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Intel's Sandybridge Processor-Based Notebooks

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Adeesh Sharma
New Update

Gateway NE56R

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Gateway NE56R is a Celeron-based notebook graced with Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitecture and the HM70 Express chipset. Graced with a glossy exterior and solid form factor, this big 15.6 inch notebook, weighing 2.6 Kg, is reminiscent of the old days when notebooks were only bulky and heavy.  NE56R has a full keyboard, prepared for professionals, with flat and big keys that are awkwardly cluttered together, giving a shaky feel when used. The touchpad, next to the huge keyboard, appears too small but is very intuitive and user-friendly, supporting multi-touch gestures. On the side panels, the notebook has ports for charging, LAN connectivity, VGA, HDMI, three 2.0 USB ports, mike and headphone jacks along with a DVD writer. The front panel includes LED indicators for power and Wi-Fi status and a multi-card reader slot.

Despite the freshness the device doesn't impress much and can be called an average performer. It runs on Intel Celeron Dual Core B815 1.6 GHz processor, 2 GB DDR3 RAM which is upgradeable to 8GB and has 320 GB HDD for storage. It has a wide display that offers fine visuals, thanks to the Intel HD 3000 graphics card. In the 3D Mark test it only got 2506 marks. However, in PCMark it did better with 3338 marks. It has a battery backup of just 2 hours 23 mins, which is decent but disappointing as compared to other notebooks for professionals. In the Cinebench test it managed 6.51fps.

Bottomline: At Rs 23k, you can only get a dual core processor-based notebook, but it still thumps with its features and decent enough performance.

Price: Rs 23,000

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Key specs: Intel Celeron Dual Core B815, 1.6 GHz Processor, 2.6 Kg, 2 GB DDR3 RAM, 320 GB Hard Disk, 15.6 inch display with 1366x768p, Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bit OS, Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA.

Toshiba L750

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Equipped with the same Intel HM70 Express chipset and Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, comes another notebook, this one though runs on a Pentium processor. The Toshiba L750, from the Satellite series, is again bulky and takes a lot of time booting up. However, it has better speakers and a more comfortable and spread out full keyboard followed by a small multi-touchpad. It has 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 LAN port, VGA, Headphone, card reader and charging slot. The notebook boasts of HD Clear Super View Led Backlit TFT display CSV 15.6 inch wide screen with a max resolution of 1366×768p.

It is better than the Gateway notebook in terms of features, with a 500GB HDD to Gateway's 320 GB, and a 2.2 GHz dual core Pentium B960 processor. However, when it comes to performance Toshiba L750 falls behind. In the PC Mark test it scored just 2913 marks, while in 3D Mark it got 1799 and in Cinebench it scored 3.37 fps. In the Battery Mark battery backup test, it scored a poor 1 hour and 35 mins.

Bottomline: It lags behind the Gateway NE56R in features, even though it is dearer by Rs 5k. 

Price: Rs 28,000

Key specs: 2.2 GHz Processor Pentium Dual Core B960, 2.4 Kg, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB HDD, Windows 7 Home Basic, 15.6 Inch 1366 x 768, Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3 x USB 2.0, LAN, 1 HDMI, VGA, multi-card reader.

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