So I finally returned back home from vacation and finally had a chance to unbox my new power supply, more specifically the Silverstone SST-1000W.

The reason that I chose to buy the Strider is the fact that it’s 100% modular, even the 24-pin connector is removable! Now this might seem really unnecessary to a lot of people but if you are a computer enthusiast like me you might want to sleeve your power supplies’ cables and that’s when having the modular 24-pin cable really makes things easier. It also doesn’t hurt on the rare occasion that the cable goes bust.

Now to the main reason I chose to go with the SilverStone Strider: The price. I was able to buy it for 145€ (which should be around $145 since the tech market converts 1:1). At that price it’s a great deal, it’s 25% cheaper than the Corsair 1000W which was my first choice. I still think that the Corsair might be a little bit better and I always loved the company, but if you’re a student like me, or just short on money, a $50 difference is quite significant.

Moving on to the SilverStone Strider 1000W…

Specifications are as follows:

Dimensions:

150 mm (W) x 86 mm (H) x 180 mm (D)
Weight: 3kg
Cooling: 135mm fan
Noise: 22dBA minimum

Connectors:

1 x 24-pin motherboard connector (550mm)
1 x 8-pin EPS12V connector (550mm)
1 x 8/4-pin EPS/ATX12V connector (550mm)
2 x 8-pin PCI-E connector (550mm)
6 x 6-pin PCI-E connector (550mm)
2 x triple SATA connector (500mm +250mm + 250mm)
2 x triple 4-pin IDE & single floppy power connectors
(500mm + 250mm + 250mm + 150mm)

Video below:

Introduction:

The Acer Aspire Timeline 1410TZ/1810TZ is the most recent addition to Acer’s Timeline-series. It’s a very slim ultra portable notebook that weighs in at just below 3 pounds (1,35KG) measuring 285×30x204 mm with it’s 11.6 inch screen. With it’s light weight and small size it’s perfect for those who want to take it to class everyday or bring it along during trips. The one thing that really sticks out about this notebook is the fact that it has a HDMI port which means that you’ll be able to plug it into your flatscreen TV and play High Definition movies directly from your notebook. But enough introduction, let’s get on with the review.

Acer Aspire Timeline 1810TZ

My 1810TZ came with the following specifications:

Processor: Intel SU4100 1.3GHz (dual core)

Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD

Memory: 3 GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM (1x 2048 module+ 1x 1024 module)

HDD: 320 GB 5400 RPM Hitachi

Battery: 6-cell Li-ion 5600mAh

Connectivity: Wireless b/g/Draft-N and Bluetooth 2.0

Price: 600€ – Keep in mind though that in the rest of Europe it should be around 550€ and in the US closer to $550.

Screen

The screen on the 1410TZ/1810TZ is a LED backlit 11.6” screen, enabling a resolution of 1366×768. When on full brightness the screen is very bright and I found it to be more than enough and sometimes I even turned it down a bit because I found it too bright. When turned down to minimum brightness it was usable while in a well lit room, although it could be a strain for the eyes if used for extended periods of time.

The screen has some flex to it but no discolouration appears on the screen when putting some pressure on the lid.

Real life performance and Benchmarks

The major difference between the 1410T/1810T and the TZ model is that the latter come with a SU4100 dual core processor instead of the T model’s SU3500 single core. For many people the single core would do just fine but as I wanted to be able to multitask a fair amount I chose to go with the TZ model and it’s dual core.

I’ve had no issues whatsoever playing the 720P or 1080p sample videos off of Microsoft’s website, it runs very smoothly and there are no lost frames during playback. Playing Youtube videos in High Quality isn’t a problem either and I have yet to come across a clip that it couldn’t handle.

Playing a Youtube video on HQ while using word or similar hasn’t been a problem either and I am actually pleasantly surprised at how well this notebook performs while multitasking. I also tried some Sony Vegas video editing and while it won’t be as fast as on a desktop it goes smoothly enough for you not to get frustrated at.

Moving on to the benchmarks.

PCMark05 Benchmark

PCMark Vantage Benchmark

3DMark06 Benchmark

CrystalDiskmark 2.2 Benchmark

3DMark03 Benchmark

HDTune 2.55 Benchmark

Aesthetics

The lid and the area surrounding the screen is painted in an extremely glossy (black in my case) finish. The glossy finish makes the notebook look very sleek and modern while not drawing too much attention. The backside of this is the fact that it’s a fingerprint magnet and any scratches will be especially noticeable.

The palm rest on the other hand is a grey-silver brushed metal and luckily does not attract any fingerprints. The touchpad, which has the same colour as the palm rests is barely visible unless you’re looking closely or from the right angle and this makes the notebook look even more stylish.

Keyboard & Touchpad

The keyboard is a full sized chiclet-type keyboard and I have no problem using it. The keyboard feels good to use, I’ve used it for almost a week now and after the first day of getting used to a new notebook keyboard I have no problem touch typing on it. The keys have some slight flex to them but I have not found that to be a problem although some people might be bothered by it. I especially enjoy the big right shift-key and the big return-key as they fit my “typing style”.

The touchpad is multi-gesture that enables you to scroll, go back and forth with a two finger slide movement to either side and zoom by pinching or extending the space between two fingers on the touchpad.

The mouse buttons are responsive and feel solid, although I have been using an external mouse most of the time but I have had no problems while using the touchpad.

Webcam, Microphone and Speakers

At first I was very disappointed in the quality of the webcam, even though it’s “only” a 0.3MP camera. After looking closely though I saw that there was a small film of plastic covering the webcam, so before you try to troubleshoot the quality of the camera, make sure that you’ve removed the plastic film!

The microphone quality is, as expected, not very good but it will do fine if you’re just having a video conversation or talking to someone on Skype or similar.

The speakers aren’t going to blow you away either, they’re pretty much like the build in speakers of other <12″ models. I mainly use headphones though so I can’t really say much more about the quality of the speakers. They are located just beneath the palm rests which gives you decent sound while sitting infront of it although if you’re using it on your lap your legs might very well cover the speakers making it sound muffled, also listening from anywhere other than the front distorts the sound a bit.

Heat and Noise

During normal usage the notebook is extremely silent, unless it’s completely silent in your workspace you have to put your ear to the keyboard/or near the fans to be able to tell if it’s turned on or off. When stressed the fans are audible but I have only had that happen a few times when pushing the system to it’s limit while doing such things as benchmarks.

When used for an extended period of time on for instance, a bed or cushion where the fans are partially or fully covered the notebook does get a bit warm on the left hand side.

The AC adapter also gets hot after some time plugged in but not uncomfortably hot, I had no problem holding it after it had been plugged in for several hours.

Battery

The battery that came with my 1810TZ is a 6 cell Li-ion battery with 5600mAh and is supposed to be able to keep the notebook running for 8 hours. During my use I have found this to be a correct estimate. You won’t be getting 8+ hours out of it if you’re constantly pushing it to it’s limits or watching youtube videos. I haven’t been able to do a proper battery draining test yet but I’ve used it at mid-brightness with Open Office and Mozilla Firefox in class and I haven’t had to recharge it any time during the day and usually had about 25% battery life left when I came home.

Conclusion

The Acer Aspire Timeline 1410/1810TZ is a very good choice if you feel like netbooks are too small for you. With the 1410/1810TZ you get a bigger keyboard and higher resolution for that extra screen real estate but it comes at a higher price than netbooks. The 1810TZ comes out at roughly double the price of netbooks which can feel too expensive for some but for me I must say that I am very happy with this ultra portable notebook.

Pro’s:

Dual core processor

100% keyboard

1366×768 resolution

HDMI

Size & Weight

Big 320GB HDD

Extremely Lightweight

8hours+ of battery life

Cons:

Glossy screen&lid (might be a pro for some but I’d much rather have it matte)

Price

To top it off here’s some more images:

The new W860CU is based on the same platform as the M15x, Calpella. That means that the W860CU, much like the M15x runs the newly released Intel Mobile Core i7 processors.
There are some differences though, the biggest one being the Graphics cards.
While the M15x is limited to either GT 240M or the upgradeable to the GTX 260M the W860CU comes standard with the stronger GTX 280M. Which makes one question Alienware’s “All Powerful” slogan.

But now let’s take a look at the components and pricing

The base specifications comes out at $1692 after cash discount (XoticPC, US) or £1224* (Kobalt Computers, UK) and runs the following

15.6” HD+ 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1600×900) with Super Clear Glare Type Screen
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor, 1.60-2.80GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10
2,048MB DDR3 1333MHz Memory (1 SODIMM)
Combo 8×8x6×4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW
250GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 – 8MB Cache) *
Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
Internal Bluetooth + EDR *
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio – Included
Basic Black Business Case – Included
11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
3 Year Labor 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC) *
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs

(above information taken from XoticPC)
Note that no Operating System (OS) is included in this price

*The UK pricing includes a 320GB 7200RPM HDD instead of a 250GB 5400RPM
Does not include Bluetooth (£25 upgrade)
Comes with a 1 year European Collect & Return

Fully specced out we’re up to $4426 after discount (XoticPC, US) or £3348* (Kobalt Computers, UK)

15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920×1080) with Super Clear Glare Type Screen With Finger Print Reader
Intel® Core™ i7-920XM processor, 2.0-3.20GHz, (45nm, 8MB L3 cache)
nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
8,192MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
2X Blue-Ray Burner/Reader / 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
160GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA II) *
Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
Internal Bluetooth + EDR
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio – Included
Basic Black Business Case – Included
11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) + Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Upgrade Coupon
3 Year Parts/Labor Warranty 24/7 Tech Support w/ LCD Accidental Damage Protection *

(above information taken from XoticPC)

* The UK pricing includes a 250GB OCZ Vertex SSD instead of the 160GB Intel X25-M and a
3 Year – European Collect & Return

The W860CU is estimated to start shipping the 5th of October and is now available for pre-order at high-end retailers such as XoticPC (US) and Kobalt Computers(UK).

A full review is coming once I’ve had a chance to try it out and have time to run some benchmarks and real life tests but for now I leave you with the unboxing:

The new Alienware M15x is a 15,6″ notebook that will be running the new Mobile Intel Core i7 that were announced today starting out with the i7 720QM running at 1.6GHz (2.8GHz in Turbo Mode with 6MB Cache) but with the option to upgrade it all the way up to an i7 920XM that runs at 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode with 8MB Cache).
On the GPU side it comes with a 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 240M with the ability to upgrade it to a 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M.

The M15x starts out at $1,499 in the U.S with the following specifications (European prices unknown for now)

Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit) with Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Coupon
Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 240M
15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600×900 (900p) WLED
3GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary – 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty

Fully maxed out the price tag comes out at $5,227 with the following specifications

Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) + Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade Coupon – English
Intel Core i7 920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
15.6-inch WideFHD 1920×1080 (1080p) WLED
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz – 2 x 4096MB
256GB Solid State Drive
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary – 9-cell (85Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
4 year InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis+ MyTechTeam

The Alienware M15x is now avaible for pre-order at www.dell.com