Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 with WWAN Review

The Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 is a solid tablet notebook. This updated model has AT&T BroadbandConnect HSPA integrated though. Besides that the design and chassis are the same. I actually have the lower end model with the ULV 1.06GHz Core 2 Duo processor and smaller hard drive. The big question though, does the built-in WWAN make a difference, especially for those road warriors or business professionals who are always on the go? Let's take a look and find out.

Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 Tablet PC specs as reviewed:(price with WWAN is $1,499)
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.06GHz U7500
OS Windows XP Tablet Edition
RAM 2GB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM memory (1GB x 2)
Display 12.1" WXGA indoor/outdoor active digitizer display with wide viewing angles
Graphics Intel GMA X3100
Audio Integrated speakers
Hard Drive 40GB hard drive
Optical Drive None
I/O ports

* 2 x USB
* 1 x VGA - 15 pin
* 1 x IEEE 1394 (Firewire)
* 1 x Type I/II PCMCIA slot
* 1 x Smart Card slot
* 1 x Media card reader
* 1 x Microphone-in
* 1x Headphone

Communications

* AT&T Broadband HSPA WWAN
* 10/100/1000 Ethernet
* Bluetooth 2.0

Dimensions/Weight

* 11.9" (Width) x 8.8" (Depth) x 1.36" (Thick)
* 3.5 pounds

Battery/power 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5-hour life)

Design and Build

The T2010 has a simple design that is sleek and appealing. Right off the bat, you get that business feel. It would be perfect for college students as well, considering it is so small and only weighs in around 3.5 pounds. The graphite color hides dirt very well and keeps the tablet looking professional, but be careful the lid can be scratched easily.

The chassis is solid and there is minimal flex, except for the keyboard area, which I will get to later. There are a few dedicated tablet buttons on the bottom of the screen that change the screen orientation and function. They are very convenient, especially when using the T2010 in tablet mode. This model T2010 has the integrated AT&T Broadband Connect WWAN, so that is what the extra bulge is on the right side, the antenna.

The hinge is solid and feels sturdy. The screen doesn't wobble much, even when tapped. The fact the screen turns in both directions is a nice feature as well. The entire design is solid and the battery being located in the front isn't an inconvenience at all. I thought it may be awkward, but it makes for a nice palm rest. Although, there is no optical drive, the T2010 is packed with a good variety of features and you can always get the docking solution for more.

Display

The active digitizer is great and like I mentioned before the 12.1" WXGA screen is flawless. You can adjust the brightness level to your liking and I didn't notice any graininess. The colors are bright and vivid, so much that I almost forgot I was working with a tablet instead of a notebook.

I didn't have any problems taking notes and since the T2010 has a bi-directional hinge it is great for presentations. I love being able to turn the tablet screen in both directions. It automatically changes orientation in tablet mode as well. The screen does have a glossy finish, but it's not that reflective. In fact it has great viewing angles and is readable outdoors.

Processor and System Performance

The T2010 performed about as I expected. It was a little slower on the benchmarks then the first model I reviewed, but this model only has a Core 2 Duo ULV 1.06GHz processor and a 40GB hard drive. The original review unit had the ULV 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a 100GB hard drive. It still performed tasks with no problems like checking email and surfing the Web. Remember this tablet is for the business minded, not gamers. It's lightweight and portable for a reason.

Comparison Results for PCMark05

PCMark05 measures the systems performance as a whole.
Notebook PCMark05 Score
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.06GHz, GMA X3100 graphics) 2,325 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 (Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2GHz ULV, Intel 945GMS chipset) 2,113 PCMarks
Asus R1E (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, GMA 965 chipset) 4,679 PCMarks
Gateway C-140x (Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, ATI X2300 HD graphics) 4,342 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics) 4,171 PCMarks
HP tx2000 (AMD Turion 64 X2 2.3GHz, Nvidia Go 6150 graphics) 3,738 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz, GMA X3100 graphics) 3,473 PCMarks
Toshiba Portege M700 (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz, GMA 965 chipset) 3,399 PCMarks
HP tx1000 (AMD Turion X2 2.0GHz, Nvidia Go 6150) 3,052 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X60t (1.66GHz LV Core Duo) 2,860 PCMarks
Asus R1F (1.66GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950 graphics) 2,724 PCMarks
LG C1 (Intel Core Duo 1.2GHz, Nvidia Go 7300) 2,568 PCMarks
HP Compaq 2710p (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics) 2,453 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.2GHz, GMA X3100 graphics) 2,334 PCMarks
Gateway E-155C (Intel Core 2 Duo ULV 1.06GHz, Intel GMA 950 graphics) 2,205 PCMarks
Toshiba R400 (Intel Core Duo ULV 1.2GHz, Intel GMA 950 graphics) 2,187 PCMarks



Comparison Results for 3Dmark05

3DMark05 tests the overall graphic capabilities of a notebook.
Notebook 3D Mark 05 Results
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, GMA X3100 graphics) 495 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, Intel 945GMS chipset) 358 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB) 2,092 3DMarks
Gateway C-140x (2GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X2300 HD graphics) 1,956 3DMarks
LG C1 (1.2GHz Intel Core Duo, Nvidia Go 7300) 1,392 3DMarks
Toshiba Portege M700 (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, GMA 965 chipset) 940 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA X3100 graphics) 925 3DMarks
Asus R1E (2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, GMA 965 chipset) 923 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (1.6GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA X3100 graphics) 812 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook S2210 (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1150) 810 3DMarks
HP tx2000 (2.3GHz AMD Turion 64 X2, Nvidia Go 6150 graphics) 636 3DMarks
HP Compaq 2710p (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, GMA X3100 graphics) 634 3DMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, GMA X3100 graphics) 566 3DMarks
Toshiba Satellite A135 (1.73GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950) 519 3DMarks
Gateway E-155C (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA 950) 500 3DMarks



Super Pi

In the below results of Super Pi, where the processor is timed in calculating Pi to 2 million digits:
Notebook Time to Calculate Pi to 2 Million Digits
Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) 1m 54s
Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) 1m 49s
Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 (2.2GHz Core 2 Duo) 54s
Gateway C-140x (2GHz Core 2 Duo) 58s
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (1.6GHz Core 2 Duo) 1m 10s
HP TC4400 Tablet PC (2.0GHz Core Duo) 1m 13s
Asus R1F (1.66GHz Core Duo) 1m 20s
HP tx2000 (2.3GHz AMD Turion 64 X2) 1m 33s
HP Compaq 2710p (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) 1m 39s
Fujitsu T2010 (1.2GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) 1m 40s
LG C1 (1.2GHz Intel Core Duo) 1m 49s
Gateway E-155C (1.06GHz ULV Core 2 Duo) 1m 58s
IBM ThinkPad X41t (1.5GHz LV Pentium M) 2m 02s
Toshiba R400 (1.2GHz ULV Core Duo) 2m 10s
Dell Latitude D420 (1.06GHz Core Solo ULV) 2m 11s
Fujitsu LifeBook U810 (800MHz Intel A110) 6m 22s



HDTune Results



Keyboard/Touchpad/Pen

Don't get me wrong the keyboard has a nice design, it's just a little soft and springy for my liking. When you are typing you can actually see the keys flex. If you type fast these soft keys allow for mistakes to happen on accident since they don't give much feedback. However, it is very easy to read since the characters are bolded and plenty big enough and there isn't any shortened keys. Everything looks small though including the space bar because Fujitsu didn't compromise any room on this design. Some users may feel a bit cramped.


There isn't a touchpad just the pointing stick, which is very responsive and easy to get adjusted too. I mean there is barely a palm rest, so where would Fujitsu put a touchpad. Actually the palm rest is the battery, which connects in the front. The location of the battery didn't bother me though and it never got hot. This is definitely the perfect travel companion.

The pen feels solid in your hand and is responsive. It has an eraser too, which is a convenient feature. It is easy to take notes with because the pen flows nicely on the screen and doesn't feel awkward in your hand. Fujitsu even included a tether incase you want to attach the pen to the tablet, this way it never gets lost.

Heat/Noise

I didn't experience any heat issues with the T2010. In fact it ran quite cool almost all the time. The keyboard area never got hot or the bottom. I think Fujitsu's famous suede patches along the bottom help reduce the heat as well. They make it more comfortable to hold the tablet on your lap or on your arm in tablet mode. The only heat issue was by the left side fan and that is because when this machine is working hard it blows out a lot of hot air. I mean there is enough heat coming out to keep your hand warm on a cold rainy day.

As for noise, well that is a different issue. The T2010 is actually kind of loud. Even when idling the fan kicks on and it sounds like a hairdryer. You run some benchmarks and you can barely hear yourself talk over it. When the T2010 is overloaded the fan is loud and you can hear it. I don't think it would bother anyone in a classroom, but in a quiet library, other people would notice.

Ports

Overall I am impressed with the T2010. It has a nice array of features including two USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), External monitor/VGA, modem (RJ-11), Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), docking connector, headphone jack, and microphone jack. It also has a Type I/II PCMCIA slot, Smart Card slot, and media card reader. All of this is packed into such a small tablet.


Battery

The T2010 gets good battery life. With the standard 6-cell battery in Balanced mode I was pulling almost five hours of usage. This battery sits flush with the tablet design, but you can always get the optional 9-cell battery, which sticks out the front a little and gives you all day computing life. It only takes a little over an hour to fully recharge the T2010 as well, so it is a road warrior.

One problem I did notice on this review unit was the power jack where you plug in the AC adapter to charge the tablet made some static noises everytime I plugged it in, which was annoying.

Speakers

I wouldn't recommend listening to your iTunes on this tablet. I mean the T2010 is lacking when it comes to speakers. It has one little speaker that puts out decent sound, but nothing I would brag about. Another problem is in tablet mode the speaker gets covered, so your sound becomes muffled. I listened to a few rock and jazz songs, which sounded fine at mid-volume level, but once you go above that it gets a little distorted. The headphone and microphone jacks come in handy though. The microphone works great for speech recognition and the headphones make the music quality a little better.

Wireless/WWAN

The T2010, is one of the first notebooks in North America to offer a built-in wireless modem certified to access AT&T's third-generation (3G) High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) BroadbandConnect wireless network. The ability to have this high speed access allows for faster download speeds and faster upload speeds, which enhances users' ability to send large files, such as emails with attachments, videos, photos or business documents.

I tested out the WWAN in many areas around my office and home in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. It worked great at the office and was hit or miss at my house. Downtown in the city I had good luck with connecting and reached way over the expected download speeds of between 600 Kbps and 1,400 Kbps and typical upload speeds between 500 Kbps and 800 Kbps. Besides that, I think that AT&T doesn't have the network coverage that Verizon and Sprint do in my area.

Sometimes I couldn't even connect and when I did it was slow. It isn't supposed to be slow. I really just think it was the network coverage area, so it will probably be fine in most other areas where AT&T is more dominant. Th review unit I tested was a little beat up too, but I think that is because it has been to other reviewers, so I think it was just a network coverage problem. I know we have tested Sprint and Verizon cards before and it depends where you are how it works, same thing with the AT&T WWAN. When it did work though it was great and I had fast upload and download speeds.

Using the Speakeasy.net Speed Test, I ran 4,055 Kbps download speeds and 650 upload speeds on the Atlanta Server. This was also tested in my office where we have wireless Internet services. When I was on the road and testing out the tablet around my house, I got download speeds of 1,150 Kbps and upload speeds of 550 Kbps. I also got kicked off the network sometimes too, so it was kind of tricky to test. I recommend finding out how well AT&T is in your area first before making any decisions.

OS and Software

The T2010 runs Windows XP Tablet Edition as the OS. There wasn't much bloatware either. It did have Norton and a few subscription programs but they were trail offers. Besides that not much, just the typical Windows programs and OneNote.

Buying Choices for the Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 Tablet PC (Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HDD, XP Tablet 2005)
Fujitsu | $2,049.00
LapTop Authority | $1,849.00

77.8% of people recommend this product - view 9 opinions | rate product

Conclusion

The T2010 is a solid Tablet PC, with a great bi-directional hinge and beautiful display. I really like Fujitsu's screens, the colors are always bright and vivid. The lid can be scratched easily, so be careful with that, but it does hide dirt very well. It is easy to take notes on, give presentations with and portable enough to take anywhere. Great for business professionals or college students. The battery life is good and if you get the 9-cell, you will have all day computing power, as I said before making it a perfect travel companion. The AT&T WWAN worked fine when I had it working and I had plenty of signal strength. I don't think AT&T has the best network coverage in my area, so I think that is why I had some problems.

Pros

* Beautiful screen with bi-directional hinge
* Solid design and chassis
* Lightweight
* Great battery life
* WWAN, when you get it to work

Cons

* One speaker, which doesn't do any justice
* Keyboard has a lot of flex and feels springy
* WWAN can be erratic in certain network areas

Dell (PRODUCT) RED notebooks, Eee PC with XP, HDX with 8800M GTS

Dell and Microsoft offer (PRODUCT) RED PCs



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Alienware m15x finds its way into the hands of customers



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One of our forum members, mrwater, has received his brand new Alienware m15x gaming notebook. The m15x was on display at CES and proved to be a real show-stopper. We covered the launch of the notebook on November 19 in NYC. It features a 15.4-inch widescreen display, available Nvidia GeForce 8800M-GTX graphics, and Intel Core 2 Extreme processors. At present, the m15x is offered in $2,099 and $2,699 configurations, with a $1,499 configuration in the works.

Read More in the forums - The Official m15x Owners Lounge
Product Page (Alienware.com)

HP Pavilion HDX now available with GeForce 8800M-GTS




The HP Pavilion HDX entertainment PC is now available with the Nvidia GeForce 8800M-GTS 512MB graphics card option. It is a $250 upgrade from the base 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600XT. Key features of the HDX include a 20.1-inch widescreen display, internal HDTV tuner, and HD-DVD drive.

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Asus Eee PC available in Japan with Windows XP

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The Asus Eee PC has finally been released in Japan, but the models released there are not quite the same as in the US. The Eee PC 4G-X as it is called is the same as the standard 4G model, except that it comes with Windows XP Home edition as standard equipment instead of Linux. A 4GB SDHC card is included with the machine since XP takes up most of the Eee PC's internal 4GB flash memory. The Eee PC 4G-X is available in Japan for about $468 in white or black.

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Dell XPS M1330 available with Ubuntu, Spain-only (for now)

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Dell has announced that it will be offering its 13.3-inch XPS M1330 in Spain pre-loaded with Ubuntu 7.10. U.S. customers will have to "hold on a week or so" according to the Direct2Dell blog.

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VIA announces 64-bit Isaiah processor


VIA today announced a new processor architecture, dubbed Isaiah. It was developed by subsidiary Centaur Technology, and is designed to minimize power requirements. It is based on 65nm technology and is claimed to be four times more efficient than the company's current C7 chips. Specifications include 1MB of L2 cache, up to a 2.0GHz clockspeed, and a FSB from 800MHz to 1333MHz. Products based on the new processors will be shipping during the first half of this year.

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Asus F9 User Review

When I picked up my HP Pavilion dv6258se early this year, around February, I bought it because I lived thirty miles from school and wanted to have a sort of portable workstation for editing video and playing the occasional game. It's a fifteen incher, big and beautiful. Mainly big.

I had no idea I'd wind up getting a job that came with an apartment on campus just a few months later. Suddenly the mobile workstation wasn't really necessary; my desktop computer was always in walking distance from class.

So I set out to find a thin-and-light or ultraportable for a reasonable price. I used to have a Sony VAIO TR2A that I still miss dearly, and I wouldn't mind something easy to cart around.

Dell's XPS M1330 would've been my first choice, but it was out of my price range. My school (UC San Diego) sells a Sony SZ series for $1,049 that I heavily considered, but I just hated the keyboard on it. Too clicky and loud, and not very comfortable. And then I saw the ASUS F9Dc on NewEgg. Specced out like crazy and for a remarkably low price ($939 with free shipping). After weighing between the known quantity - the SZ - and a notebook with very little word of mouth attached to it - the F9Dc - I splashed out and picked up the ASUS.

In many ways the gamble paid off. In others...not so much. The F9Dc is much like an Ewok. It's small, adorable, but can only be enjoyed for about two hours, when the movie (battery) ends (dies).


SPECIFICATIONS

• Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 (1.8GHz dual core)
• Screen: 12.1" WXGA (1280x800) Glossy
• Memory: 1GB DDR2-667 (one DIMM, upgraded to 2GB)
• Hard Disk: 120GB 5400rpm SATA
• Optical Drive: DVD-RAM (DVD+/-RW and DVD-RAM)
• Video: nVidia GeForce 8400M G 128MB
• Connectivity: Modem, Gigabit LAN, Bluetooth
• Battery: 6 Cell
• Built-in 1.3 megapixel swivelling webcam
• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

There's a lot of computer here for under a grand, and it performs like it. I bought an additional 1GB stick of DDR2 and brought it up to 2GB maybe days after I received the notebook. For the price, a corner had to get cut somewhere, and the memory seems to have been it, but at least ASUS was graceful enough to leave a slot free to make it easy to upgrade to dual channel.

Oh, and by the way...


Goodies! (view large image)

It comes with a Targus carrying case and a Logitech USB notebook mouse! Nice inclusions that really spruce up the notebook and push the value for the price way over the edge.

BUILD AND DESIGN

The build is simultaneously pleasing and disappointing. While certainly the notebook is fairly attractive (I'm sick to death of gray and black, I really am), the size of the body and the bezel around the screen really detracts from the "thin and light" nature of the unit itself. Without the webcam, it probably could've fit a 13.3" screen without much trouble.

Other than that, I find the black with silver accents to be fairly pleasing if unremarkable. It's not an eye-popper, but it's not at all unpleasant to look at.


ASUS F9Dc-A1 glamour shot. (view large image)

The build quality of it as a whole is very solid with three exceptions:

1. I'm going to start referring to these as "ASUS hinges." I had an A8Jm not too long ago that had the same loose hinges that resulted in some wobble for the screen. While these are still pretty tight, they're definitely looser than I'm used to.

2. The 6-cell battery sticks halfway out the back of the unit. For a standard battery, this is almost inexcusable and really messes with the aesthetics. Not only that, it just makes me generally nervous. For what it's worth, though, it's fairly snug and locks in well.

3. The optical drive's bezel slants down and is a bit loose (as these often are). This is something you should probably just avoid gripping the computer by.

Past these, the notebook is very solidly built.

One thing that's really cool about it is the way the entire bottom panel comes off.


The belly of the beast. (view large image)

From here you can access, well, just about everything - including the processor. VERY cool. Makes you wonder why ASUS doesn't sell these as whitebox units.


SCREEN


Glossy and beautiful. (view large image)

It seems like every review of a notebook screen is "my screen is gorgeous! Best I've ever seen!" I've used more than a few notebooks, and I can tell you that the screen on the F9Dc is not noteworthy. It's beautiful, with solid contrast and excellent brightness levels. Sparkling is virtually non-existent. Viewing angles are a little tricky, at least vertically, but that really does pretty much come with the territory as far as modern notebooks go.

Truthfully this was a major concern of mine in picking up this notebook. My last ASUS was the A8Jm and that had a HORRIBLE screen. Nasty viewing angles, dull colors, low brightness, and terribly sparkling. How anyone could've found that screen appealing was beyond me. So when I powered on my F9Dc, I was relieved to see it didn't share the former notebook's problems in this department.

SPEAKERS


Speakers are built into the screen bezel. (view large image)

Let's be realistic here. It's a 12.1" notebook, and the speakers are built into the screen bezel. How do you think they sound?

They're tinny with no bass. Just use the headphone jack.

PROCESSOR AND PERFORMANCE

I'm not gonna lie to you, AMD isn't winning any awards for performance right now, and the dedicated graphics are 64MB above the weakest you can buy in a modern laptop without going integrated.

That said, a 1.8 GHz dual core is still a 1.8 GHz dual core. The 128MB GeForce 8400M G is a surprisingly capable part for being so stripped down; I was able to push Unreal Tournament 3 at 1024x640 at medium detail very playably, which really just comments on how powerful modern hardware actually is. You're not gonna be playing Crysis on it, but if you run Bioshock on low settings (the only game in this year's spat of AAA titles actually worth playing for an extended period of time) you'll be alright.

The 3DMark06 score is about 1,100, and the GPU really does perform fairly admirably on older titles. Doom 3 runs playably at 1024x640 Medium, I maxed out Guild Wars with a little AA (which means WoW players should totally be in the clear and pretty happy with themselves).

For media work like what I do, well...honestly, a thin-and-light with a 12.1" screen probably isn't ideal, but for what it's worth it performs just fine for that as well.

KEYBOARD AND TOUCHPAD


Attractive, yet functional. (view large image)

Not much needs to really be said about the touchpad, it's actually one of my favorite parts of the notebook. Very easy to use, and the buttons are an attractive sort of brushed aluminum.

The keyboard, on the other hand, is gonna make or break it for some of you. There's no flex, but the keys feel a bit small and cramped compared to other notebooks I've used, and the way the entire keyboard is recessed into the notebook...it's not HUGELY different from how other notebooks are, but it's different enough and something about the experience just seems off. It's something you can get used to pretty quickly and easily and it won't make you rip your hair out in clumps like the keyboards Sony uses on their notebooks, but it's not on par with the keyboards I've used on HP's notebooks, let alone something like a Thinkpad.

INPUT AND OUTPUT PORTS


Left side: VGA, HDMI, vent, USB port, memory card reader, and ExpressCard. (view large image)


Right side: DVD-RAM drive, optical/headphone jack, mic jack, phone jack, gigabit ethernet jack. (view large image)


Rear: 2x USB, AC power jack, Kensington lock (view large image)

There are no ports on any other faces of the notebook.

The HDMI port is a nice inclusion that's really gaining popularity as of late, and was one of the reasons I picked up the notebook. HDMI port and a USB TV tuner with Windows Vista...hop skip and a jump from a media center you can take with you. Sounds good to me.

There's a major omission that doesn't sit well with me, though, and that's the lack of a FireWire port. I get the sense these are starting to be phased out, but I still use FireWire pretty regularly and to not have it here...well, don't assume every notebook has one. For most people it won't matter, but without an eSATA port FireWire is still the best choice for external hard drives.

Other than that, the placement of the ports is actually really nice, and having the vent on the left side is only going to piss off those diabolical lefties, so I approve. The USB port on the front left is actually really convenient, and should just as well have been marked "flash drives go here."

WIRELESS

Wireless switch. (view large image)

Honestly, this kind of connectivity in a sub-$1000 notebook is a nice find. While it doesn't include wireless-n, I can't be the only one out here who isn't noticing a real penetration of N anyhow.

I'm also happy to see the wireless chipset used here is Atheros instead of Broadcom. While Broadcom is usually plenty functional, driver availability has always been really hit and miss.

I haven't personally used the bluetooth connectivity, but I appreciate its inclusion. Bluetooth is one of those fancy new-fangled technologies I haven't gotten on board with or played with, but for the rest of you it's gonna be a nice find.

BATTERY AND HEAT

Heat is surprisingly good for a notebook this size with this much power. While the AMD chip isn't doing us any favors, the unit dissipates heat remarkably well though the underside can get nice and toasty.

The battery life, however, is straight up criminal. I can peak at a little over two hours with wireless on and brightness two steps above darkest (which is still plenty readable, actually). But for a notebook with a tiny screen, portable processor, and a low-powered GPU, a two hour battery life off of six cells is not acceptable.

The whole point of a four pound notebook is being able to be off the cable. The damn battery juts out the back and still, here are your two hours sir, thank you, come again.

OPERATING SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE

So it comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and little in the way of crapware - always one of the nice things about ASUS notebooks. Comes with their Power4Gear software, which is VERY nice, and has a good UI for all of the functions.

So. Windows Vista Home Premium. Would it surprise you after my two articles about my hatred for it to learn I've come around to it?

This computer - once upgraded to 2GB of RAM - actually handles pretty well under Vista. Well, provided you kill Sidebar and disable UAC. But I have few complaints with Vista here. Runs well, performance isn't the atrocity it was when Vista just came out.

I did do a clean install of Home Premium using the key that came with the notebook, though, just out of habit really. But yeah, not bad at all.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT

This is kind of a mixed bag. My experience with ASUS has generally been positive on this front; when I lived in Northern California and was a hop skip and a jump away from their office in Fremont, you could actually straight up drive out there, drop off your notebook (in this case my old A8Jm), kill some time at Fry's, and then come back and pick it up same day. They even called me repeatedly to make sure they were fixing it to my specs. AWESOME.

The F9Dc also comes with a one year accidental damage warranty on top of two years standard parts and labor. At this price, that's incredibly good, and I think it speaks well for them.

On the other hand, driver availability for the F9Dc on their site is strangely...not so good. Vista only and minimal support there. Disappointing.

For regular customer service, though, I've been really happy with ASUS.

CONCLUSION

If the battery life is something you think you can live with, then honestly, this notebook really is a steal. I know it sounds like I've kvetched a lot about the unit, but it's a very solid machine. If my classes this quarter hadn't almost universally banned laptop use (barbarians!) I might've actually picked up one of those one-size-fits-all batteries to cover that. I may still.

The important thing is that it's powerful and versatile, and is really a hell of a lot of bang for the buck.

PROS

• Lots of power in a small chassis.
• Games fairly well all things considered.
• HDMI port.
• Wide range of modern connectivity.
• Comes with a nice carrying bag and mouse.

CONS

• Mediocre battery life.
• Kind of bulky for a 12.1" notebook.
• Battery juts out the back.
• No FireWire.

Dell XPS M1530 Review

Dell made a serious effort in 2007 to listen to customer feedback criticizing Dell’s older, thick and heavy laptops. The result was the amazingly thin and light XPS M1330, one of the sexiest looking notebooks of 2007. The new Dell XPS M1530 is an impressive 15.4" screen notebook designed similar to (just larger than) the very successful 13-inch XPS M1330.

Dell XPS M1530(view large image)

Buying Choices for the Dell XPS M1530 (Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66GHz, 160GB HDD, 2GB RAM) Dell, Inc. | $1,224.00 40.0% of people recommend this product - view 5 opinions | rate product

Our pre-production XPS M1530 is equipped with the following specs:

• 15.4-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) CCFL glossy screen
• "Crimson" red paint (also available in "Tuxedo" black or "Alpine" white)
• 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo T7500 processor, Santa Rosa chipset (up to 2.4GHz available)
• 2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM available)
• 160GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD (32GB SSD drive available)
• Slot-loading dual-layer DVD±RW drive
• NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3
• WWAN option for Verizon
• Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n (Intel 4965), Bluetooth option
• Integrated 2.0 megapixel webcam
• HDMI, VGA, S-Video, Firewire/1394, three USB 2.0 ports, integrated media reader (MS, SD, xD), fingerprint reader
• Media Center remote located in ExpressCard slot
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Dimensions (with 6-cell battery): 14.06" x 10.34" x 0.93" - 1.38"
• Weight starts at 5.9 pounds with 6-cell battery (6.29 pounds with 9-cell)

Build and Design

The Dell XPS M1330 has received high praise for its design and feature set in a 13.3" portable form factor, but the most popular selling laptops are in the 15.4" screen size. Dell, being in the business of selling more laptops and making customers happy, figured it would be wise to offer something that's larger and appeals to more people. And that's exactly what the M1530 is -- a larger version of the M1330.

As we said in our First Look article, it's as if Dell put the M1330 on steroids and the M1530 is the end result -- the laptop size increased proportionally and it's also more powerful in its new form. The design and look is mostly the same, the keyboard feels the same, the touch sensitive controls are replicated and for the most part the ports are the same (though you do get an extra USB 2.0 port on the M1530). That said, when we compare the M1530 and the M1330 side by side we can't help but think the design of the M1530 is "overweight" in comparison.

Above view of Dell XPS M1530 (view large image)

There are some notable differences other than size between the M1530 and M1330 however. The M1530 can be configured with a more powerful Nvidia 8600M GT graphics card for boosted gaming performance over the XPS M1330 that only offers up to the Nvidia 8400M GS. The M1530 also offers up to a 2.80GHz Intel T7800 processor, whereas the XPS M1330 tops out at an Intel T7500 2.2GHz processor. Obviously if you're all about the performance metrics and don't carry a laptop around much, the XPS M1530 is a better fit for you.

Some people might wonder if they should go for the Dell Inspiron 1520 15.4" notebook or the Dell XPS M1530 15.4". After all, they're both consumer notebooks from the same company that can be configured similarly, so what's the point? For one, the XPS M1530 is way more eye catching in terms of design than the Inspiron 1520. The barrel hinge, dropdown screen and sloping look of the M1530 is just cool. Second, the XPS M1530 weighs just 5.9 lbs with a standard 6-cell battery and just 6 lbs and 4.6 ounces (6.29 lbs) with its 9-cell battery. The Inspiron 1520 weighs more than 7 lbs with the 6-cell battery. Other benefits of the XPS M1530 notebook include a sleeker slot loading optical drive, touch sensitive light-up buttons, dedicated XPS tech support, media remote control and thinner profile.

Screen

Another difference that should be mentioned is that currently the M1530 is offered with only a standard 15.4" widescreen XGA (1280 x 800) display, while the XPS M1330 has the option for a thinner and more power efficient LED backlit display. Dell says the XPS M1530 should be available next year with different resolution screens ... including LED backlight options.

Even though some will be a little put out by the lack of LED backlighting being offered on the M1530 initially, the standard CCFL display is still gorgeously bright and flawless. Plus you get a higher 2.0MP web cam with the standard thicker CCFL screen, whereas with a thinner LED screen only a VGA resolution cam can be fitted.

The screen on our pre-production unit looks flawless from straight on and the horizontal viewing angles are great. Upper vertical viewing angles are good, but colors did begin to invert at lower viewing angles when the screen is tilted back.

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Keyboard, Touchpad and Media Controls

The keyboard on the XPS M1530 is fairly similar to the XPS M1330, with obvious reasons. The keyboard is firm with virtually no flex and the keys have excellent travel and cushion. The XPS M1530 is really quite a pleasure to type on. The only complaint I have for the keyboard is that if your fingernails are slightly long they might get caught under the keys, this shouldn't be a problem for most males though.

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The touchpad works well enough, though it's seems a little on the small side given the size of the notebook. The mouse buttons have excellent travel and cushion, though I did feel like they made a bit too much of a "clicking" sound when pressed. The good news with the touchpad is that it's responsive, has dedicated scroll areas and the textured feel is good.

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A series of touch-sensitive media buttons with blue LED backlights are located above the keyboard similar to the buttons on the M1330. One nice feature about the media buttons is that the blue LEDs only stay lit for a fraction of a second after being pressed, so they won't distract you by staying lit all the time.

Dell also includes a Media Center remote control that fits neatly into the ExpressCard slot on the side of the notebook. This is a great accessory for presentations or if you want to control a DVD from across the room.

Included remote with XPS M1530 (view large image)

Ports and Features

The port selection of the M1530 is resonably good for a notebook of this size. Here's a quick rundown of what you get:

Front profile view: Microphone in, dual headphone out, and memory card reader. (view large image)

Left side: DC power jack, two USB ports, VGA out, Ethernet/LAN, HDMI, and FireWire. (view large image)

Right side: ExpressCard slot, WiFi on/off, WiFi catcher, slot-loading optical drive, USB port, S-Video out, and Kensington lock slot. (view large image)

Back profile view of the XPS M1530: no ports here. (view large image)

The built-in HDMI is a very nice thing to have for those that want digital video output, S-Video is also there for the more old-fashioned approach to that. With FireWire, three USB ports, a media card reader, two headphone jacks, microphone jack, ExpressCard slot and Ethernet port you're well equipped ports wise.

I was a bit let down by the fact the M1530 only includes three USB ports since most 15.4" notebooks have four. However, the multiple video-out options and overall thin design make the lack of USB ports "somewhat" understandable.

Some of our editorial staff are huge fans of slot-loading drives and while I think these drives look amazing, I'm not entirely sold on the technology. Slot loading drives don't like small DVDs or CDs like those you sometimes receive with hardware drivers or in the mail. Another issue is that slot-loading drives tend to be a bit more noisy than traditional tray-type drives (more on that later in this review).

Speakers

The speaker quality was "acceptable" for a notebook without a built-in subwoofer. Based on the M1330 that one of our editors owns I would suspect that the speakers in the M1530 are the exact same part as the speakers used in the M1330.

The speakers for the M1530 are located at the top of the keyboard area above the media buttons. There's not much to write home about the speakers, they get loud enough with minimal distortion, but the sound is slightly tinny as is the case with nearly all laptop speakers.

Performance and Benchmarks

Without any tweaks to drivers or removal of software, the machine performed very well -- the 2.20GHz Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB card will satisfy most gamers with exception to those more hard core, and will certainly please the average PC user. The 3DMark benchmarks might look unusually high at first glance, but the Nvidia 8600M GT card in the M1530 uses GDDR3 RAM instead of the more common GDDR2.

Frame rates for games like the Crysis demo and Call of Duty 4 were all quite playable and smooth with a few moments of lag during Crysis.

Game	Average Frame Rate (FPS)
Crysis	~20
Call of Duty 4	~40

Of course, the M1530 is also available with Nvidia 8400M GS graphics for those customers who don't care about playing the latest games.

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi.

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Dell XPS M1530 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.485s
Portable One SXS37 (Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz)	41.908s
Sony VAIO NR (Core 2 Duo T5250 @ 1.5GHz)	58.233s
Toshiba Tecra A9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	38.343s
Toshiba Tecra M9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.299s
HP Compaq 6910p (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz)	40.965s
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240s
Zepto 6024W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz)	42.385s
Lenovo T61 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.705s
Alienware M5750 (Core 2 Duo T7600 @ 2.33GHz)	38.327s
Hewlett Packard DV6000z (Turion X2 TL-60 @ 2.0GHz)	38.720s
Samsung Q70 (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz)	42.218s
Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi (Core Duo T2500 @ 2.0GHz)	42.947s
Samsung X60plus (Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2.0GHz)	44.922s
Zepto Znote 6224W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz)	45.788s
Samsung Q35 (Core 2 Duo T5600 @ 1.83GHz)	46.274s
Samsung R20 (Core Duo T2250 @ 1.73GHz)	47.563s

3DMark06 comparison results for graphics performance:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Dell XPS M1530 (2.20GHz Intel T7500, Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB)	4,332 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1520 (2.0GHz Intel T7300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	2,905 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66GHz Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks

PCMark05 measures overall notebook performance:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell XPS M1530 (2.20GHz Intel T7500, Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB)	5,412 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1520 (2.0GHz Intel T7300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	4,616 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

HDTune results:

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Heat and Noise

The XPS M1530 does a reasonable job keeping heat under control. The system fan and heatsinks in the M1530 do a great job managing heat when the system is under load ... as we discovered when we ran multiple benchmarks back to back. The CPU temperature peaked at only 58 degrees Celsius during multiple 3DMark06 tests. The fan moved a significant amount of hot air but the noise was reasonably low and wasn't noticeable over background noise most of the time. However, when the fan was at the highest setting we did record the volume of the noise at 53-56dB from about two inches away from the fan exhaust.

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Unfortunately, noise was something of an issue with the M1530. The slot-loading optical drive was quite loud during Windows startup, inserting a disk, or ejecting a disk. The sound is something like a small power drill muffled under a pillow. That said, the optical drive produces acceptable noise levels when a disk is spinning in the drive.

The real noise issue involved the hard drive. Because of the way the hard drive is mounted to the case (and due to the thin metals used) the spinning/scratching noise of the Hitachi-brand hard drive was magnified under the left palm rest. The hard drive noise was so loud that I was able to hear the hard drive making scratching noises from two feet away even while playing music at a resonable volume over the built-in speakers. That's just too loud.

Battery Life

The 9-cell extended-life battery provides excellent battery life for the M1530. With Vista's power management running in "high performance" mode, screen brightness set to maximum and wireless on, the 9-cell battery delivered more than 3 hours and 30 minutes of battery life. We're certain that the 9-cell battery could deliver more than 4 hours of life with the notebook set to "balanced" or "power saver" mode and the screen brightness turned down.

One thing to mention is that with the 9-cell battery in you get an overall greater slope to the keyboard, we actually like this for ergonomics, it feels more comfortable for typing.

The 9-cell battery adds almost another 0.75" to the back. (view large image)

Dell also included a standard 6-cell battery with our pre-production review unit. Unfortunately, the standard 6-cell battery had been abused (cracked) before we received the unit, so we decided to play it safe and did not conduct tests with the 6-cell battery.

Buying Choices for the Dell XPS M1530 (Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66GHz, 160GB HDD, 2GB RAM) Dell, Inc. | $1,224.00 40.0% of people recommend this product - view 5 opinions | rate product

Conclusion

Overall, the Dell XPS M1530 is a solid addition to the Dell notebook lineup. We praised the smaller XPS M1330 for having "a design that is second to none in its price range" but we didn't feel quite as strong about the design of the larger M1530. While this is certainly the hottest 15.4" notebook available from Dell, it's hard to shake the feeling that we're looking at a "fat" M1330 with a larger screen.

While issues like a noisy slot-loading drive, noisy hard drive, and limited screen options will make some demanding buyers look elsewhere, the M1530 is an excellent alternative to HP's popular dv6500t notebook in the same price range.

Pros

• Thin and light ... for a 15.4" Dell notebook
• Nvidia 8600M GT card option uses high-performance GDDR3 memory
• Reasonable battery life
• Nice keyboard, touchpad and media buttons

Cons

• Only three USB ports
• Slot-loading drive is loud during loading and ejecting
• Hard drive noise is magnified by the case/mount design
• Limited screen options at the time of this writing

Alienware M9700 Review

The 13.3” Samsung Q70 is a new model to fill a gap in the Samsung product range. It is too large to be called an ultra-portable and, while it is reasonably light, it is not very thin. It is slightly larger than the popular Q35 and its successor, the Q45. The Q70 was not shown by Samsung at CeBIT. Was it still under development or were they deliberately keeping it secret to give the market a surprise? As well as increasing the display size, the notebook has acquired extra weight and thickness and at, 2.03kg (4.45lb) and a maximum 45mm (1.75”), it cannot be classed as either thin-and-light or ultraportable.

The Q70 comes with a shiny black cover, which is the current Samsung family styling. However, perhaps to set it apart from the slightly smaller Q45, it has been given a dark grey brushed aluminium palm rest and keyboard surround.

Top view of the 13.3” Q70 next to my 12.1” Q35.(view large image)

Reasons for Buying

I have been extremely happy with my Samsung Q35, particularly its ability to run for about 5 hours away from a power socket. This was bought for the occasions when I don’t want to carry my 2.5kg 15.4” Samsung X60plus. However, the 12.1” display is a little small for my old eyes at the default 96dpi setting. While there is the option in Windows to change the dpi setting, formatting starts to fall apart because boxes and columns are still sized assuming the 96dpi, but the text gets bigger and no longer fits. This is a known problem and one that Vista was announced as going to fix. But it didn’t, which left me little choice but look for a slightly bigger display, ie a 13.3” widescreen.

In the UK the 13.3” size has been dominated by Sony, but the SZ is too expensive and the Sony C series is too heavy. So when information started to leak about the 13.3” Samsung Q70, I was excited. Could they take all that was good about the Q35 (particularly its above-average battery life) and match it to a bigger display? Two other recent arrivals in this size range are the Rizeon (built on Asus) S37 and the Dell M1330. However, given that I was well satisfied with my Q35 I chose to buy the Samsung Q70.

On this occasion I purchased my new notebook from Free Range PC. This is a small company who offer very good personal service and were one of the first companies to get the Q70 into stock in the UK. I found the service and support from Free Range PC to be very good and I received the computer within 24 hours of placing the order.

What’s in the Box?

The box contents comprised:

• The computer, in a plastic bag and held between two plastic foam spacers
• The PSU, mains cable and battery
• A system recovery DVD for Windows Vista Home Premium
• A System software media DVD (Including Cyberlink DVD Solution)
• A modem cable with RJ11 plug at one end and UK phone socket plug at the other end
• An Installation Guide leaflet
• A Safety Instructions booklet
• A Samsung Recovery Solution II / Reinstalling Windows Vista booklet
• A Samsung Warranty Information booklet
• AVStation Now recovery manual
• Windows Vista Home Premium Quick Start Guide
• A small micro-fibre cleaning cloth

Samsung does not normally include accessories such as a mouse or a bag.

The box’s label summarises the hardware

Hardware Specs: Samsung Laptop Q70 (Model NP-Q70AV02/SUK)

• Intel T7300 (2.00Ghz) with Intel 965PM chipset
• 13.3" WXGA SuperBright Gloss LCD
• 2GB (2 x 1024MB) PC5300 RAM (667MHz)
• 160GB 5400rpm SATA HDD (Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00)
• nVidia 8400M G 128MB GPU (NB8M-SE)
• Toshiba-Samsung TS-L632M DVD Super-Multi Dual Layer with Lightscribe
• Marvell Yukon 88E8039 10/100 network
• Agere Systems HDA Modem
• 802.11a.g/n MIMO wireless (but missing from computer as supplied)
• Ricoh RL5c476 CardBus Controller
• Ports: 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x 4 pin Firewire, 100Mb/s network (RJ45), modem (RJ11), VGA, microphone, headphone / SPDIF, 1 x PC card slot type 1 or 2
• Ricoh 6 in 1 memory card reader (MS, MS Pro, SD, MMC, xD, Highspeed MMC, but actually 7 in 1 since it also supports SDHC under Vista)
• Realtek high definition audio with SRS
• Widescreen format Synaptics touchpad
• 6 cell battery (11.1V, 4800mAh = 53.28Whr)
• 60W power supply with 3-pin connector
• Silver Nano Technology keyboard protection
• Dimensions: published:- 312x220.7x32.2~39.2mm, actual 311 x 240 x 35~45mm (including feet and battery)
• Weight (published and actual are the same) : 2.03kg (4.47lb)
• Travel weight including PSU and cables 2.54kg (5.6lbs)
• 1 year collect and return warranty
• Samsung software collection (see below)
• 1 year collect and return warranty
• Microsoft Office 2007 trial

A user guide is provided as a executable file with animated turning pages, with a link on the desktop. There is also a link to a Q45/Q46 user guide on the desktop (which tends to confirm a close family connection). A PDF version of the User Guide is available on the Samsung download website for those who prefer a more conventional presentation of imformation.

I guess that animated turning pages is part of the Vista experience! (view large image)

There are several significant deviations compared to the specifications published on the Samsung UK website at the time of this review. The website refers to the 8400M GS GPU, an 89 key keyboard and a 90W PSU. Fort90W PSU would be inappropriate for a notebook of this size), the photos show only an 83 key keyboard, but the less powerful GPU will be a disappointment to some people. The published weight is correct but the published dimensions could be misleading because they do not include either the feet or the battery sticking out of the back. Some websites indicate that the Q70 has Bluetooth. This version did not.

Design and Build

The Q70’s colour scheme is black and more black with the exception of the medium to dark (depending on lighting) grey brushed aluminium palm rest. The display back / cover is a very shiny (until it gets dirty) black (which probably explains the inclusion of the small cleaning cloth). The Q70 has much in common with the smaller (12.1”) Q35 and Q45. In fact, if both machines are aligned at the back left corner then all the ports line up.

The colour of the palm rest depends on the lighting. (view large image)

The chassis is plastic but very rigid. There is no flex when picking up the open computer by one front corner. The display back is not as rigid as on my Q35 and it is easier to cause rippling by pressing on the back. However, it is impossible to tell whether the slightly greater flexibility increases the risk of damage. The hinges are very firm and stiff with no wobble. Opening the Q70’s display is a two-handed exercise, partly because the display is held closed by a latch-less mechanism and it is difficult to get finger-tips into the gap (the front corner of the Q35 display was chamfered, which provided a better finger grip). If anything, the hinges are a little stiff since pushing back on the display to adjust the angle will lift the front of the computer. However, since hinges tend to loosen up with time, this initial stiffness should delay the time when the hinges start to get loose.

There is less of a finger-hold on the Q70 for opening the display. (view large image)

The bottom of the computer is stepped, with protruding feet (about 5mm at the front and 7mm high at the back). These feet provide good airflow under the computer but are really needed to stop the middle of the Q70’s underside from touching the table. However, whereas the bottom of the Q35 had humps over the fan and optical drive, the Q70’s base is much more uniform. The feet will also stop the computer from sliding sideways when used as a genuine laptop. Overall, the Q70 is thicker than the Q35 (by 5mm at the back and 3mm at the front). Perhaps the RAM slot under the keyboard caused the increased thickness, but there appears to be room for a double height RAM slot on the underside. The front of the palm rest is 25mm above the desk, which is quite high by current standards.

The Q70 (left) has a smoother base compared with the Q35. (view large image)

The bottom of the Q70 has three removable covers. These, and the various screws, are clearly labelled. One cover is for one RAM slot (there is another slot under the keyboard which is not considered to be user-accessible). The second cover is for the hard disk drive (which sits tightly between some rubber pads), while the third cover is over the mini-PCI slot. This compartment also contains what appears to be a small lithium battery. The battery has a charge status indicator using 5 LEDs. There are also several air vents on the underside as can be seen in the photos. The underside of the battery (which is the identical part to the Q35’s battery) contains a shallow groove that forms a convenient finger-grip when carrying the computer. The loudspeakers are in the base of the computer near the back. One screw holds the optical drive in place. A modular bay battery would be a useful option but, so far, Samsung has not used this strategy for giving users more time away from a power socket.

Inside the RAM slot. There looks to be enough height to have fitted another module here. (view large image)

The mini-PCIE slot. Oops! No wireless card. (view large image)

The Q70’s hard disk. There’s a little tab to help lift it out. (view large image)

The Keyboard

The keyboard on the Q70 appears to be identical in size to that used on the Q35/Q45. Samsung did not take advantage of the wider chassis to provide either more or bigger keys. One set of specs refers to an 89 key keyboard, but this is wrong. The keys are mainly black plastic with light grey lettering (not the bright white of my Q35). The F7 and F8 keys are a dark blue .There are 83 keys which have very clear, large white (light blue for the Fn key operations) markings on a black background. Although Samsung say that it is a full-size keyboard, the keys are about 5% smaller than on the X60plus. The travel is adequate and is comfortable to use but is noisier than the X60. There is no significant flex and the keyboard is comfortable to use although it is not as good as the Samsung R20’s keyboard, which has more travel.

The Q70’s keyboard and palm rest with status lights under the left palm. (view large image)

There are two potential annoyances with this keyboard. One is the location of the Fn key in the bottom left corner. Some people, particularly those used to working at desktop keyboards, expect the Control key to be in the bottom left corner of the keyboard but Samsung’s keyboards put the Fn key in the corner. However, the Control key is extra wide. On this keyboard, Fn also doubles up as the Windows menu key (the normal Windows key is to the right of the space bar). The other potential annoyance is the very small right shift key. This key has a good size on the US version of the keyboard but has been shrunk to make space for the extra key needed for a UK keyboard. Hitting the \ key is a common side-effect. My Samsung X60plus has a small left shift key and that arrangement is far less troublesome. There are small page up and page down keys above the cursor left and right keys. It would be nice to have bigger keys. Some other 13.3” widescreen notebooks have managed to include a separate set of navigation keys on the right side of the keyboard. In fact, the Q70 has the space to do this, but I presume that Samsung preferred to simplify their logistics by using the existing keyboard.

I was worried that the front edge of the aluminium palm rest would form an uncomfortable corner, but the aluminium is slightly recessed into the chassis so it is flush with the plastic. However, the front edge of the chassis is not slightly rounded, as on the Q35. The power button is on the right side close to the back of the keyboard. Next to the power button is a smaller button for a quick launch into Samsung’s media player software. Under XP this was separate software, but under Vista it actually loads Vista, so the overall benefit is questionable.

There are seven status indicator lights are on the front edge of the left palm rest. In my opinion this is not a very clever location since I don’t have a transparent wrist and it is my right hand which more frequently leaves the keyboard. Why not put the lights in the middle? The power and battery status lights are repeated on the front of the computer so that they are visible when closed. The microphone is also on the palm rest.

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Each of the function keys has an additional function. Instead of me explaining them all, look at the extract from the manual. The “Silent” mode appears to change the fan operating rules so that the fan operates over a higher temperature range and put the computer into the Power Saver power profile. However, even under light use the fan runs some of the time. One very useful, but undocumented, feature is that pressing the Esc key during initial boot brings up a boot device menu. This is in addition to F2 for entering the BIOS setup.

The Synaptics touchpad is good and is generously sized with a widescreen aspect ratio (the pad is identical in size to the one on the Q35 although the buttons are larger. The touchpad includes a scroll area on the right side and it is possible to configure tap zones. Whereas on the Q35 the touch pad is slightly in front of the space bar, on the Q70 it is slightly offset to the left.

The Ports

As already noted, the ports are identical to the Q35/Q45. Samsung have failed to take advantage of the larger chassis to provide additional ports. As a minimum, an additional USB port would be welcome. Nothing competes for the mouse space (the area on the right side of the computer near the front). The fan exhaust vent is on the right side. This could be annoying for people who like to hold a mouse at arm’s length. It would have been useful to have provided painted symbols on the palm rest to indicate the various port locations.

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Q70 left side (with Q35 above for comparison) from back to front: Network (RJ45) port, optical drive, PC card slot and Firewire port. The blanked off port at the back is for a TV antenna in the Asian version. This space could have been used for another port (USB or S-video) in the non-Korean version.

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Back from left to right: Power socket, battery, USB port and security slot.

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Right side from back to front: Modem (RJ11) port, VGA port, USB port, fan exhaust. There are no ports near the front so nothing to get in the way of the mouse. The Q70’s ports are concealed behind a cover.

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Open the cover and you find that the ports are recessed by about 13mm (1/2”). This recess, plus the cover, makes them difficult to use.

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The front has the 6 in 1 memory card slot and the headphone and microphone ports. The “6 in 1” is actually at least 7 in 1 since it also supports SDHC (so does my Q35 when running Vista, but not when running XP).

The Display

The display is 1280 x 800 (WXGA) Super Bright Gloss LCD. The device ID is SEC3841 which I believe is Samsung. It is brighter than my other Samsung notebooks and has excellent contrast with no obvious light bleed. On battery, the minimum brightness is readable and a brightness of 3/8 is quite usable. My eyes are happy with the default size of text and graphics, so I can avoid the unwanted side-effects of changing the standard display dpi settings.

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Viewing angles are typical for displays of this type. The horizontal viewing angle range is good and the vertical range moderate. For text work the vertical angle can be adjusted to minimise any reflections without serious impact on quality. Colour images are best viewed at 90°. They become darker when the top of the screen is pushed back and lighter if it is pulled forward.

A family photo with the Q70 between the X60plus (left) and the Q35 (right). All the displays were set to maximum brightness. (view large image)

Audio Quality

The loudspeakers mounted underneath the computer give surprisingly good volume when the computer is on a firm surface. The Q70 has inherited the Q35’s good audio. Although the speakers are mounted on the bottom of the computer the volume is generous. There is an SRS enhancement with options for Wow XT (for music) and Trusurround (for DVDs). The mode is selected through the audio properties.

Software

This Q70 came with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. The main bloatware is the Microsoft Office 2007 trial.

CyberLink DVD Suite V5: This suite should contain several components but only PowerDVD 7 and PhotoNow! are active as installed. It is unclear whether other components, including a reasonable DVD burning software, will become active upon registration or whether there has to be additional payment to upgrade.

Samsung Recovery Solution II: This creates system restore points on a separate partition on the hard disk. The first user restore point is made automatically once the computer is started and Vista configured to the user’s requirements.

The Samsung software package contains several simple utilities to improve the functionality. Play AVStation is Samsung’s own media viewer and player. The Q70 is also pre-loaded with McAfee Security Center.

Processor and Performance

This version of the Q70 came with the Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 CPU (2.0GHz) and 2GB of DDR2-533 RAM.

CPU-Z reports for Q70 CPU, mainboard and memory are shown below. The CPU is reported as 1.6GHz but 0.85V. The mainboard model is reported as “SQ45S70S” which tends to support my supposition that the Q70 shares the same board as the Q45 (although the latter is currently offered with the Intel X3100 GPU).

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The GPU

The GPU is reported by Device Manager as the Nvidia NB8M-SE. The nVidia control panel reports the GPU as the 8400M G with 128MB of dedicated memory and not the 8400M GS as suggested by some sources. There are no power management options in the nVidia control panel (before getting this notebook I had been quite impressed by nVidia’s claims about their PowerMizer software).

Optical Drive

The Q70 contains the Toshiba-Samsung TS-L532M optical drive that supports DVD-RAM and both +R and –R dual layer at up to 8 x burning speed. I have not tried burning any discs in this drive but it is the same burner as in my X60plus which has given me no problems once the original drive was replaced.

Benchmarks for Samsung Q70 (Core 2 Duo T7300)

Windows Vista Experience Index

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The Q70 scored 3.2 on the Windows Experience Index. The weak link was the graphics. All the other results are quite good. By comparison, the Samsung R20 with ATI 1250M integrated GPU scored 3.8 and my Q35 with the Intel 950GM integrated GPU managed 2.3.

SuperPi

SuperPi is often used as a test for raw CPU performance. The T7300 in the Q70 needed 57 seconds to complete the calculation to 2 million digits. This is 5 seconds faster than the T7200 in my X60plus and above average for this CPU.

The table below compares Q70’s SuperPi score with some other notebooks

Notebook	Time
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 with 800MHz FSB and 667MHz RAM)	0m 57s
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 58s
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	0m 59s
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 with 667MHz FSB & memory speed)	1m 02s
HP dv2500t (1.80GHz Intel 7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200)	1m 03s
Samsung Q35 (1.83MHz T5600 with 667MHz FSB and 533MHz RAM)	1m 16s
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 with 533MHz FSB and memory speed)	1m 23s
Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 (1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T5300)	1m 24s
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Due (T2300) with 533MHz memory speed)	1m 29s

It has been suggested that SuperPi should be superseded by wPrime which is multi-threaded. The T7300 completed the 32M calculation in 42.218s.

SiSoftware Sandra from http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/ is another software package which contains benchmarking modules and includes a database of test results.

The results graphs for the CPU tests are given below. These results suggest that the T7300 is slightly faster than the T7200.

SiSoftware Sandra CPU test results. (view large image)

It is also worth checking up the memory performance of the 965PM chipset using Sandra’s memory bandwidth benchmark. The measured speed is over 4300MB/s. This is about 1000MB/s faster than I have personally measured for the 945PM chipset so it appears that the new chipset offers better memory bandwidth without increasing the bus speed.

Sandra’s memory bandwidth test result. (view large image)

PCMark05

The PCMark05 score was 4,491 PCMarks. The table below compares the PCMark05 test result with some other notebooks.

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	4.491 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA 8400M GS)	4,571 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	3,498 PCMarks
Samsung Q35 (1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600, Intel 945GM)	3,059 PCMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700)	4,555 PCMarks
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo T2300, ATI X1400)	3,456 PCMarks
Asus V6J (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7400)	4,265 PCMarks
Fujitsu Lifebook A6010 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500, Intel GMA 950)	2,994 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, nVidia GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, nVidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks
Lenovo Thinkpad R60 (1.66 Core Duo T2300E , Intel 950)	2,975 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	4,084 PCMarks

Overall, this is a very respectable performance considering the GPU is the bottom of the 8400M series. If graphics performance is not one your priorities then the Q70 is a good performer.

3DMark05

The Q70 managed a score of 3DMarks for 3DMark05. This is well behind the result for the 8400M GS in the Dell M1330 but well ahead of the 1151 3DMarks which I measured for the Samsung R20 with the ATI 1250M integrated GPU. It is also ahead of the 911 3DMarks measured for the X3100 in the T61. The table below compares some results for 3DMark05.

Notebook	3DMark05 Score
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,939 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA 8400M GS)	3,079 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	4,150 3DMarks
Samsung X60 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	2,264 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, nVidia GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3DMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	1,151 3DMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300, X3100 GPU)	911 3DMarks
IBM Thinkpad T43 (1.86GHz Pentium M, Mobility Radeon X300)	727 3DMarks
Samsung Q35 (1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600, Intel 945GM)	447 3DMarks
Fujitsu C1320 (2GHz Pentium M, Intel 915GM)	410 3DMarks

3DMark06

The 3Dmark06 score for the Q70 was 969 3DMarks. This is slightly faster than the GeForce Go 7400.

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	794 3DMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	476 3DMarks
Samsung Q35 (1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600, Intel 945GM)	106 3DMarks

Cinebench

Cinebench is a good rendering benchmark tool based on the powerful 3D software, CINEMA 4D. Its rendering tasks can stress up to sixteen multiprocessors on the same computer. It is a free benchmarking tool, and can be found at http://www.cinebench.com. The basic CPU test provided the following results. The results for the T7300 in the Q70 are in the same range as other Intel dual core CPUs and demonstrate that the Q70 can handle CPU intensive tasks such as video processing reasonably well although a little behind the faster CPUs.

Cinebench 9.5 Benchmark	Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz)	Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	Samsung Q35 (1.83GHz Core 2 Duo)
Rendering (Single CPU)	335 CB-CPU	331 CB-CPU	322 CB-CPU	299 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU)	624 CB-CPU	616 CB-CPU	582 CB-CPU	528 CB-CPU

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Hard Disk

The supplied hard disk is a Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 (160GB 5400RPM SATA). The performance is above average for the current generation of 5400RPM 2.5” HDDs with a maximum transfer rate of over 45MB/s. HD Tune’s results for this disk are below. The CPU usage is relatively low. I personally find the Hitachi HDDs to be slightly noisy, but this can be reduced using the Feature Tool software. Samsung’s installation routine for Vista provides the option to divide the hard disk into two main partitions during the input of user information.

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Battery, Power Supply and Cooling System

The power supply is an acceptably small 60W (19V, 3.16A) unit. However, whereas the Q35’s PSU had two pin (“fig 8”) mains connector and a thin mains cable, this PSU had a 3 pin “cloverleaf” connector and a thick 3 core mains cable which increases the travel bulk and weight by about 60g (2oz) - not much, but it all accumulates. A Velcro strap is provided for tying up the cables for storage.

The 6 cell battery is rated at 11.1V, 4800mAH, 53.28WHr. The battery is identical to that used in the Q35. The battery has an external gauge with 5 LEDs to give an indication of available power without having to turn the computer on. The battery is fixed securely by two latches. One is spring loaded but the other is not, which facilitates one-handed removal.

I used a mains power meter to monitor what is going into the PSU. Under light load the Q70 is drawing about 24W from the mains socket. This is less than my X60plus which draws about 32W under light load but more than Q35’s 18W. More power means more heat and therefore more fan activity. Whereas the Q35’s fan runs intermittently under light load, the Q70’s fan runs most of the time. However, the Q70 does stay cool on the outside with neither the underside nor the palm rest getting significantly warm, even during the benchmarking. This is one laptop which can be safely used as a laptop without heat-proof clothing. Under load during benchmarking the mains power drain peaked at just over 60W, which suggests that the Q70’s current hardware configuration is at the limit of the PSU’s rating. Whereas I am sure that the chassis and cooling system could handle a more powerful PSU, this would probably require a larger PSU to be supplied. I have heard the fan run at two speeds which I would describe as low and medium. Neither of these speeds provides very intrusive noise.

I carried out several tests on the battery run time since this is a critical factor for me. While I was not expecting to see the 5 hours or more which the Q35 could provide, I was expecting to get more than 4 hours. However, two tests while working in Word and web browsing via a wired connection with the display at 3/8 brightness both dies at around 3 hours. A DVD playback test indicates a playback time (again at 3/8 brightness) of just under 2 hours. I tired both the Samsung Optimised power profile and the Power Saver profile. There was no obvious difference in running time. Given that Intel have included additional power-saving features into the new CPU and chipset, I have to presume that the GPU is the cause of the disappearing power.

Warranty and Customer Support

Samsung provides a one year limited international warranty as standard. However, Samsung has fewer global service locations than many other computer manufacturers. Warranty extensions for one or two years can be purchased. The standard warranty is a collect-and-return service. I have had correspondence with Samsung UK technical support regarding my other Samsung notebooks computers. However, I am still waiting for the power management fix for the X60plus but I think that problem had to be passed to Korea. Other forum members have had variable quality of support and service from Samsung and there is evident potential for improvement. I have had contact with them regarding this Q70 because the absence of the wireless card means it is technically Dead on Arrival and has to be returned.

Conclusion

The Samsung Q70 is a well built notebook but it is a little bulky. It is responsive with good processing power and a large, but quiet fan. A benefit of the thick chassis is that the external surfaces stay acceptably cool. If lightly loaded, it can only run for about 3 hours off its 6 cell battery.

So where does the Q70 fit in the market? If the Dell M1330 had not appeared, then the Q70 would have got a good position relative to the Sony C series on account of similar price, significantly better specification and lighter weight. But with the arrival of the Dell M1330 which can also be configured to a similar specification, Samsung may need to reconsider their pricing.

I am certain that Samsung can interchange the motherboard with the Q45 so they could quickly introduce a model with the X3100 GPU and much better battery life. If mine had come in that configuration then I would probably keep it because my own priority is battery life and not graphics power. This Q70 has to go back on account of the missing wireless card and I am looking at other options in the 13.3” size range which have a less power-hungry GPU.

Pros

• An excellent display with bright, uniform illumination and contrast
• Effective and quiet cooling system
• Good audio volume and quality for this size of notebook
• Powerful CPU and generous RAM and hard disk capacity
• The brushed aluminium palm rest adds a little style

Cons

• Relatively fat for this size of notebook
• Very small right shift key (on the UK version) with some other keys in non-standard places.
• A limited selection of ports compared to other notebooks in this size range.
• The provision of a PC card slot rather than Express Card may be a Pro or a Con depending on whether you want forwards or backwards compatibility