Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

When I hear the words "Dell Vostro", I think big, bulky, corporate laptops devoid of anything resembling nice design. A Dell Vostro I ordered in 2008 bore that out; it was cheap-feeling, heavy, and ugly. When I saw the Vostro V13, my jaw dropped: it had an Adamo-like design, and even more surprising, a Vostro-like price. This is a very compelling product that's worth a serious look by anyone seeking a thin and light general productivity laptop. Read more...

If you haven't already watched my unboxing video of the HP dm3, be sure to check that out first.

This is my two-part review video of the HP dm3 [affiliate]; the dm3 is a new laptop from HP that's an evolution of the dv2 - it's thin, light, and not very expensive. It uses the AMD Athlon Neo X2 dual-core processor, a semi-low power processor that uses 18 watts of power, but delivers better performance than the Intel Atom processors found in netbooks. This particular model has 4 GB of RAM, uses a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, has a memory card reader, ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, four USB ports, and HDMI out. The 13.3 inch wide-screen display is 1366 x 768 pixels in resolution (driven by an ATI Radeon 3200 GPU), and it has a built-in Webcam and microphone. The keyboard is full-sized, and the laptop features Altec Lansing speakers.

The 6-cell battery is rated for up to six hours of battery life, though in my initial battery test playing back a ripped copy of the Lord of the Rings extended edition, at 100% screen brightness with WiFi off, it was down to 5% battery life after finishing the movie at 2 hours and 51 minutes. That's not a small feat though - many other notebooks I test can't finish that movie. Dropping the brightness down to the lowest setting - which makes it so dim you'd have to be in a dark room to have the screen be viewable - allows the dm3 to have 20% battery life after the LOTR test. I discuss my other battery tests in the first video, but even with my most basic of tests - the "Surf 'n Type" test at 50% brightness - I could only eek 3 hours 55 minutes from the battery. I don't know where HP is getting the six hours of battery life - my guess is minimum brightness, WiFi off, and the laptop is doing nothing - but they're not alone in an industry rife with the over-quoting the battery life. Can't the industry come up with some sort of reasonable test that they'd all use as a benchmark? Read more...

This is my unboxing and first impressions video of the HP dm3 [Affiliate]; the dm3 is a new laptop from HP that's an evolution of the dv2 - it's thin, light, and not very expensive. In fact, I never did my review video of the dv2 - just an unboxing video - because HP discontinued the dv2 about five months after they launched it. Bizarre, no? It's probably for the best though. There was a lot to like about the dv2, but the fact that the hot air vent was at the front of the left side, right where your hand would typically rest, was a real problem. Read more...

"As configured, the HP Envy 15 is the most powerful five pound notebook on the market. As you can see in the image below, this envy 15 comes with an Intel Core i7-720QM processor, dual 160GB solid state drives, 16GB of DDR3 RAM and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 graphics with 1GB of deicated graphics memory."

I'm eyeing the HP Envy 15 for my next laptop - my XPS M1330 is starting to feel a little aged, though it still stacks up nicely against most other notebooks in the spec department - so I'm eager to read everything I can about the Envy 15. It blends the opposing traits of a powerful CPU with great battery life by including the battery slice in the box, which is excellent - it's one less thing to buy. I've seen the Envy 15 in person and there are two things I'm iffy on: the 1920 x 1080 resolution is really high for a 15.6 inch screen, and I'm not sure if bumping font sizes (or the DPI) would be enough to make it workable. The second thing is HP, for some bizarre reason, went with a very "girly" floral-style pattern on the lid. I hate the way it looks, so I'd be looking to slap a decal from DecalGirl on there right away...which seems ridiculous to me. I'm not aware of any other laptops out there that have the Core i7 mobile CPU but still manage decent battery life...any suggestions?

"One lucky Notebooks.com reader will get to unwrap an HP Envy 15 on October 22. That's right, we're giving one of these bad boys away and you have a chance to win it. Wouldn't you rather spend the day playing with one of the most powerful notebooks on the market than waiting in line to buy Windows 7?"

A 15 inch screen at 1080p? Intel Core i7 processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive? ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 GPU? Wow...what's not to love? Full contest details are over at Notebooks.com, though be aware this contest is US-only.

I can't seem to find any information about the pricing on this Beats limited edition version of the HP Envy 15, but I have a hunch it will come at a slight premium - made less painful by the fact that this version of the Envy 15 doesn't come with the Core i7 CPU...it features an Intel Quad Core CPU instead. CPU aside, I love the black finish on this notebook...it looks slick!

"The HP Pavilion dm3 is a great looking notebook PC that starts at just $549. Its premium metallic finish makes it stand out from the crowd of notebooks with plastic finishes and I'm sure this will be a hot seller this holiday season. The dm3 is a thin and light notebook with a 13′ display. It weighs in at just over four pounds, making it light enough to carry around all day long. It utilizes mild processors that are relatively affordable and that increase battery life."

One word: wow. It blows me away that HP is able make such a thin, light, and frankly great looking computer and sell it for such a low price. Dell keeps cranking out plastic computers - other than the ultra-expensive Adamo of course - and HP is pushing the envelope with their materials and designs. One thing I wish though is that HP offered more colour choices. I'm a sucker for a coloured laptop, and HP is sadly inflexible when it comes to that. But I'll take the great looking dm3 any day!

"Chic and uber cool - that's the new digital clutch by the world-renowned designer Vivienne Tam and HP. Inspired by the classic Chinese love story concerto 'Butterfly Lover', often described as the Chinese version of 'Romeo and Juliet', the design features elegant butterflies that are brought to life on a champagne gold backdrop."

There's not much more to know about this beyond the design, and, according to Techtree, the screen size is moving up from 10.1 inches to 11.6 inches. It's not coming out until spring of 2010, which seems like a long wait, so we'll have to see what kind of specs it has. This very likely means that the next generation of HP Mini will also move up into the 11.6 inch screen range. I don't know if that move makes sense - the 10 inch screen on a netbook is the perfect blend of size and readability, and when I look at the 12 inch screen on the dv2 I see it as a laptop that's not that much smaller than the my XPS M1330. Although maybe this means the Vivienne Tam computer won't be a netbook at all - maybe it will be part of a new line of Windows 7-based notebook computers. Want to see more? Lots more pics at the HP Flickr page.

This is my review video of the Dell Adamo laptop - please check out my unboxing and first impressions video if you haven't already. This is easily the most impressive Dell product I've ever looked at from a design perspective - if you took the name Dell off the laptop, you'd never know it was created by the world's second biggest computer maker. The materials, the design, the build-quality, the fit and finish, the attention to detail: all are mind-blowingly excellent. But the hardware performance and price tag that comes with it? Much less impressive.

This is the "Admire" model, which features a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (SU9300), 2 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD drive, Windows Vista 64-bit, a 13.4 inch 16:9 aspect ratio 1366 x 768, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.0, a back-lit keyboard, two USB ports, one USB/eSATA combo port, gigabit Ethernet, Display Port out (it comes with an adaptor for Display Port to DVI), 802.11n WiFi, built-in speakers, and a 40-watt hour battery that's rated to last five hours. As you can tell from my video, five hours would only be possible if the display was so dim it would only be readable in the dark, and you couldn't actually use it for anything during those five hours. Read more...

A few weeks back, Dell released a new laptop: the Studio 11z. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get Dell to send me press releases about their new products, so you'll have to pardon the fact that this is late. The 11z is also only available from Dell USA (and perhaps elsewhere), but not Dell Canada, so I can't order one to review it. But enough griping from me, let's look at what the 11z brings to the table.

Dell continues to expand their laptop line across different screen sizes: the 11z features an 11.6 inch WLED screen at 1366 x 768 resolution. Unlike almost every other Dell laptop available, the 11z has zero customization options. It uses a Intel Celeron 723 CPU (1.2GHz, 800MHz, 1MB cache) that's supposed to offer 39% better performance than the Atom N270 CPU. The 11z has 2 GB of RAM, uses Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit, uses an Intel GS45 graphics chipset, has two 1 watt speakers, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera with a microphone, and a 250 GB 4200rpm hard drive. Ports? HDMI output, three USB, 3-1 memory card reader, audio line-out, microphone input, and 10/100 Ethernet. No optical drive, naturally. The battery is an anaemic 3-cell 24 watt hour, no doubt contributing to the thin 0.92 inch profile (1.02 inches thick at the back). There's a 6-cell battery option "coming soon" that will boost battery life into the 6 hour range. It weighs in at 3.05 pounds.

UPDATE: Guess it helps to mention the price! Dell is selling the 11z for $449. That's netbook ballpark pricing - this is definitely some serious competition for the HP dv2 as well, though that product brings a real GPU to the table...not to mention nicer design.

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the Dell Adamo laptop. This is easily the most impressive Dell product I've ever looked at from a design perspective - if you took the name Dell off the laptop, you'd never know it was created by the world's second biggest computer maker. The materials, the design, the build-quality, the fit and finish, the attention to detail: all are mind-blowingly excellent. But the hardware performance and price tag? Much less impressive.

This is the "Admire" model, which features a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (SU9300), 2 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD drive, Windows Vista 64-bit, a 13.4 inch 16:9 aspect ratio 1366 x 768, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.0, a back-lit keyboard, two USB ports, one USB/eSATA combo port, gigabit Ethernet, Display Port out (it comes with an adaptor for Display Port to DVI), 802.11n WiFi, built-in speakers, and a 40-watt hour battery that's rated to last 5 hours. Read more...

[It should say REVIEW and not UNBOXING in the video; it's a total failure on my part to not change that. Whoops! Since the source files are deleted, so I can't fix it.]

Here it is, the "mega review" of this laptop, a follow-up from my unboxing video. This video is quite long because I go into a lot of detail about battery tests, performance benchmarks, and the pros and cons of this notebook. I hope everyone enjoys the level of detail!

This notebook, shown here in ruby red, is a little different that most notebooks in that it lacks a CD/DVD drive - but it's no netbook! It has a 14 inch, 16:9 aspect ratio screen running at 1600 x 900 resolution, which is Dell's 900p resolution option (an upgrade). The standard resolution is 720p, which is 1280 x 720. Read more...

On top we have the HP Mini 110, and on the bottom we have a Dell Adamo - both delivered by UPS today. I think I'm more excited about the HP Mini 110 (known as the Mini 1100 in Canada) to be honest, because I'm a big fan of the HP Mini 1000 and this is supposed to be a refind version of that. The Dell Adamo is going to look great, but given the hardware specs it has, I'm not sure how well it's going to perform. I guess we'll see!

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the Dell Inspiron Studio 14z (I mistakenly thought it was called the Inspiron 14z, but it's not an Inspiron, it's a Studio notebook). This notebook, shown here in ruby red, is a little different that most notebooks in that it lacks a CD/DVD drive - but it's no netbook! It has a 14 inch, 16:9 aspect ratio screen running at 1600 x 900 resolution, which is Dell's 900p resolution option (an upgrade). The standard resolution is 720p, which is 1280 x 720. Read more...

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the HP Pavilion dv2 notebook (the dv2z-1199us) in moonlight white. This thin and light notebook from HP, running Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, features the AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual-Core CPU (1.6 Ghz, 1 MB L2 cache), a 320 GM 5400 RPM hard drive, 4 GB of RAM, an external Blu-ray ROM/DVD burner drive, a 1.3 megapixel Web cam, 12.1 inch WXGA (1280 x 800) BrightView screen, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 GPU, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, 5-in-1 memory card reader, and powered by a 6-cell battery. Read more...

"The new Studio 14z is Dell's thinnest and lightest Studio laptop, packed full of necessities to keep you roaming around your world with everything you need. And with its creative edge inside and out, you'll be more than surprised by its affordable price. Complement your personal style with a choice of five vibrant colors and one unique pattern. Available in Red, Blue, Green, Promise Pink, Purple and Black Chain Link, the new Studio 14z is so stylish, you'll be double-checking its affordable price. And with every purchase of a Promise Pink StudioTM 15 laptop, Dell will donate $5.00 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, one of the world's largest breast cancer organizations."

Well now...this is the first 14 inch laptop I can think of that has lacked an optical drive from the start. Are we witnessing the death of optical drives? It seems like we might be, and I don't think that's such a bad thing, at least on smaller notebooks where the space can be put to better uses. The question is, what advantages does the 14z have over other notebooks that have optical drives? I'm struggling to find one - they're even doing double-duty with the ExpressCard34 slot, because it houses the memory card reader. That's slick - I like that. I think the lack of an optical drive allowed them to make it thinner and lighter...I'd have hoped for more battery life, but thin and light is also good. Prices look to start at $649 USD and go up to $1629 USD if you max everything out. The maxed-out specs look like this: 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, 14" 900p screen (Dell hides what resolution that is - 1600 x 900 I think), 5 GB RAM (what an odd number - must be 1 GB soldered onto the motherboard), 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, NVIDIA 9400M G graphics card, 802.11n, 8-cell 74 wHr battery, Bluetooth, and a coloured shell. Not a bad config actually...

UPDATE: Looks like Dell Canada allows you to configure the 14z with the T9550 Intel Core 2, which is 2.66 Ghz and has a 6 MB cache. Nice! Too bad it's a $420 CAD price jump above the baseline 2 Ghz CPU. Ouch!

HP has released two new notebooks this week, and I've had a bit of a chance to get some hands on time with them at the CNTRSTG event. First impressions are that they're both solid contenders in certain markets. The dv2 (pictured above) is a thin device (0.98 inches), fairly lightweight (3.8 pounds), has a 12.1 inch screen, and uses a new 25-watt 1.6 Ghz CPU from AMD called the Neo. It uses quite a bit more power than the Intel Atom (OK, that's a gross understatement...25 watts on the Neo vs. 2.5 watts on the Atom), but it's more capable - especially when paired with the ATI Radeon HD3410 which should allow it to play back HD video with ease...including 1080p Blu-Ray content (an optional external Blu-Ray drive will be sold). No Atom-based netbook I've tested has been able to play back 720p h.264 content. HDMI out and a starting price of $699 will make this an extremely compelling notebook for a lot of people. I predict this will be a hot seller for HP - assuming they can get it into the retail channel where people can see it.

The dv2 has great fit and finish, and feels really good in terms of build quality. The chrome side-panels are slightly suspect from a style point of view, but hey, you can't have it all. I never thought I'd prefer a white notebook over a black one, but the black one is such a horrible fingerprint magnet I think I'd prefer the white one if only to hide the smudges better. Do consumers really prefer the shiny-glossy-everywhere look? They must, because the whole industry is going in that direction, model after model. I guess I'm the grumpy old man that remembers the days when I didn't have to polish my notebook every day to have it look remotely clean.

The dv3 is a step up in size and power over the dv2 in every way: it features a 13.3 inch screen, can rock up to an AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core CPU at 2.4 GHz, up to 8 GB of RAM, a ATI Radeon 3200 GPU, up to a 400 GB hard drive (no 7200 RPM option though, boo!), a back-lit keyboard, a slot-loading DVD drive, and the choice of a 6 or 9-cell battery. Pricing starts at $799.

Below is a snippet from the full press release where HP lists several of their new products.

"The sleek HP Pavilion dv2 and Pavilion dv3 Series Entertainment Notebook PCs provide stylish mobility and performance at a great value. The dv2 provides productivity and rich entertainment capability while measuring just under 1-inch thick and starting at 3.8 pounds.(1) Plus, powerful discrete graphics and a full range of connectivity options make it easy for customers to work and play on the go. A variety of high-capacity hard drive options up to 500 gigabytes (GB)(2) provide ample room for photos, music and other content.

The notebook is powered by a specially designed new AMD Athlon Neo Processor-based platform and features a sturdy magnesium casing, 12.1-inch diagonal LED BrightView display and a nearly full-size keyboard. It will be available in two striking finishes with matching HP Imprint designs on the palm rest: Espresso and Moonlight." Read more...

A few days before leaving for CES 2009, I received an HP Mini 1000 for review - I'd been trying to get my hands on one of these since they were first announced, and was sadly unsuccessful. They say good things some to those who wait, and I was sent not only the HP Mini 1000 XP Edition, but also the HP Mini 1000 Vivian Tam edition. The Vivian Tam edition, which we posted some glorious photos of last year, was specifically for my wife to test out. I'll be doing another Real World Review to cover the Vivian Tam Mini 1000, but when it comes to the regular Mini 1000 I'll be doing the usual: videos!

I managed to shoot and edit this unboxing and first impressions video the night before I left for CES. The unit they sent me is the high-end configuration: Windows XP SP3, and in the configuration I was sent, costs $489 USD directly from HP. It has an Intel 1.6 Ghz Atom CPU, 1 GB of RAM, a 60 GB 4500 RPM hard drive, an SDHC card reader, two USB ports, 802.11 b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 3-cell battery. The screen resolution is 1024 x 600, though HP strangely lists it was 1024 x 576 on the box. Read more...

"The Mini 1000 I reviewed is an excellent choice and value for someone that understands the limitations of a netbook. It’s highly portable and its keyboard makes it much more useful than netbooks with smaller keys. The configuration in this review has a retail price of $464.99 and will provide the vast majority of consumers a solid portable web, email and productivity experience. Business professionals looking for an enterprise-class computer should avoid the Mini 1000, along with all current netbooks."

Notebooks.com puts the HP Mini 1000 through its paces, and finds a lot to like. From the touch-typable keyboard to the stylish looks, the Mini 1000 addresses many of the complaints of first generation netbooks. They do recognize that this netbook is targeted towards the consumer market. It definately sounds like netbooks have found a sweet spot in terms of size and usability which closely matches the ultraportable segment. Thankfuly, they're much cheaper! Now HP is looking to make Netbooks fashion aware. While their styling doesn't quite suit my tastes, I'm sure some people covet their dark copper look, or the soon to be released Vivienne Tam edition.

"The Samsung R610-64G hovers in a strange place between a traditional mainstream notebook and a full-fledged multimedia desktop replacement. A svelte 6 pounds (for its size), the R610 is the lightest 16-inch notebook we’ve tested, and with a street price of $999, it’s also one of the cheapest. Its classy black chassis is one of the most attractive we’ve seen in this form. But to achieve its low price, the R610 skimps on performance and features such as dedicated media controls, a full HD screen, and a Blu-ray drive option."

While netbooks are the trend du jour, Samsung has come out with a fairly light 16" notebook. While the price is a tempting $999, Laptop Magazine finds the machine a little weak when it comes to performance. Looking at the spec sheet, it isn't hard to see why. It's hobbled with a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo, a 5,400rpm hard drive and a paltry 1366 x 768 screen. The worst part is the 6-cell battery that gives you an estimated 2.5 hours which means you might be able to watch all of "The Dark Knight." It looks like Samsung cut a few too many corners to meet a sub-$1000 price tag. Wouldn't you expect a bit more if you wanted to go for a 16" screen? A high resolution screen paired with a Blu-Ray drive? The ability to watch a full movie without hunting for a power plug?