Asus N90Sv-X1 Specification

Specification

* Manufacturer: Asus
* Part Number:N90Sv-X1

* Built-in Devices Four speakers , Bluetooth antenna , Wireless LAN antenna
* Width 18.1 in
* Depth 12.2 in
* Height 1.9 in
* Weight 9.3 lbs
* Screen type Widescreen
* Wireless capabilities IEEE 802.11b , Bluetooth , IEEE 802.11 n (draft) , IEEE 802.11g

Processor

* Processor Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 / 2.66 GHz
* Multi-Core processor technology Dual-Core
* 64-bit processor Yes
* Data bus speed 1066 MHz
* Chipset type SiS671DX

Cache Memory

* Type L2 cache
* Cache size 6 MB

RAM

* Installed Size 4 GB / 4 GB (max)
* Technology DDR2 SDRAM - 800 MHz
* RAM form factor SO DIMM 200-pin
* RAM configuration features 2 x 2 GB

Environmental Parameters

* Environmental standards RoHS

Storage Controller

* Storage controller type Serial ATA
* Storage Controller / Serial ATA Interface Serial ATA-150

Storage

* Floppy Drive None
* Hard Drive 320 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 7200 rpm
* Storage Removable None
* Hard drive type Portable

Optical Storage

* Type DVD?RW / DVD-RAM - Integrated

Optical Storage (2nd)

* 2nd optical storage type None

Card Reader

* Card reader type 8 in 1 card reader
* Supported flash memory cards Memory Stick , MultiMediaCard , SD Memory Card , Memory Stick Pro

Display

* Display Type 18.4 in TFT active matrix
* Max Resolution 1920 x 1080
* Widescreen Display Yes
* Features Glare , Color Shine , Zero Bright Dot

Video

* Graphics Processor / Vendor NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M
* Video Memory 1 GB

Audio

* Audio output type Sound card
* Audio Input Microphone

Notebook Camera

* Camera Type Integrated
* Notebook Camera / Sensor Resolution 1.3 Megapixel

Input Device(s)

* Input device type Mouse , Keyboard , Touchpad
* Features Built-in numeric keyboard

Networking

* Networking Network adapter
* Networking / Wireless LAN Supported Yes
* Data link protocol Ethernet , IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , Fast Ethernet , Gigabit Ethernet , Bluetooth 2.1 EDR , IEEE 802.11n (draft)
* Networking standards IEEE 802.11b , IEEE 802.11g , Bluetooth 2.1 , IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Expansion / Connectivity

* Expansion Slots Total (Free) 2 ( 0 ) x Memory - SO DIMM 200-pin , 1 ( 1 ) x ExpressCard
* Interfaces 1 x Microphone - Input - Mini-phone 3.5 mm , 1 x Headphones - Output - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1 x Audio - SPDIF output/headphones , 1 x Display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) , 4 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A , 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45 , 1 x Display / video - HDMI - 19 pin HDMI Type A

Miscellaneous

* Included Accessories Carrying case , Optical mouse
* Features Express Gate , System password , Hard drive password , Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately)
* Compliant Standards RoHS

Power

* Power device form factor External
* Voltage Required AC 120/230 V

Battery

* Technology 8-cell Lithium ion
* Installed Qty 1
* Battery capacity 4400 mAh

Operating System / Software

* OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
* Microsoft Office Ready Includes a preinstalled image of select 2007 Microsoft Office suites. Purchase a Medialess License Kit (MLK) to activate the software.
* Software ASUS Splendid , ASUS WinFlash , ASUSDVD 6-in-1 , Virtual Camera , ASUS MultiFrame , ASUS NB Probe + , ASUS Net4Switch , ASUS SmartLogon , ASUS CopyProtect , ASUS Live Update , Adobe Reader 8.0 , ASUS Screen Saver , Nero 8 Essentials , Drivers & Utilities , ASUS Wireless Console , InterVideo WinDVD 8 BD , ASUS Power4 Gear eXtreme , ASUS Data Security Manager , Norton Internet Security 2009

Manufacturer Warranty

* Service & Support 1 year warranty
* Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year

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Alienware M17x

Review
Reviewed by: John R. Delaney
Review Date: July 2009



Long known for its high-end, high-performance systems, Alienware continues to impress with its new M17x gaming notebook. Sporting a refreshed case design and a dizzying array of features and performance parts, the M17x sets the bar for DirectX 10 3D-gaming performance in a notebook. Prices start at $1,799, and our test system came in at a staggering $4,849, so be prepared to pony up big bucks for a fully equipped rig. But gamers with ample funds to indulge their habit will not be disappointed.





The M17x has a smooth aluminum case, sporting a subtler-than-usual alien head.

With the M17x, Alienware has moved away from the familiar finned Skullcap design found on earlier models such as the Alienware M17 and instead wraps the system in an anodized aluminum shell. Our review system came in Lunar Silver, but you can order it in Space Black as well. The smooth aluminum lid sports the always-present alien-head logo and has a look that conveys extreme speed. Similar to the lines of a mid-’70s Corvette, the case comes to a slight point at the front and is beveled in the back. A pair of black speaker grilles on the lower front part of the chassis completes the look. The M17x measures 2.1x16x12.7 inches (HWD) and weighs a hefty 12.7 pounds. The chunky AC adapter adds another 2.2 pounds, so you’ll need a strong back—or a bag on wheels—to haul it to and from LAN parties.

Under the lid sits a striking 17-inch display with edge-to-edge glass over a black frame. With a maximum resolution of 1,920x1,200 (a 1,440x900 screen is available for $150 less) and dual CCFL backlighting, the panel delivers rich colors and a remarkably crisp image. It’s ideal for gaming or viewing HD content. We fragged our way through a few rounds of Far Cry 2 with the visual effects set to high, and we came away impressed with the panel’s motion-handling prowess. The action was fluid, and ghosting was not an issue. The BBC’s Planet Earth series on Blu-ray Disc looked awesome on the big screen, as well, and showed no signs of smearing or motion artifacts. The level of detail was outstanding, and viewing angles were nice and wide. As with any glossy-finish screen, however, the panel’s reflective characteristics can be distracting under certain lighting conditions. A 2-megapixel Webcam is embedded into the top of the display, and a backlit Alienware badge is at the bottom.




You can light up the M17x's keyboard in a choice of 20 colors.



The full-size keyboard has a dedicated number pad and is a pleasure to type on. The keys have a good tactile feel and are responsive and quiet, while the two-button touch pad provides smooth, effortless cursor control. The keyboard deck is all black, save for white translucent key lettering and borders around the keys and touch pad, which light up when the AlienFX feature is enabled. With a palette containing 20 color choices, AlienFX lets you add mood lighting to four separate zones on the keyboard, as well as the touch pad, the speaker grilles, the alien-head logo and Alienware badge, and the power switch (which is also in the shape of an alien head). You can light up each zone with different colors or opt for a more subtle, uniform lighting scheme. (Alternately, you can disable the lights altogether.) Although the M17x doesn’t provide special labeling for the WASD buttons, gamers who rely on those keys to control the action can light up that quadrant of the keyboard in a unique color, making them easily identifiable while playing in the dark.

The AlienFX applet is part of the Command Center, where you go to adjust the AlienSense face-recognition settings (which work with the Webcam as an added measure of security) as well as the AlienTouch settings, which control touch-pad properties, including tapping, sensitivity, and scrolling. There’s also an AlienFusion utility that lets you select and edit power plans. Above the keyboard is a row of touch-sensitive controls, including DVD/CD player controls, a Wi-Fi switch, a Command Center launcher, and a stealth-mode button that disables the system’s discrete graphics to conserve battery life. There are also two volume controls for the integrated 5-watt speakers, which are loud and powerful but could use a subwoofer, like the one used on the competing Asus W90Vp-X1 gaming laptop. You need a good amount of bass response to appreciate the rumbling explosions in games like Far Cry 2 and Crysis, and the M17x comes up short in this area.

Connectivity options are abundant, with ports and slots conveniently positioned along the sides of the M17x. On the left, VGA, HDMI, and DisplayPort connectors offer a variety of video-output choices and are joined by two USB ports, a USB/eSATA combo port, a FireWire port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Two additional USB ports are on the right side, along with an ExpressCard/54 slot, a flash-card reader supporting eight formats, and four audio jacks for connecting to a six-channel surround-sound speaker system. (Two of these jacks double as headphone and microphone jacks.) A slot-loading Blu-ray-reader/DVD-burner combo drive rounds out the feature set.




The M17x has sleek lines, glowing red accents, and an abundance of ports.



The M17x gets its muscle from Intel’s top-of-the-line Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 processor, which runs at 2.53GHz and has a whopping 12MB of cache. It also uses 8GB of DDR3 memory and has two Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards running in SLI mode. For those times when you’re not gaming and don’t require that much 3D horsepower, you can switch over to an integrated GeForce 9400 graphics engine that's also in the system to conserve power. Two 500GB hard drives configured for RAID 0 help give the M17x an added performance boost without sacrificing storage space.

The M17x took top honors on several of our performance tests, including PCMark Vantage 64, where its score of 5,819 unseated our previous gaming-laptop champ, the Asus W90Vp-X1. Its Windows Media (3 minutes and 48 seconds) and iTunes (3 minutes and 28 seconds) encoding times were significantly faster than the average desktop-replacement laptop but not quite as fast as two workstation-class notebooks we tested not long ago, the HP EliteBook 8730w and Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds. On the CPU-intensive Cinebench 10 (32-bit) test, the M17x’s score of 9,375 was nearly 3,000 points above the average and beat the Asus W90Vp-X1 handily by 3,513 points. Not surprisingly, the quad-core CPU handled our multitasking test with aplomb, requiring just 16 seconds longer to finish the Windows Media Encoder test with a full Windows Defender scan running in the background.

DirectX 10 3D performance is key for the hard-core gaming crowd, and the M17x did not disappoint, posting a class-leading score of 61.7 frames per second (fps) on our Company of Heroes DirectX 10 gaming test while running at its native 1,920x1,200 resolution. It did very well on the DirectX 9 version of the same test, too, scoring 146.5fps, and it aced the 3DMark Vantage test with a score of 12,037, more than double what its predecessor, the Alienware M17, managed.

Our battery-life test results were disappointing, but not surprising. This class of notebook typically doesn’t last very long on our DVD battery-rundown test, in which we play back a DVD on a loop until the battery gives up the ghost. The M17x was no exception, lasting a scant 1 hour and 15 minutes. You can't expect to range far from a power plug with this behemoth.

Clearly, the Alienware M17x is not for everyone. The super-size price alone will have some gamers seeking inexpensive alternatives, such as the Asus W90Vp-X1, but they’ll have to sacrifice some DirectX 10 gaming performance, as well as the Alienware mystique: all of the design and lighting eye candy that makes Alienware systems so special. But if price is no obstacle, when it comes to bleeding-edge performance and the latest in portable CPU and GPU technology, the M17x is the gamer's dreamboat machine to beat.

Pros
Outstanding performance; cool new design; features galore

Cons
Very expensive; heavy; short battery life

Editors' Take
The fastest gaming laptop we've ever tested, Alienware’s M17x packs top-shelf components in its 17-inch frame. But dedicated gamers will have to dig very deep to afford this field-dominating PC.

Key Specs
Processor: 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: Two 500GB drives
Optical Drive: BD-ROM/DVD±RW combo
Screen : 17 inches (1,920x1,200 native resolution)
Graphics: Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M (2GB)
Weight: 12.7 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 2.1x16x12.7 inches
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)

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Toshiba Satellite A355D-S6930

PC World - With netbooks on one side and desktop replacements on the other, finding room for a laptop that's based around compromise is tough. In the Satellite A355D-S6930, Toshiba clearly aimed for an entry-level media machine with a screen and speakers that defy expectations for the category. Its shot, however, isn't very high caliber.

The A355D boasts specs that at first glance indicate a reasonably equipped system. The configuration Toshiba sent us came with a 2.1Ghz AMD Turion X2 processor, 4GB of DDR2400 RAM, a 256MB ATI HD 3470 x2 graphics card, a 300GB hard drive, and 64-bit Vista Home Premium--all retailing for a list price of $800.

But our tests found somewhat disappointing performance. It struggled more than many ostensibly less-equipped laptops, limping with a score of 66 in our WorldBench 6 test suite. Even the Acer Aspire Timeline (a netbook/notebook tweener running an Intel Core 2 Solo) fared a little better. (For perspective, models on our all-purpose laptops chart score anywhere from 75 to 115 in WorldBench.) The user experience confirms the score, as things often felt sluggish in normal operation.

And for a multimedia machine with a dedicated GPU, the graphics option also underwhelmed. In Unreal Tournament 3, it posted 27 frames per second at a 1024-by-768 resolution, and it didn't manage much in Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, either (17 fps). With Half Life 2, the A355D posted unsteady frame rates in the high teens along with long load times, and the game's most recent installment, Episode 2, was more or less unplayable even at low settings.

Things aren't all bad, though, as the A355D's display makes a good showing. It's got great brightness indoors and even outside with some sunlight. The screen is very readable, with no fuzzy text or blurry desktop icons. The color reproduction is decent, though at times it looks a little washed out--especially red tones. It would have been nice to see a higher resolution than the native 1360 by 768 on such a large display, but given the price, it's a compromise I can live with, and its resolution does ensure that the A355D can handle 720p video.

Audio, Toshiba's calling card, is the A355D's bright spot. The included Harman/Kardon speakers sound nice and clear with enough volume to be heard over moderate levels of noise from across the room without much distortion at all. They won't impress audiophiles, thanks to some iffy mids and the lack of decent bass (even with the included subwoofer), but for the average user, the A355D provides more than adequate audio for movies or music in the bedroom, the dorm room, or a smaller office.

Unlike several of its recent and more-expensive cousins, the A355D offers good expandability options, no jeweler's screwdrivers needed: The RAM and hard drives are located under separate, easily accessible panels. The memory modules--two DIMMs--are replaceable, and you can also replace the hard drive with little trouble.

The A355D has a full-size keyboard, great for touch typists shuttling between desktops and their notebook. The function key is set to the right of the control key, preventing accidental contact. The keys share the same high-gloss finish as the rest of the notebook--a detail that can make for easier typing in the dark (since the keys reflect light from the display), but my fingers sometimes slid around more than I would have liked. The keys can also become smudgy if you have dirty hands--so keep the Purell handy. The touchpad is flush with the rest of the lower panel of the notebook but remains comfortable to use. The A355D also features a small row of touch-inductive buttons above the keyboard for media playback.

The software suite on the A355D marks it as an entry-level consumer laptop. While it features the now-standard recovery-disc creator, it lacks the hard-drive-protection software found in some of its more-expensive competitors. Instead, the main pieces of extra software on the notebook are Toshiba's acoustic silencer for the CD/DVD drive and Cyberlink's Powercinema media center application. While it won't revolutionize your media experience, the latter app is fast and pretty slick, and might manage to pull duty as your video player of choice.

The A355D makes a better impression on paper than it does in actual use. The bulleted list of hardware and features makes it seem like a steal, but the performance numbers and overall functionality are enough to raise some caution flags. If you don't have a lot of cash, and if a nice, big screen and good speakers are enough for you, then check out the A355D. But better options exist, such as Lenovo's IdeaPad Y530, which goes after the exact same demographic as this Toshiba and does a better overall job.

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