The IdeaPad U350’s glossy 13.3-inch 16:9 LED screen has a resolution of 1,366×768, absolutely standard for this size. Icons and text looked sharp, and the colors and brightness generally looked very good when watching movies and video. The tucked-out-of-sight internal speakers are also amazingly loud, much louder than we’d expect for a machine this size. A built-in Webcam and microphone above the screen were also clear and crisp during video teleconferencing.
Even though the M305 is a 14.1′ unit, it feels a bit chunky. Although we like the robust feel, it could definitely shave off some plastic feel to make this unit a little more classy. Weight rang up to about 5 and a quarter pounds whilst the dimensions of the unit are 13.2 x 9.53 x 1.29. At nearly 1 and a half inches, the laptop PA3331U-1BAS seems thick – most notable again in the LCD bezel.
The 15.5-inch screen features a cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio and a 1,366×768-pixel native resolution, making it a perfect fit for HD video (although it’s not a full 1080p display). The screen has a glossy coating to spiff up the appearance of movies and photos, and while it does help make colors pop and movement look smoother, it might be the least-glossy glossy screen we’ve seen, so glare and reflections are not a problem. Also not a problem: the integrated speakers, which reach a respectable level and max volume.
I know all the bloatware that comes with a notebook is what knocks the price down, but in the process it can render a unit borderline unusable, and that seems to be the case here. If you’re a bit more of a do-it-yourselfer like me, or you know someone like that, you can probably comfortably buy the notebook, reformat it, and unlock its true performance. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, this thing’s gonna be a dead end for you.
The ASUS(Asus Eee PC 8G battery) comes with its own power management software (Power4Gear) to regulate CPU performance under various environments. There are 8 different settings. The Battery Saving profile allows you to maximize the BTP-43D1 battery to its fullest by powering down the CPU to 25% and lowering the screen brightness. For more processor intensive tasks such as DVD playback or graphic imaging, it’s best to switch to the Super Performance setting. Gamers will be happy to know that there is a dedicated Gaming profile. While I haven’t noticed much difference in performance under different system profiles, I find that leaving the laptop in the High Performance setting is fine for most tasks as the Core Duo processor seems to power down when necessary anyway. And you can always switch to Windows’ default management system if you’re feeling unconvinced.
Hewlett-Packard is striving hard to enhance its position as one of the leading notebook manufacturers, and the dv5000z represents a strong showing. The choice of AMDs Turion 64 processor was an excellent move in several ways. It offers fast system performance, respectable HP Pavilion ZT1114-F3415HG battery life (partially thanks to the large capacity battery), and runs extremely cool & quiet. Overall, all of the features offered from this machine perform exceedingly well at a great price.
We ran the F6Ve through several Latitude D600 battery tests in an attempt to best simulate “average” use. The software used to accomplish this was Battery Eater 05.
Noise-wise, the F6Ve was pretty exceptional. I rarely heard the fans kick on for any extended period of time under real world use. In terms of heat output, I’d say it was average, with a decent amount being exhausted out of the vent on the left side. During the Crysis benchmark, the most hot air was pouring out, and the fan was at its noisiest, but that was to be expected.
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