Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015) Review

Laptop Reviews - The ThinkPad X1 Carbon, now in its third generation, tries to bridge the gap between slim, fashion-first laptops and solid business machines. Laptops over the years have become worse and worse in terms of features and comfort, largely because of a push to become as thin and light as possible. Even business-focused laptops, such as Lenovo's ThinkPads, have somewhat succumbed to this trend. The tradeoffs have been a reduction in upgradeability, fewer ports, worse keyboards and trackpads, and shorter lifespans - all things that casual users don't necessarily mind, but are alarming to those whose lives depend on their work machines.

Lenovo knows that style is important, and the X1 Carbon line attempts to bring that sort of appeal into a brand otherwise known to be frumpy and serious above all else. It's all about being slim and light while still offering cutting-edge technology and class-leading comfort. It's a hard balance to achieve, and with a legion of long-term fans, Lenovo doesn't have quite the same amount of leeway as others do when it comes to features and cutting corners.

The 2015 ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a valiant attempt at achieving that balance, and while it is undoubtedly a ThinkPad, it's actually quite modern and stylish. It carries forward many of the hallmarks of its lineage, such as sturdy metal hinges, a black matte exterior, and even the 45-degree ThinkPad logo in metal with a red LED dotting the i. It also pulls back a lot by discarding radical changes made to its predecessor, which caused a huge outcry amongst brand loyalists. The modern touches this time are limited to tech features, such as a big, high-resolution screen, plenty of wired and wireless connectivity, and the latest high-end internals. We're eager to see how things play out for the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and whether Lenovo can keep everyone happy.

Verdict
As far as business use cases go, there's a lot to like about the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon - if you have a bottomless expense account, that is. In fact, there's a lot to like for pretty much any consumer use case as well, and anyone who can afford such an indulgence should give this one serious consideration. Sure, it isn't the most stylish or the slimmest and lightest laptop around, but manufacturers seem to be forgetting that the primary reason for having a laptop in the first place is to get things done.The most obvious competitors are the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display models, which both offer equal or better specs in better-looking bodies for quite a bit less money.

On that note, ThinkPads exist for a reason and Lenovo has somewhat successfully managed to pick and choose consumer-friendly "features" that don't make it more difficult to get work done. The 2015 X1 Carbon is a vast improvement over its predecessor in this regard, but more can still be done and we hope Lenovo takes that up as a challenge.

There's no doubt that this is an outrageously expensive device, and for most people, it won't work out to adequate value for money. If you're a demanding creative professional who can really make use of the phenomenal screen but don't specifically need graphics power or a massive battery, this is the laptop you'll want to work and travel with every day.

H.P Stream 11-d023tu Evaluate: Low-Cost Laptop With a Bold Sense involving Style

Laptop Reviews - Entry-level laptops most often have just the least specifications, but they're powerful enough to deal with most everyday tasks. Sometimes, compromises are made in order to accommodate otherwise expensive features for example a touchscreen, and occasionally style is much more important than overall performance. Today, we also come with an emerging category involving tablets that manage Windows and feature external keyboards in order to be used productively when you may need. In all this specific, it can be hard to determine which tradeoffs acknowledge and where the correct balance lies.

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HP has think of a device that provides us another option - the revolutionary Stream 11-d023tu. It's part of some devices that emphasise portability and online connectivity, and so it breaks from your usual common criteria that we miss when it comes to laptop specifications. The Stream lineup also incorporates a laptop with the 13-inch screen and also a tablet with a great 8-inch screen, but cures have today would be the smaller clamshell product, the Stream 11.

Even as it doesn't have any kind of powerful hardware to provide, it does come with an integrated 3G modem. You can only pop a SIM card right slot privately and you'll be online with out a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is a pretty unique attribute, and is a lot more convenient than by using a 3G dongle.

Appear and feel

There's no driving around it: The HP Stream 11 is usually an eye-catching device, and not anyone will think this is the good thing, or that it is been done to the right reasons. H . P . has experimented withcolourful pastels previous to, but the Flow 11 takes unusual design to your whole new level. The entire exterior is a bright blue, except for the mirror-finished HP logo at the center of the sport bike helmet. The texture senses good, but it in your time with the device it picked way up smudges, sweat and oil from our fingers very easily, and even bought scuffed when being placed in or pulled outside of bags.

However, the genuine shock comes whenever you open the sport bike helmet - the keyboard deck features a bright blue gradient running from your back to the top and because of which obviously wasn't unique enough, someone in HP's design studio thought we would throw in the white polka-dot pattern also. The keyboard keys will also be white, and so there is indeed a lot going on whenever you look down in the lower half on this device.

Sure, it sticks out, but that truly isn't always great. HP says it had been clearly meant to make the Stream 11 be noticeable in a group of black in addition to grey laptops that is certainly certainly true. As with any design and so distinct, there are going to be people who pick the Stream 11 due to the looks alone and the same (or greater) variety who don't buy it even if they think it is just a good product.

There is no variant with a sober colour scheme. In fact you will find there's bright pink option in some markets, and HP is undecided whether to introduce the idea in India - so this is actually the company's idea involving safe and neutral!

Colour aside, there's not significant to see. All ports are within the right: one headset plug, one USB two. 0 port, one USB 3. 0 vent and an HDMI online video output. That isn't a lot, considering this product isn't particularly sleek. On the left, you'll find the Kensington lock slot machine game, the power inlet, the SIM cards slot (full size) and an Sdcard slot. The battery is usually sealed inside and there isn't a fan that requirements vents, so nothing is to see within the bottom. The stereo speakers are within the curve of the bottom lip, so they fire forwards nevertheless downwards.

The screen isn't going to support touch feedback, and so it isn't covered with reflective goblet. The matte finish is a relief, but the tv screen itself isn't of high quality. There's also a great deal of blue plastic all-around it, which is the only area of the Stream 11 that makes it look a very little childish, reminding us of devices for example Intel's Classmate LAPTOP OR COMPUTER.

Specifications

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The HP Flow 11 is powered by the lowly Intel Celeron N2840 PC, which is the dual-core model in addition to runs at two. 16GHz. This particular processor is based on the Bay Trail architecture that is usually associated along with low-powered Atom processors, not the Haswell architectural mastery which powers almost all of Intel's desktop in addition to laptop CPUs. There is certainly 2GB of GOOD OLD RAM, which is your minimum acceptable amount currently.

HP has lower a corner with regards to the amount involving storage available. The Stream 11 features only 32GB involving solid-state memory that is again more widespread of tablets in comparison with laptops. This is usually disappointing, and HP tries to spell out it away simply by pointing out your ubiquity of impair storage services currently, and the undeniable fact that 32GB of flash will be a lot faster than a spinning hard disk drive.

Strangely, the SD cards slot can simply handle cards of up to 32GB, which is merely ridiculous to people. SDXC capacity support wouldn't normally have cost a whole lot extra, and even tablets today enable more expansion. With Internet access still too slow-moving and expensive for anyone to rely with cloud services, buyers who must store more than a few documents will really need to get used to carrying a portable hard disk drive around.

The screen resolution is obviously 1366x768, though that's not too bad for an 11. 6-inch tv screen. However the screen itself is not of high quality. Viewing angles aren't good, colours are generally dull, and it isn't really visible enough underneath indoor office lighting until you pump the brightness nearly all the way up.

The keyboard is almost full-sized and typing comfort wasn't a problem. Only the arrow essential cluster is cramped, as HP always contends on doing. The actual trackpad is huge and responsive sufficient, but its mechanism is a little wobbly and the whole lot sinks a little whenever you touch it.

The actual Stream 11 works the 64-bit variation of Windows 8. 1 and includes a one-year Microsoft Office 365 subscription, consisting of 1TB of OneDrive space to the duration. McAfee LiveSafe is usually preinstalled and there are also a few spammy apps for example Tripadvisor, MySMS, The elements Channel and HP's personal Connected Music.

Efficiency

We calibrated our expectations in the Stream 11 dependant on its low-grade Celeron, and our instincts turned out to be accurate. Performance was barely much better than what we'd expect from your netbook or pill. The Stream 11 booted rapidly thanks to your flash storage, but there have been definitely times when the device lagged without even a lot load. Menus took a 2nd to pop way up, programs didn't load very snappily, and also the Windows 8 spinning-ring cursor created frequent appearances. In spite of this, all other devices as of this price level, regardless of size or form, perform roughly the same.

The benchmarks don't surprise us a lot, except that both 3DMark and PCMark were unable to run for you to completion. Only PCMark's House scenario finished in addition to gave us the score of 1777 items, which was with par with entry-level notebook computers and tablets. POVray finished running in thirty minutes, 13 seconds although Cinebench gave people a CPU score of 70 (multi-threaded) -- both scores effectively below those in the HP Pavilion 13-b102TU we reviewed a short while ago, illustrating the kind of tasks that are really crippled because of the low-end processor.

SiSoft SANDRA pointed out favourable performance scores to the storage subsystem, which isn't a surprise. The processor became available looking weak, especially in non-accelerated tasks for example data encryption bandwidth.

The one area when the Stream 11 did do much better than contemporary devices had been battery life. Battery pack Eater Pro happened to run for 5 a long time, 2 minutes previous to Windows automatically shut down, which should indicate you could get a full workday's use outside the Stream 11 about the same charge.

We definitely wouldn't normally try to manage even moderately challenging 3D games and programs within the Stream 11. First, there would barely be adequate space to install them, and beyond they just wouldn't work well.

A label within the hinge promises "DTS Studio Sound" even though the Stream 11 could get pretty loud devoid of distorting, sound wasn't very rich or perhaps deep. Most of our test tracks, throughout musical genres, sounded tinny and severe.

Verdict

At 1. 27kg, the Stream 11 is concerning as portable as other laptops involving its size. Its price is usually quite attractive, considering that clamshells are simpler to work with than tablets along with folding keyboard insures. However, the Stream 11 features a different focus in comparison with most laptops, and not anyone will think ditching onboard storage in preference of a SIM card slot is a worthwhile tradeoff.

There are a variety of people this product would work for: students, seniors, field workers, not to mention those who choose it due to the style. It also seems like just the right balance for fundamental productivity without distractions, making it an appealing device for colleges and colleges.

In contrast, HP might get limited its potential audience while using garish design -- it's hard to imagine any large, considerable company equipping it's entire mobile workforce with bright violet polka-dotted laptops, even if the balance involving cost, connectivity and portability is merely right.

A simple explore any shopping web site will throw up a long list of black laptops along with better specifications within this price range which are larger and more substantial, but a much bigger sober. Other alternatives include Chromebooks and tablets like the Swipe Ultimate 3G (Review) in addition to Notion Ink Cain (Review | Pictures).

In the long run, while the Stream 11 seems like a laptop, it won't really offer all of the range of efficiency that laptops carry out. With the performance of the tablet but absolutely no touchscreen, it winds up feeling just like a reimagined minilaptop. What would really make this product interesting is usually if HP were to offer a deal with mobile carrier's networks for a reasonable amount of free 3G data every 4 weeks. For now however, we would advise buyers considering the Stream 11 to believe very carefully about whether it will suit their requirements.

Pros

Low price tag
Integrated 3G modem
Good battery life

Disadvantages

No sober coloration option
Low amount of storage space
Minimal performance.

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Gigabyte Brix S BXi7H-5500 Broadwell Mini PC Review

Laptop Reviews - Gigabyte Brix S BXi7H-5500 Broadwell Mini PC Review, Gigabyte's Brix line-up of small form factor systems is the company’s answer to the teeny, tiny NUC from Intel. These ridiculously small PCs pack all the power of a laptop, or a budget desktop, into a box small enough to fit in your palm. These wee PCs are marketed to non-gamers and people who need a basic, no-nonsense PC with a tiny footprint. Think people who need a PC for a kiosk or for basic, day to day computing. These little brick PCs are basically made to mount behind a monitor, and use mobile parts and solid-state components to keep the noise and heat to a minimum.

One big difference between these Ultra small form factor PCs and traditional PCs is that these little boxes are mostly sold as barebones PCs, meaning they come with some but not all the components needed to run. The basic loadout consists of a CPU, power supply, motherboard, chassis, and wireless card, so it’s up to you to install your own memory and storage. Once you drop them into their slots inside the chassis and install an OS, you have yourself a fully-functional PC.

The last time we examined the Gigabyte Brix in April of last year, it performed quite well, but was somewhat noisy and ran hot. Gigabyte has learned from this experience, and has outfitted this latest model with a shiny new Broadwell CPU from Intel. Yes, Broadwell, which are the all-new 14nm CPUs we’ve been salivating over since before Haswell hit the scene.


The particular chip that's the star of the show today is dubbed the Intel Core i7-5500U. This is a dual-core chip with hyperthreading, 4MB of L2 cache and a super-low TDP of just 15w. The CPU includes onboard graphics care of the on-die Intel HD Graphics 5500 series engine.

These chips are Intel’s 5th generation Core processors, and because of the die shrink from 22nm to 14nm they should offer better performance-per-watt, a smaller footprint, and stronger integrated graphics compared to the previous generation.

You can see the full specifications below:

In addition to its Broadwell CPU this Brix model also sports a wireless card that supports 80211.AC (and older flavors) as well as Bluetooth and NFC. It offers two empty SO-DIMM slots that can hold up to 16GB of DDR3 clocked to 1866MHz, and it also has an empty mSATA port as well as a traditional SATA port that is on a flexible cable in case you want to add an mSATA SSD and a 2.5” drive. There’s also an M.2 PCIe slot but the wireless card occupies it.

The ASUS Zenbook UX305 Review

Laptop Review - The ASUS Zenbook UX305 Review, It was way back in 2011 that ASUS launched the Zenbook series. The original UX21E and UX31E were the first of the thin and light Ultrabooks from ASUS to bear the Zenbook brand, and featured an all-aluminum chassis. ASUS has kept the styling consistent over the years, and refined their Zenbook with each new model. The new UX305 is their thinnest and lightest incarnation to date and keeps the Zenbook aluminum frame, with the distinctive concentric-circle finish on the lid, and squeezes the laptop down to an incredible 12.3 mm thickness.

Part of that story is what is powering the UX305. Intel’s Core M processor is a 4.5 watt chip which has compressed the entire system on a chip into a much smaller package than the traditional Core processors that have powered the other Zenbooks. ASUS has created a system board with a ten-layer high-density PCB which is only 0.83 mm thick, and roughly the size of a six-inch smartphone. Core M, with its low Thermal Design Power (TDP), also enables fanless devices, and ASUS has done this to provide a laptop computing system with no moving parts at all, and therefore it is virtually silent.

The most amazing thing about the ASUS UX305 though is that the company has crafted an all-aluminum, thin, light, and capable Ultrabook for only $699. With this kind of price point, one would expect sacrifices to be made in the specifications, but that is not really the case at all. For the base starting price, the UX305 comes with the Core M-5Y10 processor which has a base clock of 800 Mhz and boost to 2 GHz, along with 8 GB of LPDDR3-1600, and a 256 GB Solid State Drive. The display is a 13.3 inch 1080p IPS panel, and in April a 3200x1800 model will be available which includes multi-touch.

For the US market, the $699 5Y10, 8GB, 256 GB 1080p model will be the base, however they will offer other configurations in other markets. As far as specifications, there is very little to complain about. ASUS has still managed to fit a 45 Wh battery onboard, and it has all of the ports one would expect of a modern Ultrabook, with three USB 3.0 ports including one port with sleep charging, a micro-HDMI port, a headset jack, and a micro SD card slot. They have even fitted a 720p webcam. Really the only spec that that might be considered cutting corners is the 802.11n wireless, but some models will come with 802.11ac as well. ASUS has packed all of this into just 1.2 kg, so the UX305 is very light too.

One look at the UX305 and you can instantly tell that ASUS is going for those who are after a premium Ultrabook, but with a budget price. However that budget does not mean that it skimps on the necessities like storage or RAM. At CES, I was hopeful that the push to lower cost devices with solid state storage would be right around the corner, and clearly that is the case. Many of us who follow technology get asked for recommendations on devices to purchase, and it was difficult to find a quality device for a reasonable price that included solid state storage. ASUS has shattered that barrier with a 256 GB SSD at this price point.

They have also changed the perception about design and feel of a mid-priced notebook.

Philips Spotify Connect SW750M review

The Philips Spotify Connect SW750M is a reasonably priced multiroom speaker, as long as you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber

Laptop Reviews - Philips Spotify Connect SW750M review, Most multiroom speaker manufacturers try to support as many streaming services as possible, even releasing updates to add new services as they appear. However, even as the streaming music landscape becomes more competitive, one service still stands well ahead of all others – Spotify.

Spotify is proving so popular that Philips has partnered with the company for its first multiroom speaker system, eschewing all other services for an exclusive deal. That means that unless you have a Spotify Premium subscription, which provides access to Spotify Connect for streaming to wireless speakers, the SW750M will be nothing more than a large paperweight.

As Spotify Connect is a multiroom platform, you can add as many SW750M units to your home network as you can afford, and place them anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. The Philips SpeakerSet Multiroom Manager app, available for iOS and Android, is the easiest way to connect extra speakers to your network, as an alternative browser-based setup will force you to connect to each speaker directly via Wi-Fi Direct in order to input your home network’s details. The process is at least straightforward, with a setup wizard taking you through the process with simple instructions.

Beyond setting up the speakers, the smartphone app is also used for grouping the speakers together and assigning different names, to help you easily identify which speaker to use. That’s about as useful as the app gets, however. Music playback is controlled entirely through the Spotify app using the Spotify Connect interface for selecting speakers. Once more than one set of speakers is grouped, they will essentially function as one speaker appearing as a group in the Spotify app. This is a bit frustrating if you later decide you only want to use the one speaker - you’ll need to then jump back into the Philips app to ungroup them before jumping back into Spotify. It would have been good if speakers could be grouped but still function independently as well.

It’s a shame the SW750M isn’t much to look at, either. It has a plain design, with a large black front face covered by a black speaker grille. Viewed from the top down it has an elliptical shape with silver accents, and the speaker angles backwards to help diffuse sound around the room. It doesn’t have anywhere near the same wow factor as other multiroom speakers from the likes of Sonos or Samsung.

Basic controls on the top include volume, track skipping and a play/pause button. One particularly useful feature is the SW750M’s ‘one-press’ functionality that resumes the last song you’ve played on Spotify just by hitting play. This is independent of what device you last used Spotify on, so you could be listening on a smartphone, laptop or tablet and pressing the play button will resume where you left off. If you listen to Spotify on your commute home, you could instantly switch to the speakers once you get in. It’s a small touch but we found it incredibly convenient.

This also means you don’t need to have a device within arm’s reach if you want to just put some music on. There isn’t a display of any kind, however, so you’ll need to have queued up a playlist beforehand. It also means there’s no way to change albums or playlists from the speaker itself.

The SW750M uses four speaker drivers, which output a combined 20W. There are two 3in woofers with rear bass reflex ports, which are paired with two 35mm tweeters. There is a strong but not unpleasant bass presence, pushing the overall sound signature towards the warmer side. If we were being picky we would have liked more crispness and detail in the mid tones and treble, as we found our Menahan Street Band test tracks lost some of their delicateness.

There is also a distinct directionality to the sound output. You’ll want to be relatively straight on to the speakers to enjoy the best sound quality. Moving to the sides and the sound definitely became thinner. At least there wasn’t a strong drop-off in quality along with it.

The speakers are able to reach a maximum volume more than loud enough to fill a medium to large-sized room, however it becomes muddy at the maximum level. Volume controls in Spotify weren’t particularly linear, either. The speakers suddenly gain a lot of volume rapidly from around 95% upwards. Overall, sound quality is more than respectable for a speaker of its price, though nothing groundbreaking.

If you are a Spotify subscriber and it’s your main music service, the SW750M makes a lot of sense. Each speaker can rival the sound quality of mid-range models from other manufacturers, but at an entry-level price.

They have a nice level of simplicity, especially with the one-press functionality for quickly playing music. However, there’s no 3.5mm auxiliary connection or Bluetooth, both of which would have made these a far more versatile set of speakers and the omission is a real shame. If you are in need of greater versatility, consider the Samsung SHAPE M3, which has more streaming service compatibility and better connectivity.

Dell Latitude 7350 Review: Is It Good for Business?

Laptop Reviews - Dell Latitude 7350 Review: Is It Good for Business?, You won't find many devices quite like this one. The Latitude 7350 is one of the biggest detachable laptops out there, combining a whopping 13-inch tablet with a snap-on keyboard dock. You also get a sharp, bright display; snappy performance; and long battery life.

But due to its relatively large size and weight, this isn't the device for someone who wants a tablet first. Instead, it's for business users who want a solid 13-inch notebook with a screen that can detach occasionally, whether it's for digital note taking with Dell's optional stylus, or maybe just to watch Netflix after work. If that's what you want out of your next work laptop, the Latitude 7350 is your best bet.

But think hard about how much you want that detachable screen. When combined with the keyboard, the Latitude is thicker and heftier than some more traditional notebooks that have similar specs, including several hybrid models with screens that fold backward 180 degrees instead of detaching.

 If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't realize that the Latitude 7350 was a hybrid at all. When docked with its keyboard, the Latitude looks like any other slim laptop, and that's a good thing. The machine's matte plastic design is understated but attractive, and metal trim adds a touch of sophistication.

The 13-inch display, while a great size for a laptop screen, makes for a really hefty tablet. Alone, the slate weighs a whopping 2.05 lbs. For context, that's more than twice as much as the 9.7-inch, 0.96-lb. iPad Air 2, and even significantly more than the 12.2-inch, 1.75-lb. Surface Pro 3. Unless you're using the Latitude as part of your workout routine, you won't want to hold this device aloft for long, even without the keyboard attached.

Snapping on the keyboard makes the Latitude even heftier, as it comes in at 3.73 lbs. Since there aren't many 13-inch detachables to compare this device to, let's see how it stacks up to folding hybrids in its size range. The featherweight Yoga 3 Pro is one of the lightest of these hybrids, weighing just 2.62 lbs. The HP Spectre X360 is also lighter than the keyboard-equipped Latitude, weighing 3.17 lbs. Both the Yoga and Spectre have specs and prices in the same ballpark as the Latitude.

When combined with its keyboard, the Latitude is also bit chunky, measuring 0.79 inches thick. The Yoga 3 Pro is just a half-inch thick, while the Spectre X360 measures 0.63 inches. The Surface Pro 3, which has the most powerful processor among these machines, is also very thin with its cover attached: just 0.56 inches, thanks to its super-thin keyboard cover.

Don't get me wrong — the Latitude 7350 is still extremely thin and light for a 13-inch laptop. But if you're going to pay this much for your next work machine, there are more portable options out there. That's something to consider if you plan on lugging the device around on your daily commute.

 Other 13-inch laptops boast much higher resolutions, but the Latitude's 1080p display is more than adequate for a machine of this size. It's on par with the HP Spectre X360, which also sports a 13.3-inch, 1,920 x 1,080-pixel screen. Most importantly, the Latitude's screen renders sharp, readable text, and images are bright, with good contrast and color accuracy.

Some competing machines push more pixels. The Yoga 3 Pro has a 13.3-inch, 3,200 x 1,800-pixel screen, while the Surface Pro 3 sports an impressive 2,160 x 1,440 pixels. On the other hand, the Latitude's native 1080p resolution makes it more likely to play nicely with your desktop monitor if you plan on docking the laptop to your desktop.

It's also pretty bright, with a max brightness of about 309 nits. That beats out the category average of 255 nits, making the Latitude 7350 easier to use outdoors or in direct sunlight.

Compared to most flimsy tablet keyboards, the Latitude's snap-on deck feels sturdy and luxurious. Pairing the tablet with the keyboard could be easier, since it requires you to blindly align three connector pins with the bottom of the tablet. Once they're connected, though, opening the tablet lid feels buttery smooth. Disconnecting the tablet is as easy as sliding a small button on the side of the hinge.

 The keys themselves are well-spaced and offer good feedback when pressed. They also provide a good amount of travel, which is a big plus; deeper keys are more comfortable for extended typing sessions. The generous wrist wrests are another perk. Plus, you can turn on a backlight for the keys to keep working in dim lighting. Overall, the Latitude's keyboard is a winner.

It also includes a large, responsive touchpad. Mousing around feels precise, and gestures like two-finger scrolling work well. There are no discrete buttons, but the pad delivers satisfying clicks when pressed.

Viewing angles

Like other hybrids of its kind, the Latitude is top-heavy; most of the weight is in the tablet portion, not the keyboard. As a result, you can't tip the Latitude's display back quite as far as you can on a traditional laptop, or else it would tip over. When connected to the keyboard, the Latitude's screen can be opened about 40 degrees past the straight up-and-down position.

When using the device in your lap, you might occasionally wish that you could tilt the display back just a little farther, but overall it's not a big issue. And it's a lot more generous that the 15 degrees of freedom afforded by Dell's smaller hybrid, the Venue 11 Pro, which is practically unusable in your lap. Plus, the Latitude's gorgeous IPS display provides wide viewing angles, so colors don't get washed out when viewing the screen from above or to the side.

 The Latitude tablet itself offers only a charging port and headphone jack, but the keyboard dock adds all the ports you'd expect from a basic notebook. That includes a pair of USB 3.0 ports for connecting accessories like a mouse or external hard drive, a Mini DisplayPort connector for linking your device to a larger monitor and a full-size SD card slot for expanding the tablet's storage.

There's no Ethernet port, which might be an issue if your company's network security policy requires a wired Internet connection, though not many convertible notebooks offer that option. You can buy a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, if you don't mind it hogging one of your two USB slots.

Stylus support

One of the best reasons to own a hybrid like this, as opposed to a traditional laptop computer, is so you can pair the laptop with a stylus to take notes right on the screen. Digital note-taking apps like OneNote and Evernote are great because they save your notes to the cloud, so they're backed up and accessible on any device.

The Latitude 7350 doesn't come with a stylus or a pressure-sensitive display, but Dell does sell an active stylus separately. Dell's stylus works pretty well for basic note taking. It has a pressure-sensitive tip, an important feature to make digital handwriting feel accurate and natural. But note taking with this Dell doesn't feel as smooth or precise as tablets with pressure sensitivity built into the display, like the Surface Pro 3 or Lenovo ThinkPad 10. Compared to the Surface Pro 3 pen, the Dell stylus produces lines with a bit of wobble.

The Dell pen was used with the Venue 11 Pro in this comparison shot, but it should produce similar results on the Latitude. 

One other point to note: The Latitude's narrow, 16:9 aspect ratio is a bit awkward for note taking. I prefer the Surface Pro 3's wider, 3:2 aspect ratio, which is closer to the dimensions of a standard sheet of paper.

 While Dell offers a snap-in docking station for its Venue line of tablets, the Latitude line doesn't get that special treatment. Instead, Dell offers a dock that plugs into the Latitude 7350 via the notebook's USB 3.0 port. Regardless, the dock does add a huge array of extra ports, including two USB 2.0 ports, three USB 3.0 ports, two HDMI-out ports, one DisplayPort, an Ethernet port for wired Internet and a headphone jack. That's a lot of connectivity options, which is great for business users who want to use their devices at their work desks with a larger monitor (or three) and peripherals like a desktop keyboard, mouse or external hard drive.

Performance

Our Latitude 7350 review unit is powered by Intel's Core M-5Y10c processor, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of solid-state drive (SSD) storage. The Core M processor provides good performance without the need for a loud, spinning fan inside, but it's not as powerful as Intel's Core i-series chips.

Still, Core M gives the Latitude 7350 good performance for everyday tasks. On the Geekbench 3 benchmark test, which measures overall performance, the Latitude scored a solid 4,541, which is higher than the 4,291 ultraportable notebook category average. The score also puts the Latitude on par with the Yoga 3 Pro (4,571). The Spectre X fared slightly better, with a score of 5,614.

The bottom line is that the Latitude 7350 provides more than enough processing power for daily business activities. During my testing time, I noticed that apps opened and closed quickly, and multitasking felt snappy. Other notebooks are better for more intensive tasks like serious photo or video editing, though.

 The Latitude's long battery life helps justify its relative heft. Dell's hybrid actually has two batteries: one inside the tablet itself and an extra battery in the keyboard. Together, they let the notebook run for 8 hours and 35 minutes, which is longer than the 7:57 average in the ultraportable category. It also far outlasted the Yoga 3 Pro (6:08). The HP Spectre x360 has better longevity, though, running for an amazing 9 hours and 28 minutes.

As a standalone tablet, the Latitude ran for just 7 hours and 10 minutes. That's less than the Surface Pro 3, which lacks a secondary battery and ran for 7:27, though it has a smaller display.

The Latitude isn't the longest-lasting hybrid out there, but its secondary battery gives it very good battery life if you plan to use the device primarily as a notebook instead of a tablet.

Pricing and configurations

The Latitude 7350 isn't cheap, starting at $1,200 with an Intel Core M-5Y10c processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. You can get a slightly faster processor for $1,349, and upgrade to 8GB of RAM for $1,419. If you can afford it, I recommend going for 8GB of RAM to future-proof your machine. If you need more storage, your only option is the top-end model, with 256GB of SSD storage for $1,550.

The Yoga 3 Pro is a slightly better deal. Although it starts at $1,300, the base model comes with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The Spectre x360 starts at a significantly cheaper $900, though you'll have to spend $1,150 to upgrade to 8GB of RAM. The most comparable Surface Pro 3 model, which comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256 of storage, also costs $1,150.

Bottom line

The Latitude 7350 is an extremely well-rounded package. It offers most of the features you could want in a premium notebook, including a gorgeous display, long battery life and good performance for daily business tasks.

But the machine is more notebook than tablet. That's because the display, while detachable, is a bit large and bulky to carry around. But it's a great size for a laptop screen, and the ability to use it separately on occasion, especially for digital note taking, is a nice bonus.

The Latitude is pricey, though, especially if you want more memory than the baseline model offers. It's relatively heavy compared to its premium competitors. I recommend considering folding laptops like the Yoga 3 Pro or Spectre X360, since they offer a similar user experience in a lighter package. But if you really want a big detachable hybrid, Dell's Latitude 7350 offers plenty of bang for your buck.

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 13-Inch with Windows Review

Laptop Review - Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 13-Inch with Windows Review, Phones aren't the only devices getting bigger displays. Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 2 13 tablet with Windows has a large, 13.3-inch screen. It also comes with a detachable Bluetooth keyboard for when you need to get some work done. Lenovo loads this work-and-play tablet with an Intel Atom CPU, and great battery life for $600. But is this supersized slate more than the sum of its parts?
Design

The Yoga Tablet 2's most notable feature is the cylindrical grip that houses the battery and runs along the bottom of the tablet in landscape mode. This tubular element gives you a nice handhold in portrait mode and does a clever job of disguising the foldout kickstand, but the result is a design that's considerably heavier than the competition.

From the front, the Yoga Tablet 2 presents a slick, black facade with its 13.3-inch, glossy display, broken up only by the camera on top (the only one on the device), and a silver capacitive-touch Windows button on bottom. Lastly, there's a micro SD Card slot hidden behind the left side of the kickstand.

MORE: Best Tablets 2015

The back is textured with a subtle crisscross pattern that's a pleasure to touch, while a tiny subwoofer sits below the silver Lenovo logo, right underneath the button to release the tablet's folding kickstand. The stand is made from durable metal and features a hinge that's even stiffer than the one on the Surface Pro 3 and lets you place the tablet in various positions. The hole for the kickstand release also doubles as a hook if you ever need to hang the tablet from something, like if you're using it in the kitchen or garage.

At 12.8 x 9.7 x 0.31-0.9-inches and weighing 2.27 pounds without its detachable keyboard, the Yoga Tablet 2 13 is heavier than the Surface Pro 3 (1.7 pounds) and the smaller Acer Switch 11 (1.8 pounds). Even with its keyboard attached, the 2.4-pound Surface with Type Cover combo is barely heavier than the Yoga Table 2 13 is by itself.
When combined with its keyboard, the Yoga's weight balloons to 3.2 pounds, barely lighter than the truly tanky Acer Switch 11 (3.4-pounds with its keyboard), but more than even some traditional laptops, such as the $700 Asus UX305 (2.6 pounds).
Keyboard and Touchpad

I appreciated that Lenovo includes a detachable Bluetooth keyboard with the Yoga Tablet 2 13, as the absence of a keyboard remains one of the biggest criticisms of the Surface Pro 3. The keys have a shallow travel distance of 1.2 mm, although the actuation weight is a more standard 62 grams. When typing, I hit my typical average of 75 words per minute on 10fastfingers.com, but I made a few more mistakes than usual.

The 3.75 x 2-inch touchpad is decently sized and slightly larger than the one found on the Surface Pro 3's Type Cover (3.5 x 1.7 inches). Two-finger scrolling works like a charm, and even without discrete left and right mouse buttons, I never had to fight to make sure the correct click went through. I just wish that the surface of the touchpad were a little smoother, because after some time putting the system through its paces, my index finger felt a little raw.
The biggest problem with the detachable keyboard is its superweak grip. The keyboard attaches to the tablet's tubular section via magnets, but it lacks the contact strength of other 2-in-1s. A light touch can dislodge the keyboard or cause it to shift side to side, making the Yoga Tablet 2 13 even less suited for lap use than the Surface Pro 3 is.
Display

The Yoga Tablet 2 13's star feature is its 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 QHD display. The screen is bright and vivid, and when I watched Netflix's trailer for its upcoming Daredevil series, I was entranced by the grimy alleys and sparkling sightlines of Hell's Kitchen in New York City. Viewing angles were good right up to nearly 180 degrees, although with this device's glossy display, it can be a little more troublesome to share the screen with a friend.

Measured with our light meter, the Yoga Tablet 2 13 produced 324 nits of brightness, which is brighter than the Surface Pro 3 (298 nits) and the Acer Aspire Switch 11 (248 nits), but dimmer than the tablet average of 340 nits.

The Lenovo also covered a mediocre range of colors, reproducing 78.2 percent of the sRGB spectrum. That's worse than the Surface Pro 3 (97 percent), the Acer Switch 11 (101.7 percent) and the tablet average (84 percent).

When I tested the display's touch response in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, I enjoyed the smoothness as I dragged cards from my hand onto the board, and the precision when I selected which units to attack.
Performance

Given this tablet's 2,560 x 1,440 display, I was a little worried that the Yoga's 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z3745 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of flash storage would have a hard time keeping up. Thankfully, even with upwards of upward of five tabs open in Internet Explorer, the tablet had no trouble streaming a 1,080p video from YouTube. Even Hearthstone at its native resolution and medium settings rarely lagged or became bogged down. But when it came to some of our other benchmarks, the Table 2 13's performance showed some serious shortcomings.

Using Geekbench 3 to evaluate overall system performance, the Yoga Tablet 2 13 scored 2,654, which is slightly better than the tablet average of 2,375, but 30 percent slower than the $575 Acer Switch 11 (3,459 with Core i3 CPU and 4GB of RAM) and more than two times slower than the $925 Surface Pro 3 (5,665 with Intel Core i5 CPU and 4GB of RAM).

When we used Open Office to match 20,000 names and addresses, the Lenovo took 21 minutes to complete the test, more than twice as long as the Switch 11 (9:02) and a full five times longer than the Surface Pro 3 (4:43).

The Yoga Table 2 13's transfer speeds are also slow; it takes 2 minutes and 9 seconds to copy 4.97 GB of mixed media files, resulting in a transfer rate of just 39.5 MBps. That's more than three times slower than both the Switch 11 (141.4 MBps) and the Surface Pro 3 (145.4 MBps).
Battery Life

On the Laptop Mag Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits), the Yoga Tablet 2 lasted an impressive 10 hours and 36 minutes on a charge.

MORE: 10 Tablets with the Longest Battery Life

That's more than two hours longer than the tablet average of 8:21, three hours longer than the Surface Pro 3 (7:27) and a full five hours longer than the Acer Switch 11 (5:36).
Audio

The Yoga Tablet 2 13 features a trio of JBL speakers: two on each side and a 5-watt subwoofer below the kickstand release button on the back. My overall impression of the audio was good. When I listened to Daft Punk's "Lose Yourself to Dance," I liked the soulful sounds of Nile Rodgers' guitar, although the shimmery intro wasn't as crisp as I would have liked, and the bass didn't distinguish itself from other tablets without dedicated subwoofers.

The tablet also comes with Dolby Digital Plus audio software, although you'll have to dig through the Windows program files list to find it, because there's no shortcut on the Start menu, and it doesn't show up under search. Dolby Digital Plus allows you to use preset equalizers for things like movies or gaming, or to create your own. The EQ also includes settings for virtual surround sound, dialogue enhancement and volume normalization. Choosing the music preset helped boost the bass, but not by much.

The Lenovo's audio volume didn't stand out from the crowd. On the Laptop Mag Audio Test, the Yoga Tablet 2 13 produced just 79 decibels (measured from 13 inches away). That's worse than the Surface Pro 3 and the tablet average (both 85 dB), but louder than the Acer Switch 11 (70 dB in tablet mode).
Camera

Unlike most tablets, the Yoga Tablet 2 lacks a rear camera, which isn't necessarily a big deal for a device this large.

A selfie I took using the Yoga's front-facing 1.6-MP camera at the Laptop Mag Office easily captured the stray disobedient strands in my hair and the different tones of my skin, without getting overly blotchy or grainy. Exposure and white balance were on point, too.
Software and Warranty

Lenovo includes some helpful apps, such as SHAREit, which makes it a cinch to transfer files wirelessly to your computer or smartphone. There's also a trial for Microsoft Office and an interactive demo that gives new owners a quick introduction to their new devices. In general, Lenovo keeps the pre-installed software to a minimum, and that's a good thing.

Bottom Line

The Yoga Tablet 2 13-inch with Windows has a mouthful of a name, and at $600, a hard-to-swallow price. Yes, the quad-HD screen is great, and I like that you get more than 10 hours of battery life. However, this tablet is too expensive for a media-consumption device, and it's not powerful enough to be a real laptop replacement (and the keyboard doesn't like staying attached, either).

Media junkies can get the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro running Android for $140 less with a similar 13-inch touch screen and even a tiny pico projector for showing movies and photos on a wall or screen. The Yoga Tablet 2 13 has nice, big display and great endurance, but for $600, it may not be the best value.


The Pros

Bright 13.3-inch touch screen; Includes detachable Bluetooth keyboard; Long battery life
The Cons

Keyboard has flimsy grip; Relatively slow processor for price; Heavy
Verdict

The Yoga Tablet 2 13 with Windows features a bright, 13.3-inch screen and great battery life, but a heavy design and awkward keyboard make it hard to love.

Macbook Pro 13-inch with Retina review

Laptop Review - Macbook Pro 13-inch with Retina review, A bit chunky but powerful as ever, Apple's updated MacBook Pro 13 is back on top

The new MacBook stole the show at Apple’s Spring Forward event, arguably beating out even the Watch for oohs and aahs among the company’s fans. The Macbook Pro 13 with Retina is a more tangible, understandable product, for one thing, with positive and controversial traits. Yet it was not the only Mac news; the Air and 13-inch Pro with Retina also received new hardware.

It’s an update that feels late in coming, as the first PC notebooks with Intel’s fifth-generation Core processors arrived about three months ago. On the other hand, the delay feels understandable, as no one seems particularly excited about its inclusion. Quoted battery life has improved just an hour, from nine to ten, and the new Core i5 processor, while certainly quicker and more efficient, isn’t a great headline feature.

There are other subtle and important changes, however. A new Force Touch touchpad promises better tactile response and new interface options, and the integrated graphics chip was updated to Intel’s HD 6100, making the Pro 13 with Retina one of the few notebooks to offer Intel’s quickest fifth-generation integrated graphics solution.

What’s the same? Everything else. The display, keyboard, and enclosure are identical to the first Retina model, which appeared in 2012. Are the improvements enough to keep the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina on par with PC competitors, or is the system starting to feel its age?

That’s a MacBook, alright

Chances are you already know what a MacBook looks like. If not, here’s the gist; silver aluminum, and lots of it. The company’s elegant notebooks aren’t flashy (though the MacBook in gold will change that), but they are beautiful. The MacBook Pro 13 looks like money.

It feels it too, because of its heft, but that’s not entirely a compliment. The Pro 13 with Retina was one of the lightest systems around in 2012, but today its three and a half pounds seems a bit chunky. The system’s profile, at seventh-tenths of an inch, is also far from the slimmest available. In a world where ultrabooks regularly weigh three pounds or less the MacBook is no longer svelte.

In a twist of irony, though, this gives the Mac room for more connectivity than the Windows alternatives. The presence of two USB 3.0 and two Thunderbolt jacks means up to four peripherals can be attached at a time, and there’s HDMI for an external display (Thunderbolt can power DisplayPort monitors, too). Put simply, there are a lot of options here, far more than found on a Dell XPS 13 or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

Wireless connectivity, which includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, is also excellent. That’s good, because Ethernet is unavailable without an adapter.
May the Force be with you

Apple made a big deal about the new “butterfly” keyboard switch design in the MacBook, and while it’s not found in the Pro, it’s indicative of the effort the company puts into its keyboards. The typing experience is top-notch and nails all the most important points: great key travel, a firm bottoming action, and spacious layout. Touch-typing is easy, and the keyboard can be used comfortably for hours at a time.

Backlighting is standard on all Pro models. There are 16 separate levels of brightness, far more than in most notebooks, so a comfortable setting is always possible. Some light leak is visible from the bottom edges of the keys, particularly the function row, but no more than average.

The Pro’s touchpad has long been the best in business; most PC notebooks don’t even come close, and while a few are almost on par, Windows’ inferior gestures do them a disservice. This new model takes the touchpad even further with Force Touch, which provides haptic feedback that mimics the feel of a click. It works perfectly: A firm press feels exactly like a tactile button, albeit a shallow one.

Apple has built in pressure detection as well, which adds new functionality in certain apps. In Safari, for example, a “deeper” press can open a page preview, and in Quicktime a long click adjusts the speed of rewinding or forwarding through a video. The feature could be finicky, particularly in Safari where preview windows sometimes appeared slowly, but it worked far more often than not.

Support is limited to Apple’s apps for now, though. Spotify, for example, does not allow use of a deep press to fast-forward or rewind through music, and it’s anyone’s guess if it ever will.
Retina still impresses

Apple’s Retina display, which boasts a resolution of 2,560 × 1,600 in 13-inch form, is no longer the densest panel available. That honor goes to the Dell XPS 13, which offers a 3,200 × 1,800, 13-inch display, which comes to 280 pixels per inch. You may not be able to tell the difference, though, because the density of the Pro’s display already exceeds the average person’s visual limit.

In fact, the Pro will likely look better, because OS X is better equipped to handle high pixel densities. Its icons, interface, and text appear sharper in general than most Windows applications. Third-party apps are often better too, because Apple has pushed developers hard to make their apps Retina-friendly.

And there’s more to Retina than pixel density. The display also offers excellent color accuracy, can render 98 percent of the sRGB gamut, and hits a contrast ratio of 770:1 at maximum brightness. These figures put it in the top tier of laptop displays. Only the Asus ZenBook NX500’s Quantum Dot panel is superior in all areas, but that laptop has a base price of $2,499, far more than even a 15-inch Pro with Retina.

Audio is a bit of a disappointment, however. The built-in speakers offer reasonable quality but mediocre maximum volume. We also noticed that bass can rattle internal components, which is particularly distracting with music. External speakers or headphones are required for the best experience.
Feeling snappy

The refresh of the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina brought fifth-generation Intel Core processors. Our base model came with the Core i5-5257U, which has a base clock of 2.7GHz and maximum Turbo Boost of 3.1GHz. It’s notable because of its 28-watt thermal design power, which is much higher than the common i5-5200U’s TDP of 15 watts. That pays off in performance, as shown in Geekbench.

Apple has an easy win here, particularly in the multi-core score, where the latest Pro 13 with Retina beats the more expensive Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon by over 500 points. The Dell XPS 13 may be an even more relevant comparison, because the Core i5 model retails at the same $1,300 price tag. Dell’s lighter, thinner notebook pays for its slim size with performance that’s 15 percent behind the Mac in the single-core result and 25 percent slower in multi-core.

BlackMagic’s Disk Speed Test has good things to say about the hard drive, reaching a write speed of 647 megabytes per second and a read speed of 1,056MB/s. These numbers are not the absolute highest we’ve ever seen from a notebook (that honor goes to the Origin EON17-X) but they’re close, and easily beat most systems on the market.

Our standardized graphics tests don’t run in OS X, unfortunately, but we did fire up Diablo 3 to see how the Intel HD 6100 handled the game. The best balance of visual appeal and performance came at 1,920 × 1,200 resolution with details set to low. High details brought the game to a crawl, and playing at full Retina resolution was also out of the question. The Pro handles games about as well as any other Core i5 notebook with Intel HD graphics — which is to say gaming is possible, but not always ideal.
Performance doesn’t exclude portability

Battery life has always been a highlight of the Pro line, and this new model is no different. Peacekeeper’s web browser benchmark required 10 hours and 11 minutes to drain a full charge. That figure is two minutes short of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and longer than the Dell XPS 13 equipped with its 3,200 × 1,800 touchscreen. It also represents a major increase over the last Pro we reviewed, the 2013 model, which couldn’t quite crack seven hours.

Apple’s system isn’t the lightest, but its battery life is commendable.

The Mac’s long battery life is made more impressive by its relatively high power draw. At idle it needs no more than ten watts, a modest figure that’s in line with Dell’s XPS 13, but at load the system can hit 47 watts. That’s much higher than a typical ultrabook; the Dell and Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon max out at 33 watts.

It’s impressive that the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina can last so long given how much power it draws. The secret sauce is no secret, really; the system’s total battery capacity comes in at almost 75 watts. That’s about 25 more than the Dell or Lenovo, which offer around 50 watt-hours each.
A little hot under the collar

Apple’s decision to extend the life of the Pro’s chassis is partially due to a feeling it remains adequate, no doubt, but it’s also surely because of its performance. The system’s strong results in processor benchmarks means there’s plenty of heat to exhaust.

At idle the system has no problem keeping up. In fact, it emits virtually no noise even at full processor load, though it lets the maximum external temperature rise to a somewhat toasty 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Engaging the graphics chip, though, makes the Mac huff and puff at a very noticeable 46 decibels, and it still hits 107 degrees — the highest figure we’ve recorded from a notebook not built for gaming in almost a year.
Warranty

Apple ships all its notebooks with a typical one-year warranty. While it’s arguable that the existence of numerous Apple Store locations makes warranty service easier and more reliable than competing brands, the basic terms of the warranty are similar.
Conclusion

The refreshed MacBook Pro 13 with Retina is in many ways the same system we saw in 2012. It looks the same, weighs (almost) the same, and has the same display.

Yet it feels different. Back in 2012, the Pro 13 was one of the most portable systems around, competing neck-and-neck with ultrabooks. Today, it’s relatively heavy and thick, and instead differentiates itself with performance, battery life, and a touchpad that, thanks to Force Touch, is better than any competitor.

Windows notebooks have improved over the last several years, and for some people the lighter, thinner and equally long-lasting Dell XPS 13 could be a compelling alternative. Yet the Pro is quicker and more pleasant to use every day.

The fact that there’s legitimate tension between the two is a credit to today’s ultrabooks, but Apple’s notebook is more likely to appeal to speed demons, videophiles, and anyone who despises the finicky touchpad experience of Windows machines.
Highs

    Robust connectivity
    Force Touch feels great
    Top-notch display
    Long battery life
    Quicker than competitors

Lows

    A bit heavy by modern standards
    Retina resolution no longer class-leading
    Runs hot under load

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina (2015) Competitors

Acer Chromebook 15 Review: A Big, Small Laptop

Laptop Review - Acer Chromebook 15 Review: A Big, Small Laptop, I know the baffling statistics: a huge part of the population think it’s necessary to have a 15 or 17-inch laptop. I’ve never been one of those people, but I certainly recognize why someone might want one. But Chromebooks always seemed to have a different value proposition—small, cheap, fast, and relatively sleek machines, made for a particular niche market looking for a computer under $400.

The new Acer Chromebook 15 isn’t a complete change-up of that proposition—it just changes the size variable. The 15-inch laptop is, as a PR person emphasized, meant to feel big. But is it truly worth considering over the wide range of other Chromebooks on the market? Let’s find out.

The Acer Chromebook 15 is a big laptop—the biggest Chromebook ever made. Before I get to the downside of that, let me point out the clear benefit of that: the big, beautiful display. This 15-inch IPS display is bright, colorful, and high resolution. As we’d expect with an IPS display, the viewing angles are great, making this a great laptop to watch Netflix and YouTube on.

The model we got to use for review is the version with the 1920×1080 panel, which starts at $349. It’s a bit on the higher spectrum of the price range of Chromebooks, whereas the 1366×768 panel starts at $249. As was the same in the case of the two Toshiba Chromebook 2 models, the higher resolution display is definitely worth the money. In the case of the Acer Chromebook 15, it really is all about the screen—so why not get the best one?

The display really is the focal point of the product—and I’ll admit that when I was home watching videos, the extra screen real estate was certainly nice. The problem is that a high resolution display is more and more becoming a problem of the past with Chromebooks. Expect all of the late-2014 and 2015 Chromebooks to have HD IPS panels in them (or least have that configuration as an option), regardless of how small or cheap they are.

The second problem with the big screen is the physical ramifications that come with it. Let’s just say that the Acer Chromebook 15 isn’t exactly what I’d call sleek. The thing has a pretty massive chassis and weighs in at almost five pounds. It’s big, clunky, and heavy—not absurdly so, but it’s noticeably so. The thing a bit stranger about the size of the Chromebook 15 is that the keyboard is the same size as one you’d find an 11-inch Chromebook. The keyboard itself does the job, but I have to say that it looks a bit silly next to how much blank space it sits next to.

Rather than spacing out the keys a bit more or adding some more functionality, the keyboard remains squished into a small area in the middle of the laptop. Instead, Acer has chosen two place two nice big stereo speakers right next to the keyboard. While that doesn’t excuse how small the keyboard feels, the output on the speakers really is impressive. They’re loud, clear, and can handle a fairly wide spectrum of frequencies.

The body of the Acer Chromebook 15 has a grippy plastic texture, which seems to be the current trend in cheap computers. In fact, it’s very similar to last year’s Chromebook 13 in look and feel, which in itself isn’t too different from what’s on the Toshiba Chromebook 2. The textured feel does a good job of reducing fingerprints, it also is really great at collecting dust and dirt in the ridges and isn’t exactly what I’d call beautiful design.

As for performance, you won’t be disappointed with how the Chromebook 15 does. Thanks to the Intel dual-core 1.6 GHz processor and the 4GB of RAM. In testing, I pulled open pretty much as I reasonably could in Chrome tabs and rarely found any skipping or loading problems. Because there isn’t a lot going on in Chrome OS, the Chromebook 15 definitely feels like a performer.

Verdict


Overall, the Acer Chromebook 15 is a pretty hefty laptop that in some ways doesn’t at all feel like a Chromebook. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though—especially if you’re looking for a cheap computer that you can watch Netflix on. In fact, in that case, this is probably the ideal purchase for you. The Chromebook 15 even does pretty well with battery life, despite the big, bright screen. You’ll get somewhere between 7 and 9 hours most often, depending on how you’re using the display.

But for those who got interested in Chromebooks as a work or school machine that can be taken to class, coffee shops, and meetings—the Acer Chromebook 15 just doesn’t quite fit the bill. The Toshiba Chromebook 2 is still the closest thing we have to a Chromebook without major compromises and while the Acer Chromebook 15 definitely gets a lot of things right, I can’t quite say the same for it.