Articles on Knowledge Database

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 (Intel Atom N280 Processor 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM)

Review Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 Netbook was one of the most popular budget minilaptops for good reasons: Its business-friendly tools, ExpressCard slot, and reasonable price all made it a great option for consumers or corporate users. Now, another revision is available that effectively replaces the...

Lenovo IdeaPad U350 (Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor 1.4GHz; 2GB RAM)

Review While it's hard for us to weigh design over performance when looking at a laptop, products such as the Lenovo IdeaPad U350 make it a little easier. As another entry in the growing field of affordable CULV machines, the compact and really great-looking U350 is Lenovo's answer to the MacBook in...

Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 (Core 2 Duo Processor P 8700 2.5GHz, 3GB RAM)

Review Without proceeding further, I am about to make a guess: You have already decided you're buying a ThinkPad. The iconic brand, the unending combination of professional respect, solid features, and unabashed blandness combine to make a product that has surprising appeal across the board, yet...

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds (Core 2 Extreme QX9300 Processor 3.0GHz, 4GB RAM)

Review The pricing and specifications of the W700ds mark it out as a genuine niche machine in a market that's obsessed with me-too kind of designs. It's not for everybody, and you'd want to be sure you'd be getting a lot of use out of the extra screen space before outlaying your cash. At the same time,...

Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (Intel Atom N270 Processor 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM)

Review The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is the Chinese company's first foray into the competitive Netbook market. Though this segment has received much attention this year, it is a little hard to get excited about individual models as their feature sets are a dime a dozen. The IdeaPad S10, however, pulls away...

HP Pavilion dm3 (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7300 processor 1.3GHz, 4GB RAM)

Review The HP Pavilion dm series is the first ultrathin range in the company's consumer entertainment lineup and consists of the 11.6-inch dm1 and 13.3-inch dm3. The trademarks of an ultrathin laptop are the omission of an optical drive as well as the use of AMD Neo or Intel CULV chips. The Pavilion...

HP ProBook 5310m (Core 2 Duo SP9300 LV Processor 2.26GHz, 2GB RAM)

Review The HP ProBook 5310m is the Palo Alto company's pioneer in the M series which goes for a sleek profile by omitting an internal optical drive and going with a low-powered processor. In other words, the focus is on portability and long battery life. It shares part of its DNA with...

Samsung R470 (Core 2 Duo T6500 processor 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM)

Review Before Samsung left the Asia-Pacific market in 2006, the position of its laptops was clearly aimed at the lifestyle set who don't mind paying a premium for slim and sleek notebooks. This was fine back when even budget laptops cost over S$1,800 and were considered a significant investment. Fast...

Sony Vaio VPC-X118LG/B (Intel Atom Z550 Processor 2GHz, 2GB RAM)

Review While PC makers are focused on the low-cost market, Sony doesn't seem to be very interested in this segment. The Japanese maker is well-known for its cutting-edge designs and the Vaio X series is the epitome of that passion. In fact, the first impression one gets is that this Vaio is just a...

Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF/B (Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM)

Review Everything about the Sony Vaio VGN-NW25GF/B is pleasing. For starters, it looks good and unlike its glossy plastic shelfmates, the textured chassis doesn't feel cheap or end up covered in fingerprints from simply picking it up. It's well-configured for general home and office duties and the port...

Samsung N310 (Intel Atom N280 processor 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM)

Review We've gotten to the point where mainstream Netbooks are a fairly rigid format. Slap together an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a copy of Windows XP, and you've got your hands on essentially the same product sold by PC makers such as Dell, HP, and Acer. The...

HP EliteBook 6930p (Core 2 Duo P8600 Processor 2.4GHz, 3GB RAM)

Review HP's business laptops have always been good value for money. The HP Compaq range is not only quite affordable, it is decked out with essential design features such as HP DuraKeys (for a longer-lasting keyboard) and HP DuraFinish (scratch-resistant coating on the top cover and palm rest). For...

Sony Vaio VGN-Z46GD (Core 2 Duo P9700 Processor 2.8GHz, 6GB RAM)

Review Its predecessor, the Vaio SZ series, was one of the first to sport both integrated and discrete graphics chipsets. However, at that time switching between the two required the laptop to be restarted. But when the Centrino 2 platform with its hybrid graphics capabilities came about, the new Vaio...

HP TouchSmart tx2 tablet PC (AMD Turion 64 X2 ZM-82 processor 2.0GHz, 3GB RAM)

Review The HP TouchSmart tx2 stands alone as a rare example of a consumer-focused convertible tablet PC. We're not sure if this is because non-business-related laptop users don't see the value of a touchscreen tablet, but hopefully they'll catch on soon. The tx2 is an evolution of HP's...

LG X110 (Intel Atom Processor 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM)

Review Its first Netbook effort--the Netbook X110, is available only without mobile broadband contract plans. It packs all the usual features you'd expect from a machine of its ilk, but has the added bonus of an optional integrated 3G modem. But is this enough to help it challenge more established rivals?