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Everyday laptops

The Sony Vaio E Series laptops are designed as everyday laptops, with a fresh new “wrap around” design for 2012. This reminds us slightly of the folded design of the Sony Tablet S and it’s a design we like.

Separating the E Series from models higher up the Vaio range, like the S Series, these are finished in plastic. It’s a noticeable difference, but the plastics look and feel like good quality.

There are 14-, 15- and 17-inch models available of the new E series, with black, white silver colours. We played with the white version and we like the contrast between the white surfaces and black sides; it’s slightly reminiscent of a Stormtrooper’s uniform.?

The keyboard has a very nice action to it and seems well supported, with flex not being a problem from the time we spent playing with the notebooks on show.

The display of the 17-inch model we played with offers a resolution of 1600 x 900 in a 16:9 aspect. The screen is nice and vibrant, offering good viewing angles.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a choice of hardware available, with the option for AMD graphics, which you’ll need in place if you want to opt for the Core i7 model with Blu-ray player.?

Otherwise, the large chassis means you have plenty of space for connectivity, with 4x USB, Ethernet, HDMI and VGA around the sides, with card readers on the front edge.

Overall we like the design of the new E series and the new sizes mean plenty more options for a more affordable Vaio notebook. Expect to pay from ?410 depending on the size you opt for.

Tags:
Hardware Laptops Sony Sony Vaio E series

Sony Vaio E Series pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 13:22:26 +0100

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Everyday laptops

The Sony Vaio E Series laptops are designed as everyday laptops, with a fresh new “wrap around” design for 2012. This reminds us slightly of the folded design of the Sony Tablet S and it’s a design we like.

Separating the E Series from models higher up the Vaio range, like the S Series, these are finished in plastic. It’s a noticeable difference, but the plastics look and feel like good quality.

There are 14-, 15- and 17-inch models available of the new E series, with black, white silver colours. We played with the white version and we like the contrast between the white surfaces and black sides; it’s slightly reminiscent of a Stormtrooper’s uniform.?

The keyboard has a very nice action to it and seems well supported, with flex not being a problem from the time we spent playing with the notebooks on show.

The display of the 17-inch model we played with offers a resolution of 1600 x 900 in a 16:9 aspect. The screen is nice and vibrant, offering good viewing angles.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a choice of hardware available, with the option for AMD graphics, which you’ll need in place if you want to opt for the Core i7 model with Blu-ray player.?

Otherwise, the large chassis means you have plenty of space for connectivity, with 4x USB, Ethernet, HDMI and VGA around the sides, with card readers on the front edge.

Overall we like the design of the new E series and the new sizes mean plenty more options for a more affordable Vaio notebook. Expect to pay from ?410 depending on the size you opt for.

Tags:
Hardware Laptops Sony Sony Vaio E series

Sony Vaio E Series pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 13:22:26 +0100

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Diablo III marks the return of one of the all-time great PC game series. Ten years in development, the game is now live and ticking along nicely on PCs the world over.

It’s available in several different versions, but for the true fan there can be only one choice; the collector’s edition. Pocket-lint has got one of the epic boxes and has put together a hands-on for you, so you can decide whether the ?170 set is worth it.

So what’s in the box? First, there’s a full version of the game for either PC or Mac. We have been getting our teeth stuck into it for a while now and will have a review once we get closer to tackling the vast gameplay load it contains.

The collector’s edition also throws in some exclusive in game items in the form of angel wings, an exclusive banner and special dye with which to colour your armour sets. For World of Warcraft fans, you get a special Diablo III style pet called a fetish shaman. If you play Starcraft II, then there are unique battle.net portraits based around Diablo characters.

Just as the collector’s version of Starcraft II came with a rather awesome USB key, Diablo III takes it one step further. A rather hefty Diablo skull, with a 4GB USB soulstone rammed inside it, is included. This is cool enough by itself, but it goes one better, as the soulstone USB comes preloaded with Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

Satisfying your Diablo lust even further is a two-disc behind-the-scenes DVD and Blu-ray set which features more than an hour of interviews with the folks at Blizzard who put the game together. We’ve watched it, and for the hardcore fan there’s nothing better. Adding to the Diablo III media is a CD with the entire game’s soundtrack, should you want to listen to its sounds while away from your PC.

The real highlight, apart from the actual game, is the game artwork book. At 208 pages it is a fairly meaty read. It goes all the way from pre-development concept art to 3D renderings of characters that appear in the game. The majority of it is seriously impressive and would take pride of place on any Diablo fan’s mantlepiece

That’s it, plenty to play with in the collector’s edition as well as it being one of the best PC games released in a long time. For the true Diablo obsessive the collector’s edition seems more than worth it and will retain a lot of its value should you plan on selling it later. Otherwise, just go and grab the game: we can see the allure of a huge Diablo skull USB key in terms of looks, but for practicality, there is no chance it’ll fit in your pocket.

Tags:
Gaming PC gaming Diablo III

Diablo III collector’s edition pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 18 May 2012 11:23:00 +0100

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“Longest talktime of any smartphone”

Just how important is a good battery life on a smartphone to you? Very according to Motorola. With that in mind its been busy working away at its Motorola RAZR MAXX, a smartphone that doesn’t skimp on features, but most importantly won’t die on you before the day’s out.

The Motorola RAZR MAXX is no shrinking violet. It’s got a huge 4.3-inch display with a thick border surrounding it, meaning you almost have to stretch you hand around the device when making a call and you’ll certainly be aware of it while it’s in your pocket.

Yet Moto has managed to keep the waistline down to an impressive 8.99mm, which helps explain why it feels far lighter than it looks – 145g.

There’s a slight chin at the top of the rear of the phone in order to accommodate the 8-megapixel camera and LED flash. The power button is located on the right hand side of the phone – as you look at the display – just around the point your forefinger would rest when taking a call in your left hand. Perhaps we’re being pernickety but we have concerns that we might inadvertently switch the phone off mid-conversation.

There’s no removable back cover with the SIM, micro at that, being inserted in the bottom left side of the phone. The protective door, which also leads to the microSD card slot, felt a little flimsy especially as you need to pull it right back to access either port.

Found on the top of the phone is an HDMI, microUSB and 3.5mm headset jack neither of which comes with cumbersome pullout door. A headset jack positioned at the top of the phone is always preferable because it makes it easier to take the phone out of your pocket without damaging your plugged in headphones.

Fire up the phone and an impressively vibrant Super AMOLED Advanced display greets you. It’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and has a resolution of 540×960 pixels. It really is quite stunning, especially when you turn the brightness to full, which you can afford to do thanks to the mammoth battery life, right?

So far so good. Now for the not so good. Once switched on it’s immediately apparent that this is no Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone. Well not yet anyway. Running on Gingerbread 2.3 from launch, Moto hopes to upgrade the phone to ICS by the end of Q2 2012.

The processor is also only dual-core 1.2GHz. It seems ridiculous to baulk at a processor of this magnitude, but the truth is with more and more smartphones featuring quad-core processors the bar has been raised. To be fair when playing with the phone it was a far from lethargic experience, though it did take a while for images to appear on any shortcuts we set.

Motorola has also included its innovative “Smart Actions” feature, also found on the previous RAZR. You can set the RAZR MAXX to administer specific functions depending on where you are and what you’re doing.

For example, have a meeting scheduled in your Google Calendar and the RAZR MAXX will automatically put itself in silent mode. What’s more should you have… erm…. a wife who’s about to go into labour for example, you can set a VIP number (ie, your wife’s) which will overrule the Smart Action and ring as normal. There are plenty of other actions to have a play with, such as automatically firing up the music player as soon as a pair of headphones are inserted.

The MotoCast app is also on board which enables you to access music, documents and photos from a remote computer either by streaming or downloading it to the Motorola RAZR MAXX. The files will then be stored locally on the phone, meaning you can access them even when offline. The remote computer will have to be switched on in order to access the files originally, but it makes for a useful alternative to cloud storage.

In terms of memory we’re looking at 1GB RAM and 16GB ROM, with a 16GB microSD card also included, though it can support cards of up to 32GB, which we’d recommend investing in especially if you plan to use the MotoCast app.

Yet, as Motorola kept telling us, the Motorola RAZR MAXX is all about a long battery life. So all that’s left to say, according to the manufacturer, is that the 3300 mAh capacity battery should provide up to 1,056 minutes talktime, the “longest of any smartphone” according to Moto, and over 25 days standby.

We’ll be bringing you a full in-depth review of the Motorola RAZR MAXX before you have time to run one out of juice.

The Motorola RAZR MAXX is available now from Clove, Expansys and Amazon.

Tags:
Phones Motorola RAZR Maxx Motorola Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Motorola RAZR MAXX pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:33:00 +0100

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13-incher fondled

The updated Sony Vaio S series ushers new Intel hardware into a body that’s constructed from premium materials giving you a slim and portable powerhouse.

The starting price sets it close to the asking price of the Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook, but the S series offers a lot more potential for customisation and configuration. For starters there is a wide range of colour options and 15 and 13-inch screen sizes. We looked at a black 13-incher.

Rather than presenting the slick lines of the Vaio T13, the S Series models offer more connections and more buttons. That might only really amount to an additional USB (along with the optical drive, of course), but it also means you get things like a fingerprint scanner and a switch to change power modes.

Importantly you’ll be able to get up to an Intel Core i7 under the skin, along with an optical drive, a Blu-ray even, as well as the option of a higher resolution display and Nvidia graphics display if you pick the right model.

The finish is very good, with the backlit keyboard offering a nice action, even if there appears to be a fair amount of flex there. The wide trackpad makes it easy to get around the display and the palm rest feel luxurious when you get down to serious typing.

The display is bright and vibrant and offered great viewing angles from the time we spent peering at it.

Starting at about ?600, there are 15 and 13-inch versions of the Sony Vaio S Series available, with a choice of processors, as well as plenty of other options to choose from.?

Tags:
Hardware Laptops Sony sony vaio S Sony Vaio S Series Photos

Sony Vaio S Series pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:38:00 +0100

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