16/05/2013
Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Review Acer Aspire V5-471G Notebook and battery life

Acer's V5 series consists of several thin and cheap notebooks of the usual form factors (10 to 15.6-inch). Acer targets price-conscious customers interested in ultrabooks. The Aspire V5-471G-53314G50, is a 14-inch device which will be put through all the tests to determine its worthiness as the right pick for the consumer. Acer TravelMate 292ELMi Battery We have already scrutinized the very cheap V5-431 (Celeron 887, HD Graphics) and two 15.6-inch models of the same series, the Aspire V5-531 (Pentium 967, HD Graphics) and the Aspire V5-571G (Core i5-3317U, GeForce GT 620M).

We compare the review sample to Lenovo's IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and Samsung's Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G).

Case

The Aspire V5-471G is completely made from matte silver plastic, which unfortunately leaves the impression of the device being cheap. Acer TravelMate 292EXC Battery The surface if the case is not textured. The IdeaPad and the Samsung are also completely made out of plastic parts. With a height of 23 mm, the Aspire only marginally exceeds the ultrabook specification (max. 21 mm) and is still very portable.

There are some places on the body of the laptop where the different components are not seated properly. The touchpad and the keyboard bezel do not sit flush with each other. Acer TravelMate 292EXCi Battery The base unit is reasonably robust and gives slightly when pressure is applied. But, the palm rests are significantly more rigid. If the base unit is picked up at its front corners, it can hardly be twisted. Even some thicker and heavier notebooks perform worse here. In contrast, the lid can be twisted much more. The hinges hold the lid securely in place, but it tends to teeter. It is possible to open the lid with one hand. Acer TravelMate 292LC Battery

Communication

The WLAN module is from Atheros (AR5WBW222) and supports standards 802.11 b/g/n. The reception performance is very good. The WiFi control of Windows displays full reception quality in close proximity as well as two floors below the router. The Gigbabit Ethernet chip (RTL8168/8111) of the V5-471G is made by Realtek. In addition, the laptop features Bluetooth 4.0. Acer TravelMate 292LCi Battery A web cam is incorporated in the display bezel, but it does not create really convincing images. They are a little bit blurry and pixelated.

Accessories

As usual these days, Acer and many OEMs hardly include any accessories. Apart from a quick start poster, a quick start guide and the warranty information, only a breakout cable, which adds a VGA and a Gigabit-Ethernet interface are available in the package. There are no other connection options available on the laptop. Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Operating System and Recovery battery for ASUS F75V

The Aspire comes pre-installed with Windows 8 (64 Bit). But, an installation DVD is not included. If you want to replace Windows 8 with Windows 7, you can download drivers for Windows 7 from Acer's web site.

Thanks to a recovery partition, it is easy to restore the laptop to the state at delivery. Acer TravelMate 292LMi Battery Unfortunately, it is not possible to launch the recovery by pressing a key combination after powerering on, but only when Windows has booted up. Therefore, the user should create a recovery DVD, which allows launching the recovery in case Windows does no longer boot. The web site "Intowindows.com" provides an English guide on how to create such a DVD.

Maintenance

Acer TravelMate 293ELC Battery On the underside of the notebook, there is a small maintenance hatch and behind it, there are the two RAM slots. One of them is occupied by a 4 GB module. The notebook supports up to 8 GB of RAM. An additional 4 GB RAM module currently costs about 15 to 20 Euros (~$20 to $27). If you want to replace the hard drive or clean the fan, you have to remove the underside of the case. However, we did not try this at the time of the review. Acer TravelMate 293ELCi Battery

Warranty

Acer provides a 24 month bring-in warranty for the V5-471G. In case of a defect, the customer has to send the device to Acer. The IdeaPad and the Samsung have similar warranties. The warranty of the Acer can be extended to three years for about 70 to 80 Euro (~$95 to $110), but the warranty extension must be bought and activated within 365 days after the purchase of the notebook. Acer TravelMate 293ELM Battery

Performance

Our test sample delivers more than enough performance for most users. Text processing, video telephony, internet browsing and videos are not a big challenge for the device. Thanks to its GeForce GPU, it can also play a few 3D games. If the 14-inch display is too small for you, you could consider the nearly identically equipped 15.6-inch Aspire V5-571G. Acer TravelMate 293ELMi Battery

The V5-471 series is a different model. If you do not need a GeForce GPU, you can choose a model without it ("G" will be missing from the model id). In addition, Acer also offer models with touchscreen ("P" in the model name: V5-471P). Our test device is priced at about 600 Euros (~$810), and the other models of the series cost between 500 and 700 Euros (~$675 to $950). Acer TravelMate 293LCi Battery

Processor
Acer use an Intel Core i5-3317U dual core CPU from the Ivy Bridge family in the V5-471G with a base clock of 1.7 GHz. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the clock rate can be increased to 2.4 GHz (both cores) and 2.6 GHz (for a single core). The built-in Core i5 is a ULV CPU, which operates at an especially low voltage level. As a result, its power consumption is lower. Acer TravelMate 293LMi Battery

In the Cinebench tests, the processor is able to utilize the Turbo Boost functionality without any losses in performance. The results are on par with other notebooks with the Core i5-3317U like the IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000). The Samsung (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) and the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) are notably outperformed as the AMD CPUs are slower than the Core i5. Acer TravelMate 29X Battery Thanks to its GeForce GPU, the Aspire also wins the GL tests.

System Performance
The system works smoothly without any delays and the PCMark 7 benchmark confirms our experience with the hardware. The IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) cannot keep up with the Aspire, as their AMD APUs are slower than the CPU/GPU combination of our test sample. Despite having the same CPU and a slower GPU, the IdeaPad U410 (Core i5-3317U, GeForce 610M) delivers a better result as it is equipped with a faster hard drive supported by an SSD cache. The IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000) performs better too.

Graphics cards
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and the GeForce GT 620M GPU are responsible for the graphics performance. Both graphics solutions support DirectX 11. The Intel GPU is used for everyday applications, while the GeForce GPU is used for demanding tasks like 3D games. The GT 620M GPU is one of the entry level GPUs from Nvidia with clocks at 630 MHz. Its Turbo is not activated (no increase of the clock rate to 715 MHz), in order not to overtax the cooling system.

The 3DMark results are as expected. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, the Aspire is significantly faster than the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) in all graphics tests.

Gaming Performance
Thanks to the GeForce GPU, the Aspire is also gaming capable. Current 3D games can be run at low to medium quality and native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels). Even demanding titles like Hitman: Absolution run without stuttering at the lowest settings. Several games also run smoothly at higher quality like the Fifa series. However, if you focus on gaming, you should select a notebook with more powerful graphics, like the Geforce GT 650M and something faster. Comparable notebooks often use only the HD Graphics 4000 GPU. These can only run most games smoothly at lowest resolution and low quality. Some games will also run at medium quality.

System noise Adapter/charger for ASUS F75V

The slim case houses decent performance components. Therefore, the notebook requires a powerful cooling system whose design isn't capable of keeping the system noise down. We already measure between 32.5 and 36.9 dB in the idle state. The IdeaPad S405 (30.3 to 31.3 dB) and the Samsung Series 5 (29.8 to 32.1 dB) are significantly quieter. Under medium (3D Mark 06) and full load (stress test: Prime95 and Furmark), it gets really loud with noise levels of 44 dB and 44.9 dB. The Samsung (39.8 dB and 42,3 dB) works quieter than the Aspire. and the IdeaPad (31.3 dB. and 31.5 dB) also works whisper quiet under load.

While idle, the device gets only moderately warmer with temperatures between 27.7 and 36 degrees Celsius. This is on par with the Samsung, but the IdeaPad remains somewhat cooler.

During the stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark), which is not a realistic scenario, the V5-471G gets significantly warmer with temperatures between 27.6 and 49.6 degrees Celsius. Again, the Series 5 notebook reaches similar temperatures, but some parts get even warmer (52.2 degrees Celsius). Only the Lenovo stays relatively cool under full load.

In our stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark run for at least one hour), the CPU only runs at full speed (2.4 GHz) for about 5 minutes before it slows down to 1.3 GHz (throttling) on the mains. When the stress test is run on battery power, the CPU always clocks at 1.3 GHz. In contrast, the GPU continuously runs at maximum speed (630 MHz) in the stress test regardless of the power source. We ran 3DMark 06 immediately after the stress test and the result did not differ from the cold notebook's. The CPU temperature levels off at about 70 degrees Celsius on mains.

Speakers
The stereo speakers of the V5-471G are on the underside. "Dolby Advanced Audio" and "Virtual Surround Sound" promise decent sound, which is not available on many devices in this category. It is thin and a little bit tiny instead. Speech is clearly audible. In changing the settings with the pre-installed Dolby Advanced Audio software, you could improve the sound. As an alternative, you can simply connect external speakers or headphones.

Power consumption

While idle, the V5-471G profits from its frugal ULV processor. We measure a power consumption between 7.3 and 11.7 Watts. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung (7.7 to 14.5 Watt) and the IdeaPad (7.2 to 12 Watt) demand a similar amount of energy as they are equipped with frugal AMD APUs. As soon as the GeForce GPU is active, the power consumption of the Acer increases significantly. We recorded 54.2 Watts under medium load (3DMark 06) and 52.1 Watts under full load (Prime95 and Furmark). The value is lower under full load, as the CPU throttles to 1.3 GHz. The Series 5 (38.1 Watt and 41,8 Watt) and the IdeaPad (26.9 Watt and 25.7 Watt) demand significantly less power under load.

Battery Life
In the idle mode, the Aspire is able to produce runtimes of 5:36 h, which is on par with the IdeaPad's (5:37 h). The Samsung (6:59 h) runs significantly longer. The idle runtime is recorded by means of the BatteryEater Reader's tests with minimum display brightness, active energy-saving profile and disabled wireless modules. The V5-471G runs for about 1:01 h in the load test. The S405 (1:21 h) and the Samsung (1:32 h) are able to keep operating for a longer time. To check the battery life under load, we used the BatteryEater Classic test with maximum display brightness, high performance profile and enabled wireless modules.

With a single charge, the Wi-Fi test runs for about 2:26 h. The Aspire cannot keep up with its competitors here (S405: 2:55 h, Series 5: 4:19 h). During the Wi-Fi test, web pages are automatically loaded in 40-second intervals with active energy saving profile and a display brightness of about 150 cd/m². The DVD test ends after 2:44 h. Unfortunately, we do not have any comparison results from the competitors here. The DVD test is run with the energy saving profile (or higher if the DVD does not play smoothly), maximum display brightness and deactivated wireless modules.

It is not surprising that the Samsung delivers the longest battery runtimes. It is equipped with the biggest battery (Samsung: 45 Wh, Acer: 37 Wh, Lenovo: 32 Wh).

The Aspire V5-471G delivers decent system performance which suffices for most users. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, it can also run some current 3D games to an extent. But, there are also disadvantages; short battery life (caused by a small battery) and the ever present system noise. In addition, the display has low contrast and narrow viewing angles. However, if you are looking for cheap, gaming capable notebook, there are not many alternatives.

If you prefer a matte display and long battery life, you should consider Samsung's Series 5 535U3C. The IdeaPad S405 is a decent notebook for those looking for a very quiet and frugal notebook.

escrito por moviechy a las 05:24 | en:
Link permanente | enviar por email | Comentarios (0) | Añadir comentario
16/05/2013
Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Review Acer Aspire V5-471G Notebook and battery life

Acer's V5 series consists of several thin and cheap notebooks of the usual form factors (10 to 15.6-inch). Acer targets price-conscious customers interested in ultrabooks. The Aspire V5-471G-53314G50, is a 14-inch device which will be put through all the tests to determine its worthiness as the right pick for the consumer. Acer TravelMate 292ELMi Battery We have already scrutinized the very cheap V5-431 (Celeron 887, HD Graphics) and two 15.6-inch models of the same series, the Aspire V5-531 (Pentium 967, HD Graphics) and the Aspire V5-571G (Core i5-3317U, GeForce GT 620M).

We compare the review sample to Lenovo's IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and Samsung's Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G).

Case

The Aspire V5-471G is completely made from matte silver plastic, which unfortunately leaves the impression of the device being cheap. Acer TravelMate 292EXC Battery The surface if the case is not textured. The IdeaPad and the Samsung are also completely made out of plastic parts. With a height of 23 mm, the Aspire only marginally exceeds the ultrabook specification (max. 21 mm) and is still very portable.

There are some places on the body of the laptop where the different components are not seated properly. The touchpad and the keyboard bezel do not sit flush with each other. Acer TravelMate 292EXCi Battery The base unit is reasonably robust and gives slightly when pressure is applied. But, the palm rests are significantly more rigid. If the base unit is picked up at its front corners, it can hardly be twisted. Even some thicker and heavier notebooks perform worse here. In contrast, the lid can be twisted much more. The hinges hold the lid securely in place, but it tends to teeter. It is possible to open the lid with one hand. Acer TravelMate 292LC Battery

Communication

The WLAN module is from Atheros (AR5WBW222) and supports standards 802.11 b/g/n. The reception performance is very good. The WiFi control of Windows displays full reception quality in close proximity as well as two floors below the router. The Gigbabit Ethernet chip (RTL8168/8111) of the V5-471G is made by Realtek. In addition, the laptop features Bluetooth 4.0. Acer TravelMate 292LCi Battery A web cam is incorporated in the display bezel, but it does not create really convincing images. They are a little bit blurry and pixelated.

Accessories

As usual these days, Acer and many OEMs hardly include any accessories. Apart from a quick start poster, a quick start guide and the warranty information, only a breakout cable, which adds a VGA and a Gigabit-Ethernet interface are available in the package. There are no other connection options available on the laptop. Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Operating System and Recovery battery for ASUS F75V

The Aspire comes pre-installed with Windows 8 (64 Bit). But, an installation DVD is not included. If you want to replace Windows 8 with Windows 7, you can download drivers for Windows 7 from Acer's web site.

Thanks to a recovery partition, it is easy to restore the laptop to the state at delivery. Acer TravelMate 292LMi Battery Unfortunately, it is not possible to launch the recovery by pressing a key combination after powerering on, but only when Windows has booted up. Therefore, the user should create a recovery DVD, which allows launching the recovery in case Windows does no longer boot. The web site "Intowindows.com" provides an English guide on how to create such a DVD.

Maintenance

Acer TravelMate 293ELC Battery On the underside of the notebook, there is a small maintenance hatch and behind it, there are the two RAM slots. One of them is occupied by a 4 GB module. The notebook supports up to 8 GB of RAM. An additional 4 GB RAM module currently costs about 15 to 20 Euros (~$20 to $27). If you want to replace the hard drive or clean the fan, you have to remove the underside of the case. However, we did not try this at the time of the review. Acer TravelMate 293ELCi Battery

Warranty

Acer provides a 24 month bring-in warranty for the V5-471G. In case of a defect, the customer has to send the device to Acer. The IdeaPad and the Samsung have similar warranties. The warranty of the Acer can be extended to three years for about 70 to 80 Euro (~$95 to $110), but the warranty extension must be bought and activated within 365 days after the purchase of the notebook. Acer TravelMate 293ELM Battery

Performance

Our test sample delivers more than enough performance for most users. Text processing, video telephony, internet browsing and videos are not a big challenge for the device. Thanks to its GeForce GPU, it can also play a few 3D games. If the 14-inch display is too small for you, you could consider the nearly identically equipped 15.6-inch Aspire V5-571G. Acer TravelMate 293ELMi Battery

The V5-471 series is a different model. If you do not need a GeForce GPU, you can choose a model without it ("G" will be missing from the model id). In addition, Acer also offer models with touchscreen ("P" in the model name: V5-471P). Our test device is priced at about 600 Euros (~$810), and the other models of the series cost between 500 and 700 Euros (~$675 to $950). Acer TravelMate 293LCi Battery

Processor
Acer use an Intel Core i5-3317U dual core CPU from the Ivy Bridge family in the V5-471G with a base clock of 1.7 GHz. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the clock rate can be increased to 2.4 GHz (both cores) and 2.6 GHz (for a single core). The built-in Core i5 is a ULV CPU, which operates at an especially low voltage level. As a result, its power consumption is lower. Acer TravelMate 293LMi Battery

In the Cinebench tests, the processor is able to utilize the Turbo Boost functionality without any losses in performance. The results are on par with other notebooks with the Core i5-3317U like the IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000). The Samsung (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) and the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) are notably outperformed as the AMD CPUs are slower than the Core i5. Acer TravelMate 29X Battery Thanks to its GeForce GPU, the Aspire also wins the GL tests.

System Performance
The system works smoothly without any delays and the PCMark 7 benchmark confirms our experience with the hardware. The IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) cannot keep up with the Aspire, as their AMD APUs are slower than the CPU/GPU combination of our test sample. Despite having the same CPU and a slower GPU, the IdeaPad U410 (Core i5-3317U, GeForce 610M) delivers a better result as it is equipped with a faster hard drive supported by an SSD cache. The IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000) performs better too.

Graphics cards
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and the GeForce GT 620M GPU are responsible for the graphics performance. Both graphics solutions support DirectX 11. The Intel GPU is used for everyday applications, while the GeForce GPU is used for demanding tasks like 3D games. The GT 620M GPU is one of the entry level GPUs from Nvidia with clocks at 630 MHz. Its Turbo is not activated (no increase of the clock rate to 715 MHz), in order not to overtax the cooling system.

The 3DMark results are as expected. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, the Aspire is significantly faster than the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) in all graphics tests.

Gaming Performance
Thanks to the GeForce GPU, the Aspire is also gaming capable. Current 3D games can be run at low to medium quality and native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels). Even demanding titles like Hitman: Absolution run without stuttering at the lowest settings. Several games also run smoothly at higher quality like the Fifa series. However, if you focus on gaming, you should select a notebook with more powerful graphics, like the Geforce GT 650M and something faster. Comparable notebooks often use only the HD Graphics 4000 GPU. These can only run most games smoothly at lowest resolution and low quality. Some games will also run at medium quality.

System noise Adapter/charger for ASUS F75V

The slim case houses decent performance components. Therefore, the notebook requires a powerful cooling system whose design isn't capable of keeping the system noise down. We already measure between 32.5 and 36.9 dB in the idle state. The IdeaPad S405 (30.3 to 31.3 dB) and the Samsung Series 5 (29.8 to 32.1 dB) are significantly quieter. Under medium (3D Mark 06) and full load (stress test: Prime95 and Furmark), it gets really loud with noise levels of 44 dB and 44.9 dB. The Samsung (39.8 dB and 42,3 dB) works quieter than the Aspire. and the IdeaPad (31.3 dB. and 31.5 dB) also works whisper quiet under load.

While idle, the device gets only moderately warmer with temperatures between 27.7 and 36 degrees Celsius. This is on par with the Samsung, but the IdeaPad remains somewhat cooler.

During the stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark), which is not a realistic scenario, the V5-471G gets significantly warmer with temperatures between 27.6 and 49.6 degrees Celsius. Again, the Series 5 notebook reaches similar temperatures, but some parts get even warmer (52.2 degrees Celsius). Only the Lenovo stays relatively cool under full load.

In our stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark run for at least one hour), the CPU only runs at full speed (2.4 GHz) for about 5 minutes before it slows down to 1.3 GHz (throttling) on the mains. When the stress test is run on battery power, the CPU always clocks at 1.3 GHz. In contrast, the GPU continuously runs at maximum speed (630 MHz) in the stress test regardless of the power source. We ran 3DMark 06 immediately after the stress test and the result did not differ from the cold notebook's. The CPU temperature levels off at about 70 degrees Celsius on mains.

Speakers
The stereo speakers of the V5-471G are on the underside. "Dolby Advanced Audio" and "Virtual Surround Sound" promise decent sound, which is not available on many devices in this category. It is thin and a little bit tiny instead. Speech is clearly audible. In changing the settings with the pre-installed Dolby Advanced Audio software, you could improve the sound. As an alternative, you can simply connect external speakers or headphones.

Power consumption

While idle, the V5-471G profits from its frugal ULV processor. We measure a power consumption between 7.3 and 11.7 Watts. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung (7.7 to 14.5 Watt) and the IdeaPad (7.2 to 12 Watt) demand a similar amount of energy as they are equipped with frugal AMD APUs. As soon as the GeForce GPU is active, the power consumption of the Acer increases significantly. We recorded 54.2 Watts under medium load (3DMark 06) and 52.1 Watts under full load (Prime95 and Furmark). The value is lower under full load, as the CPU throttles to 1.3 GHz. The Series 5 (38.1 Watt and 41,8 Watt) and the IdeaPad (26.9 Watt and 25.7 Watt) demand significantly less power under load.

Battery Life
In the idle mode, the Aspire is able to produce runtimes of 5:36 h, which is on par with the IdeaPad's (5:37 h). The Samsung (6:59 h) runs significantly longer. The idle runtime is recorded by means of the BatteryEater Reader's tests with minimum display brightness, active energy-saving profile and disabled wireless modules. The V5-471G runs for about 1:01 h in the load test. The S405 (1:21 h) and the Samsung (1:32 h) are able to keep operating for a longer time. To check the battery life under load, we used the BatteryEater Classic test with maximum display brightness, high performance profile and enabled wireless modules.

With a single charge, the Wi-Fi test runs for about 2:26 h. The Aspire cannot keep up with its competitors here (S405: 2:55 h, Series 5: 4:19 h). During the Wi-Fi test, web pages are automatically loaded in 40-second intervals with active energy saving profile and a display brightness of about 150 cd/m². The DVD test ends after 2:44 h. Unfortunately, we do not have any comparison results from the competitors here. The DVD test is run with the energy saving profile (or higher if the DVD does not play smoothly), maximum display brightness and deactivated wireless modules.

It is not surprising that the Samsung delivers the longest battery runtimes. It is equipped with the biggest battery (Samsung: 45 Wh, Acer: 37 Wh, Lenovo: 32 Wh).

The Aspire V5-471G delivers decent system performance which suffices for most users. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, it can also run some current 3D games to an extent. But, there are also disadvantages; short battery life (caused by a small battery) and the ever present system noise. In addition, the display has low contrast and narrow viewing angles. However, if you are looking for cheap, gaming capable notebook, there are not many alternatives.

If you prefer a matte display and long battery life, you should consider Samsung's Series 5 535U3C. The IdeaPad S405 is a decent notebook for those looking for a very quiet and frugal notebook.

escrito por moviechy a las 05:24 | en:
Link permanente | enviar por email | Comentarios (0) | Añadir comentario
16/05/2013
Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Review Acer Aspire V5-471G Notebook and battery life

Acer's V5 series consists of several thin and cheap notebooks of the usual form factors (10 to 15.6-inch). Acer targets price-conscious customers interested in ultrabooks. The Aspire V5-471G-53314G50, is a 14-inch device which will be put through all the tests to determine its worthiness as the right pick for the consumer. Acer TravelMate 292ELMi Battery We have already scrutinized the very cheap V5-431 (Celeron 887, HD Graphics) and two 15.6-inch models of the same series, the Aspire V5-531 (Pentium 967, HD Graphics) and the Aspire V5-571G (Core i5-3317U, GeForce GT 620M).

We compare the review sample to Lenovo's IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and Samsung's Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G).

Case

The Aspire V5-471G is completely made from matte silver plastic, which unfortunately leaves the impression of the device being cheap. Acer TravelMate 292EXC Battery The surface if the case is not textured. The IdeaPad and the Samsung are also completely made out of plastic parts. With a height of 23 mm, the Aspire only marginally exceeds the ultrabook specification (max. 21 mm) and is still very portable.

There are some places on the body of the laptop where the different components are not seated properly. The touchpad and the keyboard bezel do not sit flush with each other. Acer TravelMate 292EXCi Battery The base unit is reasonably robust and gives slightly when pressure is applied. But, the palm rests are significantly more rigid. If the base unit is picked up at its front corners, it can hardly be twisted. Even some thicker and heavier notebooks perform worse here. In contrast, the lid can be twisted much more. The hinges hold the lid securely in place, but it tends to teeter. It is possible to open the lid with one hand. Acer TravelMate 292LC Battery

Communication

The WLAN module is from Atheros (AR5WBW222) and supports standards 802.11 b/g/n. The reception performance is very good. The WiFi control of Windows displays full reception quality in close proximity as well as two floors below the router. The Gigbabit Ethernet chip (RTL8168/8111) of the V5-471G is made by Realtek. In addition, the laptop features Bluetooth 4.0. Acer TravelMate 292LCi Battery A web cam is incorporated in the display bezel, but it does not create really convincing images. They are a little bit blurry and pixelated.

Accessories

As usual these days, Acer and many OEMs hardly include any accessories. Apart from a quick start poster, a quick start guide and the warranty information, only a breakout cable, which adds a VGA and a Gigabit-Ethernet interface are available in the package. There are no other connection options available on the laptop. Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Operating System and Recovery battery for ASUS F75V

The Aspire comes pre-installed with Windows 8 (64 Bit). But, an installation DVD is not included. If you want to replace Windows 8 with Windows 7, you can download drivers for Windows 7 from Acer's web site.

Thanks to a recovery partition, it is easy to restore the laptop to the state at delivery. Acer TravelMate 292LMi Battery Unfortunately, it is not possible to launch the recovery by pressing a key combination after powerering on, but only when Windows has booted up. Therefore, the user should create a recovery DVD, which allows launching the recovery in case Windows does no longer boot. The web site "Intowindows.com" provides an English guide on how to create such a DVD.

Maintenance

Acer TravelMate 293ELC Battery On the underside of the notebook, there is a small maintenance hatch and behind it, there are the two RAM slots. One of them is occupied by a 4 GB module. The notebook supports up to 8 GB of RAM. An additional 4 GB RAM module currently costs about 15 to 20 Euros (~$20 to $27). If you want to replace the hard drive or clean the fan, you have to remove the underside of the case. However, we did not try this at the time of the review. Acer TravelMate 293ELCi Battery

Warranty

Acer provides a 24 month bring-in warranty for the V5-471G. In case of a defect, the customer has to send the device to Acer. The IdeaPad and the Samsung have similar warranties. The warranty of the Acer can be extended to three years for about 70 to 80 Euro (~$95 to $110), but the warranty extension must be bought and activated within 365 days after the purchase of the notebook. Acer TravelMate 293ELM Battery

Performance

Our test sample delivers more than enough performance for most users. Text processing, video telephony, internet browsing and videos are not a big challenge for the device. Thanks to its GeForce GPU, it can also play a few 3D games. If the 14-inch display is too small for you, you could consider the nearly identically equipped 15.6-inch Aspire V5-571G. Acer TravelMate 293ELMi Battery

The V5-471 series is a different model. If you do not need a GeForce GPU, you can choose a model without it ("G" will be missing from the model id). In addition, Acer also offer models with touchscreen ("P" in the model name: V5-471P). Our test device is priced at about 600 Euros (~$810), and the other models of the series cost between 500 and 700 Euros (~$675 to $950). Acer TravelMate 293LCi Battery

Processor
Acer use an Intel Core i5-3317U dual core CPU from the Ivy Bridge family in the V5-471G with a base clock of 1.7 GHz. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the clock rate can be increased to 2.4 GHz (both cores) and 2.6 GHz (for a single core). The built-in Core i5 is a ULV CPU, which operates at an especially low voltage level. As a result, its power consumption is lower. Acer TravelMate 293LMi Battery

In the Cinebench tests, the processor is able to utilize the Turbo Boost functionality without any losses in performance. The results are on par with other notebooks with the Core i5-3317U like the IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000). The Samsung (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) and the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) are notably outperformed as the AMD CPUs are slower than the Core i5. Acer TravelMate 29X Battery Thanks to its GeForce GPU, the Aspire also wins the GL tests.

System Performance
The system works smoothly without any delays and the PCMark 7 benchmark confirms our experience with the hardware. The IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) cannot keep up with the Aspire, as their AMD APUs are slower than the CPU/GPU combination of our test sample. Despite having the same CPU and a slower GPU, the IdeaPad U410 (Core i5-3317U, GeForce 610M) delivers a better result as it is equipped with a faster hard drive supported by an SSD cache. The IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000) performs better too.

Graphics cards
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and the GeForce GT 620M GPU are responsible for the graphics performance. Both graphics solutions support DirectX 11. The Intel GPU is used for everyday applications, while the GeForce GPU is used for demanding tasks like 3D games. The GT 620M GPU is one of the entry level GPUs from Nvidia with clocks at 630 MHz. Its Turbo is not activated (no increase of the clock rate to 715 MHz), in order not to overtax the cooling system.

The 3DMark results are as expected. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, the Aspire is significantly faster than the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) in all graphics tests.

Gaming Performance
Thanks to the GeForce GPU, the Aspire is also gaming capable. Current 3D games can be run at low to medium quality and native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels). Even demanding titles like Hitman: Absolution run without stuttering at the lowest settings. Several games also run smoothly at higher quality like the Fifa series. However, if you focus on gaming, you should select a notebook with more powerful graphics, like the Geforce GT 650M and something faster. Comparable notebooks often use only the HD Graphics 4000 GPU. These can only run most games smoothly at lowest resolution and low quality. Some games will also run at medium quality.

System noise Adapter/charger for ASUS F75V

The slim case houses decent performance components. Therefore, the notebook requires a powerful cooling system whose design isn't capable of keeping the system noise down. We already measure between 32.5 and 36.9 dB in the idle state. The IdeaPad S405 (30.3 to 31.3 dB) and the Samsung Series 5 (29.8 to 32.1 dB) are significantly quieter. Under medium (3D Mark 06) and full load (stress test: Prime95 and Furmark), it gets really loud with noise levels of 44 dB and 44.9 dB. The Samsung (39.8 dB and 42,3 dB) works quieter than the Aspire. and the IdeaPad (31.3 dB. and 31.5 dB) also works whisper quiet under load.

While idle, the device gets only moderately warmer with temperatures between 27.7 and 36 degrees Celsius. This is on par with the Samsung, but the IdeaPad remains somewhat cooler.

During the stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark), which is not a realistic scenario, the V5-471G gets significantly warmer with temperatures between 27.6 and 49.6 degrees Celsius. Again, the Series 5 notebook reaches similar temperatures, but some parts get even warmer (52.2 degrees Celsius). Only the Lenovo stays relatively cool under full load.

In our stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark run for at least one hour), the CPU only runs at full speed (2.4 GHz) for about 5 minutes before it slows down to 1.3 GHz (throttling) on the mains. When the stress test is run on battery power, the CPU always clocks at 1.3 GHz. In contrast, the GPU continuously runs at maximum speed (630 MHz) in the stress test regardless of the power source. We ran 3DMark 06 immediately after the stress test and the result did not differ from the cold notebook's. The CPU temperature levels off at about 70 degrees Celsius on mains.

Speakers
The stereo speakers of the V5-471G are on the underside. "Dolby Advanced Audio" and "Virtual Surround Sound" promise decent sound, which is not available on many devices in this category. It is thin and a little bit tiny instead. Speech is clearly audible. In changing the settings with the pre-installed Dolby Advanced Audio software, you could improve the sound. As an alternative, you can simply connect external speakers or headphones.

Power consumption

While idle, the V5-471G profits from its frugal ULV processor. We measure a power consumption between 7.3 and 11.7 Watts. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung (7.7 to 14.5 Watt) and the IdeaPad (7.2 to 12 Watt) demand a similar amount of energy as they are equipped with frugal AMD APUs. As soon as the GeForce GPU is active, the power consumption of the Acer increases significantly. We recorded 54.2 Watts under medium load (3DMark 06) and 52.1 Watts under full load (Prime95 and Furmark). The value is lower under full load, as the CPU throttles to 1.3 GHz. The Series 5 (38.1 Watt and 41,8 Watt) and the IdeaPad (26.9 Watt and 25.7 Watt) demand significantly less power under load.

Battery Life
In the idle mode, the Aspire is able to produce runtimes of 5:36 h, which is on par with the IdeaPad's (5:37 h). The Samsung (6:59 h) runs significantly longer. The idle runtime is recorded by means of the BatteryEater Reader's tests with minimum display brightness, active energy-saving profile and disabled wireless modules. The V5-471G runs for about 1:01 h in the load test. The S405 (1:21 h) and the Samsung (1:32 h) are able to keep operating for a longer time. To check the battery life under load, we used the BatteryEater Classic test with maximum display brightness, high performance profile and enabled wireless modules.

With a single charge, the Wi-Fi test runs for about 2:26 h. The Aspire cannot keep up with its competitors here (S405: 2:55 h, Series 5: 4:19 h). During the Wi-Fi test, web pages are automatically loaded in 40-second intervals with active energy saving profile and a display brightness of about 150 cd/m². The DVD test ends after 2:44 h. Unfortunately, we do not have any comparison results from the competitors here. The DVD test is run with the energy saving profile (or higher if the DVD does not play smoothly), maximum display brightness and deactivated wireless modules.

It is not surprising that the Samsung delivers the longest battery runtimes. It is equipped with the biggest battery (Samsung: 45 Wh, Acer: 37 Wh, Lenovo: 32 Wh).

The Aspire V5-471G delivers decent system performance which suffices for most users. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, it can also run some current 3D games to an extent. But, there are also disadvantages; short battery life (caused by a small battery) and the ever present system noise. In addition, the display has low contrast and narrow viewing angles. However, if you are looking for cheap, gaming capable notebook, there are not many alternatives.

If you prefer a matte display and long battery life, you should consider Samsung's Series 5 535U3C. The IdeaPad S405 is a decent notebook for those looking for a very quiet and frugal notebook.

escrito por moviechy a las 05:24 | en:
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16/05/2013
Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Review Acer Aspire V5-471G Notebook and battery life

Acer's V5 series consists of several thin and cheap notebooks of the usual form factors (10 to 15.6-inch). Acer targets price-conscious customers interested in ultrabooks. The Aspire V5-471G-53314G50, is a 14-inch device which will be put through all the tests to determine its worthiness as the right pick for the consumer. Acer TravelMate 292ELMi Battery We have already scrutinized the very cheap V5-431 (Celeron 887, HD Graphics) and two 15.6-inch models of the same series, the Aspire V5-531 (Pentium 967, HD Graphics) and the Aspire V5-571G (Core i5-3317U, GeForce GT 620M).

We compare the review sample to Lenovo's IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and Samsung's Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G).

Case

The Aspire V5-471G is completely made from matte silver plastic, which unfortunately leaves the impression of the device being cheap. Acer TravelMate 292EXC Battery The surface if the case is not textured. The IdeaPad and the Samsung are also completely made out of plastic parts. With a height of 23 mm, the Aspire only marginally exceeds the ultrabook specification (max. 21 mm) and is still very portable.

There are some places on the body of the laptop where the different components are not seated properly. The touchpad and the keyboard bezel do not sit flush with each other. Acer TravelMate 292EXCi Battery The base unit is reasonably robust and gives slightly when pressure is applied. But, the palm rests are significantly more rigid. If the base unit is picked up at its front corners, it can hardly be twisted. Even some thicker and heavier notebooks perform worse here. In contrast, the lid can be twisted much more. The hinges hold the lid securely in place, but it tends to teeter. It is possible to open the lid with one hand. Acer TravelMate 292LC Battery

Communication

The WLAN module is from Atheros (AR5WBW222) and supports standards 802.11 b/g/n. The reception performance is very good. The WiFi control of Windows displays full reception quality in close proximity as well as two floors below the router. The Gigbabit Ethernet chip (RTL8168/8111) of the V5-471G is made by Realtek. In addition, the laptop features Bluetooth 4.0. Acer TravelMate 292LCi Battery A web cam is incorporated in the display bezel, but it does not create really convincing images. They are a little bit blurry and pixelated.

Accessories

As usual these days, Acer and many OEMs hardly include any accessories. Apart from a quick start poster, a quick start guide and the warranty information, only a breakout cable, which adds a VGA and a Gigabit-Ethernet interface are available in the package. There are no other connection options available on the laptop. Acer TravelMate 292LM Battery

Operating System and Recovery battery for ASUS F75V

The Aspire comes pre-installed with Windows 8 (64 Bit). But, an installation DVD is not included. If you want to replace Windows 8 with Windows 7, you can download drivers for Windows 7 from Acer's web site.

Thanks to a recovery partition, it is easy to restore the laptop to the state at delivery. Acer TravelMate 292LMi Battery Unfortunately, it is not possible to launch the recovery by pressing a key combination after powerering on, but only when Windows has booted up. Therefore, the user should create a recovery DVD, which allows launching the recovery in case Windows does no longer boot. The web site "Intowindows.com" provides an English guide on how to create such a DVD.

Maintenance

Acer TravelMate 293ELC Battery On the underside of the notebook, there is a small maintenance hatch and behind it, there are the two RAM slots. One of them is occupied by a 4 GB module. The notebook supports up to 8 GB of RAM. An additional 4 GB RAM module currently costs about 15 to 20 Euros (~$20 to $27). If you want to replace the hard drive or clean the fan, you have to remove the underside of the case. However, we did not try this at the time of the review. Acer TravelMate 293ELCi Battery

Warranty

Acer provides a 24 month bring-in warranty for the V5-471G. In case of a defect, the customer has to send the device to Acer. The IdeaPad and the Samsung have similar warranties. The warranty of the Acer can be extended to three years for about 70 to 80 Euro (~$95 to $110), but the warranty extension must be bought and activated within 365 days after the purchase of the notebook. Acer TravelMate 293ELM Battery

Performance

Our test sample delivers more than enough performance for most users. Text processing, video telephony, internet browsing and videos are not a big challenge for the device. Thanks to its GeForce GPU, it can also play a few 3D games. If the 14-inch display is too small for you, you could consider the nearly identically equipped 15.6-inch Aspire V5-571G. Acer TravelMate 293ELMi Battery

The V5-471 series is a different model. If you do not need a GeForce GPU, you can choose a model without it ("G" will be missing from the model id). In addition, Acer also offer models with touchscreen ("P" in the model name: V5-471P). Our test device is priced at about 600 Euros (~$810), and the other models of the series cost between 500 and 700 Euros (~$675 to $950). Acer TravelMate 293LCi Battery

Processor
Acer use an Intel Core i5-3317U dual core CPU from the Ivy Bridge family in the V5-471G with a base clock of 1.7 GHz. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the clock rate can be increased to 2.4 GHz (both cores) and 2.6 GHz (for a single core). The built-in Core i5 is a ULV CPU, which operates at an especially low voltage level. As a result, its power consumption is lower. Acer TravelMate 293LMi Battery

In the Cinebench tests, the processor is able to utilize the Turbo Boost functionality without any losses in performance. The results are on par with other notebooks with the Core i5-3317U like the IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000). The Samsung (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) and the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) are notably outperformed as the AMD CPUs are slower than the Core i5. Acer TravelMate 29X Battery Thanks to its GeForce GPU, the Aspire also wins the GL tests.

System Performance
The system works smoothly without any delays and the PCMark 7 benchmark confirms our experience with the hardware. The IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 535U3C (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) cannot keep up with the Aspire, as their AMD APUs are slower than the CPU/GPU combination of our test sample. Despite having the same CPU and a slower GPU, the IdeaPad U410 (Core i5-3317U, GeForce 610M) delivers a better result as it is equipped with a faster hard drive supported by an SSD cache. The IdeaPad S400 (Core i5-3317U, HD Graphics 4000) performs better too.

Graphics cards
The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and the GeForce GT 620M GPU are responsible for the graphics performance. Both graphics solutions support DirectX 11. The Intel GPU is used for everyday applications, while the GeForce GPU is used for demanding tasks like 3D games. The GT 620M GPU is one of the entry level GPUs from Nvidia with clocks at 630 MHz. Its Turbo is not activated (no increase of the clock rate to 715 MHz), in order not to overtax the cooling system.

The 3DMark results are as expected. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, the Aspire is significantly faster than the IdeaPad S405 (AMD A8-4555M, Radeon HD 7600G) and the Samsung Series 5 (AMD A6-4455M, Radeon HD 7500G) in all graphics tests.

Gaming Performance
Thanks to the GeForce GPU, the Aspire is also gaming capable. Current 3D games can be run at low to medium quality and native resolution (1366 x 768 pixels). Even demanding titles like Hitman: Absolution run without stuttering at the lowest settings. Several games also run smoothly at higher quality like the Fifa series. However, if you focus on gaming, you should select a notebook with more powerful graphics, like the Geforce GT 650M and something faster. Comparable notebooks often use only the HD Graphics 4000 GPU. These can only run most games smoothly at lowest resolution and low quality. Some games will also run at medium quality.

System noise Adapter/charger for ASUS F75V

The slim case houses decent performance components. Therefore, the notebook requires a powerful cooling system whose design isn't capable of keeping the system noise down. We already measure between 32.5 and 36.9 dB in the idle state. The IdeaPad S405 (30.3 to 31.3 dB) and the Samsung Series 5 (29.8 to 32.1 dB) are significantly quieter. Under medium (3D Mark 06) and full load (stress test: Prime95 and Furmark), it gets really loud with noise levels of 44 dB and 44.9 dB. The Samsung (39.8 dB and 42,3 dB) works quieter than the Aspire. and the IdeaPad (31.3 dB. and 31.5 dB) also works whisper quiet under load.

While idle, the device gets only moderately warmer with temperatures between 27.7 and 36 degrees Celsius. This is on par with the Samsung, but the IdeaPad remains somewhat cooler.

During the stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark), which is not a realistic scenario, the V5-471G gets significantly warmer with temperatures between 27.6 and 49.6 degrees Celsius. Again, the Series 5 notebook reaches similar temperatures, but some parts get even warmer (52.2 degrees Celsius). Only the Lenovo stays relatively cool under full load.

In our stress test (Prime 95 and Furmark run for at least one hour), the CPU only runs at full speed (2.4 GHz) for about 5 minutes before it slows down to 1.3 GHz (throttling) on the mains. When the stress test is run on battery power, the CPU always clocks at 1.3 GHz. In contrast, the GPU continuously runs at maximum speed (630 MHz) in the stress test regardless of the power source. We ran 3DMark 06 immediately after the stress test and the result did not differ from the cold notebook's. The CPU temperature levels off at about 70 degrees Celsius on mains.

Speakers
The stereo speakers of the V5-471G are on the underside. "Dolby Advanced Audio" and "Virtual Surround Sound" promise decent sound, which is not available on many devices in this category. It is thin and a little bit tiny instead. Speech is clearly audible. In changing the settings with the pre-installed Dolby Advanced Audio software, you could improve the sound. As an alternative, you can simply connect external speakers or headphones.

Power consumption

While idle, the V5-471G profits from its frugal ULV processor. We measure a power consumption between 7.3 and 11.7 Watts. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung (7.7 to 14.5 Watt) and the IdeaPad (7.2 to 12 Watt) demand a similar amount of energy as they are equipped with frugal AMD APUs. As soon as the GeForce GPU is active, the power consumption of the Acer increases significantly. We recorded 54.2 Watts under medium load (3DMark 06) and 52.1 Watts under full load (Prime95 and Furmark). The value is lower under full load, as the CPU throttles to 1.3 GHz. The Series 5 (38.1 Watt and 41,8 Watt) and the IdeaPad (26.9 Watt and 25.7 Watt) demand significantly less power under load.

Battery Life
In the idle mode, the Aspire is able to produce runtimes of 5:36 h, which is on par with the IdeaPad's (5:37 h). The Samsung (6:59 h) runs significantly longer. The idle runtime is recorded by means of the BatteryEater Reader's tests with minimum display brightness, active energy-saving profile and disabled wireless modules. The V5-471G runs for about 1:01 h in the load test. The S405 (1:21 h) and the Samsung (1:32 h) are able to keep operating for a longer time. To check the battery life under load, we used the BatteryEater Classic test with maximum display brightness, high performance profile and enabled wireless modules.

With a single charge, the Wi-Fi test runs for about 2:26 h. The Aspire cannot keep up with its competitors here (S405: 2:55 h, Series 5: 4:19 h). During the Wi-Fi test, web pages are automatically loaded in 40-second intervals with active energy saving profile and a display brightness of about 150 cd/m². The DVD test ends after 2:44 h. Unfortunately, we do not have any comparison results from the competitors here. The DVD test is run with the energy saving profile (or higher if the DVD does not play smoothly), maximum display brightness and deactivated wireless modules.

It is not surprising that the Samsung delivers the longest battery runtimes. It is equipped with the biggest battery (Samsung: 45 Wh, Acer: 37 Wh, Lenovo: 32 Wh).

The Aspire V5-471G delivers decent system performance which suffices for most users. Thanks to its GeForce GT 620M GPU, it can also run some current 3D games to an extent. But, there are also disadvantages; short battery life (caused by a small battery) and the ever present system noise. In addition, the display has low contrast and narrow viewing angles. However, if you are looking for cheap, gaming capable notebook, there are not many alternatives.

If you prefer a matte display and long battery life, you should consider Samsung's Series 5 535U3C. The IdeaPad S405 is a decent notebook for those looking for a very quiet and frugal notebook.

escrito por moviechy a las 05:24 | en:
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14/05/2013
ASUS K45A Battery

Review Asus VivoTab TF810C Convertible

IFA 2012 was the revival of convertibles. To this point subnotebooks with a classic swivel joint were niche products. For the most part these devices, like the convertible Lifebooks (e.g. Fujitsu T580, T900), Latitudes (Dell XT2) or ThinkPads (X220T) were attractive for the business user. ASUS F55U Battery There have been some Windows 7 consumer convertibles over the last couple of years, but the sales figures were never really high.

The most important consumer convertibles: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t (N450), HP TouchSmart tm2 (Core 2 Duo), Dell Inspiron duo (N550), Gigabyte Booktop T1125N (Intel Core) and Asus Eee PC T91 MT (Z520). Reason for the small demand was the bad touch optimization of Windows 7 and a market that was heavily focused on notebooks. ASUS F55V Battery

The massive growth of Android and iOS based tablets and their big performance jumps in a very short period got the attention of Intel and Microsoft. The big players did not want to lose against Android in the long term but sell their own processors for tablets and smartphones. Windows 8 was also optimized to become a touch-OS and Intel made ultra-mobile X86-Atom CPUs (Clover Trail) for tablets and smartphones (Windows Phone). ASUS F55VD Battery

The VivoTab TF810C belongs to this "new" category. Atom Z2760 combined with real Windows 8 (no RT-version) and an attachable keyboard. Can the 11.6-inch device connect the typical Windows world and its proven applications with the mobile tablet world? Asus talks about transformed productivity and not only attaches a convenient keyboard but also a second battery. ASUS F55VDR Battery Do mobility and Windows productivity meet the requirements of the 900 Euros (~$1201) price tag?

Similar to HP and Acer, Asus decided to use the docking concept. But this is only one way to transform a tablet into a subnotebook. Flipping frame (Review Dell XPS 12 ConvertibleDell XPS 12), slider-mechanism (Sony Vaio Duo 11, Toshiba Satellite U920t), double-sided displays (Asus Taichi 21) and 360-degree hinges (Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga) are other solutions. ASUS F75 Battery

Advantage of the docking system: If you do not need the keyboard - or in this case the longer runtime - you do not have to carry a bulky and heavy case. The first look is reserved for the massive metallic joint of the 11.6-inch device. Two bars inside keep the tablet in place and a velvet insert avoids unpleasant abrasions. Moving the joint is very difficult without the cover as lever-arm, it is exceptionally firm. ASUS F75A Battery Accordingly opening the cover with one hand is not possible.

The slider on the left tablet side releases the locking mechanism mechanically. The connection has a very good tensile strength, without unlocking the tablet cannot be released. The joint cannot avoid teetering of the cover; it is too loose in the socket.

The opening angle of the cover is limited to around 130 degrees and the heavy base unit (weight of the second battery) avoids tipping backwards. ASUS F75A1 Battery Touch inputs encounter a usable fixated surface but the wobbling within the joint is disturbing. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC and HP Envy X2 have the same problem. Especially problematic for Samsung users: The opening angle is smaller, the device can tip due to the unfavorable center of gravity (no battery weight underneath the keyboard) and the display falls back onto the keyboard by itself (no fixation point). ASUS F75V adapter

We really like the stability and build quality of both components. The glass has good pressure resistance, only at the border surfaces pressure creates small pressure marks. The brushed aluminum finish of the back side of the tablet is pleasantly cool and avoids slipping of the hands. The ripped plastic stripes at the same place have the same purpose. ASUS F75VD Battery

The keyboard-dock leaves the same sturdy impression of the tablet body. It is made of brushed aluminum at the cover and rubberized plastic underneath. The base can only be slightly bent but not dented anywhere.

Communication
The WLAN module supports the draft-n standard and Bluetooth 4.0, which is pretty much standard repertoire for most Windows devices by now. ASUS F75VD1 Battery Based on our rough evaluation the transmitting power is convenient: With a distance of three meters the reception is excellent (Windows: 5 bars), upstairs (10 m) and outside the house (15 m, 3 bars) still good to low (40 m, 1 bar). The transmitting power of the router (Fritz!Box 7270) is always reduced to 50%. asus k75d battery

4G/UMTS is no option for the TF810C, Asus offers no according model. In return you get a GPS module for location. ASUS K45 Battery When you are on the road and use the internet connection of your smartphone via tethering certain applications can display your current position (Google Maps). Common navigation applications, even without internet connection, are also working. The sibling VivoTab Smart ME400C is also available with GPS but still lacks 4G capability. From the Atom competitors only the ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C is equipped with a UMTS. Acer should provide the Iconia W511 with 3G soon. ASUS K45A Battery

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology to connect external devices in a contactless way with the VivoTab. One example: Hold NFC capable headphones next to the tablet and they immediately start playing. A hardware installation is not necessary. A second contact results in a disconnect. Iconia W510 and Envy x2 11 also have NFC on board. ASUS K45D Battery

Accessories
The VivoTab is also available without the keyboard dock, the price is 800 Euros (~$1068) in this case. As accessory you get a stylus pen (Wacom, passive, without battery) with five replacement tips in a small box. In addition there is a USB 2.0 dongle for the docking port of the tablet and a cover that can also be used as a tablet stand. The keyboard dock does not fit into this cover. ASUS K45DE Battery

Invisible are compass, position sensor and gyroscope (gyrostabilizer, detects the position of the tablet) and an ambient light sensor. The latter acts too exaggerated in our opinion and often reduces the brightness too much. Via function key it can be deactivated very quickly, at least at the dock. The listed sensors are standard for modern tablets. ASUS K45DR Battery

Software
Here Asus restrains itself and does not waste much space of the very limited storage. Asus Web Storage, Asus@Vibe fun Center and a trial version of MS Office, which is all. From the 64 GB MMC storage 50 GB remains for Windows 8 and software after deduction of the recovery partition and the formatting loss. Windows needs 13 GB so around 37 GB remains for the user. ASUS K45N Battery

Performance

The System-on-Chip (SoC) Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) is Intel's first X86 chip with integrated graphics (GMA 3650) for tablets as well as smartphones (e. g. ZTE Grand X). Due to the 32nm process the chip is more efficient than Atom CPUs in netbooks (e.g. N2600) and can keep up with the Nvidia Tegra (ARM) when it comes to runtime and efficiency. ASUS K45V Battery See our efficiency comparison ARM against x86 for more information.

The Clover Trail is available for smartphones as Atom Z2000 and Z2580. For tablets or convertibles the Z2760 is the only processor currently available. As an alternative you can get the VivoTab with a Tegra 3 in the VivoTab RT Convertible (Windows 8 RT). Like all Atom convertibles our review unit is equipped with 64 GB eMMC flash storage and 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM (onboard). ASUS K45VD Battery

The computing power of the Atom is not on the same level as ultrabooks or cheap notebooks. Even weak Celeron/Pentium processors are 80 to 113% faster at multi core tests. For the comparison we use ultrabook convertibles. With an i5-3317U & Co these subnotebooks are up to 390% faster.

The computing power is similar to the 2012 Atom generation but with reduced energy consumption. ASUS K45VG Battery The 2008 N270 (Diamond Ville; Eee PC 1002HA) is 50%, the 2012 N2600 (Cedarview; Aspire One D270) is 9% slower. The consumption under load (see stress test) was almost cut in half compared to netbooks from 2012. The tablet Atom can keep up with the currently fastest ARM chips, which is shown by the multi-platform benchmark Geekbench 2. The competitors from HP, Samsung and Acer are on the same level. ASUS K45VJ Battery

The system performance of the VivoTab, displayed by PCMark 7, leaves a better impression. Now the Atom device is only 10 - 17% behind weaker Pentium or Celeron notebooks (low voltage): The reason for this is the flash storage, which outclasses all mechanical hard drives of compared devices by around 40%. The picture below shows the PCMark 7 System Storage Score. ASUS K45VM Battery Systems with conventional hard drives cannot keep up and lose points. However, ultrabooks with real solid state drives are clearly ahead (+ 177 - 127%). The currently available netbook generation (Atom N2600, Aspire One D270 or also AMD C-60, Aspire One 725) is 35 to 46% behind the VivoTab.

Compared to latest SSD drives the performance of the eMMC chip is very low (see Vaio Duo 11 in the following diagram). HD-Tune and Crystal Disk Mark determine only 50 and 79 MB/sec for sequential reading, which is even less than the latest hard drives. The results for the 4K tests are better, here the eMMC is almost 100% faster compared to a typical hard drive with 5400 rpm. ASUS K45VS Battery

Graphics
The PowerVR SGX545 (IGP) is at the bottom end when compared against integrated solutions from AMD and Intel. It can surpass the old GMA 950 and 3150 (Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit), but cannot deliver the performance of the already slow Intel GMA (Sandy Bridge). The more we look at ultrabooks and HD 4000 the bigger the difference. The HD4000 in the Toshiba U920t Convertible is almost three times faster and delivers ten times the fps in FIFA 13. Compatible ASUS K55 Battery

The PowerVR does not support DirectX-10, only version 9. If older test games start at all, there were often graphic errors, for example with FIFA 13 and World in Conflict. In the end the GPU is used for video acceleration when the necessary player and codec are provided.

Temperature
The VivoTab TF810C does not need a fan, it has the same passive silent cooling solution as similar equipped tablets. This is the case for all Atom based competitors. Ultrabook convertibles (e. g. Vaio Duo 11) need active cooling. The 2012 Atom generation (Cedarview) also needed active cooling (at least the manufacturers always used it). The energy consumption and the created heat of Cedarview were considerably higher. ASUS K55A Battery

The produced heat has to be dissipated by the case surfaces. Here, the aluminum cover is an advantage. The VivoTab remains cool, especially if you use little computing performance. During idle we measure a maximum surface temperature of only 25 °C at the front and back. The keyboard dock remains at ambient temperature, it only contains the battery. ASUS K55D adapter

During load (stress test Furmark + Prime95) the VivoTab TF810C has a steady CPU clock of 1.8 GHz. Turbo boost is not available. The GPU clocks could not be determined with any tool. We suspect unfinished drivers. The result of the mandatory 3DMark 05 run after the stress test was identical to the plugged in test. By the way, the computing performance remains identical when the battery is used, the CB R11.5 test results (32 bit) were the same.ASUS K55DE Battery Replacement

The integrated speakers (back of the tablet, at the edge) deliver reasonable sound at adjusted or maximum volume. The volume is pretty high (no distortions). When you carry the tablet around both hands are exactly above the speakers, but the sound does not suffer in these situations because the fingers cannot cover 100% of them.

Low tones and bass are not very inspiring, they are just not present. The sound is more mid tone focused. We did not like the automatic volume adjustment of the sound driver, we could clearly determine adjustments. ASUS K55DR Battery For headphones there is a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that was combined with the microphone. The tablet also has an integrated microphone, for example, voice commands can be used for web URLs or search words.

Energy Management

Power Consumption
The energy consumption is between 1.6 - 4.2 Watts at idle and 5.8 Watts under medium workloads (3DMark2006). The very low consumption is comparable to ARM tablets (Vivo Tab RT TF600) or the X86-competition (Iconia W510 1.7-6.9 Watts at idle). ASUS K55N Battery The Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.6-4.0) is more frugal although its display brightness is nearly identical.

Under high load the voltmeter only indicates 8.4 Watts. The W510 (9.7 Watts) is more power hungry; the rest of the competition is on the same level. Interesting: The TF600 with Tegra 3 and Windows RT needs even more power, 9.1 and 11 Watts respectively (medium, high; similar brightness). Intel Core devices like the Vaio Duo 11 with i5-3317U need 5 - 11 Watts at idle and 34 Watts under load. In return the performance is significantly higher compared to our Intel-Atom system. ASUS K55V Battery

The 10 Watts power supply unit is sufficient for the consumption. During continuous load and utilization of the PSU the following charging times could be longer.

Battery Runtime
Just recently the Envy X2 11 with its dual batteries delivered massive runtimes of 7:07 and 11:55 up to 20:34 hours (load/WLAN/idle). These runtimes can be beaten by our review unit. 33 hours (tablet+dock) is the result for the Reader-test, the consumption was minimized by turning off all wireless connections and the lowest brightness. ASUS K55VD Battery The runtime measurements became an ordeal because the limited energy settings of Windows 8 (there is just one energy profile!) caused the tablet to go into unintentional standby quite often. When we only used the tablet this could be avoided with the "Don't Sleep" tool, but it did not always work when the keyboard dock was attached. Due to these problems we did not get a correct result for the WLAN test even after several days of testing. ASUS K55VJ Battery

Based on our evaluation the most realistic runtime is determined by the "Movie 150 cd/m²" scenario. The tablet shows a low resolution AVI movie for almost 14 hours (830 minutes). With the docking station this value is increased to 18:20 hours (1,100 minutes). The worst scenario under load (only tablet, maximum brightness) is seven hours (425 minutes). ASUS K55VM Charger The Reader-test (idle) without docking battery stops after 10:41 hours (641 minutes). The docking station is no charging station; the tablet cannot be recharged with the second battery.

There is one disadvantage with two batteries: the pretty weak 10 Watts PSU needs 6:10 hours (both batteries) and 4:07 hours (only tablet battery) for a complete charge (device is turned on). The 2-cell tablet battery has a capacity of 30 Wh (lithium-polymer, 3,950 mAH). The battery beneath the keyboard provides 25 Wh (two cells). ASUS K55VS Battery asus k75d Charger

The competition, also with dual batteries, cannot keep up with these runtimes: Asus VivoTab RT TF600 (16:10 hours/10:18; idle/WLAN), Iconia W510 (19:09/13:35), Samsung XE500T1C (single battery, 14:43/7:14).

Asus complements its Windows RT VivoTab TF600 (Tegra 3) with a device for traditional Windows fans, the VivoTab TF810C-1B026W including keyboard dock. ASUS K75 Battery But you really have to be a big fan; the extra charge of 350 Euros (~$467) is immense. For this price you get the X86-platform with real Windows 8. It is only 32 bit but it can run all familiar applications (no limitation to Windows RT apps).

At least in theory, similar to the HP Envy x2 11-g000eg, Acer Iconia W510 and Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C, the performance suffers from the weak Atom processor. ASUS K75A BatteryIf you want to use the TF810C as a desktop replacement on the go (multi-tasking, run apps simultaneously, save lots of data, casual games) you will reach the performance limits very quickly. This is the reason for the title "unbalanced": The TF810C is more expensive than some Intel-Core ultrabooks but computing speed and overall performance are almost similar to netbooks (Atom N2600 early 2012). ASUS K75D Battery

But the VivoTab TF810C has its advantages too. 33 hours idle runtime is unrivaled compared to other Cedarview-Atom devices. We can only estimate the WLAN runtime with an additional test: around 17 hours. These runtimes can be achieved with the additional battery in the keyboard dock. Other benefits are the keyboard, which is convenient for frequent writers and the robust, high quality aluminum finish of the base unit and tablet. ASUS K75DE Charger

The potential buyer might be surprised by the low HD resolution (1366x768 pixels), but Atom convertibles from the competition do not offer something better (Envy x2 11, Acer Iconia W510 and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C). If you want a higher resolution in the same or at least similar form factor (Windows 8) you have to choose an Intel Core based convertible, for example the Sony Vaio Duo 11 or Dell XPS 12. ASUS K75V Battery The S-IPS+ panel does not need to hide from the competition, it is very bright during battery use, has a very high contrast and wide viewing angles (best in class). The three listed competitors also have good displays but are not that perfect.

Similar (low) performance, identically good panels with the same resolution: Which Atom convertible is the best? With prices of around 900 Euros (~$1201) the Envy x2 11 and our VivoTab TF810C are the most expensive, yet they offer the best runtimes with the additional battery inside the keyboard docks. ASUS K75VD adapter Acer Iconia W510 (500 - 600 Euros, ~$667 - $801) and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C (under 800 Euros, ~$1068, without UMTS) are considerably less expensive. However, Samsung waives the second battery and with Acer the customer has to live with worse build quality and inconvenient input devices. In return, Acer integrated an additional battery and offers long runtimes. ASUS K75VJ Battery Asus does not want to scare off the customers and sells a technically identical VivoTab Smart ME400C for around 500 Euros (~$667, without dock).

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14/05/2013
ASUS K45A Battery

Review Asus VivoTab TF810C Convertible

IFA 2012 was the revival of convertibles. To this point subnotebooks with a classic swivel joint were niche products. For the most part these devices, like the convertible Lifebooks (e.g. Fujitsu T580, T900), Latitudes (Dell XT2) or ThinkPads (X220T) were attractive for the business user. ASUS F55U Battery There have been some Windows 7 consumer convertibles over the last couple of years, but the sales figures were never really high.

The most important consumer convertibles: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t (N450), HP TouchSmart tm2 (Core 2 Duo), Dell Inspiron duo (N550), Gigabyte Booktop T1125N (Intel Core) and Asus Eee PC T91 MT (Z520). Reason for the small demand was the bad touch optimization of Windows 7 and a market that was heavily focused on notebooks. ASUS F55V Battery

The massive growth of Android and iOS based tablets and their big performance jumps in a very short period got the attention of Intel and Microsoft. The big players did not want to lose against Android in the long term but sell their own processors for tablets and smartphones. Windows 8 was also optimized to become a touch-OS and Intel made ultra-mobile X86-Atom CPUs (Clover Trail) for tablets and smartphones (Windows Phone). ASUS F55VD Battery

The VivoTab TF810C belongs to this "new" category. Atom Z2760 combined with real Windows 8 (no RT-version) and an attachable keyboard. Can the 11.6-inch device connect the typical Windows world and its proven applications with the mobile tablet world? Asus talks about transformed productivity and not only attaches a convenient keyboard but also a second battery. ASUS F55VDR Battery Do mobility and Windows productivity meet the requirements of the 900 Euros (~$1201) price tag?

Similar to HP and Acer, Asus decided to use the docking concept. But this is only one way to transform a tablet into a subnotebook. Flipping frame (Review Dell XPS 12 ConvertibleDell XPS 12), slider-mechanism (Sony Vaio Duo 11, Toshiba Satellite U920t), double-sided displays (Asus Taichi 21) and 360-degree hinges (Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga) are other solutions. ASUS F75 Battery

Advantage of the docking system: If you do not need the keyboard - or in this case the longer runtime - you do not have to carry a bulky and heavy case. The first look is reserved for the massive metallic joint of the 11.6-inch device. Two bars inside keep the tablet in place and a velvet insert avoids unpleasant abrasions. Moving the joint is very difficult without the cover as lever-arm, it is exceptionally firm. ASUS F75A Battery Accordingly opening the cover with one hand is not possible.

The slider on the left tablet side releases the locking mechanism mechanically. The connection has a very good tensile strength, without unlocking the tablet cannot be released. The joint cannot avoid teetering of the cover; it is too loose in the socket.

The opening angle of the cover is limited to around 130 degrees and the heavy base unit (weight of the second battery) avoids tipping backwards. ASUS F75A1 Battery Touch inputs encounter a usable fixated surface but the wobbling within the joint is disturbing. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC and HP Envy X2 have the same problem. Especially problematic for Samsung users: The opening angle is smaller, the device can tip due to the unfavorable center of gravity (no battery weight underneath the keyboard) and the display falls back onto the keyboard by itself (no fixation point). ASUS F75V adapter

We really like the stability and build quality of both components. The glass has good pressure resistance, only at the border surfaces pressure creates small pressure marks. The brushed aluminum finish of the back side of the tablet is pleasantly cool and avoids slipping of the hands. The ripped plastic stripes at the same place have the same purpose. ASUS F75VD Battery

The keyboard-dock leaves the same sturdy impression of the tablet body. It is made of brushed aluminum at the cover and rubberized plastic underneath. The base can only be slightly bent but not dented anywhere.

Communication
The WLAN module supports the draft-n standard and Bluetooth 4.0, which is pretty much standard repertoire for most Windows devices by now. ASUS F75VD1 Battery Based on our rough evaluation the transmitting power is convenient: With a distance of three meters the reception is excellent (Windows: 5 bars), upstairs (10 m) and outside the house (15 m, 3 bars) still good to low (40 m, 1 bar). The transmitting power of the router (Fritz!Box 7270) is always reduced to 50%. asus k75d battery

4G/UMTS is no option for the TF810C, Asus offers no according model. In return you get a GPS module for location. ASUS K45 Battery When you are on the road and use the internet connection of your smartphone via tethering certain applications can display your current position (Google Maps). Common navigation applications, even without internet connection, are also working. The sibling VivoTab Smart ME400C is also available with GPS but still lacks 4G capability. From the Atom competitors only the ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C is equipped with a UMTS. Acer should provide the Iconia W511 with 3G soon. ASUS K45A Battery

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology to connect external devices in a contactless way with the VivoTab. One example: Hold NFC capable headphones next to the tablet and they immediately start playing. A hardware installation is not necessary. A second contact results in a disconnect. Iconia W510 and Envy x2 11 also have NFC on board. ASUS K45D Battery

Accessories
The VivoTab is also available without the keyboard dock, the price is 800 Euros (~$1068) in this case. As accessory you get a stylus pen (Wacom, passive, without battery) with five replacement tips in a small box. In addition there is a USB 2.0 dongle for the docking port of the tablet and a cover that can also be used as a tablet stand. The keyboard dock does not fit into this cover. ASUS K45DE Battery

Invisible are compass, position sensor and gyroscope (gyrostabilizer, detects the position of the tablet) and an ambient light sensor. The latter acts too exaggerated in our opinion and often reduces the brightness too much. Via function key it can be deactivated very quickly, at least at the dock. The listed sensors are standard for modern tablets. ASUS K45DR Battery

Software
Here Asus restrains itself and does not waste much space of the very limited storage. Asus Web Storage, Asus@Vibe fun Center and a trial version of MS Office, which is all. From the 64 GB MMC storage 50 GB remains for Windows 8 and software after deduction of the recovery partition and the formatting loss. Windows needs 13 GB so around 37 GB remains for the user. ASUS K45N Battery

Performance

The System-on-Chip (SoC) Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) is Intel's first X86 chip with integrated graphics (GMA 3650) for tablets as well as smartphones (e. g. ZTE Grand X). Due to the 32nm process the chip is more efficient than Atom CPUs in netbooks (e.g. N2600) and can keep up with the Nvidia Tegra (ARM) when it comes to runtime and efficiency. ASUS K45V Battery See our efficiency comparison ARM against x86 for more information.

The Clover Trail is available for smartphones as Atom Z2000 and Z2580. For tablets or convertibles the Z2760 is the only processor currently available. As an alternative you can get the VivoTab with a Tegra 3 in the VivoTab RT Convertible (Windows 8 RT). Like all Atom convertibles our review unit is equipped with 64 GB eMMC flash storage and 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM (onboard). ASUS K45VD Battery

The computing power of the Atom is not on the same level as ultrabooks or cheap notebooks. Even weak Celeron/Pentium processors are 80 to 113% faster at multi core tests. For the comparison we use ultrabook convertibles. With an i5-3317U & Co these subnotebooks are up to 390% faster.

The computing power is similar to the 2012 Atom generation but with reduced energy consumption. ASUS K45VG Battery The 2008 N270 (Diamond Ville; Eee PC 1002HA) is 50%, the 2012 N2600 (Cedarview; Aspire One D270) is 9% slower. The consumption under load (see stress test) was almost cut in half compared to netbooks from 2012. The tablet Atom can keep up with the currently fastest ARM chips, which is shown by the multi-platform benchmark Geekbench 2. The competitors from HP, Samsung and Acer are on the same level. ASUS K45VJ Battery

The system performance of the VivoTab, displayed by PCMark 7, leaves a better impression. Now the Atom device is only 10 - 17% behind weaker Pentium or Celeron notebooks (low voltage): The reason for this is the flash storage, which outclasses all mechanical hard drives of compared devices by around 40%. The picture below shows the PCMark 7 System Storage Score. ASUS K45VM Battery Systems with conventional hard drives cannot keep up and lose points. However, ultrabooks with real solid state drives are clearly ahead (+ 177 - 127%). The currently available netbook generation (Atom N2600, Aspire One D270 or also AMD C-60, Aspire One 725) is 35 to 46% behind the VivoTab.

Compared to latest SSD drives the performance of the eMMC chip is very low (see Vaio Duo 11 in the following diagram). HD-Tune and Crystal Disk Mark determine only 50 and 79 MB/sec for sequential reading, which is even less than the latest hard drives. The results for the 4K tests are better, here the eMMC is almost 100% faster compared to a typical hard drive with 5400 rpm. ASUS K45VS Battery

Graphics
The PowerVR SGX545 (IGP) is at the bottom end when compared against integrated solutions from AMD and Intel. It can surpass the old GMA 950 and 3150 (Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit), but cannot deliver the performance of the already slow Intel GMA (Sandy Bridge). The more we look at ultrabooks and HD 4000 the bigger the difference. The HD4000 in the Toshiba U920t Convertible is almost three times faster and delivers ten times the fps in FIFA 13. Compatible ASUS K55 Battery

The PowerVR does not support DirectX-10, only version 9. If older test games start at all, there were often graphic errors, for example with FIFA 13 and World in Conflict. In the end the GPU is used for video acceleration when the necessary player and codec are provided.

Temperature
The VivoTab TF810C does not need a fan, it has the same passive silent cooling solution as similar equipped tablets. This is the case for all Atom based competitors. Ultrabook convertibles (e. g. Vaio Duo 11) need active cooling. The 2012 Atom generation (Cedarview) also needed active cooling (at least the manufacturers always used it). The energy consumption and the created heat of Cedarview were considerably higher. ASUS K55A Battery

The produced heat has to be dissipated by the case surfaces. Here, the aluminum cover is an advantage. The VivoTab remains cool, especially if you use little computing performance. During idle we measure a maximum surface temperature of only 25 °C at the front and back. The keyboard dock remains at ambient temperature, it only contains the battery. ASUS K55D adapter

During load (stress test Furmark + Prime95) the VivoTab TF810C has a steady CPU clock of 1.8 GHz. Turbo boost is not available. The GPU clocks could not be determined with any tool. We suspect unfinished drivers. The result of the mandatory 3DMark 05 run after the stress test was identical to the plugged in test. By the way, the computing performance remains identical when the battery is used, the CB R11.5 test results (32 bit) were the same.ASUS K55DE Battery Replacement

The integrated speakers (back of the tablet, at the edge) deliver reasonable sound at adjusted or maximum volume. The volume is pretty high (no distortions). When you carry the tablet around both hands are exactly above the speakers, but the sound does not suffer in these situations because the fingers cannot cover 100% of them.

Low tones and bass are not very inspiring, they are just not present. The sound is more mid tone focused. We did not like the automatic volume adjustment of the sound driver, we could clearly determine adjustments. ASUS K55DR Battery For headphones there is a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that was combined with the microphone. The tablet also has an integrated microphone, for example, voice commands can be used for web URLs or search words.

Energy Management

Power Consumption
The energy consumption is between 1.6 - 4.2 Watts at idle and 5.8 Watts under medium workloads (3DMark2006). The very low consumption is comparable to ARM tablets (Vivo Tab RT TF600) or the X86-competition (Iconia W510 1.7-6.9 Watts at idle). ASUS K55N Battery The Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.6-4.0) is more frugal although its display brightness is nearly identical.

Under high load the voltmeter only indicates 8.4 Watts. The W510 (9.7 Watts) is more power hungry; the rest of the competition is on the same level. Interesting: The TF600 with Tegra 3 and Windows RT needs even more power, 9.1 and 11 Watts respectively (medium, high; similar brightness). Intel Core devices like the Vaio Duo 11 with i5-3317U need 5 - 11 Watts at idle and 34 Watts under load. In return the performance is significantly higher compared to our Intel-Atom system. ASUS K55V Battery

The 10 Watts power supply unit is sufficient for the consumption. During continuous load and utilization of the PSU the following charging times could be longer.

Battery Runtime
Just recently the Envy X2 11 with its dual batteries delivered massive runtimes of 7:07 and 11:55 up to 20:34 hours (load/WLAN/idle). These runtimes can be beaten by our review unit. 33 hours (tablet+dock) is the result for the Reader-test, the consumption was minimized by turning off all wireless connections and the lowest brightness. ASUS K55VD Battery The runtime measurements became an ordeal because the limited energy settings of Windows 8 (there is just one energy profile!) caused the tablet to go into unintentional standby quite often. When we only used the tablet this could be avoided with the "Don't Sleep" tool, but it did not always work when the keyboard dock was attached. Due to these problems we did not get a correct result for the WLAN test even after several days of testing. ASUS K55VJ Battery

Based on our evaluation the most realistic runtime is determined by the "Movie 150 cd/m²" scenario. The tablet shows a low resolution AVI movie for almost 14 hours (830 minutes). With the docking station this value is increased to 18:20 hours (1,100 minutes). The worst scenario under load (only tablet, maximum brightness) is seven hours (425 minutes). ASUS K55VM Charger The Reader-test (idle) without docking battery stops after 10:41 hours (641 minutes). The docking station is no charging station; the tablet cannot be recharged with the second battery.

There is one disadvantage with two batteries: the pretty weak 10 Watts PSU needs 6:10 hours (both batteries) and 4:07 hours (only tablet battery) for a complete charge (device is turned on). The 2-cell tablet battery has a capacity of 30 Wh (lithium-polymer, 3,950 mAH). The battery beneath the keyboard provides 25 Wh (two cells). ASUS K55VS Battery asus k75d Charger

The competition, also with dual batteries, cannot keep up with these runtimes: Asus VivoTab RT TF600 (16:10 hours/10:18; idle/WLAN), Iconia W510 (19:09/13:35), Samsung XE500T1C (single battery, 14:43/7:14).

Asus complements its Windows RT VivoTab TF600 (Tegra 3) with a device for traditional Windows fans, the VivoTab TF810C-1B026W including keyboard dock. ASUS K75 Battery But you really have to be a big fan; the extra charge of 350 Euros (~$467) is immense. For this price you get the X86-platform with real Windows 8. It is only 32 bit but it can run all familiar applications (no limitation to Windows RT apps).

At least in theory, similar to the HP Envy x2 11-g000eg, Acer Iconia W510 and Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C, the performance suffers from the weak Atom processor. ASUS K75A BatteryIf you want to use the TF810C as a desktop replacement on the go (multi-tasking, run apps simultaneously, save lots of data, casual games) you will reach the performance limits very quickly. This is the reason for the title "unbalanced": The TF810C is more expensive than some Intel-Core ultrabooks but computing speed and overall performance are almost similar to netbooks (Atom N2600 early 2012). ASUS K75D Battery

But the VivoTab TF810C has its advantages too. 33 hours idle runtime is unrivaled compared to other Cedarview-Atom devices. We can only estimate the WLAN runtime with an additional test: around 17 hours. These runtimes can be achieved with the additional battery in the keyboard dock. Other benefits are the keyboard, which is convenient for frequent writers and the robust, high quality aluminum finish of the base unit and tablet. ASUS K75DE Charger

The potential buyer might be surprised by the low HD resolution (1366x768 pixels), but Atom convertibles from the competition do not offer something better (Envy x2 11, Acer Iconia W510 and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C). If you want a higher resolution in the same or at least similar form factor (Windows 8) you have to choose an Intel Core based convertible, for example the Sony Vaio Duo 11 or Dell XPS 12. ASUS K75V Battery The S-IPS+ panel does not need to hide from the competition, it is very bright during battery use, has a very high contrast and wide viewing angles (best in class). The three listed competitors also have good displays but are not that perfect.

Similar (low) performance, identically good panels with the same resolution: Which Atom convertible is the best? With prices of around 900 Euros (~$1201) the Envy x2 11 and our VivoTab TF810C are the most expensive, yet they offer the best runtimes with the additional battery inside the keyboard docks. ASUS K75VD adapter Acer Iconia W510 (500 - 600 Euros, ~$667 - $801) and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C (under 800 Euros, ~$1068, without UMTS) are considerably less expensive. However, Samsung waives the second battery and with Acer the customer has to live with worse build quality and inconvenient input devices. In return, Acer integrated an additional battery and offers long runtimes. ASUS K75VJ Battery Asus does not want to scare off the customers and sells a technically identical VivoTab Smart ME400C for around 500 Euros (~$667, without dock).

escrito por moviechy a las 05:04 | en:
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14/05/2013
ASUS K45A Battery

Review Asus VivoTab TF810C Convertible

IFA 2012 was the revival of convertibles. To this point subnotebooks with a classic swivel joint were niche products. For the most part these devices, like the convertible Lifebooks (e.g. Fujitsu T580, T900), Latitudes (Dell XT2) or ThinkPads (X220T) were attractive for the business user. ASUS F55U Battery There have been some Windows 7 consumer convertibles over the last couple of years, but the sales figures were never really high.

The most important consumer convertibles: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t (N450), HP TouchSmart tm2 (Core 2 Duo), Dell Inspiron duo (N550), Gigabyte Booktop T1125N (Intel Core) and Asus Eee PC T91 MT (Z520). Reason for the small demand was the bad touch optimization of Windows 7 and a market that was heavily focused on notebooks. ASUS F55V Battery

The massive growth of Android and iOS based tablets and their big performance jumps in a very short period got the attention of Intel and Microsoft. The big players did not want to lose against Android in the long term but sell their own processors for tablets and smartphones. Windows 8 was also optimized to become a touch-OS and Intel made ultra-mobile X86-Atom CPUs (Clover Trail) for tablets and smartphones (Windows Phone). ASUS F55VD Battery

The VivoTab TF810C belongs to this "new" category. Atom Z2760 combined with real Windows 8 (no RT-version) and an attachable keyboard. Can the 11.6-inch device connect the typical Windows world and its proven applications with the mobile tablet world? Asus talks about transformed productivity and not only attaches a convenient keyboard but also a second battery. ASUS F55VDR Battery Do mobility and Windows productivity meet the requirements of the 900 Euros (~$1201) price tag?

Similar to HP and Acer, Asus decided to use the docking concept. But this is only one way to transform a tablet into a subnotebook. Flipping frame (Review Dell XPS 12 ConvertibleDell XPS 12), slider-mechanism (Sony Vaio Duo 11, Toshiba Satellite U920t), double-sided displays (Asus Taichi 21) and 360-degree hinges (Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga) are other solutions. ASUS F75 Battery

Advantage of the docking system: If you do not need the keyboard - or in this case the longer runtime - you do not have to carry a bulky and heavy case. The first look is reserved for the massive metallic joint of the 11.6-inch device. Two bars inside keep the tablet in place and a velvet insert avoids unpleasant abrasions. Moving the joint is very difficult without the cover as lever-arm, it is exceptionally firm. ASUS F75A Battery Accordingly opening the cover with one hand is not possible.

The slider on the left tablet side releases the locking mechanism mechanically. The connection has a very good tensile strength, without unlocking the tablet cannot be released. The joint cannot avoid teetering of the cover; it is too loose in the socket.

The opening angle of the cover is limited to around 130 degrees and the heavy base unit (weight of the second battery) avoids tipping backwards. ASUS F75A1 Battery Touch inputs encounter a usable fixated surface but the wobbling within the joint is disturbing. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC and HP Envy X2 have the same problem. Especially problematic for Samsung users: The opening angle is smaller, the device can tip due to the unfavorable center of gravity (no battery weight underneath the keyboard) and the display falls back onto the keyboard by itself (no fixation point). ASUS F75V adapter

We really like the stability and build quality of both components. The glass has good pressure resistance, only at the border surfaces pressure creates small pressure marks. The brushed aluminum finish of the back side of the tablet is pleasantly cool and avoids slipping of the hands. The ripped plastic stripes at the same place have the same purpose. ASUS F75VD Battery

The keyboard-dock leaves the same sturdy impression of the tablet body. It is made of brushed aluminum at the cover and rubberized plastic underneath. The base can only be slightly bent but not dented anywhere.

Communication
The WLAN module supports the draft-n standard and Bluetooth 4.0, which is pretty much standard repertoire for most Windows devices by now. ASUS F75VD1 Battery Based on our rough evaluation the transmitting power is convenient: With a distance of three meters the reception is excellent (Windows: 5 bars), upstairs (10 m) and outside the house (15 m, 3 bars) still good to low (40 m, 1 bar). The transmitting power of the router (Fritz!Box 7270) is always reduced to 50%. asus k75d battery

4G/UMTS is no option for the TF810C, Asus offers no according model. In return you get a GPS module for location. ASUS K45 Battery When you are on the road and use the internet connection of your smartphone via tethering certain applications can display your current position (Google Maps). Common navigation applications, even without internet connection, are also working. The sibling VivoTab Smart ME400C is also available with GPS but still lacks 4G capability. From the Atom competitors only the ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C is equipped with a UMTS. Acer should provide the Iconia W511 with 3G soon. ASUS K45A Battery

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology to connect external devices in a contactless way with the VivoTab. One example: Hold NFC capable headphones next to the tablet and they immediately start playing. A hardware installation is not necessary. A second contact results in a disconnect. Iconia W510 and Envy x2 11 also have NFC on board. ASUS K45D Battery

Accessories
The VivoTab is also available without the keyboard dock, the price is 800 Euros (~$1068) in this case. As accessory you get a stylus pen (Wacom, passive, without battery) with five replacement tips in a small box. In addition there is a USB 2.0 dongle for the docking port of the tablet and a cover that can also be used as a tablet stand. The keyboard dock does not fit into this cover. ASUS K45DE Battery

Invisible are compass, position sensor and gyroscope (gyrostabilizer, detects the position of the tablet) and an ambient light sensor. The latter acts too exaggerated in our opinion and often reduces the brightness too much. Via function key it can be deactivated very quickly, at least at the dock. The listed sensors are standard for modern tablets. ASUS K45DR Battery

Software
Here Asus restrains itself and does not waste much space of the very limited storage. Asus Web Storage, Asus@Vibe fun Center and a trial version of MS Office, which is all. From the 64 GB MMC storage 50 GB remains for Windows 8 and software after deduction of the recovery partition and the formatting loss. Windows needs 13 GB so around 37 GB remains for the user. ASUS K45N Battery

Performance

The System-on-Chip (SoC) Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) is Intel's first X86 chip with integrated graphics (GMA 3650) for tablets as well as smartphones (e. g. ZTE Grand X). Due to the 32nm process the chip is more efficient than Atom CPUs in netbooks (e.g. N2600) and can keep up with the Nvidia Tegra (ARM) when it comes to runtime and efficiency. ASUS K45V Battery See our efficiency comparison ARM against x86 for more information.

The Clover Trail is available for smartphones as Atom Z2000 and Z2580. For tablets or convertibles the Z2760 is the only processor currently available. As an alternative you can get the VivoTab with a Tegra 3 in the VivoTab RT Convertible (Windows 8 RT). Like all Atom convertibles our review unit is equipped with 64 GB eMMC flash storage and 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM (onboard). ASUS K45VD Battery

The computing power of the Atom is not on the same level as ultrabooks or cheap notebooks. Even weak Celeron/Pentium processors are 80 to 113% faster at multi core tests. For the comparison we use ultrabook convertibles. With an i5-3317U & Co these subnotebooks are up to 390% faster.

The computing power is similar to the 2012 Atom generation but with reduced energy consumption. ASUS K45VG Battery The 2008 N270 (Diamond Ville; Eee PC 1002HA) is 50%, the 2012 N2600 (Cedarview; Aspire One D270) is 9% slower. The consumption under load (see stress test) was almost cut in half compared to netbooks from 2012. The tablet Atom can keep up with the currently fastest ARM chips, which is shown by the multi-platform benchmark Geekbench 2. The competitors from HP, Samsung and Acer are on the same level. ASUS K45VJ Battery

The system performance of the VivoTab, displayed by PCMark 7, leaves a better impression. Now the Atom device is only 10 - 17% behind weaker Pentium or Celeron notebooks (low voltage): The reason for this is the flash storage, which outclasses all mechanical hard drives of compared devices by around 40%. The picture below shows the PCMark 7 System Storage Score. ASUS K45VM Battery Systems with conventional hard drives cannot keep up and lose points. However, ultrabooks with real solid state drives are clearly ahead (+ 177 - 127%). The currently available netbook generation (Atom N2600, Aspire One D270 or also AMD C-60, Aspire One 725) is 35 to 46% behind the VivoTab.

Compared to latest SSD drives the performance of the eMMC chip is very low (see Vaio Duo 11 in the following diagram). HD-Tune and Crystal Disk Mark determine only 50 and 79 MB/sec for sequential reading, which is even less than the latest hard drives. The results for the 4K tests are better, here the eMMC is almost 100% faster compared to a typical hard drive with 5400 rpm. ASUS K45VS Battery

Graphics
The PowerVR SGX545 (IGP) is at the bottom end when compared against integrated solutions from AMD and Intel. It can surpass the old GMA 950 and 3150 (Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit), but cannot deliver the performance of the already slow Intel GMA (Sandy Bridge). The more we look at ultrabooks and HD 4000 the bigger the difference. The HD4000 in the Toshiba U920t Convertible is almost three times faster and delivers ten times the fps in FIFA 13. Compatible ASUS K55 Battery

The PowerVR does not support DirectX-10, only version 9. If older test games start at all, there were often graphic errors, for example with FIFA 13 and World in Conflict. In the end the GPU is used for video acceleration when the necessary player and codec are provided.

Temperature
The VivoTab TF810C does not need a fan, it has the same passive silent cooling solution as similar equipped tablets. This is the case for all Atom based competitors. Ultrabook convertibles (e. g. Vaio Duo 11) need active cooling. The 2012 Atom generation (Cedarview) also needed active cooling (at least the manufacturers always used it). The energy consumption and the created heat of Cedarview were considerably higher. ASUS K55A Battery

The produced heat has to be dissipated by the case surfaces. Here, the aluminum cover is an advantage. The VivoTab remains cool, especially if you use little computing performance. During idle we measure a maximum surface temperature of only 25 °C at the front and back. The keyboard dock remains at ambient temperature, it only contains the battery. ASUS K55D adapter

During load (stress test Furmark + Prime95) the VivoTab TF810C has a steady CPU clock of 1.8 GHz. Turbo boost is not available. The GPU clocks could not be determined with any tool. We suspect unfinished drivers. The result of the mandatory 3DMark 05 run after the stress test was identical to the plugged in test. By the way, the computing performance remains identical when the battery is used, the CB R11.5 test results (32 bit) were the same.ASUS K55DE Battery Replacement

The integrated speakers (back of the tablet, at the edge) deliver reasonable sound at adjusted or maximum volume. The volume is pretty high (no distortions). When you carry the tablet around both hands are exactly above the speakers, but the sound does not suffer in these situations because the fingers cannot cover 100% of them.

Low tones and bass are not very inspiring, they are just not present. The sound is more mid tone focused. We did not like the automatic volume adjustment of the sound driver, we could clearly determine adjustments. ASUS K55DR Battery For headphones there is a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that was combined with the microphone. The tablet also has an integrated microphone, for example, voice commands can be used for web URLs or search words.

Energy Management

Power Consumption
The energy consumption is between 1.6 - 4.2 Watts at idle and 5.8 Watts under medium workloads (3DMark2006). The very low consumption is comparable to ARM tablets (Vivo Tab RT TF600) or the X86-competition (Iconia W510 1.7-6.9 Watts at idle). ASUS K55N Battery The Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.6-4.0) is more frugal although its display brightness is nearly identical.

Under high load the voltmeter only indicates 8.4 Watts. The W510 (9.7 Watts) is more power hungry; the rest of the competition is on the same level. Interesting: The TF600 with Tegra 3 and Windows RT needs even more power, 9.1 and 11 Watts respectively (medium, high; similar brightness). Intel Core devices like the Vaio Duo 11 with i5-3317U need 5 - 11 Watts at idle and 34 Watts under load. In return the performance is significantly higher compared to our Intel-Atom system. ASUS K55V Battery

The 10 Watts power supply unit is sufficient for the consumption. During continuous load and utilization of the PSU the following charging times could be longer.

Battery Runtime
Just recently the Envy X2 11 with its dual batteries delivered massive runtimes of 7:07 and 11:55 up to 20:34 hours (load/WLAN/idle). These runtimes can be beaten by our review unit. 33 hours (tablet+dock) is the result for the Reader-test, the consumption was minimized by turning off all wireless connections and the lowest brightness. ASUS K55VD Battery The runtime measurements became an ordeal because the limited energy settings of Windows 8 (there is just one energy profile!) caused the tablet to go into unintentional standby quite often. When we only used the tablet this could be avoided with the "Don't Sleep" tool, but it did not always work when the keyboard dock was attached. Due to these problems we did not get a correct result for the WLAN test even after several days of testing. ASUS K55VJ Battery

Based on our evaluation the most realistic runtime is determined by the "Movie 150 cd/m²" scenario. The tablet shows a low resolution AVI movie for almost 14 hours (830 minutes). With the docking station this value is increased to 18:20 hours (1,100 minutes). The worst scenario under load (only tablet, maximum brightness) is seven hours (425 minutes). ASUS K55VM Charger The Reader-test (idle) without docking battery stops after 10:41 hours (641 minutes). The docking station is no charging station; the tablet cannot be recharged with the second battery.

There is one disadvantage with two batteries: the pretty weak 10 Watts PSU needs 6:10 hours (both batteries) and 4:07 hours (only tablet battery) for a complete charge (device is turned on). The 2-cell tablet battery has a capacity of 30 Wh (lithium-polymer, 3,950 mAH). The battery beneath the keyboard provides 25 Wh (two cells). ASUS K55VS Battery asus k75d Charger

The competition, also with dual batteries, cannot keep up with these runtimes: Asus VivoTab RT TF600 (16:10 hours/10:18; idle/WLAN), Iconia W510 (19:09/13:35), Samsung XE500T1C (single battery, 14:43/7:14).

Asus complements its Windows RT VivoTab TF600 (Tegra 3) with a device for traditional Windows fans, the VivoTab TF810C-1B026W including keyboard dock. ASUS K75 Battery But you really have to be a big fan; the extra charge of 350 Euros (~$467) is immense. For this price you get the X86-platform with real Windows 8. It is only 32 bit but it can run all familiar applications (no limitation to Windows RT apps).

At least in theory, similar to the HP Envy x2 11-g000eg, Acer Iconia W510 and Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C, the performance suffers from the weak Atom processor. ASUS K75A BatteryIf you want to use the TF810C as a desktop replacement on the go (multi-tasking, run apps simultaneously, save lots of data, casual games) you will reach the performance limits very quickly. This is the reason for the title "unbalanced": The TF810C is more expensive than some Intel-Core ultrabooks but computing speed and overall performance are almost similar to netbooks (Atom N2600 early 2012). ASUS K75D Battery

But the VivoTab TF810C has its advantages too. 33 hours idle runtime is unrivaled compared to other Cedarview-Atom devices. We can only estimate the WLAN runtime with an additional test: around 17 hours. These runtimes can be achieved with the additional battery in the keyboard dock. Other benefits are the keyboard, which is convenient for frequent writers and the robust, high quality aluminum finish of the base unit and tablet. ASUS K75DE Charger

The potential buyer might be surprised by the low HD resolution (1366x768 pixels), but Atom convertibles from the competition do not offer something better (Envy x2 11, Acer Iconia W510 and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C). If you want a higher resolution in the same or at least similar form factor (Windows 8) you have to choose an Intel Core based convertible, for example the Sony Vaio Duo 11 or Dell XPS 12. ASUS K75V Battery The S-IPS+ panel does not need to hide from the competition, it is very bright during battery use, has a very high contrast and wide viewing angles (best in class). The three listed competitors also have good displays but are not that perfect.

Similar (low) performance, identically good panels with the same resolution: Which Atom convertible is the best? With prices of around 900 Euros (~$1201) the Envy x2 11 and our VivoTab TF810C are the most expensive, yet they offer the best runtimes with the additional battery inside the keyboard docks. ASUS K75VD adapter Acer Iconia W510 (500 - 600 Euros, ~$667 - $801) and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C (under 800 Euros, ~$1068, without UMTS) are considerably less expensive. However, Samsung waives the second battery and with Acer the customer has to live with worse build quality and inconvenient input devices. In return, Acer integrated an additional battery and offers long runtimes. ASUS K75VJ Battery Asus does not want to scare off the customers and sells a technically identical VivoTab Smart ME400C for around 500 Euros (~$667, without dock).

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14/05/2013
ASUS K45A Battery

Review Asus VivoTab TF810C Convertible

IFA 2012 was the revival of convertibles. To this point subnotebooks with a classic swivel joint were niche products. For the most part these devices, like the convertible Lifebooks (e.g. Fujitsu T580, T900), Latitudes (Dell XT2) or ThinkPads (X220T) were attractive for the business user. ASUS F55U Battery There have been some Windows 7 consumer convertibles over the last couple of years, but the sales figures were never really high.

The most important consumer convertibles: Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t (N450), HP TouchSmart tm2 (Core 2 Duo), Dell Inspiron duo (N550), Gigabyte Booktop T1125N (Intel Core) and Asus Eee PC T91 MT (Z520). Reason for the small demand was the bad touch optimization of Windows 7 and a market that was heavily focused on notebooks. ASUS F55V Battery

The massive growth of Android and iOS based tablets and their big performance jumps in a very short period got the attention of Intel and Microsoft. The big players did not want to lose against Android in the long term but sell their own processors for tablets and smartphones. Windows 8 was also optimized to become a touch-OS and Intel made ultra-mobile X86-Atom CPUs (Clover Trail) for tablets and smartphones (Windows Phone). ASUS F55VD Battery

The VivoTab TF810C belongs to this "new" category. Atom Z2760 combined with real Windows 8 (no RT-version) and an attachable keyboard. Can the 11.6-inch device connect the typical Windows world and its proven applications with the mobile tablet world? Asus talks about transformed productivity and not only attaches a convenient keyboard but also a second battery. ASUS F55VDR Battery Do mobility and Windows productivity meet the requirements of the 900 Euros (~$1201) price tag?

Similar to HP and Acer, Asus decided to use the docking concept. But this is only one way to transform a tablet into a subnotebook. Flipping frame (Review Dell XPS 12 ConvertibleDell XPS 12), slider-mechanism (Sony Vaio Duo 11, Toshiba Satellite U920t), double-sided displays (Asus Taichi 21) and 360-degree hinges (Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga) are other solutions. ASUS F75 Battery

Advantage of the docking system: If you do not need the keyboard - or in this case the longer runtime - you do not have to carry a bulky and heavy case. The first look is reserved for the massive metallic joint of the 11.6-inch device. Two bars inside keep the tablet in place and a velvet insert avoids unpleasant abrasions. Moving the joint is very difficult without the cover as lever-arm, it is exceptionally firm. ASUS F75A Battery Accordingly opening the cover with one hand is not possible.

The slider on the left tablet side releases the locking mechanism mechanically. The connection has a very good tensile strength, without unlocking the tablet cannot be released. The joint cannot avoid teetering of the cover; it is too loose in the socket.

The opening angle of the cover is limited to around 130 degrees and the heavy base unit (weight of the second battery) avoids tipping backwards. ASUS F75A1 Battery Touch inputs encounter a usable fixated surface but the wobbling within the joint is disturbing. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC and HP Envy X2 have the same problem. Especially problematic for Samsung users: The opening angle is smaller, the device can tip due to the unfavorable center of gravity (no battery weight underneath the keyboard) and the display falls back onto the keyboard by itself (no fixation point). ASUS F75V adapter

We really like the stability and build quality of both components. The glass has good pressure resistance, only at the border surfaces pressure creates small pressure marks. The brushed aluminum finish of the back side of the tablet is pleasantly cool and avoids slipping of the hands. The ripped plastic stripes at the same place have the same purpose. ASUS F75VD Battery

The keyboard-dock leaves the same sturdy impression of the tablet body. It is made of brushed aluminum at the cover and rubberized plastic underneath. The base can only be slightly bent but not dented anywhere.

Communication
The WLAN module supports the draft-n standard and Bluetooth 4.0, which is pretty much standard repertoire for most Windows devices by now. ASUS F75VD1 Battery Based on our rough evaluation the transmitting power is convenient: With a distance of three meters the reception is excellent (Windows: 5 bars), upstairs (10 m) and outside the house (15 m, 3 bars) still good to low (40 m, 1 bar). The transmitting power of the router (Fritz!Box 7270) is always reduced to 50%. asus k75d battery

4G/UMTS is no option for the TF810C, Asus offers no according model. In return you get a GPS module for location. ASUS K45 Battery When you are on the road and use the internet connection of your smartphone via tethering certain applications can display your current position (Google Maps). Common navigation applications, even without internet connection, are also working. The sibling VivoTab Smart ME400C is also available with GPS but still lacks 4G capability. From the Atom competitors only the ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C is equipped with a UMTS. Acer should provide the Iconia W511 with 3G soon. ASUS K45A Battery

NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology to connect external devices in a contactless way with the VivoTab. One example: Hold NFC capable headphones next to the tablet and they immediately start playing. A hardware installation is not necessary. A second contact results in a disconnect. Iconia W510 and Envy x2 11 also have NFC on board. ASUS K45D Battery

Accessories
The VivoTab is also available without the keyboard dock, the price is 800 Euros (~$1068) in this case. As accessory you get a stylus pen (Wacom, passive, without battery) with five replacement tips in a small box. In addition there is a USB 2.0 dongle for the docking port of the tablet and a cover that can also be used as a tablet stand. The keyboard dock does not fit into this cover. ASUS K45DE Battery

Invisible are compass, position sensor and gyroscope (gyrostabilizer, detects the position of the tablet) and an ambient light sensor. The latter acts too exaggerated in our opinion and often reduces the brightness too much. Via function key it can be deactivated very quickly, at least at the dock. The listed sensors are standard for modern tablets. ASUS K45DR Battery

Software
Here Asus restrains itself and does not waste much space of the very limited storage. Asus Web Storage, Asus@Vibe fun Center and a trial version of MS Office, which is all. From the 64 GB MMC storage 50 GB remains for Windows 8 and software after deduction of the recovery partition and the formatting loss. Windows needs 13 GB so around 37 GB remains for the user. ASUS K45N Battery

Performance

The System-on-Chip (SoC) Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) is Intel's first X86 chip with integrated graphics (GMA 3650) for tablets as well as smartphones (e. g. ZTE Grand X). Due to the 32nm process the chip is more efficient than Atom CPUs in netbooks (e.g. N2600) and can keep up with the Nvidia Tegra (ARM) when it comes to runtime and efficiency. ASUS K45V Battery See our efficiency comparison ARM against x86 for more information.

The Clover Trail is available for smartphones as Atom Z2000 and Z2580. For tablets or convertibles the Z2760 is the only processor currently available. As an alternative you can get the VivoTab with a Tegra 3 in the VivoTab RT Convertible (Windows 8 RT). Like all Atom convertibles our review unit is equipped with 64 GB eMMC flash storage and 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM (onboard). ASUS K45VD Battery

The computing power of the Atom is not on the same level as ultrabooks or cheap notebooks. Even weak Celeron/Pentium processors are 80 to 113% faster at multi core tests. For the comparison we use ultrabook convertibles. With an i5-3317U & Co these subnotebooks are up to 390% faster.

The computing power is similar to the 2012 Atom generation but with reduced energy consumption. ASUS K45VG Battery The 2008 N270 (Diamond Ville; Eee PC 1002HA) is 50%, the 2012 N2600 (Cedarview; Aspire One D270) is 9% slower. The consumption under load (see stress test) was almost cut in half compared to netbooks from 2012. The tablet Atom can keep up with the currently fastest ARM chips, which is shown by the multi-platform benchmark Geekbench 2. The competitors from HP, Samsung and Acer are on the same level. ASUS K45VJ Battery

The system performance of the VivoTab, displayed by PCMark 7, leaves a better impression. Now the Atom device is only 10 - 17% behind weaker Pentium or Celeron notebooks (low voltage): The reason for this is the flash storage, which outclasses all mechanical hard drives of compared devices by around 40%. The picture below shows the PCMark 7 System Storage Score. ASUS K45VM Battery Systems with conventional hard drives cannot keep up and lose points. However, ultrabooks with real solid state drives are clearly ahead (+ 177 - 127%). The currently available netbook generation (Atom N2600, Aspire One D270 or also AMD C-60, Aspire One 725) is 35 to 46% behind the VivoTab.

Compared to latest SSD drives the performance of the eMMC chip is very low (see Vaio Duo 11 in the following diagram). HD-Tune and Crystal Disk Mark determine only 50 and 79 MB/sec for sequential reading, which is even less than the latest hard drives. The results for the 4K tests are better, here the eMMC is almost 100% faster compared to a typical hard drive with 5400 rpm. ASUS K45VS Battery

Graphics
The PowerVR SGX545 (IGP) is at the bottom end when compared against integrated solutions from AMD and Intel. It can surpass the old GMA 950 and 3150 (Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit), but cannot deliver the performance of the already slow Intel GMA (Sandy Bridge). The more we look at ultrabooks and HD 4000 the bigger the difference. The HD4000 in the Toshiba U920t Convertible is almost three times faster and delivers ten times the fps in FIFA 13. Compatible ASUS K55 Battery

The PowerVR does not support DirectX-10, only version 9. If older test games start at all, there were often graphic errors, for example with FIFA 13 and World in Conflict. In the end the GPU is used for video acceleration when the necessary player and codec are provided.

Temperature
The VivoTab TF810C does not need a fan, it has the same passive silent cooling solution as similar equipped tablets. This is the case for all Atom based competitors. Ultrabook convertibles (e. g. Vaio Duo 11) need active cooling. The 2012 Atom generation (Cedarview) also needed active cooling (at least the manufacturers always used it). The energy consumption and the created heat of Cedarview were considerably higher. ASUS K55A Battery

The produced heat has to be dissipated by the case surfaces. Here, the aluminum cover is an advantage. The VivoTab remains cool, especially if you use little computing performance. During idle we measure a maximum surface temperature of only 25 °C at the front and back. The keyboard dock remains at ambient temperature, it only contains the battery. ASUS K55D adapter

During load (stress test Furmark + Prime95) the VivoTab TF810C has a steady CPU clock of 1.8 GHz. Turbo boost is not available. The GPU clocks could not be determined with any tool. We suspect unfinished drivers. The result of the mandatory 3DMark 05 run after the stress test was identical to the plugged in test. By the way, the computing performance remains identical when the battery is used, the CB R11.5 test results (32 bit) were the same.ASUS K55DE Battery Replacement

The integrated speakers (back of the tablet, at the edge) deliver reasonable sound at adjusted or maximum volume. The volume is pretty high (no distortions). When you carry the tablet around both hands are exactly above the speakers, but the sound does not suffer in these situations because the fingers cannot cover 100% of them.

Low tones and bass are not very inspiring, they are just not present. The sound is more mid tone focused. We did not like the automatic volume adjustment of the sound driver, we could clearly determine adjustments. ASUS K55DR Battery For headphones there is a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that was combined with the microphone. The tablet also has an integrated microphone, for example, voice commands can be used for web URLs or search words.

Energy Management

Power Consumption
The energy consumption is between 1.6 - 4.2 Watts at idle and 5.8 Watts under medium workloads (3DMark2006). The very low consumption is comparable to ARM tablets (Vivo Tab RT TF600) or the X86-competition (Iconia W510 1.7-6.9 Watts at idle). ASUS K55N Battery The Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.6-4.0) is more frugal although its display brightness is nearly identical.

Under high load the voltmeter only indicates 8.4 Watts. The W510 (9.7 Watts) is more power hungry; the rest of the competition is on the same level. Interesting: The TF600 with Tegra 3 and Windows RT needs even more power, 9.1 and 11 Watts respectively (medium, high; similar brightness). Intel Core devices like the Vaio Duo 11 with i5-3317U need 5 - 11 Watts at idle and 34 Watts under load. In return the performance is significantly higher compared to our Intel-Atom system. ASUS K55V Battery

The 10 Watts power supply unit is sufficient for the consumption. During continuous load and utilization of the PSU the following charging times could be longer.

Battery Runtime
Just recently the Envy X2 11 with its dual batteries delivered massive runtimes of 7:07 and 11:55 up to 20:34 hours (load/WLAN/idle). These runtimes can be beaten by our review unit. 33 hours (tablet+dock) is the result for the Reader-test, the consumption was minimized by turning off all wireless connections and the lowest brightness. ASUS K55VD Battery The runtime measurements became an ordeal because the limited energy settings of Windows 8 (there is just one energy profile!) caused the tablet to go into unintentional standby quite often. When we only used the tablet this could be avoided with the "Don't Sleep" tool, but it did not always work when the keyboard dock was attached. Due to these problems we did not get a correct result for the WLAN test even after several days of testing. ASUS K55VJ Battery

Based on our evaluation the most realistic runtime is determined by the "Movie 150 cd/m²" scenario. The tablet shows a low resolution AVI movie for almost 14 hours (830 minutes). With the docking station this value is increased to 18:20 hours (1,100 minutes). The worst scenario under load (only tablet, maximum brightness) is seven hours (425 minutes). ASUS K55VM Charger The Reader-test (idle) without docking battery stops after 10:41 hours (641 minutes). The docking station is no charging station; the tablet cannot be recharged with the second battery.

There is one disadvantage with two batteries: the pretty weak 10 Watts PSU needs 6:10 hours (both batteries) and 4:07 hours (only tablet battery) for a complete charge (device is turned on). The 2-cell tablet battery has a capacity of 30 Wh (lithium-polymer, 3,950 mAH). The battery beneath the keyboard provides 25 Wh (two cells). ASUS K55VS Battery asus k75d Charger

The competition, also with dual batteries, cannot keep up with these runtimes: Asus VivoTab RT TF600 (16:10 hours/10:18; idle/WLAN), Iconia W510 (19:09/13:35), Samsung XE500T1C (single battery, 14:43/7:14).

Asus complements its Windows RT VivoTab TF600 (Tegra 3) with a device for traditional Windows fans, the VivoTab TF810C-1B026W including keyboard dock. ASUS K75 Battery But you really have to be a big fan; the extra charge of 350 Euros (~$467) is immense. For this price you get the X86-platform with real Windows 8. It is only 32 bit but it can run all familiar applications (no limitation to Windows RT apps).

At least in theory, similar to the HP Envy x2 11-g000eg, Acer Iconia W510 and Samsung ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C, the performance suffers from the weak Atom processor. ASUS K75A BatteryIf you want to use the TF810C as a desktop replacement on the go (multi-tasking, run apps simultaneously, save lots of data, casual games) you will reach the performance limits very quickly. This is the reason for the title "unbalanced": The TF810C is more expensive than some Intel-Core ultrabooks but computing speed and overall performance are almost similar to netbooks (Atom N2600 early 2012). ASUS K75D Battery

But the VivoTab TF810C has its advantages too. 33 hours idle runtime is unrivaled compared to other Cedarview-Atom devices. We can only estimate the WLAN runtime with an additional test: around 17 hours. These runtimes can be achieved with the additional battery in the keyboard dock. Other benefits are the keyboard, which is convenient for frequent writers and the robust, high quality aluminum finish of the base unit and tablet. ASUS K75DE Charger

The potential buyer might be surprised by the low HD resolution (1366x768 pixels), but Atom convertibles from the competition do not offer something better (Envy x2 11, Acer Iconia W510 and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C). If you want a higher resolution in the same or at least similar form factor (Windows 8) you have to choose an Intel Core based convertible, for example the Sony Vaio Duo 11 or Dell XPS 12. ASUS K75V Battery The S-IPS+ panel does not need to hide from the competition, it is very bright during battery use, has a very high contrast and wide viewing angles (best in class). The three listed competitors also have good displays but are not that perfect.

Similar (low) performance, identically good panels with the same resolution: Which Atom convertible is the best? With prices of around 900 Euros (~$1201) the Envy x2 11 and our VivoTab TF810C are the most expensive, yet they offer the best runtimes with the additional battery inside the keyboard docks. ASUS K75VD adapter Acer Iconia W510 (500 - 600 Euros, ~$667 - $801) and ATIV Smart PC XE500T1C (under 800 Euros, ~$1068, without UMTS) are considerably less expensive. However, Samsung waives the second battery and with Acer the customer has to live with worse build quality and inconvenient input devices. In return, Acer integrated an additional battery and offers long runtimes. ASUS K75VJ Battery Asus does not want to scare off the customers and sells a technically identical VivoTab Smart ME400C for around 500 Euros (~$667, without dock).

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10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
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10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
Link permanente | enviar por email | Comentarios (0) | Añadir comentario
10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

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10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
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10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
Link permanente | enviar por email | Comentarios (0) | Añadir comentario
10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
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10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

Tag: laptop battery ,charger,adapter,replacement battery for laptop asus

escrito por moviechy a las 08:04 | en:
Link permanente | enviar por email | Comentarios (0) | Añadir comentario
10/05/2013
Samsung Q528 adapter Samsung NP-Q528 Battery

Review Samsung Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E Notebook and battery life

Users looking for a high-performance yet not too bulky multimedia device should look at Samsung. With a price of over 1200 Euros (~$1566), the Series 7 Chronos 770Z7E is not exactly aimed at price-conscious buyers. However, the elegant casing and strong hardware make the laptop very attractive.

This review is based on the 770Z7E-S01DE entry-level model that is currently priced at approximately 1250 Euros (~$1631). Like its more expensive brother, it features a non-glare Full HD screen, DVD burner (only the S03DE sports a Blu-ray drive) and a quad-core from Intel's latest Ivy Bridge generation. Depending on the load, the Core i7-3635QM achieves between 2.4 and 3.4 GHz.

A cutting-edge DirectX 11.1 accelerator is also part of the bundle. The Radeon HD 8870M is based on AMD's energy-efficient GCN architecture and sports 2048 MB of GDDR5 video RAM. 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz) and a 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) are also decent. The manufacturer relies on Windows 8 64 bit as the operating system.

The nearly 300 Euros (~$391) more expensive 770Z7E-S02DE features a small 128 GB SSD instead of an HDD and runs on Windows 8 Professional Edition. The premium models S03DE (~1600 Euros, ~$2088) and S04DE (~1750 Euros, ~$2284) feature between 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a large 256 GB SSD. The more expensive versions are throughout interesting since a solid state drive makes itself noticeable in practice and accessing the hard drive slot is only inconveniently possible.

The Chronos 770Z7E's exterior corresponds to the 700Z7C reviewed half a year ago. Besides the successful looks, it is the high-quality materials especially that make a great first impression.

The manufacturer not only uses brushed aluminum for the lid, but also for the display bezel and for the keyboard area. The casing's plain base, which also gleams in a silver-gray color, proves to be plastic. The laptop is quite resistant to smudge due to the lack of high-gloss components and dark colors. Fingerprints are no issue for the 770Z7E.

With a weight of three kilograms, the all-rounder belongs to the light 17-inch laptops. Asus' N76VZ (GeForce GT 650M) for example weighs 500 grams more. Further bonus points are given for its moderate size. Most contenders clearly surpass the height of 27 millimeters. For comparison, the aforementioned Asus N76VZ is almost one centimeter thicker.

The build makes a mixed impression. While the base unit is beyond reproach, the lid exhibits weaknesses. For example, the transition to the display bezel was uneven in our test device. Not only do the fingers notice this, but it can be seen from a slanted angle when the display light shines through it. The 770Z7E unfortunately just misses a very good workmanship rating due to this flaw.

The same is true for stability. Unlike the base unit that only yields noticeably in the center of the speaker's grille, the lid can be warped extremely using both hands (typical laptop issue). The very audible hinges are adjusted so that only one hand is needed for opening. As expected, vibrations cause the screen to rock slightly.

The casing gives an overall good but not outstanding presentation. The 17-incher is located in the upper third since most all-rounders make a cheaper impression.

Maintenance
At first glance, the maintenance options seem quite restricted. Only one DDR3 RAM slot is found underneath the small flap and is equipped with 4 GB in the 770Z7E-S01DE. The other 4 GB is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

The casing's entire bottom has to be removed to access the 17-incher's innards (e.g. the hard drive). Although just a simple Phillips screwdriver is needed, almost 10 screws are anything but convenient. Also, the battery is not outside the casing but adversely under the hood.

We find it a bit aggravating that the 17-incher follows the example of ultrabooks in this category. We would prefer a traditional maintenance cover that allows fast access to the fan, cooling system, hard drive and the (entire) working memory a lot more.

Keyboard

Samsung draws from all resources and installs a white backlit chiclet keyboard that is lowered a few millimeters. The keyboard will even satisfy prolific typists with its spacious wrist rest, pleasant typing feel owing to a good pressure point and stroke and decent noise.

The key size of averagely 15 x 15 millimeters does not give reason for complaint either. Only the arrow keys and the F row could have used a bit more height. Laptop typical special functions that are enabled via the FN key as usual have been cleverly lined up. The user will not only find the brightness and volume controls but also the keyboard's backlight as well as buttons for the Silent Mode, touchpad, wireless module and slot-in drive here.

The keyboard is completed by a four column number pad. Since Samsung largely sticks to the standard, most users will quickly accustom to the layout.

Touchpad

The generously sized Elan Smart-Pad of 107 x 77 millimeters supports two up to four finger gestures (scroll, zoom, rotate, etc.). The multi-touch technology was quite inconspicuous in practice and did not exhibit any major flaws. The various finger gestures are explained in a video via the touchpad software.

The mouse replacement also scored quite well in the other tests. Samsung ensures for a first-rate gliding capability with the sleek surface. The accuracy is also decent, although the input could be a bit more precise here and there.

The keys embedded directly in the touchpad (no transition to the "normal" surface) are certainly a matter of taste. Nevertheless, the majority of buyers will cope after a short familiarization period. In contrast to Lenovo's IdeaPad Y500, which features a similar model, the touchpad barely yields.

Unsurprisingly, the Chi Mei N173HGE-L11 screen, extremely popular among laptop manufacturers and which is also found in the Chronos 770Z7E, scores with a beautiful picture quality. Apart from the odd color and calibration weakness (see CalMan screenshot), which is barely if at all noticed by the average user and the weak illumination of ~80%, the screen does a good to very good job.

For example, the black value of 0.3 cd/m² is much better than that of a low-cost, mainstream screen, such as the recently reviewed Dell Inspiron 17R-5721. The advantage is that dark contents look more intense and not as grayish. A brightness of just below 250 cd/m² is also easily sufficient indoors. We would say that the biggest highlight is the high contrast of 900:1, which is unreachable for standard screens that are usually below 500:1. The interpolation capability also ranges above the average.

Processor

It is not least due to the modern 22 nm manufacturing that Intel's Ivy Bridge generation has become a synonym for high performance and reasonable power consumption. Samsung does not install a dual-core model but a potent quad-core despite the slim build.

With 1.4 billion transistors, 6 MB of L3 cache and a clock of 2.4 - 3.4 GHz, the Core i7-3635QM corresponds to the more known Core i7-3630QM model. Differences are only found in the graphics chips clock and feature list. While the HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i7-3635QM runs with up to 1200 MHz, it is "only" 1150 MHz in the Core i7-3630QM. The latter model also does not support VT-d virtualization technology.

The Chronos 700Z7C equipped with a GeForce GT 650M also featured the 2.3 - 3.3 GHz faster precursor Core i7-3615QM (also Ivy Bridge). The quad-core can process up to eight threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading, but does not bring any significant advantages in games. The automatic overclocking feature is dubbed Turbo Boost.

The CPU clock does not reveal any nasty surprises when only the processor is loaded. Approximately 3.3 GHz in single-core rendering and 3.2 GHz in multi-core rendering theoretically indicate a sufficiently sized cooling and power supply.

The verdict is no longer as good as soon as the Radeon HD 8870M joins in. According to the HWiNFO tool, one up to three cores throttled to 1.2 GHz for fractions of a second. Although at least one core remained above the default rate and Intel's Turbo Boost Monitor displayed 2.4 - 3.1 GHz, the fluctuating clock partly affects the benchmark scores. CPU-heavy 3D programs, such as Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2, Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed III, are particularly susceptible for this.

This throttling can be related to the power supply (we measured just below 90 watts during full load), the CPU's temperature (according to HWMonitor a maximum of 95 °C in the stress test) or the manufacturer set this deliberately. A bug is apparently not responsible. Perhaps Samsung would be well-advised to install a dual-core CPU or a quad-core with 35 rather than 45 watt TDP, such as the Core i7-3612QM.

CPU Performance
The Core i7-3635QM behaves properly in the CPU-only benchmarks. We used Cinebench R11.5 as an example. With 6.47 points in the multi-core test, the processor places itself almost exactly between the 100 MHz slower Core i7-3610QM (6.2 points @ Toshiba Satellite P855-107) and the 200 MHz higher clocked Core i7-3720QM (6.84 points @ Fujitsu Celsius H720). A similar picture is seen in the single-core test. 1.39 points are 2% higher than the score of the Core i7-3610QM (1.36 points) and 5% lower than the Core i7-3720QM (1.47 points).

As mentioned in the intro, the Radeon HD 8870M chip is manufactured in a 28 nm process. Compared with the "old" Radeon HD 7870M, which is also based on the GCN architecture (Graphics Core Next), AMD increased the memory clock by 12.5% from 1000 to 1125 MHz (applies to the GDDR5 version).

However, the core clock has decreased by almost 10%. Rather than 800 MHz, it is only 725 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M. Still, the 8000 range can make use of automatic overclocking. The core clocks with a maximum of 775 MHz in the Radeon HD 8870M, which adds up to a plus of 7%. The Shader Unit count (640 Unified Shaders) and the memory bus (128 bit) are identical in both cases. It is great that Samsung does not make any compromises and uses a big 2048 MB GDDR5 video memory.

The most important feature of the Radeon HD 8870M, next to DirectX 11.1 support, is its dynamic graphics switching dubbed Enduro. Programs are either assigned to the integrated or the dedicated graphics chip depending on their requirements. For example, while the web browser runs on the HD 4000, the Radeon HD 8870M accelerates games.

Regrettably, Enduro still cannot hold a candle to Nvidia's Optimus counterpart despite various optimizations. On the one hand, Optimus provides more visual displays and convenience features and on the other, the detection rate is much better. It can recurrently happen that a 3D application is rendered unnaturally slow because the AMD graphics card is not enabled. When this occurs, it is worthwhile to look in the Catalyst Control Center (see right screenshot).

It is possible to manually assign single programs to either the integrated (energy-saving) or the dedicated (high-performance) GPU in the menu "Switchable Graphics Application Settings". Those who are lazy will simply adjust the global preset ("Maximize Performance" starts 3D programs reliably with the Radeon HD 8870M).

GPU Performance
In a nutshell: The DirectX 11 performance of the Radeon HD 8870M is baffling. With 2986 points in 3DMark 11, AMD's graphics card even places itself above the GeForce GTX 670M from Nvidia's old Fermi generation (2703 points @ Asus G75VW-T1040V). Both GeForce GTX 660M (2369 points @ Schenker XMG A722) and GeForce GT 650M (2113 points @ Medion Akoya P6815) Kepler models fall behind by almost 20 and 30% respectively.

The differences are a bit lower in the Unigine Heaven 2.1 benchmark (1280x1024, high, default tessellation). While the Radeon HD 8870M achieves an average of 37.6 fps, the GeForce GTX 660M reaps in a 14% lower 32.5 fps. The GeForce GT 650M lags behind by over 20% with 29.1 fps. However, the Radeon HD 8870M cannot surpass the GeForce GTX 670M (39.0 fps). Generally true: The older and undemanding a benchmark is (DirectX 9, etc.), the better Nvidia's models look.

Samsung naturally uses a hard drive from its own production line. The 9.5 millimeter, slim SpinPoint M8 HN-M101MBB is a 1000 GB HDD that spins at 5400 rpm and offers 8 MB of cache. The benchmark results are more than decent for a 5400 rpm model.

HDTune recorded an access time of 19.2 ms and a transfer rate of approx. 84 MB/s for the hard drive. CrystalDiskMark stated 93 MB/s in sequential read and 88 MB/s in sequential write. The likewise 1000 GB and 5400 rpm Toshiba MQ01ABD100 managed somewhat higher rates (just over 100 MB/s in Nexoc M507II).

Users who do a lot of multitasking and despise unnecessary loading times should preferably choose a version with an SSD or install one. Solid state drives extremely speed up Windows routines.

System Performance
We ascertained the system performance with PCMark 7. The scores strangely deviated noticeably with every run. The total score settled to about 2900 points in two of five tests. Two other measurements settled to almost 3800 points. PCMark even once recorded 4400 points. We ultimately entered the average rate in the database.

With 3750 points, the Chronos 7707E is exactly on a par with Schenker's XMG A502 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GT 650M & 120 GB SSD) and Toshiba's Qosmio X870-119 (Core i7-3610QM, GeForce GTX 670M, 128 GB SSD).

As can be seen in the benchmark below the review, the gaming performance varies extremely. While the Radeon HD 8870M often places itself above the GeForce GTX 660M in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 titles, such as Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Anno 2070 or Battlefield 3 (at least in maximum settings), AMD's model is even defeated by the GeForce GT 650M in other cases. The graphics card seems to (still) have problems particularly with Unreal Engine 3 (Borderlands 2 & Dishonored).

The moderate results in a few games or settings are not only to be explained with CPU throttling, but also AMD's driver. Enduro laptops are known to speed up less than technically equal Optimus contenders when the graphics options are reduced. Artifacts in Assassin's Creed III (white lines and surfaces) also prove that the preinstalled driver was not up-to-date.

When compared with the Chronos 7707E, the Radeon HD 8870M settles in right behind the GeForce GTX 660M. The GeForce GT 650M was 10% slower and the GeForce GTX 670M was over 20% faster after our benchmarks. The Radeon HD 8870M should overtake the GeForce GTX 660M with the latest driver and a CPU that does not throttle. Regrettably, the 28 nm GPU cannot quite fulfill the high expectations that the scores in the synthetic benchmarks aroused.

Casual gamers who are satisfied with medium details, reduced resolution and/or disabled anti-aliasing when need be will have enough power though. Some games can even be played in the native resolution using very high details and anti-aliasing as a look at Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, FIFA 13, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Diablo III and Mass Effect 3 show.

System Noise

The idle noise level comes very close to that of the Chronos 700Z7C. With an average of 31-32 dB, the 17-incher is only slightly audible, so agreeably quiet. Although the tested version never worked completely silently, the noise development is compelling.

The noise increased to a maximum of 40 dB in 3D mode, which is still absolutely tolerable. Almost 35 dB in DVD playback will unlikely annoy anyone either (all measurements were made at a distance of 15 centimeters). Even potent laptops, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580, One K73-2O or Schenker XMG A522, are frequently much louder.

We cannot make a general statement about the temperatures. While the casing just reached 27 °C in idle use, it heated up clearly during load. Our thermometer measured up to 50 °C on the top and up to 44 °C after one hour of our stress test using the tools Furmark and Prime.

That might sound like a lot but it is not that bad in practice. For one thing, the system will never be loaded to such an extent in routine use. For another, the wrist rest never surpasses 30 °C. The Chronos 700Z7C achieved identical rates in 3D use with an average of 39 °C on the top and 35°C on the bottom.

The components get a lot warmer. A maximum of 95 °C on the CPU and 87 °C on the GPU is relatively hot. The processor would perhaps exceed 100 °C without temporary throttling, if the CPUID Hardware Monitors recorded correctly.

Power Consumption

The energy-efficient hardware ensures moderate power consumption. 14 - 26 watts in idle mode does not give reason for complaint. However, the Chronos 700Z7C (Core i7-3615QM & GeForce GT 650) is a bit more efficient with 12 - 21 watts. A load consumption of 76 - 92 watts is also reasonable. Despite its weaker components, the 700Z7C consumes roughly the same amount of power with 74 - 95 watts. Laptops featuring Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M devour between 5% (Schenker XMG A722) and 40% (Gigabyte P2542G) more power depending on the device.

The battery runtime is impressive. When the screen brightness was set to minimum and the system was barely loaded, the strong 80 Wh lithium polymer battery lasted for around 10 hours, which is a top rate.

Five hours of wireless internet browsing with a slightly reduced brightness is also impressive. DVD playback using maximum brightness was possible for approximately 2.75 hours. The all-rounder was only not as compelling in Battery Eater's Classic test. Like most contenders, the laptop was drained after one hour.

 

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6/05/2013
HP ADP-65HB BC charger

Review Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 Wi-Fi Tablet and battery life

This is the second tablet with the ThinkPad logo; however, in the first series Lenovo was still using Android as its OS together with the ARM architecture. Now Lenovo seems to be looking for an opportunity with Windows 8 for business customers looking for a tablet experience without compromising on productivity. HP DL606A-ABA Charger Hence, this version that runs Windows 8 and is powered by an Intel Atom chip. The advantage of such a combination is that now the legacy Windows applications can also be run. However, obviously Lenovo is not alone in this market segment. We have already tested many Windows tablets with almost identical hardware. Business tablets are relatively rare in comparison though. For instance, the Dell Latitude 10 and the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 have gone through our test course. HP PPP009D Charger Can the business tablet from Lenovo keep up with the competitors?

The Thinkpad Tablet 2 looks a lot like its notebook cousins, but is much thinner with a thickness of only 10 mm. In addition, the tablet only weighs 538 grams. In comparison to the ThinkPad tablet from the last generation, it is smaller and about 200 grams lighter now. The choice of materials and color stayed the same though. The back side is made of black plastic and rubberized so that the tablet provides the necessary grip. PPP009C Charger The front consists of scratch-proof Dragontrail-Glass from the company AGC (Asahi Glass Corporation). A small strip on the left hand side was not covered with glass, instead it was rubberized like the back side in order to provide better grip. The device is mostly edges, only on the left hand side is it a bit curved to provide the ability for the user to hold it comfortably. The tablet does not offer access to the battery or other hardware components due to a lack of maintenance hatches. HP 677770-002 Charger

In terms of clearance Lenovo did not do such precise work though. For instance, the display glass is not built in properly everywhere and reaches over the frame a bit. Furthermore, the plastic bends a bit under pressure and the torsional rigidity is not convincing either. Although there are no ripples on the display under point load, there are other tablets that manage to provide better overall feel and case quality. The two competitors; the Dell Latitude 10 and the HP Envy x2 have better build quality in our opinion. HP 677770-003 Charger

Performance

 

The hardware options are very limited for the Thinkpad Tablet 2. They all contain the Intel Atom Z2760 SoC (system-on-a-chip) which features PowerVR graphics. The tablet also comes with 2 GB RAM that cannot be expanded. The only differences among the various configurations are the choice of 3G, the digitizer and the memory capacity of either 32 or 64 GB eMMC. Our test model is the 64 GB version. 613149-003 Charger

CPU Performance
The heart of the 10-inch tablet is the Z2760 chip from Intel. It is used primarily in tablets or as single-core variants (Atom Z2480) in smartphones (Motorola Razr i) due to its low TDP of 1.7 Watts. Thanks to the low TDP (Thermal Design Power) less waste heat is produced and the chip can be cooled passively and hence, no noise.

Preferred fields of use for the Intel SoC are office and internet browsing tasks, but the system also plays Full HD seamlessly. HP ADP-65HB FC Charger

In the Cinebench R10 Multi-Thread Calculation, the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 with the old Atom Z670 scores 67% lower than our test device. However, competitors with the Z2760 chip are all on a similar level. The notebook entry-level Pentium 967 chip renders the picture 86% faster. Systems with Pentium or even Core i chips are undoubtedly more powerful, but in turn, they also have to be cooled actively, so fanless design is not possible. HP ADP-65HB BC charger

System Performance
The cross-platform benchmark, Geekbench 2 yields a score of 1257. That is just below the score of the Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 and right behind the Nvidia Tegra 3. The single-core Atom Z2480 that is used in android smartphones is way behind with 21 %.

Our test device is at the top of all Atom powered tablets in the PCMark 7 test with a total of 1437 points. The slightly older Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 with the integrated Atom Z670 chip performs significantly worse with a 48% lower score. Thanks to its flash drive, the test device is on par with the Acer Aspire One 756 which has a more powerful Pentium chip, but a slower HDD. HP ENVY TouchSmart 4-1218tu Ultrabook Charger

The performance is also convincing in many ways with short loading times and smooth controls. However, the system gets over-burdened quickly when dealing with complex tasks. For instance, the tablet is barely usable during an installation process. This multitasking weakness can have a small or a large impact depending on what the device is used for. ENVY TouchSmart 4-1220tx Charger

Storage Devices
The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 uses a special multimedia card instead of a rotating hard drive. The card is space-saving and convinces with low power consumption. This makes the card ideal for tablets and smartphones. The eMMC flash drive has a total capacity of 64 GB. This corresponds to 49.8 GB net storage space of which there are 36.4 GB freely available after the first boot of Windows. The average transfer rate is low at 41 MB/s. However, the flash memory reaches about 25 times higher 4K values (read) and significantly faster access times in comparison to rotating hard drives. Hence, starting applications is much faster with this device. Battery for Hp 671567-831

If one should at some point almost run out of memory storage, then one can extend it with up to 32 GB with a microSDHC card. Lenovo does not say whether microSDXC cards can be read as well or not.

Graphics Card
The graphics unit is based on the PowerVR SGX545 from smartphones and supports DirectX 9.3 according to Intel. We test the graphics performance with 3D Mark 06. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 with a score of 369 points lies in middle of the table of the devices with PowerVR SGX545 GPU we have tested so far. The Dell Latitude 10 as a direct competitor is much better here with a 23% faster completion rate in the test. Netbooks with the AMD APU and Radeon HD 7310 graphic cards reach 1455 points, are about four times faster. H2L56AA Charger

Gaming Performance
Current game blockbusters cannot be played at all with the PowerVR SGX545. The frame rates are too low for smooth gameplay. Even FIFA 13 with its relatively low hardware requirements ends up as a slide show. The popular Indie games Braid and Bastion cannot really be played either with 15 and 6 fps respectively. We have also tested the browser game "The settlers online". It lagged a bit when moving around the map, but was playable on the device. The CPU usage lay at 40-60% in this case. H2L55AA-ABB Charger

Energy Consumption
The Intel Atom Z2760 chip clearly proves again that x86 architecture is not redundant after all. In standby mode and when turned off, we measured 0.1 Watts each time. In idle mode, we measure 1.7 - 3 Watts, which may be a new best score. Even the iPad 4 consumes a lot more power at 2.6 - 8.4 Watts. The competitors with the same chip also do not consume much, even though they cannot match our tested model with their results of 2.7 - 6.2 Watts (Dell Latitude 10) and 2.7 – 5.9 Watt (HP Envy x2) respectively. Hp HSTNN-LB3N Charger

The system consumes a maximum of 8.6 Watts when FurMark and Prime95 are run together. When the system is only running a game or 3DMark 06, then the consumption drops to 5.4 Watts. These values are also very good for a device of this class (Envy x2: 7.2 – 10.9 W; Latitude 10: 10.5 – 11.2 W).

Battery Life
Hp HSTNN-LB3P Charger One of the most important criteria for the purchase of a tablet is the battery life. A 30 Wh battery and a low energy consumption promise good endurance for the ThinkPad Tablet 2. Maximum battery run time was determined with the BatteryEater Readers Test application and we got a very good score of 17 hours. However, such a run time is not realistic, since the brightness has to be set to the minimum, wireless connections disabled, and not many processes running. Hp HSTNN-YB3N Charger For instance, one of the possible scenarios where this can apply is when reading an E-book. The minimum runtime is obtained in the Classic Test of BatteryEater where the CPU and GPU are under maximum load. Moreover, the brightness is set to the maximum and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth as well as the GPS modules are enabled. In this scenario the tablet lasts 5 hours and 18 minutes.

We determine a realistic run time with a brightness of 150 cd/m² (50 %) and wireless connections enabled. The Atom CPU has to render various web pages at 40 second intervals. The screen turns itself off after 7 hours and 39 minutes. Recharging the battery lasts a long time too though at 5.5 hours because the charger only delivers a maximum of 10.4 Watts. Hp HSTNN-YB3P Charger

One can work even longer with the Dell Latitude 10 (60-Wh battery). The Dell device sets a new benchmark here with over 30 hours in idle mode, 16 hours of web surfing and almost 8 hours under full load. The HP Envy x2 (idle: 20.5 h / Wi-Fi: 12 h / full load: 7 h) beats our test device thanks to its battery in the dock. However, the longer run times of both of the competitors come with the trade-off of more weight: 0.82 kg (Dell) and 1.41 kg (HP). Hp MO06 Charger

If you are looking for a light Windows tablet, then the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 provides a loyal companion with good battery life. Business users on the other hand, purchase this table for the security module (TPM). However, one needs to make compromises in terms of manufacturing quality and the performance. The price of the configuration was set at 625 Euros (~$810) during the time of testing. MO09 Charger

The Dell Latitude 10 and the HP Envy x2 are about on par with the Lenovo Tablet in terms of performance. However, these are better propositions with better battery life and better manufacturing quality at the cost of higher weight though. Furthermore, with the Dell Latitude 10, it is possible to still work well under very bright conditions thanks to the high display brightness. The Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 is also a tablet for the business customers. Hp TPN-P102 Charger However, because of its older generation chip, it usually does not deliver enough performance anymore and cannot convince in terms of manufacturing quality either. The advantages of those tablets are the non-reflecting display and the lower price. If someone is looking for high performance, then the ThinkPad Tablet 2 and all Atom powered devices do not live up to expectations, and one should go for an i3/i5 ULV chip like in the Samsung Series 7 XE700T1A. Other powerful business options are the Sony Vaio Duo 11, the Fujitsu Lifebook T902, the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist.

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27/04/2013
Asus C21-U38 Battery

Review Sony Vaio Tap 20 SVJ2021V1E Tablet and battery

Case

The tablet's gigantic casing has a size of 50 x 31 x 4.5 centimeters and thus surpasses the usual tablet dimensions many times over. Although the basic build in tablet-style with battery and touchscreen is closely linked to the traditional tablet-design, the primary field of use is at home. A33-K55 Battery Sony sees the whole family as users who are to share the Vaio Tap 20 according to the motto "First come, first served". Regardless of that, mobile scenarios like use in the holiday home, for presentations or simply to watch TV in the garden are basically thinkable. The weight of 5.2 kilograms does not thwart this idea. It is definitely portable. The question is rather how to carry the huge tablet properly. There are no matching cases available and there is no pull-out handle. Adults could maybe still carry it under the arm but it is more difficult for children depending on their age. We only found a matching screen protector in Sony's accessories program. Cases, sleeves or other alternatives are not offered. Too bad. A41-K55 Battery

Otherwise the design is robust, the hinges of the infinitely adjustable feet are very solid and the matte white plastic surfaces on the back have a sufficient grip. The tablet can only be placed flat on its back or tilted towards the back. This is insignificant for image recognition since the screen features very wide viewing angles. The user can access the hinges, storage device, battery and both RAM modules underneath the attached back plate with the Vaio logo. A42-K55 Battery

Connectivity

The connectivity offers 2 USB 3.0 ports, a card reader and Gigabit LAN. There are no video out or other interfaces. Some users would have appreciated an option for connecting external monitors or televisions. The gap between both USB ports is sufficient for even inserting big DVB-T sticks alongside other extensions. Different than usual, memory cards and USB cords have to be inserted with their back facing the user. This is also quite tricky to do. There are no marks on the front to find the right port. An external Seagate GoFlex hard drive delivered transfer rates of nearly 80 MB/s at the USB 3.0 port and a SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC was read with 41.7 MB/s. The lower one of the two USB ports (screenshot left) features a charging function for recharging devices like a smartphone or MP3 player. Asus C31-X402 Battery

Performance

Sony's Vaio Tap 20 is available in two different configurations. The differences that we found involve the CPU, RAM equipment and hard drive capacity. The basic version for approximately 900 Euros (~$1169) sports Intel's Core i3-3217U CPU, 4 GB of RAM and a 750 GB hard drive. Our test model features Intel's Core i5-3317U CPU, 6 GB of RAM (2 + 4 GB) and a 1000 GB hard drive. The price for the test model starts at around 1150 Euros (~$1494). Sony currently does not offer any other performance options. Asus A42-G46 Battery

Processor
Intel's Core i5-3317U processor has a TDP of 17 watts and belongs to the ultra-low voltage CPU category. Thus, it has a considerably lower power consumption than standard processors and also produces much less waste heat. Despite its energy-efficient design, cutting-edge technologies like Turbo Boost and Hyper Threading are available and are to extract the best possible performance according to every intended purpose. Asus 70-NXM1B2200Z Battery

This resulted in 7828 points in Cinebench R10 (64 bit multi) and 3908 points (64 bit single). These relatively decent scores were only possible when the CPU works alone. The CPU clock drops to the default rate of 1.7 GHz in order to maintain the thermal design power when the integrated graphics solution is added. Intel's Core i5-3317U achieved an x36.5 speed in iTunes MP3 conversion owing to the high Turbo Boost rate. Cyberlink's MediaEspresso needs as many simultaneous threads as possible for video converting. The processor noticeably dropped in CPU-only converting and caused long waiting times before the results were finished. Asus 90-NYX1B1000Y Battery

We did not ascertain any performance decreases beyond the previously determined extent (compliance with the TDP of 17 watts) on battery power or during full load.

System Performance
The system performance is overall awesome for tablet conditions. However, it is mediocre for a desktop replacement. One braking component is the ultra-low voltage CPU designed for efficiency and another is the rather slow storage device. Although the latter has a fairly high capacity, it lacks fast response and higher transfer speeds. Asus A31-B53 A32-B53 Battery

The performance is absolutely sufficient for many tasks, such as image editing, word processing, video calls, internet surfing or spreadsheets. We tested two DVB-T tuners for watching TV. Elgato's Tivizen DVB-T W-LAN hotspot worked just as smoothly as MSI's Digi Vox Diversity dual-tuner. Even video editing and conversion were performed quickly providing that technologies like OpenCL or Quick Sync were supported. The tasks took quite a long time until they were finished when this was not the case. Sony's Vaio Tap 20 is rather unsuitable for demanding 3D tasks and 3D animations. Asus A41-B53 Battery

Storage Devices
Toshiba's 1 TB hard drive rotates with revolution speeds of up to 5400 rpm and convinces with a very quiet operating noise. The transfer rates of averagely 82 MB/s are not very fast and slow down the system just as much as the fairly long access time of 18.7 ms. It is not possible to integrate an additional storage device. Therefore, improvement would only be possible by replacing the installed hard drive.

Graphics Card
Asus A42-B53 A32-N82 Battery Intel's HD Graphics 4000 clock ranges from 350 MHz to 1000 MHz according to the load in the Vaio Tap 20. Since it does not have a dedicated memory, it is dependent on the working memory in shared memory operation. Sony installed two RAM modules making dual-channel operation possible. Thus, the user will not really have to reckon with any speed constraints. Unfortunately, Sony has apparently unvaryingly limited the borrowed amount of graphics memory to 196 MB. F1 2012 and Total War Shogun complained about not enough graphics memory in medium settings and refused to start. We did not find an option to change this in the BIOS (via "Assist" button) or in Sony's Control Center. Asus A42-N82 Battery

We did not perform 3DMark 06 or Vantage because the test resolution of 1280x1024 pixels is not supported. The tablet achieved 616 points in 3DMark 11 and 4912 points in Cinebench R10 OpenGL Shading (64 bit). This corresponds to the performance of comparable systems and is apparently not affected by the limited graphics memory.

Asus A31-B43 Battery The processor-integrated graphics chip supports Direct Compute, OpenCL and Quick Sync. Computations can be outsourced to the GPU via these interfaces. This unloads the processor and a decent speed boost can be achieved providing that the software is well implemented. Programs like Adobe Photoshop CS6, Cyberlink's MediaEspresso, Elemental Badaboom, Sony Vegas Pro 12 or WinZip 17 already use these technologies. We again performed a conversion via MediaEspresso using our customary videos and were shown the enormous speed advantage that can be achieved in comparison to CPU-only calculations. The Vaio Tap 20 converted Big Bug Bunny 8.4 times faster than with the CPU and it was still 3.5 times faster in Elephants Dream. The graph under processor performance shows more comparisons. Asus A32-B43 Battery

Gaming Performance
The 3D gaming performance only permitted selecting a low resolution and quality setting for most tested games. However, this is not as much due to the limited graphics memory in practice because attractive frame rates would not be achieved even without the limitation. World of Warcraft was at least still well playable in medium settings. The online role-playing game remained pleasantly smooth with 48 fps even when the native resolution of 1600x900 pixels was used while preserving the quality.

Speed problems are not an issue with older games, such as Lego Star Wars III, or with games that were created as tablet apps. Galaxy on Fire 2 HD is just as easily playable as Angry Birds Space, which both treat the resources quite moderately due to their origin. Asus A32-N61 A32-M50 Battery

Temperature
The heat development of 30.2 °C just surpasses 30 °C only at the vent during low load. Otherwise, the gigantic tablet is very cool and allows unrestricted use. The temperatures increased by several degrees after 2 hours of full load, but it only got noticeably warm at the vent where we measured 41.3 °C. Thus, critical rates were not reached. We did not ascertain CPU or GPU throttling. Asus A33-M50 Battery

Speakers
The 2.1 system installed in the casing provides a quite balanced sound that especially comes to the fore when placed upright in front of a wall. The speakers on the rear radiate toward the back and their volume can thus be slightly improved when positioned cleverly. The sound quality is overall a bit treble-heavy and tends to distort in high volumes. However, fairly good results can be achieved by adjusting the equalizer settings a bit. This could suffice for many users for some multimedia applications, games or music and make an additional, external solution unnecessary. Asus C21-U38 Battery

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The measured consumption rates of Sony's Vaio Tap 20 are mainly caused by the large 20-inch screen. We ascertained a consumption increase of roughly 18 watts from minimum to maximum brightness. The tablet consumed a minimum of 14.2 watts and a maximum of over 58 watts in large format.

The battery in the Vaio Tap 20 is removable and corresponds to the design of a conventional laptop. However, the capacity of 38 WH is very tight. Sony does not offer any stronger models. This is a bad omen for the possible battery runtimes considering the generally unfavorable preconditions alongside the high power consumption. Asus C22-B400A Battery

The test device reached a bit over 3 hours of mains independence in Battery Eater's Reader's test using minimum screen brightness, energy saving mode and flight mode. However, this is not a practical rate particularly for the target group since the screen is fairly dark and the Wi-Fi modules are off. The runtime rapidly dropped to a good 2 hours in internet surfing still using the energy saving mode but with an adjusted brightness of approx. 150 cd/m² and enabled Wi-Fi modules. It looks even worse when the Vaio Tap 20 is to be used for watching TV in the garden. The battery only lasted for 1:21 hours with a DVB-T receiver, full screen brightness and disabled Wi-Fi. The football game or the crime series should definitely be backed up by an alternative power supply. In Battery Eater's Classic test, with maximum brightness, high performance profile and all on, only 55 minutes of battery life remain. ASUS N56 Battery

Sony's Vaio Tap 20 roused high expectations. It offers a great concept, in which a wide variety of possible uses can be seen quickly. Young and old alike could really find a family-suitable PC in this device. The large multi-touch screen and the connected input option speak for that. This is particularly important when Windows cannot serve with finger-optimized software. Other bonuses are the low operating noise, decent application performance and the very good keyboard that is included. ASUS VivoBook S400CA Battery

The Vaio Tap 20's gaming suitability is limited to low resolutions and quality settings in current titles. The buyer should definitely not hope for a genuine gaming PC. Nevertheless, particularly the youngest can count with a big fun factor when apps are used that have been made for the tablet format and finger gestures. They also have a moderate performance requirements, are simple and very well playable. Asus VivoBook S200 Battery

However, we believe that the implementation of the envisioned idea was ultimately not quite finished in important aspects. A pull-out handle on the device or a matching case would considerably simplify carrying the 5 kilogram heavy device and also make it possible for children. The extremely reflective screen and the short battery runtimes also prevent outdoor use to quite an extent. The Vaio Tap 20 would certainly be impressive outdoors as a portable TV or for presenting the latest birthday pictures to a larger group. Sony completely omitted the option of connecting a second monitor right away and thus also restricts the application range in both the multimedia and office fields. Asus VivoBook S200L3217E Battery

The key factor for or against the Vaio Tap 20 could ultimately be the price. At a street price of approximately 1150 Euros (~$1494), the buyer has to waive on the portability of a real tablet and cannot expect the performance of a desktop replacement. Users who can accept these restrictions will get a very interesting product that particularly convinces with its easy finger use.

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escrito por moviechy a las 09:32 | en:
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21/12/2012
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Review Acer TravelMate P253-M Notebook

Acer introduces a new range of affordable office laptops based on Windows 8 to the market with the TravelMate P253 series. We are testing the TravelMate P253-M-32324G50Mnks in this review. Our test laptop is powered by Intel's Core i3-2328M dual-core processor. Intel's HD Graphics 3000 GPU takes care of video output. The laptop sports four gigabytes of working memory. Applications and data are stored on a 500 gigabyte hard disk. A DVD burner is also installed. Acer Aspire 7560 charger

We used HP's ProBook 4530s-B0Y11EA (Intel Core i3-2350M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) and Lenovo's ThinkPad Edge E535 (AMD A8-4500M, AMD Radeon HD 7640G) to compare with the TravelMate. Acer Aspire 7560G charger

Case

Acer packs the whole laptop technology in a plastic casing. Black is dominant and only the wrist rest exhibits a silver-gray color. The lid's back, the wrist rest and the display bezel are coated with glossy paint. The other parts of the casing present matte surfaces. The applied plastic is appropriate for the laptop's price and does not make a cheap impression. The ThinkPad Edge E535 is also completely made out of plastic. If you value metal components, you should look closer at HP's ProBook 4530s. The base unit's top and the lid's back both feature an aluminum finish. Acer Aspire 7741 charger

The stability of Acer's casing is satisfactory. The wrist rest only yields marginally under pressure. The TravelMate's base unit warps a bit when it is picked up at the front corners. A weak point is found in the area beside and below the touchpad. The base unit dents overall when pressure is applied. The lid warps too easily. However, the lid proves to have a higher pressure resistance when it is pressed on the back. The hinges keep the lid firmly in position and only rock marginally. It is not possible to open the lid with one hand.

Performance

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With the TravelMate P253 series, Acer is offering a range of affordable office laptops that are both suitable for private and business use. Routine tasks, such as MS Office applications, Internet communication, using Internet services and playing videos, are not a challenge for the TravelMate.

At the time of this review, we found three models from the P253 series. The TravelMate P253-32324G50Mnks we are testing represents the midrange in both price and performance (approx. 470/~$622). The three models only differ in terms of CPU. The other two models sport either Intel's Pentium B960 or Core i5-3210M processor. If you prefer a smaller size, you can take a model from the P243 series. It is consists of 14-inch laptops that are largely identical to the P253 series.

Processor

Intel's Core i3-2328M processor powers the TravelMate P253-M-32324G50. It is a member of Intel's Sandy Bridge processor generation. The i3 CPU clocks with 2.2 GHz and does not feature Turbo.

The processor finishes the Cinebench tests at full speed. The results are accordingly at the expected level. The ThinkPad Edge E535 (AMD A8-4500M, AMD Radeon HD 7640G) is far ahead of both contenders in the GL tests. This is not surprising since the Radeon GPU is much stronger than Intel's GPU. It is the exact opposite in the CPU tests. HP's ProBook 4530s-B0Y11EA (Intel Core i3-2350M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) and the TravelMate clearly have the lead on Lenovo's laptop. This is not surprising either since the Intel CPUs in both devices are much stronger than AMD's counterpart.

System Performance

The TravelMate P253-M works swiftly and smoothly. Windows 8 is also booted quickly. PCMark 7 confirms this subjective impression. Acer's laptop excels both HP's ProBook 4530s (Intel Core i3-2350M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) and Lenovo's ThinkPad Edge E535 (AMD A8-4500M, AMD Radeon HD 7640G). We believe this is due to the much faster hard disk.

Acer installs a hard disk from Hitachi's TravelStar Z5K500 range in the TravelMate P253-M. The disk spins with a speed of 5400 revolutions per minute and bids a storage capacity of 500 GB. That is enough storage for innumerable pictures, music tracks or even videos. The hard disk surprises with rather unusual measured rates for this price range. CrystalDiskMark recorded a read speed of 94.74 MB/s. HDTune ascertained an average transfer rate of 84.6 MB/s. Both rates are good for a 5400 rpm disk. The hard disk in the ProBook 4530s and ThinkPad Edge E535 merely achieved average transfer rates of 63.3 MB/s and 66.2 MB/s respectively according to HDTune.

Graphics Card

Intel's HD Graphics 3000 is responsible for video output on the laptop. It clocks with 650 to 1100 MHz and supports DirectX 10.1. The results of the 3DMark benchmarks are on the expected level. The ProBook 4530s (Intel Core i3-2350M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) reaches identical rates due to the same GPU. The ThinkPad Edge E535 (AMD A8-4500M, AMD Radeon HD 7640G) leaves both contenders far behind because of its stronger Radeon GPU. Moreover, AMD's GPU supports DirectX 11 in contrast to Intel's GPU.

System Noise

We very much liked the very low noise level that Acer's laptop generates. We ascertained a noise level between 30 and 30.8 dB (A) in idle. The fan is often disabled. The noise increased to 36.2 dB (A) when the laptop's DVD drive was used. The TravelMate got louder during full load (Prime95 and FurMark run simultaneously). We measured a noise of 37.6 dB (A). The noise was only 33.3 dB (A) in medium load (3DMark 06). The ThinkPad Edge E535's noise development is very similar to that of Acer's laptop. It is a bit louder in idle use, but a bit quieter during full load. HP's ProBook 4530s is clearly defeated by Acer's and Lenovo's laptop in this exercise. HP's laptop produces more noise in idle than both contenders make in medium load.

The TravelMate P253-M is not affected by hot flushes. The laptop reached temperatures between 26.3 and 32.7 degrees Celsius (~79.3 and 90.9 Fahrenheit) on both the top and bottom while idling. The temperatures increased to rates between 26.8 and 42.7 degrees Celsius (~80.2 and 108.9 Fahrenheit) during full load (Prime95 and FurMark run simultaneously). Thus, it would even be possible to place the laptop on the thighs. Although the wrist rest exceeds a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (~86 Fahrenheit) in idle and full load operation, it is still within a range that allows working.

The CPU always clocked at maximum speed during the stress test in both AC-mode and battery power (Prime95 and FurMark run simultaneously for at least one hour). On the other hand, the GPU ran at full speed in AC-mode in the stress test (1100 MHz). It clocked with 650 MHz on battery power. The CPUs temperature settled to approximately 72 degrees Celsius (~161.6 Fahrenheit) here.

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The TravelMate consumed 7.3 to 10.6 Watts in idle mode. Thus, it is a bit more energy-efficient than the ProBook 4530s (8.7 to 13.2 Watts) and Edge E535 (8.1 to 11.6 Watts). Acer's laptop is satisfied with a power consumption of 43.8 Watts during full load (Prime95 and FurMark run simultaneously). Both other contenders consume 6 Watts more. With a power consumption of 24.3 Watts, the P253-M excels both contenders in the medium load range (3DMark 06) (HP: 40.7 Watts; Lenovo: 40.6 Watts).

Battery Life

The TravelMate P253-M extracts a runtime of 7:11 h from the battery in idle use. The ProBook 4530s (7:24 h) and ThinkPad Edge E535 (8:26 h) last longer. We ascertained the idle runtime using tools from Battery Eater. The Reader's test runs with enabled energy-saving profile and disabled wireless modules. The screen is set to minimum brightness. Acer's laptop achieved a runtime of 1:19 h in load (HP: 1:37 h; Lenovo: 1:31 h). We also use Battery Eater's "Classic" for the load test. For this, the screen is set to maximum brightness and the high-performance profile as well as the wireless modules is enabled.

The Wi-Fi test lasted for 4:49 h (HP: 4:16 h; Lenovo: 4:48 h). Websites are automatically opened every 40 seconds by a script in this test. Energy-saving mode is enabled and the screen's brightness is set to approximately 150 cd/m². The laptop is drained after only 3 h in the DVD test (HP: 3:30 h; Asus: 3:46 h). The screen is set to maximum brightness, energy-savings mode or a higher profile (should the DVD not run smoothly) is used and the wireless modules are off.

The battery life of all three laptops can be compared well with each other since their batteries have an identical capacity (Acer: 47 Wh; Lenovo: 48 Wh). However, the TravelMate's battery runtimes could be better. Dell proves that a longer runtime can be retrieved from the hardware components with its Vostro 2520. The laptop sports the same hardware equipment as the TravelMate P253-M, but achieves much longer runtimes with the same battery capacity.

Acer's TravelMate P253-M is not a "laptop for everyone" - but that is not possible anyway. However, it should satisfy the requirements of most users since it has enough power for everyday application scenarios. Acer's laptop convinces with its good application performance and low noise development. Alongside the matte screen and acceptable keyboard, Acer has created a laptop that enables concentrated work.

HP's ProBook 4530s-B0Y11EA is interesting for users who place value on a very good keyboard and extensive warranty options. Lenovo's ThinkPad Edge E535 comes into question when longer battery runtimes are needed and the GPU's performance is more important than that of the CPU.

escrito por moviechy a las 03:15 | en:
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5/09/2012
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Review Acer Aspire One 725 Notebook

A few short weeks ago, we tested the Acer Aspire One 722 in our laboratory. Acer has now sent us another netbook, the Acer Aspire One 725. The One 725 uses the same AMD C-60 processor and AMD Radeon HD 6290 graphics card used in the previous Aspire One 722. ASUS G73JX battery The dual-core AMD C-60 has a 1.0 GHz base clock that can be dynamically overclocked to 1.3 GHz using AMD's Turbo Core technology. The processor-integrated AMD Radeon HD 6290 has a clock speed of 400 MHz and supports both DirectX 11 and Shader Model 5.0. As was the case in the previous Acer Aspire One 722, the Aspire One 725 uses a glossy display. Our test system has 4 GB of RAM instead of the 2 GB of the previously tested Aspire One 722. The notebook does not have an internal optical drive. ASUS G73JX-TZ037V battery

In this review, we compare the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One 725 to the preceding Acer Aspire One 725, specifically the Aspire One 725-C62kk.

Case
The case of the Acer Aspire One 725 has only changed minimally when compared to the preceding Aspire One 722. One of these changes is the display lid which no longer has the prominent, stylish water drop pattern that was previously used. ASUS G73S battery Instead, the case now has a simple, monochromic design available in either Volcanic Black or Caribbean Blue.

In our testing, the case appeared to be relatively stable and only under significant specific pressure did the case materials begin to flex. The display hinges also performed well. The display lid has a very wide maximum opening angle of 150 degrees, impressive for the 11.6-inch notebook.ASUS G73SV battery On the other hand, we found the sharp edges of the device, especially around the LAN port where one might get cut, to be less favorable. The device's physical dimensions – 1.2 kg (2.6 pounds) and 11.6-inch width – make the netbook well-suited for mobile use.

Connectivity

While the case may not have changed, the connectivity has. ASUS G73SW battery The Acer Aspire One 725, when compared to the Acer Aspire One 722-C62kk, exchanges a USB 2.0 port for a speedy USB 3.0 port, leaving two standard USB 2.0 ports. On the other hand, the independent audio input and output jacks of the Aspire One 722 have been merged into a combination audio jack for the Aspire One 725, a change we consider for the worse. As a result, headphones and a microphone cannot be used simultaneously. All ports are distributed along the sides of the netbook. ASUS G73SW-3DE battery

Communication

The Acer Aspire One 725 has one major highlight in its communications options, namely its Bluetooth 4.0 module. Only a few netbooks, such as the preceding Acer Aspire One 722-C62kk, provide this current standard which both consumes less power than previous Bluetooth versions and increases the effective range of Bluetooth communications to 100 meters. ASUS G73SW-91024V battery

Unfortunately, the 11.6-inch Aspire One 725 does not support Gigabit LAN. Instead, users are limited to the Fast Ethernet speeds of 10 and 100 Mbit/s supported by the Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller.

ASUS G73SW-91059V battery Wi-Fi is provided by the Atheros AR5BWB222 Wireless Network Adapter. The Aspire One 725 is not equipped with a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) module.

Accessories

The Acer Aspire One 725 comes with only the bare necessities. The netbook comes with its battery, an AC adapter, and some printed documentation.

Warranty

ASUS G73SW-91069Z battery Even by netbook standards, the Aspire One 725 comes with a very short 12 month warranty. A 24 month warranty is typically standard for this class of devices. While the preceding Aspire One 722's warranty could be extended by 12 or 24 months for a premium of 45 or 89 Euro ($55 or $109 USD), Acer's website does not provide any information regarding warranty extension for the Acer Aspire One 725.
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Power Consumption

Battery life is based on battery capacity and power consumption. As part of our standard testing, we determined the power consumption of the Acer Aspire One 725. While idle, we observed a consumption of 12.8 Watts compared to 10.8 Watt consumption of its predecessor Acer Aspire One 722 C62kk. Under high loads, the 11.6-inch netbook's consumption nearly doubled at 23.9 Watts, also considerably higher than the preceding Aspire One 722's 17.8 Watt consumption. ASUS G73SW-91074V battery
Battery Runtime

For the other half of our testing, we used three different scenarios and measured battery runtime. In the first test, we wanted to determine the maximum battery life and used the most conservative settings – lowest brightness, Wi-Fi disabled, and the power saving profile. We used the Battery Eater Reader's Test and measured a runtime of 7 hours and 5 minutes. ASUS G73SW-91084V battery By comparison, the preceding Acer Aspire One 722 C62kk managed an additional 2 hours of runtime, a reasonable result considering the 6 cell, 48 Wh battery used in the Aspire One 722 compared to the 4 cell 37 Wh battery of our test sample.

In our practical test, we enabled the Wi-Fi module and set the display brightness to a pleasant 150 cd/m2. We then simulated Web browsing and observed a runtime of 4 hours and 21 minutes. ASUS G73SW-91105V battery Last but not least, we used the Battery Eater Classic Test to measure battery runtime using the highest possible settings – highest brightness, high performance profile. In this scenario, the netbook ran out of power after 2 hours and 38 minutes. The Acer Aspire One 722 C62kk lasted nearly an hour longer in this test.

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Performance

As with the Aspire One 722-C62kk, the Aspire One 725 uses the dual-core AMD C-60 processor. With a 1.0 GHz base clock, the processor can be dynamically overclocked to a Turbo Core boosted 1.3 GHz clock speed, provided there is sufficient cooling. ASUS G73SW-91136Z battery The mobile processor also has a specified 9 Watt thermal design power (TDP) and a 1 MB L2 cache.

The processor-integrated AMD Radeon HD 6290, with a maximum clock speed of 400 MHz, serves as the graphics solution. This graphics card supports DirectX 11 and Shader Model 5.0. The onboard UVD3 video decoder is responsible for decoding HD videos. The 11.6-inch netbook also comes with 4 GB DDR3 RAM which should be more than enough to handle typical netbook tasks. The storage device is a 500 GB Seagate hard drive.ASUS G73SW-91210V battery

Processor
To test the performance of the AMD processor in its own right, we used the Cinebench test suite. In Cinebench R10 (64-bit) Rendering Multi-CPU, the Aspire One 725 scored a low 1388 points, placing the processor near the bottom of our benchmark database. The Acer Aspire One 722-C62kk was 17 percent higher, scoring 1621 points in the same test with the same processor. ASUS G73SW-A1 battery In Cinebench R11.5 (64-bit) Multi-CPU, the results were similar. In this case, the Aspire One 725 scored 0.42 points and the previously reviewed Aspire One 722-C62kk scored 0.03 points more. For the sake of comparison, the Asus Eee PC 1215B-BLK102M netbook with an AMD C-50 CPU scored 0.39 points.

System Performance
We used the Furmark PCMark Vantage and PCMark 7 suites to test overall system performance. With the older PCMark Vantage, the Aspire One 725 achieved a total score of 1523 points. ASUS G73SW-A2 battery The Acer Aspire One 722-C62kk once again outperformed our test sample in this test with a score of 1782 points. The HP Pavilion dm1-3180eg with an AMD E-35 CPU also outperformed our Aspire One 725 by 50 percent with a score of 2277 points. However, in the newer PCMark 7, our Aspire One 725 scored 805 points and stayed ahead of the Acer Aspire One 722-C62kk which scored 785 points. The similarly sized MSI Wind U270-E4523W7H with an AMD E-450 CPU managed to score 991 points in the same test. ASUS G73SW-BST6 battery
Storage Solution
For the Aspire One 725, Acer used the 500 GB 5400 RPM Seagate Momentus 5400.6 ST9500325AS. Using HDTune, we tested the performance of this hard drive in our 11.6-inch netbook and determined an average transfer rate of 63.9 MB/s, placing the netbook in the middle of our benchmark database. We also noted that the Aspire One 725 does not have a second hard drive bay. ASUS G73SW-BST8 battery As such, any performance gains would require replacement of the Momentus drive, perhaps with a faster SSD if necessary. An overview of hard drives can be found on our laptop hard disk benchmark list.

Graphics Card
We tested the Aspire One 725's 3D performance using Futuremark's 3DMark test suite. In 3DMark06, our Aspire One 725 scored 1431 points at a resolution of 1280x1024. Using the same graphics card and processor, the preceding Acer Aspire One 722 scored 1595 points, representing an 11 percent performance gain. ASUS G73SW-L1 battery The 11.6-inch MSI Wind U270-E4523W7H, which uses an AMD E-450 CPU and AMD Radeon HD 6320 GPU, scored considerably better at 2478 points.

In 3DMark Vantage, our results from the aforementioned notebooks diverged somewhat. The Aspire One 725 in this review outscored the previously tested Acer Aspire One 722 with scores of 528 and 466 points respectively. On the other hand, the 11.6-inch MSI Wind U270-E4523W7H once again considerably outperformed our test sample with a score of 913, representing a 73 percent increase in performance. ASUS G73SW-TY027V battery With such a score, it is safe to say that the Acer Aspire One 725 is incapable of high 3D performance. As a result, we did not perform any gaming benchmarks. Our extensive database of GPU gaming performance may provide more information.

Emissions

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System Noise
According to AMD, the Acer Aspire One 725's AMD C-60 CPU, has a very low 9 Watt TDP. In theory, this low power consumption should prevent the netbook from heating up significantly and should not require a lot of cooling. ASUS G73SW-TZ016V battery Entering our battery of tests, we were curious if this theory would prove sound. During our office scenario testing, we found the cooling system usually remained inactive and the netbook was a very quiet 32.1 dB(A). Under high load, the Aspire One 725 was also impressive with a maximum observed system noise of merely 34.6 dB(A). As a result, we conclude that the cooling system should not distract the user during operation.
Temperature
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As mentioned above, the cooling system remained quiet in our testing, but quiet does not necessarily mean effective. To determine the cooling solution's actual effectiveness, we measured temperatures at various places on the notebook. During low processing load, we measured maximum temperatures of 32.2oC and 34.7oC (90.0oF and 94.5oF) on the top and underside of the base unit respectively. ASUS G73SW-TZ052V battery While these are not particularly cool, these should not be problematic.

However, under high processing load during our stress test, the 11.6-inch netbook became considerably warmer. We measured maximum temperatures of 39.3oC (102.7oF) and 43.6oC (110.5oF) for the top and underside of the base unit respectively. The wrist rest never exceeded 32.0oC (89.6oF). ASUS G73SW-TZ054V battery While our stress test represents an extreme case, it is nonetheless clear that the quiet cooling system has negative implications in terms of heat retention when the netbook is under high processing loads.
Speakers
We found that the integrated speakers in the Acer Aspire One 725 were not especially good, as was the case for the preceding model. We would recommend using external speakers for listening to music. ASUS G73SW-TZ060V battery The frequency response of the integrated speakers seems very much limited to the high frequency range and bass was completely missing. External speakers can be connected via the 3.5 mm audio jack or by using the HDMI connector.

Verdict

In our testing, we observed no significant performance differences between our sample Acer Aspire One 725 and the Acer Aspire One 722 C62kk. In fact, the newer Aspire One 725 is merely a new variant with minor differences. ASUS G73SW-TZ083V battery Those buying this new model will once again receive a glossy HD display which will limit its viability in outdoor use. The display brightness could have been a bit higher as well. The one thing that makes the Aspire One 725 stand out from its predecessor is the single USB 3.0 port. The maximum observed battery life of 7 hours is a significant reduction from the Acer Aspire One 722's 9 hour runtime.

ASUS G73SW-TZ094V battery Unfortunately, the weaknesses of the previous model have not been resolved. The soft keyboard still needs improvement and the high temperatures during load are a significant drawback.

Compared to our reviewed Acer Aspire One 725, a good alternative might be the similarly sized 11.6-inch MSI Wind U270. While the MSI netbook also has a glossy display, it provides considerably more performance due to its AMD E-450 processor. However, the MSI netbook is also more expensive with a list price of 450 Euro ($550 USD).

escrito por moviechy a las 05:35 | en:
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