I am reviewing the HP Pavilion DM4 Series Beats Edition notebook computer which is a 14” notebook that is intended as a bridge between the ultraportable notebook class of portable computer and the common 15” laptop that most people would work with. This is a consumer-class laptop that has been optimised with the full functionality like dual graphics, “tuned” sound reproduction and high RAM / hard-disk capacity while sing a smaller screen to permit portability.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The HP Pavilion dm4 BeatsAudio Edition is finished in an all-black finish with red lettering throughout. The keyboard surround is a rubberised finish while the lid and the rest of the base are finished in a satin-black metallic finish. The display and its surround are, on the other hand, finished in a reflective finish.

It doesn’t feel “tacky” in any way to use and there is a sense of good build quality with this laptop, in a similar way to most consumer laptops that are on the market nowadays.

User interface

The keyboard on the HP Pavilion dm4 BeatsAudio Edition notebook has a lot of issues that can affect its useability. For example, the keys are finished in that cheap slippery plastic and are labelled with dull red lettering which can be annoying for most users. This is due to the emphasis on the “BeatsAudio” design and could be improved with illuminated keys. It still works well for touch-typing but the home keys need to be made easier to locate by touch. It is also worth noting that the B key is marked in the form of the “BeatsAudio” logo as another way of highlighting the marketing theme in this computer.

Even the B key is styled like the BeatsAudio logo

The trackpad works as expected and is distinctly identifiable, with distinctly-identifiable selection buttons. This goes against the trend with some laptops where the trackpad is simply an unmarked area with two buttons or a “Macbook-style” large square area with zones for primary and secondary selection.

This is augmented by a one-touch key for opening the Web browser and you have to use the Fn key and the function keys  to operate other functions like on most laptops.

Audio and Video

The audio subsystem has been tuned by BeatsAudio, which has been founded by Dr. Dre, one of the US’s major rappers, in a similar vein to how Leo Fender, the name behind the iconic Stratocaster electric guitars founded BBE as an audio-reproduction tuning technology.  This has led to improved bass response and presence in music playback with older and newer pop-music recordings even through the integrated speakers. Here, the sound appears to “come forward” and the notebook’s speakers sound on a par with a midsized portable radio. This isn’t just true for music playback. Speech and sound effects in movies and similar audiovisual work comes forward with the clarity and this can also help when the HP Pavilion dm4 is used as a speakerphone with IP telephony software like Skype.

Left hand side connections - VGA video, Ethernet, HDMI video, USB 2.0 x 2

The graphics subsystem is a dual-mode type with Intel Sandy-Bridge integrated graphics and an AMD Radeon discrete graphics chipset. The graphics operating mode is set according to the application you run on the computer rather than a manually-selected “all-or-nothing” setup. This is so you can have the advanced games and graphics-editing packages engage the “overdrive” offered by the discrete graphics when they are used whereas the computer works in economy mode with integrated graphics when you are working with other applications that don’t depend on the graphics performance like office applications.

The only letdown with this is that the laptop uses a very glossy screen which can be annoying to use in bright lighting conditions. This is especially if you dim the display in order to gain more battery runtime.

Connectivity and Expansion

The HP dm4 Series has the typical list of connection options expected for a mainstream consumer laptop. This is in the form of 3 USB 2.0 sockets, a Gigabit Ethernet socket as well as VGA and HDMI video-output sockets and a jack for use with headphones or a microphone. It has Bluetooth and 802.11g/n Wi-Fi as its wireless connectivity options.

Right-hand side connections - DVD burner, headphone / microphone jack, USB 2.0 port, power socket

But there are a few connectivity options that I would like to see for this laptop in this day and age. For example, I would like to have one of the USB sockets be a USB 3.0 type or a USB / eSATA combo socket in order to allow one to benefit from high-speed connectivity to direct-connected external storage devices i.e. external hard disks. It could also benefit from either dual-band 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity or one of the newer multi-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi network setups for increased reliability and wireless network throughput. But the connectivity set may appeal to most typical household users.

Battery life

I ran the HP Pavilion dm4 BeatsAudio Edition through the DVD run-down test with a feature-movie DVD and it was able to play on for 4 hours 14 minutes. This is using the integrated graphics but having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on. There may be a slight reduction in the runtime if Windows Media Player was to use the discrete graphics. Similarly, I was able to engage in mixed activities involving word-processing, Web browsing and, in some cases, YouTube video viewing with this laptop running on battery power.

Other facts about this laptop

Rear view with the BeatsAudio logo

This laptop also has a “Quick-Web” shell that allows you to head to the Web when you switch it on. This starts by default when you cold-boot it from “Hibernate” mode but you can head to Windows using the “Stand-by” option on this shell.

Limitations And Points Of Improvements

The main limitation that I have noticed with the HP Pavilion dm4 Series BeatsAudio Edition is the way the keyboard is designed. It could be improved through a rubber-feel keyboard with brighter labelling or illuminated keys and the latter option could add “cool factor” to this computer.

For connectivity, this laptop could benefit from a USB 3.0 or eSATA socket for use with external storage devices and / or dual-band 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi networking so it can benefit from advanced Wi-Fi networks.

Conclusion

The HP Pavilion dm4 Series BeatsAudio Edition notebook exists as a bridge between the 13” ultraportable computers which don’t often have functionality like 500Gb hard disks, dual-mode “overdrive” graphics or extra connectivity and the larger more popular 15” laptops that have the full function set. Here, this could work well for students in senior-secondary or tertiary studies; or simply as a large-screen alternative to computers like the Toshiba Satellite L730 ultraportable.

It still is suitable for those Wi-Fi-equipped cafes and bars

This also includes users like hotspot surfers or long-distance travellers who are after a portable computer with the ability to be taken from place to place easily such as from cafe to cafe yet have a larger screen and hte functions of the full-size 15″ laptop.

I am reviewing Hewlett-Packard’s latest business inkjet multifunction printer which is the OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus. This unit is to supersede the previously-reviewed HP OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus and, as you will see later through the review, will have some improvements over that model, especially the ability to print on both sides of the paper “to the edge”.

Prices

Printer

Recommended retail price: AUD$499

Inks and Toners

The printer itself

Distinctly-shaped automatic document feeder

Of course, the feature that makes the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus identifiable is the single-piece automatic document feeder design. Unlike most multifunction printers which use a removable or fold-over document input tray, this printer implements an integrated input tray, which creates a stylish design and reduces the need to do any further setup.

Setup

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus was very easy to set up and add to the network and can connect to a Wi-Fi wireless or a wired Ethernet network. Like most business printers, it is future-proof with dual-stack IPv6 support, which would certainly benefit businesses who are heading down this next-generation network setup or are considering next-generation broadband.

When I wanted to enable the OfficeJet’s ePrint functionality, the printer failed to download the whole file completely and properly. Typically this was caused by server timeout problems and the printer would take the necessary “anti-brick” procedures too readily. This could be improved through the use of background downloading for the necessary software, especially if the update was part-finished.

Once loaded, the ePrint functionality had worked as expected with the email-to-print functionality and access to the HP ePrint app library. It also worked properly with my Android copy of the HP ePrint Home & Biz app, which allows for greater control over the print output from mobile devices; as well as being able to scan to the mobile device.

Walk-up functions

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus can work as a copier with the ability to copy both sides of a document very quickly, a speed slightly shorter than its predecessor. There is also an ID copy function which is supported by assistance animations on the unit’s LCD.

Of course, the OfficeJet can print from and scan to memory cards or USB memory keys, thus working as a standalone printing appliance. In addition, the printer can scan documents either to an email address or a network folder, but these require the use of desktop software to configure these services for your network. As far as scan-to-folder is concerned, the printer can work with any network-storage setup that uses the standard protocols like SMB, which means that it can scan to a NAS device as well as a server or regular computer.

The unit has an integrated colour fax machine for use with regular telephony services with the ability to forward faxes to email or store them on a network storage. The main limitation with using this function for remote “scan-via-fax” operations is that you are typically limited to 300dpi black-and-white images due to the limitations of the Group 3 fax technology.

Computer functions

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus’s computer software loaded very smoothly and worked as expected for a printer that is to be part of the Windows 7 ecosystem. This included support for the Device Stage functionality and integration with applications that have distinct control over the printer.

The software is still very useable and works well with the operating system in an unobtrusive way. There is the ability to set the printer to scan to the computer or to storage on the network like a NAS. This latter situation requires the use of utility software that is supplied as part of the printer for setting up the scan destination. The same software can be used for setting up scan-to-email destinations. But if you set up a scan-to-computer arrangement, the software’s scan monitor works very unobtrusively.

Useability

Illuminated print-mechanism bay

This printer has its ink cartridges loaded from the front in a similar manner to its predecessor and the Brother inkjet printers. But the similarity stops here. When you drop down the access door to gain access to the cartridges, the print bay is illuminated so you can easily identify paper jams. This makes the printer much more easily serviceable compared to the typical laser printer.

A feature that makes the printer identifiable is the single-piece automatic document feeder design. Unlike most multifunction printers which use a removable or fold-over document input tray, this printer implements an integrated input tray, which creates a stylish design and reduces the need to do any further setup.

Similarly there is a pull-out paper drawer which is easy to load and has a high capacity. There is the option to buy an extra paper drawer for use if you want to keep different media on hand.

Print speed and quality

The OfficeJet Pro 8600a’s automatic duplex printing was a major improvement over the previous HP inkjet printers with this feature in that it could effectively print on both sides of the sheet without requiring a large top and bottom margin. This previous requirement has been a personal annoyance of mine with other auto-duplex HP inkjet printers especially when turning out double-sided “tear-off” flyers to promote this site, and this model was effectively a sigh of relief for this function.

This would be especially of benefit for those of us who place importance on auto-duplex printing for desktop-publishing needs like turning out short-order flyers or previews of documents intended for long-run printing. It can even benefit print runs of custom-shaped documents like door hangers, luggage labels, bookmarks and the like.

There has been an improvement in the duplex print speed with a reduced waiting period while the ink dries, but this could be worked on further. One way this could be looked at is to identify whether the page can be retracted slowly during the estimated ink-drying time.

This HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a was able to complete a large duplex print run without failing and the reduced dwell-time for ink drying had become a bonus in reducing the time it took to turn out the pages.

The document output is very sharp for an inkjet printer, very close to what is achieved for a laser or LED printer. But this printer shone with the photo reproduction, something that a lot of business colour printers that are pitched at regular office use may find hard to do. Here, the photo reproduction has been an improvement over the previous model, the OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus.

Here, the printer turned out a more saturated and brighter image and when it reproduced the group photo, it yielded proper skin tones for the people. I checked the sample pictures turned out by this machine against the same sample pictures turned out by the Photosmart 7510 which I previously reviewed and the photos were on a par with that printer.

Improvement over previous model

I have noticed that the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus is a real and distinct improvement on the OfficeJet Pro 8500a Plus predecessor in quite a few ways. It was able to reproduce photographs in an improved manner, which would make it please real estate agents, marketing agencies and similar businesses that depend on proper colour photo output for proofs, short-run colour flyers and similar documents. The auto-duplex printing function was an improvement on the previous model in that the pages were reproduced “to the edge” without a large enforced margin, similar to competing printers.

It also has a slightly-increased theoretical ink yield compared to the previous model, thus effectively making it cheaper to run and less time between restocking the ink cartridges.

Limitations and Points of Improvement

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a printer could benefit from increased paper handling options like an extra low-capacity tray for use with ad-hoc media like letterhead, labels or plastic film when used for short runs. Similarly, it could benefit from being integrated with single-pass duplex scanning as an advanced feature, thus allowing for quick-throughput reliable double-sided scanning.

The ePrint functionality could be delivered out-of-the-box rather than having the user run a firmware upgrade. While on the same topic, firmware updates could then be implemented in a “block-by-block” fashion so that the OfficeJet doesn’t need to download good firmware when completing an aborted firmware update.

It could also implement T.37 and T.38 IP-based fax endpoint functionality and UPnP printing as extra functions to make for a highly-capable small-business printer. These are functions that could be enabled and managed on the printer’s Web dashboard.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

I would recommend the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600a Plus multifunction inkjet printer as a colour inkjet workhorse for the office. This is more so if you do intend to print photo-based documents like photo proofs and short-order brochures.

Similarly. I would also recommend it for people who also value printer capacity and media flexibility, thus placing it as a more credible small-office-based alternative to an entry-level colour laser multifunction printer.

You have a pair of good-sounding B&O, Bose or Sennheiser headphones but want to use them as a full-blown headset with your smartphone. You may also want to try them with your laptop or desktop computer when you are playing a game or using a softphone app like Skype.

The only solution would be to buy a wired or Bluetooth headset that connects to the computer or phone. But these would make your good headphones redundant. Therefore you would need to look for an audio adaptor with an integrated microphone so you benefit from full handsfree communication.

The only problem with a lot of the wired audio adaptors supplied by the phone manufacturers and third-party accessories suppliers is that you may not be sure that they will work properly with your phone. This is more so if you jump mobile platform every time the contract expires. Similarly, wired audio adaptors can be hard to find because the only device to be seen using with your mobile phone is a Bluetooth headset.

There is also a greater risk of failure with wired audio adaptors as they are used in that the wiring at the device plug can be easily damaged through regular use and storage, thus impairing the quality of phone calls with these devices as I have experienced.

The Nokia BH-111 Bluetooth Audio Adaptor itself

Nokia BH-111 Bluetooth headset adaptor fob - same size as SD card

But wait, I have come across the Nokia BH-111 Bluetooth Audio Adaptor which connects to a set of regular headphones, comverting them in to a Bluetooth stereo headset. It comes with a set of in-ear earphones but these may come in handy as “emergency spares” or for compact-use requirements. It is available in three different colours – black, white and a “hot-pink” colour and retails for AUD$50, making it fit within gift-pricing range.

This kit is centred around a small fob that houses a microphone, control buttons, rechargeable battery and Bluetooth transceiver. You can connect the supplied earphones or a pair of headphones to a 3.5mm stereo jack on the end of the fob’s “hinge pin” and this fob can clip on one’s shirt or tie like a lapel microphone.

Bluetooth headphone adapotr fob with headphone jack facing you

The operation buttons are each edge of the face of the fob, with one “multifunction” button that is used primarily to make or take calls, a previous-track button, a next-track button and a play-pause button that can mute the microphone during calls as well as start and stop the music. The hinge pin on this fob has a knob for adjusting the sound volume opposite to where the headphones are plugged in to.

When you charge this Bluetooth audio adaptor, you plug the supplied battery charger or a USB-2.5mm DC cord in to the side of the “hinge pin”; and it doesn’t take long to charge this adaptor.

The Nokia BH-111 complies to the following Bluetooth device classes: Hands-Free Profile, Headset Profile, A2DP audio playback profile and AVRCP audio controller profile. It can store pairings for up to five physical devices at a time and can only connect to one Hands-free or Headset Profile device and one A2DP / AVRCP audio-player device at a time. This could allow you to work it with a Bluetooth smartphone and a separate Bluetooth-capable MP3 player at the same time.

Now these good headphones work as a stereo Bluetooth headset for your smartphone

The clip can be very stiff and hard to attach to a thick tie or suit coat but can work with most shirts. But it doesn’t look like something that could break easily after regular usage.

Setup and Usage

You have to use the “multifunction” button to turn the unit on and off as well as make it open for pairing. Here, you have to turn the audio adaptor off, then hold the multifunction button down until you hear a five-beep sequence, followed by a silence then a distinct beep. Then you start your device in “Bluetooth-device-scan” mode and it will show up as “Nokia BH-111” on the device’s user interface.

On the other hand, you hold the multifunction button down until you hear the five-beep sequence complete, then release this button in order to turn the audio adaptor on.

The Nokia BH-111 can act in a very confused manner if two or more devices that are paired with it are in the vicinity. This can happen more so if it is still connected to a mobile phone while a computer associated with it is nearby.

When the phone rings, you hear the Nokia ringtone rather than your handset’s ringtone, which can be confusing when you take a call through the audio adaptor for the first time and your phone plays its own ringtone through its speaker. I would rather that the phone’s ringtone plays through the headphones when a call comes in.

Battery Runtime and Sound Quality

For battery life, the Nokia BH-111 audio adaptor can complete a day of music-playback use with a Bluetooth mobile phone and longer in a quiescent state. It works properly and clearly when making and taking calls – the caller can hear and understand my voice properly and I can hear their properly as if I was using the phone handheld. I noticed this more with quieter environments but the intelligibility for the sound degrades if I was in a noisier environment.

The audio quality for music playback doesn’t change from what is offered by a wired connection to the phone, although there may be jitter occurring if the phone is “overloaded” with other tasks.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

The clip could be improved on with a lever-type action similar to a clothes peg so it can easily clip to thicker material such as winter clothing or formal wear. The functions could also be marked in a colour inverse to the finish so it is easier to discover them.

It could be beneficial for a device like the Nokia BH-111 to have a 3.5mm input jack so you can connect other personal-audio devices to this adaptor, with the call audio from the Bluetooth phone cutting over sound from the connected personal-audio device. This could benefit people who use a high-capacity iPod Classic or similar device as their music library, listen to broadcast content from a personal radio or play content on legacy formats like cassettes or CDs using a device like a Walkman or Discman.

Similarly I would like to see a function that allows the audio adaptor to work as a speakerphone when connected to other audio equipment that uses speakers rather than a set of headphones. This may appeal to those of us who want to connect it to a car sound system via the AUX-IN jack or cassette adaptor for cassette-based equipment and use Blu-Tack to secure the fob to the dashboard for a high-quality reliable Bluetooth handsfree / music-player setup in a borrowed or hired vehicle.

An improved unit could implement a microphone array as a way of focusing the sound on the user’s voice in a phone conversation, and could place this leagues ahead of the typical Bluetooth headset.

Conclusion

The Nokia BH-111 headphone adaptor is infact the first product of its kind on the market that permits one to use their favourite headphones as a reliable calls-and-music Bluetooth headset for their smartphone especially if they use it for more than just phone calls.

Previously, I reviewed Brother’s first A3 multifunction printer, the MFC-6490CW, which was one of the first multifunction-class printer that can turn out documents on this large paper size. Estate agents, architects and the like have been licking their lips at these machines because of the availability of a compact desktop multifunction printer that can print out those building plans on the sizes of paper they are accustomed to for these documents.

Since then, HP had introduced a single-tray A3-printing multifunction in the form of the OfficeJet 7500a but Brother have worked further on the idea of A3 printing in the small office which I had talked about in my industry interview with them. This has manifested in the latest run of A3 multifunction printers which the MFC-J6910DW that I am reviewing represents as the fully-equipped model.

There are cheaper versions of this model that neither support duplex scanning nor have a touchscreen LCD display. As well the cheapest model in the range, the MFC-J5910DW can only scan A4 pages where as the other single-tray unit, the MFC-J6510DW can scan A3 pages. The model just below this unit, the MFC-J6710DW has the two paper trays and can scan A3 pages. But they all can do things like print on both sides of A3 pages.

This machine is infact the printer that was used in Brother’s latest TV-commercial series about using A3 paper as a tool to “expand your business horizons”. This is to use the paper size to realise more impact with customers or business partners by benefiting from larger text or room for detail. It may be also worth looking at this article that I wrote on making more use of A3  and similar sizes in the office when you read this review.

North-American readers should think of Ledger paper when I mention A3 paper in this review because of the fact that the paper sizes are just about the same and this printer can scan and print on this paper size. It will also scan double-sided on Letter or Legal paper, which is similar in size to A4 paper.

Prices

Printer

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$379

Inks

The printer itself

Setup and Network Connectivity

Where to plug in the USB or Ethernet cable for wired connections

If you are connecting the Brother MFC-J6910DW printer to your computer or network using Ethernet or USB, you have to open the access lid and snake the cable through to sockets installed within the printer chassis. But the phone connections for the fax functionality; as well as the power connection are exposed connections on the left side of the printer. This can be very daunting for people used to a group of sockets on the back of the printer.

The printer works with wired and Wi-Fi networks and is future-proof with IPv6, as expected for a business printer. It does support expected Wi-Fi setup functions like WPS “one-touch” setup.

Walk-up functions

The ability to print directly from the memory card or a digital camera works properly but the paper reserve you can use is whatever is loaded in the upper tray or manual feed slot. I would like to see this improved by allowing one to select whichever paper tray to use or if they print using PictBridge, the printer checks both paper trays for the specified paper size and type.

It has the expected copy functions, with the ability to enlarge an A4 document to A3 which is commonly expected of A3 copying devices. This is done by setting the Enlarge function to 141% and setting the paper size to A3. The ID copy function is very tricky to operate for new users because you have to use the “N-in-1” option to set the ID copy for the job. As well users wouldn’t know where to place the identification document to be copied for each side of that document.

As far as copy fidelity goes, the copies come out slightly paler than the original. It also doesn’t use the memory to quickly scan subsequent pages using the automatic document feeder while the copies are being turned out.

The fax functionality supports Super G3 faxing with colour over regular phone lines as well as T.37-compliant fax over email. This IP-based “fax-over-email” functionality is limited to handling A4-sized monochrome documents. At the moment, this function is enabled through a free download program from Brother’s support Webpage for this unit.

Control panel with touchscreen

This printer is equipped with a full-duplex automatic document feeder that scans both sides of the page at the same time, rather than reversing the paper over a roller to expose the other side for scanning. The main benefits that I have seen from this is that the documents are scanned very quickly and the ADF is more reliable because there isn’t any extra paper handling involved. This feature is only avaliable for A4 or smaller documents.

Computer functions

I would prefer that you download the latest driver software for your computer’s operating system from Brother’s Website for this printer rather than install the software that comes on the supplied CDs; as I have preferred when new computer hardware is installed. This is more so with this unit because when I installed the driver software from the CDs on to my Windows 7 PC, there was a weird error message towards the end of the install routine and the driver wasn’t in place.

During printing, the software runs very lean and isn’t demanding on your computer’s resources. Even if you start a scan job from the MFC-J6910DW’s control panel, there isn’t much demand on the computer for the necessary scan monitor software. For that matter, a duplex scan job had both pages on the hard disk simultaneously. As well, you can set the printer up to scan to network (or Internet) storage resources as long using standard file-transfer protocols.

The Brother print driver’s user interface still has that excellent “at-a-glance” view of the settings that you have specified for that print job. This is something that I have seen consistently with all of Brother’s printers since I reviewed the HL-4150CDN colour laser printer.

Use with Brother iPrint&Scan (Android)

If you use the Brother MFC-J6910DN with the Brother iPrint&Scan mobile-printing app, you can print PDFs and photos from your device. It can accept A3 print jobs if the document is a PDF.

But, as I have seen from my Android copy of this program, the program’s current version doesn’t support printing of photos on A3 paper, nor does it support duplex and booklet printing for PDF documents. On the other hand, this app can scan both sides of a document that passes through the duplex automatic document feeder.

Paper and ink handling

Ink cartridges loaded up front on this printer

This Brother MFC-J6910DW multifunction printer, like the other Brother inkjet printers and the HP OfficeJet 8500a Plus allows you to change the ink cartridges by opening a door on the front rather than lifting a heavy scanner lid. But because the printer, like other Brother and Epson inkjet printers uses piezoelectric inkjet technology, you have to make sure you  have a spare cartridge on hand when it lets you know it is low on ink for that cartridge and be ready to replace the cartridge when the ink volume looks very low. This is to avoid a loss of print quality due to airlocks in the ink system.

It can handle heavy print runs, including auto-duplex print runs, without failing. The auto-duplex function works to the edge for A4 and lower paper sizes but requires a margin at the top and bottom of an A3 document. This can be of concern when you use this function to print out A4-size booklets on A3, which it still can do well.

I would like to see Brother add some improvements concerning the ability to use the lower tray for photo-paper or poster-print jobs. Similarly there could be the ability to load the manual feed tray at the back with up to ten sheets of paper and have that considered as a separate paper source. This can improve the workflow for multi-page photo prints or poster-print jobs.

Print quality

The Brother MFC-J6910DW yields very sharp text from regular document print jobs, but some spot colours don’t come out strong on plain paper. I even printed the PDF file of the London Tube and Rail Map on A3 as a test to assess its prowess with complicated maps, plans and diagrams and it did yield a crisp image with legible station-name text. This is because a lot of users who buy this printer will be making it turn out those floor plans, maps and similar diagrams on to big sheets of A3 or Ledger paper as part of their livelihood.

This unti does scan and print A3 pages

When you print photos on this Brother printer, the pictures yield a darker contrast and don’t exhibit strong colour saturation. If the picture is of a person, the flesh tones don’t come out very pale.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

The Brother MFC-J6910DN has could benefit from improved advanced-copy functions like an easy-to-use ID-copy function with marked out “master areas” for this function on the edge of the scanning glass. It could also benefit from a user interface that can support “one-touch-copy” functions for particular common tasks like A4-A3 enlargement, A3-A4 reduction or ID copy.

As I have said before, this printer can benefit from flexible paper handling options like the use of both trays for special-printing jobs or the ability to feed multiple sheets of paper in the manual feed slot on the back of the unit.

People who have used HP and Canon printers may find that the Brother MFC-J6910DW, like other Brother printers, misses out on “stationery-cupboard-in-a-box” printing functionality like “Quick Forms”. This is where the printer can print out paper like checklists, calendars, ruled notepaper or graph paper by you operating functions on the control panel. Some of us may consider it an unnecessary frill but it can come in handy if you need ruled paper at a moment’s notice.

This Brother A3 printer, like nearly all home, SOHO and small-business printers, could benefit from being able to use commonly-available SD cards as upgradable high-capacity system memory. Here this could allow for quick fail-safe printing, faxing and copying from these devices, with the ability to upgrade the memory for those devices that have higher workloads. It is also more relevant with this printer as it handles A3-size documents which will typically be graphics-rich.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

This current series of Brother A3 multifunction printers has what it takes to bridge the A3 paper size to the multifunction printer. I would recommend the Brother MFC-J5910DW as a general office printer for work environments that are cutting their teeth on the large paper sizes. An example of this is the cafe owner who is wanting to get started with double-sided A3 “specials lists” that they attach to those plate-glass windows.

The MFC-J6510DW would work well as a complementary A3 scan-copy-print “specialist” printer alongside that colour-laser multifunction printer which is serving as your A4 document workhorse.

But I would specify the Brother MFC-J6910DW as an “all-round” document workhorse for people who have fully cottoned on to A3. I would even team this with the Brother HL-4150CDN colour laser printer if you want a “two-box” full print solution for quickly turning out short-order flyers and other high-volume short-order A4 work. The less-expensive MFC-J6710DW could also answer the “all-round” document workhorse if you are willing to forego A4 duplex scanning or a nice touchscreen.

Early last year, I had reviewed a Dell Inspiron 13z notebook which was positioned as a consumer-focused “subnotebook” or “ultraportable” computer. This was equipped with a full-sized keyboard and a 13” screen and was optimised for on-road use, especially for creating content while travelling. Now I am reviewing the Toshiba Satellite L730 which is another ultraportable computer that is focused at the same class of consumer users with similar needs.

But this computer is finished in a manner that excels on beauty with its white housing rather than the grey housing that the Dell had and is specified to current needs with Intel Sandy-Bridge processor hardware.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

It fits comfortably on that coffee bar at that cafe

The Toshiba Satellite L730 is small and light enough to suit most travelling needs. It can be stuffed in to most shoulder bags and similar luggage without it standing out and doesn’t add much extra weight to the luggage. It is also small enough to comfortably occupy the coffee bar in that cafe or the airline tray table in the economy-class cabin.

This notebook is finished in a gloss-white finish across the lid and keyboard area. In some ways, the white finish may appeal to the “personal-computer” purchasers who want to restyle the unit with various stickers. The speaker grilles are accented in chrome and the underbody is in the usual charcoal finish. It is still a well-built good-quality computer. Preferably, I would go for a darker screen escutcheon in order to make the screen more visible.

User interface

The Satellite is equipped with a full-size keyboard which permits you to comfortably touch-type on it. I have noticed that the function keys grouped into clusters of four which makes them easy to find visually and by feel. The keyboard has that smooth glossy surface typical of consumer portable computers and some users my describe it as looking very cheap and nasty. Yet it is still springy enough to allow you to touch-type very quickly and accurately.

Left-hand-side connectors - DVD burner, 2 USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader under USB ports

The Satellite L730 is equipped with a similar rough-surface trackpad to what has been used on this computer’s bigger brother, the Satellite L750. This can be hard to find visually but easier to find by feel. There are the chrome selection buttons for “clicking” and “right-clicking” with. It still has the tendency to “jump around” but can be defeated by you pressing a “trackpad defeat” button just under the spacebar.

Connectivity and Expansion

Like the Toshiba Portege R830, this unit has an integrated DVD burner which is a feature that will become rare for this class of computer, but can be handy if you turn out DVDs of photos or “video rushes”; or simply rent DVDs from video stores for light entertainment while traveling.

A DVD burner - a feature that will disappear from this class of laptop

Of course, the Satellite L730 is equipped with an SD card reader for use with your camera cards as well as 3 USB sockets. One of these is a USB 3.0 with that “Sleep and Charge” functionality offered across most of the current Toshiba range, where you can charge your smartphone off the computer’s battery or AC supply while it is off. The SD card reader is infact wedged under the 2 USB sockets on the left hand side of the laptop and this position can be awkward if you are using both USB ports, especially if one is used for a wireless-broadband dongle.

There is the expected audio and video connectivity with a VGA and HDMI socket for external displays and a 3.5mm audio input and output sockets for headphones or external microphones. The Satellite L730 also has expected network abilities with a Gigabit Ethernet socket, 802.11g/m Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity.

If you are a travel “pack-rat” or take heaps of pictures and movies with your digital camera, the 640Gb hard disk offers whatever you need for storage. This hard disk is protected by a vibration sensor that parks the read/write heads when it senses vibration or shock as a way of protecting your data. Here, the vibration sensor has come in to its own when I used this Toshiba notebook on a public-transport bus which typically had to pass potholes and go around many corners. You have to make sure that the vibration-sensor warning doesn’t pop up frequently if you don’t want your work interrupted when you are working during that bus ride.

Audio and Video

Right-hand-side - VGA, HDMI, USB 3.0 with Sleep And Charge, headphone out, microphone in

The Toshiba Satellite L750 performed very capably with multimedia tasks using the Intel HD graphics. The sound was also very smooth but the speakers, like most laptops, don’t fare well for the sound.

One main limitation that I see for this notebook computer is that the screen is very glossy. This limits its use in bright environments like outdoors on a sunny day, especially if the screen has to be dim in order to extend the computer’s battery runtime.

Battery life

This particular unit had shown problems with battery runtime where the estimated runtime was less than that shown on the specification sheet. Typically Windows had rated a full-charged battery for around two hours and the DVD rundown test ran for around 1 hour 50 minutes.

This may be specific to the sample unit or the fact that this unit is a review unit that has passed many hands without the battery being allowed to fully charge, but I hope that the production units can work close to the stated five hours.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

As I have mentioned before, the glossy screen, along with the white screen bezel, may perturb some users when they travel; and could be replaced with a matte-finish screen.

I would also like to see some more variations in this model such as a cheaper variety with an i3 processor and a hard disk of say 500Gb, which is pitched as an auxiliary portable computer; or a premium unit with an i7 processor and either a solid=state storage, 8Gb RAM or a larger hard disk. As well, members of the series could be finished in the same style as the L750 15” laptop.

Similarly, I would like to see a higher-capacity battery offered as an accessory through Toshiba’s consumer-retail channels so we can run these computers for a long time on the road.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Toshiba Satellite L730 as an entry-level ultraportable notebook for those of us who value a high level of functionality. It is still small and light enough to stash in a shoulder bag when you go travelling yet has a flexible level of functionality.

It would be more ideal for the hotspot surfer who wants to escape the office with work-in-progress or a lnotebook for giving that teenager when they head off on their first world trip; and, if the battery works right, could become an entry-level “journalist’s friend”.

I am reviewing the Toshiba Satellite L750 Series laptop computer which Toshiba are positioning as a value-priced laptop computer for most households. This is compared to the previously-reviewed Satellite P750 multimedia model which is positioned as the premium multimedia laptop of the range.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

Grey patterned finish on lid and palmrest

This Toshiba Satellite L750 is finished in a glossy grey patterned finish on the lid and palm-rest with a black escutcheon on the screen and keyboard. This pattern reminds me of a classic pattern that was used on some gray-coloured mens’ suits and pants. There is a variation which offers an all-white finish which may please the “minimalist” look or those who have moved from the earlier Apple MacBook computers.

The limitation with the glossy finish is that fingermarks can show up more easily, thus becoming a high-maintenance finish.

The L750 has the same size and thickness as the other laptops in its class thus being able to fit in drawers or old-fashioned writing desks, which would fit in well with the “New Computing Environment”.

For the price range, the computer shows very good build quality. It also hasn’t shown a tendency to run too hot which will benefit those who use high-performance applications. As well, I haven’t noticed any intense heat build-up when it was in use for extended periods.

User interface

The keyboard is a full-width keyboard with a regular numeric keypad. This works well for touch-typing yet has a “level” feel. An improvement that could be of use would be a textured feel so you know where you are rather than the slippery feel that it has.

There is a trackpad which is highlighted by a rough surface on the palmrest as well as two large glossy buttons that work as the equivalent of the mouse buttons. It still has the same likelihood of the cursor jumping around and you may have to lock it out using the button under the spacebar when you are typing.

Audio and Video

The Toshiba Satellite L750 has a pair of small speakers located above the keyboard but the sound reproduction is the typical quality for most mainstream laptops. If you want to get the best sound out of this one, you would have to connect it to good headphones or speakers or a nice sound system.

Due to the use of the NVIDIA discrete graphics subsystem and dedicated graphics memory, this computer would work well for proper graphics performance on most games and multimedia applications.

One feature that may annoy some users is the use of a glossy screen. This would cause distracting reflections in well-lit environments like outdoors or most household family rooms. I have seen other laptops that don’t use this glossy screen but they are typically the business computers like the Tecra R850 that I previously reviewed.

Expansion and Connectivity

Left-hand-side connectors - Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, USB 3.0, HDMI, audio input and output

I am reviewing the top-end model of this series which is equipped with the 750Gb hard disk, a USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI. Cheaper models in this series omit these connectivity options and offer 3 USB 2.0 ports, regular Ethernet as well as smaller hard disks.

In this day and age, the Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, Bluetooth and USB 3.0 or eSATA options are considered important connectivity options for laptops. This is to allow for connectivity with wireless peripherals, extra secondary storage and wired networks such as next-generation broadband.

Right-hand-side connections and DVD burner - 2 x USB 2.0 ports, RJ11 telephone line port, power connector

All computers in this series are equipped with an integrated V92 dial-up data / fax modem but this would be useful for sending faxes directly from the computer or people who don’t have access to real broadband.

Battery life

The Toshiba Satellite L750 doesn’t implement the dual-graphics functionality that allows for battery economy during basic text-editing or Web-browsing tasks. This has caused it to run out of power too quickly on text-based or mixed-task work including Web browsing.

But I had let this laptop run through a DVD movie on batteries and it was able to work for 175 minutes continuously before it gave out.

Limitations And Points Of Improvenemt

One point of improvement that I would like to see for the series would be current connectivity options across the whole lineup rather than just the top-end models. Here, the machines could be differed by processor type, RAM and hard-disk capacity and any aesthetic variations like system colour.

Conclusion

The Toshiba Satellite L750 laptop computer, especially this configuration that I reviewed, is one of many laptop computers that I would recommend for use as a “family computer” for most households where it will get a lot of use. It is more so if the household is intending to head towards the laptop-based “new computing environment”.

As well, the computer would also work well for small-business laptop users who just want to get started with a “work-home” laptop computer and have to choose this kind of computer from larger retail stores. The integrated dial-up modem would be a bonuse for most rural dwellers who are stuck with this technology until governments and companies ”get off their backsides” and provide real broadband to the country.

You may get away with specifying the cheaper models of the series if you are willing to forego the current connectivity expectations like USB 3.0, Bluetooth and HDMI as well as opting for a smaller hard disk.

I have seen the Brother VM-100 visitor-management software in action for myself when I visited Brother’s headquarters in Sydney for the interview that I did with Stephen Bennett and Heidi Webster last year. Now I have the chance to put this same software through its paces as an entry-level visitor management setup for that small office.

Price:

Software package: AUD$399

System kit with QL-570 printer: AUD$499

In some areas, the system kit with the label printer would be known as the VM-100VP whereas in other areas it would be known as the QL-570VP. This will be of importance when you want to track down the visitor management system as a full kit.

These also include a roll of thermal paper for the label printer as well as a starter-pack of 12 badge holders and clips.

The software works on the Windows desktop computing platform with an operating system from Windows XP onwards. This would cover most computers deployed in the small-business world over the last ten years.

Functions

Login screen

The software is able to work as a receptionist-aided mode for the typical reception desk or as a self-check-in mode for conferences and trade events.The data in this software is password-protected and when administrators log in, they either can log in as a user with no administrator privileges available or as an administrator that only can work the higher-level functions.

It is also feasible to set inactive visitor data to be automatically purged after a certain time period ranging from a week to a year; which keeps with different individual-privacy and data-protection requirements.

The standard receptionist-aided mode allows the creation of a visitor badge and a parking permit, with the latter supporting a loosely-described vehicle for the parking permit. It also supports the creation of a “reserve list” which is populated with visitors who have been pre-registered and are intending to be checked in. This works well if you have the staff inform the receptionist of expected visitors, are handling large visitor groups or you want to use this software for managing an “invitation-only” event with the list full of RSVP’d invitees. Parents, take note here when it comes to managing that 16th birthday and you want to make sure that the party isn’t overrun by gatecrashers.

Receptionist's data-entry screen

The Brother VM-100 software has the ability to turn out an “emergency list” of visitors who are currently checked using the regular printer for whenever you need to reconcile whoever is in the building during emergency situations. As well, the data can be exported as CSV (comma-separated) text files for use with other programs. This same data form is also used to import potential hosts in to the “hosts” table. This supports hosts coming from different departments or organisations, thus able to work with larger multi-department organisations or buildings that have many tenants but one common reception desk.

Experience with the software

When you install the software, you have to restart the computer after the installation process is completed. Otherwise the program won’t work properly. As well, there are error messages that are simply “generic error” stub messages appearing if things go wrong through the installation.

Self-checkin screen for conference registration

The username and password setup allows suitably-privileged users to operate either as regular users or administratiors. The only limitation is that the password string only handles basic alphanumeric characters – it doesn’t allow the use of punctuation in the passwords, which could allow for stronger passwords.

The administrator user can choose various badge layouts for use as the standard layout for both the badge and the parking permit, but there isn’t the ability to custom-design a layout for one’s own needs.

The process of checking in and checking out visitors works incredibly smoothly and the user interface does a good job in making this easier for untrained operators. There is the support to take images of visitors as they are checked in using your computer’s webcam.

Default visitor label

If you use the self-checkin setup, the check-in process is totally wizard-driven where your visitors work through two screens to sign in and obtain their conference pass or badge.

There is the ability to load visitor details for reserving or signing in and out from the “Reserved”, “Signed In” and “Signed Out” lists. As well, visitor data can be imported in to the system from such services as contact management systems.

Limitations and points of improvement

The parking permit function could support the ability to keep vehicle data in a separate table indexed by the vehicle’s number-plate (license plate) and containing make, model and colour data. This could improve the workflow process for creating parking permits for regular visitors’ vehicles.

There is the ability to sign in accompanying visitors, but the label printer will turn out a badge as you sign in the visitor. This can be OK for two or three people checking in at once but would be a problem if you had to do something like check in a busload of school students who are visiting as part of a field trip. In this case, the receptionist would have to “reserve” all of the group members, then select the group members from this list using either Shift+click (for contiguous entries) or Ctrl+click (for non-contiguous entries), then click “Sign in and print badge” to check the group in and turn out the badges.

This function could be improved by supporting a “group mode” which allows the receptionist to enter details for the group members, then click a “Sign group in” button when the last member is entered. Here, all the group is entered and the badge printer spits out the badges. As well, this could support the turning out of any parking permits in that same run so these are handed out to the drivers.

As well, I would like to see the program support the ability to work with ODBC-compliant databases or other database-hooks that are standards compliant. It could make such data collections as the host list work with data sources like human-resources databases.

Other points of improvement could also include the ability to allow the receptionist to choose the printer that they send the emergency report to rather than the default printer that is assigned for the system; and the ability to determine other visit reasons in the “Purpose of Visit” field.

These limitations and the lack of “polish” in the user interface may be typical for a version-1 (first release) program but I would like to see the program being improved continuously through its lifecycle rather than appear as a half-baked effort to work with Brother’s label printers.

Conclusion

As it stands, the Brother VM-100 visitor management system works as a capable entry-level visitor management setup for the typical small office, factory or warehouse. It may be stumped as far as integration with other back-end systems for growing organisations is concerned but, being a program in its early stages, it is something that would be expected.

I am reviewing the Brother QL-570 thermal label printer which works with a host computer as a simple label-printing system but can suit other tape-printing application.

Price

RRP: AUD$129.00

This label printer is also available as part of a visitor-management package which costs AUD$499 that has the software, a brace of thermal-paper rolls for the printer as well as 12 plastic badges and accompanying clips.The software, which I will be reviewing next, is also available as an add-on package for AUD$399.

The unit itself

The Brother QL-570 is a very compact label that is as wide as the typical receipt printer or two desktop sticky-tape dispensers. So it wouldn’t take up much room on one’s desk and could even perch on the top ledge of a reception desk without getting in the way of the view of the receptionist.

Connections

The label printer connects directly to the host computer using a standard USB cable. It doesn’t support any RS232C connectivity which would hamper its useability as a receipt printer for most POS systems and hotspot-management systems that use this connection. Brother offers a network-connectable variant of this unit as the QL-580N which connects to an existing Ethernet network segment.

There is one thing that I am pleased about this unit in the way it is powered. It is a self-powered device rather than being powered from the host computer’s USB cable. But the way it is connected to AC power is refreshingly different for this class of device. Here, the power supply is built in to the unit and it is connected to the power outlet using a standard AC cord of the kind you use to connect a boom-box to the mains. Here, you benefit from an easily-replaceable power cord and you don’t have to worry about losing powerboard space to awkwardly-sized “wall-wart” power supplies.

Printing

Tape compartment with tape roll in place

The Brother QL-570 prints on to the labels or tape using direct-thermal printing, like the typical receipt printer or the older fax machine. Here, these units used a special thermal paper that has its top surface burnt off whenever the paper needs to be marked and this printing technique is known for printouts that fade over time.

This is although Brother uses a special layer to protect the labels from fading. As well, this unit uses a built-in guillotine to cut the paper labels or tape. It can work with Brother-supplied adhesive or non-adhesive label-tape reels that are up to 90mm wide.

You install a tape reel by dropping it in to the tape well, making sure that a square black clip is outside the tape rest on the right. Then you have to thread the tape through a slot so it comes out the label printer’s front. You have to make sure the cover is closed before you use the printer. This includes using the form-feed or paper-cut buttons to feed the tape through properly.

Brother furnishes the same P-Touch Editor label-creation software as they have provided for their PT-2730 label writer to create custom labels. This also supports the creation of merged labels and work with supplied plug-in modules for Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. There is also a P-Touch address book to “get you going” with printed labels for your envelopes.

Programmers and software developers have access to a software-development kit available for download from Brother’s Website. This works tightly with Microsoft’s Visual Basic, Visual C and Access development environments.

Points of improvement

Tape path shiown - marked side isn't used for printing

As far as connectivity goes, a label printer like the Brother QL-570 could be designed for USB bus-powered operation, thus avoiding the need for extra cables to run to the printer as well as working properly with laptop computers. On the other hand, this label printer could benefit from an integrated self-powered USB hub thus creating more USB ports to connect devices to the host computer.

I would also like to see this printer support any and all USB device classes that relate to label or receipt printing for point-of-sale or gaming applications. This could also allow the printer to work with devices like point-of-sale terminals, TV set-top boxes, gaming / amusement systems and the like as a label or receipt / voucher printer.

It could also be able to work with the typical thermal-paper rolls used for receipt printing, which would be commonly available around most businesses. This would benefit the QL-570 being used in visitor-management or similar applications where you use “one-shot” badges or tickets.

As I have said before, the Brother P-Touch label-creation software could benefit from a measuring-tape creation program so one can create measuring tapes.

Conclusion

The Brother P-Touch QL-570 label printer is a very capable unit for turning out labels or name tags on an ad-hoc basis and I would still consider it as being of use for these applications.

I am reviewing the Toshiba Satellite P750 multimedia laptop which is Toshiba’s effort at a work-entertainment multimedia centre that would suit current needs. It is a 15” equivalent of the Satellite P770 which is on a par with the Dell XPS L702x multimedia laptop. It is also infact the first Sandy-Bridge-driven laptop of this mainstream size to have the full “multimedia” works to become available for review on this site.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Toshiba Satellite P750 is finished in what Toshiba describes as a “metallic urban” finish. This is a dark charcoal black finish with a finished-metal texture on a plastic case. It is the same across the lid and the palmrest.

The build quality is very good for its class I would expect a lot of time of use out of this series of machines.

User interface

Keyboard and trackpad detail

The Toshiba is equipped with an illuminated chiclet keyboard with numeric keypad. Unlike a lot of illuminated keyboards, this only lights up when you actually use the keyboard, the same practice as observed with a lot of mobile phones. Like for most recent-issue 15” and 17” laptops, there is a proper numeric keypad. The keyboard is still roomy to use and allows you to touch-type accurately for longer periods, although it feels very slippery.

It uses a trackpad is just slightly recessed and is highlighted by an illuminated bar at the top of the trackpad area. This can still be very sensitive and cause the cursor to jump around.

The Satellite P750’s keyboard and trackpad is augmented by a Supplementary touch buttons row above the keyboard. This provides control over wireless, 3D, media play-pause, sound volume and display brightness.

Connectivity and Expandability

Right-hand side with Blu-Ray burner, 2 x USB 2.0 sockets, audio input and output and power socket

The Satellite P750 laptop has three USB sockets, with one being a USB 3.0 connector for hard disks and similar applications. Unlike most other laptops I have reviewed, it doesn’t have an eSATA connection but this won’t matter if the external hard disk has a USB 3.0 connector.

The Toshiba has the same “Sleep and Charge” as the previously-reviewed Portege R830 from the same stable. This is where it can use the USB 3.0 port to supply power to external devices while it is off; and can allow you to leave the mobile phone charger behind yet charge your mobile phone.

There are two 3.5mm jacks for connecting a microphone or line-level audio device; and a pair of headphones or external speakers. This Toshiba laptop can be set to become amplified speakers for a connected external audio player even if it is off through the “Sleep And Music” mode.

External displays can be connected to the Satellite P750 using the HDMI or VGA connectors, with the HDMI connector also supporting control of HDMI-CEC compliant displays and audio setups. For example, this would cause a connected Panasonic Viera plasma TV to light up with the computer’s display image when you turn this laptop on or a home-theatre receiver like the previously-reviewed Sony STR-DA5500ES to select the right input when the laptop comes on.

Left hand side connections - Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, USB 3.0 with Sleep and Charge, USB 2.0 and TV antenna

The TV antenna connection is the standard Belling-Lee (PAL) connector that is part of the machine’s connection set. This avoids the need to mess with cord adaptors in order to connect regular TV-aerial setups for the TV tuner. Of course, ATSC (USA) variants would use the screw-on F connector.

Audio and Video

The Toshiba Satellite P750 uses a 2.1 speaker system that has been “worked” by Harman-Kardon. The main benefits that I have heard include a very “punchy” sound for all kinds of media playback.

I have tested this Toshiba’s 3D Vision capabilities on the demonstration material that is made available by NVIDIA and it is effective. The NVIDIA 3D glasses worked properly on their own battery and did provide the proper effect. They were able to be used by people who wear prescription or other glasses by just simply wearing them over those glasses. You should really have the laptop connected to AC power if you want to use 3D capabilities because this can drain the battery very fast.

There are variants in the Toshiba Satellite P750 Series which have the Optimus version of the NVIDIA GeForce GT540M. These only support 3D when connected to a 3D-capable display like the newer 3D flat-panel “main-lounge-area” TVs. But they have the the Optimus automatic dual-graphics modes that allow you to conserve battery runtime.

The screen front is very glossy which can be of nuisance value in brightly-lit rooms and can attract fingermarks.

The Satellite P750 is equipped with an integrated digital-TV tuner which would be configured for the market that this laptop is supplied in. Personally, I would prefer that the tuner is software-based so that it can be set by the user to work in any country that the laptop is taken to.

Battery life

The main disadavantage of using only a discrete graphics chipset is that you lose on the battery runtime. I was able to engage in mixed tasks (typing, multimedia) for around three hours before it run down. Even running a DVD would make through two and a half hours. Use of the 3D functionality also places more demand on the battery.

It may be not of concern if you often run the machine from AC power rather than the batteries.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

The Toshiba Satellite P750’s trackpad could be recessed further so it isn’t easily activated during a bout of touch-typing.

The lock slot could also be repositioned so you can use larger locking devices while the laptop is connected to external power. This may be of concern with some of the combination locks that may have their release button close to the power cable.

I would also like to see the Blu-Ray drive be a direct-insert (slot-load) type rather than the typical drawer-load which becomes a bit too ordinary, especially on a premium-tier multimedia machine.

As I have said before, the TV tuner could be software-based for round-the-world TV reception; and the software-based operation could also support newer standards like DVB-T2 which is being rolled out across Europe.

Conclusion

I would position the Toshiba Sattelite P750 Series laptops as multimedia work-entertainment systems for nomadic users such as those of us who sail or fly for work. The combination of the Blu-Ray player, TV tuner and self-protecting hard disk would be of benefit to university students, nurses and the like who primarily live in on-campus accommodation that has small rooms like the typical college dorm. It also has the graphics ability that would expose it to image or video creation tasks.

Of course, if you were to take the screen size and the self-protecting hard disk out of the equation, this computer would be on a par with the Dell XPS L702x that I previously reviewed.

I am reviewing the Sony CMT-MX750Ni Internet-enabled micro music system which is a small-form-factor CD/iPod stereo that can connect to the home network for Internet radio or DLNA-based music playback. It is equipped with a DAB+ digital-radio tuner but there is a version of this system known as the CMT-MX700Ni which doesn’t have this tuner and is available in areas that don’t have Eureka 147 DAB / DAB+  digital-radio services.

From henceforth, I am directing the comments in this review also at the Sony CMT-MX700Ni music system as well as this CMT-MX750Ni, except for any DAB digital-radio comments.

Price

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$449.00

Functions

Connections

Speakers

The system itself

Setup and Connection

The CMT-MX750Ni can connect to a network either via Wi-Fi wireless or Ethernet. This allows for flexibility with wired and wireless network setups, such as working with highly-reliable Ethernet and HomePlug networks. You need to use the remote for setting up the music system on a Wi-Fi network that doesn’t use WPS push-button setup. Here, you use the numeric keypad on the remote to enter the WEP or WPA passphrase for your wireless-network segment in an SMS-style manner.

Sony has “reinvented the wheel” when determining how the speakers should be connected to the main unit. Here, they have used a proprietary Molex-style plug at the system end of the speaker cords like they have done with their DVD home theatre systems. Personally, I would prefer that they use a two-conductor 3.5mm phone plug, or the older 2-pin speaker-DIN plug, both of these connections can allow for easier-to-replace, easier-to-modify speaker connection. Infact a lot of the music systems that were sold through the 1970s and 1980s with supplied “separate-piece” speakers, such as the “detachable-speaker” boom-boxes have used either the 3.5mm phone plug, 2-pin speaker-DIN plug or RCA plug to provide “plug-in” speaker connections and these have just worked as well for plug-and-play operation.

The speakers are a typical bass-reflex two-way setup but aren’t aggressively styled. One thing I am pleased about these speakers is that they are well-built and the enclosures use an all-wood construction rather than a plastic front baffle which shows the quality behind the system.

In use

You have the ability to perform basic content-navigation tasks using the controls on the Sony CMT-MX750Ni’s front panel but you need the remote control to use this music system to the fullest. The system uses an “Inverse” LCD display as its display. This yields readable text but Sony could implement a monochrome OLED or fluorescent display rather than the LCD which makes it look “cheap”.

Other than that, when you operate the Sony CMT-MX700Ni or CMT-MX750Ni music systems, you find that you are operating a well-built music system. The switches and mechanisms don’t exhibit any sort of tackiness that can be noticed in a lot of bookshelf music systems. The remote control is relatively large and with it you have one-touch access to the sources and main functions as well as being able to do advanced functionality.

The FM tuner didn’t perform properly on the “pigtail” aerial that was supplied with the unit, especially as it was on the lower level of a split-level house. Here, I would recommend connecting it to a better FM aerial like an outside one if you want the radio to work properly in a difficult scenario.

This setup didn’t challenge the DAB tuner with it able to survey the DAB+ multiplexes in Melbourne and provide clear and reliable reception from any program on these multiplexes.

The CMT-750Ni and CMT-700Ni use an iPod dock that drops down from the front panel. This makes it easier to hide the dock if you are not using an iPod or iPhone with it. As well, the iPod or iPhone can lean against the front panel while plugged in without the need to use any dock adaptors. The only limitation with this is that you need to pull back a hard-to-discover latch before you can close the iPod dock.

The front-panel USB socket allows you to play music of a USB memory key, SD card adaptor or smart phone. But it is “live for power” only when system is in operation and supplies the power when you select other sources so you can charge up your Android smartphone or other USB-connected device. This situation is similarly true for the system’s iPhone dock and it could be tempting for users to dock their iPhone in this CMT-MX750Ni’s dock in order to charge even if the system is not playing. It could have the option to supply power to charge devices connected to the USB socket or iPhone dock even when the Sony music system is in standby.

When the Sony CMT-MX750Ni or CMT-MX700Ni plays Internet radio and loses the connection to the station, it doesn’t try to reconnect to the station unlike the other Internet radio products I have used. Here, it just goes back to the main menu and you have to retune to that station, and this can be annoying with over-subscribed Internet streams. Other than, the Internet radio experience works properly as best as the link can allow.

This system works as an audio device in the DLNA Home Media Network. This includes the ability to play audio content that is “pushed” to it from a DLNA-compliant control point like Windows Media Player or TwonkyMedia Controller. It serves this function properly whether you pull the content up using the unit’s control surface or push the content out using a DLNA control point.

These music systems can work in the “Party Streaming” mode where multiple Sony receivers or music systems connected to the same home network can stream the same content at the same time. The CMT-MX700Ni or CMT-MX750Ni systems can work as either a host or a client system in this aspect.

Sound Quality

There is the ability with these Sony music systems to adjust the tone of the sound system. This can only be done using the remote control and you have to press the EQ button on that controller. Here you have access to bass and treble adjustments but you can also enable a “Dynamic Sound Generator” mode using a separate button. This may add “extra bite” to some recordings but may not yield difference with other recordings and may be about providing “big speaker” sound out of small speakers.

The sound quality is typical for a high-end “micro” form-factor music system but can clip or sound “muddled” around just near the maximum volume point. I have observed this with recent popular RnB music which is tuned for a loud sound with excessive bass but It can “go loud” on recordings that weren’t tuned “loud”, although I have had the CMT-MX750Ni run at “flat” tone settings.

I even ran this system on a DAB+ broadcast of an ABC Radio National program and had noticed that the speech from the show’s presenters came through very clear, crisp and intelligible. This didn’t matter whether it was a man or woman speaking in the show.

Limitation and Points Of Improvement

The “pigtail” aerials (antennas) supplied for DAB and FM use are inadequate for reliable FM or original-specification DAB digital radio (UK, Denmark, etc). As well, these supplied antennas remind you of using the typical clock radio which has this kind of FM aerial and are out of character with this system’s class. It could do better with a “whip-style” aerial similar to what is used for the Wi-Fi network connectivity and could support “single-input” aerial setups through an option.

Other connectivity improvement that It could also benefit from include having a pair of RCA line-input connectors or a “tape-loop” set of input and output RCA connectors on the back of the system for whenever you connect a computer, tape deck or other piece of audio-equipment in a semi-permanent manner. It can also benefit from a headphone jack for private listening purposes. Similarly, it could also benefit from integrated Bluetooth A2DP functionality so it can work with phones and media players that use this medium as a way of transmitting music data.

iPod dock with fiddly latch that needs to be released to close it

I would also improve the iPod dock so that you don’t have to operate any latches to open or close the dock. As well, I would provide the ability to charge smartphones connected to the USB socket or docked in the iPhone dock while on standby as a user-selected option. This can allow the user to keep an iPhone or other smartphone “topped off” when docked or connected to the system.

Another point of improvement would be to allow the CMT-MX750Ni music system to retry Internet-radio streams if the stream it is tuned to “gives up the ghost”.

I would also like to see the Internet-media and home-network-media functionality implemented into most of Sony’s bookshelf-stereo range and / or for Sony to develop a network-connected CD receiver along the same lines as the Rotel RCX-1500 CD receiver I previously reviewed.

Conclusion

I would recommend purchasing the Sony CMT-MX750Ni or CMT-MX-700Ni network-enabled music systems for use in a small room like a bedroom, den or office. It may work well for use in an apartment’s small living area.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t use this music system in situations where it is expected to fill a large room with music or play in a noisy area like a party or cafe.

I am reviewing the Sony VAIO EJ Series laptop computer which is Sony’s latest effort in providing a consumer desktop-replacement laptop computer.  Typically most of the VAIO range of laptops have been “multimedia” laptops that are pitched for creation or enjoyment of audiovisual content; but the EJ Series are pitched more as “consumer” laptops with the appropriate software.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Sony VAIO EJ Series laptop is finished in the same charcoal-black colour across the unit. It has a hexagon-ripple detail across the lid and palmrest with a perforated area at the top of the keyboard area.

Like the other VAIO laptops, it is very well built and has the typical size and weight for a desktop-replacement laptop.

User interface

The keyboard is the typical chiclet style and has the numeric keypad. This is very similar to other Sony VAIO computers like the earlier one that I have reviewed and works well for accurate touch typing. This is due to the keyboard having a rough surface on the keys rather than the slippery surface I have seen with other laptops.

The trackpad is smaller than most laptop trackpads but is easily discernable by feel. This include having access to the primary and secondary buttons.

Sony hasn’t fallen for that trend of requiring you to press Fn to use a standard function like F5. Here, this avoids the need to relearn function key routines that you would have become used to for Windows.

Connectivity and Expandability

Left hand side connections

The Sony VAIO EJ15FJ has the typical connectiv+ity and expandability options for a mid-range consumer laptop. These are 4 USB 2.0 ports,separate SDXC and Memory Stick card readers, LAN interface via 802.11g/n Wi-Fi  or Gigabit Ethernet as well as VGA or HDMI for video displays. There is at least a 3.5mm stereo phone jack for use as an audio input jack as well as the 3.5mm stereo audio output jack for connections to headphones or external sound systems.

What I find that is noticeably absent for this laptop is a USB 3.0 socket or eSATA socket which would facilitate high-speed connection to external storage devices.

Audio and Video

Right-hand-side USB connections

The audio experience is typical for most laptops where there is use of small speakers. Here, I would rather use headphones or external speakers if you want to get the most out of the laptop for music or movie applications.

The display subsystem is powered by a NVIDIA GeForce 410 discrete graphics chipset with 1Gb of display RAM available. It doesn’t support the dual-graphics setup which allows the computer to work on integrated graphics if you are using it on batteries. This may be OK for a computer that isn’t likely to be used in a portable manner such as a home computer.

The VAIO’s display subsystem works with a large 17” screen that works at a 1600×900 resolution but could be equipped with a similar-sized screen that offers a 1920×1080 Full HD resolution. This screen is a very glossy screen which wouldn’t work well where there is plenty of lighting.

Battery life

One major let-down I had observed with this laptop is the battery runtime with the system’s standard battery. I had observed that it went through the battery very quickly with 38% left after about 2 hours of word-processing use and it ran a DVD for 1 hour, 58 minutes.

Sony could implement the dual-graphics functionality in this VAIO EJ series laptop if they want to see longer battery runtimes out of these laptops but this computer is being pitched as an “average consumer” laptop.

Other experience notes

There is the ability for one to purchase an optional long-run battery for this laptop but it would be needed if you intended to use it away from power a lot.content

The Sony VAIO EJ laptop runs very cool on most tasks. But after a bit of use with video playback, it may start to run hot but this may be due to the graphics chipset.  The system’s ventilation works properly to avoid intense heat build-up that has been known to occur with some laptops that I have used.

Sony also supplies software that allows this and other VAIO laptops to work hand-in-glove with their PlayStation 3 games console or their Bravia TVs and Blu-Ray players. Here, the computers can work as a display screen for the PS3 or as an input device for the PS3 or Sony’s TVs and Blu-Ray players.

Limitations and Points of Improvement

VAIO back shot

One main limitation that I would find for positioning the 17” VAIO EJ series laptops as “desktop replacements” would be the hard disk capacity. Here, I would prefer these units to have a capacity of at least 640Gb like what I have seen with the Dell XPS L702X or the HP Pavillion DV7-6013TX desktop replacements with their 1Tb hard disks if I wanted to sell or specify them as a sole “desktop replacement” computer. I would also look towards implementing either a USB 3.0 port or eSATA / USB 2.0 combo port on the VAIO EJ series laptops so that you can use an external hard disk using high-throughput connections.

As well, I would look towards implementing the full switchable-graphics functionality that is part of the Intel Sandy-Bridge chipsets in order to improve on the battery runtime. I have observed that the integrated graphics on the Sandy Bridge platform can do an adequate desktop-applications, Web-browsing or DVD playback job on batteries. The NVIDIA chipset can work as an “overdrive” for content creation which Sony knows best; or intense gaming sessions and this could be facilitated using the NVIDIA Optimus “automatic overdrive” functionality.

The supplied Media Gallery software could properly play and decode audio files in formats other than MP3, especially if the content is sourced from DLNA-compliant servers. It could really achieve this through the use of Microsoft-supplied logic for media decoding.

Conclusion

I would recommend this as a “graphics-performance” laptop for home users who want to move towards the new computing environment but place importance on the large 17” screen. Here, the only limitation would be the hard-disk capacity, where I would recommend a Dell XPS L702X or HP Pavillion DV7-6013TX; or use an external hard disk or network-attached storage. It would also have to be used primarily at home or as a transportable rather than “on the road” due to the batttery life issues I have reased in this review.

It wouldn’t suit work-home users who value high-performance links with external hard drives, nor would it suit travellers who need it as an “on the road” computer.

I am reviewing the Brother P-Touch PT-2730 label writer which can turn out printed labels for attaching to various items. Unlike most labellers, it is one of those units that can be connected with a computer so you can create customised designs or have your office software prepare labels for printing out.

Price

Recommended Retail Price: $129

The unit itself

Setup

The Brother P-Touch can be operated on AC current using a supplied transformer or can be used on the road once four AA batteries are installed in it. Personally, I would like it to support the use of rechargeable batteries with in-situ charging and / or receive its power while tethered to a host computer via its USB port.

Tape compartment where the label tape goes

The PT-2730 uses Brother’s “TZ” label tape cartridges which are dropped in to the unit in a similar manner to how you would put a tape cassette in to a small cassette recorder. The only main point of confusion is that there is a white lever which can confuse new users when they load the cartridge in the machine.

Use

TZ label cartridges as used by this labeller

The Brother P-Touch label writer uses a thermal-transfer method for writing on the labels. With some cartridges, it may involve the use of two tapes in a similar manner to the typical low-end plain-paper fax machine and in others, it would mark like the typical receipt printer.

When the unit turns out the labels, it automatically cuts labels to the correct size.

As well, there is a large choice of Brother “TZ series” label tapes available for the user to buy, with laminated tape in different colours or clear tape. There is even the ability to buy fluorescent tape, tamper-evident security tape or iron-on fabric tape for needs that call for these materials.

Standalone operation

A person can use the Brother P-Touch labeller to turn out a label without any special training, just by powering on the unit, typing up the characters on the keyboard and pressing PRINT.

If you need to enter accents that are required for foreign languages, you have to enter the letler that needs the digraph, press the ACCENT key repeatedly until desired character appears, then press OK. Some characters peculiar to certain languages like German or the Nordic countries may require you to enter a “close letter” then press ACCENT until you find the character. An example of this is using S for ß or A for æ.  This may make it easier to create vocabulary labels that you attach to objects in order to help with learning foreign languages.

If you needed to enter currency symbols like the euro (€) or pound (£) symbol, you would have to use the SYMBOLS option and “pick and choose” the symbols to use them.

There is the ability to determine the text typeface, appearance and size using the TEXT button. As well, you can determine the label layout using the “LABEL” button. The Barcodes option supports the creation of most of the single-dimensional barcodes that are in common use nowadays. You can also print the current time and date to a label once the internal clock is set, which can be of use in date-stamping perishable foods that you have added to your fridge.

Tethered

Once the Brother PT-2730 is connected to your computer, it works with Brother software that is supplied on a CD that comes with the unit. This allows you to upload label designs or can work as a printer for the host computer. This kind of arrangement is very similar to what is needed for the computer-aided-craft-design software that Brother embroidery sewing machines come with.

Side view with AC socket and USB port

I was expecting to use some inept software for the machine but Brother had offered more, such as an easy-to-use program. You have access to the full TrueType font library on your computer but this is only for creating the designs that you will upload to your labeller.

What I would like to see is for Brother to license the device for TrueType and other standard font families so that you can upload a TrueType typeface to the unit for creating labels on that typeface without the need to use the computer.

The Brother P-Touch software can support “merged labelling” with data that is brought in from resources held on your computer system. At the moment, it handles data held in Word, Excel or Outlook as well as the usual comma-separated / tab-separated text file suspects. It can connect to Microsoft SQL Server database resources but I would like to se it work with ODBC database resources which encompass MySQL and desktop databases like MS Access. There is also add-in programs that run with MS Word, Excel and Outlook for making labels from these programs.

Limitations and Points of improvement

Power Supply

I would like to see some improvements regarding the P-Touch PT-2730’s power supply. One would be that the labeller can work with rechargeable batteries and charge those batteries in the unit while connected to the AC supply. This will allow for intense labelling projects where you might think you will “blow through” many packs of Duracells to complete the projects.

As well, it could be feasible for the unit to be powered through the USB port while it is tethered to a computer. This may then obviate the need for carrying the AC adaptor when you use the Brother labeller with a laptop. This ability would be more important for those homes and workplaces that have moved to the laptop-based New Computing Environment.

Usability and Software Design

An improvement that I would like to see for Brother P-Touch label writers is a WYSIWYG view during label creation. Here, the unit provides a coarse multi-line view of the label when you write in the text but it could work better.

The software could be improved with direct import of data from ODBC-compliant databases; and / or integration with the desktop databases like MS Access or FileMaker Pro. As well, there could be an “in-unit” or software-based option to create calibrated “measurement tapes” using the labeller. This may please user groups like photography, police / security and health-related disciplines who want to make up a measurement chart like a height chart.

The USB interface could be exploited further with clock synchronisation to the host computer. This could also include support for “UTC+timezone-offset” timekeeping and improved handling of daylight-saving time.

There could also be a further option where the keyboard could become a USB Human-Interface-Device keyboard. Here, the QWERTY keyboard could be set to work as a standard USB keyboard for text entry on other devices like LED signs, or network AV equipment like the Sony BDP-S380 or Sony PlayStation 3. The function could then be enabled as a menu option in the Setup menu.

Conclusion

The Brother P-Touch PT-2730 label writer would be considered a highly-capable labeller that can be used in a standalone fashion or alongside a computer and I would recommend it for most organisations.

I am reviewing the Dell Vostro 3550 series of 15” business laptop computers, which is infact the first business laptop that I have reviewed from this company. It can be purchased from Dell’s online store as one of a few preconfigured options or you or your IT contractor could order a customised system through the Dell website.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Dell Vostro 3550 laptop is finished in a silver metal housing that shows that it is well built and durable. This can be available to order as a burgundy or bronze finish if you buy it through Dell’s website. Unlike most laptops, the lid is recessed down with the hinges set towards the centre.

Keyboard detail emphaising chrome trim

The screen escutcheon and palmrest are finished in a charcoal grey finish with the keyboard and trackpad set off with chrome piping. This styling reminds me o the way the dashboards on various classic cars have been styled.

User interface

The Vostro’s keyboard is an illuminated keyboard but doesn’t have a numeric keypad. This may not affect most users but those of use who need to enter in lots of figures like accountants will miss the feature. Here, they could use a USB numeric keypad for the data entry. On the other hand, you get the proper feedback which is important if you do a lot of touch-typing.

This is supported by a trackpad which, like all of the trackpads on recent Dell notebooks, is distinctively highlighted. It works properly as a trackpad and allows for proper navigation.

The Vostro 3550 does support fingerprint-recognition and Dell supplies a “software keyring” that links Web passwords with your fingerprint. Infact I was offered the option to tie my Facebook password to my fingerprint with this software.

As well, there are hot keys with one for the Mobility Center, one for Dell Support access and one you can define to launch a particular program.

Connectivity and Expansion

The Dell Vostro 3550 business laptop range is well endowed when it comes to connectivity and expandability.

The review unit cam with an integrated 3G wireless-broadband modem as well as Bluetooth 3.0 and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi wireless. The 3G modem is available as an option on other configurations in this model range. The SIM card for the 3G service is installed in a slot located in the battery compartment and it takes the standard small-form-factor SIM card rather than the “micro” SIM card.

Left hand side with SD card reader. USB / eSATA socket, USB socket and HDMI socket

On the other hand, I don’t see why the 3G modem couldn’t, with Bluetooth, support the SIM Card Access profile for authenticating to mobile-data services. Here this setup allows authentication to mobile services via a mobile phone SIM card using a Bluetooth link. The function has been available with integrated car phones that allow authentication and phone service using the driver’s SIM card held in their mobile phone, and could support “one account, one bandwidth quota” operation for both the mobile phone and laptop.

On the other hand, the 3G modem technology used in the Vostro’s integrated modem may be considered too slow in the face of upcoming 4G LTE deployments that are occurring in most countries. Of course this is taken care of with the USB ports and ExpressCard slot being ready to accept LTE modems.

Right hand side with optical drive, ExpressCard slot, audio jacks and USB 3.0 socket

The Dell Vostro has a promising array of two USB 3.0 ports alongside two USB 2.0 ports with one doubling as an eSATA slot. There is an ExpressCard slot available for use with LTE or WiMAX wireless-broadband cards or whatever comes one’s way.

Of course, the computer offers for removable storage a card reader for use with SDHC and similar memory cards as well as a DVD burner.

Audio and Video

A feature that is worthy of note for the Dell Vostro is the integration of a microphone array. Here this allows for improved audio results with video conferencing or speech-recognition-based dictation by using microphone combinations to focus on the voice and cut out the background noise.

This is like when you use a stereo recorder that is equipped with two microphones to record your voice, then play the same recording through stereo speakers or headphones. Here, it is easier to catch your voice because it is dominant across both channels.

The Dell Vostro 3550 uses a dual-mode graphics setup with AMD Radeon graphics for discrete high-performance graphics and Intel HD graphics for power-saving economy-mode graphics. I have seen the benefit of this setup before when I reviewed the HP Pavillion dv7-6013TX which is similarly equipped. Here, I ran it through a DVD rundown test while the laptop was using the Intel HD graphics and it was able to play longer than previous discrete-only setups.

There is support under the new AMD control software for application-driven switchability. Here one can set a video-editing application or graphics-rich game to go with the high-performance graphics while other applications like Web browsers or word-processing can work with the power-saving graphics mode.

On the other hand, there isn’t a distinct manual switch in the AMD software to switch between discrete or integrated graphics.

The Vostro 3550’s screen doesn’t have any of the glare that is common with a lot of consumer laptops and this nicety may be peculiar to business laptops. At least this means that you can use it in most environments without seeing yourself in the mirror when you use the laptop.

Battery life

The Vostro 3550 has achieved long battery runtimes thanks to the Intel Sandy Bridge technology. I had run it on a DVD rundown test by having it play a feature movie continuously off the DVD. This ran for 6 hours 38 minutes on the integrated graphics while showing good-quality movie images.

I have also run the laptop on regular tasks and it appeared as if it was sipping the battery rather than wolfing through it. It has what appears to be a larger battery pack but this pack is the standard one for the Vostro 3550 series.

Conclusion

Rear view with VGA, USB 3.0, Ethernet and power sockets

The Dell Vostro 3550 Series is another of the value-for-money durable laptops that I would recommend as a standard-size “work-home” laptop if you just transport it between locations. If you intend to do a lot of numeric data entry such as accounting or statistics work with it, I would recommend that you use the Vostro with a USB numeric keypad.

Here, I would make sure you get as much RAM and hard disk space as you can afford. You could get away with the i5 processor for most tasks and choose the i5 processor for tasks that demand more like graphics for example. If you had to cut your cloth accordingly, you may have to forego the integrated 3G modem and use an external wireless-broadband modem or tether your mobile phone for your wireless-broadband use as a way of focusing money on the performance or capacity aspects.

I am reviewing the Toshiba Tecra R850 laptop which is a business-focused standard laptop computer driven by the Intel Sandy Bridge processor series. It has a few features that would make it appeal to small businesses who want that “work-home” laptop such as increased durability and a highly-resilient hard disk with a shock sensor.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Toshiba Tecra R850 series of laptops is finished in a black matte plastic finish with chrome-highlighted hinges. The lid and palm rest are finished with a fine herringbone-like ribbed texture that makes it less slippery to handle ad gives a quality finish to the unit.

The unit feels very well-built like what would be expected of a good business-grade laptop, and I would expect it to withstand a lot of heavy use.

User interface

The Tecra’s keyboard is a chiclet-style keyboard which, like the Portege R830 can be slippery to work. It could benefit from the keys having a rubber-feel capping or other rough texture on them to cut down on the slippery feel. At least you can still touch-type accurately on these computers.

Keyboard with thumbstick and trackpad

The Toshiba Tecra R850 Series uses a dual-control interface for mouse-cursor control. Here, you have the familiar trackpad but also have a “thumbstick” (joystick) that was common on IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad laptops. The latter option may be of use if you want accurate cursor control.

You can disable the trackpad if you find that the cursor jumps around as you type, which I have found with this computer. This can be done by pressing a button under the spacebar rather than going through menus.

As well, there is a fingerprint reader that is used for secure logon and works with a Toshiba-supplied “password keyring” program as well as with Windows.

Expandability and Connectivity

Left-hand-side connectors with USB 3.0, VGA, HDMI, ExpressCard slot and SD card reader

The Toshiba does well on expandability in that it has an ExpressCard slot for any future expansion options that may come along. As well, there is a USB 3.0 socket, a combined USB 2.0 / eSATA socket and two regular USB 2.0 sockets, which will satisfy the most peripheral-endowed workplaces.

It is also worth noting that all of the recent Toshiba laptops such as this one and the Portege R830 that I previously reviewed have the Kensington locking slot located on the right-hand hinge pin.

Audio and Video

The sound from the Toshiba’s inbuilt speakers is typical for a laptop computer. Here, there isn’t the full bass response and it comes out as very low-powered. If you want to gain better sound quality from this Tecra computer as well as most other laptops, I would prefer to use extension speakers, an outboard sound system or headphones for applications where you appreciate good sound quality.

Right hand side with DVD burner, 2 x USB 2.0 sockets, USB 2.0 / eSATA socket, audio output, Gigabit Ethernet and Kensington lock slot

It is so easy to limit the display quality assessment of a business-market laptop to just text-based work but it is worth remembering that these laptops are used beyond the business norm of spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Here they end up primarily as “business-home” laptops where the computer is taken home and used for multimedia activity there. In addition, a lot of businesses are dabbling in video and rich graphics as part of their presentation technique; and there is an increasing amount of business-focused multimedia content out there on the Web.

The AMD Radeon-powered display has a quality that suits most video tasks, but the display can be a bit too pale when run on the battery-saving mode. There isn’t ready access to the dual-mode graphics that the Sandy Bridge chipset is known for, so you can’t easily switch to Intel HD graphics if you want to run the Tecra R850 on integrated graphics to “spin out” the battery runtime further.

What I also like about this unit’s screen is that it isn’t of the reflective type which is the norm with a lot of laptops. This also makes the screen less of a fingerprint magnet. The unit has a VGA connector which will come in handy for older projectors that have this connector as well as an HDMI audio-video connector for newer displays. This also means that it can be connected to an amplifier or digital-audio converter that has HDMI inputs for better sound. It also has the regular headphone jack for connection to headphones or other equipment that yields better sound.

Battery life

I had ran the Toshiba Tecra R850 through the DVD run-down test and it was able to play for nearly 5 hours from fully-charged before the battery ran out to a critically-low point. I have also subjected this laptop to long sessions of regular use while on battery and have noticed that there was very little impact on the battery runtime available.

As I have noticed before, the new-generation Intel chipsets have improved the battery runtime for these laptops. This is even though the Toshiba didn’t have accessible dual-mode graphics.

Other experience notes

A feature that I appreciate with the Toshiba Tecra R850 Series business laptops, and one that may be common amongst a lot of its business-focused peers is a shock-protection mechanism for the hard disk. Here, if the hard disk experiences a sudden jolt or extended vibration, the read-write heads are parked in a safe zone away from the data and all read-write activity is delayed until the computer is stable. In some cases, this may lead to the computer taking longer to hibernate when you pack it away in your bag.

This is a function that is important for laptops that are likely to be carried around frequently while in operation. Of course, when these laptops are off, the disk heads would be parked at a safe location; and I would see these functions as being mandatory for all portable computers.

The Tecra doesn’t run excessively hot during use. This is due to internal design to permit proper airflow and a temperature-controlled fan that operates at the required speed for the situation.

Limitations And Points Of Improvement

One point of improvement that I would like to see for the Toshiba business laptops is for the keyboard to have distinct texturing on the keys so they don’t feel as slippery to use, especially if you touch type. This could be achieved through the use of rubberised keycaps or just simply rough-textured keycaps.

As well, Toshiba could work on a variant of this computer series which has the ruggedness and performance capabilities of the series like the hard-disk safeguarding features but doesn’t have the “managed computing” features that would be required for corporate deployment. This variant could then be targeted at students and small business users who want something that is long-lasting but less costly.

It could be part of a “bridge” laptop product lineup that stands between the computers normally sold to the “big end of town” and the consumer laptops that are sold through big-box retailers.

Conclusion

I would specify the Toshiba Tecra R830 Series computers as an all-round “work-home” laptop for most small-business owners who want to move their offices to the “new computing environment”. The test configuration is able to support most business and home tasks very adequately.

I would recommend the higher-end configurations if you do a lot of graphics-intensive work like creating “rough-cut” videos or finely editing pictures. On the other hand, the 3G-enabled variants would be useful if you are able to manage a separate 3G wireless-broadband service with its separate allowance. On the other hand, you could wirelessly-tether your smartphone to your non-3G variant of this laptop for use with your wireless-broadband service.

I have written a previous article about recent Blu-Ray players with Internet-video functionality and how they can bless a TV with many years in its life with this “smart-TV” or “Internet-video” functionality.

Now I am reviewing the Sony BDP-S380 Internet-enabled Blu-Ray player which is an example of these players and is the entry-level model in Sony’s component Blu-Ray player lineup. This unit interests me because it is an example of a Blu-Ray player that can extend the functionality of existing TV sets, including older and cheaper units, by providing access to Internet TV services.

The BDP-S480, which is the next model up in the series and costs AUD$30 extra, has the functionality of this player but can show 3D-capable Blu-Ray discs on 3D-capable displays, as well as drawing down material held on the DLNA Home Media Network. The BDP-S580 also has integrated Wi-Fi functionality for most home and small-business Wi-Fi networks.

Price

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$199

Sony BDP-S480 Recommended Retail Price: AUD$229

Functions

Connections

The unit itself

The Sony BDP-S380 is a slimline Blu-Ray Disc player that can work well as a DVD player or basic gateway to video-on-demand services.

Equipment setup

You can connect this Sony Blu-Ray player to a large range of older and newer video equipment. An example of this is the component video output being able to be set to yield RGB component video as well as YCC component video. This will please those of us who have European TVs that are equipped with a SCART connector or video projectors and monitors that have RGB video connectors. In the former case, the user will need to purchase a SCART-component-video cable and in the latter case, they will need to make sure the device accepts basic RGB video input through three RCA or BNC terminals.

Rear panel connections

Of course, the BDP-S380 can work with HDMI-enabled video equipment as a Blu-Ray player should and has the ability to connect to home-theatre receivers or digital preamplifiers via an SP/DIF coaxial RCA connector.

It can connect to the home network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi via an extra-cost USB dongle available from Sony. Personally, I would connect this player to the home network via an Ethernet or HomePlug AV connection in order to benefit from reliable performance, and have tested this player’s network ability with this connection setup.

General operation experience

Remote control

The BDP-S389 Blu-Ray player has a user experience similar to what happens with other Sony consumer audio-video equipment made over the last few years that uses the TV as its user interface. Examples of this include the PlayStation 3 and the STR-DA5500ES home theatre receiver which I reviewed previously.

This user interface, known as the “XrossBar” interface, has you moving between the main media types (Music, Pictures, Video) and the Setup and Network options using the “Left” and “Right” buttons on the device’s remote’s D-pad. Then you select the sptions like media collections and services or setup screens using the “Up” and “Down” buttons on that D-pad. When you are in this interface, you really know where you are because you still see some of the other top-level icons on the screen.

Local media playback

The Sony BDP-S380 is able to work properly as a fully-functional standard Blu-Ray player. This includes the ability to work with BonusView and BD-Live discs that require reusable local storage or network connectivity.

Of course, like nearly all DVD and Blu-Ray players that are on the market since the last few years, this unit need to be operated by their remote control.

It can play content held on USB Mass-Storage Devices, primarily memory keys and single-unit flash-card readers. The instructions mention that this player could work with USB hard disks but the player may not provide enough power to drive the bus-powered 2.5” hard disks by itself.

Here, the Sony has two USB ports for connection of these media devices. But the front port can be used for the optional Wi-Fi dongle or a USB keyboard. At the moment, this would come in handy when using the built-in YouTube or Qriocity services where you enter in user login details or search for media. The rear USB port is used for separate local storage if you are using BD-Live or BonusView discs.

There is a small display on the front that can come in handy for playback of audio CDs and SACDs without the need for the TV to be on.

Network Media

The Sony BDP-S380 can be used to connect to the local “catch-up TV” / video-on-demand services that are offered by most of the channels. For Australian viewers, this includes the ABC iView service, the SBS service and the Plus7 service.

You also have access to other Internet video libraries like the YouTube library, the Qriocity library, LiveStrong.com amongst many others. With some of the libraries, you have to log in to the libraries to gain proper functionality such as access to personalised content selections. There is an option to allow this player to regularly poll for new services that are delivered on the Bravia Internet Video platform, which you can do through the setup menus.

The login experience for services like Qriocity and YouTube is primarily “SMS-based” where you use the numeric keypad on the remote control to enter your login parameters. If you need to change character sets, you have to highlight a “ABC” / “123” option using the D-pad. There is the option to use a USB keyboard for improved login experience.

Like most of these devices, there isn’t any form of catering for the reality of multiple users sharing the one piece of equipment. Here, if you log out of the YouTube client for example, the software doesn’t cache your username – you have to enter these details fully.

Being an entry-level model, the Sony BDP-S380 loses some features. One of these, which I find critical for the networked home, is DLNA media playback. The Sony BDP-S480, which is the model above, has this feature along with Blu-Ray 3D playback as the two main differentiating features.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

I would recommend that Sony provides the DLNA media playback feature across the whole component Blu-Ray player range for the next model run and provide extra DLNA features like MediaRenderer functionality for step-up and top-shelf models.

As well, I would like to see support for an improved multi-user “hot-seat” experience for this class of devices, such as retention of username and/or simplified PIN login options. It could also benefit from social communications features like Twitter / Facebook access and a Skype videoconferencing terminal in a similar vein to Sony’s BRAVIA TV sets.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Sony BDP-S380 Blu-Ray player as a good-quality Blu-Ray / basic Internet video solution for use with a cheaper or older TV set. This is more so for those of us who want to “cut our teeth” on Internet video by replacing a half-dead “Chinese-special” DVD player rather than replacing a TV set with many miles left in it. You also get a good-quality reliable optical disc player as well as an Internet-video terminal in the same package.

If you want more functionality with your home network, especially if you have lots of media on a network-attached storage device, I would prefer that you spend the extra AUD$30 and go for the Sony BDP-S480 rather than this model.

I am reviewing the Dell 1130n compact monochrome laser printer which is Dell’s own effort at a compact monochrome laser business printer similar to the Brother HL-2230 series of compact monochrome laser printers. This unit is network-enabled for Ethernet but doesn’t use auto-duplex printing.

It can be ordered directly from Dell at their site by clicking this link.

Prices

Printer

Recommended Retail Price: $229

Inks and Toners

The printer itself

Computer functions

The software was very quick and trouble-free to install. As well, it didn’t slow the computer down during print jobs. There is a print-monitor function for direct-connect and network-connect setups but this only comes in to play when there is an error condition. It can be started independently of a print job or error condition if you want to check on things like toner level for example and is effectively the printer’s dashboard.

Use

The integrated toner-drum print cartridge that this printer takes

The toner cartridge is different from that used in the Brother compact printers in that it is an integrated toner / drum-unit cartridge similar to what happens with HP LaserJet printers. For this kind of integrated print cartridge, there is the availabliity of a high-capacity cartridge as well as a standard-capacity cartridge which allows for scalability to suit one’s needs and budget.

Like most of these laser printers, the Dell 1130n doesn’t have a “fuel-gauge” on the machine so you can know how much toner is left. This “fuel gauge” is part of the print monitor application which is the printer’s dashboard.

It only takes a few seconds for the printer to turn out a document, whether it is a photograph or a text document. It will work in an ideal manner with large document runs after 100-150 pages, where there will be less of the paper-curling. As for page turnout, it lives up to the specification for the pages-per-minute with pages coming out very quickly.

Print quality

The printer does yield very sharp crisp text for document printout, which would be acceptable for business work; and is very typical of most lasers. Even a mixed-mode document with graphics and text does come out very crisply.

I have printed one of my photos using the two print-quality settings and when you use the “Best” print quality, you see a sharper image. The images come out darker than the HP LaserJet M1536dnf multifunction monochrome laser but very similar to what has emerged from the Brother HL2240d compact monochrome laser. At least the best-quality image available from this compact monochrome laser was true to what would be seen in a newspaper or on a black-and-white TV.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

There is no distinct “fall-to-sleep” mode where only one small light glows if there are long periods of inactivity. As well, this printer lacks an automatic duplexer which permits and encourages double-sided printing.

As well, a very common problem with all Dell printers is the ability to know where to get consumables beyond ordering them directly through Dell. This may be of importance if you run the printer “to the edge” and need to stock up on supplies during an urgent project. It should be feasible that you could buy toner cartridges at “bricks-and-mortar” shops like stationers or newsagents as well as online through Dell.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

I would recommend this printer as being suitable for a reception-desk invoice printer at a business like a clinic who has growth aspirations. The scalability offered by the availability of a high-capacity print cartridge as well as a standard print cartridge, as well as network connectivity, can allow the business to “start small” with cheaper cartridges then grow to the higher-capacity cartridges. In the case of a clinic, this can cater for a situation where there are one or two doctors practising but allow for the situation where more of the professionals start to practise at that same location.

If you are wanting to save money by buying the Dell 1130 which is the cheaper direct-connect-only version of this printer, I would suggest that you go for this model because it would be worth it to keeep going.. This is because when you run out of toner on the cheaper model, you could effectively buy another of that model whereas you could complete two of hte high-capacity toner cartridges to spend the equivalent on keeping it going.

I am reviewing the Toshiba Portege R830 series of ultraportable notebook computers which is targeted at business users, primarily the “big end of town” but there are models in this series that can appeal to most users who are after a notebook that can be stuffed in to that bike bag or shoulder bag.

This is the first ultraportable notebook based on Intel Sandy Bridge technology that I have reviewed for HomeNetworking01.info.This class of notebook is infact a proving ground for the technology because it has requirements for long battery life, ability to play video content at a moment’s notice as well as be light and suitable for use on the road. The Toshiba Portege R830 Series is so well positioned with this respect due to it being equipped with an optical drive which would come in handy with playing DVDs that you buy or rent before that long bus or train trip.

The computer itself

I have noticed negligible extra weight when I have packed in my day bag to take it on an “on-road” test drive. It is large enough for the lid to lean back while in crowded buses or economy-class airline seats, even if the seat ahead is suddenly reclined.

One of the few ultraportables that is equipped with an optical drive

All the models in this series come with a DVD burner but this review model and the model above are equipped with a solid-state drive rather than a hard disk for the main secondary storage. The two less-expensive models come with a 500Gb hard disk and the most expensive model has a 512Gb solid-state drive while this model has the 128Gb SSD.

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Portege R830 Series is finished in an all-black finish with chrome highlights on the lid hinges. This avoids the tendency to use a fingermark-attracting gloss finish, which allows for a more durable finish.

As well, for an ultralight computer, it is very well-built and has a good-quality finish about it. It was also able to handle the rough usage that may occur as it is taken out and about when you travel or go “hotspot surfing”.

User interface

The Toshiba ultraportable notebook is equipped with a chiclet keyboard which supports accurate touch-typing for long perionds, even while travelling on public transport. It could benefit from rubber-capped keys so you know where you are actually typing.

There is an easily-discoverable trackpad that has a generous area for working with; as well as easily-discoverable buttons. As well, this ultraportable does use a fingerprint scanner between the buttons as part of a secure-login option.

Audio and Video

The Intel HD video is responsive for most multimedia tasks especially video playback. It may be able to cope with basic editing but there may be problems when you use the video-editing tools to make anything beyond “rushes-quality” video. I even noticed that the Toshiba had performed very well even when it was playing “Munich: from the integrated DVD burner whil;e running on batteries.

Unlike most laptops, the Toshiba Portege R830′s screen on this unit isn’t a reflective glossy screen, which makes it suitable for bright operating environments.

The sound-reproduction for these laptops is typical for many of the laptops in that it has the tinny speakers that don’t provide depth to the sound. I would recommend that you use this laptop with a pair of good headphones or a good speaker setup when you want the best out of the sound.

Battery life

I have run this computer on a variety of activities and it has run longer than expected for the typical laptop. For example, I was able to have a DVD playing for four hours after a full charge and fhen find that there is 25% of power left, with an estimated 4 hours worth of use left.

Other experience notes

USB socket for Sleep N Charge feature

The Toshiba Portege R830 has a Sleep And Charge feature for one of the USB ports. Here, it means that the notebook can be set to supply power to 1 USB port while it is off so that smartphones and other gadgets can be charged off that port. This may benefit travellers who want to cut the number of chargers and AC adaptors they carry for their devices while on the road. For overseas travellers, this may avoid the need to carry extra plug converters for mobile phone chargers while they travel. The function has worked as stated on the tin when it came to charging my Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphone as illustrated below.

Sleep N Charge in action - charging my mobile phone while closed up and off

I had shown this computer to some friends whom I live with when I was talking about laptops and they thought it was similar to a netbook that they considered as a “traveller” computer. This is although they were used to seeing the larger laptop computers and didn’t really pick up on this class of ultraportable notebooks that filled the gulf between the netbook and the regular laptop.

Conclusion

The Toshiba Portege computers do work well as a current-spec traveller’s computer where you value creating content or need the ability to work with DVDs. It does the Sandy Bridge CPU/GPU platform justice as far as “traveller-friendly” portable computing goes.

I would recommend this configuration for use as a secondary traveller computer where only current data is kept on the system and quick performance is a priority. If you do need to have a larger data collection like digital photos or videos that are being “proofed”, you may have to use an external hard disk or invest in the more-expensive model of the series.

This ultraportable looks the part on the coffee bar that is part of the smart "second office" cafes

There is a variant of this model that is equipped with the same processor, RAM and other specifications but has a regular 500Gb hard disk for AUD$1980 which may suit most people who want the same power but more storage.

But whatever, I would place the Toshiba Portege R830 series of ultraportables as contenders for a notebook computer that you intend to use “on the go” especially if you cycle or use public transport. It also would be an appropriate notebook to use if you do a lot of work at Wi-Fi-equipped cafes.

I am reviewing the Fujitsu TH550M netbook-sized convertible notebook. This is a notebook computer which has a touchscreen or stylus-operable screen that swivels to become a tablet computer.

It is the first of this kind of notebook that I have had for review and is an example of what the proposed “netvertible” form factor could look like. This is although it runs the Windows 7 desktop operating system with touch and stylus operation built in to it as well as having full processor capabilities rather than the netbook-grade processor capabilities.

The computer itself

The display swivels to become a tablet

The Fujitsu TH550M convertible notebook is really about squeezing a quart in to a pint pot. Here, the “engine” is an Intel Core i3 processor which would be at home in a 13” ultraportable and the hard disk has a total capacity of 500Gb with cheaper variants having a 320Gb hard disk. Even the supplied operating system is Windows 7  Professional which is the “business package” version.

The notebook as a tablet

This is compared to a typical netbook which would be Intel Atom powered, have 250Gb on the hard disk at the most and run Windows 7 Home Premium. The only thing in common is the amount of RAM available which is 2Gb that is shared with the display memory.

Aesthetics and Build quality

The Fujitsu TH550M is about the size of a small book and is finished in a piano-black gloss finish. There is the sense of very good build quality especially with the flip-screen mechanism.

User interface

Like the typical netbook, this Fujitsu T-Series notebook uses a keyboard that is cramped and it may be difficult to touch-type accurately on this computer. There is also a very small trackpad with chrome-finished buttons and a rough tracking surface. This makes it easy to determine the sensitive area of the trackpad without you looking.

The main feature is the screen being a touchscreen that can respond to your fingers or the supplied stylus. The small screen size may make it hard to select certain operating-system icons like the icons on the edge of the windows.

Keyboard and trackpad

Audio and Video

This Fujitsu TH550M convertible notebook is driven by an Intel HD graphics subsystem which would be adequate for most tasks, even basic video playback. It can be connected to an external display via a VGA or HDMI connector.

The touchscreen is that typical glossy finish that can yield annoying reflections but in other cases, does the job adequately.

Battery life

The Fujitsu can last for many hours on regular tasks even though it was on the power-saving setting by default. This included an evening’s worth of use of the Social Web where I was monitoring and interacting with the #HackGate hashtag on Twitter during the ABC24 live broadcast of the inquiry in to the phone hacking scandal concerning the Murdoch press in the UK.

Other experience notes

I showed this computer to a woman friend and she had considered it as a viable “personal computer” that would suit her needs. This is after she had previously talked with us about personal-computing solutions like tablets and small laptop computers that had impressed her

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

An improvement that I would like to see for convertible notebooks would be a touch-optimised shell for the Windows 7 operating system, so these computers can be a worthy competitor to the iPad and Android tablet computers. This could include the extension of “newspaper apps” and “book-reading apps” to the Windows desktop platform rather than focusing them to the Apple iPad.

This situation may be rectified with the installation of Windows 8 on these convertible notebooks when it arrives or a dual-boot setup with Android and Windows 7 for current-issue machines.

For this model, I would like to have the cord that tethers the stylus to the computer able to retract in to the unit in a similar vein to the typical vacuum-cleaner’s retractable power cord. Here, this can avoid further damage to the cord, pen or notebook if the cord is snagged on items in the typical briefcase or laptop bag.

Conclusion

I would consider the Fujitsu TH550M as a computer for those who want a “bridge” between a tablet computer and a netbook; rather than carrying around an accessory keyboard with a 10” tablet computer like an iPad. This is more so i, offer the bf you mainly use line-of-business applications or create content.

As well, other members of the Fujitsu T-Series convertible notebook range would, with their different screen sizes, offer the bridge between the tablet and the regular notebook with this distinct interface kind.

This situation may lead to the computer being uncomfortable to use after a significant amount of time and there can be a chance of heat building up under the computer, thus causing overheating and a shortened lifespan for that laptop.

Cooler Master is a name primarily associated with the manufacture of aftermarket computer cooling systems for desktop PCs. These are usually in the form of CPU fan subsystems or add-on case fans that are used as part of tuning-up “LAN-party” PCs for maximum gaming performance, similar to “hotting up” cars for maximum street performance.

Recommended Retail Price: AUD$59

The unit itself

USB input, Fan controls and DC input

This NotePal Infinite Evo is based around an aluminium panel with rubber strips to hold the laptop on. This panel is positioned ant an angle and has two small fans underneath it to create the air draught under the computer. This is the reverse to the typical fan heater which draws the cold air in the top and forces the heated air out the heater’s front grille. Both of these fans are variable-speed fans that are adjusted by use of a thumbwheel on the left side of the unit.

USB hub connections

This is powered through a USB connection to the host laptop computer and there are 3 USB 2.0 ports on the right side of the laptop cooling mat.This is unlike most of the cheaper laptop cooling pads that don’t have a USB hub, thus leaving you without a USB connection when you use them. Thee is also a 5V DC power connection for use with a 5V power adaptor if you need to run this unit as a self-powered USB hub. Here, the external power supply would be required if you were to connect the typical 2.5″ USB hard disk to the unit’s hub while using it as a cooling pad.

Rear-mounted intake grilles

The air is drawn in through large grilles on the back of the unit and expelled through a small air scoop just under where the computer sits.

Usage

Judging from how I handled the Cooler Master  laptop cooling pad, I noticed that it was very well built. There was nothing loose about it and the controls operated properly and smoothly as on good-quality equipment.

The NotePal Infinite Evo mat is lighter than the typical 15” laptop which makes it easier to transport with the laptop. There are large rubber pads to prevent the pad slipping across table tops and protect those polished wooden dining or coffee tables from scratches.

During operation, there is a slight buzz from the fan at high speed, which is well below typical conversation level. I have observed this with a regular laptop being placed on the cooling pad. I have checked for excessive vibration while the fan is at the same high speed and there wasn’t any of that vibration.

The USB hub works according to the standards for a USB hub without the need for driver CDs. Remember that it is a bus-powered USB hub unless you connect a 5VDC power supply to the DC-IN jack on the left of the unit.

Points Of Improvement

One point of improvement that I would like to see is a version that suits subnotebook / ultraportable computers and is big enough for them, without sacrificing the build quality and quiet operation.

As well, Cooler Master could provide an external power supply kit as an option for the NotePal Infinite Evo units so they can work as a self-powered USB hub when used with USB hard disks or as a charging bar for mobile phones.

Conclusion

I would recommend that people who find that their laptop computer runs hot too easily during games or graphics-intensive work should purchase the Cooler Master NotePal Infinite Evo cooling pad. It does the job without intruding on one’s computing life and is designed to last a long time. As well you don’t lose the functionality of the USB socket it is connected to.

I am reviewing the HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf monochrome laser multifunction printer which is another printer in this class that provides most of today’s expected features to the professional user. It is based on the print engine that HP has implemented in the LaserJet Pro P1560 direct-connect printer that I previously reviewed and the network-connectable duplex-capable LaserJet Pro P1600 printer.

Prices

Printer

The machine’s standard price: AUD$548.00

Toner

Other Costs

The HP ePrint “print-to-email” service is free of charge. This includes maintaining your printer’s email address and the documents that you receive through that address.

The printer itself

The HP LaserJet Pro M1536 supports the functionality that is desirable for a multifunction laser printer targeted at the small business or professional, like duplex printing, proper fax functionality for regular fax services as well as connectivity to an Ethernet network.

Typically the fact that a printer doesn’t support Wi-Fi wireless networking may count against it as far as network functionality, especially “no-new-wires” networking, goes for this market space. But the Ethernet connectivity allows this printer to work with a HomePlug network or Wi-Fi network as long as you use one of those “homeplugs” or a Wi-Fi client bridge. As well, the LaserJet, like most current-model small-business printers that connect to a network, is able to work with an IPv6 network, thus making it future-proof for next-generation networks.

Setup

This printer was easy to set up without any need for convoluted procedures, which is an advantage of HP’s integrated cartridge design used in all of the small-business LaserJets. This included connecting it to a typical small network via Ethernet. There is the option to manually configure the network settings for difficult networks.

Walk-up functions

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf can work as a convenience photocopier or a fax machine and, like most of the machines of this type, it supports “ID copy” functionality for copying documents like driving licences. As well it can digitally enlarge or reduce documents with this function being accessed from one button. Similarly, the user can do “double-sided” copying as long as they flip the original document over.

Like the HP LaserJet Pro CM1415 that I previously reviewed, this LaserJet printer uses flash memory rather than RAM to store received and pending faxes. This provides for a “power-safe” operating environment where if the power fails or fluctuates, you don’t lose received faxes that are to be printed or faxes yet to be transmitted. It also works well with the private-receive function which uses this memory as a “fax vault” where the machine receives faxes but doesn’t print these faxes until you enter a PIN code to release them. This is a feature that I would consider important if you work with confidential material in a premises that has uncontrolled access to the office technology.

Like most of the current-model HP multifunction printers and an increasing number of Canon high-end multifunction printers, this printer offers a “quick forms” feature where the printer can turn out notepaper, graph paper, music staves or similar ruled paper at the touch of a button. This is only available through the Setup menus  You still have the problem of a limited choice of ruled paper. Examples of these limitations include 10 staves for portrait-format music paper (which affects writing for certain music ensembles like vocal and piano or quartets) as well as the inability to print certain “quick forms” like notepaper or checklists on both sides.

This printer supports ePrint “email-to-print” functionality but only for receiving print jobs sent to its email address. This function could also benefit from the same “private receive” function that is available for faxes.

Computer functions

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf’s driver software had loaded very quickly in to my machine and there weren’t any particular problems associated with running it. Even practices like choosing the duplex-printing style are made easier through a “bound-document” graphic which shows how the document will come out after it is printed.

This HP LaserJet doesn’t support control-panel-initiated scan-to-computer functionality unlike most of its peers, so it didn’t need to run a scan monitor program. Other than that, the scanner is a colour unit that is able to do what is expected for this class of equipment. Of course, HP has provided scanning software that allows for “scan-to-PDF”, a function that Microsoft could provide within the Windows operating system.

Useability

The display on this unit is a large backlit LCD display with easy-to-read text. Most of the walk-up functions are a button-press away and the text and icons on the control panel are easy to see.

This laser printer, like the other HP LaserJet printers that I have reviewed, uses an integrated print-cartridge system which has the toner supply and drum unit in one user-replaceable cartridge. This makes it easier to replace the cartridges through the machine’s working life and there isn’t any need to think of having to replace a drum kit. The only limitation with this setup is that the printer isn’t as economical to run as a printer that has a separately-replaceable drum unit like the Brother laser printers.

Here, the user just has to open two lids and pull out the used cartridge and drop in the new cartridge. There isn’t any need to push extra hard to make sure the cartridge is in place.

Like a lot of these monochrome laser printers, there isn’t a way of knowing at a glance where you stand as far as your toner supply goes. Here, you have to go to the printer’s embedded Web server to check how much toner is left or print out a “Supplies Status” report to obtain this same data. There is a light on the printer’s control panel that comes on when you are really low on toner.

Print quality

The documents had come out of the LaserJet M1536dnf with the typical crispness of a laser printer’s output. This is even so with output that has pictures and text.

I had printed a photo through this printer and the picture doesn’t have a strong a contrast as the same picture printed on the previously-reviewed Brother mono laser printers.

As far as print speed is concerned, the HP LaserJet was able to achieve the required speed for a monochrome laser printer. There is still the time penalty associated with duplex printing that is common with most printers that have this feature but this penalty is around twice as long as printing a single side. It is also worth noting that whether the printer has just been used recently or not, the first page of a job is out in 6 seconds with the print mechanism working at proper operating temperature.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

This printer, like the other HP LaserJets could benefit from the availability of optional extra-cost high-capacity print cartridges. This can allow for a business to use cheaper standard cartridges through normal times yet cater for peak printing times like larger projects.

I would also like to see a “fuel-gauge” indicator on the LCD display that indicates how much toner is available in the print cartridge, so you can know whether you need to buy more toner after those large printing project.

The fax subsystem could benefit from T.37 / T.38 standards-based Internet-driven faxing and a “scan-to-email” function in order to cater for IP-based telephony infrastructure. The ePrint email-to-print, which is an HP-driven concept, does provide some of this functionality but it could offer more.

As well, the flash-memory that is used for the unit’s fax functionality could be used as the printer’s memory this allowing for improved fail-safe printing. It can be augmented through the use of SD cards as a way of allowing the user to expand the printer’s memory as they see fit.

Conclusion and Placement Notes

The HP LaserJet M1536dnf is one of these laser printers that would fit in a very tight competitive market, a unit that would please the professional who needs to turn out many of the documents and reports as part of their business life.

The only major problem for someone who wants these desireable features from an HP LaserJet multifunction laser printer is the price of the unit compared to that of competing models that print the same way offered by other manufacturers like Brother. If a person places value on the HP ePrint service such as to print from smartphones; power-safe flash memory for faxes; a well-built machine or a simple-to-replace toner cartridge, they could go for this printer where as most other people could just opt for the Brother MFC-7460DN for their network-connected duplex-printing monochrome laser multifunction.