Indeed, its overall result of 0.67 in our Real World Benchmarks would have placed it among the front-runners for application performance; the Core i3 may not be a premium processor, but the Toshiba feels anything but like a low-end laptop.Gaming performance isn't as strong, however. With only Intel's HD Graphics 4000 to call upon, it achieved an average frame rate of 33fps in our easiest Crysis test. That's just about playable, the average plummets to 24fps when you up the quality settings to Medium.Nevertheless, the big screen is a big attraction. Where smaller-screened budget laptops often sport 1,366 x 768 pixel displays, the Toshiba offers a 1,600 x 900 resolution that feels palpably more spacious (although less generous than the Full HD displays we're used to on more premium models). Image quality is fine, if not great.Brightness reaches an excellent 305cd/m2 ¨C bright enough for outdoor use, if you can lug it into the garden ¨C but a contrast ratio of 169:1 results in washed-out images. Darker greys blend into black, and highlights are crushed, too. It's fine for everyday use, as long as you're not planning to do any colour-critical photo-editing work.
When it comes to connectivity, all the essentials are here. There's only a single USB 3 port, which is a bit stingy, but there are a further two USB 2 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, D-SUB and an SD card reader dotted around the Toshiba's edges. Wireless networking is capped at single-band 802.11n speeds, but unlike many cheaper laptops, the latest Bluetooth 4 connectivity is supported. There's also a basic 0.9MP webcam embedded in the display's bezel, and although contrast and detail are lacking, it's good enough for basic Skype chatting.As a do-it-all desktop replacement, the Satellite C75 is a solid all-rounder. It has weak points, but if you're looking for a desk-bound laptop with a good turn of speed for around ¡ê500, the Toshiba Satellite C75 is a viable candidate at a sensible price.Qualcomm will make smartphone chips with 64-bit technology, following Apple and opening the way to more efficient mobile gadgets.
Qualcomm said its new Snapdragon 410 component will also include 4G mobile phone connectivity technology and be aimed at the fast-growing Chinese market, where it should start appearing in low-cost smartphones in the second half of 2014.Along with 4G, 64-bit technology will become standard across Qualcomm's products, said Michelle Leyden Li, a Qualcomm senior director in charge of marketing its Snapdragon line.Led by Apple's iPhones, the smartphone industry's evolution toward 64-bit chips reduces the gap between low-power mobile processors and punchier chips used in laptops, desktop PCs and servers.Samsung has also said it plans to use 64-bit processors in its smartphones.Processors with 64-bit features can take advantage of more memory than 32-bit processors now found in most mobile devices, potentially letting them work faster and more efficiently.
Current smartphones don't have enough memory to give 64-bit processors an advantage of 32-bit chips, but future phones will probably include enough memory to give the 64-bit processors a performance boost.Taking advantage of 64-bit processors also requires changes to software originally designed for 32-bit processors."It's a little bit chicken and egg," Leyden Li said. "We see this transition happening and we want to be there to help enable the ecosystem."In September, Apple unveiled its first iPhone made with a 64-bit processor, leading to speculation the company plans to merge its iOS mobile platform with the operating system used for its Mac laptop and desktop personal computers. Future Macs could be built with the same line of chips that Apple uses in its iPhones and iPads.Intel already includes 64-bit features in its mobile chips but the company's x86 architecture has failed to catch on in smartphones and tablets.Asus yanked the covers off a stack of new laptops, tablets and smartphones at today¡¯s CES 2014 press conference in Las Vegas. Out of them all, one product stood out: the Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300, which seamlessly combines Windows 8.1 and Android, and swaps between the two in a matter of seconds.
The TD300 is cast in the classic Transformer Book image, with the 13.3in tablet securely slotting home into a matching keyboard dock and releasing with the quick press of a button. The whole device weighs in at 1.9kg and measures 28mm thick.Despite using standard Intel Haswell processors, it¡¯s capable of flitting between Android and Windows in only four seconds. Press a button along the keyboard¡¯s top edge and the OSes swap places, the familiar Android homescreen replacing that of Windows 8.1.The TD300 marks the first time that Android has been run natively on Core processors, and Asus claims that the resulting performance far outstrips even the fastest Android tablets on the market. In our time with the Asus, we can certainly believe it, with the Android 4.2.2 front-end feeling deliciously smooth and slick.
The experience isn't completely niggle-free, however. Gaming performance in Asphalt 8 was silky-smooth, but it was clear that the game wasn't running at the panel¡¯s native Full-HD resolution. We didn't have time to adjust the in-game detail settings (there are, of course, no user-changeable resolution settings in Asphalt 8), but texture detail and the quality of the effects was nowhere near what we've seen on high-end Android tablets or Apple¡¯s iPad Air, even when running the game on lower detail settings.
The Asus representative we asked suggested that some of the Core CPU¡¯s performance is taken up by an optimisation/compatibility layer ¨C we suspect this may be causing some games to run at a lower resolution in order to enhance gaming performance.If you¡¯re hoping for Zenbook quality for half the price, you¡¯ll have to keep dreaming. The TD300 is a plasticky-feeling unit, with noticeable flex in the tablet¡¯s lid and keyboard below ¨C this is a device that has been built to hit a budget.
Given the features, though, Asus isn¡¯t being greedy. The Core i3 model with 13.3in, 1,366 x 768 TN display is set to retail at $599, while a Full-HD IPS panel upgrade adds a further $100 to the price. The tablet sports either a 64GB or 128GB SSD, while the keyboard base holds anything from a 320GB HDD to a 1TB HDD. Whichever specification you choose, 4GB is reserved for shared storage that can be accessed by both operating systems. Of course, as the HDD is in the base, you can only access data on the HDD while the tablet is docked.
Asus deserves a pat on the back simply for managing such an engineering feat, but to do it and cram it all into a solid, seemingly budget-priced miracle ¨C well, Asus has probably earned an enthusiastic hug. The hardware isn't premium-feeling, but we can certainly see the appeal of having both OSes at your disposal. If we had one wish, it's a simple one: we think a 10in or 11.6in version of this could be simply amazing. We can only hope.Despite Samsung's 2010 Forum in Vienna primarily highlighting the firm's push towards 3D in the home, its latest business notebook, the P580, made a quiet debut alongside the flashy range of LED TVs, space-age microwaves and touchscreen-enabled refrigerators.
The P580 doesn't boast an overwhelming range of bells and whistles, but more than makes up for it with a sleek, understated design and a solid, dependable specification. The models on show partnered Intel's Core i5-520M processor with an Nvidia GT 330M graphics chipset, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard disk with shock protection. 802.11n wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.1 and Gigabit Ethernet were present too; the copy of Windows 7 Professional sealing the P580's business credentials.
The 15.6in, 1,366 x 768 pixel resolution screen was bright and clear - and importantly blessed with a matte, anti-glare finish - and ergonomics seemed good without giving the likes of Lenovo's ThinkPads anything to worry about. The keyboard squeezes a numeric keypad alongside, and despite a somewhat springy base, the keyboard was perfectly comfortable in use. The two short-travel buttons beneath the trackpad respond with a lovely, crisp click, too.
Cast an eye around the P580s frame and in addition to the four USB ports, Samsung has thrown in eSata and an SD card reader for good measure.As far as editing documents on a phone or tablet is concerned, both Microsoft and Google are in a muddle.If you¡¯re a Windows Phone user, the free Office app is superb for viewing and making light edits to documents, but you must remember to hit Save ¨C documents aren¡¯t auto-saved and synced as they are in Google Drive, for example.
Likewise, if you¡¯re one of the few Surface RT owners, or plan to buy a compact Windows 8.1 tablet, the bundled copy of Office 2013 is ideal for working on almost any kind of document, spreadsheet (without macros or plugins) or presentation, or for dealing with email.When it comes to supporting rival platforms, Microsoft is in a pickleWhen it comes to supporting rival platforms, Microsoft is in a pickle However, remember that Office 2013 makes few concessions to touchscreens ¨C Microsoft¡¯s lamentable touch mode does little more than put extra space between buttons and menus. A touchpad/mouse and physical keyboard are almost prerequisites for serious work.When it comes to supporting rival platforms, Microsoft is in a pickle. It recently released the free Office Mobile for iOS and Android phones ¨C which provides much the same editing and viewing functionality of the Office app for Windows Phone ¨C but there¡¯s no version optimised for iPad or Android tablets, which are surely more logical devices for document-editing work.
Last year, Google bought Quickoffice and recently released it for free on Google Play, retiring the more fully featured Quickoffice Pro and Quickoffice Pro HD in the process. Alas, Quickoffice is plagued by basic limitations. It synchronises only with Google Drive, and any documents created in Google¡¯s formats can only be viewed as PDFs ¨C they can¡¯t be edited. Office-format documents can be edited, but even basic options ¨C such as running text around images ¨C are missing from the editor, while it stripped formatting from a relatively complex Excel spreadsheet. One to avoid.Android tablet users looking for a mobile office suite should consider OfficeSuite Pro (¡ê9.65, free seven-day trial available). It isn¡¯t without its formatting issues, especially if you import Word documents full of images or tables, but it coped magnificently with our complicated, heavily formatted Excel spreadsheet. It has a decent range of formatting and editing tools, and it plays nicely with a host of third-party cloud services, including Google Drive, Dropbox and SkyDrive.Apple users are more spoilt for choice, but we find it hard to look beyond Apple¡¯s own Pages and Numbers (¡ê6.99 each). Once again, there can be issues importing heavily formatted documents or Excel spreadsheets, but when it comes to ease of text/data entry and creating immaculate-looking documents, Apple¡¯s apps nail it.
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