Crysis

3 Great Laptops Under Rs 40,000

Laptops today are universally becoming the first choice for anyone looking to upgrade. Rapidly falling prices, increased performance levels, and almost complete packages of multimedia and smooth multitasking are some of the reasons for this. Keeping these factors in mind, we decided to look around and shortlist three models that we think represent great VFM within the very price-sensitive market segment of under Rs 40,000. Here are our choices.

Compaq Presario C740TU
HP has to be commended for maintaining a clear differentiation in its product range. While the HP brand of laptops caters to the value and performance markets, the Compaq brand has been used to address the needs of the budget and ultra-value markets.

The Compaq Presario C740TU that we have chosen is currently one of the best VFM models available. It offers an Intel C2D T5450 processor which is clocked at 1.67 GHz, 512 MB RAM (upgradeable to 1 GB for an additional cost of Rs 1,450), a 15.4 inch LCD panel, 160 GB of HDD space and 3 USB slots. Its current street price is around Rs 34,000.

Though most users will today balk at the sparse amount of RAM being offered, please note that the laptop can be easily upgraded, inexpensively. The OS offered is Windows Visa Basic. A 1-year warranty is offered through Compaq's service centers.

Watch out for a review of this laptop, which will come up pretty soon. In the meantime you can check out a detailed specification list here.

Acer Aspire 2920N



It should come as no surprise to anyone that Acer has appeared on this lineup. Acer's last few releases have been driving this segment very hard, with products like its 4520 model, which did exceedingly well and was well appreciated.

This time around too the company had some of the best options available in this price bracket. One of these models is the Acer 2920N. It is perhaps one of the cheapest 12.1 inch laptops available now. It offers an Intel C2D T5450 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB storage and 3 USB slots. These are healthy specifications, and a price tag of just Rs 37,000 makes it a great portable choice for anyone who is looking for crunching power and portability .
Acer Aspire 5920N


It's Acer once again, this time with the 5920N. This is a 15.4-inch job with features similar to the 2920. It has the same specifications (Intel C2D T5450 processor, and 160GB of storage) but improves on the 2920 by offering 4 USB slots, a 4-in-1 Dolby Digital capable surround system, a DVD-RW writer, Firewire, and Bluetooth support.

Sanyo Xacti CG65

Holding a Sanyo Xacti CG65 is a pleasant experience that comes from a pistol-grip form factor; unique but functional. When everything is shrinking in size, Sanyo has made it a point to make the Xacti series a no-bull business, getting rid of hard drives or miniDVs to store information. And if you thought the trade-off meant reduction in quality, think again. But let me show you!

The digicam is light and compact enough to be easily shoved in your pocket with only a small bulge. The screen swivels and can be drawn out at various angles to keep you from straining your hands unnecessarily. It’s a 2.5-inch LCD display with 110,000 pixels. All the important buttons are placed within easy reach of your thumb.

The on/off button is hidden underneath the screen when shut, while the battery compartment at the bottom houses the memory card as well. That’s pretty much all that went into designing this baby, so let’s now look at its features.



Features
Offering a 6MP image sensor with 5x optical zoom, the CG65 features the all new high-precision large-scale integration engine III. All this is fine, but what you should know is that the digicam uses SD or SHDC cards to store information, allowing it to shed some weight. It uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format to save videos, while the sound is compressed in 16-bit AAC format.

Obviously, you can also shoot still images. It has a 6MP CCD (1/2.5-inch) sensor. However, the camera uses a pixel-interpolation filter to convert images from 6MP to a recorded equivalent of 10MP. Yet, saturation in pictures weren’t that evident. Of course, you would pick this one up for video recording, so it hardly matters.

Video recording is fun, especially because of its form factor. This makes it very easy to carry around; I had it in my pocket at all times. You may also find comfort in the fact that shooting with the CG65 means less strain on your wrist.


The quality of the video is decent; not extraordinary, but not bad at all. The videos I shot had a lot of mosaic compression, but the colors were good (mind you, I didn’t say vibrant). The camera can shoot at a maximum resolution of 640x480 pixels. The lens takes some time to focus; only a fraction of a second, but it's noticeable.

Performance

Shooting in the night translates into grainy videos, especially in night mode. But then the camera has a lamp mode. In this mode, I think the camera drops the frame rate to get long exposure, making everything around you more exposed. Yet I wouldn’t recommend night shooting unless you have adequate lighting.

The camera won't disappoint you in ample light. So if you are going to shoot birthday parties and suchlike, then you will love the sharpness – but only in good lighting conditions. What I don’t like is that where there details it can’t capture, the camera will end up smoothening it.

The camera is fast – startup takes about a second, and shooting starts instantly. The camera uses one rechargeable Lithium battery that for some reason isn’t power hungry. I shot comfortably for more than two hours, and the battery still didn't die on me. About 3 minutes of video will consume roughly about 71MB, so with a 2GB card you should be able to get about 43 minutes.

The device costs Rs 23,990, which I think is the right price considering the form factor and its features. You could consider this, now that you know what it can do – and if fits the bill.

Shure SE210 In-ear phones

The last time we reviewed a Shure was in our in-ear showdown, where it scored high. This time we have for review a higher-end model from the SE series itself, the SE210. It's marketed as 'noise isolation' and not noise cancellation, which is astute from a marketing angle. It comes with a hefty price tag, so let's put it under a thorough scan...

Design
We received a white model; I believe black is available too. The box pack contains the earphones, a flattish oval shaped zipper carry case, with a black matte exterior. This case has a small pouch containing numerous extra sleeves (7 pairs) of a couple of different sizes, made of rubber and foam.

One white sleeve caught my eye; something that was absent in previously reviewed lower end stuff. It was a triple-flanged sleeve; simply put, it had three concentric ‘mushroom heads’ rather than one. It can go pretty deep into the ears. A thin black cleaning device is also included, which is useful for power users.

The SE210 in-ear phones are just what you’d expect from a pro audio company, at least in terms of design and aesthetics. Simplicity and effectiveness are the hallmarks. One point to note is that the earphone tends to slip off if you put it straight on from the front. Putting it over the ear pinna creates a firmer grip. Though some amount of adjusting allow them to stay firm from the front also.

The nozzle and enclosure are white, with a grey body feeding out to similar colored grey wires. These terminate in an EP (3.5mm) jack all too soon, though a modular extension is provided. Factory fitted, the piece comes with foam sleeves, which I personally don’t like. I prefer the rubber, though this is a truly subjective point as the material of the sleeves doesn’t really create audible differences. Note the use of the word 'audible'.

Technically Speaking
Like most modern canal phones, these come with a balance armature micro-speaker, with a thin protruding tube over which you attach the sleeves. The sensitivity is 114 dB SPL/1 mW, while the impedance is 26 ohm. The 26 ohm rating is lower than 32 ohm rating seen in most models, so we can expect a little ‘loudness’ due to efficiency. The frequency range is 25 Hz – 18.5 KHz, which is sufficient.

Performance


We first ran the piece through a some software tests, consisting of audio tones and sweeps, to check the caliber of sound produced. I generally don’t do this for consumer level in-ear phones, but these are from Shure, and they deserve a respectable run through.

The bass response below 30 Hz rolls off very sharply, while at around 2-4 KHz I had to reduce the volume somewhat to bring back comfortable listening levels, hinting at a bump around that area. That's it though, we’ll keep it to the subjective tests – it's the quality of sound that matters in the end.

So we moved on to music, consisting of some .flacs and CDs first, then we tried some MP3s at 128 kbps upwards. The sound was definitely loud, and also had a well-segregated dynamic range, which exposed subtler nuances that are easily discernible in uncompressed music. The body of the sound was thick and whole; this coupled with brilliant noise isolation results in a very intimate and clear response.

As for criticism (that’s what we’re paid for!) I didn't find the bass all that spectacular, considering the price. The mids were a tad forward for my taste, though not harsh at all, just a wee bit up. Highs were clear and airy, and the overall response might appeal to many listeners. The sound is much better than in some cheaper pieces, with more depth and decent punch, but again, that ‘thumping’ tightness is not there.

Conclusion
The Rs 7500 price tag is not overly high, but I must say I'm a little disappointed. For this price I'd expect more. The clarity on the high frequency side is good, and I’m sure stuff like this doesn’t get 'spoiled', so it’s a one time investment – provided you don’t chew the wires. The previous Shure SE110 we reviewed was way better. For this one, if possible, I'd recommend an audition before purchase.

LG Officially Launches the KF510 Globally

We said it would be out in March and here it is, LG’s KF510 has been launched globally today, but don’t expect it on shelves so soon. With it’s dazzling color gradations of Stardust Dark Gray and Sunset Red on the full metal exterior, smooth slider and of course gleaming LED lights of the navigation touchpad.

This slim slider is just 10.9mm thin. It has a 2.2 inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 256k colors. Its other features include a 3 megapixel autofocus camera with a flash and image stabilizer technology, Bluetooth with an A2DP profile, a media player for audio and video and an FM radio. It also supports external memory via microSD cards and supports EDGE and GPRS.

What makes this phone really stand out are the LED lights on the touch sensitive navigation pad. The KF510 uses a new ‘Interactive Touch Lighting’ system that is animated in sequence to the features being used on the phone. The handset also has an Auto Luminance Control (ALC), which self-adjusts to the brightness of the LED screen.

"With its sleek aesthetic and superior technology, it will appeal to many discerning consumers that value both style and substance." said Dr. Skott Ahn, CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

LG-KF510 will be available at most major mobile retailers in regions including Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, from April. Sadly no price tag seems to have been disclosed yet.

Samsung's G600 is Now a Ladies Phone

It seems like there are more and more mobiles being designed for the not-so-weaker sex. And why not? I ask you. After all, without being sexist, I think that’s why the telephone was invented, for people who love to talk. Samsung's G600 with its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with image stabilizer technology and other multimedia capabilities has now been slightly modified to suit the fairer sex. Then again, I presumed that mobile phones were unisex as it is.

he new G600 Belle will be out in Burgundy and get this – the packaging will include three bottles of nail polish by nail inc. Of course the regular features remain unchanged. They include Bluetooth with A2DP, a video and audio player, stereo FM radio, microSD memory card support and of course it still has it’s 2.2 inch, 240 x 360 pixel resolution, 16 million color TFT display. Let’s not forget, the G600 also has a TV out feature, supports and EDGE and Bluetooth printing.

The Samsung G600 will be available through phones4u.co.uk starting on April 1 and hopefully it’ll also be out here, so ladies hold on to your... well whatever it is you hold on to.

Transcend Introduces 4GB aXeRam DDR2-1066

Transcend has introduced its 4GB aXeRam Extreme Performance DDR2-1066+ dual-channel memory kit designed specifically for overclocking in the Indian market. This kit includes a matching pair of 1066MHz tested and verified 2GB DDR2-1066+ modules, which provide dual-channel memory bandwidth of up to 17GB/s. The 240-pin unbuffered DIMMs included in the kit are each made of 16 high-quality 128Mx8 DDR2 DRAM chips.
This new product also includes support for Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP), which allow users to automatically configure EPP-enabled motherboards with aggressive memory settings for better memory and system performance, especially when using dual video cards.

Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC & AP, Transcend said, "We are responsive to our customer's evolving needs. Gamers, animators, and all power users have a strong appetite for powerful memory resulting in enhanced performance. Transcend's aXeRam memory will deliver amazing overclocking performance while maintaining rock-solid system stability."

The Extreme Performance kit carries a 3 year warranty. However the price of the product is not known as of right now. We will update it as soon as we have more information.