Asus Eee PC 1215B Laptop

AMDs Fusion APUs seem to be trickling in the market gradually and giving stiff competition to Intel's Atom CPUs. You can already find HP's Pavilion DM1-3014au selling in the market with AMDs Fusion APU and today we have an entrant from Asus; the soon to be launched 1215B Eee PC from their Seashell line up.

The 1215B is a twin of the 1215N that we reviewed a while back that featured Nvidia's ION 2 chipset. The 1215B comes with different configurations and the one we'll be reviewing today is powered by the C-50 APU running at 1GHz. There's 2GB of system memory and a 250GB hard drive that should be enough for Windows 7 Starter Edition. You get different color options; ours had a nice brushed metal type finish on the lid and a palm rest.

There is a big compartment underneath to swap the memory or add more. The 1215B supports up to 4GB in total but only single channel.

Just like the ION variant, the 1215B comes with an HDMI port as well. The onboard Fusion APU can easily handle 1080p output to an HDTV.

Although the website mentions USB 3.0 support, this will vary from region to region. Our unit didn't have USB 3.0 onboard, just three USB 2.0 ports. Despite the slender design, the netbook feels a bit weighty with the 6-cell battery.

The keyboard is the standard chiclet type that we have come to love from Asus. The palm rest has ample amount of space for even large hands and the keys are quite comfortable to use as well. Performance

General and Multimedia Usage
The 1215B is very similar to the 1215N in terms of build and design, which means it's really sturdy and looks very classy. The finish of the netbook is very good and it doesn't feel cheap or tacky in any way. The keys are comfortable to use and the trackpad doesn't get in the way while typing. The mouse buttons, however, are still very stiff and require quite a bit of effort to press. This was the same problem we faced with the 1215N and Asus hasn't corrected it. The trackpad itself is very smooth and finger friendly.

The 12.1" screen has good brightness levels, which is way beyond what you'll typically need. We found the default contrast of the screen higher than usual which creates a blooming effect at the edge of the folders in Windows. Other than that the glossy screen makes the content pop a little, which is helpful when watching movies. The speakers are quite soft but are sufficiently loud if you're watching something by yourself. Even though the netbook is quite sleek, it's still a bit weighty at 1.45Kg. You'll definitely feel it in your backpack.

After a quick install of K-Lite codec pack, we were easily able to playback 1080p content with just 20-25% of CPU usage.




Battery life
In our 720p video drain test, the 1215B scored a time of 3hrs 20min, which is quite good. This is with the brightness maxed out and WiFi on. It certainly fared a lot better compared to the 1215N, which gave us a battery life of 2 hrs and 30min.

Pricing and Verdict
Asus has priced the 1215B quite well at Rs. 17,999 and a one-year on-site warranty. This is without Windows 7 Starter, so even if we had to include the OS cost it should not go beyond 20K. For this price you're getting a 12.1-inch screen, great keyboard, HDMI, decent battery life and the ability to easily playback 1080p content, thanks to AMD's Fusion APU. If you're looking for the cheapest 12-inch netbook that plays back 1080p and has a good battery life then the 1215B seems to fit the bill perfectly.

It's not perfect though, the mouse buttons are quite stiff, which haven't been fixed from the older 1215N and at times the 1GHz clock speed of the C-50 will make Windows a bit sluggish when pure number crunching is involved. It's only in times like these when the Atom has the upper hand, but when coupled with the onboard graphics card, the 1215B is certainly more potent.

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Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch 2011

The new improved hardware has just made it a lot better

Excellent build and design, great performance, comfortable keyboard and trackpad, powerful loudspeakers, hd video camera, good battery life

 

Only two USB ports, ports placed too closed to each other, heats up significantly under stress, no Blu-ray drive, no HDMI port

Expert Rating :

For yet another year, Apple is continuing with what can be called a tradition of maintaining the general look and feel of their MacBook Pro range, while only upgrading the internals to bring them up to speed with the current market trends. The latest generation MacBook Pros feature Intel's Sandy Bridge range of processors along with updated graphics, relatively new I/O technology named Thunderbolt and high definition FaceTime camera.

Bundle

• MacBook Pro
• Display cleaning cloth
• 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
• Software DVDs
• Printed and electronic documentation

We expected Apple to bundle the new flash drive that they provide with the latest generation MacBook Air for re-installing the OS and the iLife suite of applications, but were disappointed to see the same old dual DVDs in the bundle.

Design and Build
The total number of visible changes from the last generation model is one and you will be forgiven to miss it upon initial inspection. It's the tiny Thunderbolt symbol besides the port, which replaces the erstwhile Mini DisplayPort symbol found on the older machines.
 

Apart from that it is identical to the older model; not that it's a bad thing. Few designs age as gracefully as that of the MacBook Pro, which still looks good after all these years. We wouldn't blame Apple if they choose to maintain this design for their next generation models as well. The MacBook Pro is the Coke bottle in the world of laptops. Also, I'd rather have a laptop that looks the same as the one before it rather than one that looks like every other.

But that isn't to say it's perfect. There are some design issues which I had previously addressed in a separate article. Like the position of the USB ports that are so close to each other that if you plug in a thick drive it renders the port next to it completely useless. I would have also liked if Apple printed the names of the ports next to the speaker grille on top instead of on the right, next to them, so that they could be visible from top without having to tilt your head sideways.

Of course, the symbols would have been hidden when you close the lid, but why would you need to know them then anyway? With the help of the symbol, one would have known the general location of the port on the side making it easier to plug in stuff. This is a tiny design detail but something one would expect from Apple instead of having to tell them.

The other thing is the sharp edges, particularly near the display hinge. Now this is no children's toy for the edges to be smoothened but these are some seriously sharp edges that we are talking about here and could be lethal even to an adult.

Lastly it's the ventilation. Apple places the vents below the display hinge. A very clever solution for reducing the clutter of vents that you see on other laptops but one that has a very serious side effect in the form of skin toasting heat levels when the machine is under stress. Using the machine in the Indian summer in a non-air conditioned room made me feel glad man invented desks and that there is no rule that laptops must be used on laps.

Build quality is top notch, the aluminum unibody feels as solid as ever. The display hinge is a bit loose though, so if you tilt the base, the display moves a bit.


Display, Keyboard and Trackpad
Again nothing new here, which is a bit disappointing. We expected higher resolution displays, but Apple has maintained the display resolutions across all models. It's especially disappointing now that the new 13-inch MacBook Air has the same resolution as the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Not that the display looks bad, quite the opposite actually.

The display is very vivid and bright with great colors and contrast. The gamma levels were slightly less though, which makes the blacks look really black but some of the deeper shades of gray were lost, and images had a slightly darker look. The 15-inch comes with the option of a non-glossy screen, which is recommended for professional work such as image or video editing, as stray reflections can be detrimental to such work.

The backlit keyboard on the MacBooks have always been excellent. It's again the same as the previous model and in fact it is also common across all MacBooks, regardless of their size. The multi-touch trackpad is again, the best in the business. 
Hardware
Now let us get to the interesting part. The new range of MacBook Pros have Intel's Sandy Bridge range of CPUs. The 15-inch MacBook Pro comes in two variants with a 2.0GHz and 2.2GHz Core i7 and you have the option to upgrade to 2.3GHz Core i7. All three are quad-cores with the 13-inch model being the only MacBook Pro to have dual-core processors now. These CPU's also support Intel's Turbo Boost feature that boosts the clock speed of the CPU over its officially rated clock speed when required by the operating system. So even though you might look at the clock speed and think it is just 2.2GHz, in reality it is capable of delivering much more.

Along with the new CPUs, we also have new GPUs on the new MacBook Pros. Apple has completely dumped NVIDIA GPUs that they have been using for some time now and gone over to AMD to source the GPUs for their new range. This is applicable only to the 15-inch and 17-inch models though, which get the HD 6490M (15-inch) and HD 6750M (15, 17-inch) as dedicated graphics with 256MB and 1GB GDDR5 memory respectively and Intel HD 3000 as on-board graphics. The 13-inch model instead gets just the HD 3000, which replaces the NVIDIA 320M on the previous generation model.

The hard drive capacities have gone up. The minimum is now 320GB on the 13-inch model, while the 15-inch model comes with 500GB and 750GB capacities. The RAM is the same 4GB (2 x 2GB) 1333MHz DDR3 and can be upgraded to 8GB.

We would have liked to see SSDs become part of the standard equipment on the MacBook Pros, at least as a boot disk, with HDDs acting as the storage device. After experiencing the difference an SSD makes on the Mac, despite its relatively weaker hardware, we can only assume how much of a difference an SSD would have made on the MacBook Pro. Meanwhile the SuperDrive continues to be part of the standard equipment, even though the uses for it are dwindling with every passing day. Who knows, this might be the last generation of MacBook Pros to ship with the SuperDrive built-in.
 

Thunderbolt is the latest addition to the list of features available on the MacBook Pro. Hitherto known as Intel Light Peak, it is an I/O port that can transfer data at speeds as high as 10 Gbps in both directions simultaneously. We have talked about it in a separate article before. The good thing about this technology is that it is backward compatible, so with the help of adaptors you can convert it into a traditional USB port or a FireWire port and as Thunderbolt compatible devices become more popular you will be able to make full use of it. The fact that it is shaped the same as the Mini DisplayPort on the older Macs is no coincidence as it can also output video and audio and can connect directly to a display with Mini DisplayPort or displays with other ports such as DVI or HDMI with the help of adaptors. Right now we can only talk in future tense about this port as we don t have any devices to connect to it that would let us use it the way it s meant to be.



Performance
As expected the 2.2GHz MacBook Pro that we received turned out to be considerably faster in the benchmarks we ran. Even in regular usage, one could feel the extra horsepower under the hood. It felt almost sinful to use this machine for casual usage. This much should ideally be used for hardcore work such as 3D modelling or image/video editing. For professionals who want something they can carry around, the new MacBook Pro would put a big smile on their face. For a home user, it would be a bit of a waste, but there is no doubt it would still be a great thing to have.

We ran some games on the machine, such as Portal, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Tomb Raider: Anniversary and were greeted to smooth framerates even with every setting at max. The previous generation model did well too but when you place it next to the newer model you can see it isn't as smooth. It's like the iPad and iPad 2; you won't notice that the former is slower until you place the two next to each other.

The better graphical performance comes at a very good time. Thanks to Steam and the App Store, gaming on the Mac is currently at an all time high and it can only get better. Hence the improved graphics would be seeing a lot more usage than what the older Mac GPUs were subjected too. Also, a lot more applications, such as the upcoming Final Cut Pro X, will make use of the GPU instead of the CPU, so a powerful GPU will soon be more of a necessity rather than a luxury on the Mac.

We would also like to mention that the loudspeakers on the new model were one of the best loudspeakers we have heard. They were surprisingly loud and the clarity was exceptional. They seemed to have been tuned for voice, which sounded crystal clear.

The FaceTime HD camera is a decent addition. The quality of video is pretty good although low light video is still pretty noisy. The HD video does put some strain on the hardware though, not that it can t handle it, and you also need a fast connection to stream video at that resolution.
Battery Life
Apple claims a battery life of 7 hours for the 15-inch model. In our testing, that involved web browsing over Wi-Fi with Flash installed, since we feel that most people will install it the moment they come across the first YouTube video, working on a word document, Echofon and iChat running in the background and music being played continuously in iTunes with headphones connected, we got 6 hours and 46 minutes of battery life on a full charge.

While testing, the display was set at 70% brightness (with auto brightness switched off) and the keyboard backlight was on as the room was dark. We believe this more or less reflects real-world usage of an average person. Professionals or gamers are likely to drain the battery faster and hence are advised to carry the charger around.

Unfortunately, we could not test the battery life while playing a movie, as the machine had to be sent off.


Verdict
The 2.0GHz model costs Rs. 1,04,900 and the 2.2GHz model, which is the one we tested, costs Rs. 1,24,900 (all are M.R.P.). For that price you do get a seriously powerful machine that despite its brawn is still slim and light enough to be carried around with you easily and be used as your everyday computer.
 

It is an excellent tool for professionals who work with Mac specific applications and such people would be least affected by the high price. It's also a very good upgrade from the model it replaces. So much so that we wouldn't mind recommending it to those who already spent on one last year. But knowing that the next version would be even better perhaps it would make more sense to skip a generation.

However, there are somethings that still annoy us and we wish Apple would fix them, especially stuff like the USB ports and the heating issue. A Blu-ray drive and HDMI port on the machine itself wouldn't hurt either, but something tells us we won't see any of these. For a veteran Mac user these things won't be a major concern but it would keep those away who always wanted a Mac but stayed away because of these omissions.

But at the end of the day, the pros far outweigh the cons. The MacBook has always been a delightful machine and the new improved hardware has just made it a lot better.

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Intel Invents Tri-Gate Transistor Technology

Promises better performance, lower power draw

With fabrication processes shrinking rapidly, it was only a matter of time before microprocessor companies ran into physical limitations. Uptil the 32nm process, which the current Sandy Bridge CPUs are based on, the existing planar (Flat) transistors could not be manufactured any smaller, and so a completely new design was needed. Their upcoming Ivy Bridge CPUs will be based on the new Tri-Gate 3D transistor design that uses a three dimensional structure rather than the two dimensional one.

Intel has been developing this new transistor technology since 2002 and it's only now that they are ready to use it for mass production. The new Ivy Bridge processors will be the first high volume chips to be produced on this technology and will be coming out by the year end.

So what does this mean to you, the consumer? Well for starters, cheaper CPUs. The new Tri-Gate tech adds a third dimension to the otherwise flat structure, which rises up vertically from the silicon substrate. This allows Intel to pack in the transistors closer to each other thereby allowing them to shrink the fabrication process to 22nm. Going ahead, Intel has the flexibility of raising the fins higher for more performance and lower power draw, so it is scalable as well.

Th flow of current is better controlled here as there are three gates instead of one, so when it's 'On' there is maximum current flowing and when 'Off' there's little to no current leakage. Tri-Gate technology is a necessary evolution as it complies with Moor's Law which states that the transistor densities on microprocessors will double every two years.

While all this is fine and dandy, we are looking at a more immediate problem for end users and that is a new chipset again. Intel's new socket 1155 has only just started picking up as the new B3 stepping begins to flood the market. This chipset will undoubtedly be obsolete next year once the new 22nm chips arrive, which means it makes little sense in upgrading to the 1155 socket if you already have a 1156 socket CPU.

We hope Intel will keep some sort of backward compatibility going ahead, as it's a nightmare for enthusiasts who have the habit of upgrading every year. If your head is still spinning with all this, here's a video explaining Tri-Gate presented by Mark Bohr, Intel's Senior Fellow.

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Chip And Best Computer Graphics Cards

Holiday season is fast approaching and we realize our trigger happy readers are aching to gear up for the upcoming onslaught of eye candy rich games. 2011 is shaping up to be a really good year for PC games with Bulletstorm and Dead Space 2 taking charge; we have other great titles like Crysis 2, R.A.G.E, NFS Shift 2 to look forward to. While these games won't be too difficult to run even on modest systems since all the games are multi-platform, choosing the right card will make all the difference in the overall gaming experience. Looking at the market, we've noticed some companies have really aggressive pricing compared to others, for instance for AMD cards, Sapphire and MSI offer you the lowest rates and for Nvidia, we have ZOTAC and MSI again. It's sad to see other companies like Asus and XFX come up with absurd pricing which makes you wonder how they manage to make any profit in India. Even though their cards are of good quality and all, at times, the premium is just too high which makes no sense in investing that kind of money.

Today, we'll be taking a look at some great deals that we've managed to find under Rs. 10,000. While we all want fancy expensive cards, the reality is we don't really need them especially if you game on anything lower than a full HD resolution. We all saw that Crysis 2 is easily playable on a 9600GT on "Gamer" settings up to 1920x1080 so going by that alone, the cards we've picked today will easily handle all the upcoming games unless of course we get some shitty console port, then it's hardly our fault. One more thing before we get started, the list is made based on Mumbai prices so if you find a better deal elsewhere, holler in the comments section as it could help others in your city.

Under Rs.3,000 - Stick to Onboard
If you're on a budget that's anything under 3K then it's advisable you don't buy anything. I'd say work a bit harder and jump straight to our second category. The problem is that there isn't any worthy card at all under this price bracket that would give you playable frame rates. The cards under 3K are designed for HTPC use which means they are slightly better than onboard graphics, enough to offload 1080p videos and provide a wide array of multichannel audio options via HDMI.

Under Rs.5000 - Sapphire HD 5670 512MB/1GB
Our under 5K still remains the HD 5670. Sapphires offering come with a nice cooler and a larger fan for better and more silent cooling. Here you can buy either the 512MB or the 1GB version as the price difference is a couple of hundred bucks. The extra video RAM is nice to have although it's not needed much. The 1GB version is available for Rs.4,700 while the 512MB can be bought for a little less for Rs.4,400.

Under Rs. 6000 - MSI N250GTS-2D512 512MB
Yes, the G92 chip is still going strong and for a smidge under 6K, it's currently the best buy. MSI has shed the reference cooler and gone for something bolder using their own custom heatsink. The GTS 250 is built using 55nm fabrication and is the second coming of the 9800GTX+. It has the full 128 shaders of the G92 core and comes with faster clock speeds. The 9800GT is also selling for around the same price and we strongly advise you to stay away from it as it has the crippled G92 core same as the 8800GT. There's also the HD 4850 for those who are interested in an AMD solution but we'd stick to the GTS 250.

Under Rs. 8000 - ZOTAC GTS 450 1GB
In the 7-8K price bracket, we have two very interesting cards to choose from, AMD's HD 5770 and Nvidia's GTS 450. Out of the two, we once again go with Nvidia here, the ZOTAC GTS 450 1GB to be precise. Not only is it cheaper than the HD 5770, it's performs slightly better as well. For the most part, it performs neck to neck with AMD's offering the power consumption on idle is a lot lower compared to the HD 5770.

Under Rs. 10,000 - Sapphire HD6850 1GB
We were going to do an 'Under 9K' category but then after looking at the current prices we couldn't be bothered. Sapphire's 100315L HD 6850 1GB is available for a little under 10K which makes the existence of the newly launched GTX 550 Ti kinda moot. Even if they launch the card for under 9K, the HD6850 would still make for sense since for one, it beats the GTX 460 1GB so it's a given it will beat anything slower than that. Sapphire has made one attractive looking card that's also easy on the wallet.

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Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Review

Microsoft wowed us when they launched the first Arc mouse a couple of years back with its clever little folding design and compact form factor. The only problem was the price which put it out of reach for many. The company has recently launched a successor to the Arc known as the Arc Touch mouse which now features a slightly different design, better internals and some gestures as well, hence the name Arc Touch. 

At first glance, the Arc touch reminds you of a fancy shoehorn. Unlike the first arc, the rubber finish is only restricted to the palm grip now and doesn't cover the entire mouse. The whole idea about the name for the Arc mouse was the design which was in the shape of an arc. The mouse flattens completely when switched off making it easier to store in bag. Even though the size is not small like the previous one, you can easily slip it into a notebook sleeve or a purse even.


The front half of the mouse has a glossy finish which easily attracts fingerprints. This is a slight problem since the grease from your fingers makes the surface quite slippery. The center gray strip is the only touch sensitive part of the mouse. You can perform multiple gestures which we'll get into later. There is a single green LED lights on the front that lights up when you activate it and also tells you when the battery low.

There is a little magnetic area which lets you clamp the dongle to it when not in use. The Arc Touch is powered by two AAA batteries that are provided in the bundle. The old internals have been replaced by BlueTrack technology which we know first-hand works better than optical.

To switch it on, you simply twist the rear and you're good to go. The final shape is not really an arc like the previous one but it provides some support for your palm. The design is ambidextrous which is good for left as well as right handed users. The overall shape isn't the most ergonomic to begin with and over a long period of time, you will experience some amount of fatigue. The second immediate problem is the mouse buttons which don't have the softest of clicks. This increased tension in the spring means you have to apply more pressure to use it which is not ideal for gaming or even editing work.

The IntelliPoint software lets you customize the settings including the mouse gestures. The Arc Touch features infinite scroll function for scrolling through long spread sheets. Double tapping the center area acts as double click, tapping either edges of the center strip acts like the Page Up and Page Down buttons. The cool thing is each time you use the scroll wheel, you feel a little vibration like the haptic feedback in cell phones. You can vary the intensity of the vibration though IntelliPoint software. Given the shape of the mouse, it's not designed for precision use, so don't expect to get head shots in Counter Strike using this.

Pricing and Verdict

All this fancy technology used in the Arc Touch doesn't come cheap.  The estimated retail price is Rs.3600 which makes it quite an expensive proposition and is definitely not something for the masses. The Arc Touch is good for the frequent traveler who'll be using it once in a while but we wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated mouse for your desktop. The new version brings with it some improvements like gestures, better tracking technology and a funky design but it's not something I'd pay 3.6K for. You can find better ergonomic options for a lot less, sure it won't have the little tricks the Arc Touch has but it will get the job done. All in all, the Arc Touch is another great concept from Microsoft and if you are in the market for something compact, the first Arc mouse is still a good buy for a thousand Rupees less.

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Transcend Launches StoreJet 25H3P 1TB Drive

Transcend, a well known name in portable storage and memory modules, has launched the StoreJet 25H3P portable drive in India. The drive features 1TB storage capacity and a speedy USB 3.0 interface for faster data transfer speeds. The drive is price at an MRP or Rs.9,900 and comes with a three-year warranty, and will be available through Transcend's authorized distributors.

Along with this you also get Transcend's Elite data management software allowing you to automatically take backups of sensitive data. The One-Touch auto backup automatically backs up the files and folders you select between the drive and your computer.

The USB 3.0 interface helps speed up data transfer up to 90MB/s, so you don't have to wait forever for large files to be transferred. Finally, the new StoreJet touches on the durability issue of portable drives by enclosing the hard drive in a shockproof silicone casing.

The street price for this should be a lot lower, somewhere around Rs.6,500. If you are considering buying the StoreJet 25H3P 1TB drive then make sure you have USB 3.0 in your system.

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Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus software

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus software created by Microsoft that provides protection against viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojans for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Microsoft has always recommended that its users use real-time antimalware protection, but the release by the end of this year will mark the company's first free solution. MSE replaces Windows Live OneCare - a subscription antivirus service - and Windows Defender, which only protects users from adware and spyware.

MSE is a small-footprint program ideal for computers that lack processing power or broadband Internet connections, such as netbooks. MSE is available as standalone 32-bit and 64-bit downloads for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. It's very easy to install Security Essentials using it is even easier than one might expect.

Updates and upgrades are automatic, so there's no need to worry about having the latest protection. It's easy to tell if you're protected - when the Security Essentials icon is green, your status is good. It's as simple as that.

Microsoft announced this product on November 18, 2008. It marked a change in Microsoft's consumer antivirus marketing strategy. Instead of offering a subscription antivirus with a host of other tools - parental controls, photo backup, and a firewall, Morro would be free for all genuine installations of Windows and simply offer protection against malware. Microsoft Forefront will be offered alongside Morro, with central management tools not present in Morro.

While OneCare offered a Managed Firewall, PC Performance Tuning, Data Backup and Restore, Multi-PC Management, and Printer Sharing, MSE is really closer to Forefront Client Security, Microsoft's antivirus product for the enterprise.

MSE is a basic security suite designed for consumers but based on the Forefront Client Security desktop agent, solely providing malware detection and removal, but lacking Forefront Client Security's centralized management features. It includes the same antimalware engine (dubbed "Microsoft Malware Protection Engine", or MSMPENG for short), and virus definitions that all other Microsoft desktop antimalware products share, including Forefront Client Security, Windows Live OneCare, and Windows Defender (Defender excludes the antivirus definitions[citation needed] which are separate from the antispyware definitions). Before installation, MSE checks for a validated copy of Windows. No registration or personal information is required. The program will disable Windows Defender, as it provides protection against malware, not limited to spyware and adware.

Updates are published 3 times a day to Microsoft Update. Using default settings, archived files are decompressed, and then scanned. File downloads and e-mail attachments are also scanned. Its Dynamic Signature Service attempts to better identify malicious files by checking for updates if an application exhibits suspicious behavior. Before taking action against a suspect file, MSE prompts for user input. If no response is received in 10 minutes, then the suspected malware is handled according to its default action, letting MSE determine what to do with the malware. System Restore points are created before removing found malware.

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