HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition Review

The HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition laptop has a 15.6” screen and is meant as a desktop replacement and multimedia entertainment laptop.  The dv6z Quad Edition has the latest AMD Llano Quad Core processors, you can get either the AMD A6 or A8 series, the review unit that I have includes the AMD Quad-Core A8 3510MX 2.5GHz processor.  The nice thing about these Llano AMD processors are that they have an integrated graphics card with good enough performance to allow you to play modern 2011 3D games, but are not as power hungry as dedicated graphics cards.  Even better, the cost of the AMD Quad Core dv6z powered laptop is lower than that of the HP dv6t Quad Core Intel powered laptop.  The HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition starts at $599 on HP.com.  If you’re looking to save some money and still get a powerful laptop then this laptop could be for you.  We’ll do some comparisons of the dv6t and dv6z in this review to see if either might be better for your needs.

Before we start here are the specs for the dv6z Quad Edition under review:

Screen: 15.6” LED backlit 1366 x 768 resolution, glossy finishProcessor: AMD A8-3510MX (2.50GHz / 1.8GHz Cache)Graphics: AMD Radeon 6620GMemory: 6GB DDR3 (2 Dimm)Storage: 640GB 5400RPM Hard DriveOptical Drive: Blu-Ray player & SuperMulti DVD BurnerWireless: 802.11 a/b/g/nWeb Camera: HP True Vision HD Webcam and Digital MicrophonePorts: 4 USB (2 USB 2.0 and 2 High Speed USB 3.0), HDMI, VGA monitor out, Ethernet LAN portDimensions and Thickness: 14.88? (W) x 9.71? (D) x 1.23? (min Height)/1.39? (max Height)Weight: 6.1lbs

HP dv6z Quad Core Unboxing

The HP dv6zqe came well packaged and arrived in just 10-days from the time of order.  HP plastered an AMD processor on the outside, just to make sure you know that’s what you’re getting inside I suppose.  Below are some pictures of the unboxing and what you get inside:

HP dv6z Quad Edition Design

The look of the Pavilion dv6t was updated this year so that the standard color is what HP calls a “Dark Umber” finish. The lid has a nice dark aluminum brush finish that’s both professional and stylish. The HP logo on the lid lights up when the laptop is on. The hinge is a drop hinge style design with an elbow like bend to it. The hinges are a silver color and provide a nice contrast to the dark umber lid.  To get a better idea of the design of the dv6z check out the video review I did of the dv6z:

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition Review

The one downside to the design is the glossy surface used around the screen, it picks up fingerprints and can also reflect light which is annoying.

HP dv6z Quad Edition Build Quality

The dv6z is one of the better built consumer laptops I’ve used in a while.  It’s on par with business-class laptops in terms of sturdiness.  The case and lid are very rigid and have little flex.  The only noticeable flex on the body can be found on the bottom under the optical drive housing, this is fairly typical of any laptop as it’s hard to reinforce the hollow area an optical drive requires.  The keyboard has a bit of flex on it in places as well, that will be covered more in the keyboard section.  Overall the dv6z is a very sturdy laptop that feels like it will be able to take some abuse and keep on ticking.

HP dv6z Weight and Dimensions

The Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition is not a laptop designed to be carried for miles around campus, rather it is more of a desktop replacement style laptop. It weighs in at 5lbs 10 ounces (5.625 lbs) without the power cord and adapter, but add in the weight of the adapter and the travel weight goes up to 6lbs 11.4 ounces (6.7125 lbs):

The dv6z isn’t exactly thin, it has a thickness of 1.23” to 1.39” so it would take up quite a lot of space in a backpack.  The dv6z is still light enough to be easily moved around a home or office without breaking your back though, so it’s entirely appropriate to buy this laptop and use it as a portable computer, I just wouldn’t want to walk miles with it or heave it along on a long distance flight.

HP dv6zqe Screen

The HP dv6z Quad Edition offers two different screen resolution options. You can go with the standard 1366 x 768 resolution or pay $150 extra for the 1920 x 1080 resolution display. I kept the price down and went with the 1366 x 768.  This is quite a low resolution for a 15.6” screen laptop and if you can afford it I’d recommend upgrading to the 1080p screen.  One thing to consider is that if you want to do gaming on medium to high settings on the native screen resolution you will get better performance with this lower resolution.  However, if you don’t care about gaming and just want to fit more on the screen and have a great movie watching experience viewing Blu-Ray 1080p movies then the higher resolution is a nice upgrade.   When you watch hi-definition movies at the 720p (1366 x 768) resolution on a 15.6” screen you can actually notice some pixelation, which detracts from the viewing experience, so if you’re a movie buff the upgrade might almost be necessary.

The screen brightness on the dv6z Quad laptop is amazing, almost too bright at the top setting if you ask me.  I left the brightness two notches below the top for a comfortable level that was easy to read.  The bright screen made viewing angles from the side very wide.  Vertical viewing angles were so so.  Overall the dv6z screen is better than the average laptop screen, but it is not as gorgeous as say an IPS technology screen used on the Apple iPad that offers wide viewing angles.

The screen has a glossy finish, which is good if you like movie viewing as it provides bolder colors and great contrast.  However, it also picks up a lot of reflections and if you’re working on it 8 hours a day that can get annoying and cause eye strain.

HP dv6z Quad Core Performance

If you’re purchasing the HP dv6z Quad Edition you’re probably at least somewhat interested in performance, otherwise you could get the cheaper regular HP dv6t.  The dv6z AMD A8 processor this laptop comes with features 4 cores so that multi-tasking is a natural strength of this laptop.  Each core can handle a separate task, think of it as having 4 brains, instead of a human that becomes scatter brained when trying to do four different things this processor takes it all in stride when four different programs make four different requests all at the same time.  The result is very smooth performance with all of your typical day-to-day program tasks.  Running a web browser, security scan, playing a video and typing up a document at the same time can all be done and you’ll still get good performance with each program.

With the AMD A8-3510MX you get an integrated graphics card in the form of the AMD 6620G.  While this is not a dedicated graphics card, it’s integrated into the APU with the processor and does not have its own dedicated memory, it performs almost like a dedicated graphics card and most definitely outperforms the Intel HD3000 integrated graphics.  The AMD 6620G offers enough 3D performance to be able to play newer 2011 high-end 3D graphic engine games at medium to high settings on the 1366 x 768 screen.  You get decent graphics performance but don’t pay the cost in battery life as you normally do with higher performing graphics cards, I was still able to achieve over 5 hours of battery life on the dv6z.  To understand how the dv6z Quad Edition Llano powered laptop does in terms of performance let’s compare some 3DMark benchmark scores to other laptops, one with a dedicated GPU and one with integrated, both using an Intel platform:

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition – AMD A8-3510MX, AMD 6620G GraphicsHP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition – Intel Core i7-2630qm, AMD 6770M Graphics

The near 3,000 score the dv6z with its 6620G graphics card achieves is far superior to the Intel HD3000 graphics performance, almost by 3x.  However, when you compare the score to the more powerful dedidated AMD 6770M graphics you see it’s only about half the score that achieves and can see why dedicated graphics with dedicated memory still wins the day.

Comparing overall system performance scores, the HP dv6z Quad Edition with the AMD A8 processor is on par with an Intel Core i3 level system, but depending on usage the AMD APU may give you better performance on some programs relative to Intel.

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition – AMD A8-3510MX, AMD 6620G Graphics, 6GB RAMHP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition – Intel Core i7-2630qm 2.00GHz, 6GB RAM

The Windows Experience Index on the dv6z Quad Edition came it at a strong score of 5.8:

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition Battery Life

The battery life of the HP dv6zqe of course varies upon usage, I conducted a battery friendly test in which the screen brightness was set to the 3rd level, wi-fi was on and a web page was left open that refreshed every minute.  Under these conditions, the dv6z battery lasted 5 hours and 10 minutes, which is pretty darn good for a desktop replacement laptop.  Since the dv6z Quad is intended as a desktop replacement I doubt many people will even need that much battery life.

HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition Keyboard

The HP dv6zqe keyboard is spacious to say the least, it stretches from edge to edge and includes a built-in number pad. The keyboard uses a chiclet style design. The keys have a nice amount of travel and in general are pleasant for typing on. There is a small amount of flex in certain places on the keyboard if you push down hard, but nothing that’s going to affect typing or probably even be noticed by the average user.  It’s really too bad that HP didn’t include a backlit keyboard, though the Envy line is considered the premium line of HP notebooks and gets that treatment, I would have expected to see it on the dv6 series as you pay enough to expect this feature.

HP includes a fingerprint reader as a standard feature, this is nice to have as an alternate form of login for Windows.  Another feature I like is that the top row Fn keys act as dedicated media type buttons, for instance you can just push F10 to turn up the volume, you don’t have to hold Fn + F10. This is how the top row of functions keys work on a Mac, call it copying but I’ll call it following a smart design implementation, you can change the default behavior of the Fn keys in the Bios if you do rely on the standard functionality of those keys.

HP Pavilion dv6zqe Touchpad

The HP dv6z  touchpad is large, making it easy to move the cursor all the way across the screen with one swipe or do multi-finger gestures such as two-finger scrolling. The touch pad uses Synaptics drivers so you get all of the basic capabilities that comes with synaptics touchpads such as two finger rotation and pinch to zoom.  You have to enable these features in the touchpad control software, the more advanced features are not on by default.

HP dv6z Quad Ports

The dv6z Quad Edition has the latest USB 3.0 port technology which offers faster transfer speed to USB 3.0 compatible devices. This is great when you need to transfer data to an external storage device, transfer speeds are on the scale of 4 – 6 times faster using USB 3.0 versus 2.0. You also get the an HDMI port so that you can output video to a monitor or LCD screen. Here’s a complete review of the ports you get on each side of the dv6z Quad Edition laptop:

HP dv6t left side: VGA monitor out port, HDMI port, Ethernet LAN port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 microphone port, 2 headphone ports

HP dv6t right side: Optical drive (Blu-Ray in this case), 2 USB 3.0 ports, power adapter

HP dv6t front side: Media card reader slot on the left side, Beats Audio speakers on each side

HP dv6t back view: no ports, just the hinges

HP dv6zqe Heat and Cooling

When using the dv6z Quad laptop under normal conditions of light to moderate use the laptop stays cool. The HP Coolsense technology software allows you to adjust how often you want fans to come on, set it to the quietest setting to reduce noise and fan usage or adjust it to the coolest setting and fans will run more frequently and keep the laptop cooler. Under normal usage the CPU stayed around 40C, which is a very reasonable temperature. Under more demanding usage such as benchmarks the temperature can crest as high as 70C, it is recommended you use this or any laptop on a table if you’re going to be gaming or doing anything intensive. On the whole, the dv6z Quad does a good job of staying cool and the Coolsense software allows you to adjust how often fans come on and in turn how noisy this laptop gets.

HP dv6z Quad Edition Conclusion

The HP dv6z Quad Edition has a great price to performance ratio to offer.  Even at the base configuration cost of $599 you get a very capable laptop and with excellent build quality and design, one of the better I’ve seen in consumer grade laptops.  The aluminum chassis makes the laptop rigid and sturdy, so it will hold up over time and be worth the money you invest.  The battery life is very good at over 5 hours, most laptops of this size get around 4 hours.  The dv6z Quad isn’t going to be the most powerful gaming laptop around, that’s not the intention, but rather it will be able to capably run the latest games on medium settings at a 720p resolution but when you don’t need the graphics performance it will do a good job of being power efficient and extending your battery life.  There is room for improvement on the dv6z Quad Edition, the keyboard is not backlit which is disappointing, the keyboard has some flex to it and the glossy screen bezel picks up fingerprints and requires frequent cleaning.  The overall performance will be more than adequate for 95% of users, but for those that run the most demanding of programs it might not quite cut it.

In conclusion, the number of features and the build quality you get for price of the dv6z Quad Edition is a bargain, the performance is great and there just aren’t many complaints to find about this laptop.

Where to Buy:

The HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition can be configured and purchased at HP.com:

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HP Confirms AMD Radeon 7690M Graphics for New Envy 15 and Envy 17

HP has finally put an end to the speculation and cleared the confusion as to what AMD graphics card comes on board the new Envy 15 and Envy 17, drum roll please…

The Envy 15 has the AMD Radeon 7690MThe Envy 17 has the AMD Radeon 7690M XT

Darren Gladstone of HP confirmed the final specs of the new Envy laptop graphics in his blog post here.  An AMD spokesperson also confirmed some further details about these 7600 series cards:

They will support DirectX 11They use the 40-nm fabrication processThey use GDDR5 128-bit memoryHave 480 stream processorsSupport HDMI 1.41 and DisplayPort 1.2Offer UVD3 video decodingWill allow output to 3 screens

Darren also posts some gaming benchmarks with the Envy 15 using the 7690M graphics card.  For instance, playing Just Cause 2 at 1600 x 900 resolution at medium to high settings yielded a 28.8 fps.  The Envy 17 meanwhile had an impressive 42.2 fps at the same settings for Just Cause 2.   In general it seems that the 7690M XT is going to have nearly double the performance of the 7690m in the Envy 15, so if you’re really into gaming the Envy 17 is definitely the way to go.

Relative to the last generation of Envy 15 and Envy 17, the 7690M is going to outperform the previous AMD 6770m card, but it’s not going to be a huge jump forward.  Same deal with the 7690M XT which will slightly outperform the 6850m found in the previous Envy 17.  Still to be answered also is the clock speeds being used on these cards.  Bottom line, there is still some confusion in terms of what performance will be like in models that ship because Darren says he’s using a late prototype machine which could still differ somewhat from the final version that is now ready to ship to the first people that ordered the Envy 15-3XXX and Envy 17-3XXX editions last week.

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Samsung Series 3 11.6” Screen Laptop $350 at Staples next Week

Promotion of this deal is jumping the gun a bit, but it’s good enough to warrant.  Next week Staples will be selling the Samsung Series 3 11.6” screen laptop with a Core i3 processor for $349.99.  The price is set to drop from $699 to $349.99 on December 18th (Sunday).  The specs on this laptop are as follows:

Screen: 11.6" LED HD screen (1366×768 pixels resolution)Processor: 1.30GHz Intel Core i3-2357M processorStorage: 320GB SATA hard drive, 5400RPMMemory: 4GB DDR3 SDRAMGraphics: Intel GMA HD graphicsOS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OSSoftware: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 preinstalled with product key for activation includedWireless: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n built-in, Bluetooth 3.0Ports & Slots: 4-in-1 memory card slot: SD, SDHC, SDCX, MMC, (3) USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, HDMI port, headphone/microphone combo jack, Gigabit EthernetBattery: 4-cell 4000mAh Lithium-Ion batteryDimensions: 10.9” (W) x 7.9” (H) x 0.87-1.04” (D)Weight: 2.84lbs

Furthermore, Staples has a trade in your old laptop for $100 program.  Basically, if you trade in a clunker of a laptop you get a further $100 off any laptop that’s regularly priced $599 or above in the form of a $100 Visa Prepaid Card.  Since this Samsung is currently $699 it qualifies, even though the price will drop to $349.99.  But wait, that’s not all (I feel like an As Seen on TV Marketer).  You also get a free Microsoft Office Home and Student product key with this purchase, that’s about a $70 value if you don’t want it and prefer to sell the product key on eBay.

The laptop itself is well designed and has great specs for its size.  At only 2.84lbs you’ll barely notice the weight in your backpack and it’s very thin at 1.04”.  Samsung has a great reputation in the laptop industry for making durable and portable laptops, so it’s not like you’re buying an ugly budget laptop for cheap here, it’s a premium design machine.  There will probably be a lot of demand for this when it goes on sale, so you might want to try and get to Staples early when the sale hits on Sunday.

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Lenovo IdeaPad U300s now Available for Online Order

The Lenovo IdeaPad U300s 1080 model is the latest ultrabook to become available, it competes with the likes of the Toshiba Portege Z835, Acer Aspire S3, Asus ZenBook and of course Apple’s MacBook Air.  The specs on the IdeaPad U300s are as follows:

Screen: 13.3” HD glossy display, 1366 x 768 resolution, 200 nits brightnessProcessor: Intel Core i5-2467M 1.60GH or Intel Core i7-2677M 1.80GHzGraphics: Intel HD3000OS: Windows 7 Home PremiumGraphics: Intel HD3000Memory: 4GB RAMStorage: 256GB SSDCamera: Integrated 1.3MP web cameraBattery: 4-cell Li-Ion, up to 8 hourPorts: HDMI, 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0Wireless: Intel 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0Weight: 2.9lbsDimensions: 12.8” x 8.5” x 0.59” (width x depth thickness)Detailed specs: Lenovo U300s Specs

The pricing starts at right now on Lenovo.com at a rather steep $1,499.   That’s certainly rich relative to the $699 you can get the Toshiba Portege Z835 at Best Buy this week.   Granted, the IdeaPad U300s does have higher end specs such as a faster Core i5 processor and larger 256GB SSD, but is it worth twice the cost?  Probably not.  The major shortcoming of the Lenovo U300s is that it does not have a backlit keyboard, meanwhile the Toshiba Z835 and MacBook Air do.  For a premium consumer notebook that stakes its claim on style, not having a backlit keyboard is almost unforgivable.  It’s like buying a Mercedes with manual locks, you just don’t expect to get “standard” features, you deserve all the bells and whistles paying this amount.  The U300s does at least offer a couple of different color options to add style.  You can choose either Clementine Orange or Graphite Grey, so either orange for those with a loud personality or grey for subtle style.

The competition among ultrabooks should heat up in 2012 and I’m guessing Lenovo will quickly figure out the U300s won’t sell at this $1,500 price so that will drop.  How can you make a case for spending twice as much on an ultrabook that’s only slightly better internally and has no backlit keyboard?  Also, Lenovo will also be releasing the ThinkPad X2 in 2012 on the business side so they’ll have some competition within their own ranks soon enough.  I predict sub $1,000 average pricing on ultrabooks at some point next year.

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New HP dm4t Beats Edition Laptop Available

HP today released a new dm4t Beats Edition laptop.  This is an enhancement to the existing Pavilion dm4t regular edition that was released earlier this year.  We’d love to give you a price on this new laptop, but the HP website right now has it featured in the Pavilion ultraportable lineup but no pricing is showing and if you click on the link to configure it the page is simply a 404.

Once HP gets its act together on their website we assume this is simply a dm4t with new clothes on and an enhanced speaker system.  The basic starting specs on the dm4t Beats Edition should go something like this:

Processor:  Intel Core i3-2330M Processor (2.2 GHz) Intel HD Graphics 3000 OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit   Memory: 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) Storgage: 640GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection Battery: 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery Up to 6.75 hours of battery life +++ Screen: 14.0? diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768) Optical Drive: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support Web Cam: HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone Wireless: Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support Dimensions: 13.42in (L) x 8.98in (W) x 0.98in (min H) / 1.27in (max H) Weight: 4.41lbs

Now, we hope that with the Beats enhanced edition you get a red backlit keyboard, on the regular dm4t there is no backlit keyboard.  Enhanced Beats Audio will of course be part of the package and the color finish will go from standard umber to an all black design with the Beats emblem on the lid.  Once we’re able to actually configure and buy this thing we’ll know more!

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New 30% Off Coupon for HP Laptops, Includes New Envy 15 & 17

HP has a new 30% off coupon, use code NBT3886 at checkout to get 30% off any laptop configured $999+.  This 30% off coupon works on the new HP Envy 15 and Envy 17, in fact it works on any laptop at HP Home except for the Folio 13.  Pricing out the base level Envy 15 laptop and using this NBT3886 30% off coupon yields a $945 price on the new HP Envy 15, the specs on the laptop at this price are as follows:

Processor: Core i5-2430M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Turbo Boost to 3.0 GHzGraphics: 1GB Discrete Graphics AMD Radeon(TM) [HDMI, DP]Memory: 6GB 1333MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)Storage: 500GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive8 Cell Lithium Ion BatteryScreen: 15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366×768)Optical Drive: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer SupportWireless: Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display SupportKeyboard: Full-size Radiance backlit keyboardWarranty : 2 year limited warranty included

For those that are more inclined toward the Envy 17 with its more powerful AMD 7690 XT graphics card, that offers about twice the gaming performance of the Envy 15, you can use the coupon to get the price down to $1,119.99 for a starting configuration, see the screenshot below from the cart I configured with this price:

This coupon works from today until 12/28/2011 so you have a full 10-days to take advantage, and if you don’t get what you want for Christmas you’ll still have time to use the coupon

In addition to this 30% off coupon, HP has the following new coupons for the Holiday 2011 closeout:

Save an additional $50 on a customized HP Pavilion dm4x laptop at the HP Home & Home Office Store, use coupon NBDM4968. Offer limited to the first 400 coupons redeemed.  Valid 12/18 – 12/28Save an additional $75 instantly on a customized HP Laptop configured at $750+ at the HP Home & Home Office Store use coupon code NBP65875. Valid 12/18 – 12/28.

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Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Reviews Roundup

Yesterday the IdeaPad U300s ultrabook that had been announced in November finally went on sale.  There are already a number of reviews on the web for the U300s so you can get a pretty good idea of what this laptop is like, there are even some user reviews posted on Amazon.com that are pretty thorough and give a nice comparison of other Ultrabooks such as the Asus UX31e and Acer S3 compared to the U300s.  Here’s a quick list of reviews that are out there and a quick take from each:

J. Darji “Buck” U300s Review on Amazon.com – User reviews are some of the best.  This user posted a review on October 30th after he got an early ship model ordered via Amazon.com.  Buck gives strong praise the the U300s keyboard calling it solid and saying you will “actually love typing on it”.   The screen and ability for the laptop to remain cool are also praised.  At the end he summarizes “The Lenovo is an elegant minimalistic design that just feels and screams sophistication and reliability. It’s stylish without being so flashy like the Asus.”  That’s pretty strong support for the U300s over the Asus Zenbook, which has been reported to have a lot of wireless issue.Engadget U300s Review – Dana Wollman of Engadget got ahold of the U300s in November before it was released, some of the pros mentioned in her review were the nice design, great keyboard and very fast bootup thanks to the SSD.  The cons were predictable, there is no SD slot, no backlit keyboard and the resolution of the display was found to be disappointing, although we’ll mention the 1366 x 768 you find on the U300s is no different to any other Windows Ultrabook.TheVege.com U300s Review – Joanna Stern put together a nice review of the U300s back in early November.  Interestingly she lauded Lenovo for not copying the Apple MacBook Air design, which is a good point seeing as there are so many MacBook clones out there today.  The orange case makes it look different and black sides do not mimic the silver aluminum sides of the MacBook Air.  Once again the keyboard is praised for avoiding the common pitfall of ultrabooks, having a shallow key travel depth, by using a ThinkPad-like feeling keyboard.  Still, the final score given is a 7.8/10 and the MacBook Air is rated as the winner over the U300s.LaptopMag.com U300s Review – Michael Prospero reviewed the U300s and, just like every other reviewer, gave it a strong rating but called it “not enough to beat the 13-inch MacBook Air”.  The high price tag of $1,495 for their review configuration was called into question based on the fact certain features are missing you would expect such as a backlit keyboard.PCMag U300s Review – PCMag calls the U300s an “elegant entry into the new ultrabook category” and like TheVerge praised the design for not copying Apple.T3.com U300s Review – T3.com gave the U300s a rather low 3/5 stars.  They complained about the screen being quite dull and said that the laptop was slow to charge, which is interesting as nobody else mentioned that.  Instead of praising the design like other reviewers they actually call the design “plain and uninspiring”.  The final verdict was also that “it doesn’t offer any compelling reason to choose it over the competition”.  Ouch!

On the whole the consensus among U300s reviews seems to be that overall this is one of the better Windows ultrabooks available.  The keyboard is certainly the best of any ultrabook and the battery life is very good at between 5 and 6 hours.  The consistent complaints are in regards to a lack of an SD card slot and no backlit keyboard.  Early reviewers were also told the laptop would cost $200 less than the $1,499 it actually costs via Lenovo.com right now.  Since cost is the major factor for most buyers, that’s an important piece of misinformation seen in early reviews.  Let’s hope the price does actually fall to around the $1,000 mark originally quoted by Lenovo.

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Sony VAIO SA3 Unboxing Video and First Look Review

There was a great sale on recently at B&H Photo & Video in which a nice config of the Sony VAIO SA3 was priced at $799.  Unable to resist a good deal on a rather appealing looking laptop, I jumped at it.  A 13.3” screen notebook with a high resolution 1600 x 900 screen is hard to find, especially for an under $800 price tag.  Then consider the fact the VAIO SA3 comes with an impressive Intel Core i5-2430m processor and AMD HD 6630m dedicated graphics and the price becomes even more amazing.  At the time of this writing the SA3 VPCSA3AFX config (ugly model number) is now back at $899 at B&H.  The same configuration of a VPCSA390X CTO on Sony.com for the SA3 costs $1,049.  Let’s go over what those specs are exactly shall we?

Processor: 2.40GHz Intel Core i5-2430M with Intel TurboBoostMemory: 4GB DDR3 RAM Storage: 500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6630M 1GB GPU Screen: 13.3" LED Backlit Widescreen Display, 1600 x 900 resolution, matte (anti-glare) finishOptical Drive: SuperMulti DVD Burner Integrated Webcam & Microphone Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)Ports: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0, HDMI, VGA monitor out, SD card reader, Memory Stick Duo card reader, headphone out, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-4)Backlit keyboardWeight: 3.7lbsDimensions: 13.04” x 8.84” x 0.92” (Width x Depth x Thickness)

With that out of the way let’s take a look at what the VAIO SA3 looks like fresh out of the box:

If you watch the video you’ll note that I thought the laptop felt light because I assumed the battery was not in, which is often the case when a laptop ships.  However, it turns out the battery is actually sealed in there and I was feeling the entire weight of the laptop upon first holding it, it was much lighter than I expected.  Granted, this is no ultrabook at less than 3lbs, but it is still very light at 3.7lbs.  You also get a lot more with the VAIO SA3 compared to an ultrabook for only a 0.7lbs heavier weight.  Consider you have an optical drive, fully fledged Core i5 processor, dedicated AMD Hybrid graphics, wide array of ports and a removable battery – none of those features come on an ultrabook.  So why are ultrabooks so popular again?  But I digress.

First impressions are lasting, and I think most people will be like me and be struck by the sleek looking design of the VAIO SA.  It has nice chrome accents in places such as the VAIO logo and touchpad buttons.  This contrasts nicely with the solid black finish.  The backlit keyboard is an instant attention getter, assuming you’re in a darkened room that is, and just the thinness of the screen sets this apart from your standard laptop look.  I also like the bright green power button LED lighting.  I think the only disappointment I had with the design is that the optical drive is not slot loading, for some reason I thought it would be.

The build quality of the VAIO SA feels top notch.  The palm rests are flex resistant and the entire chassis feels very rigid and durable.  The screen itself is very thin and therefore has some flex, but it is designed that way and there’s no need to worry about the screen breaking.

The quoted battery life for the VAIO SA is a max of 7 hours with just the internal 4400mAh battery, less if you’re doing DVD playback the whole time.  You can upgrade to using a sheet battery that essentially straps onto the bottom of the laptop to double the battery life.  This is a nice option to have and solves the problem that other laptops with sealed batteries have of what happens when my battery is drained and there isn’t an outlet nearby?  Well, with the VAIO SA3 the answer is just add a sheet battery.  The extra sheet battery retails for $125 on Sony.com.

The screen is nice and bright, but as others seem to have noticed, the viewing angles are so-so and colors tend to quickly wash out if you’re not viewing at just the right angle.  That’s disappointing, but on the bright side the resolution is an amazing 1600 x 900 and you can easily fit two browser windows side by side for viewing at this res.

Though I haven’t done anything in terms of benchmarking with the VAIO SA3 at this early stage, it definitely feels snappy with the Intel Core i5-2430m 2.40GHz processor and AMD 6630 graphics.  This feels like a laptop that’s begging to have an SSD put in to help with bootup times, the only slow part of the experience.  Unfortunately I’ve been reading that with a new BIOS update that’s on the latest version of the VAIO SA3 that SATA 3 is not enabled which means the latest and greatest SSDs that use SATA 3 are incompatible at the current time.

There you have it in terms of first impressions, we’ll continue to play with this laptop some more before coming back with a full review.  Until then, a few more pictures…

VAIO SA right side

VAIO SA left side

VAIO SA in the dark

ThinkPad X220 Vs. VAIO SA

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Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 with Quad Core Processor $550 Off Coupon, Final Price $749!

Lenovo has a great deal on their IdeaPad Y470  laptop right now, you get $550 off using coupon code USPY42E1215 on this Y470 configuration.  After using the $550 off coupon code the total price comes to $749, meaning it’s almost half the suggested retail price of $1,449.  Here is the configuration specs on the Y470 that’s for sale:

Processor: Intel Core i7-2670QM Processor ( 2.2GHz 1333MHz 6MB ) Screen: 14.0? HD Glare with integrated camera 1366×768 OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Web Camera: Integrated 2.0MP Camera Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M 1GB Memory: 8 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Storage: 750GB 5400 Optical Drive: DVD Recordable (Dual Layer) Battery: 6 Cell Lithium-Ion Ports:  1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 USB eSATA Combo, 6-in-1 card reader (SD/SD-pro/MMC/MS/MS-pro/XD), headphone port, microphone port, VGA, HDMI, Ethernet RJ-45, 2 Mini-PCl ports Wireless: Intel 1000 BGN Wireless, Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR

This $550 off coupon works from now until 12/22, so you have a few days to get the deal.  We reviewed the IdeaPad Y470 and found it to be a very capable laptop and one of the few 14-inch laptops you can find with dedicated graphics and at a good price.  In fact, it’s almost impossible to find any other laptop with an Nvidia 550m equivalent graphics card and Quad Core Processor for $800 or less.  To enhance performance you can also add an mSATA SSD that will offer fast bootup and then use the standard hard drive for regular storage.

Deal Summary:

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HP Pavilion dm4x Review

The HP Pavilion dm4x is a new 14” screen laptop equipped with Intel’s second generation Core i5 processor.  The HP dm4x definitely fits the profile for a student laptop: it’s portable at 4.4lbs and 1” thin, has a durable aluminum casing to standup to the rigors of campus, can stretch to over six hours of battery life to last through classes and has more than enough performance power to run any software you’ll need as a student.  And most important of all, with a starting price of $761.99 via the HP Academic Store (student discount pricing) it fits the student budget.  In this review of the dm4x we have the HP dm4-2070us quick ship version of the laptop.  The specs for this model being reviewed are below:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2410m 2.30GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.90GHzMemory: 6GB DDR3Graphics: Intel HD 3000Storage: 640GB (5400RPM)Optical Drive: SuperMulti DVD BurnerDisplay: 14.0” HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-FiSound: Dolby Home Theater with Altec Lansing SpeakersKeyboard: Full Size Island style (chiclet) keyboard, Fingerprint reader built-inTouchPad: Multi Gesture support with on/off buttonPorts: Digital media card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ-45 (Ethernet) port, 1 headphone out, 1 microphone inDimensions: 13.42” x 8.98” x 0.98” – 1.27” (Width x Depth x Thickness Range)Weight: 4.3lbsBattery: 6-cell 55WHr Li-Ion batteryWeb Cam: built-in HD webcam with integrated digital microphone

The Pavilion dm4x can be purchased via HP Home & Home Office, the HP Academic Purchase store or 3rd party retailers such as Amazon.com for pre-configured versions like the dm4-2070us.

Difference between dm4t and dm4x

If you visit HP.com you’ll find that they are selling both a Pavilion dm4t and a Pavilion dm4x.  Confusing?  Yes, just a bit, so let’s clear up the differences right now as it’s pretty simple:

The dm4t has an Intel Core i3 processor while the dm4x only offers a faster Intel Core i5 or i7 processorThe dm4t offers only integrated graphics while the dm4x offers an upgrade to dedicated AMD 6470M graphics

And that’s it, everything else including the design and build are the same between these laptops.  Basically the HP dm4x is a slightly more powerful version of the HP dm4t.

Design and Build

The HP dm4x when configured on HP.com gives you the option of choosing between a dark umber case finish or a lighter color aluminum finish.  The dm4-2070us comes with the aluminum case and is what you see in the pictures in this review.  Below is an image of the dm4x as it appears with a dark umber casing:

With both color finishes you get a brushed metal look and the case is made using aluminum to provide a strong skeleton that will protect the laptop internals.  Even though the case is fully metallic it doesn’t cause the laptop to weigh an extreme amount, I weighed the dm4x on kitchen scales and got a reading of 4.3lbs without the power brick or power cord.  That 4.3lb weight is actually pretty good for a 14” screen laptop and weighs less than the Lenovo ThinkPad T420 (4.8lbs) and Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 I recently reviewed (4.6lbs).  With the power cord and brick the weight of the dm4x comes to 5.1lbs

The design of the dm4x is clean and attractive.  The brush metal finish is simple yet stylish.  The screen uses a drop hinge design so it sits quite low when raised, this is beneficial on an airplane to keep the lid from hitting the seat in front.  The corners of the dm4x are curved giving the laptop an overall soft look while ensuring you won’t get jabbed with any sharp edges!  The keyboard carries through on the curved look by having the corner keys curved.  The keyboard has a chiclet style design which is pretty common and in style these days.  There are no dedicated multimedia key buttons on the keyboard, instead the F1 – F12 keys are each assigned a media function such as increasing / decreasing volume or screen brightness.

The HP Pavilion dm4x has a brushed aluminum lid

The Pavilion dm4x slopes from the back to the front with the thinnest point being at the very front at 0.98” and the thickest at the back where it measures 1.27” thick.  This is slightly thinner than your average 14” laptop and should ensure that the dm4x will easily slip into the laptop compartment in any standard backpack.

Another build quality feature worth mentioning with the Pavilion dm4x is that it has HP’s Protect Smart technology included to help prevent data loss during drop situations.  Basically this means that should you drop your laptop there is software on board smart enough to detect the drop (using a built-in accelerometer) and park the hard drive read/write head so that it does not damage data by scratching the disk when the laptop hits the ground.  It’s nice to have this feature as it is one typically seen in more expensive business laptops.

HP Pavilion dm4x Performance

There is no question the performance the HP dm4x provides is going to be more than enough for the average student.  The fact of the matter is that the base level Intel Core i5-2410m that has a 2.30GHz clock speed and dual cores is going to be ample performance for 90% of students and their needs.  This is the latest Intel mobile processor technology, it’s 20% faster than the previous generation of Intel Core i5 processors and will provide smooth HD video playback, seamless multi-tasking and speedy application switching.  If the 2.30GHz standard clock speed isn’t enough for a certain program the processor can actually overclock itself safely to 2.90GHz using the Intel Turbo Boost technology present on the Core i5-2410m.   Although the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics solution is very good for 3D graphics rendering, it may not be powerful enough for students doing heavy 3D CAD renderings or graphics animations. If that’s the case you can opt for the dedicated AMD Radeon 6470m graphics card and get better 3D graphics performance.  The Radeon 6470m will also provide a better gaming experience for students interested in playing a few games during down time.

To get an idea of the overall performance of the Pavilion dm4x with the Intel Core i5-2410m and Intel HD 3000 graphics I ran the Windows Experience Index, PCMark Vantage and 3DMark Vantage to generate some benchmark scores:

PCMark Vantage Score:

3DMark Vantage Score:

Windows Experience Index Scores:

The 6,204 score in PCMark Vantage is a slight improvement over the 6,056 score the similarly configured Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 received.  The 14” screen category average PCMark Vantage score is around 5,457 so the dm4x can be considered above average.

Right now HP is offering a free upgrade to 6GB of memory when you configure a dm4x, that’s a very generous amount of memory.  You can max out at 8GB of memory, but 6GB is more than enough so don’t waste your money on paying for more memory.  One upgrade I might recommend is opting for the 7200RPM speed hard drive instead of the standard 5400RPM hard drive that HP includes.  Right now it’s only a $10 upgrade from the 640GB 5400RPM hard drive to the 640GB 7200RPM hard drive, and the faster disk performance you get which leads to improved boot up times is well worth it.  Most people focus on the capacity (size) of the hard drive, but a faster spinning hard drive or even faster SSD drive (solid state disk) such as is standard in the Apple MacBook Air can really help make for a faster overall computing experience.

You do get the option of upgrading the processor to as fast as an Intel Core i7-2620m, that’s an expensive upgrade of $200 and not necessary for your average student laptop usage.  Go with the Intel Core i5 processor to get more bang for your buck and keep the price down.

HP dm4x Battery Life

One of the most important features of a laptop for a student is how long the battery lasts on a charge.  HP claims dm4x battery life of up to 6.75 hours with the included 6-cell battery.  The manufacturers quoted battery life is usually “optimistic” shall we say, so I went ahead and did my own test.  With screen brightness set to level 4 out of 10 (still bright enough to easily read text), wi-fi on and a program set to refresh a browser window every 60 seconds the battery lasted 5 hours and 48 minutes.  That’s very close to six hours and what I would consider excellent battery life for such a powerful computer.  If you turned of wireless and dimmed the screen all the way down you could probably get close to the quoted 6.75 hours, but I don’t think that’s a realistic usage scenario for a student.  The near six hour battery life should last you through a few lectures, depending on their length, and if that’s not enough battery life for you there’s the option of a higher capacity 6-cell battery that gives a quoted battery life of 7.5 hours (it’s the same size as regular 6-cell, just $20 more expensive) and a larger 9-cell battery for over 10 hours of battery life.  One caveat with the 9-cell battery is that it is oversized and will weigh more and protrudes from the bottom which causes the laptop to have quite an incline when resting on a flat surface.

HP Pavilion dm4x Screen

The HP dm4x has a 14” screen with a 1366 x 768 resolution.  It is an LED backlit screen with a glossy finish typical on consumer laptops.  There is no screen upgrade option of any type, so if you wanted a higher resolution than the standard 1366 x 768 you are out of luck.  Most will be happy with the standard screen resolution, it offers comfortable text size viewing and a 720p HD resolution for movies.  However, some screen resolution junkies that like 1080p may be disappointed there is not a higher resolution offered.

The screen brightness is excellent. Indoors I found it uncomfortably bright on the highest level brightness setting, level 7 or 8 brightness is ample for your typical class or office setting with fluorescent lights overhead. Although not tested, you could probably use this laptop outdoors and get a decent screen viewing experience when the brightness is set to the highest level.

The screen has a glossy finish which people seem to either love or hate. The glossy finish does make colors more bold and blacks more deep, making for rich movie viewing experiences. The downside to the glossy screen is that when the screen has a lot of blacks on it and you’re in a brightly lit environment you get a ton of reflection off of the screen turning it into a virtual mirror. For the most part I find the average user enjoys the richer colors a glossy screen provides and are willing to accept the reflections you get on the screen in some situations.

The viewing angles on the screen are typical of what you’ll find with other laptops. The vertical viewing angle is quite narrow, meaning viewing straight on with the eye perpendicular to the screen gives the truest color, once you deviate widely from that angle colors can invert and in general become discolored (see the photos for an example). Horizontal viewing angles are much better and you can see the screen and its true colors from quite a way off to the side, the brightness of the screen helps this.

Below are some different viewing angle examples on the Pavilion dm4x:

HP dm4x Port Options

Input and output port options should be an important consideration with a laptop as it dictates what you can and can’t do when interfacing with other technology and peripherals.   The dm4x has a standard array of ports and will satisfy just about any students needs.  Below is a tour around the laptop to show what ports are located on which side:

On the left side of the dm4x you get the most ports.  From back to front you have the VGA monitor out port, Ethernet RJ-45 port, HDMI port, USB 2.0 port, headphone out and microphone in

On the right side of the dm4x you can see the optical drive (a DVD burner, there’s no option for Blu-Ray), 2 USB 2.0 ports and the power jack.

On the front of the laptops left side is the media card reader slot, you can place an SD card in here.

The back of the laptop has no ports

You get all of the essential ports here, it’s certainly nice to have the HDMI port to be able to output video and audio to an LCD TV.  It’s a little disappointing not to have some type of fast data transfer port such as eSata, FireWire or the latest USB 3.0 technology.   For those that prefer to backup data using an external portable storage drive it’s going to be slow going transferring all of that over a USB 2.0 port connection.

HP dm4x Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the dm4x is chiclet style in design (also referred to as “island style”), meaning the keys protrude out from the casing.  I like this design as it prevents crumbs and other debris from falling between keys and going into the laptop itself, so from a practical perspective it’s easier to clean, just use a can of air to easily blow away all debris.  The chiclet keyboard design is also pleasing and in style right now, Apple uses it across their MacBook line of laptops.

The keyboard is pleasant to type on.  It’s hard to accidentally bump a key and type the wrong letter as buttons require a good push and not just a light brush to register a hit.  This is a good thing unless you’re an ultra speed typist who prefers very sensitive keys.  The function row of keys at the top (F1 – F12) are used primarily as media buttons, HP calls these “one touch action keys”.  For instance, use the F11 button to quickly mute the laptop or F12 to toggle wi-fi on or off.  I like this approach as most people rarely use the function keys nor do they learn what they’re for in applications they use, the old standby of using F1 for Help or F5 for browser refresh aren’t well known these days.

There is no option for a backlit keyboard like is offered in the HP Envy line of laptops and is becoming a popular feature among users, I wish HP offered this.  You do get a fingerprint reader included which is a nice alternative to using passwords to login to the computer or websites you frequent.

The touchpad on the dm4x is a decent size, it is black and has a matte finish which means no ugly fingerprints left behind.  The touchpad is pleasing to use, while I have read some complaints of last years version of the HP dm4 having a “jumpy cursor” I have had no such problems.  It appears that HP has worked on the touchpad and improved it for the dm4x.  One difference is that the buttons are now separated and not integrated into the touchpad, I prefer separate buttons and feel this is a good move.  That said, I still wish the dm4x mouse buttons were more substantial, their travel distance is very short and they’re somewhat stiff.  They’re not the best touchpad mouse buttons I’ve used and find myself using a wireless mouse instead, but that’s generally my preference anyway.

HP dm4x Speakers

The speakers included with the dm4x are Altec Lansing branded and boast Dolby Advanced Audio sound.  That sounds impressive, but don’t expect to be that guy getting blown backwards while sitting in a chair as the laptop blasts out a cinema quality audio experience.  Rather, what you’ll get is a good stereo sound experience with the two speakers at the front of the laptop emitting sound right at you, but you’ll still suffer from lack of bass typical with most laptops.  That’s fine though, for any academic purposes such as watching online lectures these speakers are great.  I also tested the speakers and built-in microphone with Skype and it was a good experience, the speakers actually can get very loud and I had to turn them down to below half volume to prevent feedback between the speakers and the microphone while Skyping.

HP Pavilion dm4x Heat

HP has built-in a technology they call CoolSense that works to keep heat levels down.  The CoolSense software runs in the background and detects when you’re using the laptop on your legs and adjusts the fan and processor speed to keep the laptop cool.  This could mean an increased fan speed and decreased processor clock speed while using the dm4x on your lap, and if that’s not for you then you can disable this software.  During my usage I found the laptop did indeed stay a comfortable temperature on my legs.  When used on a desk the dm4x stayed very cool, nowhere on the keyboard did I detect any heat build up so no issues with sweaty hands and palms!

HP Pavilion dm4x Review Conclusion

Students should take a close look at the HP dm4x laptop as an option for use as an important academic tool.  It’s got everything you need for your academic computing needs and then some nice extras.  First of all the design is very appealing so fashion conscious students will approve.  It’s not just a pretty face though, the dm4x is built with sturdy metal materials and beneath the hood the second generation Intel Core i5 processor will provide more than enough power to tackle multi-tasking, frequent application switching and smooth video playback.  An option for dedicated graphics with 1GB of memory can make the dm4x a good choice for engineering students as well.  Most importantly for students this laptop is very portable, weighing in at 4.3lbs, and the battery life of about 6 hours on a standard battery is enough to last through a few lectures without being plugged in.  If you need more battery life there are battery upgrade options, something you don’t get with other laptops such as the Apple MacBook Pro.  Finally, the price in the mid $700’s is a very good one for what you get with the dm4x.  Getting the most features and best quality for a laptop you hope will last you four years of college is a tough buying decision, the HP Pavilion dm4x passes the test for meeting student needs in a laptop and providing quality with value so it should certainly be on your shortlist of laptops to consider with this important buying decision.

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The Most suitable Headphone For You

Sennheiser Hd 202 Headphones. Headphones have obviously developed since the period they were being first presented around 1919. The 1st headsets used to be huge, less than enjoyable devices that were so huge they seemed to swallow the user’s head. Headphones of that time period included incredibly no cushioning and therefore pressed against the head in an uncomfortable manner. In fact, early headphones were wired right to the positive on the power supply terminal which ensured electric shock was commonplace. There was clearly no way to reduce the audio output and the ear phones were known to be extremely over sensitive every scratch, so the grade of the audio was extremely inadequate. After all, our sense of hearing is simply about as vital as our sense of vision. Regrettably, it can be taken for granted in the majority of cases. Along with the advance of highly portable digital audio players such as iPods and Zunes, high-quality headphones are a must. Here are three common headphone types that ought to be taken into consideration when you next listen in for a quality audio encounter. Should you be searching for headphones at this moment, you will see quite a number of headphones that contain cutting-edge technologies. Regardless of what your needs happen to be, you’ll discover a set of headphones that will work well for you, including pricey headphones for drowning out noise, or even the smallest wireless earbuds. 900 Mhz Wireless Headphones.

As headphone designers are effectively aware that, the discerning customer Knows the difference between great and poor audio clarity. Because the demand for these distinct levels of good quality differ as a lot as musical taste itself, the business offers a limitless number of headset quality choices. The higher-end merchandise these days are A good way from conventional speakers; they are complete with mini sub-woofers and tweeters! And so we are left with a substantial range of headphones in the present market. Needless to say, as opposed to the common pricing with the old-fashioned models, because the good quality connected with today’s headphones differ greatly, so do the actual rates. Headphones at the cheaper end of this price spectrum will have fewer features and lesser sound level of quality, a required reduction to attain the price, whilst more expensive headphones may possibly need more of an investment, but will repay you having a brighter, much better level of quality of audio. To put it briefly, should you put the money in, you are going to get the quality out. These days, nonetheless, suppliers have created these earphone a lot much more comfortable, designing these kind of in-ear headphones to become even a lot more small in size. They’re created with gentle, pliable rubber padding which molds to most ears. As a result of new advances with the materials utilized to construct them, these kinds of small earpieces stay with your ears better, and so are way more comfy. A selection of firms, which include JVC, Sony Corp, Bose, and many others, make wireless earbuds of this style.

Popular right now is the audio canceling headphones, which were at first launched to regular fliers to cut down on the excessive amount of decibels connected with air traveling. Flying might be particularly loud. Aside from the jet engines on their own, flying also means enduring other flight sounds, the endless chiming with the “bathroom occupied” and “fasten seat belts” indicators, whining infants, as well as loud arguing couples.Generally, 2 sorts of these headphones exist – passive and active types. Passive noise-reduction headphones are often a much more comfortable throwback towards the old-fashioned earphones that cover the entire ear. The manner in which they are insulated is why these passive sound-reducing earphones work. Active noise-reduction headphones, on the other hand, truly create a audio wave that is the opposite of the background noise enveloping the user. Even though the passive sound-reducing headphones filter a vast range of noises (infants, arguing couples, the chimes, and so on.), active versions are even more able of reducing ambient audio, and therefore are extremely effective at protecting against long-term damage to one’s hearing. active noise reduction technologies is even offered in certain in-ear earphones, even though passive versions are not. Making a choice on the best earphones does not need to be a complicated endeavor. The setting you listen in plus the degree of excellence you require is going to often drive you toward 1 type or another. At the end of the day, it may possibly be as simple as discovering the one particular set that feels the most pleasant whenever you use it. Subwoofer Headphones.

Technorati Tags: airline noise, bose, earbuds, headphones, ipod, noise cancelling

Tags: airline noise, bose, earbuds, headphones, ipod, noise cancelling

This entry was posted on Monday, September 26th, 2011 at and is filed under Mobile Computers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Samsung Chromebook In Stock at Amazon.co.uk

If you were wondering when the Series 5 Samsung Chromebook was going to be available to buy then you’ll be pleased to hear that it is in stock at Amazon UK.

Choose between the cheaper WiFi version of the 3G model.

The Chromebook is the new Google powered ultra portable PC from Samsung, ideal for those that spend their lives online! Not so good if you need to run Windows software!

The Series 5 has already been released in the US, head over to Amazon.com if you are on the other side of the Atlantic.

We’d love to hear from you:

Share a mini review with us, post in our Chromebook forum or get in touch if you want to post to this blogGot any photos?  Add them to our Flickr group.Ordered one? Let us know why you wanted it!You might be interested in:

Further Reading: