HP Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition Review

The HP Pavilion dm4 Beats edition adds Beats Audio to the portable dm4 14-inch notebook frame, but that’s not all that sets this special edition apart from the average dm4.

HP packs in a flash hard drive for faster resume from sleep, a high-resolution matte display that is easy to use outdoors and a beautiful black finish.

Design

The dm4 Beats edition has a striking black and red design looks great, and the notebook is slim enough to go to class or to the cafe without a second thought.

The black metal lid adds to the overall durability of the notebook, but it attracts fingerprints and smudges quite easily. The big red Beats Logo dominates the lid so everyone around knows your computer has Beats Audio.

The notebook exhibits little flex around the corners and on the display, thanks to the metal lid. There is some flex on the middle of the notebook and in the keyboard, but overall the dm4 Beats edition feels sturdy.

For everything HP got right, the keyboard isn’t on the list. The keyboard is incredibly mushy, especially on the left side of the notebook. Combine this with flat keys and we have the makings for many typos.

The dm4 keyboard does offer good key spacing and placement, though the split arrow keys cause some errant cursor movement. The keyboard has red backlighting that looks great and makes it easier to work in low light conditions.

The touchpad on the dm4 Beats Edition is surprisingly good. I experienced no palm movement while typing long documents like this review. Users who prefer external mice will appreciate the ability to turn off the touchpad with a double tap in the upper left.

The touchpad was accurate and the smooth finish provides an excellent mousing surface. Two finger scrolling  was smooth even in troublesome text boxes.  I wish every Windows notebook mousepad was this good.  

Display

The HP Pavilion dm4 Beats edition uses a 1600 x 900 resolution 14-inch display with a matte finish that is amazing.

It’s tough to find a high-resolution display on a 14-inch consumer notebook, let alone one with a matte finish and a $800 price.

The 1600 x 900 resolution display is perfect for working on two documents side by side or surfing the web, controlling music and chatting without switching between windows.

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Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS 17-inch Desktop Replacement Launches

The Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS notebook marries a 17-inch monitor and the latest 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU for a desktop replacement notebook that doesn’t break your back, though it might put a pain in your wallet.

The new Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS notebook has a 17.3 inch 1080P HD display with Samsung SuperBright tech that Samsung claims delivers 36% to 50% brighter screens than conventional notebooks.

The quad core Intel 3rd generation Core i7 processor with TurboBoost 2.0.1 for more power when applications demand it, and Samsung Fast Start will speed up the sleep to go speeds. It doesn’t hurt that the notebook includes an 8GB flash memory on the motherboard to speed up operations without limiting file storage like a SSD only system.

Samsung claims that the battery will last up to 8 hours, which most likely needs discounted for real world use. Samsung says that the battery will retain 80% of its capacity for 1,500 charges, or about 3 years, which many consumer notebooks cannot claim.

There is a premium placed on entertainment from the full HD display to the graphics and even the speakers. The Series 7 Chronos has JBL speakers and a subwoofer for above average sound. The new NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU allows users to play games, edit movies and perform lots of multitasking. The notebook also features Wireless Display, with the ability to mirror content to an HDTV wirelessly, with a $99 adapter.

The Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS is retails for $1,499 and is available at most Best Buy locations and online for $1,399.

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Mystery Dell XPS 14 Laptop Packs High-End Features in Ultrabook Form

What's this? An unannounced 14-inch Ultrabook called the Dell XPS 14 has popped up on Amazon. The specs suggest this superthin laptop will give other Ultrabooks a run for their money--it's got an Ivy Bridge processor, Nvidia discrete graphics, an HD+ display, and 12 hours of battery life.

Dell released an XPS 14 in 2010 in an attempt to revive the XPS laptop line, but discontinued the 14-inch premium laptop last year. The old XPS 14 would have never qualified as an Ultrabook, with its 1.4-inch thickness.

This new XPS 14, model XPS14-9092sLV, is half as thick (0.71 inches) and weighs only 3 pounds. In fact, the XPS 14 Ultrabook is even thinner and lighter than Dell's XPS 14z, which packs a 14-inch display into a 13-inch footprint (the XPS 14z weighs 4 pounds and is 1 inch thick).

Dell got to this thinner, lighter XPS 14 by ditching the optical drive featured in both the XPS 14z and the old XPS 14.

The new XPS 14 has third-generation Ivy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor, a backlit keyboard, and Nvidia graphics. The model of the Nvidia graphics card has yet to be revealed.

Amazon's product description shows some sweet upgrades for this upcoming Ultrabook. First, there's the HD+ (1600 by 900 pixels) Gorilla Glass display (the old XPS 14 had a 1366 by 768 pixel resolution display). Secondly, the new XPS will supposedly have the longest battery life rating of an Ultrabook to date: 12 hours. (HP's latest Ultrabooks come closest, with an 8-hour battery life rating; the old XPS 14 was only rated for 5.5 hours.)

One possible downer--the XPS 14 Ultrabook only lists a 500GB 5400RPM hard drive, instead of a faster solid state drive. Given the XPS 14's premium features, it's possible that the Ultrabook will come with an SSD boot drive.

The XPS 14 Ultrabook is an attractive computer (on paper, at least). Right now, this unofficial Ultrabook may be the the best competitor to the Asus Zenbook Prime.

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LG Working on Retina-beating 5-inch Smartphone Display

LG Display has introduced a 5-inch full HD LCD panel for smartphone displays -- the highest resolution mobile panel to date, the company said on Monday.

The widescreen panel is based on AH-IPS (Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching) technology and has a 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution or 440 pixels per inch (ppi), according to LG.

That compares to Apple's Retina display, which has 264 ppi on the new iPad and 326 ppi on the iPhone 4S.

With the 16-by-9 aspect ratio, the panel is also 0.5 inches larger, and 2.2 times denser in pixels compared to the preceding 4.5-inch panel at 329 ppi and a 1280-by-720 pixel resolution, according to LG Display.

The latter resolution has become a standard on current high-end smartphones like the HTC One X, Samsung's Galaxy S III and the LG Optimus 4X HD.

The panel is expected to be released during the second half of this year, according to LG Display, which didn't elaborate on when devices that use the product will start shipping.

The panel will be on exhibit for the first time at SID 2012 Display Week in Boston starting on June 4.

That LG Display has decided to go with a 5-inch panel size is a clear indication that it thinks big screens on smartphones aren't going away, and it is something consumers will continue to want.

Earlier this year, LG Electronics launched the Optimus Vu, which also has a 5-inch display. However, the panel has a 4-by-3 aspect ratio and a 1024-by-768 pixel resolution.

Samsung Electronics has also had some success with the Galaxy Note, which has a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution

LG Display and LG Electronics are both subsidiaries of LG Group.

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Origin EON17-S

Mobile gamers will find powerful performance and some portability in Origin's latest custom-built gaming laptop, the 2012 Origin EON17-S. The EON17-S, which the company describes as the "next generation of high-performance," has been redesigned with a 17.3-inch full-HD display, updated specs, and an additional hard drive where the optical drive used to be.
Our review model costs $3442 and packs alluring specs: an Intel Extreme Edition Core i7-3920XM CPU overclocked to 4.5GHz, 16GB of speedy DDR3 RAM, and a discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M graphics card. The system also boasts two 120GB solid-state drives in RAID 0, as well as a 1TB hard disk in the optical bay (Origin includes a slim external Blu-ray writer for all of your optical-drive needs). Other notable features include built-in 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, built-in Bluetooth, and a built-in webcam, microphone, and fingerprint reader. The system runs Windows 7 Home Premium. 

Design: Chassis, Keyboard, Trackpad

The EON17-S isn't exactly gorgeous…or portable. The system is housed in a thick, bulky plastic chassis with a few well-placed brushed metal accents on the lid and wrist-rest. The laptop alone weighs 8.6 pounds, but since the system boasts only 2.5 hours of battery life, you'll also need to tote around the 2.5-pound power brick for a total shoulder weight of more than 11 pounds.

Though it won't win any beauty contests, the EON17-S is built well and feels sturdy. The laptop's cover features a black, brushed aluminum panel with a light silver Origin logo painted in the center. Surrounding the aluminum panel is shiny black plastic that tapers off at the edges. Inside is a matte black plastic keyboard deck surrounding a full-size keyboard and a 10-key number pad. The wrist-rest area and trackpad are also made of brushed aluminum.

Origin now offers a new lid design in silver, black, or red. It makes the system look a little like the closed hood of a muscle car. Though it adds a little thickness, it actually reduces the system’s weight by a third of a pound; but the laptop is thick and heavy enough in the first place that you’re not likely to notice. The new lid design costs the same as the traditional design, which is still available.
You get plenty of ports on this hulk of a machine. The right side houses a USB2.0 port, headphone and microphone jacks, and line-out and optical line-out jacks, as well as the optical drive door (or hard-drive caddy, in the case of our configuration). The left side features two USB3.0 ports, one USB3.0/eSATA combo port, a mini FireWire port, gigabit ethernet, and a 9-in-1 card reader. Finally, on the back of the machine, you'll find an HDMI-out, a DVI port, a DisplayPort, and a Kensington lock slot.
The EON17-S's keyboard is acceptable. The matte black keys are almost Chiclet-style--they touch each other at the bottom like regular-style keys, but taper into little plateaus at the top. It's easy to type on, though it doesn't offer as much feedback as I usually like, and the keys are a little light to the touch. The 10-key number pad is expected on a 17.3-inch laptop, but it's placed directly next to the keyboard, so the entire thing feels a little cramped. The keyboard is backlit and you can change the colors and their patterns, or divide the keyboard into three different-colored zones, which is neat.
The keyboard deck has no special buttons, just seven large (but not too bright) LEDs indicating toggles such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and caps lock. Features such as screen brightness, volume, and keyboard lighting are controlled via function keys.
Below the keyboard is a medium-sized trackpad with two discrete plastic buttons separated by a fingerprint reader. The trackpad is a little on the small side for such a bulky machine, but it's fairly accurate, sensitive, and easy to use, despite its rough-ish brushed aluminum texture. The plastic buttons feel a little cheap, and don't depress very easily. For basic tasks, the trackpad is fine, and for gaming, well, you're likely to be using an external mouse anyway.

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HTC One S (gradient blue, T-Mobile)

Design
From the moment I placed the HTC One S in my hand, I was struck with how premium the phone feels. Luxuriously sculpted from a single block of anodized aluminum with smoothly tapered edges, the One S is sturdy yet manages to look finely crafted. That's a mean feat since the handset is breathtakingly thin, just 0.31 inch thick. In fact T-Mobile touts the HTC One S as its trimmest smartphone yet, edging out the Apple iPhone 4S (0.37 inch) and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (0.4 inch), but not the original Motorola Droid Razr (0.28 inch). 

Most of the HTC One S' front is taken up by its lovely 4.3-inch qHD (960 by 540) Super AMOLED screen. It paints images and video with vibrant colors, high contrast, and deep blacks. For example, watching HQ YouTube trailers on the One S is a joy. I ogled neon signs and skyscraper lights in nighttime New York cityscapes. Details such as the folds of leathery monster skin were crisp, just how I like it. 

Sporting a fancy color treatment HTC calls "gradient blue," which looks more like gun metal to me, the back of the phone shifts from light bluish-gray on top to a darker silver hue at its base. I especially like how the HTC One S' matte metallic surface repels fingerprints and provides a sure grip. Also on back is the phone's 8-megapixel camera, prominent lens circled by blue trim, and LED flash. The HTC One S keeps controls to a minimum. Below the screen are three Android Ice Cream Sandwich capacitive buttons for Back, Home, and Recent Applications. The left and right sides hold a Micro-USB port and slim volume bar. A power button and 3.5 mm headphone jack sit on the top edge.  

Features
Make no mistake about it; the HTC One S is a modern Android ICS smartphone with all the trimmings. Under the hood is a nimble 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. While the phone lacks an SD Card slot to add extra memory, the device does come with a spacious 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of which it uses as RAM.

Along with the usual selection of Android staples such as Gmail, Google Plus, Maps, and Navigation, HTC offers some of its own custom tweaks. The company's Watch video store serves up movies and TV shows for rent and purchase, while the Music app aggregates Google's Play music storefront, Slacker Internet radio app, and locally stored tracks. 

The phone also comes with 25GB of free online storage courtesy of the Dropbox cloud service. Polaris Office supports popular office files, and links to the HTC File app pull all recently opened documents and those stored online into one handy view. 

HTC boasts the One S' integrated Beats Audio technology, which is essentially aggressive audio processing that boosts bass to complement low-end heavy music styles such as rap, dance, and electronic. Beats will also automatically detect when you connect Beats-branded headphones and equalize the EQ settings to match the particular model. It's a nice theory, but when CNET's headphones editor Justin Yu gave the HTC One S paired with a compatible headset a listen, he found the results unimpressive. Sure, bass and treble were high, but the midrange was too overpowered for his audiophile tastes. 

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Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

The good: The Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover has a slim design, fits perfectly onto the iPad 2 and third-generation iPad via magnets, and works extremely well as a keyboard.

The bad: The plastic-and-aluminum keyboard isn't really a case, and doesn't protect the back of the iPad.

The bottom line: Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover might be the best keyboard accessory ever made for the iPad, if you're looking for a highly portable and functional keyboard that travels light; just make sure you carry a separate protective case.

No one technically needs a keyboard for an iPad. You can type on the screen. But still, it's inefficient. It's not tactile. And that keyboard eats up so much of the iPad's screen space. A dedicated keyboard can help for long-term iPad writing projects.

Keyboard cases are odd ducks, strange marriages. A case with a keyboard won't protect your iPad as well. Compromises are made. I usually recommend a standalone keyboard instead of a case.

Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for the iPad is the exception. It's not a case so much as a Smart Cover with a keyboard: a remake of the simple, flat Zagg Keyboard Case, but updated for the magnet-friendly third-generation iPad and iPad 2. The $99 keyboard is more expensive than simple standalone keyboards, but it's equivalently priced to many keyboard cases.

Unlike many uglier keyboard cases, Logitech's ultrathin marvel looks as stylish as the iPad itself, matching the iPad's aluminum exterior on its outer shell. Snap the cover onto the iPad and fold it up with the Keyboard Cover, and the whole package feels like one organic piece, like an ultrathin laptop.

Snap the lid off and lay it down on a desk, and the iPad (whether iPad 2 or "new iPad") docks in a narrow white groove behind the keyboard. Another set of magnets inside locks the iPad in place when it's in a specific landscape orientation, volume buttons up. It's a strong-enough grip to keep the keyboard attached when the iPad is lifted, but the iPad can still fall forward if tipped, making this a keyboard for solid, flat surfaces only. While the extra magnet support works only iin that orientation, you could also dock your iPad in portrait mode; I found that worked, but felt more tenuous.

You don't need to worry about the keyboard cover scratching your iPad, as rubber bumpers at the keyboard's corners prevent contact with the screen when it's used as a cover. It's not a Smart Cover replacement, though: the Keyboard Cover is thin, but it's not that thin.

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