You can pack a whole lot of features into the fat chassis of a 17-inch laptop, but 17 inches is also a whole lot of laptop
to carry around. These exceptional 13-, 14-, and 15-inch laptops do a nice job of packing high-end features into
sleeker and slimmer form factors that (barring one nine-pound exception) are far easier to tote. Ranging from 700 to
1,500 (plus one nine-pound, 2,500 outlier), these systems offer fast Intel Core processors, gobs of RAM, gaming-
ready GPUs, fast 7,200-rpm disk drives, and even solid-state and hybrid drives. Watch out for bugaboos such as
overdone displays, lousy sound, limited ports, and short battery life. Lets check out a few here. The Acer TimelineX
5830TG sets itself apart from the 15-inch laptop crowd with its angular good looks. But it's also a solid performer and
a decent gaming machine, and--with 8 hours, 17 minutes of battery life--a long-distance runner. At a penny less than
800 (as of July 6, 2011), the 5830TG is a great deal, but you'll need to spend some time culling the software herd
for optimal results. Componentry was pretty much state-of-the-art on our 5830TG-6402 test unit, the top-of-the-line
configuration for the 5830TG. The CPU is an Intel Core i5-2410M; also included are 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB
5400-rpm hard drive, and both Intel HD and Nvidia GeForce GT 520M graphics. The laptop turned in a WorldBench
6 score of 116--fast, but about average for the all-purpose laptop class. Thanks to the GT 520M, its gaming
frame
rates were acceptable on simple 3D games in our tests, but hard-core gamers seeking to play the latest and greatest
should look elsewhere. Lost in all the hoopla over Intel's Ultrabook initiative are the more traditional, full-function
thin-and-light laptops. The Dell XPS 14z borrows some lines from Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro and incorporates a
slightly larger display and a better keyboard. On the other hand, the shell appears to be mostly plastic, so it lacks the
rigidity of the Apple laptop. The net result represents something close to the state of the art in the all-purpose class of
notebook PCs, but it falls a little short of laptop perfection. Our review unit came with an Intel Core i7-2640M clocked
at 2.8GHz (up to 3.5GHz in Turbo Boost mode), and a generous 8GB of RAM. Also included was an Nvidia GeForce
GT 520M discrete GPU with 1GB of dedicated frame-buffer memory. Dell supports Nvidia's Optimus technology,
which allows the integrated Intel HD Graphics to handle all the mainstream graphics chores, with the GeForce GT
520M kicking in when better 3D chops are necessary. Our test configuration will cost you 1299 (as of November
9, 2011). The entry-level configuration (999) includes a Core i5-2430, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and
integrated graphics. You're better off springing for the upgrade to get the dedicated graphics chip
Company: Toronto pcs
Phone: 647-693-5036
Email: info@torontopcs.com
Web site http://www.torontopcs.com
