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Sony CW i5 Review

February 9th, 2010

Sony Vaio CW27FX i5 Review

by Erik Anderson

Open-1

The Sony Vaio CW is one of a few notebooks released this year featuring the new Intel Core processor series. It competes with Dell’s Inspiron 14, HP’s Pavilion dv4i, Toshiba’s Satellite E205 (Toshiba only available at Best Buy), and Lenovo’s not-yet-released IdeaPad Y460 in the 14-inch-display and around 5-pounds category. With the optional Blu-ray and dedicated (but unfortunately not switchable) graphics in the form of NVidia’s new 330M graphics card, all for $949.99 (at BestBuy.com), This Sony CW Review will take a closer look at this formidable computer with an excellent graphics card and processor packed into its small 14” chassis. » Read more: Sony CW i5 Review

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Tags: 330m 3dmark06 benchmark cw i5 performance review Sony

HP Envy 15 with i5 (Preliminary) Review

January 19th, 2010

HP has recently updated their Envy 15 with the latest in processors and graphics cards. This is a preliminary review that contains info on the processor and abilities of the new model. The Envy 15 can now be configured with an i5 (Dual core + hyperthreading) and i7 620m processors [It appears the i7 620m may have been removed from the configuration options. 1/21/09]. The significance of this primarily going to be found in increased battery life and less heat generated due to the i5 and i7 620m being manufactured on a more efficient core size (32 nm). Battery life is expected to increase from 2.25-2.75 hours to around 2.75-3.5, or maybe even more if HP enables the built in switchable graphics on the new processors (if HP allows switchable graphics, the battery life could reach over 4 hours without the slice and 10 hours with the slice). » Read more: HP Envy 15 with i5 (Preliminary) Review

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Tags: benchmarks hp envy 15 i5 review radeon 5830

Asus UL30JT with i7 to be Released Soon!

January 12th, 2010

Big news comes down to us from CES 2010. Asus will be releasing the UL30JT, which will sport the exact same chassis as the UL30VT but will house an ultra low voltage i7 quad core processor instead. It is reported that the UL30JT will have the same 12 hour battery life of the UL30VT and will also have a Nvidia 310M, which should perform identically (if not a little better) than the 210M. » Read more: Asus UL30JT with i7 to be Released Soon!

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Tags: battery life benchmarks ul30jt

Asus UL80VT/UL30VT Overclocking Guide (Nvidia 210M)

December 23rd, 2009

I’ve always wonder just how far the UL80VT/UL30VT’s Nvidia 210M graphics card could go if you pushed the card to its limit. After downloading several overclocking programs and attempting to reinstall my drivers, I downloaded the Nvidia System Tools and installed them on my UL80VT. I got the Nvidia System Tools working (thanks to the kind folks over at NBR!). I used the Nvidia System Tools to set the exact clocks of the Nvidia 210M graphics card and overclock them. Three hours later . . . I tested out the various clock settings until I found a stable clock level. It might be possible to get higher if I did further testing, but I do not have time right now. I believe I am right at/close to the max possible overclocking potential. » Read more: Asus UL80VT/UL30VT Overclocking Guide (Nvidia 210M)

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Tags: 3dmark06 score asus ul30vt guide nvidia 210m overclocking overclock overclocking UL80VT

Asus UL30VT-X1 Review

December 22nd, 2009

Asus UL30VT Pictures 12-22-2009 2-35-59 PM
When I heard that Asus was coming out with the UL80VT’s little brother in early December, I couldn’t pass up doing a review of the UL30VT. I ordered one the day after they came out and got it in that weekend. If the UL80VT had a lot of hype surrounding its release, the UL30VT had even more. When compared to its bigger brother (UL80VT), it was touted to have a lighter build, smaller size, included Bluetooth (something sorely missing on the UL80VT), and a larger hard drive—although it had a 20% smaller battery and did not include an optical drive. So did the UL30VT live up to all of the expectations in its review? Read on to find out! » Read more: Asus UL30VT-X1 Review

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Tags: asus ul30vt review gaming performance ul30vt-x1

Asus UL30VT Review: First Impressions

December 6th, 2009

asus-UL30A-black-cover-450

Hello Everyone!

I recently purchased a UL30VT from Amazon. I’m just going to give you my first impressions of the unit so far compared to the UL80VT right now, but I will be publishing a full fledged review of the UL30VT shortly. I would also be publishing a comparison article between the UL80VT and the UL30VT, which will include hands on pictures with the two laptops side by side and stacked up on each other.

My first impression of the UL30VT is that the chassis is very solid with no creaking noises coming from the palm rests, which was expected as the UL30VT has been placed in an entirely different chassis without the optical disc drive. » Read more: Asus UL30VT Review: First Impressions

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Tags: asus ul30vt gaming asus ul30vt review ul30vt performance