Features
Samsung has released mobile phone-resolution 12-megapixel on camera with Pixon. Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson will catch up with Idou. Beside Nokia also plans will bring mobile phones in high camera feature.
FEATUREShe GT627 is MSI’s latest 15” gaming notebook with a sleek brushed metal finish and an easy overclocking Turbo button. Housed inside its stylish exterior is an NVIDIA 9800M GS graphics card paired up with an Intel P8400 Core 2 Duo to handle any modern game a user can throw at it. This notebook is targeted against other low-cost gaming rigs such as the Gateway P-series that offers high-end gaming performance for less than $1,300. Just how well does the GT627 stack up against the competition? Read our review to find out.
MSI GT627 Specifications:
Build and Design
The GT627 has a sophisticated look with a brushed metal finish and red plastic accents. From the outside you might think it was a business notebook (with a splash of color) and not a portable gaming system. Put this in contrast to some of the gaming machines from Toshiba or Dell and you realize MSI was going for a more subdued everyday-notebook look for this rig. One added benefit is you wont feel embarrassed pulling this notebook out in the middle of a business meeting, which the same couldnt be said about some gaming notebooks.
Build quality is great in most areas with some help from the metal exterior but there are some weak areas that should have received some extra support. The display lid stays rigid and solid enough though it is very thin. The magnets that keep the screen lid closed are super strong, needing two hands to pry the display open. The brushed finish holds up to scratches and fingerprints very well, although an encounter with a heavy object might leave a dent. The palmrest shares the same brushed metal finish, but not the same treatment in rigidity or support. It has an unfortunate amount of flex which in some cases pushes against keyboard tray making a clicking sound.
Users looking to upgrade anything from RAM to hard drive should know that MSI puts a Warranty Void if Broken across both the main access panel and hard drive bay. While I can understand the main area that houses the RAM, video card, and processor could be considered off limits, why prevent users from upgrading their hard drive?
Display
The 15.4 WXGA glossy display is perfect for gaming with fast response times and high backlight brightness. Colors were bright and vibrant, and contrast levels were adequate to view detail in dark settings. At full brightness the GT627 was viewable in a bright office setting without looking washed out. In my home I found the brightness level best set between 30-40% for comfortable viewing since my lighting is nowhere near as bright as our office. Viewing angles were average, with a great horizontal viewing range, but limited vertical range. Colors would quickly distort and invert as you would tilt back the screen, or wash out if you angled it closer to you.
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Keyboard and Touchpad
The GT627 has a fullsize "gaming" keyboard with highlighted frequently used game keys and a numberpad squeezed in on the left side. I am generally a fan of numberpads on most notebooks, but they are larger notebooks (usually 16 and up) and dont reduce the size of the standard keys to make room. Most keyboards have square shaped keys, including netbooks that use smaller square keys. This typically makes it easy to adapt switching from machine to machine once you get the size-ratio worked out. This notebook has keys shaped more like rectangles which made it really difficult to type accurately. Even after a few days of using it I still had to type visually instead of just by touch unless I wanted to type out a garbled mess. The keyboard had quite a bit of flex and felt as if it was floating above the support structure. This made it feel like you were typing on a springboard. The keys themselves had a moderate throw with a mild click when pressed, and would slightly wobble.
The large Synaptics touchpad worked great once I installed the latest drivers, as the system came with no Synaptics utility installed. Without the utility you cant adjust scroll bar width, customizable tap zones, and most importantly touch sensitivity. Response times were quick with no perceptible lag, even in games that demanded quick movement. The size was appropriate for a gaming machine with enough space to move around without hitting the edges ... although I would have preferred buttons with a longer throw. The buttons shared the same brushed aluminum surface with the palmrest with small cutouts for flexing movement. They had shallow feedback with a muted click when pressed.
Performance
The MSI GT627 performs very well in day-to-day activities and holds its own in modern games. MSI squeezed in an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor and NVDIA 9800M GS video card to help give this notebook the performance of most 17 gaming notebooks in a compact 15 form factor. If you dont think the stock performance is enough for your normal routine, you can overclock the system up to 20% with the push of a button. The Turbo feature bumps the frontside bus on-the-fly boosting the processor speed from 2.26GHz to 2.71GHz. In terms of real world performance, while playing Portal at 1280 x 800 on high settings pressing the Turbo button increased the framerate from 120 frames per second (FPS) to 145 FPS. It did this without any delay, needing to restart the game, or causing any instability. Games that are more reliant on raw graphics power like Crysis didnt see any gain in Turbo mode. Crysis on high settings at 1280x800 resolution stayed at 29 FPS regardless of whether the Turbo mode was enabled or not.
HDTune storage drive performance results: The super quick Western Digital Scorpio Black hard drive decreased game load times and sped up overall system performance with a blistering 92MB/s speak transfer speed and 70MB/s average. The only thing I can recall that was any faster were some of our high performance SSD models. Ports and Features Speakers and Audio Heat and Noise In terms of noise the system fans were average for a gaming system; quiet under normal use but louder while gaming. You would probably stand out in a small lecture hall but not in a room with enough background noise. Battery Life Conclusion Pros: Cons:
Port selection was very good, including three USB ports, one eSata (part of a combo port), firewire, HDMI, VGA, LAN, Modem, and surround sound out. It also included a TV antenna hookup for models equipped with a TV tuner, SDHC multi-card reader, and ExpressCard/54 slot.
Front: IR remote receiver, Indicator lights
Rear: HDMI, VGA, AC Power, TV-Antenna
Left: Kensington lock slot, Modem, Optical Drive, 1 USB, Surround sound ports
Right: ExpressCard/54, SDHC multi-card reader, 1 USB, 1 eSata/USB combo port, LAN
The speakers were below average when compared to most 15 notebooks, lacking any hint of bass and also missing most midrange sound. Peak volume levels were good enough for watching a movie in a small room, but would get drowned out quickly with other background sounds. Headphones would be a users best friend with this notebook, giving higher volume levels and much better audio quality.
The MSI GT627 runs a bit hotter than your average notebook while gaming thanks to the NVIDIA 9800M GS graphics card housed inside. While gaming the notebook tends to warm up your lap and wrists enough to make you want to take a break every so often. If you are someone that enjoys gaming with the notebook right on your lap, take note of the exhaust vent temperatures of the notebook under load. I found that the best setup was placing the notebook on a desk surface while gaming and using an external mouse if at all possible. The design isnt inherently bad, just the risk of cramming so much power into a 15 chassis. The external temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit.
Battery life was reasonable for a 15 gaming notebook with only a 6-cell battery. The GT627 stayed on for 2 hours and 35 minutes with the screen brightness set to 70%, system on the "balanced" power profile, and wireless active. I would have really preferred a 9-cell battery even if it did stick out the back for the added capacity. The turbo mode didnt play a role in battery life since it could only be turned on while the system was plugged into AC power.
Overall the MSI GT627 proved to be a fast gaming notebook with good looks but showed room for improvement in terms of build quality. The keyboard felt springy and didn’t have much support and the palmrest showed considerable flex. Gaming performance is where this notebook showed its true colors, with high benchmarks and good in-game performance. The Turbo feature while sounding somewhat gimmicky did show good results in some gaming situations. MSI would have one of the best gaming notebooks with its great price, great looks, and excellent performance if not for the springboard chassis.
When I looked at the Unibody MacBook a little while ago I liked almost everything about it. What I disliked most about the notebook was its sticker price. Apple decided to make the new MacBook more expensive than previous versions since its built like a MacBook Pro but lacks some of the high-end features.
What I was hoping for from a new MacBook was a device that would be competitive with the $500 Windows notebooks crowding the shelves of most computer retailers. I dont mean something priced that low, but rather something closer to the average persons notebook budget. Most folks can live with the decent construction techniques of the iBook/MacBook design. I thought that was the whole point of having the MacBook and MacBook Pro line-ups; different strokes for different folks.
Perhaps Apple realized that they were under represented in the value segment, so they released an updated white plastic MacBook based on the Nvidia 9400M IGP chipset. A few key benefits of the new aluminum model are stripped away to bring this model down to Apples traditional pricing for one of their starter notebooks $999.00.
Specifications:
Lets take a quick look at the specifications:
 | Apple MacBook Air MC968LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)Lest Price :$999.00Sale Price: | ||||||||||||||
Product DescriptionIntroducing the new MacBook Air, the most Mobile Mac in every way, shape, and form. It features the latest-generation Intel Core i5 processor, high-speed Thunderbolt, all-flash storage, a full-sized backlit keyboard, Multi-Touch trackpad, a long-lasting battery and a high-resolution display. This MacBook Air isnt thin on features at all. These advanced features are packed inside a unibody enclosure thats light, thin, and strong enough to handle all your everyday tasks and then some, whether youre on the couch, in a lecture hall, or at a conference. Its mobility mastered. Optional external USB MacBook Air SuperDrive (sold separately) 11.6-inch (diagonal) high-resolution LED-backlit glossy widescreen display (1366 x 678) Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory (Dual display & video mirroring supported) FaceTime Camera and Omnidirectional Microphone 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/gcompatible Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology Stereo Speakers & Headphone Mini Jack (Support for Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic) Full-sized backlit keyboard & Multi-Touch trackpad Connections & Expansion - 2 x USB 2.0, Thunderbolt, Headphone & Microphone Jack, MagSafe Power Port Advanced lithium-polymer battery with MagSafe power adapter (up to 5 hours for wireless web & up to 30 days for standby time) Unit Dimensions - 11.8 (W) x 0.11-0.68 (H) x 7.56 (D) inches ( 30 x 0.3 - 1.7 x 19.2 cm) Unit Weight - 2.38 pounds (1.08 kg) Product Details
Editorial ReviewsThe new MacBook Air is up to 2.5x faster than before. It features the latest Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O, a backlit keyboard, and OS X Lion, the next major release of the worlds most advanced desktop operating system. MacBook Air also comes standard with flash storage, so it boots up in seconds, launches apps quickly, and wakes from sleep in an instant. And a long-lasting battery powers MacBook Air for up to 5 hours and offers up to 30 days of standby time. All in a durable unibody design thats thin, light, and ready for anything.  The MacBook Air with 11.6-inch screen--light, thin, and strong enough to take with you wherever you go (view larger). OS X LionEvery Mac comes with OS X Lion, the latest release of the worlds most advanced desktop operating system. With over 250 features including Multi-Touch gestures, Mission Control, full-screen apps, and Launchpad, OS X Lion takes the Mac further than ever. Key OS X Lion FeaturesKey FeaturesFlash Memory StorageBy replacing the standard spinning hard drive typically found in laptops (as well as desktop PCs) with flash memory, the MacBook Air delivers an almost instantaneous boot-up when you open the display, as well as faster application launches and snappier overall performance. Additionally, Apple has shed the enclosure that typically surrounds flash memory (usually about the same size as a standard hard drive), thus giving it a smaller footprint and helping to decrease the size of the MacBook Air. The ultimate do-everything, take-everywhere notebook (view larger). Revolutionary Thunderbolt TechnologyDeveloped by Intel with collaboration from Apple, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O (input/output) technology delivers an amazing 10 gigabits per second of transfer speeds in both directions. Built into the MacBook Air, the Thunderbolt port allows you to connect to new Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals as well as existing USB and FireWire peripherals using simple adapters. Youll be able to move data up to 20 times faster than with USB 2.0 and more than 12 times faster than with FireWire 800, and you can daisy-chain up to six high-speed devices without using a hub. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI, and VGA displays.Glass Multi-Touch Trackpad and Backlit KeyboardWith the smooth, glass Multi-Touch trackpad, the MacBook Air makes it easy to navigate OS X Lion and your software applications. You can pinch, swipe or rotate images on the display screen with the brush of two fingers, or add more digits for a four-fingered vertical swipe to open Expose and quickly glance at all of your open windows. Spacious, full-sized keyboard with backlighting Integrated FaceTime WebcamYoull be able to easily connect with friends, family, and business colleagues using the MacBook Airs FaceTime camera, which is integrated into the thin bezel above the display. And with Apples FaceTime application, youre not limited to video chats with other Macs--you can now make video calls to iPhone and iPod touch users (Wi-Fi connection required for mobile users).Specifications Whats in the Box11.6-inch MacBook Air, 45W MagSafe power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, printed and electronic documentation Note: The MacBook Air does not come with an optical drive, however OS X Lion offers the convenient DVD or CD Sharing feature, which lets you wirelessly "borrow" the optical drive of a nearby Mac or PC. So you can install applications from a DVD or CD and have full access to an optical drive without having to carry one around. Additionally, you can connect an optional optical drive (such as the MacBook Air SuperDrive) via one of the USB ports.Included SoftwareLimited Warranty And ServiceThe MacBook Air comes with 90 days of free telephone support and a 1-year limited warranty, which can be extended to 3 years with the AppleCare Protection Plan. AppleCare Protection PlanBecause Apple makes the hardware, the operating system, and many applications, the Mac is a truly integrated system. And only the AppleCare Protection Plan gives you one-stop service and support from Apple experts, so most issues can be resolved in a single call. Extend the complimentary service and support on your Mac to 3 years from the original Mac purchase date with the AppleCare Protection Plan. You get direct telephone access to Apple experts for technical questions, and you get global repair coverage--including both parts and labor--for your Mac and select Apple peripherals.Optional Accessories and Related Products
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