Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 Review

The Lenovo IdeaPad Z series is a rung higher than the Essential series. The latter features entry-level hardware that is ideal for those who need a basic laptop for home or office for a low budget. The IdeaPad Z series packs more powerful processor, discrete graphics, better speakers and, of course, better build. So, it is clearly for those who need a laptop to run demanding applications, entertainment and gaming.

Elegant design and powerful configuration

Design and Features

The IdeaPad Z580 is an upgrade to the Z570. You won’t be able to spot the difference between the two so long as the lids are closed. A typical feature of the Z series is the aluminium finish on the exterior of the lid as well as the entire area around the keyboard and the touchpad. The rest of the chassis is black with matte finish. 

As per Lenovo’s website, the Z580 is available in four variants, starting from the most affordable one that’s powered by the second-generation Core i3 processor right up to the fully-loaded model powered by the third-generation quad-core Core i7-3612QM processor. We got our hands on the top-end variant, which also features 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard disk, a Blu-ray combo drive and Nvidia GeForce GT630M discrete graphics with 2GB of dedicated memory. The display is 15.6-inch and it has a standard resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. We wish this had been bumped to full HD to complement the Blu-ray drive and the Dolby-enhanced speakers. An addition to Z580 is USB 3.0 ports – you get a pair of them in addition to a pair of USB 2.0 ports. Other features such as Bluetooth, webcam (720p), card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi n and HDMI output are pretty standard.

The lid is reinforced by a metal sheet with brushed finish

If you’ve already seen the Z570, you’ll find that the Z580 has a slightly different layout from the inside. The touchpad doesn’t have separate buttons for left and right click. Instead, the entire touchpad is clickable, which makes it easy to left click because you aren’t forced to use the left mouse button. The right click is detected by the driver when you press down the touchpad with two fingers together or right click the way you would with a regular touchpad. The left and right click buttons are indicated at the base. The touchpad also recognises multi-touch gestures such as pinch to zoom and image rotation. The keyboard is lifted from the Z570 and we like it. Despite the presence of a numeric keypad, the keys are large and well-spaced. Right above the keyboard is a strip of fine mesh under which stereo speakers reside. Further above are touch-sensitive buttons for volume control, mute, OneKey Theater and Sleep. The OneKey Theater button automatically adjusts the screen brightness and enhances audio quality when switched from Normal to Movie mode. Formerly, the indicators for Caps Lock, Power and Battery were placed above the keyboard. In the Z580, they have been moved on the side below the touchpad.

Build Quality and Ergonomics

The Lenovo Z580 gets a premium look and feel thanks to the aluminium finish. The build quality of all the components used in construction is very good. The chassis feels sturdy and so does the screen frame. The hinges are nice and stiff because of which the screen doesn’t wobble too easily with slightest jerks. The quality of the keyboard is also very good, however, the tactile feel could have been much better. The key travel is just as much as needed, but key presses feel slightly mushy. The touchpad has a very good feel and it’s easier to click on the bottom and the centre of the surface. With the finger placed on the top, slightly greater pressure is required. Lenovo has placed all the ports and I/O on the sides for convenient access. The left side has the video outputs (D-sub and HDMI), Ethernet port and USB 3.0 ports. The Blu-ray combo drive, two USB 2.0 ports and jacks for mic and headphones are placed on the right side.

The Z580 is certainly not one of the slimmest!

Performance

The Lenovo Z580 packs really serious power. If you’re looking at buying a laptop that will give you more punch than an average mainstream PC, this one is it. It logged 2480 points and a whopping 19583 points in PCMark 7 and 3DMark Vantage (Entry) respectively. It took 37 seconds to compress 100MB of assorted files to 7Zip format (Ultra preset) and about 20 seconds to ray trace a test scene in POV-ray. To give you an idea of what the scores mean, this laptop is almost twice as faster than the fastest Ultrabook in terms of sheer processing power. The sound quality of the speakers is excellent – they are loud and clear. The Nvidia GT 630 graphics processor enables the Z580 to handle games at the native resolution, but with settings lowered.

Touch-sensitive buttons above the keyboard

The battery life is just about average. With the laptop doing nothing else besides scrolling a text document, one full charge lasted for about 3.5 hours. It should last for about 1.5 to 2 hours with medium to heavy load, which is acceptable for the powerful hardware that needs a lot of power to run.

Verdict and Pricing in India

At Rs. 64,990 (end user price), the Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 might come across as expensive. But the quad-core Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and Blu-ray combo drive quite justify the heavy price tag. If Lenovo would have included a more powerful graphics processor and full HD display, this laptop would have been a killer deal. Nonetheless, if you want plenty of power for serious multitasking and casual gaming, you should consider the Z580.

Read More..

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review - The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc is the latest product from the Japanese-Swedish company. This phone comes with a myriad of features and is targeted at the premium class. What about performance?

Design

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc has an elegant design. Body of the phone is made ​​of plastic material. On the back side of the phone there are arches that look more beautiful. Overall, the Xperia Arc has a design of 125 x 63 x 8.7 mm and weighs 117 g. You will feel comfortable when holding the phone. Nice.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

Display

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc brings LED-backlit LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 480 x 854 pixels, 4.2 inches, Scratch-resistant surface, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, Multi-touch input method, Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine, Proximity sensor for auto turn-off, Timescape UI.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

You dont need to hesitate anymore by display on this phone. This phone is using the Mobile Bravia Engine technology that can display the screen with a sharp and clear view. You will feel a new experience when touching the phone.

OS

This smartphone is already using the Android OS v2.3 (Gingerbread). Besides having a cool display, the phone also offers high performance. But when you do a restart, then you will need approximately 160 seconds.

Processor and Memory

Xperia Arc brings 1GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor and 512 MB ​​RAM. With this hardware, the phone will be running smoothly. This will certainly make it easier when doing a variety of activities at the same time. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc has 320MB of internal storage and 8GB of internal storage (included) which can be upgraded up to 32GB.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

Camera

This smartphone has a high-resolution camera is 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, CMOS sensor Exmorâ €™R. You will get the best results with this camera. With CMOS sensor Exmorâ €™R technology, this camera is capable of displaying images with illumination in accordance with our expectations. Its very interesting is not it?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review

In the video sector, the Xperia Arc is capable of recording video in High Definition, 720p @ 30fps, Continuous autofocus, video light. Xperia Arcs camera produces video with MP4 format. The camera is also capable of recording video in low light. In addition, this smartphone has some advanced features of the camera, such as the focus mode, image stabilizer, and the focus distance.

Connectivity

2G GSM 850/900/1800/1900; 3G HSDPA 900/2100; HSDPA 850/1900/2100/800; HSDPA 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA 5.76 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP. Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc has only a minimal connection. But it doesnt matter because this connection is enough to meet your needs. You can use a data plan or wifi for browsing.

Conclusion

Xperia Arc has an elegant design and appearance are quite attractive. This smartphone also comes with great multimedia features like camera, audio, and others.  But, this phone has a long boot time is 160 seconds.


Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Review, Download here

Read More..

Acer Iconia Tab A510 Tegra 3 quad core tablet specs and review

Picture and sound quality
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 has a ten- inch (25.6 centimeter) touchscreen . with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels This glossy display presented in color vision test is a bit blurry, photos looked pale. A "poor", the Acer conceded for the low viewing angle (49 degrees horizontal, 45 degrees vertical). The sound quality when connected to a stereo got the note 3.36 (satisfactory) in the listening test were missing the highs.

Processor
Haste makes for Nvidias Tegra 3 processor. Its four cores reach benchmarks acute results (Rating: 1.99). In everyday life is the Iconia Tab A510 inputs to without delay. Toll: Needed less computing power, the four cores go into a "sleep mode", and the so-called companion or ninja-core handles - which saves battery power. In normal operation (practical application mix) held by the 15 hours and 46 minutes. Thus, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 is mobile around 80 minutes longer usable as the third iPad.

Hardware Features
From the 32-gigabyte memory are 27.41 GB for apps , files & Co. available. If necessary, you push on a microSD memory card. Via micro HDMI get photos and movies (up to 1080p) on your TV. The tablet has many photos, and text eBook formats, but it omitted some music and video formats. In addition to a five-megapixel camera, there is a second for video calling. The recordings must transfer via mini USB to the PC. The transfer rate is 12.2 megabytes per second (MB / s). In the opposite direction it was 3.94 MB / s - which is not particularly fast. Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi n are missing on board, mobile telephony (UMTS).

Software Features
The operating system Android is in the current version 4.0 ( Ice Cream Sandwich ) on board. Acer installed on their tablet application SocialJogger. This connect and control your Facebook, Twitter and Flicker accounts. Acer Ring UI is a complement to traditional Android user interface. With this you navigate through various applications, or adjust settings.

Conclusion: Acer Iconia Tab A510
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 has a lot of power and impressed with multimedia and Internet functions. Particularly convinced the long battery life. For design, handling and value there are three out of five stars .

Read More..

DELL Laptops Review Vostro 3000 and Inspiron R

Dells PR agency, XPR, passed me the Inspiron 14R and Vostro 3450 for review. Both models have identical sizes and specs with some tweaks to fit the target market. How do the features differ? Heres a brief write-up.

The Dell Inspiron R is a laptop series that is fun, fast and stylish. Being consumer-focused, these laptops come with interchangeable lids to let you personalise the look. It comes pre-installed with applications like Dell Stage to give quick access to your multimedia content. Instead of remembering passwords, you can use face-recognition as a means to login.

The Dell Vostro 3000 series is targeted at business users, providing security features like fingerprint reader, and comes with technical support to ensure your business keeps going. Its aluminum finishing offers higher durability and can sustain more aggressive handling.

Between the 2, Inspiron R is better for these:

• Better speakers with SRS Premium Sound
• Swappable lids and colour choices
• Supports Intel Wireless Display (not much use unless you have compatible devices)
• Glossy LED display (1366x768) for the extra clarity when viewing photos and watching movies
• Trackpad supports more multi-touch gestures than Vostro
• Default 90W charger vs. Vostros 65W charger means Inspiron can charge faster.

But I prefer Vostro for these:

• It runs visibly faster and more stable than Inspiron. I attribute that to the faster 7200rpm hard drive, or perhaps Dell souped up the Vostro. Or perhaps Inspiron has more background services that slow it down.
• Matt LED display (1366x768) is more comfortable for lengthy use
• Aluminum finishing at the back of the laptop and the sides. The Inspiron could suffer scratches more easily with its plastic gloss material.
• Back-lit keyboard, excellent for low-light use
• Slightly lighter

Brushed finishing of Inspiron R

Professional matt look of Vostro

Apart from above, both laptops have identical hardware ports placements, fan vents, keyboard layout, etc.

• eSATA-USB-PowerShare combo port. PowerShare allows you to charge your devices even when the laptop is powered down.
• 2x USB 3.0 Super Speed ports
• HDMI ports, supports 1.4 for 3D output
• Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• HD camera
• DVD+-RW Combo Drive
• Switchable graphics with integrated and discrete options
• 3 Quick Launch keys to the right of the keyboard.

Id prefer the Vostro design for its practicality.

 
Prices for both these laptops start from about $900, depending on your configuration. If you are comparing laptops with other brands and models, make sure you are comparing with the same specs. Some things to look out for:

• Processor speed (e.g. 2.3GHz) and recency ("latest 2011 2nd-gen")
• RAM size (e.g. 4GB) and speed (e.g. 1333MHz)
• Number of connectivity ports (USB, eSATA, HDMI, VGA, LAN, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.)
• Screen resolution and size
• Battery size - the more the cells, the longer it lasts.
• Graphics card - integrated is less powerful than discrete
• Hard disk size (e.g. 500GB) and speed (e.g. 7200rpm)
• Pre-installed software
• Warranty coverage

Lastly, of course, is on the intangible factors:

• Brand preference
• Design preference

Read More..

Lost Planet 3 Review

Lost Planet 3 is both less exasperating and less diverse than its predecessors.

The Good

• Great story that focuses on ordinary people in an unfriendly circumstance  
• Akrid Survival mode is tense and exciting.

The Bad

• Repetitive encounters in repetitive environments  
• Execution stumbles dampen the action  
• Loses what made the series unique, both online and off.

In the third iteration of the Lost Planet series, some things are gained, and some are, appropriately enough, lost. Lost Planet 2 was a frustrating and beautiful concoction, loaded with grand ideas that all too often sacrificed basic playability. In this mediocre prequel to the original Lost Planet, the frustrations are minimal, but so are the ideas; its predecessors variety and visual panache are steamrolled in favor of perfectly decent, perfectly standard shooting encounters. Lost Planet 3 is a difficult game to hate and an equally difficult game to adore. It might feature monstrous aliens, but it never thinks big.


One aspect of this third-person shooter that will keep you thinking, however, is its story, a surprise given the series lack of a personal touch and grand plot ambitions. The early hours move slowly, introducing you to hero Jim Peyton, who has journeyed across the blackness of space to the planet E.D.N. III to assist the Neo-Venus Construction company in its mining efforts. Jim is an excellent everyman, frequently exchanging personal video messages with his devoted wife, who is raising their newborn son while Jim works toward a brighter financial future. The couple labor to maintain a tone of normalcy, but never fully contain their misgivings and personal longing. The dialogue is natural and delivered gracefully; Jims love is not characterized by overwhelming passion, but by quiet adoration and sincere concern.

While performing odd jobs and fighting off the wildlife that threatens the mining operation, Jim spots a figure eyeing him in the distance. Jims paranoia turns to confusion as he uncovers truths about NEVEC and the indiscretions of the companys past. Here, the tale begins to follow recognizable paths, invoking elements of stories like Pocahontas and James Camerons Avatar by contrasting the greed of the invader with the purity of the land. But its how Lost Planet 3 subverts cliches that makes it so compelling. In fiction, lines like "I didnt know you had a wife" often lead to predictable story outcomes--but not here. Lost Planet 3 avoids overt moralizing and soap-opera melodrama, instead placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and allowing them to find their way.

Lost Planet 3 makes no secret of where you should be aiming.

That isnt to say there arent sour notes. A miner with a deplorable French accent tops that list, though an annoyingly chatty engineer can also grate on your nerves. Both ultimately earn a vital place in the story, though not before injuring your sense of good taste with their cliched characterizations. The games tone wanders, sometimes shooting for "space cowboy" a la StarCraft or Firefly, and other times getting jokey, going so far as to point out its own mechanical shortcomings. A little lighthearted humor is appreciated, but when its a bit of dialogue pointing out how often you have to turn on an elevators power, you cant help but wish developer Spark Unlimited had avoided repetitive mission design rather than cracked wise about it.

That repetition is a problem. Many of Lost Planet 3s missions have you heading out into E.D.N. IIIs icy wilderness to perform odd jobs for NEVEC or other allies, flipping switches, riding elevators, and shooting some aliens in a comfortable but overfamiliar pattern. Like in the previous games, your primary foes are the akrid, aliens primarily known for their insectlike appearance and the glowing orange growths that indicate weak points. Previously, fighting the largest of these creatures could be both a stunning and frustrating affair, with their outlandish attacks sending you flying through the air and into drifts of snow, where you had to struggle to your feet and resume battle. Combat arenas were often large and gave you the opportunity to pilot combat mechs, and giant akrid forced you to use your wits when you werent busy cursing the frustrations of irritating knockbacks.

The pre-rendered cutscenes do a great job of showing you Romans desperation.

In Lost Planet 3, the distress and the diversity have both been toned down. You face some large akrid, but you do so without worry of being bowled over by numerous enemies and paralyzed by endless animation loops. Yet with greater playability also comes greater predictability. Regardless of the monster you face, the tactic remains the same: you tumble out of the way, the creature gets stuck for a moment, and you shoot at the glowing bits. And when you arent fighting the bigger akrid, youre fighting off the smaller ones, which you can typically dispose of with a few shotgun blasts. And you do all of this in samey gray-white corridors and in small arenas frigid with wind and snow.

The action is bog-standard shooting, and the encounters are tame when compared to previous Lost Planet games. New this round is a cover system, though you rarely need to use it in the single-player campaign, and its bizarre to see non-humanoid life-forms sticking against cover and rising up to fling projectiles at you. Yet theres still joy in watching orange thermal energy burst from an akrids vulnerable wounds when you shoot it, not to mention the sense of relief that comes from smashing its iced corpse to smithereens. In the first case, you see the lifeblood leaking from your foe; in the second, you prove your superiority by vanquishing all remnants of it. The combination makes for a rewarding power trip.

Read the rest of this post --->

Read More..