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Tag: LED backlighting

Review: MSI X600-055UK

The X600-055UK is the second machine we’ve seen from MSI’s ultra-slim X-series range, following on from the smaller X340.

With a 15.6-inch screen, this machine is a more rounded package, while still providing excellent mobility. The 15.6-inch screen features a glossy Super-TFT coating, which is reflective in direct sunlight.

With LED backlighting, it’s also a bright panel, however, and so is easy to view in most conditions. There’s enough space onscreen for comfortable multi-tasking and the 1366 x 768 pixel resolution and 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio prove ideal for watching films.

You’ll find a mid-range ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card supporting the display. It provides the X600 with enough performance to handle basic graphics tasks with ease and you’ll even be able to play older games.

Photo and video editing tasks are carried out with aplomb, making this lightweight laptop a surprisingly adept multimedia choice. The widescreen display creates plenty of space for the user interface, with a decent keyboard that proves comfortable even over longer periods of use. Unlike the X340, there’s no sign of flex when typing and the keys move with a reassuringly accurate action.

A numeric keypad is crammed in alongside and, although it’s not the largest we’ve seen, it aids data entry nonetheless.

Despite measuring just 25mm at its thickest point, the chassis is remarkably tough. The plastics are strong and the screen remains free from vibrations when typing, but the left-hand side of the palm rest heats up after prolonged use, and the display flexes slightly in the centre.

CULV processor

As with the smaller X340, this machine uses an Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processor, but this is the first system we’ve seen to feature a CULV Core 2 Duo chip.

Running at 1.6GHz, and backed by 4096MB of DDR2 memory, performance is akin to regular Core 2 Duo processors, proving easily able to carry out intensive tasks and run multiple programs smoothly. Battery life is also good, letting you work for 248 minutes.

There’s no optical drive, but there is plenty of storage space on offer, thanks to the 500GB hard drive. There’s also a 2-in-1 flash memory card reader, making it easy to access photographs from most digital cameras.

Networking features come in the form of 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet.

Providing excellent performance in a large yet thin and light chassis, the X600- 055UK offers a great compromise between size and power. As with much more expensive systems, you’ll be able to work on the move without resorting to a smaller and slower form factor.

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by Tech Staff on November 12, 2009
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Review: Sharp LC-32LE600E

Flatscreen TVs increasingly come loaded with extras; four or five HDMI inputs are de rigueur, video-capable USB ports are becoming common, and it’s even possible to bag wireless home networking and limited internet browsing.

Sharp has eschewed all of that on its latest LCD TV and continues to concentrate on keeping the price as low as possible in the belief that most TV buyers just want two things: a flat screen and a good price.

That’s exactly what’s on offer from the 32-inch LC-32LE600E, but it’s also got something very special up its sleeve: an LED backlight. And here that new technology is going for a song.

Excluding the fact that it uses an all-new (certainly at this price) Full Screen LED backlight (more on how that differs from other LED backlight TVs in the Value & Ease of use section), Sharp’s LC-32LE600E LCD is bereft of almost all distractions.

Selling on Sharp’s website for £749, we spotted the LC-32LE600E for as low as £450 via a cashback deal. If that’s a mighty tempting price, do allow for some surprising omissions that you may or may not be able to live without.

Sharp lc-32le600e

Just two HDMI inputs adorn the rear, with a third on a side panel – that’s the fewest we’ve seen for some time. It also lacks a USB slot or any form of home networking (such as Digital Living Network Alliance, or DLNA), so it’s just not possible to get MP3, JPEG or DiVX video files into the LC-32LE600E.

More surprisingly, given that the LC-32LE600E is aimed at mainstream consumers, is that it’s not particularly slim. It measures just over 9cm in depth, but Sharp hasn’t abandoned aesthetics altogether in its quest for the best possible picture/price equation.

A feather-light TV, from the front the LC-32LE600E sports a slim, gloss black screen surround and silver strip beneath that constitutes an interesting, though muted, new look for Sharp LCD TVs.

It’s also worth mentioning that the LC-32LE600E has several ‘eco’ features. If used, Sharp claims that its ’standard’ and ‘advanced’ power saving modes can allow the set to consume 40 per cent less power than normal LCD TVs.

Sharp lc-32le600e

If you like the sound of this LED TV, but would prefer a slightly more comprehensive version, head for Sharp’s LE700E Series, which features 100Hz processing to rid the screen of any motion blur (although this can introduce other video nasties).

Like the LE600E Series, it’s available in 32-inch, 40-inch and 46-inch sizes, and adds a 52-inch version.

sharp lc-32le600e

As well as employing LED backlighting, Sharp has fitted the LC-32LE600E 32-inch LCD TV with its latest X-Gen panel, which, it claims, has a wider pixel aperture.

The evidence for that is in the sheer brightness of scenes in our test disc, Matrix Reloaded on Blu-ray, which features mixed brightness scenes aplenty.

The opening dream scene of Trinity falling out of an exploding building at night puts the LC-32LE600E’s strengths at the fore; Trinity and Smith’s black clothes are true black, but still contain plenty of detail.

In another key scene – Neo’s all-put fight against a legion of Agent Smiths – motion is handled well; the movie’s famous bullet-time shots are just as clear, though more rapid shots can produce some headache-inducing blur. It’s not serious, but it is common.

Still or slo-mo shots of the busy crowd scenes on Zion are pin-sharp, colours are powerfully, though carefully, handled and well saturated, and the many shadowed areas of the picture are inky black most of the time – though in some scenes the brightness can seem uneven.

If the ‘local dimming’ of Full LED tech performs well in adding an extra dose of realism, there is a flaw in the LC-32LE600E’s lack of any significant picture processing circuitry.

And it does cause a slight lack of high definition detail. That’s noticeable during the faster camera work on Zion; as a shot pans quickly across an excitable crowd there is noticeable blur.

People are indistinct, while during a slow pan across, and into, the many levels of Zion, there’s noticeable and distracting blur and judder.

50Hz processing

The LC-32LE600E could benefit from a 100Hz engine and a film mode that removes Blu-ray judder – common features on many TVs. The latter is included in the onscreen menus, and found on other sizes in this 600E range, but it can’t be activated on the LC-32LE600E.

Put simply, this set doesn’t render The Matrix Reloaded perfectly, but the LED lighting proves almost as good as higher-end sets and it creates a richness that’s rare at this size – and particularly at this low price.

But in many ways the presence of Full LED backlighting on the LC-32LE600E without any significant picture processing is a bit like having the crown jewels – and then displaying them under clingfilm.

Freeview problems

Though DVD is treated well, digital TV pictures from Freeview can seem unrealistic, with artefacts creating a picture where objects seem a tad divorced from backgrounds.

Despite its myriad of ‘missing’ (but in reality rather minor) features, it is a decent 100Hz engine that the LC-32LE600E could benefit from most. It’s not a crime; pay a few pounds more and you’ve got a choice between the various models in Sharp’s step-up LE700E Series that all possess 100Hz engines.

Sharp has shaped the LC-32LE600E to hit a particular price point, but there’s nothing wrong with that. In introducing LED tech – and Full LED, at that – at this price, it should catch-on in the mass market.

Videophiles after a good value slice of the latest screen tech should investigate, while those after something a little more versatile for the living room should look elsewhere.

sharp

In keeping with this set’s rather basic specification, there’s little to get excited about from its onboard audio.

You’ll find the LC-32LE600E two stereo speakers on the set’s undercarriage, and with a slim-ish frame there’s no room for them to produce much in the way of bass.

That’s the main problem, especially if you’re going to watch a lot of movies, because with general TV, sound is acceptable.

The detail present in dialogue-based fare is impressive though background effects aren’t, while the lack of low frequency sound makes treble thin and unconvincing. The size of the TV doesn’t allow for effective stereo, of course, though Sharp has loaded on a Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound module.

Sound issues

As usual, this quasi-surround mode isn’t quite what’s billed. It’s designed to take the 7.1 channels of sound found on most Blu-ray discs and faithfully deliver them through 2 channels.

And although this clearly isn’t as impressive as a home cinema (it’s not even close and can even lessen the level of dialogue in the sound mix) there is an effective separation that does make sense during movies. Just don’t expect real surround sound.

If you’re after a home cinema sound proper, you’ll have to use … well, you guessed it. Luckily, the LC-32LE600E’s rear connections panel does include an optical digital audio output, so you can route sound from the set’s integrated Freeview TV tuner (and every other source) from the TV straight into a home cinema amplifier.

Since being promoted throughout 2009 by the likes of Samsung as an all-new category of flatscreen TV, LED is starting to catch on.

But don’t fall for the hype; LED backlighting is merely a tweak to existing LCD technology.

There’s also a crucial difference between Sharp’s LED system and those used by the likes of LG and Samsung, whose attempts tend to be much slimmer than has been achieved on the LC-32LE600E.

Those ‘edge’ LED TVs try to create much more dynamic and realistic brightening and darkening of video by lighting the screen only from the sides – an approach that also guarantees a product with a lot less depth.

Sharp’s Full Screen LED backlighting is a lot more direct; it goes one stage further by placing hundreds of LEDs in rows behind the screen, which together provide more than 90 per cent of the light.

Able to switch light on and off in small areas of the screen depending on the needs of the video source, the realism it creates on the LC-32LE600E can be spell binding; the extra bulk is worth it. And here those LEDs output pure white light, different from the coloured light emitted by the LEDs in RGB Dynamic LED tellies from Sony.

As usual from Sharp, the TV remote is rather poor. The main body is ergonomic, but the buttons for even major functions are far too small.

sharp lc-32le600e remote control

Onscreen menus lack the pizzazz of other brands, and its PC-like drop-down menus prove uncomfortable and unnatural to work through, largely because the text on the screen is too small. That said, actions such as tuning in Freeview TV channels is simple.

There’s not much going on in terms of features so the lacklustre onscreen menus and cranky remote are not a catastrophe, but everyday controls on the remote, such as the central navigational buttons and the main menu buttons, are hardly thumb-friendly – especially in a blacked-out room.

It’s no good for cinema rooms, and neither is the LC-32LE600E suitable for the technophobic.

lc-32le600e

Usually a brand that concentrates on value rather than top-of-the-range technology and versatility, Sharp has continued that strategy with the LC-32LE600E.

With new tech at old prices creating an extra dose of realism, Sharp’s smallest LED set is a step in the right direction, but it’s no giant leap.

We liked

Mixed brightness scenes are rendered with some pizzazz; light and dark areas of the same image sit alongside each other to startling effect.

Deep blacks and eloquently presented colours that swim in realism are enough to convince us that Full Screen LED backlighting works well, though it perhaps needs to be combined with 100Hz – as it is on Sharp’s LE700E models – to eliminate motion blur.

The LC-32LE600E is also a good looking TV on the outside, cleverly making up for its obvious lightweight build with an understated, if hardly ground-breaking, styling.

We disliked

Everything on the LC-32LE600E works well. Trouble is, there’s little tech aside from LED backlighting to get stuck into.

We now consider four HDMI inputs to be the absolute minimum; three seems meagre. Similarly, some kind of nod to the age of multimedia would seem appropriate; a simple USB slot that could read photos and MP3 music would assuage us.

Picture-wise, the LC-32LE600E is in need of some decent picture processing to bring out levels of detail the excellent LED backlight deserves, as well as a 100Hz engine to rid the panel of blur.

Sound-wise, there’s little to complain about aside from saying that the slightly fatter Full Screen LED tech – when compared to thesuper-skinny Edge LED tech – could accommodate some meatier speakers if designed differently.

Though simple enough to navigate, the onscreen menus are not slick enough and not helped by the fiddly remote control. It’s not a disaster, but it does take the shine off this LCD in terms of its everyday user-friendliness.

Final verdict

Blu-ray and broadcast HDTV channels look great, and even DVDs are carried off with some aplomb. Freeview isn’t quite so convincing, though it’s the LC-32LE600E’s lack of almost any other notable features that put it at a disadvantage when compared to other similarly priced LCD TVs.

None of its cons are so serious as to prevent this 32-inch LED set from representing something of a watershed; the moment when standard LCD died-off and was replaced by its souped-up LED version. And on the LC-32LE600E, at a remarkably low price.

This review was written in conjunction with:

What Video & Hi-Def TV magazine

What video

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by Jamie Carter on November 11, 2009
filed in Laptops
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Review: LG 32SL8000 LCD TV

We’ve seen the ‘one pane’ design before from LG, but on this 32-incher it’s particularly effective; a single sheet of glass stretches right across the front of the TV and, with no need for a dedicated border, the illusion is of a ‘borderless’ TV.

It’s not – a black screen surround instead sits under the glass – but an upward curved edge on the TV’s top and a simple dark aluminium strip along the bottom helps create a classy, understated look.

Don’t think its svelte design means it takes up less room than similarly sized sets, because that’s not the case, but the LG 32SL8000 does remain a prime candidate for wall hanging.

We say almost because, although it’s less than 5cm deep, the inputs on the back would then be hard to reach. Housed in a slight recess are three HDMI sockets, though the ’side panel’ – in reality another recessed area almost alongside – presents a fourth HDMI and a USB port.

LG 32sl8000 lcd tv

Unlike a lot of LCD TVs at this price, the 32SL8000 is packed with features that are as useful as they are easy to operate.

The most impressive is the USB media player, which can display JPEG slideshows set to MP3 music as well as various video files – including DivX and DivX HD.

Less crucial is Bluetooth connectivity for wireless headphones and sending pictures from mobile phone. LG is the only brand that provide Bluetooth, presumably because it’s yet to embrace DLNA networking.

Other tech aimed at reproducing HD includes 24p Real Cinema and TruMotion 200Hz, though LG’s take on the latter is to provide a scanning backlight alongside a 100Hz filter.

LG 32sl8000 lcd tv

The 32SL8000 32-inch LCD TV also includes Intelligent Sensor II, which takes the ambient light levels in the room and tweaks the TV’s brightness accordingly (also saving on energy consumption). In practice it’s not really needed; the TV’s ‘cinema’ setting – our preferred viewing mode – proves less bright than any picture produced using Intelligent Sensor II.

Not that any 32-inch TV – even one with Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution – is ultimately going to be judged only on its suitability within a home cinema setting. We’re looking for an all-rounder.

If you do fancy something a little bigger, siblings in LG’s SL8000 Series include 32-inch, 37-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch sets, while the step-up SL9000 Series (42 and 47-inch) use Edge LED technology to backlight the panel. All are certified by the Energy Saving Trust.

LG 32sl8000 lcd tv

Most Blu-ray buffs will aim for a set much bigger than this one, so we’re going to be scoring the 32SL8000 on its ability with Freeview, DVD and broadcast HDTV channels – as well as user-friendliness – as much as we are on its treatment of Full HD images from Blu-ray.

And although the 32SL8000’s picture quality isn’t benchmark, its failings actually seem to help its versatility – and widen its appeal.

Take its HD performance. The fabulous colours of the re-mastered Baraka on Blu-ray are handled well, and although we’ve seen better contrast levels, the pictures hold up.

The skin tones of worshippers at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall are spot on while a panoramic shot across the Ghats of the Ganges shows a host of colourful characters in cinematic splendour.

Soft picture

There is, however, a slight softness. An aerial shot of Iraq’s burning oilfields lacks a little sharpness and contrast, and the flames shooting up from the desert seem stilted. A brighter shot swoops over an aeroplane graveyard near Phoenix, with more detail on show and – with TruMotion 200Hz set to low – no sign of judder or blur.

It passes a more serious test well, too; as a camera pans across a shop front in The Matrix Reloaded, Real Cinema and TruMotion 200Hz (again used on its low setting) remove all judder.

Ramped-up to ‘high’ for the high-octane fight scene between Agent Smith and Neo, TruMotion 200Hz does, though, produce some flicker around moving edges. Where it’s most effective is on slow camera pans; toned-down TruMotion 200Hz ably removes virtually all judder and helps create a much more lifelike picture.

But the 32SL8000’s slight lack of sharpness (and it really is slight) actually proves its making when it comes to digital TV and DVD.

Solid and well saturated, there’s few LCD TVs out there that can match the 32SL8000 for sheer watch-ability during the low bitrate of digital broadcasts on Freeview.

A broadcast from BBC News looks far cleaner and more colourful here than on most LCD TVs. The image is a tad soft, but perhaps that’s helping hide the digital blocking and artefacts that we know exist in such broadcasts.

Decent upscaling

DVDs also get treated well – there’s obviously some good internal upscaling circuitry inside 32SL8000 that make it just as effective as most dedicated DVD decks that claim to ramp-up resolution to 1080p.

DivX HD trailers played straight from a USB stick play quickly and proves a nice extra feature, though there is a little more judder to contend with when compared to Blu-ray.

One failing that doesn’t add to the TV’s overall appeal is its design. Classy it may be, but the pane of glass that stretches across the whole screen can cause some unwanted reflections and a sense of a ‘double image’.

Watch from straight on and it’s not a major issue, but from an angle it can be distracting. That’s a shame because the 32SL8000’s viewing angle is wider than most, with little discernable loss of colour – though areas of black aren’t as convincing when watched from the wings.

LG 32sl8000 lcd tv

A set this small was never going to produce audio excellence. In line with almost every single flatscreen TV on the market, the speakers on the 32SL8000 have been scarified at the altar of aesthetics.

Hidden away underneath the 32SL8000’s slinky one-pane frame are two 10W speakers. They do a reasonable job with everyday TV and movies thanks to plenty of modes.

Easy to toggle through while watching TV, presets are provided for sport, cinema, games and music, alongside a ’standard’ mode. That roster almost completely mirrors the picture modes available – another example of LG keeping things simple.

Sound settings

Finding one that suits is a quick process, but trouble producing decent stereo separation (not this small TV’s fault) and a lack of quality in the low frequency part of the spectrum (par for the course on flat TVs) make the 32SL8000 an average performer with audio.

Clear Voice II helps out with dialogue-heavy TV, and even the oft-ineffective SRS TruSurround XT can impress with movies, though it’s best to stick to the standard setting to keep all frequencies clearly audible in the mix.

High volumes don’t produce distortion and TV is dealt with acceptably, but for movies a decent soundbar or home cinema is required.

Very few flatscreens TVs roundly impress in this area (pricey Loewe TVs and some Philips TVs prove rare exceptions) – and almost never at this price point – so we’re not going to mark down the 32SL8000 too harshly. If you want a flat TV, it seems, you have to settle for flat sound, too.

The 32SL8000’s unique audio capabilities with Bluetooth may attract some; the idea of listening to TV wirelessly will appeal to those who are already forced (for whatever reason) to regularly use headphones. In practice the feature works well and is easy to set-up.

LG 32sl8000 remote control

It’s not the LG 32SL8000’s haul of features that dazzle us most; it’s that they’re executed superbly well.

Plug in a Blu-ray player to one of the HDMI sockets and that live input is automatically displayed when the input switcher is selected on the remote.

Unlike most TVs, where the inputs list is small and involves scrolling up and down in search of the right input, the 32SL8000 presents them swooping across the bottom of the screen; unused inputs are greyed-out and put to the back of the list so they don’t have to be dealt with, though it’s possible to label each input (DVD, Blu-ray, Games etc) to make things even easier.

USB playback

Using the USB media player is just as simple, though it is necessary to choose between movies, music and photos before accessing the files on a USB stick; things could be made simpler if the TV could decide for itself. Slideshows of JPEG photos are quick to load and display images, and can be set to music.

This also works in reverse; play an MP3 file and it’s possible to choose a photo or slideshow to accompany it.

The 32SL8000 gives video files a special treatment, with sped-up thumbnails displayed for each video. It’s not just the presentation that impresses; these thumbnails are processed and played almost immediately. The 32SL8000 doesn’t mess around.

The same goes for the 32SL8000’s file compatibility, which is more comprehensive than most, with DivX, DivX HD, AVI, MOV, MKV and MP4 files all playable, though not WMV or MPEG in our tests.

It’s an honest treatment, too; the 32SL8000 puts a ‘lightning strike’ graphic through any files it can’t cope with, so there’s no last-minute frustration when a file won’t play. When video files are playing, the useful and well designed remote’s Pause/Play/FF/RW make navigating very simple.

Intuitive interface

Propping-up all of this are some fabulous central onscreen menus. Dominated by tasteful, muted colours and eight simple icons, these high resolution graphics lead the user round the many features and make often complex actions – such as calibrating the TV to ISF standard – a cinch.

The latter relies on an image-led Picture Wizard menu, which covers settings such as colour gain, sharpness and contrast. The resulting settings can then be applied to as many – or as few – inputs as needed.

Onscreen menus aren’t everything, but it’s surprising how many brands get them fatally wrong. Here they help make the 32SL8000 feel very natural to use.

LG 32sl8000 lcd tv

Unique to LG TVs, Bluetooth presumably earns its place on the 32SL8000 because LG hasn’t yet introduced Ethernet connectivity and DLNA home networking – which lets you stream music, photos and even video from a PC or Mac on the same broadband home network – to its TV range.

That, in our opinion, is actually a good thing – such systems are still in their infancy and no brand has delivered DLNA networking that’s anything but frustrating to use.

We liked

Besides, networking wouldn’t gel well with the 32SL8000’s quite superb user interface that’s defined by impressive simplicity and speed.

Its hi-def picture is very good and benefits from its effective Real Cinema and TruMotion 200Hz features. Not only does they remove most judder from Blu-ray discs and blur from fast-moving camera pans, but they do so without creating nasty artefacts.

As well as excelling with Freeview broadcasts and DVD, more nice touches come from DivX and DivX HD playback via USB and a superbly simple calibration menu. You could argue that this kind of attention to detail will be roundly ignored by a lot of consumers, but it’s great to have a ‘high-end’ feel on what is certainly a mainstream TV.

We disliked

The 32SL8000’s weaknesses are few, but could be crucial to some users. If you’re planning to watch a diet that largely consists of Blu-ray, you might be a little disappointed that the Full HD image lacks a little sharpness.

Contrast is also less impressive than on some rival sets – notably those LCD TVs that use LED backlighting – and it reduces further the wider the viewing angle you watch from. Another issue could be the reflective pane of glass on the 32SL8000’s front, though in practice the image isn’t interfered with to any great extent.

Final verdict

HD can look soft, but this easy to use LCD TV’s kindness to Freeview and DVD makes is ideal for everyday use.

With such a natural feel to its onscreen menus, this LCD TV’s numerous features never feel like gimmicks.

Especially useful is its easy calibration, and while it’s slight lack of sharpness and contrast means it stops short of greatness, a smooth and highly watchable treatment of any source – including digital video files – makes this unusually versatile set highly recommended.

A jack of all trades and slim to boot, the 32SL8000 is a good value and hard-working LCD TV that would grace any living room after a catch-all digital and hi-def solution.

This review was written in conjunction with:

What Video & Hi-Def TV magazine

What video

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by Jamie Carter on November 10, 2009
filed in Laptops
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REVIEWS: Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook

Power-packed portable ideal for nearly every type of user?
Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook review

Sony’s VAIO CW1S1E sits smack in the middle of the company’s laptop range, offering impressive value for money without compromising on features or style. With a 14-inch screen and weighing 2.3kg, it’s slightly larger than Sony’s ultra-portable laptops, but it offers better usability as a result.

The screen has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, which is average at this price point. Images are crisp, and LED backlighting offers bright and vivid colour reproduction. That said, it was possible to see the individual LEDs at the bottom of the display on our review sample – which affected colours and also proved distracting.

The design is attractive and cohesive, with a range of bright colours on offer. The palm rest stands higher than the rest of the chassis, giving this machine an individual appearance, and is the same colour as the lid – including deep red, blue, black and light pink. The area surrounding the keyboard is a slightly more subtle colour – from light pink on some models, to black.

Identical in style to most recent VAIO keyboards, the CW’s chicklet style board offers a decent and comfortable typing action. There’s plenty of space between each of the keys, and it’s a responsive and firmly attached interface. The touchpad is larger than many of those found on rival laptops, offering a precise way of navigation, and the mouse buttons are also large and comfortable. ?

The Nvidia GeForce GT 230M graphics card is a surprise inclusion in a machine of this size, giving the compact Sony serious 3D power. With the relatively low screen resolution, it means that even the latest games will run without issue, along with regular home and office applications. As a result, you’ll be able to use the VAIO CW as your sole PC.

Office performance is equally adept, with a mid-range 2.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor in place. It’s backed by 4096MB of DDR3 memory, and we found this an excellent machine to carry out office work or run a host of applications simultaneously. The 320GB hard drive offers more than enough space for most music and photo collections.

There are a trio of USB ports for adding peripherals, with two on the left-hand side of the chassis, and one on the right. Other ports include VGA and HDMI, offering connectivity for analogue and digital displays. As with most other VAIO models, there are two card readers on the front of the chassis, supporting Sony’s Memory Stick and SD formats. 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet provide decent networking options, but it’s a shame to see 3G/HSDPA omitted.

?

Verdict:

The VAIO CW may not be Sony’s most desirable laptop, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great choice. The combination of size and power make it an ideal machine for all types of user, and that it’s just at home on the commute, in the living room or in the office is testament to just how good an all-rounder it is.

PHOTOS: Sony Vaio CW

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Hardware Laptops Sony Sony Vaio CW1S1E Sony Vaio CW

Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook review 
Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook review 
Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook review 

Sony VAIO CW1S1E notebook originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:39:08 +0000

by Andrew Tiney on November 9, 2009
filed in Laptops
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Sony VAIO W111XX

Sony’s first foray into the world of portable computers for nuclear propulsion was the P-series Vaio computer lifestyle with a unique design miniaturized (about the same footprint as a business model) file, but it was warm outstanding issues (not prevent CSA) and use the operating system of Windows Vista. After the release of this product, Sony is the fact that, despite the Atom processor and the small size, certainly not Netbook. The new Vaio W, on the other hand, obviously a netbook with Windows XP, a screen 10 inches, and a form factor familiar netbook.

No Comments by Matthew Bell on November 5, 2009
filed in Laptops
tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sony VAIO W111XX

Sony’s first foray into the world of portable computers for nuclear propulsion was the P-series Vaio computer lifestyle with a unique design miniaturized (about the same footprint as a business model) file, but it was warm outstanding issues (not prevent CSA) and use the operating system of Windows Vista. After the release of this product, Sony is the fact that, despite the Atom processor and the small size, certainly not Netbook. The new Vaio W, on the other hand, obviously a netbook with Windows XP, a screen 10 inches, and a form factor familiar netbook.

No Comments by Matthew Bell on November 5, 2009
filed in Laptops
tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: Sharp LC-46LE700E

With its ‘normal’ LCD TVs failing to grab the public’s attention as much as Sharp would like, it really needs to fire our imagination with something a little different. Something, in fact, like the LC-46LE700E: a 46in TV that gives you direct LED backlighting without costing an arm and both legs.

This isn’t Sharp’s first LED model, however, as the manufacturer launched its XS1E series in 2008. But, as those TVs started at £9,000, the £1,600 LC-46LE700E can certainly claim to be Sharp’s first affordable LED TV.

Its price looks pretty reasonable by any brand’s standards: even price-conscious Samsung’s 46in 46B7000 range is £100 or so more expensive. While pretty enough in its glossy black bezel, this 46-incher is nowhere near as slim as Samsung’s trend-setting machines.

It has good reason for this: the TV uses direct lighting, where the LED arrays sit right behind the screen, rather than Samsung’s edge-based system. Sharp’s direct approach enables the LC-46LE700E to offer local dimming, where the arrays of lights behind the screen can be controlled individually.

This allows almost pitch black colours to sit alongside really bright white tones in a way that’s not possible with standard single-lamp LCD backlights or edge-lit systems.

If you’re wondering how this set can be so much cheaper than Sharp’s XS1E models, there are two reasons. First, instead of using RGB dimming, the LC-46LE700 sticks with white – an option that might not deliver so rich a colour range, but which is much cheaper to make.

Second, the LC-46LE700E illuminates its pictures using far fewer separate LED arrays than the XS1E series, reducing the image’s localised luminance accuracy.

Specs appeal

Other key specs include four HDMI inputs, a full HD resolution, a USB port able to play JPEG pictures and MP3 audio files, Brilliant Colour processing and, perhaps most important of all, 100Hz processing to keep a lid on judder and motion blur.

Unfortunately, this 100Hz engine isn’t strong enough. Pictures are consistently undermined by motion smearing. This is surprising, given how well Sharp’s 100Hz standard LCD TVs usually deal with motion, but it’s undeniable here – especially when playing video games or watching sport.

Thankfully, this motion blur is pretty much the only negative thing we have to say about the 46LE700E’s images – once you’ve recalibrated them away from the set’s bizarrely dreadful picture presets, at least.

Colours, for instance, are phenomenally intense. It shows dark scenes, too, with only the faintest trace of the grey or blue mist that characterises so many standard LCD TVs – including Sharp’s.

Hi-def images look extremely sharp and while standard-definition pictures suffer with a couple of over-aggressive colour tones, in general they’re rescaled to the screen’s full HD resolution quite nicely.

The LC-46LE700E’s sound doesn’t have the power or dynamic range to give the set’s pictures the accompaniment they really deserve. But, despite the 46LE700E’s minor imperfections, it enthusiastically illustrates just how potent a technology LED backlighting is.

It should also be enough to get Sharp back on the UK TV map.

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by John Archer on November 4, 2009
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REVIEWS: Toshiba Regza 55SV685DB television

Flawed genius

Toshiba Regza 55SV685DB television . Home Cinema, Televisions, LCD televisions, Toshiba, Toshiba Regza 55SV685DB 0

A brand usually found in the lower echelons of the flatscreen TV market, Toshiba is making a bid for the big time with this huge LED screen. The trouble is, the 55SV685DB’s very large price heaps on the pressure; is it much better than a 50-inch plasma, which now go for under ?1,000?

However unlikely that might seem, Toshiba has strived to make the 55SV685DB seem good value by packing in some new features. The first, and most important by far, is LED backlighting. The 55SV685DB uses perhaps the most comprehensive form of the new tech, called “local dimming” or “full LED” by some brands. Instead of a backlight that’s always switched on, rows of tiny LED lights line up behind the LCD panel. Capable of switching on and off individually, it’s possible for the screen to show total darkness in one area of an image, and bright white in another.

The second crucial feature is Active Vision M200, a 200Hz anti-blur system, though a film stability mode (aimed at removing that annoying judder in all Blu-ray discs) Toshiba’s much-hyped Resolution+ upscaling tech for digital TV and DVD is just as important on a screen of this sheer size.

The 55SV685DB’s other features seem frivolous in comparison. Take its SD card slot, an unusual find away from Panasonic’s Viera TVs. It’s there to provide JPEG photographs for the Picture Frame mode, though the TV itself has so little onboard memory that instead of a slideshow, just a single picture can be transferred – and it’s slow to load, too.

Just as distracting is the 55SV685DB’s stilted stab at DLNA networking. Fetching digital media from a PC or Mac on the same home broadband network is a fantastic idea, but, like a lot of brands, Toshiba hasn’t got anywhere near perfecting it. After quickly finding a networked computer, a slow and rather brutal process begins; a file type must be selected, then a specific file, before finding out whether it’s compatible (only AVI and MPEG videos seem to be). The system gets ahead of itself by trying to display thumbnails photos/videos, but they never load and just slowdown the process further (Toshiba may have solved this issue on its Japanese-only Cell Regza 55X1, which offers 143 times more processing power).

The remote control doesn’t help; it’s unable to cancel commands and return to the previous menu, extending the agony. It’s a similar story with the Media Player feature that reads files from a USB stick.?

Resolution+ also fails. The 55-inches of LCD screen just cannot display DVD or digital pictures coherently – digital artefacts and fuzzy edges are everywhere – which leaves the 55SV685DB looking rather forlorn and in need of a phenomenal performance with Blu-ray.

And it makes a respectable stab at greatness. Its LED backlighting is endlessly tweakable, with dynamic bars showing ambient light (plotted on a graph, even!), alongside the light output of each pixel.

And a high-def picture is indeed worthy of such examination. Black areas of the picture are jet-black, with plenty of subtle detail within. And subtlety is everywhere; bright whites, incredible colours and entrancing detail make for a picture that’s lusciously cinematic. It’s helped by an effective film mode that helps create a smooth image with sharp, well-defined edges even when objects are moving rapidly across the screen.

Verdict:

Toshiba has created a Full HD marvel that uses its LED backlighting to create astonishingly deep blacks and rich colours for a LCD TV, but its ?4,500 price tag proves it’s downfall. However well it deals with high-def, it’s impossible to forgive the 55SV685DB for its lack of versatility because how many of us just want to watch 1080p Blu-ray? For now, a ?1,500 plasma remains a better deal.

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Home Cinema Televisions LCD televisions Toshiba Toshiba Regza 55SV685DB

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Toshiba Regza 55SV685DB television originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:30:22 +0000

by Jamie Carter on November 3, 2009
filed in Laptops
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Samsung UN55B8000

As the most expensive horse in the stables of Edge of Samsung LED-based LCD TV LED that company as a TV in most of their marketing materials, designated colleagues UNB8000, stoves cheap differentiated by the addition of 240Hz processing. If you are wondering if this feature is worth the money, not more, in our opinion, has not requested. Apart from further Hz, Edge is lit Samsung shares more characteristics of image quality, including levels of deep black and very expensive, and some problems of consistency that could have something to deal with the extremely thin plates. Column Again, the image of UNB8000 always still dang good enough – especially after a firmware update – and the design of the Samsung, it can be defeated easily. We have a practical assessment of 46-inch Samsung UN46B8000, but the criticism applies to the 55-inch Samsung UN55B8000. Both have identical information and should offer similar picture quality.

No Comments by Matthew Bell on October 25, 2009
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Review: Sharp LC-40LE600E

Having fallen a bit behind its TV rivals over the past couple of years, Sharp clearly needs a stand-out product. Cue the 40LE600E, which introduces direct LED backlighting to the masses for the first time.

The direct LED lighting that’s the 40LE600E’s main talking point needs more explanation. LED light sources offer a variety of advantages over normal CCFL lamps, ranging from running efficiencies and performance benefits to aesthetic considerations.

There are two ways of using LED lights in a TV: you can put them around the edge of the screen, firing across it, or directly behind the screen, shooting straight forward.

By choosing the direct system, Sharp has delivered a fairly chubby set that isn’t anywhere near as sexily slim as Samsung’s latest edge LED TVs. However, it does mean the 40LE600E can offer a key feature that the edge system can’t: local dimming.

Sharp led tv

Since the LED clusters can be controlled individually, it’s possible to turn sections of them off in dark parts of a picture, potentially producing a far deeper black level response than you’d get from a normal LCD TV.

The 40LE600E is the first sub-£2K TV to use white dimming rather than RGB. So while it might not deliver quite the same colour accuracy and range as the more costly latter approach, it is the cheapest LED TV we’ve seen.

Surprisingly, the 40LE600E doesn’t have much else to shout about on the feature front. All that’s worth mentioning are its three HDMIs, and the fact that the new X-gen panel uses a wider pixel aperture design to enhance brightness. Annoyingly, the USB port is for service purposes only.

Ease of use

The 40LE600E’s onscreen menus aren’t particularly exciting, but they get the job done. And the relative lack of features prevents any serious brain strain.

Sharp remote

But we’ve marked the set down because of its plasticky remote control that has an obtuse layout, labels that are impossible to read in a darkened room, plus some miniature, commonly used buttons.

Picture

In most ways this set’s pictures are a huge advance on Sharp’s standard LCD models. The most obvious difference, as expected, can be seen during dark scenes.

Gone is Sharp’s customary bluish wash, and in its place are blacks that look, well, black. What’s more, the 40LE600E delivers on LED’s contrast promise by enabling really bright whites and colours to sit right alongside the impressively deep black levels.

There’s perhaps not quite as much subtle shadow detailing in dark areas as you get with, for example, a decent plasma screen or Samsung’s edge LED models. Also, the TV’s optional dynamic contrast system can cause a little greyness in shots with mixed brightness, as well as a few obvious brightness level ‘jumps’.

But while black levels aren’t perfect, they are certainly very good indeed.

The 40LE600E also excels with its colour reproduction. The white dimming hasn’t stopped colours from roaring out of the screen with amazing intensity, during dark and light scenes alike.

The 40LE600E’s innate sharpness is pretty good too, as it does a good job of capturing the clarity that makes HD so lovable.

And finally, we were relieved to find the TV remaining largely free of the white halo phenomenon sometimes witnessed with direct LED TVs. When the 40LE600E is at its best, its pictures really are sensational. But unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.

For starters, the TV’s dynamic preset is pretty diabolical, featuring horribly forced colours and far too much noise. Next, while the 40LE600E’s standard-definition colours are a vast improvement on the odd tones we’ve regularly witnessed with Sharp’s regular LCD TVs, SD pictures aren’t scaled up to the full HD resolution particularly cleanly.

The 40LE600E’s final and worst problem is that it loses sharpness when showing motion. Not enough to make the picture look actually smeary, but sufficient to take the sharpness out of HD footage during motion-packed sequences, making us look forward to Sharp’s upcoming 100Hz LED models.

Sound

The 40LE600E’s speakers don’t succumb to distortion even under real pressure, there’s a good amount of detail, and vocals are always impressively intelligible.

The downside, predictably, is that there’s not enough bass around to make sound such as explosions particularly convincing – an issue which can also leave some trebles sounding over-bright.

Value

The £1,100 price is pretty fair for a 40in TV that uses cutting edge technology to such generally impressive effect.

But, given that Samsung’s impressive 40B550 LCD model costs half as much, a bit more multimedia savvy may have made this TV a slightly easier sell.

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by John Archer on October 18, 2009
filed in LCD TV
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