Asus UL80Vt-A1 Delivers Impressive Flexibility

January 13, 2010 | Posted by revy

Asus UL80Vt-A1

Asus has its work cut out for it in finding a market for the UL80Vt-A1. This ultraportable laptop has a higher price ($849) than many similarly specced competitors, though it’s in the same ballpark as its $800 stablemate, the Asus UL30A. So how does Asus justify the price tag?

The answer is surprisingly simple: long battery life (6 hours on our review unit) and better-than-average flexibility. The UL80Vt-A1 includes both a discrete nVidia G210M graphics system and an integrated Intel alternative, so users can switch on the fly to adjust the laptop’s performance and battery life to the task at hand. Another appealing feature is the unit’s power-sipping LED backlit display.

The UL80Vt-A1 comes with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium and 4GB of DDR3 memory installed. The Intel processor at the heart of the ultraportable is a 1.3GHz CPU factory-overclocked to 1.7GHz. The UL80Vt-A1 earned a WorldBench 6 score of 76–reasonably swift for its class but hardly smoking fast. In any case, the user experience was generally positive.

The UL80Vt-A1 felt pretty snappy and responsive during everyday use, even with Aero Shake and Flip 3D enabled. The dedicated nVidia graphics kick in by default at high performance settings. As a result, the laptop turned in frame rates above 35 frames per second on both Unreal Tournament 3 and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory at 800 by 600 resolution and high quality. Though the UL80Vt-A1 isn’t a gaming machine, you can throw games at it occasionally and get surprisingly playable results.

When closed, the UL80Vt-A1’s attractive brushed metal finish on the lid looks slick without seeming ostentatious. With the lid is open, things remain streamlined, but the glossy finish around the display and around the keyboard made the typing experience problematic: My hands constantly stuck or skidded across it. That’s a shame because the keyboard itself is great, with a Chiclet-style layout of inlaid keys on a flat panel.

The UL80Vt-A1’s 14-inch display delivered so-so color reproduction, tending toward a slightly washed out appearance. The screen is bright and extremely readable in every lighting condition we tested it in, including direct sunlight. In fact, at its highest setting, the display sometimes verges on too bright. I would have preferred a higher-resolution screen, but this might have presented problems with the switchable discrete/integrated graphics options. Despite the underwhelming resolution options, I havd no trouble with such day-to-day tasks as working with Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.

Editing those documents is another matter. I’ve already mentioned the slippery finish around the keyboard. The mouse button is awful. In lieu of dedicated right and left clicks, you get a single button that pivots left or right on a central point. This design is getting more common these days (it also shows up on the Gateway NV5807u, for example)–and the trend needs to stop. You have to use considerable pressure to get the button to click, which makes working with the mouse even worse.

The UL80Vt-A1 comes with a fairly robust array of software options for protecting and restoring data. The backup utility is intuitive and yet reasonably feature-rich. The electronic user manual is welcome, too.

The laptop’s speakers are standard fare for an ultraportable not expressly dedicated to multimedia. The sound quality isn’t awful–with no appreciable distortion at moderate volume levels–but the absence of a dedicated subwoofer makes the UL80v inappropriate for serious listening.

The UL80Vt-A1 covers its base respectably. Strong battery life and surprisingly responsive performance give Asus’s latest rig two solid legs to stand on. The only major drawbacks here are the price and that wretched mouse.

Specifications:

Processor
Processor speed 1.3 MHz

Memory
Installed memory 4096 MB
Memory technology DDR3

Display
Display size   14 inches
Maximum resolution   1366 x 768
Aspect ratio   16:9
Display type   LCD Display w/ Glossy Screen & LED Backlight

Storage
Total HD Size 320 GB
Included drives DVD+-RW/CD-RW Combo

Slots
* Memory Stick PRO
* MultiMedia Card (MMC)
* SD Card

Number of Media Slots 1
Drive controllers Serial ATA II

Battery
Number of Included Batteries   1
Standard Number of Batteries   1
Type of Batteries   Lithium ion
Vendor Rated Battery life   12

Dimensions
Weight (min)   4.8 pounds
Width   13.5 inches
Depth   9.6 inches
Height   1.1 inches

Other Features

Input devices
* Keyboard
* Touchpad

Networking
Bluetooth No
Included network card

* Gigabit ethernet
* Wireless Ethernet – 540 Mbps IEEE802.11n

Wireless LAN Type 802.11n

Multimedia
Video chipset Intel GM45 Express Chipset
Installed video memory 512 MB

Interface connection
* Ethernet – RJ45
* HDMI
* USB – Universal Serial Bus Port (x3)
* Video – 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA)

Included Devices
Built-In Speakers Stereo
Included devices AC Adapter

Price: $899.00

taken from: pcworld.com

Asus 1005HAGB-BBY-BK01X

January 13, 2010 | Posted by revy

Asus 1005HAGB-BBY-BK01X

As one of the most popular, and critically hailed Netbooks to ever hit store shelves, the Asus 1005HA has been a go-to choice for many shoppers for what seems like forever (but in computer industry terms, is actually about six months). The Asus 1005HAGB-BBY-BK01X is the same basic hardware we reviewed months ago is available in retail stores for $399, but now includes a built-in Gobi 3G antenna, which can work with multiple carriers.

Other versions of the 1005HA, with essentially identical configurations but minus the 3G antenna, are available for as little as $299.

While we still like its slim, tapered design and long battery life, several companies–including Asus–have made some improvements to the Netbook genre since then. This version with its low-definition display, clacky keyboard, slower Intel Atom N270 processor, and Windows XP feels a bit dated. Today’s Netbook shopper has more options than ever before, including newer CPUs, 11-inch HD displays, and improved graphics from Nvidia’s Ion chip (to say nothing of Windows 7).

Asus 1005HAGB-BBY-BK01X_1

This is still an excellent overall Netbook, and definitely worth a test drive, but be sure to browse the $299 versions of the standard Atom N270, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD configuration if you don’t need the built-in 3G.

The design of this retail version of the 1005HA is essentially the same as the launch version we reviewed earlier in 2009. There’s a tapered front lip that makes it feel thinner than it is, and a slightly wedge-like silhouette. Our review unit was glossy black, which was prone to picking up fingerprints.

Its flat, wide keyboard is similar to what we’ve seen on previous Eee PC models, and has pleasingly large keys and is easy to type on; however, it feels somewhat clacky compared with other recent Netbook keyboards we’ve tried. Its touch pad is demarcated by a rectangle of raised dots on the wrist rest, and works well; although, we found ourselves going into the touch pad settings and jacking up the default pointer speed. The mouse buttons–relegated to a single thin rocker bar–are not as tactile as they would be as separate buttons.

A single quick-access button located above the keyboard is for disabling the touch pad (handy if you’re using an external USB mouse), and Asus’ different preset power profiles are accessible by hitting the Fn key plus the space bar. You can get the same effect by tweaking XP’s built-in power settings, but it’s nice to have these presets all in one place.

The 10.1-inch LED display has a 1,024×600-pixel native resolution, which is common for a Netbook, although higher-end systems are starting to add 1,366×768-pixel display options.

The 1005HA offers a fairly standard set of ports and connections, lacking only the ExpressCard slot and Bluetooth we’ve seen on some high-end Netbooks. The big new feature here is the Gobi 3G antenna, but keep in mind you’ll have to sign up with a 3G provider (both Verizon and AT&T are supported) to use it–which typically costs about $60 per month.

With Intel’s N270 Atom CPU, the system was, not surprisingly, on par with other current Netbooks. The basic rule of thumb is that for tasks such as world processing, Web surfing, and e-mail, an Atom Netbook is more than adequate, as long as you keep your expectations modest.

But keep in mind that the next generation of Atom chips is around the corner, and even some current or very imminent models include the dual-core Atom and Nvidia’s Ion graphics chip–so the standards of acceptable Netbook performance may be about to change.

The system’s battery life remains a strong point. Asus has always had some of the longest-lived Netbook batteries, and the new 1005HA lasted an impressive 6 hours and 10 minutes in our video playback battery drain test. In our Holiday 2009 Retail Laptop Roundup, only the Toshiba N205 did better, although that was by an impressive 82 minutes.

Asus covers its laptops with a standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and it offers online Web-based help and a toll-free phone number. The company’s support Web site is still a bit of a mess, but it has been improved over the past few years, and includes easy to find driver downloads FAQs.

Specifications:

Processor
* Processor Intel Atom N270 / 1.6 GHz
* Data bus speed 533 MHz

Cache Memory
* Type L2 cache
* Cache size 512 KB

RAM
* Installed Size 1 GB / 2 GB (max)
* Technology DDR2 SDRAM

Storage Controller
* Storage controller type Serial ATA
* Storage Controller / Serial ATA Interface Serial ATA-150

Storage
* Floppy Drive None
* Hard Drive 160 GB – Serial ATA-150 – 5400 rpm
* Storage Removable None
* Hard drive type Portable

Card Reader
* Card reader type Card reader
* Supported flash memory cards MultiMediaCard , SD Memory Card , SDHC Memory Card

Display
* Display Type 10.1 in TFT active matrix
* Max Resolution 1024 x 600 ( WSVGA )
* Widescreen Display Yes
* Features LED-backlit

Video
* Graphics Processor / Vendor Intel GMA 950 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0

Audio
* Audio output type Sound card
* Audio output compliant standards High Definition Audio
* Audio Input Stereo microphone

Notebook Camera
* Camera Type Integrated
* Sensor Resolution 0.3 Megapixel

Input Device(s)
* Input device type Keyboard , Touchpad
* Features Multi-touch technology

Telecom
* Modem Wireless cellular modem

Networking
* Networking Network adapter
* Networking / Wireless LAN Supported Yes
* Data link protocol Ethernet , IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , Fast Ethernet , IEEE 802.11n (draft)
* Networking standards IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Expansion / Connectivity
* Expansion Slots Total (Free) Memory
* Interfaces 3 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A , 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) , 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone 3.5 mm , 1 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm , 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45

Battery
* Technology 6-cell Lithium ion
* Installed Qty 1
* Mfr estimated battery life 8.75 hour(s)

Operating System / Software
* OS Provided Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3
* Software Skype , Windows Live , ASUS Eee @Vibe , Microsoft Works , ASUS Eee Docking , Adobe Acrobat Reader , ASUS Super Hybrid Engine , Norton Internet Security 2009 (60 days trial)

Price : $399.99

taken from: cnet.com

The Greatest Windows Tips of All Time

January 10, 2010 | Posted by revy

Whether you’re a grizzled Windows vet or a relative newcomer, you can always use a trick or two for making things go faster. We’ve compiled our 26 favorite time-saving tips for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Print out this story and keep it on your desk, under your pillow, or anywhere else.

Classic Windows Tips

Toggle between apps: Use Alt-Tab to switch open programs without touching your mouse. The oldest–and still the best–Windows timesaver.

Navigate app windows: Press Ctrl-Tab to cycle through an application’s windows (or through a Web browser’s tabs). First cousin of the tip above, and probably the most underrated tip ever.

When in doubt, type it out: If you don’t want to hunt through nested menus and the like, you can access most functions, applets, or files the old-fashioned way–by entering them into the Search box. Type Calculator, Control Panel, or even the name of a piece of music on your hard drive, and press Enter.

Full-frontal folders: In Windows Explorer, click Folder Options (located under the Organize menu) to reveal hidden files, show the full path in the title bar, display file extensions, and more.

Unobtrusive updates: Keep your OS current by opening Windows Update (Automatic Update in XP) and setting it to Download updates but let me choose whether to install them. (To get there, press the Windows key and type Windows Update.) That way, you won’t have Windows urging you to restart when you don’t want to (or worse, triggering a restart when you’re away from the PC with an unsaved document open).

Tweak your taskbar: Right-click the Taskbar and choose Properties to find options for switching to the old Start menu, choosing which icons show in the notification area, setting default programs to appear in the Start bar menu, and more.

Partition, partition, partition: Make backups and restores easier by partitioning your hard drive and keeping one partition for the OS and the other for your documents and data.

Make your text special: Need a special character such as © or á? Press the Windows key and type character map in the field to bring up an app that will let you copy and paste the characters you need.

Simple screen capture: Take a screenshot by pressing Print Screen, which copies an image of your full screen to your clipboard so that you can paste it into Paint or your preferred image editor. To capture just the active window, use Ctrl-Alt-Print Screen. For more fine-tuned controls, try Screenshot Captor.

Take a shortcut: Right-click on any application icon, bring up the Properties menu, and click the Shortcuts tab. You can specify a keystroke combination to start your application here. Our personal favorite: Making a shortcut for Windows 7’s Snipping Tool makes screenshots much easier. (Windows 7 only)

Sticky keys (the good kind): Holding down two keys at once–such as Ctrl-C to copy–is a royal pain. Press the Shift key five times to start Sticky Keys, a feature that allows you to initiate a keyboard shortcut by merely pressing Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or Windows instead of holding that particular key down. Press Shift five more times to toggle Sticky Keys off.

Line ‘em up: Want to arrange two (or more) windows side by side in Windows XP or Vista? Hold down Ctrl and click on the desired windows in the taskbar; then right-click the taskbar and select Tile Vertically. In Windows 7, you can simply drag any open window to the right or left edge of your screen and then let go.

Instant classic (control panels): Miss Windows’ old Control Panel, which conveniently displayed all of its items at once? In Windows XP and Vista, just open the Control Panel and select Switch to Classic View. In Windows 7, click the View by drop-down menu in the upper-right corner and select your preference.

Speed Up Your Services

Manage the Task Manager: Windows’ built-in Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del and click Task Manager) is great for seeing what your system is up to, but power users will prefer Process Explorer, which shows more details that can help you find a memory leak or troubleshoot a pesky DLL problem.

Nudge your network: If you have network problems, try opening the command prompt (enter cmd in the Start menu’s search box) and typing ipconfig /renew to reset your network connection.

Index this, not that: The Windows Search indexer speeds up built-in search functions, but the indexing process itself can consume system resources at inconvenient times. Open Indexing Options in Control Panel (or press the Windows key and type Indexing Options). The resulting dialog box will let you specify which folders or types of data are indexed to avoid bogging down your PC needlessly.

Clean up your startup: If your PC drags its feet during the startup process, press the Windows key and type msconfig to open the System Configuration utility. Check in the Startup tab to see what your machine is loading. Your computer might be loading services or apps that you don’t need or want to use on startup.

Sharing is caring: For a little assistance in tracking your shared folders, right-click My Computer (or Computer in Windows 7) and click Manage to bring up the Computer Management tool. Then click Shared Folders to see a list of all of your machine’s shared folders, file-sharing sessions, and open files.

taken from: pcworld.com