine with 512MB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM with NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology
* 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz DRAM (2GB x 2 slots), 4GB Max
* Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
* 320GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
* Super Multi Optical Disk Drive
* Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System
* 13.3-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display
* 0.3MP Webcam
* HDMI Port
* 8 cell 5600mAh battery (9.5 hours of battery life)
* Chicklet Wide Spaced keyboard design
* Altec Lansing speakers

An impressive array of features and specs and to make the ASUS U30JC even more appealing you can get your mits on it at Amazon for only $900. We like the 9.5 hour battery life (of course it’ll depend on what software and hardware you’ve cranked up) and the built-in optical drive. Overall we think the ASUS U30JC is a great choice for a laptop.

Featured Tags asus, laptop


Sphere this entry»