10 Gigabit Ethernet still too expensive

Friday, January 11, 2013

Lenovo's new line

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print Armando RodriguezAssistant Editor, PCWorld Armando is an Android nerd, covering both apps and phones, and a former programmer. He is also a world-class heckler on Twitter.

LAS VEGAS?Lenovo might not the first company you think of when it comes to smartphones, but the company's new line of Android handsets drew the biggest crowd at Sunday night's CES Unveiled.

Prices for the Lenovo Android phones range from entry-level to high-end. The phones are slated for release next year in emerging markets like Russia, India, and Indonesia.

This not-so-sleek phone may not look all that impressive on the outside, but it comes packing a massive 3500mAh battery like Dell Latitude E4300 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4400 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4310 Ac Adapter, Dell 8N884 Ac Adapter, Dell G800H Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4320 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4200 Ac Adapter, Dell Y085C Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N7010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N5010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N4010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N3010 Ac Adapter and ships running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

Lenovo claims that the P770's large battery will keep the phone going for more than 12 hours, a claim we?re likely to believe given the fact that Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx HD currently tops our battery life lab tests with a smaller 3300mAh battery. It will need that battery to power its large 4.5-inch qHD IPS display.

For those of you out there who want more than just superior battery life, the IdeaPhone S890 should be on your radar. The phone features a vibrant and sharp 5-inch IPS display, making the screen roughly the same size as the one on the original Samsung Galaxy Note. Aside from the eye-catching display, the S890 also has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and Android 4.1 with a custom Lenovo skin running on top. I found the phone to be a bit too plasticky for my taste, but it performed well in spite of having only a dual-core chipset.

Finally there's the IdeaPhone S720, Lenovo's entry level smartphone running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The phone has the same 4.5-inch qHD IPS display found on the P770, and is positioned as more of multimedia device. The phone sports a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 8-megapixel camera, and ships pre-loaded with Dolby's audio software for an enhanced listening experience. These types of specs are atypical of budget handsets, many of which are still sold running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

inch 3G tablet A2107

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Windows 8 Zone Mobiles Internet Gaming Tablets Laptops/ PC Apps Social Home Ent. Telecom Cameras Others You are here:Gadgets Home Tablets News Lenovo launches 7-inch 3G tablet A2107 with Android 4.0 Rs. 14,000

Lenovo has launched its A2107 tablet in India. Lenovo A2107 is a 7-inch tablet with a resolution of 1024X600 pixels. It is powered by Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and is topped by Mondrian User Interface. It is available at all Lenovo Exclusive stores, multi-brand outlets and large format retails stores for Rs.14,000 plus taxes.

Lenovo A2107 is powered by 1GHz Cortex A9 MediaTek processor, and comes with 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of DDR2 RAM. For connectivity it comes supports 3G as well Wi-Fi. Lenovo claims that it will give up to 8 hours battery such as Dell RM680 Ac Adapter, Dell KM970 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3300 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3350 Ac Adapter, Dell NF52T Ac Adapter, Dell GRNX5 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude XT Ac Adapter, Dell WR015 Ac Adapter, Dell PU536 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3400 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3500 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3700 Ac Adapter life with Wi-Fi streaming. It comes with matt cover, which is soft to the touch with a light grip that doesn't let the tablet slip out of hand. The tablet weighs approximately 0.4 kgs. This tablet also comes with an internal roll cage to protect against damage if dropped.There is a 2-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel front camera.

The company had announced this tablet way back in August 2012 along with IdeaTab A2109 and IdeaTab S2110 and was expected to start retailing from November onwards.

Lenovo A2107 will be competing against Huawei MediaPad 7 Lite, which launched in India just a couple of months ago. Priced at Rs. 13,700, Huawei MediaPad 7 Lite sports a 7-inch display with 1024x600p resolution. It is powered by a 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB. For camera, there is 3.2-megapixel rear shooter and 0.3 megapixel one on the front. This tablet has a 4,100 mAh battery and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

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Avere just keeps growing

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ALLED claims to be the first company in the world to create not only the most reliable and energy-saving solid state light, but also an adaptive control technology that can be programmed to light or dim on demand.

Avere just keeps growing. Developers of high performance storage solutions for data enterprise centers, Avere cites three major highlights in the last year: the release of new product architecture for data storage, a $20 million investment from a new investor and a major partnership with Fujitsu American.

The company doubled in size last year to 75 employees and plans to double again this year with battery like Panasonic CGA-S101A Battery, Olympus Li-10B Battery, Olympus BLM1 Battery, panasonic NV-GS10 battery, panasonic VHS-C Battery, canon EOS 400D Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1E Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1 Battery, Panasonic CGA-S002 Battery, HITACHI DZ-HS300E Battery, Olympus FE-230 Battery, canon MV930 Battery, both in employees and revenue. Squeezed for working space, the company plans to go shopping for a new headquarters in 2013.

CivicScience has a stake in a moving target, public opinion, and is successfully using its unconventional methodology to keep a finger on the pulse of what people are thinking at any given time. Polling millions of consumers each week puts the company in command of information of tremendous interest to leading decision-makers.

Highlights in 2012 included a $2.86 million investment round led by Cox Enterprises and New Atlantic Ventures, the doubling of the CivicScience team and revenue growth of 500%, says CEO John Dick. Dallas Maverick owner and Shark Tank celeb Mark Cuban joins the board in 2013; the company will also move to a new space in East Liberty and continue to grow.

Dynamics is changing the plastic we carry in our pockets. This former Project Olympus startup launched its flagship product this year, the Dynamics ePlate Visa credit card device, the world’s first battery-operated credit card issued by UMB Bank, N.A. The card is capable of multi-tasking like no other, offering consumers applications that award loyalty points for dozens of perks, everything from travel to games, restaurant meals, groceries and charity donations.

This North Huntingdon company is pioneering the evolution of a new age of manufacturing. Founded in 2005, a spin-off of Extrude Hone Corp., ExOne has inherited several decades of research and product development that is helping to usher in a new era of rapid production technology. This global company supplies services, systems and solutions for manufacturing in the digital age, including three-dimensional printing in sand, metal, glass and laser micromachining.

Alpha Lab grad

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A former AlphaLab grad, NoWait has generated a buzz in the region as the Open Table for casual restaurants. It was no secret that the startup was quickly outgrowing its space in StartUptown this summer. The company announced this week it has hired a new CEO, Ware Sykes who will replace founder Robb Myer who remains as president and chief product officer. While the team will remain in Pittsburgh, Sykes will work from New York. NoWait raised a $2 million investment round in August. The service has seated more than six million diners to date.

Yet another fast-growing Alpha Lab grad, The Resumator hit its stride this year when it was tapped by both presidential campaigns for their hiring needs. Another highlight--in addition to moving into an 8,000 square-foot office space and doubling from 18 with battery such as sony NP-F550 battery, sony NP-FR1 battery, sony NP-FM50 battery, sony NP-FM51 battery, sony NP-F10 battery, sony NP-FE1 battery, Sharp VL-Z900W battery, Canon BP-512 battery, Canon BP-508 battery, sony DSC-T7 battery, Sony NP-68 battery, Sony NP-98 battery to 30 people—was an investment by Salesforce.com.

2013 may be an even better year as the firm looks to take the national stage and partner with larger businesses to exponentially grow the customer base, says CEO Don Charlton.

Working under the radar since 2009, Safaba is ready to make its presence known. The Squirrel Hill firm provides automated language text translations to some of the world’s leading global enterprises.

Companies that are ready to take the international stage have tapped Safaba to translate all their online and text corporate materials into other languages. PayPal used Safaba to develop online ecommerce in the Nordic languages. One of the greatest accomplishments of 2012, says Safaba’s Udi Hershkovich, vice president of business development, was tackling the world’s largest machine learning project, the translation of Dell’s online content into 27 languages.

"Our goals for 2013 are still open to question,” he adds. But they quite ambitious. “We’d like to replicate the success of 2012 by four times.”

The Oakland company moved beyond its anti-phishing tools in 2011 and began offering companies a broader security net through a more comprehensive approach to cyber security. With it has come triple digit customer growth and triple digit product revenue for two years running.

Wombat has received three information security industry awards and recognition from the respected security trade pub, SC Magazine, for its cyber security tools. The coming year will bring new software training solutions that will help people learn to avoid cyber-attacks when using mobile devices.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Dell Inspiron 1000

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Notebooks don't come much cheaper than £529 but Dell's Inspiron 1000 with adapter like Dell XPS 1640 Ac Adapter, Dell XPS 1645 Ac Adapter, Dell XPS 1647 Ac Adapter, Dell XPS M1640 Ac Adapter, Dell W298C Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 11Z Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron Mini 10V Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron Mini 1010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron Mini 1011 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron Mini 1010N Ac Adapter, Dell PP19S Ac Adapter looks and feels like a much more expensive laptop. Like the IBM R40e, the black styling gives it a classy air. It's well built and, tipping the scales at 3kg, it isn't too hefty either.

The feeling of quality even extends to the keyboard. Not only is it sensibly laid out, with none of the odd key positioning decisions that plague some budget laptops, but it boasts a reassuringly solid typing action.

The TFT isn't quite so spectacular. Although it measures 15in diagonally across, which ensures that all of its 1,024 x 768 pixels are of a respectable size, it isn't especially bright and doesn't have the widest viewing angles on show either. Overall, though, it's a sound choice for a notebook at this price.

The same can be said for the 30GB hard disk and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive. The 27GB of usable capacity means the Inspiron can house its fair share of multimedia files, and if you need to back up your vital data then the quick CD writing - 24x for both CD-R and CD-RW media - will be a boon, particularly when compared to the ThinkPad R40e, which only includes a DVD-ROM drive.

You don't have to dig too deep to find out where Dell has made some sacrifices though. A quick inspection of the outside reveals no FireWire, serial, parallel or PS/2 ports. Only a Type II PC Card slot and three USB 2 ports are on offer. There's no wireless communication either, with both infrared and WLAN absent.

We were pleased to see 256MB of RAM in place, but this laptop is no speed demon due to the 2.2GHz Mobile Celeron. The Inspiron could only manage 0.92 in our benchmarks, and 3D performance from the SiSM650 graphics chip was even worse; you won't be able to play the latest games on this machine.

Fortunately, the Inspiron fared much better in our battery tests. It lasted 75 minutes under intense use, three-and-a-half hours in our light-use test and you should be able to watch a two-hour DVD movie with no problems.

Dell also shows its experience by including a respectable 12-month collect-and-return warranty along with McAfee VirusScan 8 and Works 7 in the box. Overall, the Inspiron is a solid, trustworthy machine. If your budget is this limited, it's a fine choice.

Dell Inspiron 5160

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The 5160 ups the spec of the 5150 released last year. The processor is 3.2GHz, there's 512MB RAM and an 80GB hard disk. This gave the 5160 a solid benchmark score of 1.21.

The chassis is large, and houses a 12-cell battery and adapter such as Dell XPS L401X Ac Adapter, Dell XPS L701X Ac Adapter, Dell XPS L501X Ac Adapter, Dell XPS L502X Ac Adapter, Dell XPS L702X Ac Adapter, Dell XPS M2010 Ac Adapter, Dell C9891 Ac Adapter, Dell J70W7 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 1464 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 1564 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 1764 Ac Adapter, Dell 9JJGJ Ac Adapter that gave three hours of life under light use. The screen is decent, offering sharp text and few artefacts during DVD playback.

Both the keyboard and touchpad are rather lacklustre and not up to Dell's usual standard. But the 5160's main downfall is the lack of a DVD writer, offering only a DVD/CD-RW combo drive, although you can upgrade to one for £50.

With additional USB ports, S-Video and PC Card slots, it's a well-rounded notebook at a reasonable price. However, it's outdone by laptops in our low-cost laptop group test.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Acer Aspire 5750G

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With so many lithe and lovely Ultrabooks making their way through PC Pro's Labs, the dull grey of Acer's Aspire 5750G is enough to send anyone crashing back to earth. What Acer's budget 15.6in laptop lacks in looks, however, it more than makes up for with a generous specification: with a Core i3 CPU and a dedicated Nvidia graphics chipset, this £430 Acer crams in a huge amount for the money.

It's a solid, sturdy laptop with a drab, mottled-grey interior and darker grey lid, broken up by a wash of glossy black around the screen and hinge. The large keyboard has well-spaced keys and a solid base beneath its flat-headed keys, and there's a numeric keypad, too. The touchpad is quite small, and the rocker-style buttons feel muffled when clicked, but on the whole it's a comfortable laptop to use for long periods.

Those periods won't be as long as the best here, but a light-use battery like Acer UM08A31 battery, Acer UM08A71 battery, Acer UM08A72 battery, Acer UM08B71 battery, Acer Aspire One battery, Acer SQU-410 battery, Acer TravelMate 2100 battery, Acer 1556 battery, Acer BTP-89BM battery, Acer TravelMate 4600 battery, Acer AS07B72 Battery, Acer Aspire 5520 Battery life of 6hrs 9mins is still exceedingly good. That's due, in the main, to Nvidia's Optimus technology, which automatically switches to the low-power graphics when appropriate. For more intensive tasks, the discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 540M chip roars into life. In the Crysis test at Medium quality settings, the Acer managed an impressive average of 36fps. It will comfortably play the many less demanding games released since Crysis first arrived to torment graphics cards.

The rest of the specification is perfectly acceptable budget fare. The 2.1GHz Core i3-2310M and 6GB of RAM are powerful enough to earn the Acer a result of 0.55 in our Real World benchmarks, and the 640GB hard disk is a welcome sight, too.

The 15.6in 1,366 x 768 screen is impressively bright, with a maximum brightness level of 261cd/m2 putting it well ahead of most budget laptops. Contrast still isn't particularly strong - the 196:1 contrast ratio is merely average - but colours are pretty accurate and the glossy finish doesn't prove too reflective under normal usage.

Connectivity is ample. There's one USB 3 port on the right edge, and two further USB 2 ports. It has both D-SUB and HDMI outputs on the left-edge. There's a card reader for all the major formats - including the less common xD-picture - on the tapered front edge, and there's a 1.3-megapixel webcam embedded into the display's bezel. Bluetooth is the only major omission.

This Acer doesn't have the fastest processor, and it's battery life isn't quite as good as the very best we've seen. But, for just £430, we'd gladly swap finesse and a little stamina for an almost perfect all-rounder. It isn't flashy in the slightest, but at this price, the Acer Aspire 5750G makes itself worthy of a place on the PC Pro A-List.

Asus N56VM

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With an Asus logo glowing in the centre of a dark brushed-metal lid, and a chassis that feels more solid than any of its plastic peers, this 15.6in laptop feels as if it’s worth every penny of its asking price.

At 2.75kg with battery such as Asus A42-A3 Battery, Asus A2000 Battery, Asus A42-A2 Battery, Asus A3000 Battery, Asus A6000 Battery, Asus A42-A4 Battery, Asus A4000 Battery, Asus L5800 Battery, Asus A42-L5 Battery, Asus L5000 Battery, it isn’t the lightest 15.6in laptop we've seen, but the payoff comes in the form of bombproof build. The dark metal lid feels robust, and as the keyboard surround is hewn from metal, too, the chassis is second only to the Apple MacBook Pro for sturdiness. It’s even reasonably pretty: concentric circles of dots emanating from the keyboard’s corners add a little pizzazz, and co-ordinate nicely with the plain, elegant design.

Peer above the excellent keyboard, and you’ll notice that Asus has proudly emblazoned the N56VM with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower branding. At default settings, the speakers sound plummy and muffled, but delve into the audio control panel and the Waves MaxxAudio enhancements allow for an amazing improvement, adding treble and bass seemingly from nowhere.

As a further novelty, Asus includes a small subwoofer in the box that’s around the size of a fizzy drinks can. Plug this in, and the extra bass provides a warmer, rounder sound. From an audio perspective, the N56VM is surprisingly well endowed.

The display is a visual treat, too. It’s a 15.6in Full HD panel with impressively wide viewing angles, and the matte finish fends off distracting reflections. Image quality isn’t quite on a par with the finest machines, but it’s only a whisker behind. It’s far brighter than its rivals at a measured 357cd/m2, and the 566:1 contrast ratio complements the solid colour reproduction to make for bold, attractive images.

With the quad-core processor driving the N56VM to a result of 0.95 in our benchmarks, there’s no shortage of power on tap - the Dell XPS 15z scored 0.73. Graphical performance isn’t quite up with the best, though; with Crysis cranked up to Full HD resolution and high detail settings, its GeForce GT 630M GPU achieved an average frame rate of 18fps, a little slower than the best gaming notebooks.

The keyboard is spacious and, with the Scrabble-tile keys resting on the stiff, metal surround, there isn’t a hint of flex or wallow. Asus has also done a good job with the touchpad. Two-fingered right-clicks, pinching and zooming motions all feel natural, and the pad itself depresses with a taut, reassuring click.

There’s little to criticise elsewhere. The Blu-ray reader is welcome at this price, the four USB 3 ports are a boon, and the rare sight of an optical audio output will please those wanting to get bit-perfect sound to an external DAC or amplifier. Considering the power and screen, even battery life is decent, at 5hrs 24mins in light use.

It’s rare that a laptop manages to strike a perfect balance, but Asus’ N56VM comes close. With pitch-perfect sound, a great display and a healthy turn of speed, our new A List champion is an astonishing all-rounder.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Turning off Dell battery health notifications

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Q. have a Dell laptop with adapter like Dell Inspiron M501 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 17R Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 15R Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 14R Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 13R Ac Adapter, Dell 9T48V Ac Adapter, Dell XPS M1730 Ac Adapter, Dell PP06XA Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude 2100 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron 1320 Ac Adapter, Dell R893R Ac Adapter, Dell J024N Ac Adapter running Windows 7 and my battery life has decreased from excellent to good. Now every time I boot up, I get this annoying pop up from Dell Feature Enhancement Pack telling me that my battery life has diminished and, in essence, I need to buy a new battery. I have searched the Web looking for a way to turn this pop up off but nothing I have found has worked. Any solutions or thoughts?

A. The Dell Feature Enhancement Pack is a set of drivers installed by Dell on many of their computers that is designed to assist in the monitoring and configuration of hardware and related settings such as the battery, back-lit keyboards and so forth.

Unfortunately, the Dell Feature Enhancement Pack can be a little aggressive in notifications regarding your laptop battery. I have heard reports of the notifications popping up when the battery has only lost a small percentage of its charging capability.

While it may be useful to know that your battery is losing its ability to hold a charge, I don’t find it all that helpful to be reminded constantly. A battery that has declined a small bit is still useful and not necessarily something I would want to replace right away so being able to turn this notification off would be a good thing.

Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t make this very easy to do. To turn off these notifications you must go in to Add/Remove Programs in your Control Panel and find the entry for Dell Feature Enhancement Pack and right click it and select Change. This will take you to a screen that will allow you to modify the installation of this utility.

Select Modify and then click on Next. This will bring up a screen that shows the various components of the utility that are installed.

Click on the down arrow next to Power Plans and Battery and select “This feature will not be available” and click on Next, then Install. The battery options of this utility will be removed which will result in you no longer receiving any popup notifications regarding your laptop battery’s health.

Dell Vostro 3560 business laptop

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Where consumer laptops with adapter such as Dell Latitude E4300 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4400 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4310 Ac Adapter, Dell 8N884 Ac Adapter, Dell G800H Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4320 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E4200 Ac Adapter, Dell Y085C Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N7010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N5010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N4010 Ac Adapter, Dell Inspiron N3010 Ac Adapter spend precious engineering dollars on brightly colored designs and glossy screens, business-class machines use metal alloys, carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, rugged frames, and even liquid drain systems to keep your PC running through all kinds of abuse.

Dell’s Vostro 3560 is a bit of a hybrid, sacrificing some of the pricier aspects of the enterprise-level Latitude series in order to reach a more competitive price point. It still has a reinforced chassis with a spill-resistant keyboard and a ton of features for the dollar.

This ready-to-ship model has an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB 7200rpm hard drive preloaded with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. The 15.6-inch anti-glare screen is a welcome relief from the reflective coatings common at this price point.

One of the best parts if the backlit keyboard. That bonus feature is joined by others like a fingerprint reader, wireless N, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, VGA, gigabit ethernet, and a card reader. Helping protect your internet experience is a 15 month Trend Micro Titanium internet security subscription.

While this is a competitive load-out for the price point, what really helps set the Vostro 3560 apart from its consumer-level competition is the included next-business-day on-site one year warranty with accidental damage coverage. This normally adds a couple hundred dollars to the price of a business system, making this quick-ship Vostro 3560 an excellent deal at $624 (regularly $818). It even has free shipping.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Windows 8 for a Mac User

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I recently purchased an Asus Zenbook Touch laptop to replace my trusty Macbook Air. I was impressed by the hardware design being exhibited by the top tier ultrabook manufacturers, they embody sleek design elements and a fantastic build quality but more importantly Windows 8 has created a once in a generation opportunity to redefine what a PC is and much to my delight manufacturers like Samsung, Asus, Acer, Dell and HP are running with it.

Keep in mind that I switched from Windows to a Mac around the 2003 with battery like Dell RM680 Ac Adapter, Dell KM970 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3300 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3350 Ac Adapter, Dell NF52T Ac Adapter, Dell GRNX5 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude XT Ac Adapter, Dell WR015 Ac Adapter, Dell PU536 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3400 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3500 Ac Adapter, Dell Vostro 3700 Ac Adapter time period so for me this was not a decision to make lightly. I am accustomed to a Mac and did not object to paying a premium for the experience, however in recent years I was left feeling neglected as everything exciting that Apple did was around iOS while OS X was subject to incremental updates that often brought discomfort (e.g. performance on Lion) and the improved features were clearly aimed at people using iOS (e.g. Mountain Lion).

I long ago switched to Android for a smartphone and have no attachment to Apple’s software applications, instead relying on Google Apps. What I wanted from Apple was groundbreaking hardware that provided well integrated and reliable software experiences and Apple has been coming up short on both counts. Their hardware is consistently well designed and pleasing to look at, externally of course but the new Retina displays are amazing. but nothing they are doing with laptops is disruptive, it’s a turn here and a tweak there.

My Macbook Air was getting a little long in the tooth and in need of replacement. I was intrigued by Windows 8 and on a whim I walked over to the Best Buy a block away from my office and tried a few out. I was really impressed by the array of premium hardware and by how positive my initial hands on experience was with Windows 8. Even more surprising to me was how naturally I was reaching for the screen to interact with the system as a touchscreen.

Before I took the plunge I spent a couple of weeks reading up on Windows 8 and the shortlist of hardware that I liked. The Asus Zenbook, Acer S7, Samsung Series 9, and Sony models were on my list, all featuring an Air like hardware profile, fantastic displays, SSD storage, and comfortable keyboards. I selected the Asus Zenbook Touch because it met all of the above and offered strong battery performance, something the sexiest ultrabook in the category, the Acer S7, did not. I really wanted to convince myself to buy the Acer but the battery issue is a showstopper for me.

I actually found the experience of buying a Windows laptop to be really frustrating on several levels. What these manufacturers need to understand is that Apple flattened out the hardware curve by reducing the options and making it easier to buy. PC manufacturers still dwell on specifications and numbers, and the result is that even when you think you know what you are buying you may end up with something completely different. Asus has a family of Zenbook Prime computers, spread across several major groupings, the UX21A and UX31A groups. In the UX31A group there are 3 distinct models with many option sets. I ended up buying the UX31A-BHI5T11. Really.

It turns out that Asus doesn’t even provide the specific model numbers on their site, I found it on a retailer site in the fine print and then used that to search for other sources. It was a horrible experience and if they don’t come up with a better way to sell these things they will turn away more people than they serve.

Acer TravelMate P6

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Acer’s TravelMate P6 is a 13.3-inch, business-rugged laptop that borders on Ultrabook portability. It may be thicker than acceptable for an Ultrabook at 25mm, but at 1.72kg, it’s still a lightweight, cartable piece of kit.

The build quality is solid, with metal hinges, a magnesium-aluminium rollcage to protect the internal components, and Lenovo-style keyboard drainage system to limit damage from spilled beverages (trust us, that’s still something you want to avoid). There’s a little more flex in the screen than we’d like, but not enough to be concerning.

The 13.3-inch screen is 1366 x 768 pixels, average for the form factor and low for the price. The screen has a matte finish and reasonably high maximum brightness. It provides comfortable viewing indoors and out, but a1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080 with battery such as Dell Studio 1450 Ac Adapter, Dell Studio 1457 Ac Adapter, Dell Studio 1458 Ac Adapter, Dell Studio 1558R Ac Adapter, Dell N998P Ac Adapter, Dell W358P Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E5400 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E5410 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E5500 Ac Adapter, Dell Latitude E5510 Ac Adapter, Dell WU852 Ac Adapter, Dell PP32L Ac Adapter display would have helped justify the P6’s premium cost.

The keyboard is a variation on the common ‘island’ design, with each square key curved slightly to fit your fingertips and bordered by a narrow plastic flange. Key travel is deep, making for a comfortable typing experience. It’s also quiet, which is essential for open-plan office use unless you really dislike your colleagues. The touchpad is responsive, accurate and supports multi-touch gestures, but its recessed design makes it unsuitable for Windows 8 swipe gestures – it’s clear this is designed for Windows 7.

In spec, the P6 is one of the most powerful laptops we’ve tested for the size and weight. It runs on an Intel Core i7-3520M dual-core CPU, with a clock speed of 2.9GHz (3.6GHz turbo), and 8GB of RAM. Storage is supplied by a 256GB SSD. Intel’s vPro technology is included for remote management by IT departments, and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) provides enhanced security, in conjunction with the built-in fingerprint scanner.

Performance in our standard benchmark suite exceeded that of all the ultraportables tested in our December 2012 roundup, and also beat many of the ultrabooks and larger laptops we’ve tested previously. In the CPU-based Cinebench and 7-Zip, and in the all-round PCMark 7 benchmark, the TravelMate P6 performs better than any other laptop we’ve tested.

Graphically it’s outclassed by laptops with dedicated GPUs, but it’s still able to outmatch Ultrabooks that use Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 (Ivy Bridge) or the older HD Graphics 3000 (Sandy Bridge). This is not a hardcore 3D gaming laptop, but it would be just fine if you wanted to play Civilization V or XCOM between corporate strategy meetings.

Wired connectivity is great: three USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port that doubles as USB 2.0, full-sized HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, separate headphone and microphone ports, an SD/XD/MS card reader and an ExpressCard/34 slot provide plenty of scope for accessories or expansion.

You also get 802.11abgn Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) and 3G mobile internet via a full-sized SIM card slot hidden behind the removable battery. Yes, you can remove and replace the battery when it reaches its use-by date.

Battery life in our quick-draining ‘productivity’ test was 2 hours and 54 minutes – not fantastic, but also not too far behind some of the low-power Ultrabooks we tested this month. For a business-oriented, high-performance laptop, it’s a reasonable result and in line with similar models we’ve tested.

The TravelMate P6 is a great piece of hardware that does much to justify its $2,499 price. The only disappointment was the screen resolution – if you can look past that, the P6 is a good choice for the business traveller who needs a little more performance than an Ultrabook can provide.