Sony's VAIO VGN-A790 - A Serious Desktop Replacement

The notebook is a very expensive edition to the Sony VAIO’s already pricy line, but is it worth having? If you're on the market for a desktop that you can fold up into a briefcase and lug around like a notebook, well, here's your man. The Sony VAIO VGN A790 is technically a laptop, but it offers the hardware for speed, power, and chutzpah to pull off any multimedia computing maneuver. Applications open up and run at the speed of light, and can do so even when more then one of them is open. We're talking a MobileMark score in the range of 240, including long disk writes and television burning. At 8.6 pounds the A790 isn’t light, but it is relatively thin at just 1.8 inches. The 17-inch XBrite screen, always a favorite, delivers a mind-blowing 1,920-by-1,200 resolution—great for photo editing, gaming, and watching movies, not to mention an ATI Radeon X600 graphics card and 256 MB of dedicated video memory.

Asus W5F Preview

The W5F’s gorgeous 12.1-inch, high-resolution screen makes photos, Web pages, and even program icons look especially sharp and colorful. DVD playback was crisp, but unfortunately, the screen had to be positioned at an exact 90-degree angle to maintain the best visuals; tilting it forward a hair washed out the colors, while tilting it back had the reverse effect.

With 3.8 3.8-pound, loaded 1.3-megapixel webcam, a DVD burner, and a 4-in-1 memory card slot and for only $1,499, enjoy revolutionary entertainment on the go - W5F with Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology. The notebook has 2x USB ports, one on each side. The multi-format DVD writer is located on the left along with flash card slot that can read SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro formats. The right side contains a volume knob, PCMCIA slot, a VGA out, and the Mic input. There is even a TV-Out at the rear, right next to the power input.

Dont forget its time for Dual core and Double Power
Equipped with the latest dual core technology, the W5F enables users to simultaneously run demanding applications, such as running virus scan while talking on Skype and surfing the web. The W5F's exhilarating capabilities will immerse you in riveting vibrant entertainment at home or on the go with the built-in features of your new mobile dual-core processor-based laptops.

Stylish Design for Modern Sophistication
As technology gradually integrates with daily life, we look for things beyond functionality in our devices. With black and white being the most enduring classics of fashion, make a statement with the W5F stylish design available in both colors. Strangely, though the notebook looks very slim considering it has an integrated DVD writer, it feels somewhat heavy when you hold it. The weight is because of the material that ASUS uses rather than the weight of actual components. ASUS couldve ensured using lighter components, especially considering that the price is hovering around the $2,000

We were unimpressed by the W5F's plastic case, which feels cheap compared to systems from bigger manufacturers, such as Dell and Lenovo, that incorporate magnesium alloy and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic into their chassis. The W5F's 12.1-inch wide-screen display, on the other hand, makes no sacrifice in quality; its 1,280x768 native resolution nearly matches that of the Dell XPS M1210. The glossy finish on the W5F's display is great for watching movies, though it is more prone to glare in light-filled environments.

The Asus W5F features more or less the same ports and connections as the V100 and the XPS M1210, including VGA, four-pin FireWire, S-Video, and three USB 2.0 ports. The headphone jack doubles as an S/PDIF-out jack, and next to it lie a microphone jack and a volume control wheel. The W5F includes an ExpressCard/34 slot as well as a 4-in-1 media card slot that supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Pro. Networking connections include modem, Ethernet, and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi; Bluetooth is available as an option. Unlike many ultraportables that jettison the optical drive to save weight, the W5F incorporates a sweet double-layer DVD burner.

This week, we will reviews two notebook. they are :

• HP Pavilion dv5000t
• HP Pavilion dv5000z

A new addition to HP's Pavilion are dv5000z is a 15.4" WXGA configurable notebook from HP line of consumer laptops, the HP Pavilion dv5000t ($1,964 direct) is one of the latest mainstream notebooks to feature an advanced Intel Core Duo processor. It is intended to replace the AMD Athlon based Pavilion zv6000. The dv5000z can be configured with either the AMD Mobile Sempron or Turion ML CPU at a starting price of $699

The HP Pavilion dv5000z is virtually identical to the Pavilion dv4000 with one major exception: where the dv4000 can be configured with Intel's Celeron or Pentium processors, the dv5000z features an AMD processor--either the Pentium-equivalent Turion or the less expensive, Celeron-equivalent Sempron.

Both systems give you a rich media experience, but if the seductive Pavilion dv5000 series really floats your boat, which system do you go with? A machine outfitted with a 64-bit AMD Turion processor or one with an Intel Core Duo chip?

On the outside, there is no difference between the dv5000t and the dv5000z. Each sports a very sleek-looking chassis, similar to the former Editors' Choice, the HP Pavilion dv4000. The dv5000t's 15.4-inch widescreen is one of the best-looking on the market and gives you plenty of room to do all your blogging, photo editing, and movie watching.

Both the dv5000z and the dv5000t Core Duo have two QuickPlay 2.0 buttons (a Linux-based multimedia application): one that launches the system into a DVD video player mode, the other for playing media (music, photos, and video)—both without having to boot Microsoft Windows. You also get a set of physical volume controls adjacent to the QuickPlay buttons.

HP Pavilion dv5000t, Combining strong performance with efficient usage of power, the 2.0 GНz AMD Turion 64 ML-37 is uniquеlу optimized to power today's thinnest notebooks. It's also built for tomorrow's 64-bit applications, which will require a processor with significant power. It includes such AMD technology features as НуреrТrаnsроrt (which increases the communication between integrated сirсuits), PowerNow! (which enables longer battery life and rеduсеd heat generation), and Enhanced Virus Protection (which works with Windows XP Sеrviсе Pack 2 to better withstand attacks from certain classes of viruses). It аlsо features a 1 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores dаtа; and a lаrgеr L2 cache can help speed up your sуstеm's performance.)