Tuesday, 17 May 2011

First Look At Lenovo ThinkPad X1

 For weeks now, Lenovo aficionados have been salivating. Thanks to a series of leaks, more than a few of you have been awaiting the ThinkPad X1, the skinny, girlfriend-proof follow-up to the company's vaunted X series. One problem: it didn't officially exist. Well, the jig is up, and the X1 is at last a real, whirring product, on sale tomorrow with a starting price of $1,349. As expected, it marries that iconic red nub and rock-solid construction with some flourishes you haven't yet seen on a ThinkPad, including a 13.3-inch Gorilla Glass display, integrated, fast-charging battery, and a buttonless trackpad. And, as you may have gathered from those leaked shots, it's the slimmest ThinkPad yet, measuring just 16.5mm (0.65 inches) at its thinnest point.

Throw in Intel Core 2011 processor options and you'll see Lenovo has made one lofty promise: a svelte system that performs like a heavyweight and whose design is modern, but not too much of a departure from the classic ThinkPad uniform. So how close does the X1 come to living up to these towering claims? Let's find out.
Performance and graphics

Our $1,399 test unit came armed with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M, integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, Windows 7 Professional (32-bit), 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB 7,200RPM hard drive. Throughout our testing, we had no problem juggling email, web video, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, all while downloading movies and a slew of Word documents and PDFs. Our test unit booted up in 49 seconds, which is decently fast for a Windows laptop. Indeed, the X1's score of 7,787 on PCMark Vantage, a performance benchmark, is in the same ballpark as -- if not slightly higher than -- what we've seen from other Core i5 systems we've tested recently.

The X1 has an integrated Intel HD 3000 cards, which notched 3,726 on 3DMark06. That was good enough for us to play Angry Birds at full-screen without any stuttering, though it's a lower score than we've seen from other laptops with thee same graphics card, such as the Toshiba Satellite E305, which garnered a 4,547 on the same test. Then again, we assume for anyone considering this system, gaming is not priority numero uno.
Source

Monday, 16 May 2011

11 Reasons To Hate Apple iPad 2

Introduction

The Apple iPad 2 is about to hit European shelves, fresh form a diet and exercise regime that’s helped it shed weight and build muscle. Faster, thinner and lighter is an accurate account of what’s been going on in the year that divides the two editions of Apple’s tablet.

Main disadvantages

  • iTunes required for uploading content
  • No Flash support in the web browser
  • Poor still cameras – though, really, this thing isn’t meant for taking candids
  • No standard USB port
  • No kickstand – it cannot stand on a table without the help of a dock stand or a Smart cover
  • Non replaceable battery
  • No stereo loudspeakers
  • No GPS receiver for the Wi-Fi only version
  • No memory card slot
  • 3G model uses micro-SIM, instead of a regular size SIM
  • iPhone apps designed for HVGA resolution squander screen real estate or look pretty bad uspcaled
The list of disadvantages of any iOS device is the usual long read. Apple’s iOS has limitations that we all have to live with. Apple will never bring Flash support, allow regular file management or make iTunes (or at least the mandatory cable connection) optional. As to the actual iPad 2, if you want real GPS functionality you have no choice but to opt for the 3G-enabled model, which adds $120 to the regular bill.
But if you’re willing to forgive the shortcomings, the iPad 2 brings both a performance upgrade and a redesign. The tablet is powered by the new Apple A5 SoC, with a dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, PoverVR SGX543MP2 graphics and 512MB RAM.



Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play The Stunning One


Introduction

With video gaming a sport in its own right, smartphones have no other choice but raise their game too. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play has strong ties to Sony’s gaming rigs, both portable and not, and Sony’s a big name in gaming.
So, what does all this pedigree bring? Games from the original PlayStation for one, with PlayStation 2 titles coming in the near future. The PlayStation Pocket game store comes with 50 games at launch optimized for the Play. You’ll certainly also appreciate the familiar feeling and design of the gaming buttons. .



Key features

  • Side-slider with dedicated gaming controls
  • Quad-band GSM /GPRS/EDGE support
  • 3G with HSDPA and HSUPA
  • 4.0" 16M-color capacitive LED-backlit LCD touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels)
  • Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread
  • 1 GHz Scorpion CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset
  • 512 MB RAM
  • 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging; WVGA video recording @ 30fps
  • Secondary front-facing camera
  • Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
  • Accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors
  • Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
  • microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1
  • Voice dialing
  • Adobe Flash 10.2 support
  • Dedicated game store

HTC Flyer The Most Unique And Latest Android tablet


Today, the company's Android assembly line is turning out yet another groundbreaking device, though this one's closer in size to the Athena than the Aria. Yes, we're talking about the 7-inch Flyer, the most unique of this year's Android tablet offerings, opting for a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a sturdy aluminum construction that doesn't even try to compete in the race for extreme thinness, and a Magic Pen to make you forget it's running Gingerbread and not Honeycomb (yet). Also set for release under the EVO View 4G moniker on Sprint in the US, this tablet is the sum of a set of bold choices on the part of HTC. To see how well those decisions have come off, click past the break for our full review.
 Thinking back to the first time we saw the Flyer in person -- at a pre-MWC briefing back in February -- we have to say this tablet didn't make the happiest of first impressions. It's a weighty old thing (420 grams / 14.8 ounces) that looked thick even before we laid eyes on the subsequent iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab super-slimsters. In fact, we had a 7-inch Galaxy Tab on hand and the Flyer was instantly humbled by the slicker, lighter, and far more refined slate from Samsung. HTC's choice of a tri-color palette also dashes any chances of the Flyer appearing sophisticated. The white plastic elements at the top and bottom don't really blend in well with either the grey aluminum shell or the black bezel around the screen. Adding insult to injury, the lower one of those plastic inserts actually protrudes from the body, giving an already chunky tablet some extra junk in the trunk.