How does Windows 8 fare? Battery life test

CloudTags: battery , battery life , laptops，laptop batteries , Samsung NC 10

Tablets and Ultrabooks are on the rise and Windows-on-ARM (WOA) tablets are on the horizon. For Windows 8 to succeed in today’s — and tomorrow’s — market for both low- and high-powered portable devices, Microsoft needed to get rid of its “fat” Windows without losing functionality. The goal was to not just increase responsiveness, but also to improve battery life, which is obviously one of the core criteria for everyone shopping for a new laptop or tablet. How does Windows 8 fare? We’ve got answers”:

Microsoft’s promise: Less energy consumption

Redmond pushed out almost a dozen blog posts that either demonstrate their battery life/power consumption improvements or show off how new their new features (e.g. USB 3.0 support, Connected Standby, Live Tiles, Metro Apps) are built with saving power in mind.

Here are the highlights:

All background Metro-style apps will be suspended; only the foreground app consumes resources and thus battery life. If an app is not on screen and actively used, it shouldn’t drain battery. Only a set of apps will be allowed to use background activity (e.g. for music playback or printing).

Improved idle usage of the OS.
On-system drivers, such as the USB host controllers and keyboard drivers, put the device into low-powered modes sooner.
Memory deduplication mechanisms to reduce RAM workload.

Battery life benchmark: Windows 8 consumer preview

“We think of power as a critical system resource, just like CPU utilization, hard disk activity, or memory consumption.” explains Pat Stemen, a Program Manager on the Windows Kernel team, on the B8 blog.

So how power-friendly is the new Windows exactly? We wanted to put Windows 8 CP up for a test run on a variety of laptops and see how it stacks up against Windows 7 SP1. Here’s the hardware I used:

Laptop A — Acer Aspire 7551G. A Run of the mill 17-inch laptop with a Phenom II X4 CPU and 4 GB of RAM. Good for multimedia, but not particularly well-suited in the battery life department.

Lapotp B — Samsung NC 10. One of the better 2008-era netbooks. The usual yada-yada specs (Atom N270 1.6 GHz, 1 GB RAM). Low performance, extremely good battery life.

Laptop C — 13″ MacBook Air (2011) equipped with a 1.8 GHz Core i7, 4 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD drive.

* I didn’t test on an ultrabook, but the MacBook Air running Windows matches the most current ultrabooks in terms of specs, battery power and form factor.

All three represent very different laptops, targeted at very different audiences. Evaluating these devices should give a good glimpse of what to expect on the battery life front.

Test scenario

I used PCMark 7′s “Lightweight” test, which simulates typical workloads such as adding music to Media Player, browsing the web, copying files and scanning for malware while leaving a couple of seconds of idle time in between. I looped the test until the battery of the device ran dry. Second, I just let the laptop sit there, do nothing and just “die”. While that’s not a particular realistic scenario, it demonstrates idle usage which is very important for battery life: Remember, you’re not constantly pushing your CPU to its limit — while you’re reading something, sitting in a meeting or just waiting in between presentation slides, your laptop needs to go into idle as fast as possible and stay there until you do something. It is a good basis for judging power management.

Since third party software usually impacts battery life, I installed only the very basic programs such as Office 2010, TeamViewer, SnagIT, Adobe Reader and Flash on both machines. In all cases, I used the “Balanced” power saver mode and cranked up brightness to about 50-70%, while leaving Wi-Fi on.

Results

I repeated each test run exactly three times to avoid discrepancies. In each and every case I got pretty much same results (+/- 5 minutes). Results are measured in minutes:

Microsoft has done its homework. Idle performance of Windows 8 seems to best that of Windows 7 SP1 in every case. This is especially true on the MacBook Air: Here, idle battery life increased by 51 minutes. Even under the PCMark 7 workload, it managed to squeeze 24 minutes of additional battery life out of the machine. Our trusty old Samsung NC 10 ran for 40 more minutes in “idle” while it gave me another 20 minutes under typical workload. While that’s not a lot, it may just mean the difference between wrapping up a movie or work on an airplane and having to stare at a blank screen for the rest of the flight.

Overall: While there are no major leaps, these are all solid improvements across the board.

Windows 8 Hybrid Laptops all about the Trackpad

Windows 8 Hybrid Laptops all about the Trackpad

CloudTags: Windows 8 , Laptops , Trackpad , Dell inspiron 1545 batteries , Hp probook 4310s , thinkpad t61 battery

With Windows 8 coming later this year, Ultrabook makers are reportedly scratching their heads over how to integrate touchscreens with thin-and-light laptops.

Existing Ultrabook designs are inadequate, DigiTimes reports, because when you tap the touchscreen, you might end up pushing the top panel downward. Strengthening the hinge is an option, but then the entire laptop could topple back if you push too hard.

So now, instead of forcing touch on traditional clamshell setups, laptop makers are looking into other options, such as rotating or sliding screens that turn the devices into tablets. Lenovo solution, for example, is the Yoga, a laptop that folds all the way around into a tablet, with its keyboard disabled on the reverse side.

Sounds good to me. The idea of reaching out to a touchscreen on a traditional laptop always seemed awkward, because you have to reach over the keyboard and subject yourself to gorilla arm.

But as long as we’re brainstorming, I have one appeal to Windows 8 laptop makers as they try to combine laptops and tablets into a single device: Please, please, do not neglect the trackpad.

The trackpad is not only more comfortable than touchscreens in a laptop setting, it’s more accurate, and it allows the user to execute shortcuts through right clicks. Selecting text is also easier with a pointing device, because you can simply click and drag. For a tablet to double as a laptop, I’d argue that a trackpad is just as important as a physical keyboard. Fortunately, Windows 8 will support pointing devices throughout the OS.

But I’m not sure whether this is sinking in. At Intel’s CES press conference, for example, the chip maker showed off a concept tablet whose screen slid back into laptop position, kind of like Asus’ Eee Pad Slider. It did not include a trackpad. The Developer Preview tablet Microsoft handed out at its BUILD conference included a docking station that paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, but that keyboard did not include a trackpad. And despite all the Android tablets that have flooded the market, with their accompanying keyboard accessories, Asus’ Eee Pad Transformer is the only one I’ve seen with a trackpad built in.

I, for one, have no interest in Windows 8 tablet-laptop hybrids that do not include a trackpad. Reaching over to a touchscreen is too difficult, and too imprecise, and I’m too reliant on clicking and dragging, and using right clicks for productivity. So as device makers rethink the design of Windows 8 PCs, I hope the trackpad gets the attention it deserves.

Online discount Battery store : batteryfast.co.uk

The Most Anticipated Ultrabook of 2012

The Most Anticipated Ultrabook of 2012

CloudTags: CES 2012 , laptops , 2012 , ultrabook , battery life uk , Toshiba pa3536u-1brs , Hp pavilion dv4 batteries , compaq pavilion dv6 battery life

If you’ve watched our extensive laptop coverage from CES 2012, only to look down at your own busted-up old clunker of a machine, then 2012 might be the year you buy a new laptop.

And with so many high-end, high-design systems hitting store shelves this year, there are more worthy candidates than ever to choose from, and many of them fall into the still-new ultrabook category.

If you need a refresher on what “ultrabook” means, it’s an Intel marketing term (much like Centrino was), encompassing a growing category of Windows laptops that are thin and reasonably powerful (typically under 188 millimeters thick with the latest Core i-series processors), with good battery life and at least some solid-state-drive (SSD) storage.

With all the ultrabooks already confirmed for 2012, it’s a fairly safe bet that your next laptop will be a very thin one.

Running from just under $1,000 to $1,500 or more, the 2012 laptops that seem the most exciting aren’t exactly the least expensive we’ve ever seen, especially after several years of falling prices, but at least they all look good.

Our question for you is: based on design, price, components, and features, which of these highly anticipated 2012 laptops are you hoping to buy this year?

Below you’ll find a brief executive summary of each one, linked to more in-depth coverage, with our take on why it’s a lustworthy machine. Check out the contenders, then vote in our poll. Or, if you have a different choice, let us know in the comments section below.

HP Envy 14 Spectre
Estimated price: $1,499, Q1 2012

The winner of our Computers and Hardware Best of CES category, this glass-covered beast is certainly unique. We’re still not convinced a glass-lid laptop can survive in the wild, but the NFC support and great audio controls are big pluses.

Dell XPS 13
Estimated price: $999, Q1 2012

The look and feel remind us of Dell corporate Latitude line spliced with a MacBook Air, rather than previous XPS laptops, and inside it has edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass over the screen and a large clickpad.

Acer Aspire S5
Estimated price: $999, Q2/3 2012

The S5 is 15mm thick–2mm thinner than last year’s Aspire S3–weighs less than 3 pounds, and has a sleek Onyx Black magnesium alloy chassis. More importantly, the ports–HDMI, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt–are tucked away via a motorized rear port door.

Samsung Series 9
Estimated price: $1,399, Q1 2012

Last year’s big design winner was the ultraslim Samsung Series 9, which hit before anyone had ever heard of an ultrabook. This year’s version is even slicker, but still on the expensive side for what you get.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga

Estimated price: $1,199, Q2/3 2012

Another laptop we’ll have to wait for Windows 8 to get our hands on, the Yoga works perfectly fine as a standard clamshell laptop, but its lid flips all the way back to form a touch-screen tablet, providing extra flexibility (no pun intended) in how you use it.

Not a 15-inch MacBook Air.

15-inch Apple MacBook Air
Estimated price: $1,699 or more, sometime in 2012

A shot in the dark here, but there have been enough rumors and online chatter about a larger version of Apple’s MacBook Air that it must be on at least some people’s list of most-lusted-after laptops of 2012. If there is indeed a 15-inch Air, it could very well hit sometime around midyear, when the next generation of Intel CPUs is expected, and would most likely involve a decent premium over the existing 11- and 13-inch versions.

Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review

Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review

CloudTags: Cheap , Game , Laptops , budget , Dell inspiron 1750 batteries care , Sony vgp-bps5 , Hp 510 batteries life

Gamer on a budget? Here are some laptops, complete with discrete graphics chips, to help you get your game on.

Looking to supplement your Steam account with a gaming laptop, but don’t want to shell out $1,000+ for a top of the line PC? We have compiled a list of computers under a grand that will allow you to get your game on, just not at the highest quality settings.

Gaming laptops are by no stretch of the imagination, cheap. For $1,000+ you can get a Blu-ray player, top of the line Nvidia discrete graphics chipset, and a slew of features. However, gamers on a budget may have to opt for a DVD drive or no optical drive at all, an ATI or lower-end discrete graphics, and a standard feature set. However, AMD’s latest series of Llano A8 APUs, which contain the CPU and GPU on the same die, are a budget gamers dream budget. Laptops equipped with these chipsets can achieve playable frame rates on games like Crysis on a 1,024-by-768 resolution and Medium settings, like the HP Pavilion dv6-6135dx (40fps) and Gateway NV55S05u (36.7fps). Though, there is a trade off when it comes to day-to-day processing power; the AMD A8 APU is slower than Intel’s lowest Core i-CPU offering, the Core i3, but unless you’re planning on editing photos and videos on a regular basis the discrepancy between the two is negligible.

Of course having a dedicated AMD or Nvidia graphics chip is always the better (read: more expensive) option if you have the change to spare. Most manufacturers pair a more powerful and more expensive Intel Core i5 CPU with a dedicated chip, but occasionally you can snag a laptop with a cheaper AMD APU inside paired with a graphics chip; however, none have crossed our bench as of yet. Where the Pavilion dv6-6135dx and Gateway NV55S05u were under $700, Intel systems equipped with a GPU range from $750 and up—it all depends on the power of the parts and features thrown in.

Below are some of the best bargain gaming laptops that have come through the labs, they may not be able to play Crysis in 1080p with anti-aliasing turned up to 4x, but you can get away with playing Starcraft II with some textures and shading at medium quality settings.

Featured in this Story:

Gateway NV55S05u
$579.99 list

317464 gateway nv55s05u angle Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The Gateway NV55S05u is one of the first laptops to use AMD’s new Llano-based parts, and it performed ably and is priced to move.

HP Pavilion dv6-6135dx
$679.99 list

308974 hp pavilion dv6 6135dx angle Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The HP Pavilion dv6-6135dx desktop replacement laptop delivers above-average graphics for a budget laptop, but is a subpar performer on productivity and multimedia tasks.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570
$849.99 direct

315086 lenovo ideapad y570 angle Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review Underneath its ugly-duckling exterior, however, is a compilation of fast-running parts that include a Core i5 processor and switching graphics technology (good for preserving battery life), courtesy of Nvidia’s GeForce GT 520M graphics chip.

HP Pavilion dv6-6173cl
$949.99 list

322050 hp pavilion dv6 6173cl angle Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review High style, strong performance, and big sound highlight the versatile HP Pavilion dv6-6173cl, a 15.6-inch desktop replacement that would be good for your home.

HP Pavilion dv7-6163cl
$949.99 list

321822 hp pavilion dv7 6163cl top Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The HP Pavilion dv7-6163cl supplies quad-core performance, switchable graphics, booming audio, and a sleek aluminum chassis at a fair price, making it the affordable media center laptop to beat.

Acer Aspire AS3830TG-6431
$750 street

311193 acer aspire as3830tg 6431 top Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The Acer AS3830TG-6431 is one of the most powerful ultraportables on the market, even though it’s far from being the lightest.

Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft)
$999 list

312939 dell xps 15z microsoft top Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The XPS 15z (Microsoft) is available from Microsoft’s Store and every bit as luxurious as the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch, but it won’t cost you nearly as much.

Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269
$979.99 list

319458 toshiba satellite p755 s5269 angle Gamers Dream Budget Laptops Review The Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269 desktop replacement laptop offers high-end processing and gaming-level graphics without going overboard on price.

Lenovo Unveils New IdeaPad Laptops for 2012

Lenovo Unveils New IdeaPad Laptops for 2012

CloudTags: Lenovo , IdeaPad , Laptops , laptop batteries uk , Lenovo battery , Lenovo thinkpad t61 , Dell inspiron 1525 batteries

Thinner and more affordable is the name of the game for Lenovo’s consumer-focused IdeaPad line of laptops.

lenovo ideapad u410 180 8114511 Lenovo Unveils New IdeaPad Laptops for 2012 Hot on the heels of the announcement of new ThinkPad corporate laptops for 2012, Lenovo is showcasing its coming consumer lineup, which sells under the IdeaPad brand. At first glance, these don’t appear to be dramatic changes from the existing lineup. With the IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook just recently released, it’s probably too much to expect dramatic changes in the short term.

The first to hit the market will be the IdeaPad Y and Z series, due for release in April. The IdeaPad Y480 (14-inch) and Y580 (15.6-inch) are high-power laptops designed for gamers and enthusiasts. They’ll come with up to Core i7 processors and GeForce 650M (for the Y480) or 660M (for the Y580) discrete graphics. Also included: JBL speakers with Dolby Home Theater V4. The IdeaPad Z380, Z480, and Z580 (13.3-inch, 14-inch, and 15.6-inch respectively) are colorful, everyday laptops with a variety of CPU and graphics options, up to Core i7 and GeForce 640M.

lenovo ideapad z480 8114545 300x207 Lenovo Unveils New IdeaPad Laptops for 2012 Shipping in May are the new IdeaPad U310 and U410 Ultrabooks. They’re similar in appearance to the U300s we previously reviewed, with a few tweaks. Gone is the SSD, replaced by a standard hard drive with solid state cache. The 14-inch U410 features discrete Nvidia GeForce 610M graphics, while the smaller 13.3-inch U310 relies on Intel’s integrated graphics. Though they are thin, they’re a little on the heavy side by Ultrabook standards. The U310 weighs 3.74 pounds, while the U410 weighs 4.18 pounds. Fortunately, they’re less expensive as well, with a starting price of $699.

Finally, the IdeaPad netbooks continue in June with the S series. Lenovo’s netbooks have gone on a diet, and slimmed down to 0.8 inches thick. The 11.6-inch IdeaPad S200 features Intel Atom processors, while the S206 utilizes AMD’s Fusion C60 processor. Lenovo claims only 4 hours of battery life for these laptops, which seems on the low side. At a starting price of $599, I can’t imagine many customers wouldn’t pay the extra money to step up to the U series.

CES News – Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk

CES News – Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk

CloudTags: CES , Laptops , 2012 , Expect , Dell xps m1530 batteries , Motorola CP040 two way radios battery , Quality Toshiba pa3534u-1brs battery

All the pieces are in place for a surge in laptop sales next year–from new Intel chips to the planned launch of the Windows 8 operating system to sleeker designs.

MacBook Air and Thunderbolt Display 640x393 CES News Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk Tablets and smartphones are in, but don’t count laptops out. Impressive new laptops planned for 2012 promise to be thinner, lighter, and faster, as well as to carry longer-lasting batteries.

All the pieces are in place for a surge in laptop sales next year, from new Intel chips to the planned launch of Windows 8 to sleeker designs.

You may be in the market for a new laptop this holiday season–or you might find that sticking with what you have and upgrading next year makes more sense, considering the hot models that are sure to be announced at the annual CES trade show in January, as well as the new technology on the horizon.

Here’s what to expect in the coming year.

Ubiquitous Ultrabooks

asus ux21 ux31 2 575px 300x232 CES News Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk Thin and lightweight Ultrabooks are the watchword, thanks to Intel, which has trademarked the name for a new category of ultraportable laptops.

By some predictions, as many as 30 to 50 Ultrabook models will be announced at CES. For a laptop to qualify for the label, it must be less than 21mm (0.83 inch) thick, resume from hibernate to keyboard input in less than 7 seconds, get at least 5 hours of battery life, and support certain specific Intel security features in the BIOS.

We have already reviewed four Ultrabooks: the Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook UX31E, Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, and Toshiba Portege Z835. A fifth, the HP Folio 13, will soon be released. You’ll notice some major brands missing from that list, such as Dell, Samsung, and Sony; you can probably expect to see Ultrabooks from those manufacturers in the first few months of 2012.

The category will kick into high gear when Intel’s next-generation CPUs, code-named Ivy Bridge, hit the market. Ivy Bridge’s power utilization and performance, together with steadily falling prices on solid-state drives, should make these superthin laptops more affordable and appealing.

By the end of the year, we may even see Ultrabooks with screens that rotate and fold down to transform into a tablet. The emphasis on touch interfaces in Windows 8, together with the thinner and lighter design of Ultrabooks, could make this new generation of convertible laptops more desirable than the convertibles of the past few years.

Better Graphics, Longer Battery Life With Ivy Bridge

Intel Ivy Bridge logo 300x280 CES News Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk The second-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs in today’s laptops went by the code name Sandy Bridge. That platform’s successor is due next year. Ivy Bridge takes the Sandy Bridge architecture (with a few minor tweaks) and shrinks it down from a 32nm manufacturing process to Intel’s new22nm tri-gate process. It also dumps the Sandy Bridge graphics core in favor of a whole new graphics architecture that runs more quickly, provides better video acceleration, and supports Microsoft’s DirectX 11.

The bottom line: At the same level of performance, Ivy Bridge chips will utilize significantly less power than their Sandy Bridge counterparts do. That translates into noticeably longer battery life in thin-and-light laptops. And the chips will be faster while consuming the same amount of power, which means that high-power laptops will be even speedier.

The new integrated graphics are a bit of a mystery, but a good guess is that you can expect around 50 percent better performance in 3D games. That still isn’t enough power to provide great results in many core games, but a lot of titles that were previously unplayable on an integrated-graphics setup will suddenly become bearable. Better yet, those games that barely ran in an acceptable way, such as Minecraft, should run a lot better.

Intel has issued no release date for Ivy Bridge just yet. We expect the company to fully unveil the lineup of Ivy Bridge CPU models at CES, together with announcements of support from lots of laptop manufacturers. Actual products will probably start to hit the market at the end of the first quarter or in the second quarter of 2012.

What about AMD, you ask?

AMD’s next Fusion processor, dubbed Trinity, is due around the middle of next year. It takes a modified version of the company’s new Bulldozer architecture and marries that to a big heap of integrated-graphics power. After the very disappointing launch of its desktop Bulldozer processors, AMD has its work cut out for it.

Windows 8 Launch Could Be Big

Windows 8 changes Windows more profoundly than any release since Windows 95.

windows 8 tablet pc 300x192 CES News Laptops of 2012: What to Expect by Batteryfast.co.uk The new Start screen and Metro-style interface will be contentious, sparking a backlash among some longtime Windows users. Other users will love the fresh new look and feel. Most important, the operating system will undoubtedly inspire a major surge in PC purchases, and an enormous marketing push from Microsoft and its partners.

When a new consumer release of Windows hits the market, the whole industry responds. Schedules shift. Deadlines move. New brands launch, and old brands retire. From what we’ve seen so far, Windows 8 looks to be a much bigger launch than the last few Windows releases, so you can expect a glut of new laptops, desktops, and all-in-ones set to debut together with Microsoft’s new operating system.

We don’t have a release date right now, but given that Windows 8 hasn’t yet had a public beta test and Microsoft’s OSs generally take about nine months to go from the first beta to store shelves, you can expect a late-summer or fall release.

Windows 8 puts a large emphasis on providing a first-class touch interface, without sacrificing good old-fashioned keyboard and mouse use. That means a better user experience on touchscreen-equipped laptops, so expect to see more of those machines on the market.

It will also support ARM-based processors for the first time, so we may even see hybrid laptops that run on a full-power Intel or AMD chip most of the time, but offer a detachable tabletlike display with an ARM processor for those occasions when you need longer battery life and greater portability instead of a keyboard and touchpad.

We might even see ultralight laptops powered solely by ARM-based CPUs, though that raises some questions about expectations of software support.

Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

CloudTags: Laptops , Longest , Battery Life , laptop batteries , Dell latitude d630 battery life , Acer aspire 5920 , Toshiba pa3536u-1brs batteries

Presented here are the top five 2011 laptops for battery life, as measured by our in-house video playback battery drain test. It’s easy to guess that Apple makes at least one appearance on this list, but there are some surprises as well. Note that these rankings only include integrated batteries, not secondary add-on slice batteries. If we included those, systems such as Sony’s Vaio Z, with a combined 634 minutes between its internal battery and a $150 add-on slice battery together, would make the list.

Note that these rankings only include integrated batteries, not secondary add-on slice batteries. If we included those, systems such as Sony’s Vaio Z, with a combined 634 minutes between its internal battery and a $150 (£96) add-on slice battery together, would make the list.

5. Apple MacBook Pro Winter/Spring 2011 (2.7GHz Core i7, 13-inch) macbook pro 2011 i1 Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

With a boost from Intel’s Core i-series CPUs and the switch from Nvidia graphics to Intel’s built-in HD3000, this version of the popular MacBook Pro ran for 418 minutes.

The good: CPU updates offer big leaps in performance; phenomenal battery life; excellent ergonomics, keyboard, and large, smooth, multitouch clickpad are still among the best available; 720p HD Webcam.

The bad: Graphics performance is slightly worse than last year’s 13-inch Pro; 13-inch screen resolution still low compared with the MacBook Air; Thunderbolt port still an unknown until accessories become available; limited upgrade options; expensive; no HDMI or Blu-ray.

The bottom line: Despite retaining the same price and look as last year’s model, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro’s significant CPU updates and fantastic battery life make it one of the top laptops we’ve reviewed, provided you can live with passable integrated graphics.

4. Toshiba Portege R835
portege r835 p56x laptop Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

This popular, reasonably priced 13-inch laptop also managed to deliver awesome battery life, running for 421 minutes.

The good: With a new Intel Core i5 CPU, sharp design, and nearly all-day battery life, the Toshiba Portege R835 is a smartly priced alternative to the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The bad: Intel’s integrated graphics are better than they used to be, but still not gamer-friendly, and features such as Bluetooth and mobile broadband are missing from some configs. There’s no Blu-ray option (only DVD), and the speakers are somewhat anemic.

The bottom line: Excellent battery life, a light weight, and great pricing make the Toshiba Portege R835 hard to beat, even in the highly competitive 13-inch laptop category.

3. Apple MacBook Pro Winter/Spring 2011 (2.2GHz Core i7, 15-inch)
34512750 CARRY 620x433 Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

Another appearance by Apple, this time with the larger 15-inch version of the Pro, which ran for 425 minutes.

The good: Powerful updates to the CPU and GPU; excellent Apple battery life; still the best touch pad and gesture controls of any laptop.

The bad: Upgrades can get expensive; Thunderbolt is an unproven technology with as-yet no compatible products; still no dedicated HDMI, Blu-ray, or other wished-for options.

The bottom line: It’s a hefty investment, but the combination of new high-end Intel processor options and AMD graphics makes the 15-inch MacBook Pro an all-around powerhouse, with the new Thunderbolt I/O port as an added bonus.

After a now-customary period of rumors, leaks, and anecdotal evidence, Apple’s new generation of MacBook Pro laptops has arrived. And though these new models may look the same as the ones they replace, the changes under the hood are some of the most far-reaching in the history of the MacBook Pro brand.

2. Lenovo ThinkPad T420 (2.5GHz Core i5)

laptop lenovo Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

Lenovo’s ThinkPad business laptop line is known for its excellent quality, superior keyboards, and often, very good battery life. This recent update (being reviewed at the time of writing) to the very common ThinkPad T20 turned in one of the best battery life scores of the year at 442 minutes.

1. HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx
20 HP Pavillion dv7 6b55dx 35035011 440x330 Top 5 Laptops Had the Longest Battery Life in 2011

Pulling off something of an upset, the longest-lasting laptop of 2011 in our test was the HP Pavilion dv7.

Few large laptops actually take advantage of the bigger footprint of a desktop replacement laptop to pack in a gigantic, powerful battery, but laptops tester Julie Rivera explains that this particular HP configuration “had a huge 100WHr, nine-cell battery”, that ran for a very impressive 513 minutes.

The good: The HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx is a nice-looking big-screen laptop with long battery life and very good performance for the money.

The bad: The dv7′s screen is low-resolution for its size and its integrated graphics drag down the performance some.

The bottom line: If you’re looking for a lot of screen real estate and enough power for work and play, the HP Pavilion dv7-6b55dx is a good place to start.

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Tablets vs. Laptops: What Should You Choose?

Tablets vs. Laptops: What Should You Choose?

Tablet vs laptop 600x329 Tablets vs. Laptops: What Should You Choose? It was only a year ago when the iPad was considered a netbook killer—remember netbooks?—but now many people are wondering whether tablets are good enough to replace a full-fledged laptop. The answer is simple: maybe. It really depends on your computing needs. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you should consider before deciding to buy either type of device for yourself or as a gift.

Tablet Pros & Cons

Led by Apple’s iPad 2, tablets are ideal for consuming content. They’re great tools for surfing the web, checking e-mail and Facebook, playing games, reading digital magazines and books, and enjoying movies and music. But that’s not all slates have going for them.

These devices turn on instantly and tend to last longer on a charge than your typical notebook. The best models offer 8 or more hours of unplugged use. That battery life advantage also extends to standby time. With tablets’ phone-like operating systems, you can set them aside for days and they will likely still have plenty of juice left.

The most popular tablet size is 9 to 10 inches, which is similar in dimensions to a magazine, but you’ll also find plenty of devices with 7- or 8-inch screens. These models are more portable, and can more easily fit inside a purse or jacket pocket. The iPad and similarly sized competitors tend to weigh 1.6 pounds or less, while 7- to 8-inch models weigh about a pound or less. Regardless of the size, tablets are lighter and easier to carry than laptops.

ssa 630 tablet vs laptop flickr jon mountjoy 630w 300x156 Tablets vs. Laptops: What Should You Choose? Tablets are particularly attractive as gifts because they’re more affordable than most laptops. The iPad 2 starts at $499, and there are several slates that start as low as $199. We haven’t seen many quality devices at that lower price, but it looks like the $199Amazon Kindle Fire changes that with a great screen, a turbo-charged browser, and easy access to Amazon content. A good notebook costs $200 to $300 more.

As far as productivity goes, tablets are becoming increasingly versatile as more business-friendly apps proliferate. There’s the versatile iWork suite for the iPad, as well as robust third-party options such as Documents to Go and Quickoffice. Similar options are available for Android-based slates. Thanks to such cloud-based services as Dropbox and iCloud, the limited storage capacity of tablets is less of an issue than you might think, though tablets are not very useful without Internet connectivity.

Some tablets are designed to either pinch-hit for or replace a notebook. TheASUS Eee Pad Slider has a slide-out keyboard built in (pictured), while the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet lets you take notes with a pen right on its display and comes with an optional keyboard case. Nevertheless, the keyboards on traditional laptops are bigger and more comfortable, and notebooks are simply better at some things, including word processing and video editing.

Laptop Pros & Cons

If the person on your list is looking to get real work done, a laptop continues to be your best bet. For one, they offer a superior text input experience, especially for those who touch type. Laptops also offer better viewing comfort, as they tend to feature larger and sharper screens. For example, the average notebook has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, which fits a lot more information on the display than the 1024 x 768-pixel iPad.

You also shouldn’t overlook the fact that notebooks make it easier to multitask. That’s because you can more quickly switch between applications and see all of your open apps at once. The taskbar in Windows and the Dock on Mac OS X make it a cinch to toggle between programs. And Windows 7 goes one step further with Snap, which allows you to compare open windows side by side. Mission Control in Mac OS X Lion presents your open apps and Spaces on a single screen.

notebook vs laptop Tablets vs. Laptops: What Should You Choose?

In terms of weight, notebooks are heavier than tablets, but their clamshell design makes outfitting them with a case less necessary. You just toss them in your bag and go.

Another area where notebooks excel is software. Yes, tablets offer access to lots of apps, but laptops pull ahead with the wealth of available productivity programs. Microsoft Office Starter Edition comes pre-loaded on many notebooks. Then there are free apps such as OpenOffice.org (which goes deeper than Office Starter) and Paint.NET for editing photos. And let’s not forget the desktop apps, such as Photoshop, that offer more precision and power than anything you’ll find on a tablet.

Then again, security software is popular for a reason. For now, at least, the vast majority of viruses, Trojans, and other malware live on notebooks. Windows machines are the most popular target by far, but some threats have popped here and there on Macs, too.

So what about price? The average selling price of a laptop is less than $600, and you can get a well-equipped model for an even lower price. For instance, the HP Pavilion g6x features an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive for $449. This notebook sports a 15.6-inch screen. The sleekest full-power laptops tend to cost more. Apple’s 11-inch MacBook Air starts at $999.

New so-called Ultrabooks follow the Air’s lead with fast boot times and super-slim designs. But the starting price for those machines is about $900. So if that person on your list wants a notebook that behaves more like a tablet, you’re going to pay more.

Verdict

It’s not really a matter of whether tablets are better than laptops or vice versa. It’s about what type of device is right for the job at hand, which is why plenty of people own a laptop and a tablet. But if you’re wondering whether a slate or a notebook is the better gift–or you only have the budget to choose one device or the other–it comes down to what the user plans to do with it. Tablets are better for play and some work, and laptops are better for work and some play.

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