How much power can a 4.6-pound notebook really offer? More than you studio 17 battery might think. Thanks to a second-generation Intel Core i5 CPU and AMD Radeon HD graphics, the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-6847 ($729) studio 1737 battery outperforms most of the competition and looks good doing it. Perks such as Dolby Surround Sound really sweeten the deal, too. Read on to find out how this thin-and-light speedster compares to the studio 1535 battery competition.

It would be nice to see dedicated keys for adjusting brightness and volume; those controls are alternate latitude e5500 battery keys on the arrow buttons to the right, but the function key is on the far left. That made changing the volume a two-handed process.

Augmenting the stereo speakers on the 4820TG is Dolby Home Theater technology. Dolby's latitude e6400 battery Audio Enhancer solution added much-needed density to the standard audio output. Vocal and guitar highs in Queens of the Stone Ages' "3's & 7's" latitude e6500 battery offered much more kick with the feature activated. Surround Sound creates the illusion of 5.1 surround sound, so long as you set the volume above 50 percent. Speaking of volume, at about 85 percent, the AS4280TG's speakers got so loud that latitude e4300 battery a friend could easily make out our tunes from the next room.

Ports and Webcam
The AS4820TG offers four USB ports: Three are on the right side and one is on the left. The remaining vostro 1510 battery ports, all of which are on the left, include a headphone and microphone jack, Ethernet, HDMI, and VGA. A tray-loading DVD drive is on the right side along with a vostro 1310 battery power port. Last but not least is the 5-in-1 memory card slot, located on the left side of the front lip.

The 3.5 x 1.9-inch surface of the touchpad was smooth and inspiron 1525 battery accurate; it was easy to execute multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and rotating pictures. We prefer individual mouse buttons, but the single bar on the AS4820TG was large enough so we never clicked the wrong latitude d630 battery side by accident.

Display and Sound
The widescreen 14-inch LED backlit display on the AS4820TG has a standard resolution studio 15 battery of 1366 x 768 pixels. Despite its glossy finish, we didn't notice many reflections during an episode of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena streamed on latitude d620 battery Netflix. Though the display tilts back a wide 165 degrees, viewing angles dimmed at 20 or 30 degrees from center. Colors were faded, too. Even after adjusting the screen for gamma, contrast, and brightness, colors remained flat, from Hulu to xps m1330 battery YouTube. Though characters looked pale, facial expressions and scenery detail were crisp.

Design
Understated but elegant. That's how we'd describe the chassis of the TimelineX AS4820TG. inspiron 6400 battery The lid has a black brushed aluminum finish, while the palm rest has a lighter brushed metal treatment. Glossy black plastic surrounds the inspiron 1501 battery display and keyboard, which adds a nice accent but picks up fingerprints.

Above the keyboard on the left side of the deck is a grooved circular power button, next to which are LED activity lights. inspiron e1505 battery Two speakers separated by a Dolby Home Theater Virtual Surround Sound label sit in the center, and two thin black buttons--one to launch vostro 1000 battery the Power Smart Manager and an eject button for the tray-loading DVD drive--are on the right side of the deck.

After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, gd761 battery the TimelineX AS4820TG stayed well below the threshold of what we consider uncomfortable. The touchpad and keypad (between the G and H keys) both checked in at 89 degrees, and the bottom registered a far-from-threatening 83 latitude d830 battery degrees.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The AS4820TG's FineTip keyboard felt comfortable to the touch. The tactile response wasn't as inspiron 1520 battery sharp as we'd prefer, but we had no problem writing this review and a few e-mails. The Ctrl and Alt buttons on both sides are the same size as the vostro 1500 battery letter keys, which resulted a few errors while touch typing. While it wasn't exactly a trampoline, the keyboard had a bit more flex than we'd like, too.

The 1.3-megapixel high-definition webcam on this notebook captures 1280 x 1024 still shots and 640 x 480-pixel, 30 fps video. inspiron 1720 battery Footage looked rich in detail and well lit. Acer includes Acer Crystal Eye WebCam software for manipulating camera settings such as brightness, xps m1530 battery contrast, hue, and saturation, as well as camera-specific controls including zoom, exposure, aperture, and focus. You won't find such xps m1730 battery entertainment-focused features as animated filters or masks

Hot on the heels of the news that Google has had to boot several apps due to their status as evil malware, German-based security inspiron 1420 battery software developer G Data is showing off their MobileSecurity 2012 app for Android smart phones and tablets at the show. The 300 KB app runs vostro 1400 battery in the background but users can also call on it to scan on demand just in case they’re extra worried. And for those who don’t really CF623 battery look at what authorizatiosn they’re giving the apps they download, MobileSecurity will highlight which apps have permission to access the Internet, make calls and send text messages. xps m1210 battery Um, yikes.

For most budget-minded notebook shoppers, the sweet spot hovers right around $500 with a screen size latitude d610 battery of about 15 inches. The trick is to find a laptop that will deliver the performance, comfort, and endurance you deserve. Powered by a 1.6-GHz AMD KD476 battery dual-core Fusion processor, the $499 Acer Aspire 5253 (as low as $379 at Staples right now) does its best to please. Find out if this inexpensive 1525 Battery portable strikes the right balance.

Clad in all-black plastic, the Aspire 5253 would never be mistaken for a luxury machine. However, we like the textured laptop battery crosshatch pattern on the lid, which makes the notebook easy to grip and helps resist fingerprints. A modest speaker grille and a few colored status lights Sony Laptop Battery are the Acer's only design flourishes. The overall look is plain but functional.

Fogale Nanotech, a French sensor manufacturer that usually HP/Compaq Laptop Battery plays in the industrial space, showed off a demo of non-touch capacitive sensors at the show. I, like Chris Ziegler of Engadget, am not entirely sure why this technology is needed. After all, you still need to be about a half inch Dell Laptop Battery from the surface to get the cursor to pick up your movement, so you still need to be pretty close. Ziegler mentioned the smudge-phobic might enjoy this Lenovo/IBM Laptop Battery technology, and it likely would make fingerprint-prone screens easier to keep looking nice. (Remember the Zune HD…? You probably don’t.) Click the Acer akku link for video.

3M’s 32-inch display with 10-finger multitouch is Acer pretty impressive, but I’m drooling over Samsung’s offering way more. Their 46-inch display has multitouch as well, but combines that with a transparent LCD that’s energy efficient enough to run on ambient light. This solar-powered wonder is just a hint Apple of things to come, according to a Samsung spokesperson. The technology will make it into commercial products, but it’s not clear if that includes mobile tech Asus (they mentioned refrigerators). We did see a slick transparent LCD on an MP3 player from the company last year, so perhaps there’s hope yet.

The 3.2 x 1.8-inch touchpad on the 5253 is decently Dell sized and provides smooth operation. It supports mutitouch gestures and scrolling within documents and web pages. Instead of discrete mouse buttons (which we prefer), there's a single bar, which felt cheap and was somewhat difficult to HP click.

The 15.6-inch display (1366 x 768 pixels) on the Aspire 5253 was fine for viewing HP Hulu or YouTube videos and DVD movies, but colors and black levels weren't spectacular. Viewing angles were average, with image quality and brightness dropping Fujitsu off at 40 degrees off-axis.

The laptop's single speaker, located above the keyboard, didn't impress. It pumped out loud but tinny Toshiba and abrasive sound devoid of any low end.

Ports and Webcam
As you'd expect from a budget notebook, the Aspire 5253 has a standard port Sony spread. Included are three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, and headphone and microphone jacks. An SD Card reader sits on the front left side of the machine, Acer battery while a DVD SuperMulti Drive occupies the right side.

Measuring 15 x 10 x 1.3 inches and weighing in at 5 pounds, the Aspire 5253 is pretty portable for a 15-inch notebook. Apple battery Still, it's clear this machine wasn't meant to leave the house much; slipping the laptop into our standard-sized laptop bag proved a tight fit.

On our heat tests, the Aspire 5253 stayed mostly cool. After playing a Hulu video clip for Asus battery 15 minutes at full screen, we measured 93 degrees both on the touchpad and in the center of the keyboard. Things were even chillier under the laptop, with a Dell battery recorded temperature of 87 degrees in the middle. That said, the area near the exhaust vent on the Aspire's left side registered a toasty 102 degrees. (We consider anything above 95 HP battery uncomfortable.)

Keyboard and Touchpad
Typing on the Aspire 5253 was an enjoyable experience. While it's not quite as comfortable as the Fujitsu battery setup on Apple or Lenovo laptops, this notebook features Acer's standard FineTip keyboard--flattened keys in an island-style layout--with large keys that Lenovo battery provide deep travel. We also appreciated the full numeric keypad on the right-hand side.