Big sale of newest Apple computers

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It’s not the first time Australian retailer Dick Smith’s has lopped 10% off Apple notebooks and desktops, but with the discounts also applying to the 2011 releases of the MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Minis this is your first chance to get the latest Apple hardware at less than the standard retail price.

Most have the new Intel Core i5/i7 processors and the much lauded Thunderbolt I/O ports, which are able to transfer files at dramatically faster speeds than previous USB 2.0 ports. The 2011 MacBook Pro line is definitely worth a close look if you want a super stylish notebook or desktop replacement. The Dick Smith sale ends this Sunday.

Among the discounted Apples, one of the choicest (and sexiest) is the 2011 Apple MacBook Air 11in (64GB) include batteries such as Apple A1022 Battery, Apple M8760 Battery, Apple A1008 Battery, Apple A1061 Battery, Apple A1045 Battery, Apple A1175 Battery, Apple A1185 Battery, Apple M9324 Battery, Apple M8403 Battery, Apple M7318 Battery for $989.10. Leaving aside its amazing razor-thin looks, its Intel Core i5-2467M processor is surprisingly powerful given that it’s low-voltage, and when paired to a 64GB solid state drive, this combination delivers excellent performance in this inspiringly slim package, even if the RAM is just 2GB. Plus you get the usual excellent MacBook build quality, a Thunderbolt port and a backlit keyboard.

The next bargain of note is the mid-range 2.5GHz version of the Mac Mini for $809.10. Packing both an Intel Core i5 and an AMD Radeon HD 6630M dedicated graphics card (for only $100 more than the RRP of the base model 2.3GHz Mac Mini) it's a tiny but powerful and stylish little desktop.

Those seeking a big notebook should consider the MacBook Pro 17in. This large screen giant was the biggest beneficiary of the February updates to the MacBook Pro line, receiving an Intel Core i7-2720QM processor and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card. For $2,609.10 it's nearly $300 less than RRP, giving it one the biggest price drops in Dick Smith's sale.

Among the other discounted Macs, there's an Apple MacBook 13in for $989.10. This is pretty cheap for a MacBook of any kind, but be aware this model has an obsolete Intel Core 2 Duo processor that's completely outclassed by the new Intel Core i5s present in the slighly more expensive MacBook Pro line. For instance, while the entry level 13in MacBook Pro is $1,259.10, it's still a much better buy because you get drastically better hardware for a couple of hundred dollars more.

Also think hard before being tempted to buy an older 2010 model MacBook Air 11in (128GB) for $989.10 or (64GB) for $809.10. Even with the lower price, they aren’t as good value as the newer 2011 models, which have vastly better processors, Thunderbolt ports and backlit keyboards.

A sale of 10% is about as big a discount as you’re going to get on an Apple product here in Australia. There's bargains across the 2011 and older 2010 models, but bear in mind that the newest models are really a big jump ahead of the previous generation Apples.

Compaq chows out cheap AMD notebook

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Last year we talked about a Compaq ultraportable notebook that was aimed at business users called the 2230s. We haven't heard much form HP-owned Compaq since then. The computer company is back two new laptops for users on a budget. The new machines are aimed at businesses and are part of the Compaq Essentials line.

The first of the new notebooks is the Compaq 515 with a retail price starting at $US429. Directly translated to Australian dollars, that's $AU511, but the actual price is closer to $700 at Australian retailers. The machine features a 1366 x 768 screen, 2.1GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and ATI HD 3200 graphics. Storage for the notebook is to a 160GB HDD and the machine runs Windows Vista. The rig is smallish, though of average weight at about 2.3KG, sports an internal DVD drive, and runs a 6-cell battery like compaq 398832-001 battery, compaq 405231-001 battery, compaq 407672-001 battery, compaq EG415AA battery, compaq HSTNN-A10C battery, compaq HSTNN-A14C battery, compaq HSTNN-CB25 battery, compaq Presario B1000 battery, compaq Presario B3800 battery, compaq Presario B2800 battery.

The other new Compaq notebook is the 610 selling for $US20 more than its little brother at $US449 -- though in Australia we are paying significantly more for this model, with street prices closer to $900. For the extra loot, you get a larger 15.6-inch LCD with the same 1366 x 768 resolution. The CPU is a 1.86GHz Intel Celeron T1500 dual-core and the system has 2GB of RAM with graphics by Intel GMA X3100. Storage is to a 250GB HDD and the machine runs Windows Vista.

◦CPU: Intel Celeron Processor 900(2.20GHz) (1MB cache)

◦OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

◦Memory: 2GB DDR2 800MHz Memory

◦Hard Drive: 250GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive

◦Video Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M

◦Wireless: Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth

◦Display: 15.6″ diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView Display (1366 x 768)

◦Optical Drive: LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

◦Ports: 3 USB 2.0; 1 VGA (15-pin); 1 RJ -45 (LAN); 1 Headphone-out; 1 Microphone-in

◦Battery: 6 Cell / up to 4.25 hours

About Compaq Presario CQ42-355tu

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The new Compaq Presario CQ42-355tu is a 14-inch display laptop powered by the Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor. This laptop is affordable notebook with high definition audio and integrated Digital Media Reader. The forthcoming details deal about the specifications and features of Compaq Presario CQ42-355tu.

1.The Operating System installed in Compaq Presario is Free DOS and the Processor is Intel® Pentium® Processor P6100 with 2.0 GHz. The chipset is Intel® HM55 chipset.

2.It supports standard memory of 2GB DDR3 and a maximum memory of 8 GB DDR3. It uses 2 user accessible memory slots.

3.The internal drive is 320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive with 5400 rpm and optical drive is SATA Light Scribe Super Multi DVD± R/RW with double layer support.

4.The size of the display is 35.6 cm with the resolution of 1366×768 pixels and the type of the display is Diagonal High-Definition LED HP bright view widescreen. The graphics is Intel® HD graphics.

5.The measurements of the product are 34.2cm width, 22.8cm depth and 3.15cm height. It weighs about 2.20kg.

6.Communication features include 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth® wireless networking and Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN.

7.It supports Webcam with Integrated Microphone (VGA) and Atlec Lansing speakers. The pointing device is Touch Pad with integrated On/Off button and two-way scroll pad support. The keyboard is 101 key compatible and notebook keyboard with home roll keys.

8.The type of the battery such as compaq 367759-001 battery, compaq 367760-001 battery, compaq 375942-001 battery, compaq 375974-001 battery, compaq 382552-001 battery, compaq 383493-001 battery, compaq 391883-001 battery, compaq 396601-001 battery, compaq 397164-001 battery, compaq 398065-001 battery is 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery with supply of 65W AC Power Adapter. It supports energy efficiency of ENERGY STAR® qualified.

9.The security managements are Kensington Micro Saver lock slot, Power-on password and Accepts 3D party security lock devices. It is available in matte black with prism pattern.

10.The slots in Compaq Presario are 5-in-1 integrated digital media reader for secure digital cards, multi media cards, memory stick, memory stick pro or XD picture cards.

Compaq Presario C700

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Introduction:

Compaq Presario C700 is a laptop with modern features. The supported processors in Compaq Presario C700 are Intel Celeron-M, Intel Core Duo, and Intel Core 2 Duo. The chipset in the laptop is Intel GML960and the type of the Random Access Memory (RAM) is 667MHz DDR2. The storage capacity of RAM is up to 4GB and the RAM slot is two. The size of the Hard Drive is from 120GB to 250GB – 5400RPM. The type of the Hard Drive is SATA and the Hard Drive bay is one. The size of the Hard Drive is 2.5 inches and the Optical Drive is DVD+- RW.

Main Features:

The product dimensions are 25.7cm width, 35.7cm depth, and 4.03cm height. The weight of the product is 2.59 kg. The size of the display is 15.4 inches with the maximum resolution of 1280×800 pixels and the aspect ratio is 16:9. The type of the screen is WXGA widescreen and the surface of the screen is glossy. The supported Operating System is Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, and Free DOS. The laptop is equipped with the 6-cell Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery like Compaq Presario 1700 Battery, Compaq Armada E500 Battery, Compaq Armada V300 Battery, Compaq PP2060 Battery, Compaq Presario 1260 Battery, Compaq Presario 1220 Battery, Compaq Presario 1680 Battery, Compaq Presario N1050V Battery, Compaq Presario NX9005 Battery, Compaq Presario 1215 Battery and 65W AC Power adapter. The input options are keyboard and touchpad.

Other Features:

The graphics controller is Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 and the storage capacity is 384MB. The type of the Graphics memory is shared one. It supports VGA out port, TV out port of S-Video. Other features like DVI out port, HDMI out port, display port, and tablet are not included in Compaq Presario C700. The sound controller is high definition audio. It supports two speakers, microphone, headphone port, and microphone port. Connectivity options include Ethernet Port 10/100 Ethernet, wireless 802.11 b/ g and three x USB2.0. A Bluetooth and WWAN option is not included in Compaq Presario C700. Other Hardware includes 5-in-1card reader (secure digital cards, multimedia cards, memory stick, memory stick pro, or XD picture cards) and Webcam.

HP Compaq DX2300 Business Desktop Review

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Considering some of the budget-busting PCs we've reviewed recently, we wanted to balance the scales with desktops from the other end of the cost spectrum. What could we get for, say, $499? The answer, at least according to HP's Compaq DX2300 Business PC, is "not much."

This surprised us, because other machines we've reviewed have come in at or just above this price, and they proved excellent bargains. But that's not the case with the DX2300, which in the bare-bones configuration we received seemed determined to prove that old axiom: You get what you pay for.

In this case, that included a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 HT 641 CPU, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, and integrated graphics (powered by Intel's decent GMA 3000 chip), but not a lot else. This setup is adequate for running the preinstalled Vista Business OS, but is better considered for its upgrade potential: It has a free PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot for adding a discrete graphics card, two PCIe x1 slots, a PCI 2.3 slot, an available RAM bay, a couple of extra Serial ATA connectors, and two free external bays (one 3.5-inch, one 5.25-inch).

The front panel bears the standard selection of ports: Two USB, plus headphones and mic. In addition to the usual four USB ports, VGA connector, Ethernet, and audio jacks in the rear, you'll also find a nine-pin serial port and a parallel port. The warranty is of the standard one-year-limited variety, and the number of installed software programs is restrained for HP, limited to the latest version of Roxio's CD- and DVD-burning app, a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office, and HP's proprietary backup-and-recovery software.

We hesitate to predict, though, exactly how long such a backup might take. We found the DX2300's performance frustratingly slow for most tasks. Booting up was a tedious process, and we often had to wait upwards of a minute for the Windows Welcome Center to appear on our desktop. Navigating through files with Windows Explorer, running programs, and switching between them with Alt+Tab were similarly tortoise-like. The PC's performance on our standard battery such as Compaq Armada M700 Battery, Compaq EVO N400c Battery, Compaq EVO N410c Battery, Compaq EVO N600C Battery, Compaq EVO N610C Battery, Compaq EVO N620C Battery, Compaq Presario 1200 Battery, Compaq Presario 1800 Battery, Compaq Presario 700 Battery, Compaq Presario 900 Battery of productivity tests, including Windows Media Encoder (14 minutes and 55 seconds) and iTunes conversions (6 minutes and 31 seconds) was also unimpressive.

Of course, as the DX2300's unassuming, boxy design reminds us, this is a business PC, so most office workers won't need tremendous performance for these kinds of applications. (You'll need at least another 512MB of RAM if you want to venture into those areas, and that wouldn't be a bad idea improving the system's performance overall.) But the DX2300's target audience likely won't need to do much beyond checking e-mail, browsing the Web, and using various components of the Microsoft Office suite. As long as these users open those programs at the beginning of the day and keep them open, they should be satisfied with the DX2300's abilities.

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s Review

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s Review

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Lenovo’s latest notebook is specially designed for small-business road warriors on a budget. The sub-$1,000 ThinkPad Edge E220s brings a slick, streamlined look to Lenovo’s legendary family of business notebooks and features Intel’s "Sandy Bridge" processor technology. Wrapped in a durable magnesium-aluminum-alloy chassis, this travel-friendly 12.5-inch notebook is built to endure life on the road. You don’t get an optical drive with this model, and it can’t match the battery life of similarly priced ultraportables, but it does offer many of the business-friendly goodies we’ve come to expect from the ThinkPad line and delivers solid performance to boot.

Prices start at $749, and our review model (as configured) carries a $969 price tag. Our tested configuration came with a 320GB hard drive that spins at 7,200-RPM. You can save $70 if you configure it with a slower (5,400-rpm) 250GB drive, or spend an additional $280 for a speedy 128GB solid state drive. However, you can run the price up to around $1,500 by opting for a slightly faster CPU and adding things like a solid-state drive and mobile broadband.

While not what you would call flashy, the E220s offers a sleeker look than the traditional business-black ThinkPads we’re used to seeing. The durable magnesium/aluminum chassis is done up in a matte Moss Black soft-touch finish with a thin slice of polished silver trim framing the lid and base. The soft-touch finish doesn’t showcase fingerprints like a high-gloss finish does, but it is not immune to them, either. Two sturdy metal hinges attach the lid to the base and give the Edge a tight, solid feel. This model does not have the rugged roll cage skeleton found in other ThinkPads, including the X1, but it does offer Lenovo’s ThinkVantage Active Protection System, which uses an accelerometer to park the hard drive if the notebook is dropped. In a nutshell, the accelerometer works like a car airbag and shuts down the drive before impact to help prevent data loss.

The requisite ThinkPad logo on the lower right corner of the lid has a red LED above the “i” that pulses when the Edge is in sleep mode, and there’s a shiny lenovo (in lower case) badge off to the left. You’ll find a couple of cooling grills at the bottom of the base but no battery compartment; unfortunately, the battery like Lenovo L08S4X03 Battery, Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Battery, Lenovo L08S6D12 Battery, Lenovo IdeaPad U330 Battery, Lenovo IdeaPad V350 Battery, Lenovo IdeaPad Y330 Battery, Lenovo L08S6D21 Battery, Lenovo 3000 G230 Battery, Lenovo 3000 N500 Battery, Lenovo 3000 G450 Battery is built in and not user-accessible, which means you’ll have to send the unit in for service if the battery goes south.

One of the key architectural features of Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform is the integration of the graphics processor (GPU) into the CPU’s circuitry, which means the CPU and GPU can handle things like 3D rendering and shader calculations more efficiently (and more quickly) than earlier integrated solutions. That said, the E220s is certainly not what you would consider a gaming notebook. To test DirectX 9 gaming performance, we run 3DMark06. And even though its 3DMark06 scores of 3,298 (at 1,024x768) and 2,963 (1,366x768) are higher than what we’re used to seeing from a notebook with integrated graphics, they’re not faring as well as other Sandy Bridge systems, such as the Portégé and X1, which both scored about 4,000 at 1,024x768.

Because of that, you won’t want to run out and buy the latest first-person shooter for this notebook, as it still doesn’t have the 3D muscle required to run graphics-intensive programs. For example, on our Company of Heroes DX9 gaming test (in 1,366x768 resolution) the E220s managed only 10.3 frames per second (fps), which is basically unplayable. Likewise, it scored only 6.9fps on our Just Cause 2 gaming test while running in native mode, which is also unplayable.

Battery life was disappointing, especially given the low-voltage processor, which is supposed to extend battery life at the expense of performance; the E220s lasted 3 hours and 8 minutes on our battery-rundown test, in which we stream Hulu content until the battery dies. The Portégé gave us 5:32 and the X1 lasted a whopping 6:05. The average battery score for an ultraportable is 4:03. We saw the same anomaly with the $1,649 Samsung Series 9 900X3A, which has the same processor and similar performance as the E220s but lasted only 3:28 on our battery-rundown test.

Despite the Edge E220s’s scores falling below those of the ThinkPad X1 and the Portégé R830, remember that the X1 that we tested costs $580 more than the Edge E220s, and the Portégé R830 was $80 more. These scores are much more in line with the Samsung Series 9 900X3A, which focuses on thinness and style and is aimed at consumers. And when we look at the averages, taken since the beginning of 2010, these are all better than average, except for battery life. But a lot has changed since the beginning of 2010, namely the introduction of Sandy Bridge, and this system falls on the low end of all the Sandy Bridge notebooks we’ve seen, but it’s also priced on the low end. And in general, the Sandy Bridge notebooks have done significantly better than those with the previous generation of processors.

Like all good business notebooks, the Edge E220s is free of the usual bloatware that accompanies most consumer models. Instead, it comes with Lenovo’s business-centric ThinkVantage tools, which, in addition to the aforementioned Communications utility, includes Rescue and Recovery, an easy-to-use automated backup program; System Update, which searches for and automatically installs driver updates; and Fingerprint Software, which helps you manage multiple fingerprint enrollments (up to 21 templates) and offers a tutorial on how to use the biometric scanner and software. Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) is also preinstalled, but you can opt to have the E220s loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and save $50.

The Edge E220s comes with an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty that includes 24/7 telephone support. Lenovo offers a wide range of warranty upgrades, starting with a one-year onsite plan with next-business-day service ($29) up to a full-blown three-year plan with full ThinkPad Protection ($279); this one includes shipping costs to and from the repair depot and also covers damage caused by accidental drops and spills.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s may not look exactly like a traditional ThinkPad, but it offers all of the excellent business features that are synonymous with the ThinkPad brand, and does so with style. Despite its slim, lightweight profile, this is one sturdy ultraportable, making it an ideal travel notebook that can easily slide into a briefcase or large handbag. Its ho-hum battery life and lack of an optical drive notwithstanding, the E220s is an outstanding sub-$1,000 ultraportable, ideal for SMB buyers on a budget, and lives up to the ThinkPad legacy in every way.

HP Compaq 6730b

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No one will mistake the HP Compaq 6730b for anything other than what it is: A button-downed business notebook. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The system runs circles around lower-end models, secures data using fingerprint recognition, and supports the latest Wi-Fi standards. Plus, its battery like compaq 398832-001 battery, compaq 405231-001 battery, compaq 407672-001 battery, compaq EG415AA battery, compaq HSTNN-A10C battery, compaq HSTNN-A14C battery, compaq HSTNN-CB25 battery, compaq Presario B1000 battery, compaq Presario B3800 battery, compaq Presario B2800 battery life would make the Energizer Bunny jealous. But although suitable for suit-wearing travelers, the 6730b seems overpriced and underpowered, at least in the graphics department, compared with the similar Lenovo ThinkPad SL400.

Stretching the definition of a thin-and-light, the 6730b weighs a hair under six pounds and measures 1.3x14x10.5 inches (HWD), a decent compromise for users who want a portable that's big enough to replace a desktop yet small enough to actually travel with. You can get it in any color you like, as long as it's matte-silver with a black keyboard. Dull, yes, but like a boring business suit with a splash of pocket-square color, the 6730b has one decorative bit of flair: an LED-lit, touch-sensitive strip of quick-launch and volume-control buttons. (It even works when the notebook is off. Simply tap the Info button to launch HP's QuickLook 2, which provides instant access to Outlook 2003/2007 data.)

Based on Intel's new Centrino 2 platform, our $1,690 test unit came with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD with antiglare coating (and a fairly narrow viewing angle). The screen has a native resolution of 1,280x800, which is typical for its size, and is powered by Intel's GMA X4500 HD integrated graphics.

You also get a DVD burner with LightScribe, meaning you can burn labeled discs on the go. Although a nice touch, it's probably not a priority for business users. We'd gladly skip the LightScribe option in favor of a larger hard drive; we've seen 250GB drives in notebooks that cost hundreds less. Indeed, the Cyberpower Xplorer X5-3400 has the same processor and RAM, but it also offers a 250GB drive and discrete graphics—all for $999.99.

On the plus side, the 6730b supports not only Bluetooth but also 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. Other hardware perks include four USB ports, an ExpressCard slot, a memory-card reader, a VGA Webcam, and a fingerprint sensor embedded between the two touch-pad buttons. It also has a mini-FireWire port and, for reasons beyond our understanding, a serial port.

Although the 6730b has core hardware similar to the Xplorer X5-3400's, it couldn't quite keep up in our benchmark tests—mostly likely due to the integrated graphics. HP's system managed a respectable 3,195 in the PCMark Vantage test, but just 1,031 on 3DMark06—half what the Cyberpower and the ThinkPad scored. This is clearly not a system for after-hours gaming, nor is it the best choice for graphics-intensive business apps.

It is, however, a great choice for long trips. The 6730b lasted just under three hours in our battery-drain test, which means you should get close to six hours of runtime with the power-management features enabled. We found this particularly impressive because the notebook weighs 1.7 pounds less than the Cyberpower.

Ultimately, the laptop's integrated graphics are its biggest flaw. Given the 6730b's high price, this is the only major hitch in an otherwise solid business notebook.

Lenovo G560 Review

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When you come across a 15.6-inch laptop with a sub-$700 price tag, you’re probably going to assume that it must be riddled with compromises in order to sell for several hundred dollars less than most other mainstream laptops. The Lenovo G560—which sells direct from Lenovo for $699—comes with its share of concessions. But it doesn’t drop the ball in the areas where it really counts; it dishes out excellent performance and battery such as Lenovo 40Y8314 Battery, Lenovo 40Y8318 Battery, Lenovo 41U3198 Battery, Lenovo ThinkPad R400 Battery, Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Battery, Lenovo 43R1965 Battery, Lenovo FRU 42T4518 Battery, Lenovo ASM 42T4519 Battery, Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Battery, Lenovo ThinkPad X301 Battery life. Further defying expectations, the G560 even comes with a few surprising features, including HDMI and eSATA ports, as well as an ExpressCard/34 slot and an integrated media-card reader.

The G560 is part of Lenovo’s Essential G-Series line of laptops for basic, everyday computing, which is made up of a variety of 14- and 15.6-inch models that share similar designs and features. The G560 measures 1.4x14.8x9.9-inches (HWD), which is typical for a laptop with a 15.6-inch display; its weight of 5.7 pounds, however, puts it a bit on the heavy side for its class. The all-black chassis has a glossy lid with a faint tread-like pattern; but we found that the lid was one of the worst fingerprint-smudge magnets we’ve ever seen.

Instead of a Chiclet-style keyboard, which is all the rage right now, Lenovo chose to use a traditional-style keyboard and even threw in a dedicated mini-number-pad. We liked the sturdy feel of the keys, but as we moved to the right side of the keyboard, it became increasingly mushy as it flexed underneath the weight of our fingers. The keyboard includes brightness and volume keys; but unlike other laptops where these are dedicated keys, on the G560 you must press the Function key to access them. Above the keyboard are dedicated buttons for the OneKey Recovery utility (which can be accessed during boot up or when Windows is running) for system backups and restores, and the Lenovo Energy Management utility for quick changes to the power management settings.

With a 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M processor, 4GB RAM, integrated Intel GMA HD graphics, and a 320GB hard drive, the G560 has almost identical specs as the $649.99 Gateway NV5933u. Unlike the NV5933u, which comes with a Blu-ray drive, the G560 comes with a standard DVD±RW drive. Including a Blu-ray drive in an under-$700 laptop is almost unheard of—as such, with such similar components under the hood, the NV5933u might seem like a better choice for anyone looking for an inexpensive multimedia machine. But before you dismiss the G560 outright, consider that it has a number of advantages over the NV5933u—which might have greater appeal to you, depending on your needs.

Two of the G560’s advantages are the eSATA port and ExpressCard slot that the NV5933u lacks. But perhaps the biggest differentiator between the two laptops is that the NV5933u’s meager battery life of 1 hour and 36 minutes is more than an hour behind that of the G560’s 2:45 on our demanding DVD-movie drain test. In fact, the G560’s battery life is even a bit longer than the average of roughly 2:30 for mainstream laptops. In our casual usage, the G560 lasted over 3.5 hours.

As to our other performance measures, the two laptops were a much closer match. On nearly all of our tests, the two laptops performed very similarly, with only two notable exceptions. On the 64-bit PCMark Vantage test, which is a good measure of a system’s overall performance, the G560’s score of 5,059 was a bit faster than the NV5933u’s 4,824. On the primarily CPU-based iTunes encoding test, where we convert 11 MP3 files to AAC files, the G560’s 4 minutes and 2 seconds pulled even further ahead of the NV5933u’s 4:31. Regardless, the overall performance for both laptops is notably speedier than the average performance we’ve seen from mainstream laptops.

Users on a budget who need speedier performance—and are willing to spend another $100—might want to look at the $799, 2.26GHz Core i5-430M–based HP ProBook 4520s. On our other CPU-heavy, media-conversion benchmark—the Windows Media Encoder test—the G560’s encoding time of 5:08 can’t keep up with the 4520s’s snappier time of 4:33. With a score of 6,138 on our Cinebench 10 test—which stresses all the available cores of a system’s processor—the 4520s skates past the G560’s showing of 5,525. The 4520s comes with a significant caveat, however, in that its battery life of just over 2 hours is about 45 minutes shy of what the G560 is capable of.

All three laptops use integrated graphics engines that are built into their Intel processors; and as such they all have very poor 3D graphics performance. On our 3DMark06 test at the laptop’s native resolution, the G560 turned out an unimpressive score of 1,883. For gaming specifically, we ran our Company of Heroes DX9 test at native resolution, and the best the G560 could do was a lackluster 12.1 frames per second (fps). Integrated graphics should be fine for watching HD videos and playing less demanding games such as World of Warcraft, but any game that needs more 3D power will require a system with a discrete graphics chip, such as the $1,249 Sony VAIO F-Series VPC-F113FXH. The VPC-F113FXH garnered a much higher 3DMark06 score of 4,135 and a passable 20.1 fps on Company of Heroes. But as is evident by the VPC-F113FXH’s higher price tag, you’re going to have pay well over $1,000 for a laptop that can be used for real 3D gaming.

With its $699 price tag, the Lenovo G560 is a very good deal for a 15.6-inch laptop. It is powered by decent components and delivers performance and battery life that are above-and-beyond the average for its class. For $50 less you can grab the similarly configured Gateway NV5933u, which adds a Blu-ray drive to the mix; but in doing so you’ll give up the G560’s impressive battery life and its eSATA port and ExpressCard slot in the process. Unless you can’t live without the NV5933u’s Blu-ray drive or don’t care how long the battery lasts, the G560’s is the superior machine and the better value.

HP ProBook 5310m

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If the slender designs of the Dell Adamo, HP Envy 13, and Apple MacBook Pro pique your interest but their price tags leave you cold, turn your attention to the new HP ProBook 5310m. Wrapped in a sleek aluminum-and-magnesium chassis but priced like a budget laptop—$699 in its basic configuration, $899 in the one we tested—the ProBook 5310m redefines what you can expect from an affordable 13-inch ultraportable. It delivers good performance and excellent battery life, along with plenty of features to attract road warriors.

The ProBook 5310m’s squared-off chassis is 0.93 inch thick and features a sharp-looking aluminum lid and a magnesium-alloy base. The two materials combine to make a shell that is rigid yet lightweight—just 3.8 pounds—and a welcome departure from the plastic bodies of most other budget machines. As with most other 13-inch ultraportables (which we define as machines that weigh less than 4 pounds), the thin chassis means there’s no room for an optical drive inside. HP also had to make some sacrifices when it came to ports. The VGA-out connector business users will need for most presentation devices was too big, so HP went with a DisplayPort jack and offers a DisplayPort-to-VGA dongle for $29. Not ideal, but it gets the job done.

You will find, however, two dedicated buttons to the right of the keyboard that make the ProBook 5310m stand out. The first is for the HP QuickLook 2 feature: Hit the button when the PC is off or in hibernation, and you can access your contacts and calendar without having to boot to Windows. HP has augmented that with the second button, the new QuickWeb button. Press that button when the PC is off, and the HP QuickWeb Browser launches to your home page in about 20 seconds, no Windows required.

What's more, this is no stripped-down utility and browser. It includes familiar tool-tray icons in the lower right corner for configuring your Wi-Fi or LAN connection, as well as for detecting and selecting a network. HP even remembered to include a brightness control for the screen and a battery-level indicator, so you don’t run out of juice—unusually deep functionality for a preboot environment. The browser supports tabs and has all the features you would expect, including Bookmarks, History and Recent Pages lists, and a zoom control. We watched streaming video on CNN.com, checked our Gmail account, and, of course, surfed ComputerShopper.com and found that pages loaded quickly and accurately.

Given the slender design and low price, we were expecting the “but” with the ProBook 5310m to be its performance. That may be the case with the entry-level $699 configuration (which includes a 1.2GHz Celeron processor), but the $899 model we tested ("FM997UT" is the exact part number) includes a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 CPU and 2GB of fast DDR3 SDRAM, both of which helped deliver very good performance for an ultraportable notebook in this price range.

We moved on to test the battery life. (In our test, we have the laptop stream video over the Web until it's depleted.) The runtime from the standard four-cell battery such as Hp Pavilion DV1000 battery(Hp dv1000 battery), Hp PF723A battery, Hp PM579A battery, Hp Pavilion DV4000 battery(Hp dv4000 battery) , Hp Pavilion ZE2000 battery(Hp ze2000 battery), compaq Presario M2000 battery(compaq m2000 battery) (the only one offered) was a highlight of this laptop: 3 hours and 47 minutes, which is about 15 minutes more than the average for this class of laptop, though well shy of the 5 hours and 13 minutes its Asus UL30A-A1 competitor mustered.

Next up: our 3D-graphics testing. The results were less compelling than the battery life, though no surprise, due to the integrated Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics engine. The ProBook 5310m scored 1,024 on our 3DMark06 test at 1,024x768 resolution. That’s actually better than the average score for the class (990), but still not enough for any high-end gaming. Our test game title, Company of Heroes, had trouble loading on this laptop, but from past experience we know that a score of around 1,000 on 3DMark06 will translate into an unplayable frame rate of around 12 frames per second on that game’s performance test.

In addition to the 32-bit Windows 7 Professional operating system and QuickLook and QuickWeb utilities, the ProBook 5310m comes preloaded with a fairly minimal software mix: Roxio Creator Business 10.3, WinZip, Skype, and the ubiquitous trial version of Microsoft Office 2007. You also get the handy HP System Diagnostics tool and HP ProtectTools suite, which includes utilities for permanently deleting files or wiping the hard drive and protecting your passwords. Also included in the package is standard-length warranty coverage: a one-year plan with 24/7 toll-free tech support.

All told, the HP ProBook 5310m is all you could ask for in an under-$1,000 ultraportable. The QuickWeb and QuickLook features are ideal if you often steal a few minutes here and there to check e-mail and the Web, and the compact body and good battery life make it an ideal travel companion.