Asus X501A-XX277H review

Asus X501A-XX277H review

£299 inc VAT

Put aside your prejudices: this sub-£300 laptop is a gem, and one of the best bargains we've seen recently. Read our Asus X501A review to find out why.

 sus’ X501 laptop range is very much aimed at those on a budget. There are several models in the range but prices start at a mere £299 for this Celeron-based X501A.

Before dismissing the Celeron as outdated, the B830 is quite a recent version, released in late 2012. It’s a dual-core processor running at a respectable 1.8GHz, and backed up by 4GB of memory and a surprisingly capacious 750GB hard drive.

The Celeron isn't bad at this price, but it can't overclock like the pricier Core i5 chips with Turbo Boost. Consequently it produced a relatively modest score of just under 2000 when running the PCMark 7 benchmark suite. This is most noticeable when first starting up, as the X501A seems to pause and gather its thoughts for about 10-15 seconds even after the main Start screen has appeared. (It does live up to Asus' claim that it resumes to the Lock Screen in just 2 seconds from standby, though.)

After this, the X501A is pretty responsive and more than up to the job of browsing the web or running Microsoft Office. It’s no gaming rig, though, as the Celeron uses an older Intel HD integrated graphics processor that can barely reach 20fps even when running Stalker at 1280x720 and with graphics settings turned way down low.

Of course you can’t expect much in the way of gaming performance from a laptop that costs less than £300, and in other respects the X501A is actually quite impressive. It’s very well built for such an inexpensive machine – the casing has an attractive mottled effect, and feels sturdy enough to cope with the occasional bump in a backpack.

The 1366x768 screen isn’t the brightest we’ve seen, but it’s fine for web browsing or watching some streaming video online. Viewing angles aren't great, and the glossy screen makes it hard to avoid reflections, but it's surprisingly good for the price. Colours are vibrant and accurate enough for editing your snaps.

Build quality is better than you might expect, the overall sturdiness of the unit ensures that the keyboard and trackpad both feel firm and comfortable to use. The trackpad is flush with the casing so you can use gestures to navigate around Windows 8, calling up the Charms bar, switching between apps and scrolling and zooming.

Even the Altec Lansing speakers are a pleasant surprise, lacking the harsh, tinny edge that we’ve come to expect from most low-cost laptops.

You also get a USB 3 port (plus a USB 2 port), Bluetooth 4, 802.11n Wi-Fi and both HDMI and VGA outputs.There’s no optical drive built in, so you might need to budget a little extra for an external drive if you want to watch DVDs, rip CDs or simply install some software.

The benefit is a weight of 2.1Kg - which is well below average for a 15.6-inch laptop. It’s no Ultrabook, but the X501A can be carried around fairly easily all day. With a battery that provides a good 4.5 hours of video streaming via Wi-Fi, it's a real bargain.

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Codemasters Grid 2 coming out on May 30

Codemasters Grid 2 coming out on May 30  

        Developed by Codemasters, the Grid series has been out of the spotlight since the debut of             2008's Race Driver: Grid, as the studio instead focused on its rally themed Dirt series.

   As in the previous title, GRID 2 puts the player behind the wheel of high performance vehicles spanning four decades.

The player takes part in motorsport championships held on city streets, licensed circuits and mountain roads in locations ranging from Paris to Abu Dhabi, Chicago, California and more.

In addition to a single player career mode, Grid 2 has a multiplayer component that connects to RaceNet, the online community portal for Codemasters Racing games.

The multiplayer mode makes use of a unique progression system that contains deep customisation options and integration, tracking player's races, rewards and rivals.

Depending on the retailer Grid 2 is sold, the game will come with pre-order bonus items and extra content, redeemable via download on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and on PC.

The game will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch touchscreen Ultrabook review

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch touchscreen Ultrabook 

review

Around £1,400 inc VAT (UK price to be confirmed)

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon was one of the best Ultrabooks when it launched last year. The 14in Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch adds Windows 8 and a touchscreen to the already impressive mix of stylish design, quality build and solid performance. The additions make this ThinkPad thicker and heavier, but it couldn't be described as either bulky or too heavy. Rather the Carbon Touch is now more like other Ultrabooks, unlike its noticeably svelte predecessor. See : What is an Ultrabook?

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch: Design and build

Design-wise, we're smitten. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is one good-looking laptop. It is almost all black, with some red highlights. With lid closed the top of the chassis is a uniform sheet of black with just a Lenovo logo bottom right, and a ThinkPad badge bottom right - the dot of the i in ThinkPad glows red when your laptop is working. Open up and the design is similarly minimalist. The well-sized scrabble-tile keyboard is black out of black - the keys a slightly more shiny black than the carbon body. What trim there is is red, with the ThinkPad TrackPoint button a red dot set into the middle of the keyboard. Indicator lights glow green. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch lid folds back so the laptop sits flat on the desk. See also Group test: what's the best ultrabook laptop?

We really like the keyboard. As with other Lenovo keyboards the bottom of the scrabble tile keys is curved, giving you extra space when typing. And the size is good anyway. Typing is a good experience, with a couple of caveats peculiar to Lenovo. At the extreme bottom left of the Carbon X1 Touch's keyboard is the Function key. If you're used to Control being there, you will make a few mistakes. The trackpad is smooth and responsive, and it's well sized.

Everything feels stylish and premium. The ThinkPad is principally constructed of carbon fibre, the finish feeling strokably smooth to the touch but not picking up fingerprints. It's a sleek design - with the lid folded down the Carbon Touch is almost MacBook Air-like in its slim profile. But that carbon finish gives a feeling of sturdiness: we wouldn't drop test such a beautiful (and expensive) laptop, but we carted it around for days and found not a scratch on it.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is heavier than the non-touch Windows 7 version. Without the power brick we measured it at 1.54kg, rather than the around 1.36kg of its predecessor. It's noticeable when you hold both devices. The Carbon Touch is not a heavy laptop - I carried it on my daily commute for days without regularly feeling that I was carrying anything more than my usual mix of gym kit, lunch and myriad smartphones and tablets (back off, muggers). But when you compare it to the lighter X1 Carbon you will feel like you are lifting weights.

You won't, however, notice the difference in thickness. We measured the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch at 2.2cm thick at its widest point. It is a smidgeon thicker than the non-touchscreen Carbon, but its a tiny difference.

Connection options include 3G as well as WiFi, although there's no ethernet or display ports there is a USB 3.0 connector. You get an SD card slot and a fingerprint scanner.

One other point to note about the X1 Carbon Touch's build: the charger cable uses a connector the likes of which we haven't seen elsewhere, even on lower-end Lenovo laptops. It's oblong-ended and looks like a big USB connector. Nothing wrong with that, and a gentle tug on the cable doesn't dislodge or damage it. But if you habitually re-use laptop chargers you are out of luck.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch: Performance

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch comes with a choice of Intel i5 and i7 processor, and either 4GB or 8 GB of SDRAM. The model we tested had an Intel Core i5-3247U chip running at 1.8GHz with 4GB RAM. There's also a 128GB SSD, although we could see only 111.78GB, and before we even started nearly a third of that was gone to the OS.

Running Windows 8 this makes the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch a zippy performer. General office work, web streaming and movie playing are all perfectly snappy. This was born out by our PCMark7 benchmark score of 4,783. The best-performing Ultrabooks such as the i7-toting Sony Vaio Duo 11 and Dell XPS 12 Ultrabook attained scores of around 4,900 so the X1 Carbon Touch is in good company. It also boots up quickly.

A 4,900 general performance score was also attained by the best gaming laptop we have tested recently - the Alienware M17x. But don't expect the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch to be a gaming rig. It's not. It's a business laptop with integrated Intel graphics, so you could squeek through less-intensive games on their lower settings but that's about it.

One final note on the X1 Carbon Touch's performance: in our tests it ran hot on the underside. Use it on a desk and you'll never notice, but when we tested the Carbon Touch on our lap we soon had hot legs - and not in a good way.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch: Battery life

Lenovo makes a couple of big claims on behalf of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch's battery: namely that is lasts for 8.2 hours, and that it goes from zero to 80 percent charged in just 35 minutes. The latter claim we found to be true: this laptop charges quickly, which could prove criticial on the road. The overall battery life was not quite up to the hype, in our experience.

But the good news is that the touchscreen hasn't affected the battery life overmuch. We found the battery life performed much the same as the older, non touch X1 Carbon. We tested that model's measured battery life at 6 hours, 11 minutes. The X1 Carbon Touch is broadly the same: use it for five, even five and a half hours and you should have no problems. And on standby it lasts for days.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch: Display

The Lenovo ThinkPadX1 Carbon touch has a 14in a 1600x900 display. And, glory be, it's a matt display - perfectly usable under bright lights. It's even usable outdoors, at a pinch. Obviously the matt means you lose some of the vibrancy of a glossy screen, but we didn't find the Carbon Touch to be at all washed out. Viewing angles are pretty good - you could defintely gather a few people around this laptop, although it doesn't look great from above.

And it's a touchscreen.

I have to say I wasn't expecting to use the touchscreen. It's a laptop, right? But it turns out Windows 8 and touch do make good bedfellows, even when you have a perfectly good keyboard, trackpad and mouse. It helps that Lenovo has given the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch a 10-finger multitouch panel. It's responsive - to gestures as well as taps.

I've used the X1 Carbon Touch for over a week now, and my experience is this: when selecting things, switching and closing programs, scrolling lists and connecting to a Wi-Fi network I naturally reach out and touch. And that's in the Modern UI and in the Desktop interface. I don't image I'll ever type by touch, but it really does make sense to use a touchscreen this good. And the applications for gaming offer good potential.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch vs 13in MacBook Pro with Retina Display

It's worth comparing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch with 13in Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The MacBook is a similar screen size, is in essence as fast (4,596 points), lasts much longer on battery (~9 hours), and, although we don't have a final price for the Carbon Touch, is likely to cost roughly the same. The Carbon Touch has a touchscreen, which the MacBook doesn't. But Apple's laptop has a much better display.

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BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review

 BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review

comparision review

The long-awaited new BlackBerry 10 operating system is here and with it, the first smartphone, the BlackBerry Z10. It's crucial that this does well for BlackBerry, but it puts enormous pressure on the Z10 to surpass every expectation, as well as offer exclusive features you can't get anywhere else.

We've reviewed the Z10, and like it a lot, but it's fair to say the competition is extremely tough. Walk into Carphone Warehouse and - for a similar monthly price - you could take home an iPhone 5, Galaxy S3 or a Nokia Lumia 920. Here we'll compare the Z10 with its biggest rival: the iPhone 5. See also Group test: What's the best smartphone?

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: design and build

The iPhone 5 is possibly the finest smartphone in production today. Apple demands manufacturing tolerances smaller than any other phone maker, and the results speak for themselves. Fit and finish are exceptional, with the glass inserts on the rear panel automatically selected from 725 subtly different shapes for the best fit into the aluminium shell.

Pick up an iPhone 5 and it feels impossibly light, yet also rock solid with reassuringly sturdy buttons. The tall, narrow shape is ideal for one-handed operation.

The more corporate-looking Z10 also feels light and its rubberised removable back cover makes it easier to grip the phone. The front looks uncannily like the iPhone 5's back, with no buttons. On top is a microphone, headphone socket and power button (which you don't need to turn the phone on - a simple swipe of the screen unlocks it).

 A trio of buttons on the right-hand side control volume and launch the Voice Control service. On the left, you'll find standard micro USB (for charging and sync) and a handy micro HDMI output.

Overall, we've no real complaints about the Z10's design or build, but the plastic rear cover cheapens things somewhat, and the iPhone 5 easily wins the battle, despite its proprietary Lightning connector.

BlackBerry Z10: 130 x 65.6 x 9 mm, 137.5g

Apple iPhone 5: 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm, 112g

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: screen

With very similar size screens, there's really not a huge difference between the Z10 and iPhone 5 when it comes to displays. Both use IPS panels for wide viewing angles, and they're both bright and have good contrast.

Technically, the Z10 wins this fight by having a higher pixel density, but in reality, we'd be happy with either of these screens. Even small text is easily readable on the Z10, and the BlackBerry 10 operating system looks pin-sharp and clean.

Both screens are as good for watching videos and playing games as they are for browsing the web and composing emails.

BlackBerry Z10 display: 355 ppi, 4.2 inches, 768 x 1280 pixels

Apple iPhone 5 display: 326 ppi, 4.0 inches, 640 x 1136 pixels

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: performance

Both the BlackBerry Z10 and iPhone 5 have dual-core processors, but the BlackBerry has an impressive 2GB RAM (the iPhone has 1GB).

As it stands, none of the usual benchmarks we use are available in BlackBerry World, so we can only report on the SunSpider Javascript results. Here, the Z10 completed the test in 1710ms, but the iPhone 5 managed it in just 903ms.

Those results don't mean much, though, as the Z10 has a zippy browser and doesn't feel any slower than the iPhone 5 in practice. The Z10 also supports Flash, so those sites which still insist on using it will display properly.

In our brief gaming tests, we can say that casual games such as Angry Birds play smoothly on the Z10. Other smartphones with the same processor have done well in GLBenchmark 2.1, but we can't guess at what sort of framerate the Z10 would score.

Chances are the iPhone 5 has the faster graphics chip and should give you more frames per second in demanding 3D games.

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: software

We could dedicate this entire article to a software comparison, but we'll instead stick to the salient points.

The BlackBerry Z10 runs BlackBerry10 which is - in many ways - like the BlackBerry PlayBook OS. If you've used a PlayBook, you'll be right at home with a Z10.

As we've said in our BlackBerry Z10 review, it's an intuitive system which uses a lot of swiping rather than button presses. Navigating around the OS is quick and easy, and it feels slick.

It feels more cohesive than iOS at times, as you can quickly switch between running apps, close them down, swipe right to your email or the BlackBerry Hub, or swipe left to see all your installed apps.

In iOS, you have to master the art of the Home button double-press to show running apps, then tap and hold to switch to 'wiggle mode' where you can close apps. It's one area where Apple's system simply isn't as good.

BlackBerry 10 comes with an decent array of pre-installed apps, including office software (Docs to Go), an automatic video editor (Story Maker), BBM, and Maps (which is also a satnav). In the camera, the Time Shift feature allows you to choose the best shot from several taken in quick succession.

There's also Balance, which separates your home and work life, so you can keep work emails separate from personal messages, for example.

The iPhone 5 lacks any similar feature, and you'll have to pay for apps such as Pages and iMovie for editing documents.

However, the quality of the iPhone's apps are generally higher, and most people don't separate their work and home life, so Balance is as much an inconvenience as a benefit.

Apps

Both operating systems are good, but it doesn't really matter, since the battleground these days is content, not the OS.

Apple is the undisputed king of content and developers will continue to work on apps for iOS (and Android) before turning their attention to the rest of the pack.

Considering it's brand new, it's impressive that BlackBerry Word (the unified store for apps, games, music and video) has as many apps as it does. There's already an app which takes live National Rail data so you can see that you're going to be late for work (again), but quite a few big-name apps are missing - Skype for one.

BlackBerry has already said that a good number of developers are 'committed' to launching apps on BB10, but we wouldn't advise making any buying decisions on the basis of promises. You only have to look at Windows Phone 8 to see that you could end up waiting months (or forever) for apps to materialise.

It isn't only the big hitters which are important, of course. The benefit of buying an iPhone 5 is that you can be sure that, if an app for a service exists at all, it will be available in Apple's App store.

Take banking as a good example: you won't find an app for your bank on BlackBerry 10 right now, but just about all of them have an iOS app. It's smaller details like this that the difference between a smartphone that's truly useful and one that isn't.

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: battery

Battery life is always a tricky subject, and it's even more so when you're trying to compare how long two smartphones last. Subjectively, the two are roughly equals. Both will get you through an entire day with moderate use, but neither can carry you through a second without needing a top-up.

 Besides, battery life shouldn't be your top priority when choosing a smartphone. Indeed, there are plenty of USB batteries around which will give your handset some extra juice on the move (the PowerMonkey Discovery is just one example).

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: storage

The iPhone 5 is available in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, and you can't add more via a memory card. By contrast there's only a 16GB model of the Z10, but it has a microSD slot which will accept up to 64GB cards.

Arguably this makes the Z10 a better choice if storage happens to be your top priority, as the 64GB version of the iPhone is seriously expensive at £699. A 64GB microSD card will set you back around £40.

Unlike Android phones, both the iPhone 5 and Z10 require software to be installed before you can transfer files from your computer to your phone. With the Z10, it initially appears as a CD drive, from which you can install the BlackBerry Link software. Then, you can drag and drop files as with an Android device.

The iPhone 5, on the other hand, always needs iTunes to transfer files unless you just want to copy photos and videos, in which can you can browse it like a digital camera (you can't copy files to the iPhone, though).

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review: cameras

Unlike battery life, we'd say it's acceptable to make a phone's camera a reason to choose one model over another. After all, you'll be carrying it around everywhere and will likely take more photos and videos on it than a higher-quality dedicated camera.

We're not going to compare on-paper specifications here, as they're largely meaningless. Megapixels don't matter - it's the quality of the resulting photos and videos which count.

Here, the iPhone 5 is a stunner, and is capable of surprisingly respectable results. Of course, it's never going to trouble a 'proper' camera, but for quick snaps, it does a fine job. Like all phone cameras, it performs pretty poorly in very low light, but as long as there's daylight and you're not trying to capture ever-moving small children, you will get excellent shots.

Don't forget, too, that the iPhone 5 has a rear-mounted microphone which leads to noticeably better audio in videos - an often overlooked factor.

The Blackberry Z10 has similarly specified front and rear cameras, and a rear-mounted LED flash.

Here are two 100 percent crops for comparison, although they were taken on different days at different times. We will update this shortly, and will also add comparison videos. First, the BlackBerry Z10:

Both cameras are better than average, although the iPhone slightly edges out the Z10 for detail. That's based on a comparison of all the photos we've taken, not just this one.

Similarly, for video, the iPhone 5 again wins. It has better stabilisation and - in our view - is slightly sharper overall

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Samsung Galaxy S4 gets new launch date

15 March is latest rumour for Galaxy S4 Samsung Mobile Unpacked event

Samsung's highly anticipated Galaxy S4 smartphone has a new launch date of 15 March.

The latest rumour on the Galaxy S4 smartphone is that it will be unveiled on 15 March at a Samsung Mobile Unpacked event. The news comes from SamMobile via a 'trusted insider' who said the event's location is still top-secret. See also: Samsung Galaxy S4 release date, specs and rumours

We now have two possible dates for the Galaxy S4 launch event after 22 March was reported at the end of last month. Samsung is yet to announce the date of the Galaxy S4 Mobile Unpacked event.

It is widely agreed that the firm will avoid making the reveal at MWC. Last year the Galaxy S3 was unveiled at its own event in May in central London. Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S3 comparison review.

SamMobile said invitations are likely be sent out shortly after MWC which takes place on 25-28 February. The Galaxy S4 will be available in black and white.

The Galaxy S4 release date is still set for April according to the rumours. Possible dates are 15 April and 22 April which is the date displayed on the most recent leaked image of the Galaxy S4. It will arrive in Europe and Asia by the end of April while the US, Australia and Africa will have to wait until May or June.

Expected specifications for the yet Galaxy S4 include an Exynos 5 Octa 8-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 4.99in Full HD screen, a 13Mp camera, 2Mp front facing camera, wireless charging and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

Accessories for the Galaxy S4 will include a clear cover, flip cover, protective cover, pouch, extra battery, wireless charging kit, an HDTV adapter and a headset.

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