comparison

Laptop brands tech suport comparison 2010: Apple on top, again

Friday, July 16th, 2010

As they have done the last few years, Laptop Magazine publishes a comparison of the tech support services of the main laptop brands. Again, Apple tops the list and, unsurprisingly, Acer gets the worst score:

  1. A: Apple (A)
  2. B: HP (B+), Lenovo (B+), Sony (B), Asus (B-), Dell (B-), Toshiba (B-)
  3. C: Fujitsu (C), MSI (C), Samsung (C)
  4. D: Acer (D+), Gateway (D+)

Results are based on phone and web support only, no on repairs, and the study was performed in the US, not in Europe, but you get the idea.

Source: Laptop Magazine; comparison chart.

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AMD 2010 platform for notebooks: it’s OK, but too expensive for the performance

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

PC Magazine publishes one of the first reviews of a laptop with AMD’s latest mobile platform, the HP Pavilion dv6-3013cl sporting an AMD Phenom II N930 quad-core processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 integrated graphics. CPU-based benchmark scores are OK, close to the ones of an Intel Core i5 processor, but sometimes closer to those of a Core i3 and usually far from the slowest quad-core processor from Intel, the Core i7 720QM. Battery life is OK, too (3:42 h). So nothing is wrong about this laptop (as long as you do not plan to play any games on it).

In fact, the main problem is price: if you go to shopping.hp.com to customise a HP Pavilion dv6t with a Core i5 430M, that is a bit faster than the quad-core Phenom II N930, you finish with a price 45 USD cheaper than a similarly configured HP Pavilion dv6z with a triple-core Phenom II N830.

It seems high-end AMD processors for laptops are too expensive for the performance they offer. Fix the prices and they are a perfectly good option.

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Small and fast laptops, ultraportables and netbooks

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

This week I added two new sections to the laptop selections:

These two sections add to the netbook comparison to cover a wide array of small and light laptops. If you need a light laptop, I think you are going to find them helpful.

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Comparison: Intel Centrino 2 vs AMD Puma

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

Laptop Magazine compares current laptop platforms: Intel’s Centrino 2 and AMD’s Puma. Some points of the comparison method are debatable, such as the HD video transcoding test, because Intel Penryn processors have some optimizations specific for HD video transcoding (probably the difference would have been small in non-HD video transcoding or audio transconding), but the comparison is in general alright, because it compares laptops with processors at the same frequency (2.26 GHz). But The Inquirer compares an AMD processor at 2.00 GHz against an Intel processor at 2.53 GHz (!!!), so logically in their tests the Intel processor is clearly superior.

The main conclusions of the Laptop Magazine comparison are:

  • The processor from Intel offers a higher performance. The difference is small in some tests (Windows boot time and program startup time) and large in others (HD video transcoding), but both platforms offer a good performance for the average user.
  • The graphics card from the AMD platform offers a better gaming performance. Anyway, it is not powerful enough to play many current games.
  • The Intel platform offers a longer battery life (up to 40 additional minutes).

Overall, both platforms are good for the basic computing needs, but if you need good performance or long battery life you should go for the Intel platform. But keep in mind that the differences between laptops can be huge, so it is good to look for reviews of the laptops you are interested in.

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Cheap laptop guide

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

People looking to buy a cheap laptop can finish easily with an old, underpowered laptop that is too expensive for the performance it offers. I just posted a guide to buy a cheap laptop. It is not a compilation of good deals, but a guide to what to look for. This guide belongs to the laptop section, that tries to guide users towards the best laptop for their needs and budget. The laptop section is still in development and will be completed in a few weeks (at least I hope so!). Currently you can see the netbook comparison, the cheap laptop guide and the basic laptop guide. More guides are coming.

It is impossible to cover all the possibilities so, in case of doubt, use the message boards to ask for assistance, to tell us about good deals you have found or to talk about anything related to laptops.

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Netbook comparison

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Netbooks (cheap ultraportables) are becoming very popular, but they are not for everyone: small size and low performance are important limitations that have to be taken into account. In addition, the number of different netbooks in the market is getting confusing. So I think some of you may find useful my netbook comparison. It includes the following netbooks: Acer Aspire One, Asus Eee PC 901 and 1000H, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, HP 2133 Mini-note PC and MSI Wind.

In case you want to share with all us your experiences, opinions or questions, feel free to use the forums.

Netbook comparison

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SSDs can use more power than conventional hard disks

Friday, June 27th, 2008

According to Tom’s Hardware, in some scenarios solid-state disks use more power than conventional hard disks. While the methodology is controversial, the results show that the supposed energy efficiency of SSDs is not as good as advertised, and that they are not so advisable for laptops as it’s commonly believed.

Certainly, conventional hard disks have got many enhancements during recent years, while SSDs are a new technology that needs to mature.

Update: Tom’s Hardware has performed new tests.

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