HP Pavilion HDX Dragon

HP Pavilion HDX Dragon
Published August 25, 2008 at 01:16:07 PM, by Alex Morman
Overview
The 20.1' HP HDX is something out of a hi-tech thriller. If anyone's ever read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (of The DaVinci Code fame), this is the supercomputer they must've used to crack the codes. From the 'Dragon' namesake decal on the lid to the extended keyboard below, everything about this notebook screams 'greater purpose.' With a price tag approaching five large, it better live up to its looks. We'll find out.

Alienware m15x

Say hello to the new Area-51 m15x from Alienware. Tagged for mixing their legendary performance with impressive mobility, it is a 15.4 gaming laptop that when configured properly can knock close to $5,000. When we first got wind of this machine, we were worried that Dell's conservative take to design would dilute the futuristic flash and style that Alienware has been known to supply. In true LaptopLogic form read on to find out if looks and performance match our intuition
Design
Silver and only silver, thats the fist thing youll notice with the m15x. The case wasn't something that impressed us much and given Alienware's reputation for edgy design (almost Giger-esque), we found the silver lid with obligatory blue-eyed alien head to be, well...boring. Having reviewed Alienware machines in the past, we were always fond of their blue exterior option. This new lid is a silver panel, with a seam starting from the bottom to two-thirds up the lid, where it's broken by the ambiguous alien head. Granted, the texture and quality of the material used was spot on babys behind smooth, but also too plain for what were used to.

ASUS Eee PC 1000HE

Asus continues to define the netbook standard with the new Eee PC 1000HE. Although the difference compared to previous 10-inch models is quite miniscule it continues in the Eee PC tradition of providing good value for your money.
One of the improvements in the 1000HE is a slightly faster Atom N280 CPU at 1.66GHz (compared to the N270 at 1.6GHz) with a higher FSB speed – 667MHz instead of 533MHz). The difference here is noticeable but just barely.

Sony VAIO VGN-SZ270P

Overview

Do you want power, good looks, and prestige? The Sony VAIO SZ laptop may be your answer. This thin and light machine comes packed with portable power, a stylish design, and loads of features, while maintaining a light and thin profile. These attributes should definitely appeal to most business users who demand power and portability in a sexy package. The fastest model available uses Intel's Core Duo T2500, clocked at 2.0GHz with other models available in 1.86GHz. It is also equipped with 1GB DDR2 (supporting up to 2GB) RAM, up to a 120GB 5400RPM hard drive, and a beautiful 13.3-inch widescreen LCD with XBRITE technology. Powering the sleek display is a Hybrid Graphics System, allowing you to switch between a discrete NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 graphics chip and integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950.. It also doesn't fall short in the communication spectrum, with built-in Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth and even Wide Area Network (WWAN) so you can surf online anywhere with cellular coverage. With these specs, one may find this machine ideal for both travel and as a desktop replacement, but the SZ weighs less than 4 pounds! But of course, with so many great things going for it, there are a couple of drawbacks that we'll discuss in this review.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 Multimedia Laptop

Lenovo's IdeaPad Y650 is a thin, light, and stylish multimedia laptop that offers a lot for the money. It's LCD is one of the better examples out there today and overall offers a very finished computing experience. Unfortunately battery life is left wanting and there's not even an option for Blu-ray, but not much else at this price point does better.

The new Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q701 is a Best Buy exclusive system that retails for $1,549.99. The machine has Toshiba’s slick looking fiery finish with Rouge design. Graphics for the notebook are via NVIDIA GeForce 9700M GTS discrete card and the CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor.

Other features of the system include support for DDR3 1066MHz RAM, a 17.1-inch LCD, and 200GB of storage. The keyboard of the system is a full size unit with a number pad as well. The sound system uses four Harman Kardon stereo speakers with a built-in subwoofer. Buyers can also choose to use Windows Vista 32-bit or 64-bit at the first boot.

Toshiba

Toshiba is updating its line of X205-SLI gaming notebooks with some models offering the new Intel 45mm processors, the company said yesterday. These new models include the Satellite X205-SLI2, priced at around $2,000, and the around $2,500 X205-SLI4.
Toshiba’s new laptops, beside the new Intel processors, feature Nvidia’s SLI graphics with dual Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics processing units and dual hard drives offering a total of 320GB of ample storage space.
Other features of Toshiba’s new laptops can include, depending upon configuration, a HD DVD drive, a 17-inch widescreen display and a built-in HDMI port,. Both models are available now.