With that 1.3GHz CPU and with a whopping 4GB of DDR3 RAM, the UL30A-A1 scored an impressive 2,112 on our PCMark Vantage test. This is about 800 marks below the category average (consisting of notebooks that cost around $2,000), but it’s 500 marks faster than the $749 HP Pavilion dv2-1030us. (The PCMark Vantage test measures CPU performance.)
Combined audio converter/driver ICs are simplifying the design of set-top boxes and other consumer audio/video products, but the new TS4657 from STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a leading provider of digital audio ICs, improves on this by saving additional external components while reducing power consumption and improving sound quality.
One change was to reduce the designs used for the skeletons of notebook PCs, said these people. “Simplifying the specifications of the product” saves money by allowing contract manufacturers to make large numbers of the same product, said Lorcan Sheehan, a consultant with ModusLink, which advises H-P and other PC makers.
However, Puget and other custom PC makers may be a bit too optimistic. A Microsoft spokesperson explains, “October 12 is the date that Microsoft enables our Authorized Replicators to begin shipping Windows 7 to Microsoft OEM Authorized Distributors… So, while in theory a System Builder could get Windows 7 product pre-GA (general availability), based on supply chain analysis, the intended timing for customers to receive Windows 7 PCs from System Builders should be close to GA, on October 22nd.”
You can avoid this by just using one hand on the touchpad and lifting your finger and moving to the integrated buttons when you wan to click. But that leads to the second problem: If you don’t hit the integrated buttons in exactly the right spot, you’ll instead implement the tap-to-click touchpad feature. So you’ll sometimes wind up causing a left-click action when you meant to right-click. The only way I’ve found to avoid this problem is to disable the tap-to-click feature.
The M17x is Alienware’s latest laptop, and they really went all out on this one. It’s a powerhouse of a gaming laptop, and runs pretty much everything I could throw at it flawlessly. From a performance standpoint, you definitely get what you pay for with this machine.
HP’s Pavilion Slimline s5160f is a small desktop that is aimed at those looking to use the system for a media center or even a home theater PC. This slim desktop system comes packed with a variety of multimedia features. The most notable of these are the Blu-ray combo drive for playback of Blu-ray or DVD movies and the HDTV tuner for use with over the air digital broadcasts. Both of these are key to its media focus but other small details such as the IR blaster for controlling other devices and the NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics card help.
