Coming to T-Mobile as their first 4G tablet, Dell is set to launch its foray into the 7-inch tablet market with the Dell Streak 7. Packed with NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual core processor and a 7-inch 800×480 Gorilla Glass touch screen. Is it poised to take on the Tab? Check out the full review.
Hardware / Design
The hardware design for the Streak 7 is vastly improved from the Streak 5. I was one of Dell’s harshest critics of the Streak 5 as the back battery panel came to easily detached from the device.
Like the Tab the back of the Streak 7 is a solid non-removable panel. The back also contains a small diamond texture design similar to the texture feel Dell has been putting on more of their consumer notebooks.
One of the things that stands out the most with the design of the hardware is that it appears to be designed with landscape mode in mind as the major way the product will be used. From the camera positions, to the power and volume buttons and most noticeably the orientation of the side buttons.
The design of the Streak 7 is much like the design of the Streak 5 where the sides of the device, if you are holding it landscape, have a slight curve. On the top of the device there are only two buttons, off and one and volume up and down. The Home, Menu and Back buttons are on the front. One thing that is noticeable is the absence of the search button so commonly found on other Android hardware. This could mean Dell intends to make the move to Honeycomb quickly where search is integrated more into the core operating system, or it could just frustrate users.
There are two speakers on the Streak 7 on both ends of the device, which gives it a true stereo experience with applications that use audio. In comparison the Tab has two speakers but they are both at the bottom of the device.
The tablet itself is 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.5 and weighs 1lb compared to the Tab which is 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches and 13.4 ounces. In this side by side comparison you can see the Streak 7 is slightly longer.
Software and Performance
The Streak 7 comes loaded Android version 2.2. The only additional software Dell has pre-loaded on to the device is their own Dell Stage widgets which consist of a contacts, email, gallery, home, music, social and web widgets.
I did find the Streak 7 to be a bit more snappy than the Tab. Going in and out of applications, browsing apps from the menu and even browsing the web. Overall I found the speed performance to be better than the Tab.
Further from a performance standpoint the Streak scored a 1918 on Quadrant where the Tab scored a 980.
Even though Tegra 2 is a dual core processor, Android version 2.2 is multi-threaded however there is room for improvement. Along those lines not all applications are multi-threaded as well. So the full power of the Streak 7 and the Tegra will not be unleashed until either Gingerbread or Honeycomb are made available on the Streak 7.
4G
The Streak 7 is T-Mobile’s first 4G tablet. In many areas of the Bay Area where I live I got strong 4G signals and tested speeds in the 2.5 to 3.5 mb range of download speed. In full 4G areas web pages loaded quickly and more importantly when I was out and about using things like maps or other location based services applications.
Camera and Multimedia
Since NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor is capable of 1080p capture I was excited to test the video capabilities for both playback and capture. For 1080p video playback the Streak 7 performed admirably. The video played back flawlessly without skipping and with smooth frames. Capture however was a different story all together as 720P was the highest resolution option capable to capture video.
Graphics and games looked incredibly fantastic. I expected this as Tegra 2 coming from NVIDIA with their deep graphics expertise. I was able to play a few pre-release Tegra optimized games that NVIDIA provided me. One was a Tegra optimized version of Dungeon Defenders and the other was Galaxy On Fire 2. Games in particular shined on the Streak 7 and when it came to fluid and rich graphical gameplay it was much better than the Tab.
Here are some photos I took of my goats with the camera.
Battery
The battery life on the Streak 7 has to be my biggest complaint. Over the weekend I took it with me on a day trip to Berkeley and after a full nights charge it was dead by 5 PM. The next day faired a little better but just barely made it through a day.
The culprit is the Streak 7 only has a 2780 mAh battery while the Tab has a 4000 mAh battery. The bottom line is expect more frequent charging if you plan on heavy usage.
Wrap up
Having used the Tab for over a month and now after using the Streak for five days, the performance advantages of the Streak 7 give it the edge in my opinion. The Streak 7 will perform and in some cases outperform other tablets in the 7′ inch range with its capabilities as a rich multimedia device largely thanks to NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 super chip.
The battery life is my biggest complaint with the Streak 7 and in terms of battery life the Tab is a better option.
I want to see how the Streak 7 performs when either Gingerbread or Honeycomb become available as an update. From things like multi-threaded support, more tablet centric OS and speed / performance gains all things that will add value to not only tablets in general but the Streak 7 as well.
Mobile hotspots are relatively common by now, and more and more smartphones offer data-sharing among their features; what, though, if you’ve already got a USB modem and are tied into – or content with – your existing data package? ZyXEL believes it has the answer in the shape of the MWR211 mobile router, a palm-sized way to share your connection while mobile. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Hardware
At 4.11 x 3.1 x 1.02 inches and 5.33 oz the ZyXEL MWR211 is a bigger block than most MiFi mobile hotspots, despite not actually having a 3G/4G modem built in. What you do get is WiFi b/g/n with support for WEP/WPA/WPA2 and WPS, an ethernet port and an integrated 3,000 mAh battery which ZyXEL reckon is good for up to 2hrs of standalone runtime.
Setup is straightforward, but also more flexible than with a regular mobile hotspot. You can either plug in a USB modem – ZyXEL has a list of compatible models – and use that to get online, or you can plug in a regular wired internet connection and share that via WiFi instead. If you use a USB modem then the ethernet WWAN port can be used to connect a wired device instead (ZyXel also make a larger version, the MWR222, with two USB and two ethernet ports).
What that means is that the MWR211 can not only share out your USB dongle’s connection but allow more than one device to access hotel internet service. There’s also a physical WiFi switch (as well as a physical power switch) allowing you to turn the wireless off altogether and solely use the ethernet port. As with a regular router there’s MAC filtering, port forwarding, VPN support and a NAT firewall; you also get data usage monitoring, with user-assignable alerts to let you know if you’re nearing your monthly allowance, together with prioritized bandwidth (so that, say, VoIP traffic is treated as more important than gaming traffic) and even the ability to assign bandwidth limits by IP address or for clients hooked up to the ethernet port. Unlike most mobile hotspots there’s no artificial limits on WiFi clients, either, so assuming you have sufficient bandwidth you can share it with as many devices as you like.
Performance
Plugging in a modem got us online straight away, with the default SSID and password easily changed through the web interface. We tried a number of different USB modems from various carriers and had no problems at all; similarly, having plugged in a wired connection from our router, we were able to share that connection as well. A simple row of LEDs show USB, ethernet, WiFi, WPS, battery and power status; although a display of some sort would be preferable, the browser-based control panel served its purpose.
Speed was obviously dependent on the 3G or 4G network we hooked up, though we noticed no difference in performance whether we were using the USB modem directly or connected via the ZyXEL. Battery life, meanwhile, fell in line with the company’s estimates, which means you’re getting around half the time most mobile hotspots with integrated modems promise. An AC adapter is bundled for recharging or using the MWR211 in a fixed position, and we had no issues with overheating.
Wrap-Up
A dedicated mobile hotspot or a hotspot app on your phone is always going to be more elegant than the ZyXEL; with a USB modem hanging off the back, and given its physical heft, this isn’t a device that slips comfortably into a shirt pocket, for instance. Still, what you lose in discretion you gain in flexibility. Being able to pick and choose between multiple networks depending on the coverage and data plan pricing of each is a real advantage, especially if you’re travelling and want to get online with a local data stick or make the most of a hotel connection. USB modems also tend to be cheaper than their hotspot counterparts, though obviously there’s the price of the MWR211 to take into account as well; ZyXEL given an RRP of $114.99, but you can find the mobile router for around $85 online.
For pure mobility purposes the 2hr battery is underwhelming, though of course you can easily unplug the modem and hook it up to your notebook direct if you can’t find a power point. Most users will probably find mobile hotspot apps easier to handle, but for those who regularly travel or who juggle a few USB modems to cater for different areas of coverage, the ZyXEL MWR211 does a lot to warrant inclusion in your gadget bag.
It’s taken AT&T long enough to push a MiFi mobile hotspot out of the door, but finally the AT&T Novatel Wireless MiFi 2372 is available. As with the original MiFi units, the premise is straightforward: take one 3G connection and share it between a number of WiFi devices. Still, with 4G mobile hotspots on the market, and many smartphones offering integrated hotspot functionality, is the AT&T MiFi 2372 too late? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Hardware
There’s not a huge amount of difference between the MiFi 2372 and the original GSM MiFi 2352 we reviewed a couple of years ago. Inside the small, glossy box – 2.44 x 3.86 x 0.60 inches and 2.86 oz – is a UMTS/HSPA modem good for up to 7.2Mbps downlinks and 5.76Mbps uplinks on AT&T’s 3G network, together with a WiFi b/g router that shares out that connection between up to five other devices. That might be an iPad, a notebook, a portable games console or even a phone; basically, as long as your gadget has WiFi it should be able to get online via the MiFi.
Unlike the original CDMA MiFi units, the AT&T version also gets GPS functionality and a microSDHC card slot, the contents of which can be accessed by any of the WiFi-connected clients. It basically turns the hotspot into a tiny, portable NAS. Finally, there’s a rechargeable, replaceable 1,500 mAh battery, which AT&T reckon is good for up to 4hrs use, and a microUSB port to recharge it.
Software
While many of the mobile hotspots we’ve seen of late have included small displays to show network, battery and device status, the MiFi 2372 falls short of that complexity. Instead, the power button changes color to indicate connectivity and battery status; green, for instance, means it can only connect at GRPS or EDGE speeds, while blue or violet mean UMTS or HSPA is available. A second LED shows WiFi status.
To make up for that shortcoming, there’s an AT&T-branded landing page hosted by the MiFi itself, and accessible by visiting http://att.mifi on a WiFi-connected device (the default SSID and network key are printed on a label on the underside of the unit). The default “guest” page shows battery, network and GPS status, along with customizable widgets for things like weather forecasts (based on GPS position or your choice of location) and a geographic search with Google Maps powered data.
Log into the admin area and there are more widgets and access to the MiFi’s settings – things like changing the admin password, SSID, encryption (up to WPA2) and the like – together with the ability to send and receive SMS messages. It’s a definite advance over the somewhat basic UI of the original MiFi units, though we’d like to see Novatel Wireless and AT&T expand the number of widgets on offer there’s a third-party SDK available, but so far take-up has proved underwhelming from a consumer perspective.
Performance
The exact speeds you’ll see with the MiFi 2372 will of course depend on the strength of AT&T’s network wherever you are, but we can’t really fault the Novatel hardware. Though it would be useful if it supported HSPA+ for 14.4Mbps and above, AT&T’s service at those speeds is still patchy at best. We observed download speeds ranging from 3-6 Mbps on average, while upload speeds came in at 2.5-4 Mbps.
Battery life, meanwhile, will depend in part on 3G signal strength, as well as reducing the more WiFi clients are connected. AT&T’s 4hr estimate is based on sharing the MiFi’s connection with a single device; in that situation, with 4-5 bars of service shown in the status page, we generally managed 3.5-4hrs of use before the MiFi expired. In a perhaps more realistic test with two or more clients using the connection, we were more likely to see 3hrs.
As we’ve notice on other MiFi units, the 2372 did show a tendency to reset itself – kicking us off the network in the process – if it got hot, usually a side-effect of simultaneously charging and using the MiFi at once. Leaving it to cool down for a few minutes fixed the problem.
Pricing
AT&T offer two ways of picking up the MiFi 2372, either on a new, two-year agreement at $49.99, or without a contract for $299.99. Either way, data plans are $35 for 200MB or $60 for 5GB, with each extra MB costing $0.10. There’s a dashboard widget which will keep a running total of how much data you’ve used.
The 200MB plan is likely to be insufficient for most users, which leaves the $60 5GB as the probable choice. In contrast, AT&T offers smartphone users 2GB of data for on-device and tethering use for $45 per month, with each additional 1GB priced at $10. Use your iPhone 4 or Android device as a mobile hotspot, then, and it would cost you $75 for the same 5GB (on top of your regular voice plan).
Wrap-Up
There’s no denying that a mobile hotspot is more useful on the move than a USB modem, with greater flexibility on what devices can take advantage of the connection. However, AT&T’s data fees do mean that it can work out as an expensive way to get online; it’s worth doing some basic calculations to see whether 3G-enabled versions of devices (like the iPad WiFi + 3G) will work out cheaper. We’d also recommend stumping for the off-contract MiFi, which while more expensive upfront does at least mean you can choose to cancel service the months you don’t need it.
The absence of HSPA+ support and sub-4hr battery life are the key flaws of the MiFi 2372, but they’re not unusual among mobile hotspots. The bigger challenge will be 4G hotspots, though you’d obviously need to live or work in an area served by 4G coverage to make the most of them, and battery life can be worse than for their 3G counterparts. A boosted battery would go a long way to improving the MiFI 2372, but the surprisingly useful microSDHC sharing and widget dashboard do mark it out among the competition. Just make sure you’ve worked out the numbers first to see if AT&T’s plans do offer the best package for your needs.
First announced back in late 2009, the Motorola CLIQ was not only the company’s first attempt at an affordable Android QWERTY phone but the debut for MOTOBLUR. It’s taken over a year for the true successor to emerge, the Motorola CLIQ 2, and Android, MOTOBLUR and the smartphone segment in general have undergone some significant changes in the meantime. Has Motorola done enough with the CLIQ 2 to stay competitive? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Hardware and Design
The overly-plastic construction of the CLIQ and its flexing keyboard have been replaced on the CLIQ 2 with a more solid build all round. At 4.57 x 2.35 x 0.57 inches and 6.17oz it’s actually slightly longer and wider than the first-gen model, but a little thinner; still, it’s a fairly chunky handset all the same. It feels solid and reassuring, however, while the soft-touch plastic on the back is tactile and grippy.
Similarly, the QWERTY slide leaves us with little doubt that the CLIQ 2′s keyboard mechanism will outlast the average carrier agreement, offering a nice balance of spring-assistance. As with any smartphone offering a physical keyboard, the price you pay is extra bulk, and we’re not entirely confident that every user will find the hardware buttons sufficiently rewarding for that compromise. Unlike the angular keys of the CLIQ, the CLIQ 2 uses a membrane pad with hexagonal bumps for each button. That adds up to mediocre travel and poor feedback while typing, both of which slowed down our text-entry speed.
When you take into account that the CLIQ 2 gets the same sort of 3.7-inch 480 x 854 capacitive touchscreen as the DROID 2, leaving plenty of room for a well spaced on-screen keyboard, it’s harder still to justify the phone simply because of its physical ‘board. The original CLIQ made do with a mere HVGA screen, leaving the soft-keyboard experience underwhelming, but we can’t say the same of the CLIQ 2. In fact, its display is solid for a mid-tier handset, though relatively narrow viewing angles and some washed-out colors do leave it lagging behind the newer Super LCD and Super AMOLED devices.
Underneath the display are four touch-sensitive buttons, while the power key is up top – next to the 3.5mm headphone socket – and the volume rocker on the right side. Happily the physical mute switch from the CLIQ has also been carried over, and there’s a two-stage camera shortcut. On the back is a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, while underneath is the SIM slot, microSD slot and standard 1,420 mAh battery.
Inside, gone is the CLIQ’s mere 528MHz processor, replaced with a 1GHz chip, 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM storage for apps. Connectivity includes quadband GSM/EDGE, triband WCDMA (850/1700/2100) for T-Mobile USA’s 3G network, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and DLNA support. There’s also GPS/A-GPS, a digital compass, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor.
In the box there’s the CLIQ 2 itself, a 2GB microSD card, wired stereo hands-free kit, an AC adapter and a microUSB cable, along with a basic getting-started guide.
Software and Performance
The first CLIQ launched with Android 1.5 and debuted MOTOBLUR; in the interim period we’ve seen Android 2.3 Gingerbread debut, and Google’s OS make huge strides in UI and usability. Many of the original problems which MOTOBLUR attempted to solve are no longer present, and users have grown wary of manufacturer skins since they generally slow down the later release of core OS updates.
The CLIQ 2 offers Android 2.2 Froyo out of the box, and gets the latest iteration of MOTOBLUR. As with other recent MOTOBLUR devices, the system is a lot less demanding of users – you no longer need to create a specific account, for instance – and it’s easier to ignore if you’d rather use Android’s regular functionality. Still, the seven homescreens and dynamically-resizable widgets are useful, and the Happenings stream of updates from your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networks can be useful. A universal inbox pulls in all emails, messages and other updates, but we found it too easy to lose important messages in among the flood.
Otherwise there’s the usual offering of Google apps, including Gmail, Google Maps and access to the Android Market. T-Mobile preload the Swype keyboard along with an instant-messenger app with cross-platform support for AIM, MySpaceIM, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger; there are also suggestions for other downloads in the T-Mobile AppPack. Finally, you get Flash Player 10.1 for in-browser streaming video, games and widgets.
Unfortunately, despite the 1GHz processor, the CLIQ 2 doesn’t feel as fast as other Android devices on Froyo. Part of the blame has to be shouldered by MOTOBLUR, the persistent updating of which can weigh the system down. Generally, though, the phone felt less snappy than, say, Motorola’s own DROID 2.
Camera and Multimedia
With 5-megapixels and 480p video capture, the CLIQ 2′s camera doesn’t really take on the HD abilities of recent Android rivals. Still, it’s a solid offering. In decent lighting conditions the auto-focus is swift to lock and produces crisp images with minimal noise. Colors are well balanced, though can lack saturation at times leaving them somewhat underwhelming compared to the output of rivals.
In low-light, the shortcomings of an LED flash become clear; as ever there’s a sweet-spot within which the flash can do an average job of illuminating the subject, but outside of that position it either over-saturates or falls well short of providing sufficient light. Video, meanwhile, isn’t going to replace a regular camcorder, but the final clips are solid given the resolution limitations and the CLIQ 2 managed to handle low lighting particularly well, something we’ve seen 720p-capable phones stumble at.
As well as the usual Android media abilities, Motorola pre-loads Slacker Radio for streaming music, and there’s an FM radio for more traditional entertainment. The native Android music app is replaced with Motorola’s own version, complete with Tunewiki integration for pulling in song lyrics. Blockbuster On Demand is also installed, along with Amazon’s Kindle ereader app. The CLIQ 2 can handle a fairly broad range of media formats, too, including AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA9, WMA10, XMF, AMR WB, AMR NB, WMV v10, AAC+ and WMA v9.
Phone and Battery
Phone performance was not the original CLIQ’s biggest strength, and sadly that mediocrity has been carried over to the CLIQ 2. Motorola’s CrystalTalk Plus technology usually does a solid job at noise reduction, and we were reasonably impressed with it on the DROID 2, but the CLIQ 2 suffered from noticeable background hiss. There’s WiFi call support, but it’s worth noting that T-Mobile will still take any calls you make off of your bundled minutes; instead, we’d opt for something like Skype, which is free.
Motorola suggests up to 7.9hrs talktime or up to 13 days standby from the CLIQ 2′s battery, though the reality depends very much on how heavily you take advantage of MOTOBLUR. With regular updates through the day we drained the smartphone by mid-evening; shutting down some of the social networking apps helped prolong that, though at the expense of the user experience.
Wrap-Up
Compared to its predecessor, the CLIQ 2 is a huge improvement. The display and build-quality are particular stand-outs, as is the performance from the 1GHz processor, and we prefer MOTOBLUR when it’s not so all-encompassing. Unfortunately, it’s still not the perfect smartphone: the QWERTY keyboard falls short of the usability you’d expect, and we prefer the ‘board from the T-Mobile G2.
Both the CLIQ 2 and the G2 are priced at $99.99 (with a new, two-year agreement and rebates) from T-Mobile, and in the end we prefer HTC’s handset over the Motorola. The CLIQ 2 is a solid option, but it lacks the sparkle necessary in today’s crowded smartphone marketplace.
Jawbone’s newest Jawbone Bluetooth headset has arrived, the Jawbone ERA, evolving the discrete styling of the ICON and taking its place at the top of the company’s range. There’s more than just good looks promised, though; Jawbone has also slotted in a bigger speaker for HD Audio, together with an accelerometer for more intuitive control. Is it enough to warrant the $129.99 price tag? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Hardware
The Jawbone ERA is longer than the ICON, which shifts the microphone closer to your mouth, but the physical controls have been streamlined thanks to the addition of an accelerometer. Jawbone call it Motion-X, but it’s basically a way to kick the headset easily into pairing mode – “ShakeShake” – or answer/end calls – “TapTap” – by shaking or tapping the body of the ERA. Power on and shake ERA four or so times and it will automatically go into pairing mode; then, when you’re wearing the headset, a brisk double-tap will answer incoming calls.
Inside there’s Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with headset and hands-free profile support, as well as (mono) A2DP, and Jawbone reckon up to 33 feet range. Multipoint support means the ERA will remember up to eight paired devices, of which two can be simultaneously connected at any one time; that means you can have your cellphone and your laptop paired, and handle voice and VoIP calls with the same headset.
In the box there’s the ERA, four round earbuds for use with the easily-detached ear hook, four different earbuds with integrated rubber hoops for when you don’t want to use the ear hook, a short microUSB cable, carry pouch and a USB AC adapter. Unlike previous Jawbone ear hooks, the loop supplied with ERA is far more flexible which makes for more comfort together with a better fit for those wearing glasses or sunglasses.
Jawbone ERA unboxing and hands-on:
As with ICON, ERA will work with Jawbone’s MyTALK online suite of services to extend the headset beyond merely answering calls. Basically, it’s an app store for your Bluetooth headset, and with ERA Jawbone has boosted the connectivity speed so that updates take seconds rather than minutes. That’s useful, because you can now upload your address book to the headset’s onboard flash storage: whereas on the ICON the caller ID was read out as a number by a synthetic voice, with the ERA you hear the caller’s name (Jawbone ERA’s CallerID Function works with ten contacts that you’ve programmed using MyTALK). read out by a proper voice artist. Jawbone tells us it will be adding further voice artist recordings throughout the life of the headset, so names not initially covered – and which will get the robotic voice – will eventually get the premium treatment. There’s also the usual voice-control, the ability to dictate an SMS or Twitter update by voice, and the ability to send a short voice memo to Jawbone’s Jawbone THOUGHTS app.
Performance
Audio quality lives up to the solid construction of the ERA itself, putting the headset among the best we’ve tested. Jawbone has used a new wideband speaker – supposedly 25-percent larger – for what it calls HD Audio, along with the latest version of its noise-cancelation tech, NoiseAssassin 3.0. The latter adds automatic volume adjustment and intelligent DSP; with normal voice calls and Skype there was little in the way of obvious processing and simply clear, bright sound. When we tested in more noisy environments, however, such as while driving, the processing shifted into gear and was more ruthless at cutting out background sounds. We prefer the ERA’s performance to that of our previous favorite, Plantronics’ Voyager PRO+, and the Jawbone is more discrete in its design as well.
While the ShakeShake pairing system is slick, it’s the tap-to-answer that really makes the ERA straightforward to use. Rather than hunting for a button – or having to press so hard that it hurts your ear or even dislodges the headset – it’s intuitive to gently tap the ERA a couple of times and then start talking. Jawbone tells us that the Motion-X tech on the ERA is simply the first step in how it expects to develop the technology, and the upgrade potential via the MyTALK system means there’s a good chance new motions will be introduced at a later point.
We haven’t had a chance to put battery life to the test properly yet, but will do so over the next week or so. Jawbone claims up to 5.5hrs of talktime or 10 days of standby time.
Wrap-Up
It’s tough not to be impressed by the Jawbone ERA: the HD audio and effective noise-reduction technology take care of the core functionality, around which the solid build quality, innovative use of an accelerometer, and comfortable fit add up to an all-round winner. Jawbone definitely seems to be listening to feedback, and given the upgradable nature of the ERA we’re hopeful the MyTALK platform will mean future software modifications aren’t solely preserved for new headsets.
At $129.99 – available in Shadowbox, Smokescreen, Midnight and Silver Lining finishes – it’s in the premium price range, but the functionality means you’re getting one of the best performing devices for your money. We’d opt for the ERA over the $99.99 Jawbone ICON (which will remain on sale alongside the new flagship) for its boosted HD Audio performance and easier control.
So we were contacted by no less than GelaSkins themselves to see if we’d like to take a look at their brand new MacBook Air protective skins. What did we say? Of COURSE we’d like to take a peek. So they did indeed let us take a peek, and since I just happen to have had a brand new MacBook Air 11″ right here to go with my ancient iPod Touch 2nd gen, I decided to grab a skin for both. For the iPod Touch 2nd gen I decided to go with a massively complex London illustration by my favorite group of pixel illustrators in the world: eboy! Then for the MacBook Air 11-inch, I decided to take the DIY route and have them print my own design.
The design I decided upon for the MacBook Air 11″ was a photo of the army-issue backpack in which I carry all of my accessories and books to and fro. In this way it would not only be protected from scratches, but from nefarious intentioned characters as well. Why? Because if it were printed well enough, it would be totally camouflaged!
Unboxing
When we received the package in which the skins were mailed, we did not instantly know the contents. This is important as these skins are highly sought-after as they work on many different products, even if they aren’t sized correctly. Of course GelaSkins does suggest you use them on the products they intended them for, but weird stuff happens!
Once we we’d opened the first envelope, the excellence was instantly known. High quality plastic sleeves surround two sheets each -one of them an informational sheet, the other containing the skin. These sleeves opened just like you would a comic book sleeve. Newbs- be careful. You don’t want to wreck your comics by having them stick to the sticky part. Once you’ve got the sheets out, you can see the majestically colorful brightness of whatever printers GelaSkins is working with.
Top notch, all the way.
MacBook Air 11″
The first of two skins we unwrapped was the MacBook Air 11″. Although the top of this computer is relatively small, especially when compared to the rest of the comparable computers on the market, it seems gigantic when you peek the sticky side up from the GelaSkins backer. This protective skin is almost rubbery on the printed side, slightly less sticky than a vinyl sticker you’d put on your car on the sticky side. It’s almost like it’s between a window cling and a bumper sticker, if you know what I mean. I was able to place the skin on the computer PRECISELY after a few tries, but if you’re not a master craftsman, (taught in the fine arts of bookmaking by the Minneapolis masters,) you might want to consider working with two people – one to hold part of the sticker up, the other to place it down. The sticky side is a level of sticky that’s able to be stuck more than once, but the amount of times you can peel it up is finite (though we didn’t need more than 3 or 4 tries to get it perfect.)
The printing on this skin is marvelous. You’ll hear me say the same thing about the iPod Touch skin because it’s a design by people who know how detailed the printers can be here, but I had no idea, and thustly submitted a high-res photograph to test the capability of the GelaSkins colors and sharpness. Completely top notch. I’ve never seen something printed so perfectly on a non-paper surface. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but they’ve done it extremely well. When placed next to the backpack from whens the photograph came, supposing it’s in the same light, they look basically identical. A little bit different in size, obviously, but identical nonetheless.
This laptop goes with me basically everywhere since it is an ultraportable and I do like to bring it along. Therefor it is witness to some medium punishment. I do have an Incase sleeve that I put it in for travel between locations, but once I’m at a place like a coffee shop or a library or on a plane, some damage is bound to happen. While I have had this skin on for over a week now, bringing this laptop with me everywhere, I cannot see a scratch and the skin has not begun to peel off in any spot whatsoever.
iPod Touch (2nd Gen)
It doesn’t matter especially that this iPod Touch is a 2nd Gen rather than the newest model since the same factors in deciding if the protective skin is good go into play. Is it easy to apply? Extremely. Obviously much moreso than the laptop. Does the skin protect the back of my device? Of course it does – not a scratch in the week I’ve had it. Does the skin peel at all? Not even a little bit. Needless to say (have a peek for yourself) the printing is basically perfect. The pixel illustration group eboy have clearly positioned their illustration here (and on a bunch more skins) to work perfectly with the size of the skin, and they’ve done an excellent job. I’m more exciting to show off the skin than I am to show off the new apps I’ve purchased.
Wrap-Up
I’ve written much more than I really should have even had to – all I should have said was that these skins do exactly what they say they do, protect the surface they’re covering, and that they’re printed magnificently. You’re dealing with an absolutely professional group here (just look at the artists and designers involved for proof) and they’re making a really rocking product.
The following is a review of the black and orange Lenovo U260 IdeaPad Windows 7 notebook – a super-comfortable little businessman made for ultra-stylish checkings of online business and perhaps even the playing of some games. The very first thing you’ll notice about this laptop is that it is a fantastic shade of orange – this is one of two colors it can be, (the other being Mocha,) but that’s not the reason you’ll stick around. Nor is the most comfortable experience I’ve had with a notebook since I first started using MacBooks – use this factoid in your judgement of MY judgement, because it makes me a hard customer to sell when it comes to notebooks outside of the industrial designer brilliance employed by Apple. Note first and foremost that I think Apple’s people should talk to Lenovo’s people here if they ever plan on moving away from hard plastic and flat metal surfaces.
Hardware
This tiny notebook has a 12.5 inch LCD digital display with 1366 x 768 resolution and a matte finish. It weighs approximately 3 pounds and is 0.7 inches thick. The outer casing is a lovely shade of orange (Clementine Orange, if you’d like to get specific,) one of two colors, the other being Mocha Brown. These colors instantly say a lot about what the notebook is meant for – comfortable computing in a semi-professional environment. That is, if you’re in an environment that hates color. If you’re working somewhere that appreciates a tiny splash, then yes, this is the notebook for you. This outer casing has an almost-rubbery feel to it, a very similar feel to the inside below the keyboard. The combination of these two makes the notebook seem to already be inside a case, one you would have purchased to make your whole experience nice and, again, comfortable to the touch.
The keyboard is a sort of Chicklet shaped key experience, with a little extra swoop below each key where normally it’d be squared off. It took your humble narrator just a couple minutes to get a completely natural feel for the board before he was tapping away like crazy. The one complaint I have about the keyboard portion of this computer is the far right row. Where I’m used to being able to find backspace, enter, shift, and etc, there’s an extra row of keys crammed up the side, the arrow keys down below, part of this row. This might be a big problem for those whose jobs depend on them typing a billion words a minute, but for everyone else, it’ll just take a couple days to get used to (if you’re used to a standard qwerty keyboard, that is.)
The trackpad is refreshing. Where I found the tappability of the gigantic HP ENVY 17 3D‘s trackpad to be unbelievably sensitive, this one appears to be right on. What I mean here is that you can both track around with your finger or single/double-click on items with the same pad, there’s no need to access the buttons below unless you’d like to drag items around the screen. The buttons are oddly refreshing too, both of them relying on more of a push than a click, if you know what I mean.
System – LENOVO 0876
Manufacturer
Product Type
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Motherboard
LENOVO Base Board Product Name
Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU U 470 @ 1.33GHz
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 37 Stepping 5
Processor Frequency
1.33 GHz
Processors
1
Threads
4
Cores
2
L1 Instruction Cache
32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache
32.0 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB
L3 Cache
3.00 MB
Memory
3.80 GB 800 MHz
FSB
1.07 GHz
BIOS
LENOVO 37CN15WW(V1.01)
Inside the machine you’ll find a Intel Core i5 processor with 3.8 GB RAM and a 320 GB 5400 rpm hard drive. Graphics are handled by a “Intel HD graphics” graphics card powering a 12.5 inch LCD digital display at 1366 X 768 pixels. Viewing angles are basically perfect left to right, turn a bit darker at approximately 30 degrees up or down. Glare is taken care of by the lovely matte finish on the screen, but you wouldn’t have to be worrying about glare on such a small computer anyway, so it’s a bit of a moot point. On the other hand, if you live in a one bedroom apartment, maybe you WILL have to worry about glare because you’ll use this as your TV. No worries then though, because there isn’t any.
Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.1, the left side containing headphone jack and USB jack as well as a lock port if you plan on bringing this to a convention or something like that.
Along the right you’ll find an ethernet jack, HDMI, VGA, and USB. There’s a lovely integrated web camera up and center above the screen with not quite as good quality as you’d want to be having a meeting in a professional setting, but just fine for a casual user.
The Lenovo IdeaPad U260 runs Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit) and includes a surprisingly small amount of bloatware. This list includes Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer (64 bit), Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Anytime Upgrade, WIndows DVD Maker, WIndows Fax and Scan, WIndows Media Center, WIndows Media Player, (honestly do they really have to title all of these “Windows?”,) WIndows Update, McAfee virus scan, ooVoo, and a few other things that won’t jam up your day too badly. Oh, and Smile Dock! As always, we instantly installed Google Chrome and Firefox, both of which have been working just fine for internet browsing and downloading.
Performance
This machine is made to bring with you on a short trip – definitely not coming with the computing power you’d like to have on an everyday basis, especially if you’re in a computer-centric job, this is definitely the one you’ll want to bring with when you take that trip to Mobile World Congress 2011. Unless you want to watch a DVD or insert CDs of course. Let’s take a peek at the numbers: The Lenovo U260 IdeaPad ended up grabbing a 2147 on Geekbench (a synthetic test of memory and processor performance.) This places it right around the MacBook Air (3.1) which received a 2261, and the Acer Aspire 3810T (which we reviewed in June of 2009) at 2281. Thusly, you wont find this machine winning any computing power contests, but if you’re looking for a competitor for the MacBook air, here it is, not quite as bigtime.
Benchmark Score – LENOVO 0876
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (32-bit) – Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Integer
Processor integer performance
1583
2147
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
2968
Memory
Memory performance
1839
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
1868
This machine received Cinebench (v. 11.5) rating of .94fps with 1.25pts on the CPU, so again, not exactly a gigantically majestic gaming and entertainment machine. On the other hand, it works just fine with speed for everyday activities, clicking, tapping, playing videos on online streaming sites, audio’s just fine, everything’s good enough for a part-time usage machine.
Battery
The battery is not fantastic. It’ll last you right around 3 hours doing BASIC tasks – if you’re bringing this on a long flight, hope that you get a plugin by your seat. On the other hand, there’s basically no heat coming from the machine at any time. Intel’s advanced cooling technology really shines clearly here.
Wrap-Up
If you’re a Windows sort of person, and want a tiny computer to bring with you on a trip – this is the one. This is exactly what you’re going to want. If you plan on being in the field without portable power or a wall plug for hours on end, maybe consider something else. This computer takes into account the fact that Apple is attempting to rock the ultraportable market with their MacBook Air and slams directly into it with a completely reasonably sized (small, but not tiny) notebook with a completely unique feel on the outside and the in. Starting at $899 it appears to me to be right in the correct range for cost. Uniqueness, lack of bloatware, relatively decent experience for how small a computer it is, comfortable physically. Well played, Lenovo.
Scandinavian design has built a reputation for its sleek simplicity, with Bang & Olufsen leading a decades-long heritage in appealing home entertainment kit. It’s a legacy speaker start-up Libratone would like a part of, and the Beat is the company’s first step. A monolithic wireless speaker with a premium finish and premium price-tag to match, Libratone promises something that’s both easy on the eye and easy to use. Check out how it fares in the full SlashGear review.
Hardware
The Beat is certainly distinctive: a 47cm high tower, triangular in cross-section, predominantly clad in slate grey Italian wool. On the back there’s a slice of satin chrome which arches out into a handle for easier transportation. Build quality is very high, but our review unit was already showing some fluffiness around the edges of the wool where it had obviously been rubbed. Nothing some pruning with nail-scissors wouldn’t take care of, but we’re not really used to having to trim our home audio equipment.
Ports on the Beat are minimal, with a 3.5mm stereo input intended for legacy use, but Libratone expecting users to opt for one of the two bundled wireless adapters. There’s a USB adapter – a tiny, angled USB dongle that shows up in Windows or OS X as another sound output – together with an Apple-friendly transmitter that plugs into the dock connector of your iPhone, iPod or iPad. As a rather slick consideration, Libratone also throw in a custom USB cable which can dock with the iPod adapter, allowing you to recharge and sync the iOS device while also streaming wirelessly. The only thing you don’t get is a 3.5mm audio cable for use with a non-Apple PMP.
The streaming part of the Libratone Beat may be wireless, but the speaker itself doesn’t cut all of the cords. Despite the weight, there’s no internal battery for standalone use, and so you’ll need to find a plug to power the Beat up. A dedicated power switch on the back is one of two physical controls; the other is an illuminated multifunction button in the top right hand corner of the speaker’s fascia. It’s a single less-than-solid point on the Beat, being a little wobbly to the touch.
Pressing the button once switches between the wireless transmitters – that way you can leave the USB and iPod dongles plugged in, and switch between them from the speaker itself – while pressing twice triggers a scan for any new nearby transmitters. Three times mutes the speaker – actual volume control is via the transmitting device itself – and six times clears everything. The button’s backlighting switches from red when in standby, to yellow when searching/connecting, and then to white while it’s playing.
Performance
Libratone is particularly proud of the audio tech slotted inside the Beat, with a 50W bass amplifier and 2x25W tweeter/midrange amps driving a 5-inch bass speaker, two 3-inch midrange and two 1-inch ribbon-based tweeters. Rather than all pointing out the front of the Beat, they’re spread around the three edges; Libratone calls this FullRoom, and suggests the speaker sounds best if you position it 20cm away from a wall so that the rear-facing cones can reflect sound off of it. Corners, apparently, aren’t so helpful to the stereo effect.
The promise is 360-degree audio from a single source, something plenty of other companies have offered before, and as is usually the case it’s a mixed bag in practice. The Beat certainly doesn’t lack bass – in fact at times we wished we could tweak the low-end down somewhat, something you have to do via whatever EQ options are on your audio source, since there’s no way of doing it on the Libratone speaker itself – with the weighty unit getting the floor shivering with the amount of sound it can pump out, while the trebles are bright and clear. The mid-range gets somewhat lost in the process, however, taking its toll on guitars and acoustic music especially.
It’s also hard to identify the promised stereo effect, and while we tried the Beat in various different positions in different rooms, there’s really no way it can live up to a proper set of stereo speakers. That might not be an issue if your wireless speaker requirements run to a simple way to take music around the house with you, or out into the garden, but then the Beat’s high price tag and AC demands rear their heads.
What you do get is convenience. Libratone promise that those with more than one Beat unit can have them all active and paired simultaneously, with the speakers automatically starting playback when you come into range. If you’ve ever wanted a bubble of whole-house audio that follows you around, the Beat can deliver that, assuming you’ve the depth of wallet to accommodate. Unfortunately Libratone only supplied a single unit, so we were unable to test the multi-speaker functionality. Still, it’s worth noting that, even if you have two units set up, there’s no way to assign one to the left stereo channel and the other to the right. You merely get a louder version of the proprietary FullRoom effect.
Wireless range is quoted at up to 10m for the iPod adapter and up to 30m for the USB adapter. In practice, we had no trouble roaming throughout the apartment while maintaining a connection, with walls in-between.
Wrap-Up
There’s a lot to like about the Libratone Beat. The styling has the minimalist sparkle we’ve grown to expect from the Danes, and the focus on high-quality materials – multifunction button wobbles aside – adds up to a speaker that’s distinctive even when it’s turned off. If Italian wool isn’t luxe enough for you, Libratone will sell you a Beat clad in Italian cashmere instead; this is a speaker that dresses better than we do.
The wireless setup is super-simple as well; Windows and the iOS devices we tested automatically switched over to the Libratone adapters, while a quick click in the OS X settings page had our MacBook singing through the Beat. Subsequent plug-ins of the transmitters triggered an automatic switchover, the Beat automatically pairing and hardly a skipped note in the transition between onboard speakers and the Libratone monolith.
Unfortunately, that convenience and quality comes at a price, and it’s both on your wallet and your ears. At £549 for the wool and £599 for the cashmere versions, the Beat is tremendously expensive for an iPod speaker, and the audio output simply isn’t as precise as a traditional stereo speaker pair. In its favor there’s the convenience of its portability, but the absence of a battery option – and the sheer weight of the unit itself – somewhat undermines the flexibility on offer.
Nonetheless, there’s something appealing about the Beat. The ease of use and obvious consideration behind the design decisions are excellent, and we love the styling. If it were cheaper, we could probably describe the sound as playful and be thankful for the lashings of bass from a relatively small cabinet. At its current pricing, however, it’s hard to recommend the Libratone Beat to those who prioritize audio quality.
Take a look with your humble narrator at this lovely little pair of earbuds in the super bright white, orange, red, and black box. They say this set, the AUDEO PFE 022 + Mic Earbuds, have perfect bass, a perfect fit, and “perfect protection for maximum sound quality even at the lowest volumes.” Inside the box there’s a load of little instruction books, the earbuds, and three sets of rubber covers (for the insides of your ears.) Take a listen with us to the smooth sounds of these earbuds, a pair of earbuds that finally, finally fit in my ears and sound great without giving my lobes and drums a ringing out. Preview: for what they are, they rock. See the Unboxing and Hands-On post also!
Sound Quality
Jam them into your ears, and you will hear everything you’d like. For bass, take the song “Black Smoke” by The Prodigy off their EP by the name of Lost Beats. As I write this review I’m in one of the most terrible places for sound quality on the whole, a window seat on a 757 airplane flight (from Orlando to Minneapolis, if you’d like to know,) and I’m still jamming out pretty hard. I can hear the THOOM of the bass, the knocking of the steel drums, the flip-flopping of the DJ’s ripped-up records, and yes, even the tiny beeps in the background.
Next up is the song “Honey” aka “Bonus Track – special ingredient” by Erykah Badu from the album New Amerykah Part One. In this track I’m able to hear a little bit more sharpness than I’d like – this wasn’t as noticeable on the Prodigy track since, well, that music is wacky sharp in the ears no matter what you do because that’s the idea with that type of music. Here where I’m expecting a softer end of each smack, there’s, again, a little more sharpness than I know I hear under ideal conditions. The bass is still superior to most buds I’ve tested.
Finally, an older track by the name of “Dope Hat” by everyone’s favorite 90′s weirdo Marylin Manson from his classic Portrait of an American Family. The buds perform very well with this stereo track, each bud clearly delivering the doinks and cracks and jams and even the back-and-forths (more than one of these made to make you dizzy when you’re listening to headphones)
*A back-and-forth is when the producer has taken an audio element and has moved it back and forth along the two speaker receptors where usually a single sound goes in one or both since moving sounds back and forth like this produces an uncomfortable barf-inducing effect. If you’ve got at least a high-middle quality set of earbuds like these, this effect sounds nice, reminding you that you’d be throwing up if you didn’t have as nice a set as these.
As each of these tracks is played, the fact that these are earbuds and not ear-covering headphones is quite apparent – why? Because, again, these buds are right now being tested in the heck-hole – about 10 feet away from a jet engine. That said, these are the NICEST pair of earbuds I’ve ever had the pleasure of being jammed in my ears. I can hear the jet, but I can ignore it and enjoy the music (or the movie, or whatever else I happen to be grabbing audio from here on this airplane.)
Mic
Works great, sounds clear. placed at exactly the right place along the cord that it’s at the mouth with both buds in the ears. Single button turns on/off reception, minimalistic approach allows you to know it’s there while a layman might not ever notice it. No complaints here.
Comfort and Feel
Feels good, man. This set of buds comes with three sets of rubbery plugs for what I at first thought were people who treated them harshly and needed replacements – nay! They are three different size sets of buds for different sized lobes. Well played, Audeo. Each set doesn’t have a gigantic amount of size difference from the next, but if you’ve got smaller holes in your ears, you shouldn’t have to worry, as all sizes will jam into smaller ears. If you’ve got problems often with earbuds because you’re just a gigantic person to begin with, probably just go ahead and steer clear of earbuds altogether – that’s my advice. These three sizes are for comfort more than they are to accommodate for large ranges in lobes.
I’ve got fickle ears, lobes and drums. Earbuds do not agree with me on a regular basis, and for the first few hundred years after earbuds were first thought up and sold commercially, I swore off of them because they gave me a major headache almost no matter what. Audeo proves here that the new age in comfort for haters like me has arrived. I brought these buds along on a weeklong trip here instead of a larger pair of headphones because I found them to be both comfortable and small enough to fit in my pocket – imagine that!
Wrap-Up
Good buds, man. The package is gorgeous and for the quality they promise, these are the buds to suggest to buds. Comfortable for headache havers, sound good next to a jet engine, and look and act well physically. Bottom line is that these are the buds I bring with me places. They’re no sound-canceling several-hundred-dollar headphones, but they don’t promise to be – great earbuds is what’s going on here.
Welcome to a review of the biggest fattest HP 3D desktop replacement notebook you’ll ever come across. Not that it’s the biggest that’ll ever be made, but when you’ve got this thing sitting on your desk, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without such an abundance of screen real-estate on what the world, up until recently, was calling a laptop computer. This is the HP ENVY 17 3D, and not only does it have full 3D capabilities and a width bigger than your humble narrator’s torso, it’s got a screen so bright it makes the real world seem yellow.
Hardware
This gigantic HP ENVY 17 3D review unit is a fabulously large at 16.38″(W) x 10.83″ (D) x1.25″ (min height) / 1.52″ (max height). It weighs in at 7.37 lbs – more than you’ll want to be carrying around in your packpack, if you know what I’m talking about (unless of course you’d like to bring it to a LAN and impress your comrades of course, then weight is never an issue.) I wouldn’t expect a 17.3″ notebook to be any less heavy than this, but hey, we’re in an age where a MacBook Air can be so small and thing that it gets thrown away with the mail on accident, so what do I know?
The casing on this machine is nothing but lovely and beautiful brushed aluminum in carbon relic. Aesthetically it’s totally lovely with a random dot pattern across the wrist area below the keyboard as well as across the top of the case, with a light-up HP in a circle in the lower left (when it’s stood up open.) There’s a generous amount of space (about an inch) of smooth depressed space around the keyboard inside with a full-sized keyboard plus number pad in black with white printing keys that are all back-lit. There’s a singular metal power button in the upper left above the keyboard, and a gigantic 4.2 x 2.5″ trackpad with some questionable clickability.
The trackpad on this machine isn’t questionable in the way that’s difficult to work, but in the way that, if you’ve never used this kind of extremely sensitive pad before, will take some getting used to. Even after a week of working with the pad (being used to a more traditional sensitivity pad) I found it much more natural to take out the ol’ mouse and connect it via USB. The pad can be clicked (right and left) and can be tapped in a way similar to a button. Because both of these can happen at the same time, lots of mistaken clicks were made. I can imagine that once you’re extremely used to this system, however, you might find it super helpful to be able to click without the extra physical depression of the pad – hello easy gaming click? Lots of mistakes made but neat after learning.
System – Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY 17 Notebook PC
Manufacturer
Product Type
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1590
Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 30 Stepping 5
Processor Frequency
1.60 GHz
Processors
1
Threads
16
Cores
0
L1 Instruction Cache
32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache
32.0 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB
L3 Cache
6.00 MB
Memory
5.94 GB 1333 MHz
FSB
1.07 GHz
BIOS
Hewlett-Packard F.1A
Inside you’ll find a 1.60GHz Intel Core i7-720QM processor with 5.94 GB RAM and a 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive. Graphics are handled by a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5850 graphics card. This card powers the massive 17.3″ diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920×1080). Viewing angles are basically perfect at all angles except starting at about 20% below the screen. But heck, unless you’ve got the thing sitting at the top of a staircase and you plan on sitting at the bottom, you probably wont need to worry about this. The screen doesn’t do much for reducing glare, so that’s an issue if you’re using this machine as your television (which I hear a lot of people do these days [like my wife and I,]) but keep it away from windows and bright lights and you’ll be fine.
Connectivity includes Wifi b/g/n, external 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN RJ-45 connect, 3 USB (3rd shared with eSATA port), HDMI, RJ-45, Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner, two headphone jacks, 120 W power adapter, mini-Display Port, 1 extra SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, internal slot-load optical drive, HP TrueVision HD webcam with built-in mic, 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader, and a partridge in a pear tree. If that’s not enough ways for you to get connected to other devices and the outside world, I don’t know what’ll satisfy you ol’ stick in the mud. Every little thing you could possibly need, right?
In the box you’ll also find a pair of super hot gigantic ugly pair of HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses that employ the use of the, again, Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display. These come in a whole separate box and drawstring storage pouch so you know they’re trying (with success) to make you feel like they’ve put some effort into this 3D experience. There are several nosepads included and the glasses themselves are substantial to be sure.
For a video of a hands-on with this machine as well as LOTS of pics of everything that’s in the box, head over to the HP ENVY 17 3D Laptop Hands-On and Unboxing post from when we first received the package.
Software
The HP ENVY 17 3D runs Windows 7 Home Premium which of course includes an unacceptably vast amount of pre-installed applications which we’ll more than likely never use including, but not limited to: Acrobat.com, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0, Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0, Adobe Reader 9 Desktop Gadget Gallery, Hulu Desktop, Internet Explorer (64-bit), Internet Explorer (yes, two separate applications,) Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Security Essentials, Stardock MyColors, Windows Anytime Upgrade, and more. We of course immediately downloaded Google Chrome to use for internet, with Firefox as a backup – both of which work just excellently.
Performance
This computer is made for business and entertainment. It’s classified as a business machine, but with big pushes on both the Beats audio and the 3D capability, we know better – this machine is made to bring you the visuals and the audio. Does this mean it’s going to deliver the sweetness to gamers as well as everyday 3D Blu-Ray disk watchers? Lets let the numbers speak for themselves. First we’ll have a look at benchmarking with Geekbench, a synthetic test of memory and processor performance. The ENVY 17 3D totaled up a score of 4450, surprising considering the scores of similar machines: Acer Aspire 5745DG-3855 at 4814, Gateway ID49C at 5042, and even the smaller HP ENVY 14 at 4830.
Benchmark Score – Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY 17 Notebook PC
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (32-bit) – Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Integer
Processor integer performance
4760
4450
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
4851
Memory
Memory performance
3518
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
3831
The ENVY 17 3D scored 26.94fps in OpenGL and 2.78pts in CPU. Unfortunately Cinebench was unable to complete the task, so no results there. As far as performance goes with everyday functions like opening tabs, playing video with audio, playing video and audio at the same time (on accident,) opening new games and old (Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction, just for fun,) everything went super smooth. No delays basically anywhere.
With the test package we’re working with here, we received a test copy of the 3D Blu-Ray disk Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It looks, plays, and feels fantastic. While I personally am still not convinced that 3D is the way of the future as far as personal computers goes, having 3D capability in my home, right here in front of me, is fun and impressive. As far as how the 3D looks compared to say… the movie theater? It’s better here. While the movie theater for me ends up going to the back of my mind basically right away (or giving me a headache because I don’t know what to focus on at any given point,) the 3D setup this ENVY 17 3D machine uses is top-notch. When I move my head from left to right to left, the objects on the screen move with me. They don’t react in exactly the same way they would if I were actually looking at objects in real life, but it’s close, and it’s awesome.
Games that work with 3D via the ENVY 17 3D’s ATI active shutter technology (Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty: World at War, Fear 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, World of Warcraft,) do not just instantly pop on. To enable the 3D tech for games, you’ve got to use the TriDef ignition application. You have to do this each time to open a 3D game. Once you’ve got your games open, however, it’s smooth sailing. Obviously playing games in 3D is going to put more pressure on your GPU than 2D games since two frames are needed where before there was only one, but it doesn’t seem to matter all that much here. NOTE that I’m always hesitant to say how well games play on computers I personally am reviewing since it’s almost certain that you, being a person who plays games on your computer in addition to doing other things during the day, wont be working with a fresh out of the box version of this machine, and should therefor take the word on performance with a grain of rice since everyone’s experience is unique. Trust the numbers!
Battery
Keep your power cord handy. This machine lasts right around 2 hours without it, and that’s only playing movies. If you plan on bringing this gigantic honker to a friends house to play some games or watch some 3D / HD action movies, bring the cord, just to be safe. Two hours isn’t long, but I really REALLY don’t think HP meant to sell this machine with battery life as a point of sale. It’s a desktop replacement after all, and how many desktops do you know that sit around without the power cord plugged?
Wrap-Up
The display is bright, the display is sharp, and the display is HUGE. This is a desktop replacement without a doubt, and you’ll never go back to a tower again if this monster is slid under your nose (that’s a bit presumptuous, I know you love building your own machines and enclosures and all that, but this is a really really tasty alternative to DIY.) You will NOT be let down by the display – in fact, as mentioned earlier on, you’ll be more let down by the colors you see in the rest of the world when you look away from the screen as they’ll appear yellowed before your eyes re-adjust.
The mousepad. It’s really difficult to get used to. If you plan on using this machine without a mouse, consider testing a pad like this out, because I’ve never experienced one like it and it can get very annoying very fast. If you HAVE tested one before and have taken a liking to it, I imagine it can become quite handy in many places. Every time I switched back to another CPU after using this, I found myself tapping my pad expecting folders and icons to open. Imagine that.
Performance seemed great all around, nothing seemed to lag or chop. Trust the numbers first, trust me second: this machine flies fast, this machine works well. As with any machine, if you bog it down with crap-ware and rip it apart with a million trillion tasks, it’ll fail like any other – if you’re smart, this machine can work wonders for you.
The machine can get hot, especially along the left side of the keyboard where the fan blows out hot air. If you’re understanding of machine heat, it doesn’t seem like it will be a giant problem. If you’re used to your machine staying cool all the time, no matter what, think twice before expecting this one to do the same. It gets hot. It does.
The HP ENVY 17 3D is built for entertainment. If you plan on needing a cpu for business only, get a smaller machine, and one without 3D capabilities. If you want to watch spectacular graphics flash before your eyes on a titanic notebook, this is the monster for you. I’m not entirely convinced that the world is ready for 3D games, but it’s sure ready for movies, and when (if ever) the 3D gaming world catches up with reality, this ENVY will be ready. Bottom line is that if you’ve got entertainment in mind and you’d like it in a desktop-replacement notebook package, this is the one for you.
