Laptop Reviews

The MSI G-series notebooks are one of the most powerful gaming notebooks in the International market. Towards the end of 2009, the MSI G-series launched a new member, the MSI GT640. Touted as the world’s most advanced gaming notebook, the MSI GT640 is specially designed for hardcore gamers and boasts of offering a marvelous performance for game lovers. The MSI GT640, built on Intel Calpella platform, with the most advanced Intel Core i7 processor, Windows 7 and nVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 3D discrete graphics card ( DDR3 1GB VRAM) has the highest processing power and graphics card specs which makes it the best performing notebook computer for gaming.

Design:

Body built and finishing:
The MSI GT640 notebook case is stylish, mainly made up of black brushed aluminum, which makes a very high-end impression of the case when concerned in terms of materialistic characteristics. The aluminum makes the case less susceptible for scratches as compared to other notebook casing of other manufacturers in which, high-gloss plastic is generally used. When looked at the case of MSI GT640 closely after using it for quite sometime, lots of various fingerprints and streaks might be seen, but otherwise, the matt surface of this gaming notebook is anyway more resistant against smudges, scratches and fingerprints subjectively, than most other notebooks of its kind.

Issues of concern:
Even with its advantages, the MSI GT640 Gaming Notebook raises some questions in the mind of users and specially critics, in terms of stability. Even though aluminum has been used in the case cover, the case gradually at stronger, selective pressure on both the bottom and the upper side, often leads to a chintzy scattering. Moreover, the notebook’s lid is subjected to depression to quite some extent in the center as well as in the area between its hinges. Other than this, image distortions also take place when the display frame of the notebook is subjected to a stronger grip.

A great display:
But overall, the MSI GT640 notebook’s 15.4 inch cinema display is a priced possession, which is well gripped and kept well in position by the small hinges which are quite stable, which comes as a surprise. The light casing of this gaming notebook has a light weight of 2720 grams or 2.72 kilograms and lifts a bit at opening. The MSI GT640 gaming notebook, has a few unique commendable display features. The display can be tilted to almost 180°, whereas, most other notebooks are at their maximum, with their display frame tilting to latest 140°. With a fairly average size of 360mm x 260mm x 36mm (W x D x H), the notebook’s case gives a rather compact impression and the moderately low height is to some extent responsible for the same.

Not a very impressive keyboard:
Despite of all the pros of the MSI GT 640 gaming notebook, the keyboard is a big flop. It is a disaster compared to its other features.  However, MSI is indifferent to the critique from press as well as its users and ignores them. But in terms of quality, the stagnation of the keyboard cannot be otherwise explained. The “function” also does not fit in its place near the Ctrl key. The problem with this is, gamers are highly deprived of their comfort level because the Ctrl key plays a very important part in hardcore gaming, and secondly even in case of office use, the user has to get used to the unintentional constant hit on the FN key. Moreover, MSI has blithely brought about alteration in the positions of other keys (# ‘and <> |), due to which the old keyboard layout had to suffer too. And few other keys like shift, backspace and enter keys have been made far too narrow in this not so conventional keyboard layout of this notebook.

The pressure point of the keys is another noticeable factor as they feel indistinct and highly indefinite. Moreover, the keys tend to clatter when they are triggered, which in turn enhances low-end impression naturally. Another faulty feature of the keyboard is that the keys often stick and spontaneously recoil with a loud and distinct clacking noise.

Concluding it all, the keyboard is not at all user-friendly as sometimes, even after long period of accommodation there are perpetual typing errors. The presence of a separate numeric block is probably the only positive thing that can be reported about the keyboard of the MSI GT640 gaming notebook. Basically, the best thing that can be recommended is attaching an external keyboard for office tasks or even if it is for gaming, because for using a keyboard one must keep the comfort level in mind.

The Shortcut Key:
Another unique feature of the MSI GT 640 15.4″ Laptop notebook is that there is a new shortcut key above the keyboard. The shortcut key in piano black is encircled with bright red lines. The key’s outline creates a sensational feel of speed and movement which is complimented by the quite chick hi-tech keypad. This style and charm makes the MSI GT640 a superbly stylish device with an outstanding representation of modern style and dynamic speed.

Function Bar:
Above the keyboard, a touch-sensitive bar is available. It has an excellent delay-free response in opposition to the notebook’s keyboard. Features included in the bar are: A multimedia control (stop, play/pause, rewind and fast forward), the already mentioned Eco mode and the Cinema Pro techniques and buttons to enable and disable web cam, WLAN, Bluetooth and user-defined programs.

Touchpad:
The touchpad is quite sufficiently sized, and is a bit submerged and has a well trimmed silver frame. With its good gliding abilities along with the smooth surface, the touchpad of this system is convincing enough. There are a few rare interruptions while working with the scroll bar, which otherwise works absolutely perfect. The key pressure of both the keys of the mouse milled into a rest of wrist surface, is not overwhelming but is quite decent. However, the faulty design leads to accumulation of dirt, crumbs and dust in the spaces between the keys, and cleaning it off can be quite a difficult and hectic task.

Connectivity:
MSI GT640, the new gaming notebook sensation in the market is very well equipped in hardware, software as well as in terms of connectivity. MSI has featured the GT640 with numerous connection options.

There are two video outputs placed in the rear of this notebook, with HDMI and VGA. There is another DC-in and antenna connection on the rear, which is followed on the left hand side with an RJ-11 modem port, one USB 2.0 port, a multipurpose DVD burner and four audio sockets which are differentially marked by colors (headphone, line-in, line-out and microphone). On the front side, there is an infrared receiver which is almost invisible from sight. Towards the right there is an Express Card slot, a 4-in-1 card reader (XD, MS, MMS, and SD) and a Fire wire port. Concluding this array of connection ports is an USB 2.0 port, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo and a RJ-45 gigabit LAN.

On the wireless side of the GT640 notebook, there are connection ports for Bluetooth 2.0 and WLAN a/b/g/n. Other than all these features, the MSI GT640 also has a 2.0 megapixel webcam and there is also an integrated microphone which is very strategically placed beneath the arrow keys. Thus, the port distribution and arrangement in the rear is quite good, but however, the USB port and audio sockets somehow seem to be stretched out too far front on the left hand side of the notebook. There is another problem. The DVD burner is likely to be obstructed or blocked by USB and/or audio cables, if ejected or opened, which is a bit tacky and clumsy when “user-friendly” terms are kept in mind. And there is another USB 2.0 connection on the left. In terms of ports and socket distributions and arrangements, the right hand side of the notebook is comparatively well organized, but like the left side, the USB 2.0 connections here too are placed a bit too far towards the front and the RJ-45 gigabit LAN port position could also have been changed to somewhere in the rear side to give the outlook a better approach.

Features:

Processor:
The MSI GT640 is a smart notebook, as it is preloaded with Intel Core i7 processor with turbo boost, which through instant calculation of program’s operating requirements, can automatically regulate the power supply. Therefore, whenever a user is in need of full power like when a competition is heated up, Turbo Boost will maximize the performance accordingly. Conversely, whenever the system is running lighter or low-load applications, the processor’s operational performance will be automatically and efficiently reduced. Thus, due to this flexible distribution of the system’s resources, there is a high processing efficiency and it helps in extending the battery endurance as well. Though there are quite a number of modes to fiddle around with, the ones worth mentioning and plausible are the “ECO” and the “Cinema pro” mode.  The utilities of the ECO mode have already been mentioned. And on the other hand, the Cinema pro technology is worth mentioning due to its provisions for heightened movie enjoyment. Thus, with a push of button, a user can advance to a more detailed image quality, an increased sonority and an amplified bass, in the Cinema Pro mode.

The processor that MSI usually has cannot be though over clocked with the turbo mode. Thus the user has to do without it in this case. However, due to the presence of an integrated Core i7-720QM the processor automatically over clocks itself. Thus, the MSI GT640 comes with integrated and efficient software installations which help the user to achieve powerful and effective performance. And along with it, the device also boasts of being integrated with some major components, such as, the Intel Core i7 processor’s Intel Hyper-threading technology, which claims to allow the user to perform their tasks with greater speed and pleasure.

ECO Engine:
The MSI GT640 notebook comes with MSI’s exclusive ECO engine. Eco engine is a smart power-saving solution that can be accessed in the MSI GT gaming notebook from the control panel via an ECO shortcut button. With the help of this shortcut button, users can activate the ECO engine and then customize their notebook’s power settings to suit their own specific uses. The notebook’s power consumption can be controlled by using various modes which are already present to choose from applications like, Document, Gaming, Movie, Presentation, and Turbo battery modes to maximize efficiency.

The Turbo Boost Technology:
Intel cannot really complain about low sales figures recently, because nowadays almost every manufacturer accessorises the mobile Core i7 in multimedia or gaming notebooks. MSI’s  i7-720QM is a model just for a start, and still it represents one of the fastest CPUs of recent times. In idle mode, this four core processor clocks with a meager 1.60 GHz. The “Turbo Boost” technology supports the system to raise the clock rate automatically to 2.8 GHz when under load. “Hyper-threading” Technology is another feature that, in addition to the four i7-720QM real cores, simulates four cores in addition. Hyper Threading is less impactful in gaming and has its limitations. But an increase in velocity can be obtained for optimized applications. The Core i7 has not only an L2 but also an L3 cache, in contrary to the older Core2 design. Thus one Megabyte (L2) and six Megabyte (L3) are added up in the i7-720QM. The i7-720QM’s has a high energy requirement of around 45 watt maximum, which makes the Core i7 unsuitable for use in notebooks, which are generally made for high mobility.

RAM:
The core i7 has a four Gigabyte DDR3 RAM support with 1066 MHz, but still for some reasons unknown to others, MSI has used the alternative 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. This means, only around 3 Gigabytes is available for practice and unnecessarily quite a lot of potential was wasted.

Graphic Card:
MSI, in the MSI GT640 gaming notebook, has used nVIDIA’s brand new graphic card, the GeForce GTS 250M. Unlike high-end GPUs, like the GeForce GTX 200, GTX 280M/GTX 260M, MSI GT640’s GeForce GTS 250 M is now finally related to the present desktop designing GTX 200, and the base for it is the GT215 core. The GeForce GTS 250M has another achievement up its sleeve and that is that GeForce GTS 250M is one of the first nVIDIA mobile cards that can support DirectX 10.1. Moreover, the GeForce GTS 250M, is 40mm wide by structure and has 96 stream processors, an average power consumption of 28 watt, supports PhysX and also has an enormous memory size of 1024 Megabyte. But however, the memory bandwidth, which is a mere 128 bits is a disappointment. Either GDDR5 which is faster or GDDR3 module is usually employed as the video memory. The GDDR5 VRAM reaches up to a maximum rate of 500 MHz (core), 1600 MHz In core memory and 1250 MHz shader. However, the MSI GT640 is equipped with the GT 250M along with GDDR3, which only clubs with 450MHz core, memory of 790 MHz and 1080 MHz (shared).The GeForce GTS 250M also supports in computing high resolution videos and materials because of the “Pure Video HD” advanced technology.

Hard Disk:
The GT640’s hard disk belongs to Western Digital’s fast Scorpio Blue range and flaunts a capacity of around 500 Gigabytes. The throughput rate of 78.7 MB/s is quite good, but the access rate of 17.6 ms could have been better and transfer rate also has an average of 57.1 MB/. MSI GT640’s hard disk has been divided in two parts where the first OS has near around 80 Gigabytes, and the second partition can accommodate a high capacity of 376 Gigabytes.

Software Bundle with MSI GT640:
Unlike other manufacturers, MSI has commendably restrained itself to quite an extent in terms of software installations and has cut-off a number of unnecessary additions and resource-devouring disasters. And it is even better featured in the MSI GT640 gaming notebook. Thus, the MSI GT640 notebook, gives the users complete performance, and that too without any typical restrictions. It available in the state of delivery and thus, users do not have to waste their time going through unending de-installations and so this notebook is very user-friendly.

Display Features:
The general trend of widescreen format in laptops, notebooks and PC’s is a display in 16:9 format. However, MSI stays loyal in the latest MSI GT640 gaming notebook, with a widescreen display of 16:10 format, and its 15.4 inch screen has a plausible resolution of 1680×105 pixels. Nevertheless, the display has fluctuating values. The black value of 0.30 cd/m2 is appreciable, but the average luminosity of 150.8 cd/m2 is disappointing. And, the high level of contrast, that is, 605:1 is quite above average and a 74% illumination proves to be still good enough. The black coloured saturated base, the intense and intriguing colors and the rich-contrast presentation is very pleasing, subjectively, but in battery mode, because of the low brightness, the image usually remains a bit pallid.

However, when it comes to reflective display, MSI does not however oppose this trend. Annoying reflections in bright interiors or light coming from across the windows are situations when the display might not be very pleasing to a user as it can get quite irritating and disturbing, especially during movie watching. Thus, using this notebook for outdoor usage is almost impossible in the strong sunlight overhead. The stability of the viewing angle on the horizontal plane is more than enough. In contrary, the vertical plane is highly vulnerable to colour deviations, and brightness differences also turn up quicker. Thus, there is a necessity of adjustments in the vertical plane in frequent intervals.

Performance:

General performance:
The performance index of the Window 7 theoretically briefs us and gives us an overview of the approximate efficiency in a system and the possible flaws and faults. The index does not play a very significant role in practical use, but it has its own achieved values. The processor, as well as the RAM is very good. The graphic card slightly disappoints the users but still is quite good.
Due to the presence of the Core i7-720QM and GeForce GT250M, the performance of applications is better and way above expectations. The best thing about it is that even with the most demanding applications running, the processor remains unchanged and can take the necessary load and can provide a high performance whenever it is needed. Thus, comparing the MSI GT640 gaming notebook’s graphic card to others, the GeForce GTS 250M has one flaw or disadvantage to the others as well as to the processor.

Noise levels:
MSI gaming notebooks are noted for their sound quality and a high sound scope. So is the MSI GT640 gaming notebook. When in idle mode, the notebook attracts attention for its audibility with 35.1 up to 38.5 dB (A). Under load, or under high performance requirement, even the fan turns up to a very audible 43.2 dB (A) and at times to a disturbing 49.1 dB (A). Thus, the MSI GT640 gaming notebook is not recommended for noise-sensitive users.

Heat:
In idle mode, that is when the notebook is left operating for two hours with maximum energy savings options turned on, the surface temperature is generally limited within an acceptable range. The upper side and the bottom side of the notebook can heat up and reach up to 30.6°C and 38.4°C, respectively. The case, under full load, (1 hour Furmark and Prime) can work up to a lot of heat. Moreover, the wrist rest in the upper portion can heat up to an uncomfortable temperature of  37.2°C, whereas, the bottom portion, near the fan area might heat up enormously and reach up to a maximum temperature of 54.7°C, thus making it very uncomfortable for a user to place the MSI GT640 notebook on their lap.

The graphic card, out of all other components, is quite reasonably tempered. Whilst in idle mode, the GeForce GTS 250M can heat up to  47°C, it is a very high but still agreeable 85°C when subjected under heavy or full load. In idle mode, the CPU’s temperature is moderately fine and hovers around 50°C, on the other hand, the Core i7-720QM can heat up to an enormously alarming temperature of 97°C, when under full load.

The main temperature related problem in case MSI GT640 gaming notebook is that the CPU clocks itself down to 931 MHz after longer full load for about 15 minutes. But however, in case of normal usage, the situation never reaches to a critical point where there is a continual load of 100%.

Speaker performance:
There are two built-in loudspeakers, which are not up to the mark. The bass line present is very faint and indistinct. Moreover, the trebles generally tend to fray moderately fast and are quite imprecise, up to a generally faint sound. For gamers, the soundscape is fair, but it is preferable that an external sound system should be connected anyway to let the user experience better music and movie rendering. The Cinema Pro mode that the MSI GT640 gaming notebook boasts of also did not enhance or improve the sound quality or sonority, neither in games nor in music or movies, when enabled.

Battery:

The MSI GT640 gaming notebook is charged with a six cell battery of 52Wh, which falls short badly to mete out the energy requirement of the Core i7-720QM and the GeForce GTS 250M for a long period.  When energy savings was disabled, brightness was increased to maximum and was subjected to load, the processor ate up the charge in a very short time. The same goes for gaming and internet surfing. The battery life of the MSI GT 640 is not capable enough to be qualified for a hardcore gaming machine as under maximum energy saving mechanisms and minimum display brightness. At the most, the notebook can give a standby time of 2.25 hours, when not taking load. Thus, the MSI GT640 gaming notebook is not really a powerful device when it comes to the battery life and it is advisable for the users to have a socket in hand, because the machine runs out of charge easily.

Warranty:

The MSI GT640 gaming notebook comes with one year standard manufacturer’s warranty.

Verdict:

MSI GT640, the gaming notebook which was claimed to be the best of its kind when it was launched, has quite a few notable weaknesses. The keyboard tends to recoil and lacks a distinct pressure point and the bizarre layout is quite a disaster for a device otherwise so impactful! To top it, the battery life is highly disappointing and the display luminosity is very weak and the intense reflections are irritating and annoying at times. The faint sonority along with a too high soundscape and an average performance of the GeForce 250M, is a failure in comparison to the strong Core i7-720M. For better efficiency, graphic card could have been replaced by a GeForce GTS 160M or a GeForce GTX 260M.

But however, like an inevitable truth, good and bad both come together. So, the MSI GT640 is blessed with quite a few remarkable features which makes it stand out in the international market. First of all, the getup is quite impressive. The case has matt surface mainly comprising high-end brushed aluminium and the jet black colour with fiery red highlights give the GT640 notebook quite a chick and stylish look. Moreover, the sensitive and smooth touchpad along with its comfortable keys are a bonus. And to top it all, the interface options very generously vary.

Thus to conclude it, MSI GT640 gaming notebook is a good choice for users who opt for high processor performance but are disappointed by a poor keyboard and a high sound scape.

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MSI GT640 15.4″ Laptop Computer – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	MSI
Model Name	MSI GT 640
PC type	Gaming Notebook
Main Board	Intel PM55
Weight	2.72kg
DIMENSIONS AND DISPLAY
Dimensions (H x W x D)	36mm x 360mm x 260mm
Available colours/finish	Jet Black with red highlights
Display size	15.4″ glossy
Resolution	1680 x 1050 pixels
PROCESSOR, MEMORY, STORAGE
Processor type	Intel Core i7-720QM
Clock speed	1.6 GHz
Chipsets	Intel PM55
RAM	2 X Upto 4GB
RAM type	DDR3 – 1066/1333MHz
Hard drive size	250 GB to 500 GB
Hard Drive type	WDW WD5000BEVT
Spindle speed	5400 rpm
Optical drive	Optiarc DVD RW AD-7560S
Webcam	2.0M
GRAPHICS, VIDEO AND SOUND
Graphics Processor	nVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M – 1024 MB; Core: 450 MHz; Memory: 790 MHz; Shader Rate: 1080MHz
Sound output mode	2 X 5.1 stereo HD Speakers
Sound Card	Realtek ALC888
Audio Input	Headphones
Card Reader	4 in 1 card reader
Keyboard	103 keys
COMMUNICATION FEATURES
Networking	Realtek RTL8168D/8111D PCI-E GBE NIC (10MBit), Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 AGN(abgn), 2.0 Bluetooth
Ports	1 Express Card 54mm, 1 Kensington Lock, 3 USB ports, 1VGA, 1HDMI, 1 eSata, 1 Firewire, 1 Modem, 1 Infrared. Audio Connections: Headphone, Microphone, Line-in, Line-out.
SOFTWARE
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
Power	AC Power : Output – 19V DC, 120W Input – 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Power device type	Power supply
Security	Kensington Lock
WARRANTY	Limited warranty – 1 year – Parts and labour

It is a modern world and we see rapid changes every day in the field of technology, and especially in that of the Computers. We see Laptop computers replacing the Desktop PCs in many areas for reasons of their own. So, many companies are now producing Laptops and fighting among themselves by introducing luring designs and features and thereby attracting the customers towards them. The competition is so healthy now, that the customers have many an option before them to select.

To live up to the expectations of the people of all walks of life, Toshiba introduces its new masterpiece, the Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q Laptop. It is a promising laptop and it is certainly going to get a lot of attention in the Laptop world.

Design:

Sleek:
The Toshiba satellite L350-21Q 17″ Widescreen Laptop looks as if it a perfect replacement for a Desktop PC with its very bonny design. If you do not have a Desktop PC and also do not have enough space for it, then you can instead opt to go with this one, as it satisfies all your needs occupying minimum space. Its dimensions are, (W x D x H) 398 x 292 x 35.3 (front) / 43.1 (rear) mm. It is a bit heavy than normal, weighing about 3.15 kg, but it looks very sleek and cute. The Design is very good but the since the screen is big, it is not that portable.

Display:
The display is very good and one of the best, with TFT High Brightness display. It has a staggering 17 inch screen, a large one for a laptop. The display performance is boosted by Toshiba TruBrite WXGA, which is a new feature that enhances the brightness and contrast features and protects your eye from harmful effects. The internal resolution of the screen is 1440 x 900 pixels. The display performance is good, but since the screen is reflective type, it is not suitable for outdoor use and is best suitable for home and office uses. Also the viewing angles are very narrow and it lacks a flexible display.

Interface:
It has the standard numeric keypad, which many other laptops do not have. So, it looks like a conventional Desktop keyboard, making it comfortable for typing. The touch pad is also cool as it gives a good feel to your finger. The Web Camera employed is of very good quality.

Removable parts:
The wireless LAN switch is a special feature that serves as a quick launch button to activate and deactivate the wireless LAN option. There is a slot provided for Kensington Cable Lock. The main Hard Disk and the main Memory can be removed easily by unscrewing and hence you can carry them separately anywhere. The main battery pack can also be removed when needed by sliding the latch.

Interfaces:
The Satellite L350-21Q Notebook computer is equipped with a lot of interfacing options along with it. It consists of a DC- input, an external monitor, an RJ-11, an RJ-45, an external microphone that is very useful in recording voices with good clarity, a stereo headphone mainly used for the purpose of video chatting over the internet, three USB 2.0 ports for easy and faster data transfer and an integrated VGA Web Camera with a built-in microphone.

Expansion Slots:
It has two expansion slots for memory cards, one of which is for configuration purpose. It also has an Express Card slot.

Communication:
Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q has employed both wired and wireless communication facilities.

Wired Communication:
The wired communication features offered by Toshiba includes a Fast Ethernet LAN (10 BASE- T/ 100 BASE- TX) and also an International V.90 modem (V.92 ready) for internet connection through a cable. It has a speed of 56 kbps for data files and 14.4 kbps for fax files. This is a good facility when you are at home. But when you are on the go, you certainly need an option for wireless communication.

Wireless Communication:
The Toshiba Satellite has the compliancy for Wi-Fi. With a network support 802.11 b/g, it can be used at any place where there is an option for a wireless connection. The technology used here is the wireless LAN technology.

Features:

Processor:
The Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q is powered by Intel Celeron Processors to give optimum performance. Celeron’s latest design is based on the Intel’s powerful Core 2 Duo branded processors. Although it is not as fast as the Core 2 Duo, it is supported by T3000, to give you the best performance. The processor is fast enough with a clock speed of about 1.80 GHz, the Front Side Bus of 800 MHz and the second level cache of about 1 MB. All these features combined, give rise to a good platform for the PC.

Operating System:
Toshiba provides a pre- installed and genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, (32 bit edition) to make your system look lovely. It also provides the Toshiba HDD recovery software along with the Operating System that gives you a recovery option to help you back up your files. At present only Windows Vista is available, but in the near future it may come out with Windows 7 version of Operating System.

Memory:
The standard system memory is about 2GB. But, if you want a higher memory, then it can be expanded to a maximum of 4 GB. The RAM is of type DDR2 and has a clock speed of 800 MHz.

Hard Disk:
The Hard Disk is one of the most important parts of a PC system. When it comes to the Toshiba Satellite, it has a built- in Hard Disk space of 160 GB. It may not be that high, considering the present situations where the average laptop has a Hard Disk space of about 250 GB or 320 GB. But, never mind, because this is, as discussed earlier, a replacement for a Desktop PC. So the Hard Disk space is not a big concern. It is authenticated by the S.M.A.R.T certification. The Hard Disk has a spindle speed of 5400 rpm. Hence, the drive is good enough for such a PC.

DVD Super Multi Drive:
The Satellite L350-21Q Laptop Notebook has a Super Multi Drive that is double layered and hence, doubly effective. It supports CD-ROM, CD-RW, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, DVD-R (DL), DVD + RW, DVD + R, DVD-RAM. That is quite a good number for a compatibility range. The maximum speed for all these is 24x and the minimum is 5x. So, this can be considered as a very good DVD Drive for all your needs.

Graphics:
Graphics always adds beauty to your PC. For effective working of your system and its applications like videos and games, you need a reasonable Graphics card or Graphics Adaptor. Particularly if you are fond of gaming, then there is definitely a need to have a Graphics card. With the Toshiba Satellite, you also get a Graphics adaptor, the Mobile Intel GMA 4500 M, manufactured by Intel. This one has 3 GB of system memory and has an available graphics memory up to 1340 MB. This is a cool graphics card that enhances your game play and video play and prevents any problems in their functioning. It is a shared type memory.

Video Modes:
Internal Video Modes: A maximum screen resolution of 1440 x 900 is supported.

External Video Modes: The external video mode options are that the maximum screen resolution is of 2048 x 1536 and the maximum screen refresh rate is 85 Hz. But the maximum non- interlaced resolution with the maximum refresh rate of 85 Hz is of 1600 x 1200.

These video modes are just right for smooth running of your programs.

Sound System:
The sound system of the Satellite is about average. It can support the 24-bit audio format and is of a moderate quality. Its built-in stereo speakers give you a good sound performance. The sound system is manufactured by the Toshiba Bass Enhanced Sound System and is working well.

HD Audio Support:
The Satellite introduces you the HD Audio support that gives you an excellent sound quality and 3D surround sound when you play your music and video files. It also features the SM BIOS Compliant or System Management Compliant that prevents any kind of problems regarding your BIOS setup.

Multimedia:
There is an Integrated Microphone setup for Voice over the Internet Protocol that helps communication over the internet better than ever before. It has a Multimedia Bar featuring 6 Hot keys for the easy access to multimedia options. They are Mute, Rewind, Forward, Play, Stop and the CD/ DVD launcher. This makes you use the multimedia options very quickly and with a great ease. For the purpose of video calling and chatting over the IP, an integrated VGA Web Camera is provided.

Security Features:
The Toshiba Satellite L350 provides with heaps of Security features that keeps your laptop protected. It has a user password feature which is not uncommon, by any means. But the interesting feature is that, there is a password facility on request to even the Hard Disk Drive. Also, there is a supervisor password, which can be set to any file or a folder to keep the files from losing any confidential or personal data.

Toshiba EasyMedia package:
A special feature is the Toshiba EasyMedia package, which features Google Software, Toshiba TEMPRO Performance Tuning Service, Toshiba Face Recognition, Easy keys, Diversity antenna, Toshiba Flash Cards, Smart Display Support, Built-in camera, Toshiba ConfigFree, Microphone, Internal HD 720p support and many more of which you can speak volumes and hence are avoided here, but all of them are very fetching and worthy.

Software Bundle:
Toshiba has offered an array of software that brings out the optimum performance from your laptop.

Toshiba Disc Creator:
The Toshiba Disc Creator enables you to quickly burn any kind of data on to any disk, be it a CD or a DVD, at ease and with no errors. It also has the Recovery Disc creator that burns all the backup files or the recovery files into discs. The Toshiba DVD player can play your DVDs with ease and clarity. The Ulead DVD Movie Factory for Toshiba is the one that allows you to customise your movies and movie settings.

Toshiba Assist:
The Toshiba Assist is just like a guide to all the programs in your computer and their functioning. One of the interesting software here is the Chicony Camera Assistant software that has all the new features to help you take pictures through the webcam effectively.

Toshiba Face Recognition:
The Toshiba Face Recognition is very effective software that detects the faces of people and saves them. It can also be set as a password so that your face becomes your password and hence your computer is completely secured and no one else can access it.

McAfee Internet Security Suite:
Toshiba provides security against viruses, both from the internet and from outside, in the form of McAfee Internet Security Suite – Toshiba Edition, which also includes free internet updates for a period of 30 days. You need to activate this product after this 30 day period.

Application Software:
Toshiba Satellite has also included some useful application software such as the Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office Home and Microsoft Student 2007 (free 60 day trial). Added to these is the Toshiba utilities and drivers application that has scores of options that make your work simpler.

Toshiba Value Added Package:
A special software package, known as the Toshiba Value Added Package, is provided to satisfy miscellaneous needs. They include Toshiba Power Saver that sets the system to a low power state in order to save power, Toshiba Zooming Utility that allows zooming of your pages for comfortable viewing, Toshiba PC Diagnostic tool that solves problems relating to the system and its software, Toshiba Flash Cards, Toshiba Accessibility option that helps you access different files and software in your system, Toshiba Button Control Support that allows you to chose and predefine the actions to be done on pressing a particular button, Toshiba Components Common Driver and many others that boost the performance of your system.

Google software:
Google software is included in the software package that consists of Google Toolbar for the Internet Explorer, Google Desktop and Picasa. This is not that common in the market.

Connectivity Doctor:
Another such thing is the Connectivity Doctor that makes access to synchronisation very simple. With this, you can manage multiple connections and synchronise them.

ConfigFree:
The ConfigFree for wireless communication is the software that allows the users of the Toshiba Satellite, easy control of the network connections and communication devices. With this software, the mobile and wireless modes of computing are made simpler to manage and to switch profiles and devices whenever needed and is a gifted application that made communication easier than ever before.

Performance:

You can trust the Toshiba Satellite L350 Laptop to give you an uncompromising performance with the kind of repertoire it possesses. It is stuffed with very good hardware and software to give you an excellent experience. The Celeron processor is a reasonably powerful one and is enough for office purposes. It may not be appropriate for gaming but it is best suitable for DVD applications. The Hard Disk space is good and the Graphics card is fine. The keyboard is very good, a large one with a separate number pad, which you see only on the conventional keyboards. This is once again advantageous for office use. The interfaces are good in number but the expansion slots are too less. Both the wired and the wireless communications are fine.

The sound system is a mediocre one and is not effective while travelling. There happens to be no kind of optical feedback during adjustment of the volume. The software is excellent and all the components are very utile and are also simple to install and use. The features that are mentioned above are good and very attractive. The overall performance of the system is up to the mark and almost no problems are detected during testing. The battery life is more than just good for such a large system. There is little system noise and that certainly does not annoy anyone. The temperature maintenance is fine. The energy saving option is useful when in office and it enhances the battery life.

Battery and Power:

Lithium- ion battery is used and is rated by the ‘Mobile Mark’ to have a maximum battery life period of about two and a half hours. There is a power saver option and this increases the battery life effectively.

For charging purpose, an AC autosensing adaptor of 19 V and 3.95 A is provided.

Warranty:

There is a one year international warranty for the Toshiba Satellite. You can visit the official website and upgrade your standard warranty with the Toshiba Warranty Extension facility for an extended period of time.

Certification:

The Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q is certified as being in compliance with the requirements of applicable European Directives for CE marking.

Verdict:

The Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q is a low- priced but a highly equipped laptop and more suitable for office environment. The design is stylish and the ports and connectivity options are abundant. The heaps of features offered are not let down by the excellent performance capabilities of the laptop. As you have read, the interesting set of software are very handy. On the whole, with all the good options and a very reasonable price, it looks like the Toshiba Satellite is very buyable.

Check Hewlett Packard Laptop Reviews, Samsung Notebook Reviews, Specs in this website.

Toshiba Satellite L350-21Q Notebook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Toshiba
Model Name	Satellite L350-21Q
Model Number	PSLD8E-0RP008EN
PC type	Laptop
Series	Satellite
DIMENSIONS AND DISPLAY
Dimensions (H x W x D)	398 x 292 x 35.3 /43.1 mm
Weight	3.15 kg
Available colours	Black
Display type	Toshiba TruBrite® WXGA+ TFT High Brightness display
Display size	17.0 inch
Display resolution	High-def 1440 x 900 pixel resolution
PROCESSOR, MEMORY, STORAGE
Processor type	Intel® Celeron® Processor T3000
Clock speed	1.80 GHz
Second level Cache	1MB
Front Bus Speed	800 Mhz
RAM installed	4096 MB
RAM type	DDR2 RAM
Max RAM Supported	Yes
WLAN Standard	802.11b/g/n
Installed Memory	128MB
Maximum Memory Supported	4GB
Hard drive size	400GB
Spindle speed	5400rpm
Optical drive	DVD Super Multi Drive (Double layered)
INPUT
Keyboard	105 keys
Track pad	Normal Touch Pad
GRAPHICS, VIDEO AND SOUND
Graphics adaptor	Mobile Intel® GMA 4500M
Speaker Details	Built-in stereo speakers
Audio features	supported audio format : 24-bit stereo
Sound Output	Toshiba Bass Enhanced Sound System
COMMUNICATION FEATURES
Ethernet	Topology : Fast Ethernet LAN Speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX
Modem	Topology : international V.90 modem (V.92 ready) Speed : 56 Kbps data and 14.4 Kbps fax
Wireless	Compliancy : Wi-Fi® Network Support : 802.11b/g Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Mobile internet	None
Webcam	Integrated VGA Web Camera for Video over IP
Memory card reader	2 x memory slots (1 to configure) 1 x ExpressCard slot
CONNECTIVITY	1 x DC-in 1 x external monitor 1 x RJ-11 1 x RJ-45 1 x external microphone 1 x headphone (stereo) 3 (Left 2, Right 1) x USB 2.0 1 x integrated VGA Web Camera with built-in microphone
SOFTWARE
Operating System	Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
Other software	Toshiba Disc Creator, Supervisor Password Utility, Toshiba Assist, Chicony Camera Assistant Software, Ulead® DVD MovieFactory, Toshiba Face Recognition, McAfee® Internet Security Suite – Toshiba Edition (includes free Internet updates for 30 days), Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator, Microsoft® Works, Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 (free 60-day trial) Toshiba Value Added Package (Toshiba Power Saver, Toshiba Zooming Utility, Toshiba PC Diagnostic Tool, Toshiba Flash Cards, Toshiba Components Common Driver, Toshiba Accessibility, Toshiba Button Support) Google Software (Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, Google Desktop, Picasa) Connectivity Doctor , ConfigFree™ and Toshiba utilities and drivers
Security features	main battery pack (by sliding latch) main memory (by screw) HDD password on request supervisor password slot for Kensington Cable Lock user password wireless LAN switch main hard disk (by screw)
Office package	Microsoft Works with Office Home and Student 2007 Trial
PC type	Laptop
BATTERY
Battery technology	Lithium Ion
Estimated battery life (mfr)	2.5 hours
MISCELLANEOUS
Special Features	SM BIOS compliant HD Audio support integrated microphone for Voice over IP Multimedia Bar with 6 touch Easy Keys (Mute, Rewind, Play, Stop, Forward, CD/DVD launcher) integrated VGA Web Camera for Video over IP Standard numeric keypad
Box contents	Laptop Power Adapter and power cord Install/restore DVDs Printed and electronic documentation
WARRANTY	One-year International Travellers Warranty

When you go through the user comments of most of the netbook reviews, there will be one point that will be stressed on, most of the time: It is possible to purchase a full-fledged laptop for the same price as some of the Intel Atom powered portables. We would correct these views a little, as the netbooks have hardly been about performance, they are basically about providing a “take me anywhere” access to the basic applications, which otherwise would require an very expensive ultra portable model. So our query is, if you have a less than 500 pounds to spend on a portable and do not aim for a netbook, is there any laptop on the market for you?

Yes, we do have one, and it is the Acer Aspire 5536. At less than 450 pounds, it is priced along the same lines as the high end notebooks that attract every single netbook freak, but this is a 15.6″ laptop with a solid, satisfactory specification, widescreen panel, impressive storage and a long battery life. It is in fact the smaller version of the recently released Acer Aspire 6530.

Design:

Cut out from the same cloth:
At the very first look at it, you would know that it is very similar to that of its 17.3″ cousin 6530. It sports the same glossy dark blue finishing on its lid, which in no time will be dominated by the unsightly fingerprints with the similar basic layout. Thankfully apart from the lid and bezel, rest of the machine has a matte finishing. The contrasting glossy black and textured matte grey interior of the laptop makes it look less like an enormous of plastic, as do the gentle curves on the front of the case. The light up Acer logo on the lid and the silver highlights on the hinges of the screen have been taken off the design of its cousin and neither of it is a big loss. Yet another difference between the models is that the lid is held closed by a slightly awkward to push springed clasp. A large fan on the rear ensures the chassis stays cool at all times. The built quality is quite good and does not show any sign of keyboard flex that was found in some of its siblings.

The large, blue backlit power button is an attractive touch to the laptop. A big change in the placement of the buttons and controls is that, the wireless switches and backup button have been moved from beside the keyboard to just above it. You will also find the Launch Manager and as a welcome addition, the device includes a dedicated physical volume controls and you can still retain the option of using secondary functions on the cursor keys.

Unique keyboard design:
The Acer 5536 has a full sized keyboard with a separate numeric keypad as the compared model, but has a slightly different design and has changes that are most welcome. The layout is spot on with everything in its proper place and intelligent shortcuts. The low profiles keys are similar to the chiclet styled ones about which we have discussed in the Apple and Sony models. But the difference with these keys are that, these wide, flat key tops sit above the keyboard tray rather than poking through the holes in it. So, all the fluff, crumbs and the other desktop detritus will accumulate in the empty space beneath the keys. The keys have a solid, positive action without a hint of flex. However, the overall design looks great and works excellently.

Disappointing Trackpad:
So far we have been happy with the fact that the Aspire 5536 Notebook Computer had inherited its design ideas from 6530, but we were disappointed to see that the laptop has adopted its irksome trackpad design too. The trackpad is simply a shallow area in the wrist rest with pretty much nothing to separate the touch sensitive area from the flush sitting buttons. With this kind of a placement, often, a button pressing finger might stray onto the trackpad and the mouse cursor will jump around. This will be an irritating issue on a long run and if it becomes too much for you, like all the recent Acer laptops, the 5536 too offers a backlit touchpad deactivation button. Multi touch is another feature that is now almost a standard on the Acer portables and it works just fine here too. The multi touch functions that are available include pinch zoom in and out of photos and web pages. The single dual-click mouse button is less practical, however. You have to click in specific areas for it to register, which provides awkward usability.

The display and its quality:
The screen of the Aspire 5536 is only .4″ smaller than 6530 and has the same width, but the model is not quite as deep and is fairly lighter at just 2.8Kgs. However, it is still not a laptop that you would want to lug around all day. The image quality of the display is fine but the vertical resolution of 768 pixels is disappointingly very lower so you have to tilt it at just the right angle in order to get the best out of it. However, it looks much better than its sibling as the resolution is more acceptable in its 15.6″ display. The greyscale performance is also slightly below par, so you might lose detail on particularly bright or dark scenes depending on the angle. You will witness banding across gradients, but there is no sign of backlight bleed. The screen is bright and clear and even the smallest of text is simply sharp. With the LED backlight, it is evenly lit. But since the display is extremely glossy, it can be over reflective in certain conditions and will not suite everyone.

Perfect aspect ratio:
A surprising fact about the display is that, it possesses an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is a big leap from the usual aspect ratio of 16:10. So, the advantage of having 16:9 ratio is that, it eliminates the black borders while watching the widescreen movies. We bet every one of you at some point of time wanted to get rid of those black borders. But make a note that this applies only to the movies that are presented in 16:9 aspect ratio. Many of the movies still have the 2.20:1 aspect ratio and they will still have the black borders on top and bottom.

Just adequate connectivity:
While you will not be finding anything that is extra-ordinary, the Acer Aspire 5536 15.6″ Laptop has adequate connectivity. Along the left hand side there is a power jack, Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI and VGA video outputs, two USB ports and three 3.5mm audio jacks, allowing for both digital and analogue surround sound. The memory card reader in the front will take MMC, SD/HC, xD and MS/Pro/Duo and in the right side you will also find two more USB ports , a tray holding the DVD rewriter and a modem port who are still waiting for their broadband connectivity.

Features:

The Acer Aspire 5536 comes in numerous configurations as you can see in the table in the technical specifications area. However, in this review, we will discuss about a couple of popular ones.

Acer Aspire 5536-643G50Mn:
The Acer Aspire 5536-643G50Mn has specifications identical to the 6530-623G25Mn, with a 2.1GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-64 CPU, 3GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU. As a result, their similar bench mark results do not come as a surprise. The 500GB hard disk of the 5536-643G50Mn is much faster than the 250GB drive of 6530-623G25Mn. With this difference, our model managed to get slightly better scores in some of the tests. With the scores we can say that the laptop is well capable of efficiently handling the applications the home users are most likely to run like word processing and watching videos. When tested for graphics, we would say that the 5536-643G50Mn is good for 3D gaming only if the resolution and the detail settings are kept low.

We are happy that Acer has not cut corners with the OS. Unlike most of the sub £400 laptops, the Aspire 5536 offers Vista Home Premium rather than the Home Basic. This means, the laptop includes Mobility Center, Media Center and Backup client, while also supporting the Aero Glass transparency effects.

Acer Aspire 5536-744G50Mn:
The Acer Aspire 5536-744G50Mn runs on the dual-core AMD Turion X2 RM-74 running at 2.2GHz , which is the non-ultra range of the Turion range that is consistently outperformed by Acer Aspire’s 7535G-824G50Mn that uses AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 running at the same 2.2GHz.  So, it is clear that the device does not have the best of the mobile parts and it also falls behind the Toshiba Satellite L300-29T’s 1.8GHz Intel Celeron processor. Yet, the processor is just fine for the average consumer needs, but we also notices that the boot times are very slow and that the limitations of the processor are very evident in the CPU intensive tasks.

In order to make up for the under-performing CPU, the rest of the specifications of the model are very generous. You are complimented with 4GB of DDR3 RAM on board even though the 32 bit version of the Windows Vista Premium will not be able to take full advantage of it. You are also offered with abundant hard drive storage of 500GB that spins at 5400rpm. We totally regret the absence of Bluetooth; however the offered WiFi is upto Draft-N speeds. With AMD configurations we usually assume that the graphics is the single major point, but in this case with the Radeon HD 3200, it is not the same. Although it is better than Intel’s equivalent, you will still not be able to play games.

Very average audio:

With the Dolby home theatre branding, you might assume that the Aspire 5536 might be having a superior audio quality. But in reality, it is just slightly better than most of the other laptops that we had reviewed. Unlike its siblings, it does not have any bass enhancing tube at the rear and as the result, the speakers might sound a bit tinny. Its smaller chassis lets us down by producing some noticeable distortion at anything that is higher than half its maximum volume level. However, even at 50 percent volume, it is louder than many of the similarly sized models. They are just fine for the odd spot of music.

Battery:

The 4,400mAh battery of the Acer Aspire 5536 lasts for 59 minutes in the intensive battery use test. It lasts for about 2 hours with the WiFi enabled activities and with less demanding usage, the battery lasts for about 3 hours and 14 minutes. This is certainly not a great deal of battery, but is sufficient for catching up on some work on the go without reaching for the mains extension lead.

Warranty:

The Acer Aspire 5536 comes with limited one year international travellers warranty.

Verdict:

Overall, with specifications that are similar to its costlier sibling, we would suggest that it is a better deal. It also has the other advantages of being smaller and lighter making it a great all rounder for anybody who is seeking an affordable laptop with a big screen and keyboard with good feedback. With numerous configurations available, we are sure that you will be able to find that one combination that will suite most of your needs. If you are looking for better performance at the same time, the MSI and Toshiba systems are great for daily use. At such a low price, the Acer Aspire 5536 is truly a great laptop for home and office and offers you with stunning value for money.

Check 2010 Latest Laptop Reviews, Dell Laptop Computer Reviews in this website.

Configurations Available:

Model name	OS	Processor	RAM	HDD	Graphics Processor	Webcam Availability
Acer Aspire 5536 – 643G25Mn	Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium	AMD® Athlon QL-64 (2.1GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3.6 MHz FSB)	3GB	250GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics (256Mb)	No
Aspire 5536-643G50Mn	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Athlon QL-64 (2.1GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3.6 MHz FSB)	3GB	500GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics (256Mb)	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
Aspire 5536-744G32Mn	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Turion RM-74 (2.2GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)	4GB	320GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics (256Mb)	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
Aspire 5536G-744G32Mn	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Turion RM-74 (2.2GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)	4GB	320GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	ATI HD 4570 Graphics (512Mb)	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
AS5536-623G50MN	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Athlon QL-62 (2.0GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3.6 MHz FSB)	3GB	500GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	Shared Graphics	No
AS5536G-744G32MN VHP32ATGB1 MC	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Turion RM-74 (2.2GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)	4GB	320GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics (512Mb)	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
AS5536-643G25MN	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Basic	AMD® Athlon X2 QL-64 (2.1GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3.6 MHz FSB)	3GB	250GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	Shared Graphics	No
AS5536-643G50MN	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Athlon X2 QL-64 (2.1GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3600 MHz FSB)	3GB	500GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	Shared Graphics	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
AS5536-643G50MN	Genuine   Windows Vista®   Home Premium	AMD® Athlon X2 QL-64 (2.1GHz, 1 Mb L2 Cache, 3600 MHz FSB)	3GB	500GB 5400rpm Hard Disk Drive	Shared Graphics	0.3 MP Crystal Eye Webcam
AS5536-752G25MN	Genuine   Windows®   7 Home Premium	AMD Turion™ X2 dual-core mobile RM-75 (2.2 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache)	2GB	250 GB HDD	-	Acer Crystal Eye webcam

Acer Aspire 5536 15.6 inch Laptop Notebook – Technical Specification Details

Manufacturer	Acer
Model Name	Acer Aspire 5536
PC type	Laptop
Series	Aspire 5536
DIMENSIONS AND DISPLAY
Dimensions (W x D x H)	15.1 x 9.9 x 1.03/1.5 inches
Weight	2.8 kg
Available colours	Glossy Midnight Blue
Display Type	WXGA high-brightness (220-nit) Acer CrystalBrite TFT LCD
Display Size	15.6″
Resolution	High-def 1366 x 768 pixel resolution
Response time	8 ms high-def response time
PROCESSOR, MEMORY, STORAGE	Refer configurations
Optical drive	4X Blu-ray Disc/DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive or 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
Memory card reader	5-in-1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card (xD)
INPUT
Keyboard	103-/104-/107-key keyboard
Track pad	Multi-gesture touchpad pointing device, supporting: • Circular-motion scrolling • Pinch-action zoom • Page flip
GRAPHICS AND SOUND	Refer configurations
Speakers	Dolby-optimized surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers MS-Sound compatible Built-in microphone
Audio features	Optimized 3rd Generation Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement, featuring Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Natural Bass, Dolby Sound Space Expander, Dolby Inverse Filtering, Dolby High Frequency Enhancer technologies
Sound Output	True5.1-channel surround sound output High-definition audio support
COMMUNICATION FEATURES
Ethernet	Wake-on-Ring ready Gigabit Ethernet
Modem	56K ITU V.92 modem with PTT approval
Wireless	Optional Acer Xpress VoIP phone Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi network connection or Acer InviLink 802.11b/g Wi-Fi network connection supporting Acer SignalUp wireless technology Wake-on-LAN ready Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Webcam	Acer Crystal Eye webcam
CONNECTIVITY	5-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD) 4x USB 2.0 ports 1x HDMI™ port with HDCP support 1x external display (VGA) port 1x Headphone/speaker/line-out jack 1x Microphone-in jack 1x Line-in jack 1x Modem (RJ-11) port 1x Ethernet (RJ-45) port 1x DC-in jack for AC adapter
SOFTWARE
Operating System	Refer Configurations
Security features	Acer Bio-Protection fingerprint solution, featuring Windows logon, computer protection, Acer FingerLaunch, ProfileLaunch, MusicLaunch, Password Bank, MyLaunch, FingerNav, Slot for Kensington lock, BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords
Office package	Microsoft Works with Office Home and Student 2007 Trial (Service Pack 1)
Other software	Acer Arcade Deluxe featuring Cinema, Album, Music, Acer HomeMedia, Acer Bio-Protection (only on models with fingerprint reader), Acer Crystal Eye(only on models with webcam), Acer GridVista, Acer GameZone, McAfee Internet Security Suite 60-day trial version, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Google Toolbar Google Desktop, CyberLink PowerDirector trial version, NTI Media Maker and Recovery Management
BATTERY
Battery technology	Li-ion
Battery capacity	4400 mAh
Estimated battery life (mfr)	3 hours
MISCELLANEOUS
Accessories options	Acer Xpress VoIP phone and Acer Video Conference Manager pack Memory expansion modules Additional battery Additional AC adapter External USB floppy disk drive
WARRANTY AND SERVICE	One-year International Travellers Warranty

The XPS branding of Dell once meant its futuristically tailored high performance gaming systems. But, ever since the acquisition of Alienware, back in the year 2006, Dell had sought to slide the branding away from its specialist heritage of gaming and usher in a latest, luxurious, design led range. The Dell XPS M2010, which was a briefcase sized desktop replacement was the first herald of that transformation and since then, Dell has moved on to add the 13.3″ XPS M1330 and the 17″ XPS M1730 to the range. The latest XPS M1530 that has been introduced will be filling in the 15.4″ gaping in the series.

Though the XPS M2010 was truly a remarkable beast, it was not until the arrival of the XPS M1330 a couple of years back that that the XPS range got its true identity. The M1330 was and is still one of the fabulous looking laptops Dell has ever manufactured and it is certainly not a big surprise that its successor the M1530 has inherited its fine sense of style. Whether it is a 17″ DTR gaming notebook or this compact Dell model, you can rest assured that they are always equipped with the up to date hardware by Dell, so they offer nothing less than first class performance. The Dell XPS M1530 is a very powerful multimedia notebook that sets very high standards for the competitors.

Design:

Stunning looks:
Once M1530 is slipped out of the package, its good looks will be immediately apparent. In a refreshing departure from the Dell norm, the laptop has not made recourse to the glossy black clinche, unlike most of the manufacturers. Instead, the lid of the unit is adorned by a single block of colour that is interrupted only by the chrome effect Dell and XPS logos that are flanked neatly in grey. We have a very attractively finished subtle, muted shade, dubbed midnight blue model, but you can also have a choice of Crimson red and Tuxedo Black. But the chaps in states also enjoy the option of a rather fetching looking Arctic white. Irrespective of the colour of the model that you choose, Dell’s Micro Satin Paint assures you with a very tactile, silky smooth finishing. It is extremely hard to get the combination of practicality and fabulous design perfectly correct and as you spend some time with the Dell Studio XPS M1530 Laptop, you will realise soon that the manufacture’s designers have put in a very long and hard thought on each and every facet of its design. As you tilt the lid back on the strong and pleasingly stiff hinges, the superior interior of the laptop will continue to impress.

The lid:
The wide expanse wrist rest of brushed aluminium looks and feels extremely luxurious, providing you with great comfort while typing. The hinges in the laptop’s flanks merge well into the display. Though you will not be able to open the lid completely, XPS M1530 has a maximum opening angle of 160 degree which must not be an issue and once the display positions have been adjusted, you will be able to feel a slight see-saw. The omission of the lid catches is totally forgivable as the strong hinges will never allow the lid to flip open inside your bag.

On the heavier side of laptops:
The design of the XPS M1530 Laptop Computer as a whole is quite different from its smaller siblings as this model does not try to steal your attention with its LED Illumination. It is more eye catchy than the Inspiron 1520. Apart from being very sleek it also stands as an example for what elegance means. The base unit gets narrower towards the edges and looks even thinner with the effect of the bevelled flanks. The unit is very compact measuring (H x W x D) 39 x 358 x 262 mm and weighs around two and a half kilos, a dimension that well suites mobile working conditions.

Solid durability:
Being made out of a combination of aluminium, magnesium and steel parts, the laptop has a very impressive built quality, in fact, its sheer solidity alone makes it feel heavier than it actually is. You can feel superb solidity in the laptop and no matter how hard you try, M1530 will disappoint you without giving you a slightest hint of flex as it is very pressure resistant and flexural rigid. You will have to put real effort to create any distortion on the 15.4″ display. Metal parts are also used to improve the durability of the display. However, we did find some bad workmanship with the uneven gaps in parts where the different parts of the machine get into contact and next to the hinges of the battery. OK! We understand it is very minor and hence, con certainly be ignored.

The buttons in XPS M1530:
After all the jaw openings at the striking looks of the laptop, just turn on the XPS M1530 15.4″ Hi-Def Widescreen Laptop to elicit yet another shiver of excitement. Just force down the silver power button and the array of touch sensitive buttons to its right strobes into life with a gentle blue glow. They look awesome and work great too; with just a light depress of the finger, you will be able to mute the volume, pause a track with each of the controls illuminating and fading away gently.

There are hardly any multimedia notebooks in the market without hotkeys and M1530 is not an exception; you can find them just above the keyboard with imprinted icons and note that, they are touch-sensitive. But to activate these keys you have to exert some force for these to react, which is signaled by the small blue LEDs on each of the hot keys. Their functions include media player functions, ejecting the disk of the slot-in DVD drive and volume control. To the left of the power button, you will find another hot key that, pressing on which will launch the Dell Media Direct Center. The Dell Media Direct Center is software designed to handle the multimedia elements like audio files, pictures and videos that can also be run even before starting the operating system.

The 15.4-inch Display:
The Dell XPS M1530 comes in a WXGA panel called the Ultra Sharp CCFL display with Truelife. You can also get displays like WXGA+ panel with CCFL technology and LED display in WXGA format and each of these formats will be having TrueLife surface. Dell offers a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution LCD display on most models, although the £1099 unit has a slightly higher native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels. With the maximum brightness measured as, 172.8 cd /m ² and contrast ratio of 230:1. Said that, the pictures look great with saturated colours and the brightness is just perfect for working with the laptop outdoors. But you will find that the laptop is very reflective to be worked with in the outdoors.

The XPS M1530 keyboard:
The resilient built quality pays off its dividend for the sake of usability too. The colour of the keyboard goes well with that of the unit’s casing. The wide chassis of the laptop gives it plenty of room to breathe. The crisp positive action of the full sized keys makes long stretches of typing effortless. The noise is low even while typing faster and all that you will be able to hear is some quiet clicking.

Track pad of XPS M1530:
The responsiveness of the keys is complimented by the track pad which is equally good but we feel that its dimensions are quiet small. The vertical and horizontal scroll regions have been visually highlighted. The surface of the touchpad is fine and we especially liked the buttons as their clicking felt soft and were hardly audible.

Media Center Remote Control:
Dell has also included a Media Center remote control that fits neatly into the Express Card slot on the side off the notebook. This is a great accessory for presentations or for controlling a DVD from across the room.

2Megapixel Web Camera:
You will find a 2 megapixel camera on the top panel of the laptop which offers decent colours and a nice array of visual tracking technology to add fun masks, backgrounds and environments to video conferencing. However, the choppy visuals during web chats brought our impressions down a notch. Dell has also offered a fingerprint reader that will scan your fingerprint instead of typing in a password. This is really a very useful addition for security issues.

Ports and connectivity:
As a result of the release mechanism of the display, you will be able to find all the ports and connectivity in the left and right sides of the laptop. The M1530 is equipped with three USB ports, two in the right side and one in the left corner. The other ports include the VGA port, an S-video, a Firewire port and a HDMI port that allows you to make an external high resolution display and even the transmitting of the digital video and audio signals possible. The hard disk is in the left side and in the right is the ExpressCard Slot and Slot-in DVD drive. In the front, you will find only the audio ports. You can also opt for a Bly-ray drive instead of the 8xDVD+/-RW drive included in the unit. With this drive, you can store upto 50GB (dual layer) on a proper data carrier, but trust us; it is a costly option to choose. As in the case of most of the other XPS laptops, the M1530 also provides an optional UMTS model and the slot for the particular service provider dependent SIM card will be available in the battery slot of the notebook. Finally, in the right edge of the laptop Dell has also provided a hardware switch that controls wireless communication along with a hotkey for displaying all the wireless networks available.

Features:

It is testament to the Dell XPS M1530’s ergonomic excellence that it is very easy to forget the components that beaver underneath it.

Basic Specifications of XPS M1530:
The processor options largely remain to be same with the inclusion of the Core 2 Duo T7250 that is clocked at 2.0GHz with an 800MHz front side bus and 2MB of L2 Cache On-board. This configuration is a very capable option for most needs, but for those who are in need for more demanding requirements can choose between a 2.2GHz T7500 and the 2.4GHz T7700. For system memory, by default you will get 2GBs (2 x 1GB) worth of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, you also have an option for 4GB (2×2GB). But this can be useful only if you are opting for a 64-bit Vista that can use that amount of memory, hence 2GB will be the choice of most people. The only area that is worth thinking of a significant upgrade is the hard drive, which is a 250GB 5400rpm SATA HDD by default across the range. Though you have an option of a 64GB SSD, it is a very costly decision as it will ask another £800, that is not worthy for a notebook of this size.

A much notable improvement has been made in the context of graphics options with a 256MB nVidia 8600M GT coming as standard. This still is not suffice to rip through all the latest games, but you will be able to play a good selection of titles that are at 1280 x 800 with some details turned down. However, these upgrades in graphics processing is not matched by the display options with the unavailability of the LED backlit screen.

Configuration options:
If there is anything that we can complain about Dell XPS M1530 laptop, it is just the company has not delivered the range of customisation options that one would expect out of a XPS branded notebook, but this was an issue of the past. Now it is offering with all the configuration options that one would love to have. The options available are listed in the specification table.

Those with a heavy bank balance will appreciate the chance to equip a slot loading Bluray drive with the integrated HSDPA available. By chucking in some extra bugs, you also have an option for an Intel 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, with 10/100 Ethernet and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR both integrated as well.

Media Direct Software:
As we had mentioned in the design section, the Media Direct Software can be booted outside of the Windows Operating System for quick access to your media. But unfortunately, the video codec support is somewhat limited though it is a very helpful and swift way to access the music. Yet another advantage of the feature is that, it does not load a lot of the normal services of the Windows, which will improve the battery life by a great deal, which makes it a great option for watching DVD on the move.

Performance:

Much like the Dell XPS M1330, the M1530 packs a lot of horsepower. The performance of the M1530 is solid with all the tests made with the PCMark05 and Vantage. The XPS M1530 scores points in the benchmark tests. Its performance is even proper for current games, expect of those supporting DirectX10. Directly compared to similarly equipped notebooks, the XPS M1530 is still first-class. The Dell XPS M1530 handled all our day-to-day productivity tasks, like checking e-mail, surfing the Web, editing some photos with aplomb.

XPS M1530 Audio quality:
The quality of the speakers was just acceptable for a Laptop with built-in sub-woofer. We feel that the speakers in the M1550 are same as the ones employed in M1530 15.4 inch Laptop Notebook. You will find them in the top of the keyboard area above the media buttons. The speakers get loud enough with minimal distortion but the sound is slightly tinny as is the case with nearly all laptop speakers.

Heat:
The laptop does a very reasonable job in keeping the heat under control. Both the system fan and the heat sinks do a great job for managing heat when the system is under load. The maximum amount of temperature that we noted was 58 degrees and the fan managed to push out a significant amount of hot air.

Noise Level in Dell XPS M1530:
The noise is reasonably low and most of the time; you will not be able to notice it with the background noise. But noise was somewhat of an issue during some of the other activities, for instance, the slot loading drive is quite loud during windows start-up, while inserting and ejecting discs. The sound will be something like a tiny power drill muffled under a pillow. Said that, the optical drive produces acceptable levels of noise as the disk is spinning in the drive.

Battery:

The battery of Dell XPS M1530 lasts for about three hours with the balanced power profile and with the power saver mode, the laptop renders about three hours and twenty minutes. Finally, with DVD playback, the laptop lasts for two hours and these are quite solid results especially considering the DVD playback is with the brightness set to maximum. This excellent result of battery life of the laptop is because of its nine cell extended life battery. It is worth mentioning here that the nice cell battery in the laptop gives an increase in the overall slope of the keyboard, which in turn offers with better ergonomics and hence more comfort for typing.

Accessories:

Dell offers you with a lot of accessories with the XPS M1530 Gaming laptop that includes a wrapper making the transport of the notebook very safe, but can take only the notebook itself without space for even the power adaptor. The other stuff include tools and driver software, the Windows Home Premium OS in a DVD and in addition to these, to give a special incentive for the XPS consumer, an elegant looking briefcase for the offered software CDs and user manual is included. The package also includes an Express card sized remote control, Creative headphones and also a micro fibre cloth for cleaning your beautiful laptop.

Warranty:

Dell offers XPS M1530 one year standard warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

So, having a look at the design, features and performance of the Dell XPS M1530, we can say for sure that it is a great notebook. Though it is tempered by the slight scarcity of configuration options in its initial stages of release, it really got away with the other advantages of the laptop like its jaw dropping design factors in this 15.4” beauty. It has a design that is second to none in its price range. We accept the fact that is much more expensive than other laptops with similar specifications like the Acer Aspire 5920. But if you want a larger notebook without sacrificing on the style, visual impact or quality, then this machine offers you with great value and a solid set feature set. The XPS M1530 will be a great option for desktop replacement; replacement with great style.

Check Apple Laptop Reviews, Asus Laptop Computer Reviews in this website.

Dell XPS M1530 Notebook PC – Technical Specifications, Features

Configurations available:

Feature	Configuration Options
Operating System	Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Genuine Windows Vista® Business Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Graphics	256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
Display	15.4″ Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) display with TrueLifeTM (CCFL, 220 nits) 15.4″ Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) Display with TrueLifeTM
Hard drive	Up to 320GB configured with a single 5400 RPM SATAII hard drive. Up to 200GB configured with a single 7200 RPM SATAII hard drive.
Optical drives	Slot Load DVD+/-RW Slot Load Blu-rayTM Disc
Wi-Fi Options	Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card Wireless Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card Wireless Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/g Mini Card Wireless
Long Range Wireless	Dell Wireless 5520 HSDPA Dell Wireless 5720 EVDO

Manufacturer	Dell
Model Name	Dell XPS M1530
PC type	Laptop
Series	XPS
Dimensions (W x H x D)	14.06″ x (0.93″-1.38″) x 10.34″
Weight	2.62 Kg
Available colours	Midnight Blue, Crimson red and Tuxedo Black
PROCESSOR, MEMORY, STORAGE
Processor type	Core 2 Duo T7500
Clock speed	2.2 GHz
Processor manufacturer	Intel
Cache	6 MB L2 Cache
FSB	800MHz
RAM installed	3072 MB (3GB)
RAM type	667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Hard drive capacity	320GB SATA Hard Drive
Spindle speed	5400rpm
Optical drive	Fixed 8x DVD±RW Slim Slot Load drive, including SW
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
Installed Graphics Type	Onboard Graphics
Graphics processor	NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Speaker Details	Stereo in & headphone/speaker out (x2) dual digital array mics
COMMUNICATION FEATURES
Ethernet	RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100)
Modem	N/A
Wireless	Dell Wireless Mini Card Wireless Bluetooth® 2.0
Mobile internet	None
Webcam	2 mega pixel
CONNECTIVITY	S-Video 3 USB 2.0 HDMI VGA Firewire (IEEE 1394a) RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100) 8-in-1 card reader 1 ExpressCard 54 mm slot
SOFTWARE
Operating System	Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Genuine Windows Vista® Business Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Office package	MS Office Home and Student 2007
Other software	Dell MediaDirect 3.3
BATTERY
Battery technology	Li-ion
Battery capacity	8700 mAh
Estimated battery life (mfr)	3 hours
MISCELLANEOUS
Accessories	Wrapper, Tools and driver software, the Windows Home Premium OS in a DVD and in addition to these, to give a special incentive for the XPS consumer, an elegant looking briefcase for the offered software CDs and user manual
WARRANTY AND SERVICE	One year collect and return 24×7 toll free service support