Acer Travelmate TM8372T Notebook Review

Historically, Acer has generally been associated with a value line-up- with the occasional Ferrari model. However, recent Acer products have certainly shown a lot of pizazz. The Travelmate TM8372T notebook that we’re looking at today is one such product with a brushed aluminium lid and rigidly constructed body that feels and looks impressive. Packaged with the quint-essential power adapter and a cleaning cloth, lets find out more about the Acer Travelmate TM8372T.

Based on the Intel Core i5 M520 CPU running at 2.40GHz along with 4GB DDR3 RAM, the Acer Travelmate TM8372T is reasonably speedy for all your daily tasks. For powering up the 13.3″ display with a 1366×768 resolution, Acer uses the integrated Intel HD graphics controller which is good enough for every day tasks such as using the Internet, working on documents and watching videos, however, don’t expect it to run the latest games. For storage, Acer uses a 320GB Seagate hard drive while connectivity is covered through an 802.11b/g/n based Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0. Yes, you read right- that is Bluetooth 3.0, however, sadly we dont have any Bluetooth devices to test this out with.

Although the Travelmate TM8372T is a good looking notebook, it is not necessarily the sleekest or the lightest notebook we’ve tested. It measures 323.6 x 234 x 30.5 and weighs 2.1kg. On the left you have the power connector as well as two USB ports, VGA output and Acer’s Easy port IV port replicator connector. The front takes our SD/Memory card along with audio input and output whereas the right side houses the DVD writer, the wired network socket and an additional USB port. Surprisingly, there is no webcam on this model which could actually be an advantage to certain businesses.

Usability-wise, the Acer Travelmate TM8372T is pretty good. We’ve already mentioned that the construction quality is impressive- this notebook feels like it will survive a fall or two without much issues. The keys on the keyboard are pretty big and easy to type, however, I’m not a big fan of an extra column of keys on the right of the the backspace/enter keys. The track-pad is a bit on the smaller side but quite precise in tracking the mouse movements along with supporting multi-touch for an Apple like two-finger scrolling experience. As with most screens we’ve tested, the Acer Travelmate TM8372T has decent viewing angles horizontally but not that great vertically. It does have pretty loud speakers though so if you’re looking for a notebook that makes a lot of noise, then this would be it.

Lets look at the performance numbers posted by the Acer Travelmate TM8372T. For comparison, we have benchmarked it against some of the recently tested Core i5 based notebooks such as the Lenovo Edge and Sony Z11 in areas like CPU (WinRAR), 3D Graphics (3D Mark ’06), Hard Disk (Performance Test 7) and Overall Performance (PC Mark Vantage).

	CPU (WinRAR)	3D Graphics (3D Mark)	Hard Disk (Pass Mark)	Overall (PC Mark)
Acer Travelmate TM8372T	2837	1920	454	6356
Sony VAIO Z117	2715	6191	2155	9403
Lenovo Edge	2630	4335	433	5931

From the results above, you can see that the Acer Travelmate TM8372T isn’t very fast in 3D because of its integrated graphics controller, however, it manages to hold up well under CPU and Overall tests. The RAID0 SSD found in the Sony Z117 makes it insanely fast in disk based benchmarks and thus, overall system performance.

Finishing off, the battery life on the Acer Travelmate TM8372T turned out to be quite impressive. We managed to get almost seven hours out of the 8-cell extended battery included in the packaging. There weren’t any noise or heat issues with the Acer Travelmate TM8372T with the unit running fairly quietly, even with benchmarks running and never too hot.

Priced at AED 3,300 (US$ 899), the Acer Travelmate TM8372T is decently priced for its specifications and quality. We recommend it.

Sony prepares for Eid with mystic Arabesque-themed VAIO Notebooks

Press release:
Sony Gulf today announced the VAIO EA Series 14-inch Mystic Arabesque-themed notebooks will soon be available in three new luxurious colours – Gold, Pink and Black – embellished with a characteristic etching pattern.

Developed by Sony after a comprehensive survey of the Arab region’s youth, the colours and patterns will allow users to match the VAIO notebook with their personal styles.

The VAIO EA series notebook computers that are due to be launched in the Middle East during July, ahead of the Eid festivities, sport a unique decorative etching pattern reflecting an ‘arabesque’ motif that serves as a fitting testimony to the region’s fashion and interior design trends.

The pattern seamlessly stretches on to the palm rest and touchpad, allowing users to enjoy the aesthetic component of the design whether the VAIO is open or shut.  Furthermore, each notebook is complemented by a similarly patterned pouch, VAIO Bluetooth mouse (VGP-BMS15) and exchangeable mouse covers to complete the structured and elegant look.

Dharmendra Lalai, Head of IT and B2B Marketing Division, Sony Gulf, said: “The new look VAIO EA Series is launched at a significant time in the Middle Eastern region. The pride our core target audience takes in their traditions and rich culture has been the inspiration for the spectacular arabesque design of this notebook.

“With its launch timed ahead of the Eid festivities, we expect the Mystic Arabesque version of this series of notebooks to feature high on the Eid-Al-Fitr wish-list of the region’s young consumers.”

While the three colours – Mystic Arabesque Gold, Mystic Arabesque Pink and Mystic Arabesque Black – collectively hold an aesthetic appeal of understated elegance, the gold version dons a golden coloured VAIO logo, the pink sports a glamorous shiny tone and the chic black version maintains an air of elegance and sharpness.

In adherence to Sony’s high standards vis-a-vis the technical offerings, the series is equipped with features that are consistent with its latest VAIO EA Series 14-inch notebooks. The new models come with Intel^® Core(TM) i5 CPU offering powerful processing capability and ATI Mobility Radeon^™ HD 5650 graphics with 1GB VRAM to handle image editing, gaming, HD movie playback, and media-rich web sites with ease.

The EA Series models are designed with everyday ease of use firmly in mind.  With a touch of the ‘WEB’ button and Quick Web Access, users can instantly start surfing without the need to boot up Windows. For even greater convenience, Quick Web Access offers multiple tabbed browsing and a ‘split’ view that is ideal for browsing two web pages side-by-side.

A dedicated ‘ASSIST’ button additionally gives a one-touch access to VAIO Care, simplifying basic maintenance and troubleshooting tasks to keep the VAIO notebook in good condition. ‘VAIO’ button is also available for Media Gallery to offer an intuitive way to explore music, photo and video collection. PMB VAIO Edition, VAIO’s original software, helps to enjoy movies, music and memories – anytime, anywhere.

The notebooks are embedded with three side-mounted USB ports that are joined by a fourth high-speed eSATA/USB port to facilitate super-fast file transfers to an external drive up to five times faster than via USB2.0.  Connection to HD TVs via a HDMI port is also available, making users enjoy their contents on large-screen HDTVs.

Additionally, the notebooks incorporate a touchpad with multi-gesture functions for users working without a mouse. These functions support three major finger motions: scrolling through pages, moving backwards and forwards on web pages, and zooming in and out.

The new VAIO EA-Series Mystic Arabesque models will be available in select electronics stores in the Middle East from July 2010.

NVIDIA Surround and 3D Vision Surround Revealed

Quote: “NVIDIA’s initial foray into multi-display gaming with NVIDIA Surround and 3D Vision Surround seems to be a great counter to AMD’s release of the technology for gamers’ use back in September of 2009. NVIDIA is finally nearing parity with AMD’s 5000-series of graphics cards with DX11 support multi-monitor gaming though they are nine months behind. Better late than never as the saying goes and maybe AMD has created a market that NVIDIA can swing in and take over…? We still aren’t sure that will be the case but NVIDIA Surround is definitely a differentiating and compelling option for the PC gamer and enthusiast.”

Business PC Upgrades That Pay Off

With so many offerings in the market today, it’s hard for businesspeople to decide which computer to buy or whether it’s time to upgrade their computers. The truth is that even the worst computer sold nowadays is powerful enough for running basic applications such as browsing, e-mail and an office suite. Therefore, why should a business user spend money to replace or improve old computers?”

Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/Business-PC-Upgrades-That-Pay-Off/183

Zalman VF1000 LED VGA Cooler Review

We tested the Zalman VF1000 LED VGA cooler, which has a pure copper heatsink, four heatpipes, and an 80-mm transparent fan with blue LEDs. Let’s check its features and performance.”

Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Zalman-VF1000-LED-VGA-Cooler-Review/1037

HP Mini 210 HD Edition Review

“HP’s Mini 210 should be boring. Like the Ford Fiesta of the PC world, it’s a point-A-to-B budget box from a well-known manufacturer not particularly well known for taking risks. But also like its automotive doppelganger, the Mini 210 yields some unforeseen surprises. Besides styling that breaks the monotony of countless Taiwanese clones, it sports an exceptionally high resolution display, optional Broadcom video decoder chip, and a touchpad that emulates Apple’s MacBooks. As we found out, that last point proves to be a major – debatably fatal – stumbling block for the Mini 210, but buyers who can learn to live with the mind-bogglingly-bad pad, or spring for a wireless mouse, can learn to cope with an otherwise very well put together netbook.”

Link to the review:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/hp-mini-210-hd-edition-review/

Apple iPhone 4 Review

“The Apple iPhone is no longer the Superman of the cellphone world, despite all the hoopla, lines and glitz. Every carrier now has (or will have) at least one comparable Android superphone, such as Sprint’s EVO 4G, T-Mobile’s Google Nexus, the upcoming Droid X from Verizon on July 15, and Samsung’s Galaxy S from either AT&T or T-Mobile later this summer. Plus, the iPhone 4 also has to compete with the lower-priced 3G S, which also can run the new-and-improved multi-tasking iOS 4 operating system. The question really isn’t whether the iPhone is a cool, new phone – it is. Its video chatting FaceTime is fascinating and fun, the Retina high-resolution screen is a salve to squinters, its 5-megapixel camera is exceptional. But the iPhone 4 also suffers from a couple of niggling issues which, now that you have plenty of superphone choices, make it less than it could have been.”

Link to the review:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/apple-iphone-4-review/

Review of Two iPod nano 5th Gen Cases

Link: http://igadgetlife.com/reviews/review-of-two-ipod-nano-5th-gen-cases/

Quote:
” Today for review I’ve got two inexpensive cases for the Apple iPod nano 5th generation from USBFever.com . These two cases are very different, one is rubber and the other is plastic and aluminum combined. Both of the cases are very nice, I like them, and they’re only $9.99 each, which I think is worth considering the cost of the nano itself. For $10 you can protect the case and have some piece of mind that something bad might not happen to your nice expensive MP3 player. So read on to learn more about them… ”

Thumb: http://igadgetlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/nano1_thumb.jpg

Review of Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Net STAK100

Quote:
“Up on the review block today I’ve got another part of the GoFlex system from Seagate, this one is the GoFlex Net which enables you to use your GoFlex hard drive on your network. It’s much more than that tough, you can use it in conjunction with the Pogoplug service to stream music and video, and transfer files anywhere in the world and even to your mobile phone. The GoFlex Net also enables you to stream video and music to the FreeAgent Theater, your Xbox360 or your PS3 as well. Read on to learn more.. ”

Thumbnail Image : http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/goflexnet17_thumb.jpg

Main site link: http://www.testfreaks.com

Altec Lansing MIX iMT800 Review

“Anyone who was a teen in the ’80s will tell you that THE must-have item at the time was a boombox. It didn’t matter that they were expensive and ate up pricey batteries for breakfast; being able to blast your jams anytime and anywhere was crucial for your coolness quotient. As time passed and technology advanced from cassette to CD, the boombox hung around, but its popularity waned as the portable CD player nudged in on its territory. Recently, with the introduction of the iPod, the boombox has almost been wiped out by the now super-popular iPod speaker dock. The trouble is, most speaker docks aren’t all that portable and very few can be taken down to the beach or the park because they won’t run on batteries. Those that do are usually puny and don’t put out much sound.”

Link to the review:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mp3-player-reviews/altec-lansing-mix-imt800-review/

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