Hasta La Gadget!

This week we’re having a look at the Acer Iconia W500 series, specifically in the model tagged Iconia W510-1422 with full Windows 8 and multiple modes of computing action. This machine works as a tablet, as a notebook with its keyboard dock (in the box with this model), and with 295 degrees of twist in its hinge – a third “presentation” mode, complete with the extra battery power of the dock in-tact. This machine takes full Windows 8 to the tablet universe with a rather solid setup and a base cost of right around $750 USD – if that sounds like a deal to you, make with the tapping.

Hardware

The Acer Iconia W510-1422 is not just a tablet first, notebook second sort of situation like many modern multi-mode machines are. Instead you’ve got full Windows 8 (as opposed to the tablet-centric Windows RT) along with a solid touchscreen display and a keyboard dock thats clearly made to be part of the full package rather than an after-thought. The keyboard here is clearly the bottom half of the unit rather than the piece you leave at home when you’re feeling no need to key.

Because you can bend the display back to a display position (with the keys of the keyboard then facing down towards the table) you’ve got a rather nice and nearly unique situation on your hands. While we’ve seen this position for tablet convertible machines several times over the past few months, you can rest assured that Acer does it right with a well-balanced and relatively rugged delivery of all pieces involved. And it feels natural to use this machine in each of its three major positions – that’s important when it comes to this modern touch-friendly Windows 8 environment we’re in here in the first part of 2013.

On this unit you’ve got a LED-backlit TFT LCD HD 10.1-inch display up front with 1366 x 768 pixel resolution covered by a smooth sheet of Gorilla Glass 2. Viewing angles are essentially perfect across the grid and the brightness you’ve got here is ready for everyday action (everywhere save direct sunlight). You’ll be rolling out with 5-finger touch as opposed to the 10 you’ll find on desktop PCs in 2013 for the most part, but unless you’ve got something rather unique on your hands that needs more than a couple fingers at a time, you’ll never notice.

Inside you’ve got wireless connectivity as well as Bluetooth 4.0+HS and all around the rim you’ve got high-quality connections and blasters of media. Two speakers sit on the sides of the tablet portion of this setup to the left and the right, this allowing sound to bounce off your palm and into your ears with ease. This machine has an integrated digital microphone that works well with the cameras in front and back and you’ve got a set of ports for USB connectivity as well.

On the tablet itself you’ve got a microUSB port and a microHDMI port for 1080p output as well as multi-display. With this port you’re able to use a massive display as a second screen – as you well should – and it works smooth as if it were a single-unit solution. The microUSB port allows you to connect to whatever other PC you’ve got handy and works with the microUSB-to-full size USB converter accessory that comes in the box as well – great for mice.

The keyboard portion of this setup also has a full-sized USB port for additional accessories, and the whole setup is powered by a port (with included power cord) that exists on the tablet itself and on the keyboard dock. When the tablet is connected to the keyboard, it does so with this port, leaving the keyboard dock to do all the powering of the whole unit.

Camera

The front-facing camera you’ve got here is more than ready for great video chat – better than some desktop machines these days with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 1080p video recording ready for action. The back-facing camera is also decent, though not exactly on-par with the camera you’re getting on most modern smartphones with the same specifications. have a peek at a few demo photos below to get an idea of what you’re working with here.

Note that most of the photos are taken with the back-facing camera indoors while the photo looking upward at the dog was taken with the front-facing camera. Again, this front-facing camera should be used primarily for video chat rather than photography, mind you.

Software and Performance

The full Windows 8 experience you’ll be working with here offers up a collection of Acer-added applications for cloud computing, security, connectivity with your other wireless devices on the web, and everything in-between. This machine features the “Acer Ring” with its ability to quick-launch apps and websites as well as take screenshots on-the-fly. Acer Ring is essentially a home screen replacement app that allow you to take control of your machine in tablet mode, this version of the app made specifically for this device. You’ll find each of the ports sitting in their right places and all of your media action controllable from one location – great stuff!

You’ll be able to run nearly every kind of app you’d be able to run on any other Windows 8 machine (within reason.) While the whole experience is fluid and surprisingly powerful for what the physical size of the unit implies, you wont be anywhere near the monstrous power of desktop machines like the Acer Predator. Don’t expect to play Hawken at full power here (not yet, at least).

Under the hood you’ve got an Intel Atom Dual-Core processor from the Clover Trail generation that proves its might by doing well with every app the device comes with and some of the more interesting nearly high-powered oddities you’ll find like Remote Desktop. With Remote Desktop you’ll be able to work with your computer from another over a wireless network – the Iconia W510-1422 keeps up rather nicely. The exact model we’ve got here is the Intel Atom Z2760 1.5GHz (dual core) complete with Intel Burst Technology up to 1.8GHz (1MB L2 cache).

Also under the hood you’ve got a 64GB Solid State Drive, 2GB of DDR3 SDRAM, and Intel Graphic Media Accelerator technology with 64MB of dedicated system memory. Battery time with the tablet alone has proven to be right between 7 and 8 hours when we’re using it and several days if it’s just sitting on the desk on its own, asleep. The tablet itself works with a 3450mAh battery while the base includes an additional battery that adds nearly as much battery time again. Together you’re looking at several days of standby time at LEAST with around 11 hours of up-time just so long as you’re browsing the web and playing videos (high-powered games give you a bit less).

Wrap-up

This machine is ready for the 2013 season of Windows 8 action, but it’s not going to replace your MacBook Air. It’s not meant to – if you’re a Windows user and want a mobile device ready for everyday action and a relatively large amount of battery time, that’s where you’ll find the greatness in the Iconia W5. The whole setup is solid, the presentation is ready to take on the top competition in the market today, and it’s easily one of our top choices for convertible tablets running full Windows 8 today – and not just because there aren’t many of them out there!

Acer Iconia W510 Review: full Windows 8 Intel Atom tri-mode tablet PC is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here in the first few months after Microsoft introduced Windows 8 to the world, we’re still looking for the perfect set of homes for this touch-friendly operating system – and in the Dell XPS One 27 (Touch Screen enabled model 2710), we may have found the best all-in-one solution yet. This beast works with a 27-inch 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution (Quad HD) display ready for 10-finger touch on an articulating stand. This stand will allow you to move 60 degrees, nearly flat to an ever-so-slightly forward-leaning position – your choice!

Hardware

The Dell XPS One 27 is a machine that comes in several different iterations – and you may have seen it in the past without an articulating stand or a touchscreen. This version is the newest and, of course, greatest of the pack with a relatively massive 19.32 x 26.14 inch chassis with depth ranging from 1.25 inches to 2.82 inches. This beast has been called competition for the newest iMac, but as you’ll see in our iMac 27-inch (2012) review, aside from the “all-in-one” name, these computers are altogether different, essentially top to bottom.

This XPS monster weighs in at 35.16 pounds as you’ll see plainly in the hands-on video above. The neck is made to make the computer’s bulk feel light, and indeed it does – we’re able to easily tilt the display back and forth with one hand, no problem. Moving the display up and down will require a couple of hands to manage, but again you’ll have no trouble – it’s picking the whole machine up and moving it from table to table that’ll give you a back-ache, but since you’re only going to have this bulk in one place the whole time you own it, that shouldn’t be a problem.

The front of this machine has about an inch of bezel surrounding the display, a bit more than that at the bottom with an additional bit of casing under the glass that brings you down another inch. The display glass sits out and above the casing rather than being flush with it, this giving you the impression that it goes from left to right to top almost magically – not an easy feat and certainly appreciated in the final aesthetic. The back of the machine is a simple gray on the back, all hard plastic casing with the largest collection of ports sitting below the neck.

This set of ports includes four USB 3.0, HDMI out, HDMI in, SPDIF 1 (7.1 ch), and ethernet. On the right side of the machine you’ve got a disk drive for 12.7mm action, DVD+/-RW and BluRay Combo for your pleasure, HDD LED light, and a power button. On the other side you’ve got an 8 in 1 media card reader with support for SDXC (SD3.0), Secure Digital (SD), Multi Media Card (MMC), Hi Speed SD, Hi Capacity SD, Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO, and xD Picture Cards alike. Also on the left side you’ve got two more USB 3.0 ports that are Sleep Charge Capable – how about that?

Up on the front you’ve also got a set of four relatively hidden buttons that are capacitive and only appear when you tap them. The first two buttons increase and decrease the brightness of your display, the third controls the input of your display (if you’re using your HDMI-in, for example), and the last button will eject a disk from your disk drive, no questions asked. Each of these buttons is marked with an LED light that, again, only appears when you tap it.

The front-facing camera on this machine offers you the ability to speak with Skype (or whatever other video chat apps you like), extremely easy to use and decent at least for video chat in general. While you wont be recording any Hollywood-quality videos with this camera, it’s certainly nice to have as a given. It’s also relatively hidden from view if you don’t plan on using it all – no unrelenting design cues here!

Software and Performance

The machine we’ve got here works with Intel HD Integrated Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB GDDR5, so you know good and well you’ll be packing high graphics power from top to bottom. While we’ve been drawn immediately and continuously to playing HD video as this machine cannot be denied as a great motion picture player, gaming is certainly a reality here right out of the box. You may want to pick up a few gaming-centric peripherals if you do want to go that route as wired may feel slightly more perfectly accurate than Bluetooth for mouse and keyboard action, the power under this hood is good to go.

Have a peek first at the system components included in this particular build, then see below the results of our standard benchmark test in Geekbench. Feel free to compare this score with past reviews of similar systems, keeping in mind that each system is indeed unique and benchmarks, no matter how accurate, show numbers, not your overall positive or negative experience.

Windows 8 is running as smoothly and as beautifully as we’ve ever seen it here on the Dell XPS One 27, making its case for what’s easily one of the most high-quality presentations of the operating system to date. Windows 8 is coming in to its own with more official full-screen and touch-optimized apps every day (see: Office 365 for example) and you’re sure to find yourself lost in exploration with this machine if not ready for full-on entertainment action from day one. Video looks great out of the box, graphics and settings can be optimized instantly with NVIDIA’s newest iteration of the GeForce Experience (still in Beta at the moment, but working great), and touchscreen action has never felt more natural.

Wrap-up

This machine will be costing you right around $1300 USD, and for that price you’re getting one beast of a computer. The Dell XPS One 27 with multi-touch display is easily one of the most solidly put together total packages running Windows 8 today, and makes us feel right at home with the touchscreen user interface immediately on startup. Dell has created a computer that makes us confident that touchscreen interfaces are indeed the future of home computing, especially in the entertainment realm – grab it now!

Dell XPS One 27 Review: a real touchscreen Windows 8 All-in-One hero is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Acer expects Chrome OS to play an increasing role in its fortunes moving forward, as “Windows 8 itself is still not successful” according to the Taiwanese company’s president. 5- to 10-percent of Acer’s US shipments were Chromebooks such as the C7 ultraportable, Jim Wong told Bloomberg, and the company is confident that Chrome OS can sustain consumer interest in the face of what it sees as waning Windows 8 demand.

Acer saw a 28-percent drop in Q4 2012 shipments, year on year, and blames Microsoft’s new platform for its PC shortfall. “The whole market didn’t come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch,” Wong argues, “that’s a simple way to judge if it is successful or not.”

What particularly impressed the Acer chief was how well Chrome OS has done despite Google’s relatively low-key marketing of the platform. Unlike the Windows 8 gush in advance of Microsoft’s launch late last year, Google’s promotional work was “not as broad” Wong points out, describing it as “encouraging” how much consumer attention Chromebooks nonetheless garnered.

Likely to be helpful is the average price of a Chrome OS device, which – in part because Google gives away Chrome OS licenses free, rather than charging for them as Microsoft does for OEMs using Windows 8 – undercuts most regular notebook models. The C7, for instance – which we reviewed last year – is priced at just $199, though Wong says Acer spent some of the money it saved on licensing fees on marketing and promotions instead.

Acer now intends to launch Chrome OS devices more broadly, with particular hopes for the potential of the low-cost machines in developing markets. Unfortunately for Microsoft, that’s not the strategy Acer will be taking with Windows RT, the version of Windows intended for use on ARM-based tablets and notebooks. The company is still evaluating the platform, Wong says.

Meanwhile, Acer hopes to triple its smartphone sales in 2013, aiming for 1.5m sales globally and targeting individual carriers with specific devices, rather than blanketing the market. It’s likely that will involve Android, Google’s better-known OS.

Acer: Chromebooks good, Windows 8 bad is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HP dove into the Windows 8 ecosystem without hesitation, and the results of that effort are tons of new laptops and desktop computers, some of which are the company’s new ENVY TouchSmart all-in-one series of Windows 8 machines, which we first heard about back in September. They have an entry-level 20-inch model, as well as a 23-inch variant that we took for a spin. It has a fast quad-core processor, quick graphics, a lot of system memory, and a huge hard drive, not to mention the 1080p touchscreen. It’ll cost you, though: around $1,700 for this particular build, but the ENVY 23 TouchSmart (model d060qd) definitely has all the specs to make anyone happy. However, is it right for everyone? Let’s find out.

Setup

Setting up the new TouchSmart machine was fairly straightforward, with only a few roadblocks along the way. First of all, the instructions are completely worthless as far as setup goes, so if you’re usually one to rely on such paperwork, there’s no need to do so this time around. The booklet mostly just discusses maintaining the computer and troubleshooting various problems that could arise. Other than, there are only a few photos meant to help you set up the new computer, most of which were confusing and offered no text to describe the images whatsoever.

In any case, I was able to get up and running in about 10 minutes. The wireless keyboard and mouse connected right away during the initial bootup — no need to pair either devices, and I was looking at the Windows 8 home page in no time. Obviously, everyone expects a smooth and easy setup experience with new products, and HP definitely made it easy for me.

Hardware and Design

This specific review unit comes packing with incredible specs. There’s an Intel Core i7 3770S quad-core processor clocked at 3.1GHz, accompanied by 12GB of DDR3 RAM and a 3TB Seagate hard drive. Graphics-wise, we’re looking at an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M with 2GB of memory, which provides fast, middle-class performance in case you ever get caught playing any kind graphics-intensive title on your new touchscreen PC. Other than that, there’s Beats Audio integration, which provides three internal speakers along the bottom, as well as boosts performance for any speakers plugged into the audio jacks. You also have a slot-load Blu-ray drive on the right side. Of course, you also can’t forget about the 23-inch 10-point touchscreen display with a 1920×1080 full HD resolution.

As far as ports go, you have two USB 3.0 ports on the left side, along with a SD card slot and microphone and headphone jacks. On the back, there are four USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, and a nifty subwoofer-out port that allows for deeper sound out of the relatively puny speakers that are equipped with the ENVY 23 TouchSmart. Then, on the right side, there’s a lone HDMI port for connecting to an Xbox 360, PlaySation 3, or any other HDMI-capable device that can use the computer as a monitor or display.

As far as the placement of all the ports, I have to say that it’s all pretty scattered. It’s nice to have two USB ports, the SD card slot, and the audio jacks on the side for quick and easy access, but having the HDMI port all by itself on the right side doesn’t quite make sense — it seems it would make better sense if it was with all of the other connectivity options on the back. We’re also not sure why HP didn’t include more USB 3.0 ports on the back. Those with a USB 3.0 external hard drive may be disappointed by this, since you’ll be stuck with plugging it in on the side and having a USB cable stick out the whole time.

The ENVY 23 TouchSmart sits on a big base, which takes up most of the width of the computer and leaves a giant footprint on any desk. Unlike the iMac, and even one of Vizio’s latest all-in-one offerings, HP’s newest machine doesn’t have a small base in the middle. However, that’s mostly because the entire panel is supported by two beams on the sides, which then connect to the base, providing a frame-like structure to the computer. I have to say, though, that the base and the two supporting beams are fairly sturdy. While you can easily adjust the angle of the display without much effort, playing around with the touchscreen doesn’t affect the computer’s stance — it stays still extremely well, even through marathon sessions of tapping and scrolling.

The front of the display is completely covered in a single pane of glass, so when the screen is off, it looks like it’s a borderless display. However, the display has a rather thick bezel, which makes the computer look a little bulky and ancient. HP could’ve easily bumped up the screen size without making the machine any bigger, but most likely due to circumstances that are unbeknownst to me, I’m sure there was a reason why HP kept it at 23 inches with a thicker bezel. The display is pretty glossy, though, so if you plan on using the touchscreen portion (as opposed to the mouse and keyboard), expect a lot of fingerprints and smudges.

Sadly, the computer comes with a power brick attached to the power cord. It’s not too big of a deal, since most electrics come with one anyway, but all-in-one machines are supposed to be meant for saving space, so the power brick may be an unexpected surprise if you’re interested in going with this model. The end of the cord (the end that plugs into the computer) sits at a right angle, so in order to plug it in, you have to bend the cable so that it’s perpendicular to the wall, and then have it bend downwards to feed it behind your desk to be plugged into the outlet. It just make more sense if the connector was straight, or at the very least a 45-degree angle, which is actually gaining popularity with various cable manufacturers anyway.

Overall, the design of the ENVY 23 TouchSmart isn’t too bad. There are certainly things that I would change, including a slightly smaller base and a thinner bezel, but I love the sturdiness of the stand with the ability to adjust the angle of the display easily when need be. It would’ve nice to see some USB 3.0 ports on the back, instead of just on the side, but a total of six USB ports isn’t anything to complain about. The speaker quality was fairly good, and while it did sound a little tinny, it’s definitely an upgrade from what you would get with regular laptop speakers. There’s a lot more bass in these speakers, and if you pair them up with an external subwoofer, it’ll make for a pretty decent system for personal listening.

Software

As far as software goes, there’s actually not a lot of bloatware. There’s obviously a few HP-specific apps — some you may find useful, and others just an annoyance. The company pre-installed their “Connected” Photos and Music apps, both of which are HP’s own version of a photo manager and music player, respectively. Connected Photos is powered by Snapfish, and it not only lets you manage and organize your photo collection, but it also integrates with Facebook and you can easily push your smartphone photos to the app as well. The music player is HP’s own version of iTunes of sorts. You can manage and play your music, as well as browse popular music and even buy tracks right from the app. We’re not sure that most users would utilize these two apps, since there are far superior options out there, but the choice is there nonetheless.

HP also included their own backup app, similar to Time Machine on Mac, and they also have what’s called HP MyRoom, which is a video-conferencing app that resembles most other apps like it, such as Skype (which is also pre-installed interestingly enough). HP even has its own app store called HP+, where you can download games, entertainment apps, software, etc. Sadly, though, it’s lacking in content and doesn’t have a lot of options — you’re better off sticking with the Windows Store.

Other than that, HP included some non-HP apps into the bloatware mix, including Kindle, eBay, Netflix, Norton Antivirus, and Skype. Surprisingly enough, the computer arrives clean of most bloatware, and what’s already there shouldn’t bother the user at all, except for maybe Norton, which pesters you every now and then to activate or update the software. Besides that, though, the HP apps don’t get in the way too much, and if they do, you can simply move around the app tiles to hide the apps and make the homescreen how you want.

Performance

The computer comes with top-tier specs all around, so most users won’t have a problem with performance — the 3TB hard drive will hold plenty family photos and videos, as well as all the music you can think of. The processor is fast enough that apps open quickly, and nothing lags behind, which is great for those older folks that can’t stand anything slower than the Millenium Falcon at light speed. Benchmark scores from Geekbench were actually really decent, and it scored better than most of the newer all-in-ones that we’ve reviewed in the recent past, including Acer’s Aspire 7600U, which has a higher price tag, and it even beat out Apple’s newest iMac, although just barely. The ENVY 23 TouchSmart even kept right up with HP’s Z1 Workstation, which carries a hefty price tag of $2,700.

As far as everyday use, the TouchSmart boots up in about 25 seconds from the time the power button is pressed to the time when the desktop is ready to use. That’s certainly respectable, but considering that HP stuffed a 3TB hard drive inside, we can’t help but feel that the company could have also slipped in a solid state drive as well, just to boost the performance even more. As for the display, it’s a 10-point touchscreen, meaning it will register all ten fingers if need be. In brief, it’s basically feels like a 23-inch upright tablet, and it’s extremely responsive and smooth. It takes little effort to scroll through home screens and websites, and multi-point touch capability is pretty fantastic — pinch-to-zoom works well, and playing around in the painting app with multiple fingers was both fun and impressive.

Wrap-Up

In the end, the HP ENVY 23 TouchSmart can do pretty much anything you throw at it, and it can certainly handle the demanding needs of an entire family, from the little kids all the way up to the impatient grandparents. It comes with most of the features that you would want on a high-end all-in-one desktop — it’s got the large 1080p touchscreen display, a huge hard drive, gobs of RAM, and a super-fast processor. While there are definitely things that I could nitpick about, such as the large base, no USB 3.0 on the back, and a less-than-decent keyboard and mouse combo, I can’t really see how this computer wouldn’t cater to the everyday man or woman. And while the $1,700 may not look too great, the company’s 20-inch models start at around $1,000 if you’re looking for a smaller build. It’s certainly not a desktop that’s aimed towards a specific group of users, so if you’re looking for an all-around Windows 8 machine for the entire family, the ENVY all-in-one series meets the mark.

HP ENVY 23 TouchSmart Review is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We think there’s a lot to love about Windows 8, but not everybody feels that way. Some people hate it. Luckily, this computer store is offering a service to help the clueless users who want nothing more than to go back to Windows 7. More »