Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook Review
" It shouldn't be surprising to know that AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel (especially Intel) will seed hardware amongst the tech reviewing industry. Most often it goes along with a product launch, but periodically it will be kit that they feel paints their product in a particularly good light. I don't think it's a secret that Ultrabooks and touchscreens have had a little bit of trouble getting off the ground. You could argue that the whole Ultrabook branding scheme, particularly after Intel expanded the definition, was more a way of renaming and redefining the notebook than anything. That it happens to be trademarked by Intel and thus AMD cannot have an Ultrabook is, I'm sure, just a coincidence. "
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Computer: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook
Posted on Saturday, May 18, 2013 @ 06:29:03 UTC in Lenovo by Wesslan
Computer: Shuttle Slim-PC DS61
Shuttle Slim-PC DS61 Review
" Shuttle needs no further introduction when it comes to mini- and slim-PC systems, so we will cut to the chase immediately. In this review, we will take a rigorous look at their DS61 offering. It is basically a slim, barebone PC for the digital signage market. The word "barebone", for those of you that don’t know, denotes that you will have to equip it with some components—usually CPU, RAM, and an SSD/HDD—in order to make it fully operational. Barebones allow for more customization, which gives users the ability to pick the crucial parts they need to meet their ends—all based on their budget. The DS61 is compatible with 1155 socket CPUs of up to 65 W TDP (Thermal Design Power) and includes many I/O ports, which makes it suitable for a wide range of uses including digital signage purposes. Probably with tough industrial environments in mind while designing this unit, Shuttle used solid capacitors to increase reliability and make the unit capable of operating seamlessly at high ambient temperatures of up to 50°C. "
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Posted on Monday, May 13, 2013 @ 09:31:33 UTC in Shuttle by Wesslan
Computer: ZOTAC ZBOX ID89 Plus Mini-PC
Zotac Zbox ID89 Plus Review
" Remember when getting the best of your PC content on your living room TV used to be quite a feat? Those days are long gone thanks to increasingly-popular mini PCs that aim to offer a complete desktop experience in a small pint-sized package. Somewhat surprisingly, Zotac - a Hong Kong manufacturer known best for producing Nvidia graphics cards - has been at the forefront of mini-PC development with a range of systems launched under the Zbox umbrella. Promising a first-rate multimedia experience, Zotac's efforts have typically delivered the maximum possible performance in a given thermal design, and the company is continuing along that path with the new Zbox ID89. "
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Posted on Monday, May 13, 2013 @ 09:21:27 UTC in Zotac by Wesslan
Computer: ZOTAC ZBOX ID89 Plus Mini-PC
ZOTAC ZBOX ID89 Plus Mini-PC Review
" When NVIDIA began showing prototype PCs which offered desktop functionality in a palm sized form factor a few years ago it signalled a move in the market with manufacturers making systems that became more and more compact. ASRock, Acer and Sapphire have been key to this trend but there was one company more than any other who has consistently released new models with vaired features which would appeal to a wide range of consumers; ZOTAC. Of course those early ultra-compact PCs tended to use low powered CPUs but as designs of the systems and components have evolved systems have become much more powerful and the focus of todays review takes mini-pcs to another level. The ZOTAC ZBOX ID89 Plus contains the usual selection of 2.5" hard drive, wireless-n wi-fi and the like but manages to include support for dual channel memory and arrives kitted out with a core-i5 CPU. All in a chassis not much bigger than most external drive enclosures. "
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Posted on Thursday, May 09, 2013 @ 18:51:39 UTC in Zotac by Wesslan
Acer Aspire S7-391 Touchscreen Ultrabook Laptop Review
" Today we are taking a look at the big brother to the Acer Aspire S7-191 we recently reviewed. That's right, we have the Acer Aspire S7-391 in the lab today. The S7-391 is a premium Ultrabook that features a touch-enabled 13.3-inch 1080p display. As stated in our previous reviews, some benchmarks have been updated to their latest version. Notably, PCMark 7 and Powermark have been updated to their latest versions. Previous PCMark 7 scores are not comparable to the new version so all old results have been archived. We've gone ahead and archived Powermark's results at the same time to be sure that results in our charts are all comparable. "
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Posted on Thursday, May 09, 2013 @ 09:52:08 UTC in ACER by Wesslan
Computer: MSI GT70 0NE
MSI GT70 0NE review
" A good old-fashioned laptop, that's what the MSI GT70 feels and looks like. This is a massive 17.3-inch gaming machine, weighing in at 3.85 kg it's basically as heavy as a stack of Ultrabooks or high-end tablets. On the other hand, a stack of those doesn't get close to the impressive specifications of this MSI notebook. The sample we tested is called the MSI GT70 0NE-245NL, which has been replaced by the MSI GT70 0NE-640NL. The only difference between the two versions is that the Intel Core i7-3610QM was replaced by a slightly more powerful Intel Core i7-3630QM. They're both quad-core processors, with 6 MB of memory and HyperThreading. The 3610QM runs at 2.3 GHz with a turbo of 3.3 GHz, while the Intel Core i7-3630QM is 100 MHz faster. The newer version also comes with Windows 8 instead of Windows 7 Home Premium. "
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Posted on Saturday, May 04, 2013 @ 00:05:02 UTC in MSI by Wesslan
Computer: Acer Aspire S7
Acer Aspire S7 Review
" It's hard work choosing the right Ultrabook as they're all so visually attractive. It's up to the consumer to look past the super-sleek designs and choose the system that best ticks all of the relevant boxes, but that's easier said than done, particularly when you're faced with an Ultrabook as alluring as Acer's Aspire S7. "
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Posted on Sunday, April 28, 2013 @ 18:31:50 UTC in ACER by Wesslan
ASRock VisionX HTPC 321B Ivy Bridge mini-PC Review
" The name ASRock is for many people synonymous with motherboards, and there can be little doubt that ASRock has made great strides in that market. However, ASRock makes many products, including fully-fledged PCs. Today, we are taking a look at one of those PCs designed to cater to enthusiasts that need a small form-factor PC for normal use or as a basic HTPC. The ASRock VisionX line has been around for some time, and the 321B HTPC model I have on my desk is a perfect example of why ASRock has quickly climbed up through the hearts and minds of enthusiasts across the globe. "
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Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2013 @ 19:16:52 UTC in ASRock by Wesslan
Computer: Sapphire EDGE VS8 MiniPC
Sapphire EDGE VS8 MiniPC Review
" Sapphire is a well-known maker of enthusiast GPUs based on AMD architecture. In the past Sapphire has also dabbled a bit in motherboards, who can forget the white PCB of the PURE series of motherboards. With all of this past experience it was only a matter of time before Sapphire would enter the unknown territory of MiniPCs. It is fairly safe to say that ZOTAC owns this arena when they have been producing these small form factor units for quite a while. Looking over the specs it does appear Sapphire is poised to give them a run for their money. The VS8 that we were able to snap up from Sapphire has some rather impressive specs, with an AMD A8 Trinity APU at its core, to be more specific the AMD A8 4555M that operates @ 1.6 GHz with additional boost up to 2.4 Ghz. The graphics at the core of this unit is the Radeon 7600G carrying 384 unified shaders with a core speed of 320 MHz. "
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Posted on Friday, April 05, 2013 @ 10:57:26 UTC in Sapphire by Wesslan
Computer: Lenovo ThinkPad W530
Lenovo ThinkPad W530 review
" A solid build quality, a sleek black design with red accents and a nice keyboard. These are the trademark characteristics of Lenovo's ThinkPad notebooks, and can all be found on the W530. It can be considered an entry-level model in Lenovo's line of mobile workstations. A mobile workstation? In case you don't know, it's a powerful portable computer for professionals that can handle demanding software such as for CAD/CAM, video processing, design and so on. It's also certified for those types of software, which means you can get support from the manufacturer should you need it. For the average consumer this is all a bit superfluous, but for the business segment and professionals that use a particular software package on daily basis it's very useful. "
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Posted on Sunday, March 31, 2013 @ 03:48:48 UTC in Lenovo by Wesslan





