Wednesday 31 October 2012

HP ENVY 4 Review: Windows 8 TouchSmart Ultrabook

The latest member of HP's ENVY family features a TouchSmart display and Windows 8 combined with premium components. Is this an Ultrabook worth buying?


Overview
The HP ENVY 4 TouchSmart -- also called the HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4t -- is the latest 14-inch laptop from one of the companies that founded Silicon Valley. The key element that makes this laptop worth talking about is the inclusion of a touchscreen that allows direct control over the Windows 8 tile interface.
This Windows 8 laptop is arguably the "easy sell" in HP's new Windows 8 line; you essentially get a traditional Windows laptop at a starting price of just under $800 with the added benefit of a touchscreen so you can experience the new tiles the way Microsoft meant them to be used.

Build and Design
HP engineers have been pretty consistent with the design philosophy for HP's line of Ultrabooks and the ENVY TouchSmart 4t is no exception. This laptop is wrapped in plastic with brushed aluminum plates covering the screen lid as well as the top of the chassis around the keyboard and palm rests.  Although the bottom half of the notebook is plastic it is covered in a "soft touch" rubberized paint which gives this Ultrabook a more premium look and feel compared to the lower-priced HP Pavilion notebooks.
Like the rest of the Ultrabooks in the HP lineup, the ENVY 4 TouchSmart is about as thin and light as it can be. The notebook itself is just 23 mm (.9 in) thin with the screen closed and weighs only 2.1 kg (4.77 lbs) so it's actually as small or smaller than most 13-inch laptops from a few years ago. The ENVY 4 could be a little slimmer and lighter if it used a standard display instead of one with a touch-enabled surface, but the minor increase in thickness isn't likely to be noticed by most consumers ... again, this Ultrabook is still thinner an lighter than most of the laptops that people are currently using.  
The previously mentioned aluminum covers and rubber-coated plastics should make the ENVY 4 more than durable enough for average home and student use. The screen lid is strong and we didn't see any screen distortions or "ripples" when we applied pressure to the back of the screen.
While we're talking about the screen it's also worth mentioning that since this Ultrabook was designed with the understanding that users would regularly touch the screen HP moved the majority of the internal weight (battery, hard drive, etc.) to the front half of the chassis beneath the palm rests so you won't have to worry about the laptop "flipping over" even when you are pressing on the screen.
If you take a quick look at the bottom of ENVY 4t you'll see it's pretty standard for an Ultrabook. The bottom half of the notebook looks clean with no quick access panel for removing the hard drive, RAM, or other components. This Ultrabook uses two standard RAM slots and a 7mm hard drive as well as a mSATA SSD slot, so upgrades are possible ... you just have to be prepared to remove all 13 Phillips head screws so you can get inside.
Ports and Features
The 14-inch ENVY 4 TouchSmart features most of the major ports you expect to find on a modern laptop on the left and right sides of the chassis with no ports on the front or back edges. You'll see a 4-in-1 media card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, and MMC), headphone and microphone jacks and HDMI but no VGA port for older external monitors and projectors. There are also two USB 3.0 ports and a sleep-and-charge USB 2.0 port. HP used a folding Ethernet jack on the left side of the chassis to keep this Ultrabook as thin as possible. On that note, the ENVY 4 lacks a built-in DVD drive but an optional external DVD drive is available from HP at the time of purchase. All the port descriptions below are listed from left to right.

Screen and Speakers
The 14-inch glossy screen on the ENVY 4 is a pretty average LED-backlit HD display with a 1366 x 768 resolution ... with one exception: this is a touchscreen. While we would have been more impressed if HP used a higher resolution 1600 x 900 screen, our editors were pretty impressed by the accuracy and sensitivity of the TouchSmart display.
This really is one of the main reasons to purchase this Ultrabook instead of one of the cheaper traditional laptops running Windows 8; the new Start screen and tile interface were designed with touch in mind. Yes, you can still use a touchpad or mouse to move the cursor on the screen and control Windows that way, but most people will likely discover that touching the tiles and moving things around with your fingertips just feels more intuitive in Windows 8.

In terms of viewing angles, the underlying screen on the ENVY 4 is just a standard TN-type display panel so you'll start to notice varying degrees of color shift as soon as you tilt the screen forward or back since color fidelity is only maintained when your eyes are viewing the screen from straight ahead. Brightness is fine indoors but the backlight just isn't bright enough to overpower the sun when you're outdoors on a bright day.



Tuesday 30 October 2012

Maps debacle sees Forstall fired at Apple

Head of iOS Scott Forstall leaves along with retail boss John Browett as Cook responds to recent controversies Apple has announced a major shake-up at management level, with two senior execs being shown the door.
It is the biggest change at the company since founder and CEO Steve Jobs resigned in 2011.

Head of iOS software Scott Forstall will be leaving Cupertino next year but will remain on board as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook until then.



Forstall is paying the price for the iOS 6 maps debacle, when Apple dumped Google's mapping software in favour of its own. As soon as the software was available users started to complain about its quality, with roads and even entire cities being mislabelled or even missed out completely.

So severe were the problems that Cook was forced to issue an apology and even suggested users switch to an alternative mapping app until Apple had fixed the problems.

Inspiron Desktops


Get the desktop with the personality you want and the productivity you need. Multiple colors let you customize your look for added fun and value while you share photos and connect to friends.

Online Price Rs.26,7501

Inclusive of delivery charges. The price excludes VAT (5%) and local taxes which vary based on jurisdiction.



From home to the dorms, Inspiron desktops help make life easier. Choose your color and stay productive without stretching your budget with 2nd Gen Intel® Core™ processors.


Industrial Inkjet Printer


Another innovation from Inkcups Now! The XJET is the world's first industrial UV LED inkjet printer designed for both short-run and long-run industrial printing. 

Designed expressly for the needs of the Industrial Printing and Promotional Product marketplace, this machine fills the long-existing void between the slower smaller inkjet printers and extremely expensive high-speed but medium-print-quality inline machines. It combines the best XY flatbed scanning systems features (high-quality graphics, ability to change quality settings) with the high-production capabilities of inline inkjet systems. 



The XJET UV inkjet printer is inexpensive to tool and quick to changeover, it is conveyorized for high throughput and automation capability. Compared to other machines, the XJET delivers improved image quality and lower consumable costs (ink costs a mere $0.0015 per square inch!) 

The XJET uses the X series UV LED ink, which is compliant with CPSIA, California Proposition 65 and other regulations. 

This innovation from Inkcups Now is exactly what the market has been waiting for. It's the Game Changer.

Samsung smartphones under 16K vs rivals


Samsung is the number one player in the smartphone segment, but are its phones the best in their class? We find out.

Samsung is the current market leader in smartphones in India as well as across the world. However, that doesn't mean all its products are the best in their class. So here we compare its sub-Rs 16,000 products with similarly priced devices from international rivals like HTC, Sony, Nokia, and LG.
Samsung Galaxy Pocket vs LG Optimus L3 vs Sony Xperia Tipo
Samsung Galaxy Pocket offers a 2.8 inch screen with 240 x 320 pixel resolution, Android 2.3, a 2 megapixel camera, 1200 mAh battery and a healthy 3 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 32 GB. The remaining features like 3G and WiFi that are commonly found in Android phones are all there. The phone is available at about Rs 6,500.
Compare that to a slightly costlier Optimus L3 from LG selling at an average price of Rs 7,000. You get much better specifications: a 3.2 inch touchscreen with 240 x 320 pixel resolution, 3.2 megapixel camera and 1500 mAh battery. The remaining specifications are very similar. Optimus L3 is also better looking with LG's L Series design philosophy-a slim squarish profile.

Samsung Galaxy Y with a 3 inch screen and 2 megapixel camera is also on offer at the same price point as L3, but even this one has a smaller screen and camera though the rest of its features are very similar to those of the L3.


Sony Xperia Tipo is the only Android 4.0 based phone here and with Sony's user interface the 3.2 inch screen is more usable on the phone, although the device is otherwise very similar to LG Optimus L3. It is priced much higher at Rs 8,800
The LG Optimus L3 is best in terms of specifications and price, however Sony is better in terms of latest software and performance.

Sunday 28 October 2012

HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4

The HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 has all the mobile creature comforts, from Beats audio with a built-in subwoofer to a backlit keyboard. The stylish system has a soft rubberized coating, the look of brushed aluminum inside and a sparkle pattern on its touchpad. At 4.6 lb., you might think that the HP Envy is a trifle overweight for an Ultrabook, but it squeezes in everything needed on the road. In addition to its multi-touch 14-in. display, the system comes with an Ivy Bridge processor as well as a 500GB hard drive that is speeded up by 32GB of ExpressCache. 


Friday 26 October 2012

Choose a mobile carrier for your small business

Although you may have only a handful of major wireless providers to choose from, each offers an array of plans, services, devices, and pricing. Voice, messaging, and data aren’t the only options now that you have mobile Internet for laptops, tablets, and even mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.
This guide steps through the important features and hidden fees to watch for when you're selecting a mobile provider. If you're in the market for a carrier to keep your staff connected and productive, read on. If you're looking for a handset and service plan for yourself alone, start with PCWorld's consumer cell phone buying guide
.As for choosing a voice-minutes package, most providers offer free calls on nights and weekends. Therefore, start with a daily workday estimate of the minutes and multiply that by 21 for the month. Does your staff require text or multimedia messaging? Estimate how many messages per day and per month each person will use. From there, pick one of the bundles that cover a set amount of messages, or select an unlimited option.
How many of your employees travel often enough to need an Internet connection on their laptops, netbooks, or tablets? If one staffer has a mobile phone with a data plan, could that person use the phone's Internet connection via tethering instead of purchasing exclusive access for his or her other mobile devices? Or, if multiple employees typically travel together, could you provide Internet to all through a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot?
If the mobile carrier also provides Internet and phone service for the office, it's worthwhile to get quotes for a package that bundles wired and wireless service.

Epson Expression Home XP-400 Small-in-One is compact and surprisingly fast


The Epson Expression Home XP-400 Small-in-One color inkjet multifunction printer (MFP) delivers a lot of bang for the buck. The controls are top-notch and intuitive, the unit doesn't take up much space, and the output is quite nice. It's even relatively quick. The inks are just what you'd expect from an MFP priced thusly: expensive, but acceptable for low-volume printing given its other strengths. If you want cheaper inks, however, look to slightly higher-priced competitors such as the HP Photosmart 5510 or the Brother MFC-625DW.
The flip-up control panel on the XP-400 is, perhaps surprisingly for an MFP this inexpensive, quite easy to use. The combination of a 2.5-inch LCD displaying large icons and well thought-out menus, and a surrounding touch panel with contextually lit controls (they only appear when required), is very easy to use. Wi-Fi setup was easy, as was setup via USB. The Epson Scan software is the company's venerable and capable program, though this model has no optical character recognition.

The XP-400's paper handling features are fine for low-volume PC users, but it has no Mac support for manual duplexing (automated printing of every other page with dialogs that show you how to flip and re-insert the paper), as there is for Windows. The rear vertical input feed will hold 100 sheets of paper, which travels a relatively straight path to the 35-sheet front output tray. The scanner is single-shot, with no automatic document feeder, but the lid telescopes approximately half an inch to accommodate magazines and the like. The scanner platen is A4/letter-sized.
For the price, the XP-400 is surprisingly fast. At the default settings, the XP-400 prints monochrome pages at 6.5 per minute (ppm) on the PC and 6.4 ppm on the Mac. Snapshot-sized photos printed to plain paper emerge at just over 4 ppm, and to glossy paper at about 0.8 ppm. Monochrome copies arrive at 5.5 ppm, well above average for a consumer-grade MFP. If you really need to get a look at something in a hurry, you can use draft mode, which is legible, if not fun to look at. The tested copy speed of 5.5 ppm is very good, but scans on the Mac are slow.
Standard and best-quality output from the XP-400 is quite nice, though we did notice some defects in text--especially with larger fonts. The defects don't jump out at you, but we did see dropouts and some jaggies upon close inspection. Color graphics are rendered agreeably on both plain and glossy paper, with what we usually describe as a slightly cool color palette.

Windows 8: The official review


Reviewing an operating system is an odd endeavor, because people don’t really use operating systems; they use applications. The OS should be as transparent as possible, acting as a platform for applications. In today’s cloud-driven world, however, the notion that your application will run in a single OS is tenuous at best. Toss in the increasing use of smart devices, whether phones or tablets, and the idea of a single-platform operating system is less relevant now than it was just a few years ago. These days we have “ecosystems”—Microsoft, Apple, or Google, take your pick.
That said, PC users still expect their Windows applications to run as before, and they want to have the same control over their laptop and desktop computers as they’ve always had. New software features should enable users to do more. And as the reaction to the late, unlamented Windows Vista illustrated, all the shiny new bells and whistles should not harm performance or require new hardware.

Can Windows 8 meet its goal of being one aspect of a new Microsoft ecosystem while maintaining its roots in the PC? Can existing computers run Windows 8 without the need for expensive new touch displays? Will the revamped Windows 8 user interface turn off existing Windows users or pull them into the ecosystem? I’ll try to answer those questions and others as I dive deeply into Windows 8.
This review is based on the Windows 8 final release—what Microsoft calls the “release to manufacturing,” or RTM, version. The final release is available to Microsoft TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Desktop PCs, laptops, and tablets ship with Windows 8 preinstalled on the official launch day, October 26.
We ran Windows 8 on a moderately high-end desktop system along with a standard (nontouch) monitor, mouse, and keyboard. We also used a Samsung Series 9 laptop with an Elan touchpad supporting full multitouch gestures.

System76 debuts a sleek, all-in-one desktop PC featuring Ubuntu Linux


There's no doubt the PC market is in the midst of a rush of hardware introductions featuring Microsoft's new Windows 8, but fortunately for buyers, those aren't the only choices out there.
Case in point: Linux-friendly vendor System76 on Wednesday treated fans of the free and open source operating system  to a splashy debut of its own. The hardware in question? None other than a sleek new all-in-one desktop PC.


Ubuntu 12.10 'Quantal Quetzal'
There has been a steady stream of Linux PCs entering the market over the past few months, including the two Asus machines I wrote about last week.
System76's new Sable Complete, however, brings an extra dose of style. With a 21.5-inch, high-definition 1080p display, the clutter-free desktop features edge-to-edge glass, aluminum trim, and a sleek, industrial design.

Alienware M14x Review: An Ultraportable Gaming Powerhouse


When Dell refreshed its lineup of Alienware gaming laptops earlier this year, it discontinued the littlest of the bunch, the 11-inch Alienware M11x. As a result, the Alienware M14x is now the entry-level Alienware laptop, which Dell recently refreshed with an IvyBridge processor and a new graphics card. Like many more-typical ultraportable laptops, the M14x has a 14-inch screen, but it's chunkier and more powerful than the other computers in its category.
Our review unit, priced at $1454 (as of August 20, 2012), as configured, sports a third-generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor, 8GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, and a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics card. The M14x also features a Killer Wireless-N a/g/n Wi-Fi card with Bluetooth 4.0, a DVD-RW drive, and Alienware's Command Center suite of software (including AlienFX, which allows you to change the lighting scheme). The M14x runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.