The last Predator generation with GTX 9xx GPU was a great hit and this was the laptop which proved that Acer can build one of the best gaming notebooks on the market. Several months after that we were in New York where the Taiwanese company announced Predator 17X (detailed review) – the ultimate gaming beast with a desktop GTX 980 under the hood and industry leading cooling system. The only drawback was the price (it costs around $2300) but we know that if we want cutting-edge, we have to prepare our wallets. Anyway, 17X turned out to be short-lived because NVIDIA hurried with its GTX 10xx series. And as you  may guess…it’s a big deal.

The even better news – the GTX 10xx’s notebook versions are very close to their desktop siblings in terms of raw performance. The leap from GTX 9xx to 10xx is huge and that makes the gap between GTX 9xxM and their successors even bigger. Although we were recommending 17X as a good choice, now the game has changed, in a big way. The latest Predator 15 (G9-593) with GTX 1070 will wipe the floor with its bigger and (not much) older brother, and moreover – its price will be lower.

In addition to the GTX 1070, Predator 15 (G9-593) is also equipped with a high-end Core i7-6700HQ processor, up to 64GB RAM, M.2 NVMe, HDMI 2.0 and G-Sync IPS display with up to 4K resolution. What more could gamers want?

You can check the current price of Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) here: http://amzn.to/2ccAYet

Contents

What’s in the box?

In addition to the notebook, its box also contains a powerful charger (Chicony A12-230P1A) which delivers 230W (19.5V, 11.8A), and the traditional FrostCore fan. The latter can be swapped for the DVD optical drive which you probably won’t need (like ever). It will be interesting to see if (and how much) the FrostCore module can reduce the internal temperatures during high load. We’ll check that a bit further in the review.

Design and construction

G9-593’s predecessor, Acer Predator 15 G9-591 (there was a minor upgrade named G9-592) had almost the same design as the latest model that we’re looking at today. If you’re in front of the two laptops, chances are you won’t find any difference. Actually, the most notable one is on the back side – the main exhaust vents have been massively redesigned and now are much more aggressive.

Except for the rear side, the G9-593 looks pretty much the same as its predecessor and that’s not bad at all – both of them have awesome looking and functional design.

The keyboard is “Island Style” (chiclet) with long key travel, distinct feedback, three backlight color zones and large area – 15.5 x 15.5 mm (0.61” x 0.61”). The arrow keys have enough empty space around them so you can comfortably play racing games if you don’t have a wheel.

Just the first row, where the F1-F12 keys are, is narrower – 10.0 x 13.00 mm (0.39” x 0.51”), but you won’t need it much, since there are 5 special function keys which will do anything of your choice (you can assign their duties in the Predator Sense software), and moreover – every one of them could run up to 3 different actions, depending on its color. You can switch the colors with the upper left “P” key. For example, by default the first group (Red) activates the following: “Always use discrete graphics”, “Disable sticky keys”, “Maximum fan speed”, “Multimedia Mode Settings”, and “Game Bar”.

The power button is in the center, above the keyboard and it’s backlit by a red LED light when the computer is working.

The trackpad features a special button which disables it to prevent accidental touches while typing. There is enough area for easy interaction with gestures (~70cm2; 105 x 66 mm) and a red glowing edge. The left and right buttons are dedicated and just below the trackpad.

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) has a 2.1 audio system with two front facing speakers and a subwoofer on its bottom. Speaking of the base of the notebook, it makes a good impression that Acer’s designers have made efforts to make it good looking even though we don’t turn our laptops around every day. Despite the big air vents, one little detail grabs our attention – the notebook sports two tiny outputs for its DustDefender system.

On the left, Predator 15 has two USB 3.0 ports, two audio jacks for a microphone and headphones, memory card reader and the optical drive / FrostCore. On the other side we have three more USB ports, one of which is USB 3.1, while the second has a “Power-off charging” feature which lets you charge your mobile devices even when the notebook is turned off. We also have full sized HDMI and DisplayPort, RJ-45 (Ethernet) and Kensington lock slot. Good news – the notebook doesn’t have air vents on the right side so your right hand (holding the mouse) won’t feel the hell even after hours of gaming.

We can also say only good things about the materials used – Predator 15 is rock solid and its lid structure includes 40% fiberglass, making the layer 1.8 mm thick. We have already told you that fiberglass is used as a main material for elevator spools which hold their steel wire ropes. Mechanics choose glass fiber because it doesn’t rust and has great durability. This is how the material compares against Aluminum and PC+ABS+Talc, which are widely used in today’s laptops.

Oh, here’s a drawback (fitness maniacs could skip that part)…Predator 15 weighs 3742 g (8.25 lbs)! And yes, this is a 15-inch notebook. Also, it’s 38.3 mm (1.51”) thick at its backside and 37.6 mm (1.48”) at the front side. It should really impress us in the temperature tests so that we could overlook this.

Let’s see what we have on the inside…

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Disassembling the Predator 15 is a relatively easy task – check out the video below or read our detailed instructions article.

Storage upgrade options – 2.5-inch HDD, M.2 slot

Our Predator 15 came with one 2.5″ HDD and one M.2 NVMe SSD. You also have an additional free M.2 slot. The taken one is “M” key, size 2280. The free one is “B” key, 22110.

RAM

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) has four RAM slots – two below the service lid and two below the motherboard. The latter are taken by 2x 16GB DDDR3 memory, so you can easily upgrade the Predator to 64GB RAM.

Other components

Our Predator 15 configuration came with Hon Hai T77H643.01 Wi-Fi module and a user-replaceable battery rated at 88Wh (6000 mAh). The latter weighs 425 g (0.94 lbs).

Display quality

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593)’s display features an IPS matte touch panel with Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution in a 15.6-inch diagonal, made by LG Philips, LP156WF6-SPP1 model. It has a pixel density of 142 PPI with 0.18 x 0.18 mm pixel pitch. SPP1 can be found in the updated version of the old Predator 15 (G9-591) – G9-592.

Predator 15’s display supports G-Sync for fluent gaming without tearing. In case you’re not familiar with G-Sync, check out this article:
What is NVIDIA’s G-Sync and does it really make a difference?

The screen can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal to or greater than 60 cm – that’s the distance above which human with “standard” 20/20 vision will stop distinguishing the individual pixels.

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) has comfortable viewing angles. Here you can see how the screen looks like when viewed from 45°.

The maximum brightness of the panel is 343 cd/m2 and 316 cd/m2 is the average value across the surface. The maximum deviation is 12%. We also measured the color temperature which is 7500K at max brightness and white screen. This is a bit colder than the typical sRGB 6500K and colors may appear slightly blue-ish. The contrast ratio is 1000:1.

The maximum color deviation dE 2000 (compared to the center of the screen at 100% RGB and 100% brightness) is 3.2. Values over 4.0 are undesirable. This is a very important characteristic if you intend to work with colors.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios and the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s hard to be covered by today’s displays. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows the Predator 15’s coverage. The screen can represent 89% of sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976. In other words, it can show almost all colors used in Internet and HDTV. Good result.

Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut before and after calibration.

You can also compare the results with and without the Office & Web Design profile, which can be bought here.

The profile is created at 140cd/m2 luminance, target illuminant white point 6500K (D65) and sRGB gamut.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors such as light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the Office & Web Design profile.

The Office & Web Design profile offers much better DeltaE – 2.4, although even that isn’t an excellent result.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games at low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings while the right one is with an activated Gaming & Movie Nights profile. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis the luminance of the display. With the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself and see how your display handles the darkest nuances, but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

GL502 doesn’t show the dark areas well and as you can see the difference between 1% and 4% white is very subtle. Our Gaming & Movie Nights profile greatly improves that.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 18.0 ms. An excellent result for an IPS screen and while the TN matrix, for example, is much faster, you won’t see any difference or unwanted lag.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable by the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our specialized article on PWM.

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) uses Pulse-Width Modulation for all brightness levels below 100% but at a very high frequency – 20 000 Hz, which greatly reduces the negative impact. Nevertheless, the Health-Guard profile eliminates it and that’s not the only advantage…

Blue light emissions

The installation of our Health-Guard profile not just eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that affect negatively your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our specialized article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP).

Conclusion

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) has a very good screen and that is something normal having in mind that we’re testing a high-end machine. It has excellent brightness, contrast and viewing angles. However, it uses PWM for all brightness levels and it has an unwanted high color temperature. Both of these problems can be easily solved by installing the Health-Guard profile. The resolution is Full HD and we consider it as optimal for a 17-inch screen.

The “Office and Web Design” profile successfully reduces the DeltaE to a good level and “Gaming and Movie Nights” could be very handy at low ambient light when you want to see better the near-black areas. You can take an advantage of them by purchasing them for a modest price, which will also support our laboratory.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) configurations with 15.6″ LG Philips LP156WF6-SPP1 (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ccAYet

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) supports the Dolby Audio technology with Music, Movies and Games modes. The sound is relatively good but the tones aren’t clear enough in some low and high frequencies.

Specs Sheet

These technical specifications refer only to the particular device being tested in this review. Laptops from the same series could have different characteristics and features.

Check Price

CPU	Intel Core i7-6700HQ (4-core, 2.60-3.50 GHz, 6MB cache)
RAM	up to 64GB (4x 16384MB) – DDR4, 2133MHz
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (4GB GDDR5)
HDD/SSD	2x M.2 SSD + HDD
Display	15.6-inch Full HD IPS, matte + G-Sync
Optical Drive	DVD Writer (interchangeable with FrostCore)
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	4x USB 3.0 1x USB 3.1 Type-C LED keyboard backlight with different zones HDMI 2.0 DisplayPort RJ-45 SD card reader 3.5 mm jacks for microphone and headphones 5 programmable macro keys 2x built-in loudspeakers + subwoofer
Battery	88.8Wh / 6000 mAh
Weight	3742 g

Software

All Predator configurations ship with a pre-installed Windows 10. At the first start you’ll find the PredatorSense and Killer Network Manager apps.

With Predator Sense you can track the temperatures inside the notebook and the fans speed. You can also see the current CPU frequency but unlike the 17X version of Predator Sense, you can’t overclock your system with one click. The advanced options give you the choice of always using the discrete graphics, use maximum speed or disable sticky keys.

There is a hotkey profiles panel as well where you can assign actions to the glowing buttons above the keyboard. You can also assign macros. In the third tab you can control the four zone keyboard backlight.

Killer Network Manager gives you the ability to see which applications are hogging your wireless bandwidth, and automatically prioritizes sensitive application traffic for an online game, HD video, and high-quality audio. With Killer DoubleShot Pro, Predator 15 can use wired and wireless network connections simultaneously.

If you want to do a clean install of Windows 10, here you’ll find all the drivers and software you need:
http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

Battery

Just as its predecessor, G9-593 has an 88.8Wh battery (6000 mAh), which we aren’t sure is enough to handle the GTX 1070 and 6700HQ for a long time. The major problem is that the notebook doesn’t take advantage of an integrated card so every application uses the GeForce one. As you can guess, that leads to serious power drain and it can’t help but reflect on the battery life.

Web Surfing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

The new Predator 15 (G9-593) got us just 276 minutes (4 hours and 36 minutes) which wouldn’t be a disappointing result some years ago but now it’s below most of its competitors. As a matter of fact, G9-593’s predecessor G9-591 got us 464 minutes of browsing time, which is 68% more. We know who’s to blame – as we said, the new Predator has gotten rid of the integrated Intel Graphics card and the powerful GTX 1070 has to do all the work.

Video playback

For our Video playback test we use a 720p HD film.

As always, the video playback result is very close to the web browsing one. This time around we registered 257 minutes before turning off. However, that should be enough for a short movie marathon without the charger.

Gaming

For accurate gaming simulation, we use the F1:2015 benchmark on loop, at lowest graphic settings and native resolution.

This is the hardest test and thus the Predator 15 kept working for just 113 minutes (1 hour and 53 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i7-6700HQ

Intel Core i7-6700HQ represents the Skylake H family and it’s a high-performance chip with normal voltage and 45W TDP. This is a step down from its direct predecessor – Core i7-4700HQ, but matches its short-lived predecessor, Core i7-5700HQ. The Core i7-6700HQ has four cores ticking at 2.6GHz and can go up to 3.5 GHz for one active core and 3.1 GHz for four active cores. The silicon supports the so-called Hyper-Threading technology that emulates one virtual core for each physical and thus establishing a total of 8 threads.

Furthermore, the chip is manufactured using 14nm FinFET process and integrates Intel HD Graphics 530 GPU with 24 EU (Executable Units) clocked at 350 – 1050 MHz. The memory controller supports up to 64GB of DDR3 or DDR4 RAM at 1600 or 2133 MHz respectively. The CPU is suitable for heavy applications and gaming.

Take a look at our CPU rating system to see where the Core i7-6700HQ stands:
http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

More information about the CPU can be attained here:
http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i7-6700hq/

Check the prices of all notebooks equipped with Core i7-6700HQ: http://amzn.to/2bZIaHY

Storage speeds

We made a little spoiler some days ago (okay, a not so big one), when we revealed that the new Predator 15 comes with a Toshiba THNSN5256GPU7 which is an ultra fast M.2 NVMe SSD with a sequential read speed of up to 2576MB/s and seq. write speed up to 1196MB/s.

This is one of the fastest M.2 SSDs on the market so if your configuration also happens to use the module in question, you can be sure that your operating system will run blazingly fast. Here’s a quick comparison between some of the most popular M.2 SSDs we’ve tested so far:

Our Predator 15 (G9-593) came with a 2.5″ HDD as well – Hitachi Seagate HTS721010A9E630 (1TB, 7200 RPM, 32MB cache). This model reached 126 MB/sec at our sequential read test and 123 MB/sec at sequential writing.

GPU – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a part of NVIDIA’s Pascal generation of GPUs and unlike previous releases, the company finally closes the gap between mobile and desktop graphics processors and that’s why there’s no “M” in the branding of Pascal GPUs. All thanks to the 16nm TSMC manufacturing process of the GPU, which allows better thermals and overall performance in a smaller form factor. That’s a big technology jump compared to the 28nm Maxwell generation.

Compared to its desktop counterpart, the GTX 1070 doesn’t differ too much. They share an identical number of ROPs (64) and identical memory – 8GB GDDR5 with 256-bit bus clocked at 8000 MHz. However, there’s a minor difference in clock speeds – the laptop GPU ticks at 1443 MHz and can go up to 1645 MHz while the desktop variant is running at 1506 MHz – 1683 MHz. To compensate to some extent, the laptop 1070 carries more CUDA cores (2048 vs 1920) and slightly more TMUs (170 vs 120).

Due to its performance, thermals and power consumption, which is believed to be 10W more than the GTX 980M, the GPU is suitable for large 17-inch laptops with the appropriate cooling solution.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this GPU: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-8gb-gddr5/

Gaming Tests

In the video below you can see how Battlefield 1, GTA V, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Hitman 2016 run on the Predator 15 with GTX 1070. If you’d like to see more gameplay benchmark videos you can subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Temperatures and Comfort

For a hardcore gaming laptop like the new Predator, it is essential to maintain low temperatures under heavy load. We’ll conduct two synthetic torture tests and a real-life one, in order to check the notebook’s stability in the long-term.

100% CPU load

For starters, we run a 100% CPU load for one hour. We should note that 6700HQ’s maximum Turbo Boost for four cores is 3.1 GHz. This is the exact frequency we’ve got in this test and that’s great news, especially given the CPU temperature of 55-56C for two of the cores and 80-85C for the other two. The situation isn’t any different after the full 60 minutes so we’re going to the next level…

100% CPU + 100% GPU load

Without cutting the CPU load, we’re adding 100% GPU load as well. Yes, this is a hard one. As soon as we started the GPU load, the CPU temperatures rose to 70/70/91/96C for the four cores, while the frequency remained 3.1 GHz. We keep the things like that for an hour. After a cumulative of 2 hours CPU and GPU load, the CPU frequency was 2.9 GHz and the cores temperature – 72/73/93/96C. The GPU temperature rose to ~69-70C, at 1240 MHz frequency.

Comfort

Keeping the internal temperatures low is an essential task for every gaming system, but we shouldn’t give the user experience less priority. That’s why we measure the external temperatures as well, at idle and under heavy load.

External temperatures at Idle

Even the hottest point at idle is pretty cool and that is normal when you aren’t playing games.

External temperatures at Maximum load

When we put the notebook to 100% CPU + 100% GPU load, we measured 44.3C at the hottest point which is a great result.

FrostCore fan

Acer Predator 15 ships with an additional fan called FrostCore which can be swapped with the DVD optical drive. In order to see if there’s any improvement with and without it, we ran a benchmark while the notebook was already put to 100% CPU load. The disappointing surprise is that the additional fan doesn’t do anything for the cooling system and it’s more of a marketing gimmick, instead of a handy tool. The concept is great and we’d be happy to see Acer working further on that.

Verdict

We had a lot to say about the new Predator 15 and most of it was good words and excellent results. The product is excellent indeed and if some years ago nobody thought that Acer could come up with a top-notch gaming monster, now everyone respects their presence on this market. Just like its bigger brother, the Predator 15 offers outstanding performance, up to 64GB RAM and ultra fast PCIe storage. All of the internals are well protected by a solid construction with fiber glass reinforcement.

We can say some good words about the IPS display as well, which becomes even better with our profile package. The panel uses PWM across all brightness levels (except 100%) but our Health-Guard profile gets rid of it.

The only notable drawback is the battery life – Predator 15 is having a hard time without its charger since its processor isn’t equipped with an integrated GPU for the light tasks, and the powerful GTX 1070 has to work even when you’re reading your e-mails.

Our overall impression is excellent and we can easily say that this is one of the best gaming notebooks ever.

You can check the current price of Acer Predator 15 (G9-593) here: http://amzn.to/2ccAYet

Spanning from 14-inch to 17-inch devices, HP’s ProBook series should always be on the top of your list when looking for a budget business companion for a number of reasons. For starters, the ProBooks offer exceptional build quality, good battery life, excellent input devices, capable hardware at a reasonable price and M.2 SATA SSD support. The latter is pretty uncommon for entry-level notebooks. We know all of this because the ProBook 455/450 G3 and 440 G3 have already been reviewed here in our office and now it’s time for the 17-incher.

However, like in most cases, the 17-inch 470 G3 doesn’t really pose really compelling selling points over the 15-inch and 14-inch version except for the bigger working space of course. The hardware, including the battery, unfortunately, is identical – up to Core i7-6500U CPU paired with up to AMD Radeon R7 M340 GPU and up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM. With this configuration, we expect slightly lower battery runtimes due to the larger screen surface that needs to be lit but as far as the rest goes, the 470 G3 should perform similarly to what we’ve seen on the 14-inch 440 G3 and 15-inch 450 G3.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eiwbsE

Contents

Retail package

This is one of the things that sets the 470 G3 apart from its smaller siblings. Along with the usual DVD with drivers, user manuals, AC adapter and power cord, you receive a big bag for the notebook. And you will probably going to need this as the machine weighs around 2.61 kg.

Design and construction

The casing is familiar sharing the same design signature as the rest of the ProBooks from this year. The chassis is mostly made of plastic with brushed aluminum used for the interior. Also, no surprises regarding the overall build quality – well-connected parts, no protruding edges, no irregularities.

We are pleased with the soft-touch matte plastic finish on the lid helping with the grip and giving the notebook a distinct look and fairly stable surface, although ripples appear on the screen when pressing the back of the lid. But that’s really common at this price range. The hinges feel really smooth with linear travel and allow opening the notebook with just one hand. And since they are a bit small and are positioned on the sides, the hinges don’t offer enough support for the middle section of the screen making it a bit too flexible but that doesn’t really make any difference in practice. The bottom piece of the notebook is again made of hard plastic with two maintenance hatches giving you access to most of the internals. The battery is again user-replaceable.

The sides are flat and made of plastic while sharing the same silver color as the interior with good port distribution without making either side overcrowded with connectors. The left side holds the DC charging port, main exhaust vent, two USB 3.0 connectors, HDMI, and VGA while the right side has the other two USB 2.0 ports, LAN, 3.5 mm audio jack and the optical drive, of course. Interestingly for a 17-incher, the ProBook 470 G3 doesn’t fall behind some 15-inch laptops with just 26 mm thin chassis. In fact, the weight of the machine isn’t all that high as well – 2.61 kg opposed to some other similarly priced competitors like the Acer Aspire E5-773G and the ASUS X751.

What’s left is the interior that features excellent keyboard design with slightly thin key spacing but the key travel compensates for that. The only thing missing here is probably the LED illumination for the more expensive configurations. Moreover, the keyboard tray appears to be exceptionally stiff and doesn’t give in even under pressure. The same goes for the rest of the interior, which features brushed aluminum finish giving a nice premium feel when resting your palms. And, of course, the touchpad remains untouched and it’s identical to the one found in the ProBook 450 G3 and 440 G3. Absolutely no complaints.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Most of the hardware you are going to need to upgrade is located under the service lid. It’s easy to access without any hassle. The same thing goes for the battery as well.

Storage upgrade options – 2.5-inch HDD, M.2 slot

Despite its low price, the notebook offers a decent options for upgrading the storage. The service lid holds the usual 2.5-inch HDD along with a 2280 M.2 SATA SSD with M-key connector.

RAM

The motherboard features two RAM slots and HP has listed this model to come with the next generation DDR4-2133 memory but our unit came with the standard for this class 8GB DDR3L-1600 chip. Keep an eye for this detail when ordering if it’s important for you.

Other components

The rest of the hardware is also easily accessible. The battery can be removed by pulling the lever switch and no tools are needed. The unit is rated at 44Wh.

The Wi-Fi module is right next to the M.2 SSD slot – Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 (3165NGW).

If you need to access the rest of the components, the motherboard or the cooling fans, you will have to detach the whole bottom cover by removing the screws and the optical drive. Then you can proceed by prying it up.

The full disassembly article can be read here.

Display quality

We got the variant with the HD+ TN panel (1600×900) manufactured by AU Optronics with model number 219E or at least that’s what the software detects. Usually, AUO displays have much different model numbers. Anyway, since the display has a 17.3-inch diagonal, the pixel density is 106 ppi and the pixel pitch is 0.24 x 0.24 mm. It can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 80 cm.

There’s noticeable color shift under 45-degree angle due to the use of TN matrix.

We’ve recorded a maximum brightness of just 220 cd/m2 in the middle of the screen and 201 cd/m2 as average across the surface with a maximum deviation of just 17%. The color temperature is 7500K in the center and 7460K average, which guarantees slightly blue-ish (colder) colors than usual. The contrast ratio is 470:1 – typical for budget TN panels.

The maximum recorded color deviation dE2000 is 4.3 in the lower right corner of the screen. This isn’t a good result as values above 4.0 are unwanted.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook. Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios and the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s hard to be covered by today’s displays. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The sRGB color gamut coverage is 65% making it a little bit better than most displays that are used on similarly priced machines.

Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut before and after calibration.

The profile was created at 140 cd/m2, D65 white point and sRGB gamma mode.

Below you can see the results from the accuracy color checker with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. The results are before and after calibration.

We’ve also measured how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image. It’s essential when watching movies or playing games. The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings while the right one with our custom profile for gaming and multimedia. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis the luminance of the display. The display offers good visibility in dark areas of an image but it’s further improved by installing our profile.

We illustrate the first five levels of the gray (1%-5% white), right after black level, using the five boxes on the image below. Keep in mind that whether you can distinguish them or not strongly depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 13.5 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Our equipment didn’t detect any pulsations across all brightness levels meaning that the display will not bother even users with sensitive eyes.

Blue light emissions

With our Health-Guard profile installed, you can benefit from reduced blue light emissions. You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP).

Conclusion

To be honest, we weren’t expecting much from the budget TN panel considering the price point of the product but we were pleasantly surprised by some of the results we got from the lab. For instance, the sRGB coverage is slightly above average (65% as opposed to most TN panels having merely 50%) and we didn’t record any PWM across all brightness levels. But, on the other hand, properties such as color accuracy don’t make a strong case for the reviewed unit so we suggest using our custom profiles to bring the average dE2000 down from 9.8 to 2.1 and also limit the blue light emissions with the Health-Guard profile. The latter will come in handy as the display has colder than usual color temperature which automatically leads to higher blue light levels. At the end of the day, the display will be perfectly fine for everyday office work and general browsing.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for HP ProBook 470 G3 configurations with 17.3″ AU Optronics 219E (HD+, 1600 x 900) TN, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eiwbsE

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

No noticeable distortions were recorded during our sound tests while the maximum volume is loud enough for multimedia purposes.

Specs sheet

The specs provided below apply for the tested unit only and may differ depending on your region.

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CPU	Intel Core i5-6200U (2-core, 2.30 – 2.80 GHz, 3MB cache)
RAM	8GB (1x 8192MB) – DDR3L-1600
GPU	AMD Radeon R7 M340 (2GB DDR3)
HDD/SSD	1TB HDD (5400 rpm) + Free M.2 SATA SSD slot
Display	15.6-inch (39.62 cm) – 1600×900 (HD+) TN panel, matte
Optical Drive	DVD burner
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	2x USB 3.0 2x USB 2.0 webcam microphone 3.5 mm combo audio HDMI RJ-45 VGA card reader(SD, SDHC, SDXC) fingerprint scanner
Battery	4-cell, 44Wh / 6-cell, 55Wh
Thickness	25.98 mm (1.02″)
Weight	2.6 kg (5.75 lbs)

Software

We used a freshly installed Windows 10 (64-bit) for the testing of this unit and if you wish to perform a clean install of the OS, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from HP’s official website.

Battery

Usually, higher resolution and bigger screen diagonal translate into reduced battery life due to the number of pixels that need to be lit up and the surface, which the backlighting has to cover. Nonetheless, we were quite surprised by the battery performance because the tests didn’t show any significant decrease in endurance compared to the smaller 15-inch model. We got more than decent results in the web browsing and video playback tests.

And as usual, the tests were run with Wi-Fi constantly on, Windows power saving feature turned on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

Good readings for a budget 17-incher – 344 minutes (5 hours and 44 minutes).

Video playback

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

Interestingly, the video playback test returned a slightly higher result – 382 minutes (6 hours and 22 minutes).

Gaming

We recently started using F1 2015’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.

The gaming test took a toll on the battery so the notebook scored just 117 minutes (1 hour and 57 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i5-6200U

Intel Core i5-6200U is a 6th generation dual-core CPU. It is manufactured using 14 nm FinFET process, meaning it’s part of the Ultra-Low Voltage lineup.The CPU is clocked at 2.3GHz, but thanks to the Turbo Boost technology it could automatically increase its clock speeds up to 2.8GHz for a single core and 2.7GHz when two cores are functioning. It is designed using Intel’s Skylake architecture allowing it to have similar performance to Intel Core i7-5500U, which is part of the Broadwell lineup. The CPU boasts four logical cores and 3MB level 3 cache. It consumes 15W of energy and can operate at a maximum temperature of 100 degrees Celsius.

The SoC also integrates Intel HD Graphics 520. Its performance is similar to that of NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 820 GPU. The GPU can be clocked at up to 1000MHz. The SoC supports the Dual-Channel DDR3L-1600/DDR4-2133 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX, AVX2, Quick Sync, Virtualization and AES-NI technologies.

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i5-6200u/

Fritz

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i5-6200U scored 5.562 million moves per second. In comparison, one of the most powerful chess computers, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – AMD Radeon R7 M340 (2GB DDR3)

The AMD Radeon R7 M340 is a low-end graphics card used for entry-level laptops and it’s based on the so-called Tonga chip so it supports the essential features like DirectX 12, Vulkan and FreeSync.

However, the chip is clocked at 1021 MHz with five compute cores so it should be a tad faster than the R5 M335. And just like its predecessors with the Tonga chip, this one offers 64-bit bus width on a DDR3 VRAM, 320 shading units and it’s produced using a 28nm process.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/amd-radeon-r7-m340-2gb-ddr3/

Temperatures

The stress test that we perform isn’t exactly the best way to represent real-life usage but it’s a good way to assess the reliability and stability of the cooling system and how it will perform after months and years exploitation.

We start off with 100% CPU load for about an hour. The silicon was running at low temperatures (65-70 °C) and there were no signs of thermal throttling as the system was able to utilize the full performance of the chip (2.7 GHz) with two active cores.

After an hour had passed, we turned on the GPU stress test as well. The temperatures of the CPU rose to around 90 °C while still maintaining the maximum operating frequency with two active cores. The GPU, however, was running a bit too hot at 81 °C but was also able to keep within the base and turbo boost frequencies.

Our equipment recorded relatively high temperatures in the upper left and center part of the interior along with the left side where the main exhaust vent is positioned. Nonetheless, the general user won’t reach such high loads for longer periods of time and the wrist rest area remained cool throughout the test. There’s no room for worries.

Verdict

Our verdict on the ProBook 470 G3 won’t be any different from the one we wrote on the 15-inch model. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, some of the drawbacks we’ve noted in the smaller versions haven’t been inherited in the 17-inch 470 G3. For example, the absence of PWM across all brightness levels makes a strong case for the 470 G3 and probably the smarter choice over the smaller ProBooks, unless portability is your top priority. Even battery life isn’t much different.

But as far as hardware is concerned, the 17-inch ProBook features the same hardware as its smaller sibling, which is more than enough for office work, multimedia and some graphically-intensive tasks can be handled easy thanks to the discrete GPU. What’s really cool about a notebook at this price is the support for M.2 SATA SSDs. We are extremely happy to see the standard making its way to a larger user base by being implemented in more and more budget-friendly notebooks.

Finally, we would like to address the good TN panel that has decent out-of-the-box properties making it a tad better than most affordable solutions on the market. Probably a higher resolution (1080p) would have done wonders on the 17-inch diagonal. Still, you can make a good use of our custom profiles as they will improve the overall image quality and limit the negative blue light emissions.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eiwbsE

We doubt that Lenovo’s Yoga lineup needs any introduction but what deserves extra attention is the new Yoga 910 2-in-1 notebook. It’s slim, it’s powerful, it’s versatile and it’s absolutely astonishing. The new Yoga runs on Intel’s latest generation Kaby Lake processors – Core i5-7200U or Core i7-7500U paired with up to 16GB of DDR4-2133 RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe NVMe storage solution. But what really makes an impression to the general user – and to us apparently – is the sexy new look.

Having a footprint of a normal 13.3-inch device, the Yoga 910 incorporates almost bezel-less gorgeous 13.9-inch Full HD – or optional 4K UHD – IPS display without the bulk. Along with the new display, Lenovo has slightly altered the keyboard and touchpad, which are now just a delight to use. But what about the actual performance this notebook has to offer to the general user? Battery life, raw performance, heat management, screen flickering? It seems like it’s the most promising Yoga up to date but let’s find out for sure in our in-depth review below.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2f0ZNMD

Contents

Retail package

The notebook comes in a fresh new box with the usual stuff inside – user manuals, AC charging adapter and the laptop itself.

Design and construction

At first glance, the notebook isn’t noticeably different than its Yoga 900 predecessor but opening it proves otherwise. Now anodized aluminum is the main order of the day, replacing the faux leather on the interior from the previous generation. However, this hasn’t affected the chassis in a negative way so the 14.9 mm thickness remains and the weight has increased by just 110 g – from 1.27 to 1.39 kg. So in practice, you won’t even notice the difference and it’s still a pretty portable hybrid solution, whatsoever.

Let’s begin with the lid. Seemingly it’s made of anodized aluminum or another kind of metal, which Lenovo doesn’t disclose but one thing is for sure – it’s rigid as hell. It can’t be bent, twisted and you can hardly see any deformation even under great amounts of pressure. The notebook opens up fairly hard but enough to only use one hand. Probably over time the hinge will get a slightly loosened. Speaking of the hinge, the Yoga 910 returns with another iconic watchband hinge, which does its job pretty well keeping the screen in place while typing and reducing the wobbling effect when using the touchscreen. The same applies to the base – no complaints at all. Probably the silicone feet need more resistance since the notebook slips easily on a normal desk.

The sides of the ultrabook are totally different and have almost nothing in common with the previous generation. The aluminum on the sides is polished and brushed giving it a distinct razor-sharp look. What’s missing, though, is the rubberized strips around the edges that help keep the laptop in place during presentation and tent mode. Also, we notice that there are some essential connection options missing from the previous generation. While the Yoga 900 offered two normal USBs (one of which is for charging) and a USB-C 3.0 also used for video-out, the Yoga 910 offers only one USB-A and two USB-C connectors, none of which is Gen 2 (10Gbps), unfortunately. However, the USB-C 3.0 port can be used for connecting an external display and the other USB-C port is also used for charging and falls into the 2.0 standard. Moreover, there’s no SD card reader. We wonder why the newer generation has fewer connectivity options.

The interior is another great aspect of the device and one of the key selling points as well. The surface around the keyboard and the touchpad is now totally revamped – anodized aluminum replaces the faux leather-like finish but we can’t really comment on this change because it’s more of a personal preference. Still, the leather interior kept the notebook firmly in place without slipping while in presentation mode. Anyway, the keyboard returns with the usual AccuType style with relatively short key travel but excellent tactile feedback. The LED illumination can be adjusted to two levels. The overall typing experience is excellent and it kind of reminds us of the HP Spectre 13‘s keyboard. Whereas the touchpad, well this is a whole another story. The surface of the trackpad area uses a low-resistance material and all gestures and swipes feel so natural and pleasing that it’s just a delight to use it. Mouse clicks appear to be extremely light and accurate. In short, this might be one of the best touchpads we’ve used in a while. It can easily challenge the excellently-built MacBook touchpads. And while you are on the interior, we want to comment a little bit on the fingerprint scanner – it’s fast, responsive and thanks to the Windows Hello feature, it’s also extremely easy to use.

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the display. The stunning 13.9-inch – in our case Full HD – screen fits into a 13.3-inch footprint thanks to the nearly bezel-less three-sided borders. It’s practical and looks beautiful at the same time. We are glad to see another notebook taking the steps of the XPS 13 and XPS 15 notebooks. The bottom bezel seems a bit too thick but it’s nothing that actually makes a difference in practice. It’s just an aesthetic concern.

The Yoga 910 doesn’t revolutionize the Yoga design or the notebook’s design for that matter, but the excellently executed craftsmanship proves that little details matter and there’s still room to improve with the current tech that we have. The 13.9-inch diagonal in a 13.3-inch form factor is a neat idea that we wish more OEMs will consider doing for their high-end notebooks. We were also extremely impressed by the keyboard and touchpad comfort and usability – something we think is absolutely essential for a portable 2-in-1 device mainly aimed at the business consumers. All of this fits into a portable, premium and light package, which is an eye-catcher for sure. With all the superlatives that we used to describe the Yoga 910, it’s easy to look away from the fact that the device’s weight has increased by a tad over the last generation.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Performing simple storage upgrade or a battery swap is quite easy. You just need to detach the bottom with the help of a screw. However, if you need to access the fans, a full disassembly of the motherboard and its extensions is required., which will take some time and patience.

Storage upgrade options – M.2 SSD slot

As most premium ultrabooks, the Lenovo Yoga 910 also relies on the M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD standard and our unit came equipped with a 256GB drive in a 2280 form factor.

RAM

The RAM isn’t upgradeable – it’s soldered to the motherboard. You can order your’s with up to 16GB of DDR4-2133 so choose wisely.

Other components

The Wi-Fi card is easily accessible and it’s right next to the M.2 SSD.

Although the battery doesn’t look so big, it sure does pack a lot of energy and it’s rated at the whopping 78Wh.

Cooling system

To access the cooling system (heat pipe, heat sink, fans) you need to flip the motherboard around. Make sure you’ve removed all the screws and cables attached to the motherboard and its extensions. Then unscrew the fans and lift it up. And now is the time to admire the fact that Lenovo was able to integrate a KBL-U chip onto such small motherboard while using the spare space for a huge battery pack.

IF you require more instructions, you can visit our full disassembly article here.

Display quality

The notebook uses a Full HD (1920×1080) IPS panel with a glossy finish and unusual diagonal – 13.9″. It’s manufactured by AU Optronics with model number B139HAN03.2 so the pixel density is 158 ppi and 0.16 x 0.16 pixel pitch. The screen can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 56 cm.

The viewing angles are excellent as you can see from the image below.

We’ve recorded a maximum brightness of 310 cd/m2 in the middle and 292 cd/m2 as average across the surface. This is more than enough for comfortable work indoors even if there’s a bright light source nearby but it might prove insufficient outdoors under direct sunlight, not to mention the display has a glossy finish. And given the form factor and the versatile nature of the product, using it outdoors is a very probable scenario. Anyway, the maximum deviation is just 11% – on the right side of the screen. The recorded color temperature is 7990K – far from the optimal 6500K so colors will appear a bit cold-ish/blue-ish. The contrast ratio is more than excellent – 1240:1 before calibration and 970:1 after.

The maximum dE2000 (color deviation to the center of the screen) is just 2.7 which is a good result since values above 4.0 are unwanted.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line represents the area, which the Yoga 910’s display covers which is 95% of the sRGB color space. Colors will appear vivid and saturated.

Below you will see practically the same image but with the color circles representing the reference colors and the white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut pre and post calibration.

We’ve created a profile at 140 cd/m2 and using sRGB gamma mode with D65 white point.

As you can see in the image below, the gamma curve is far from optimal – dark areas of an image will appear even darker – while the color temperature will aid for more blue-like colors. However, this can be fixed by using our Office/Web Design Profile.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the Office & Web Design profile.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the Gaming & Movie Nights profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 27 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our specialized article on PWM.

Our equipment didn’t record any pulsations across all brightness levels thus the display can be used for long periods of time without affecting even users with sensitive eyes.

Blue light emissions

Installing of our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our specialized article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP) graph.

Conclusion

There’s not much we can say about the display because it’s almost flawless. It has what it takes to deliver excellent viewing experience – wide sRGB coverage (almost full), high contrast ratio, relatively high maximum brightness, although, it might be insufficient for outdoor use, and now PWM across all brightness level making it perfect for long hours of work. Our only complaint would be the inaccurate colors and a bit cold color temperature but both can be fixed by using our custom Office/Web Design Profile, which will correct the gamma, white point and also bring the average color deviation dE2000 down to 1.2 from 6.5.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Lenovo Yoga 910 configurations with 13.9″ AU Optronics B139HAN03.2 (FHD, 1920 x 1080) IPS, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eqvATB

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

The sound quality is rather good but there’s missing clarity in the low and high frequencies. This is a common problem with small ultrabooks.

Specs sheet

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CPU	Intel Core i5-7200U (2-core, 2.50 – 3.10 GHz, 3MB cache)
RAM	8GB (1x 8192MB) – DDR4, 2133 MHz
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 620
HDD/SSD	256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Display	13.9-inch – Full HD (1920×1080) touch IPS, glossy
Optical drive	–
Connectivity	Lenovo AC Wireless (2×2), Bluetooth 4.1
Features	1x USB 3.0 Type-C with video-out 1x USB 2.0 Type-C with charging 1x USB 3.0 with always-on charging 3.5 mm audio combo jack
Battery	6-cell, 78Wh
Thickness	14.9 mm (0.58″)
Weight	1.39 kg (3.06 lbs)

Software

The pre-production unit came with pre-installed Windows 10 (64-bit) but if you wish to perform a clean install by yourself without the bloatware, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from Lenovo’s official support page.

Battery

Despite the thin aluminum body, the notebook carries a huge battery pack rated at 78Wh and quite expectedly, the notebook shatters all records in terms of battery performance. Of course, you won’t get the same battery life out of the 4K UHD version of the Yoga 910, but the Full HD variant rocks the house for sure. We will also have to give some credit to the small 13.9-inch screen and the energy-efficient Core i5-7200U ULV CPU from the Kaby Lake family.

Anyway, all tests were run using the same conditions as always – Wi-Fi turned on, Windows power saving feature turned on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script to automatically browse through over 70 websites.

Outstanding result comparable to some tablets and even smartphones – 806 minutes (13 hours and 26 minutes).

Video playback

For every test of this kind, we use the same video in HD.

Lower but still amazing result – 638 minutes (10 hours and 38 minutes).

Gaming

For accurate simulation, we used the F1 2015 benchmark running on a loop with graphic settings set to minimum.

We doubt you will start a gaming session away from the charger but here’s how much time you will get out of the system – 275 minutes (4 hours and 35 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i5-7200U

Intel’s Core i7-6200U is part of the 7th Generation Kaby Lake CPUs and it’s the direct successor of the Core i5-5200U (Broadwell) and Core i5-6200U (Skylake). It’s also based on the same architecture as the aforementioned chips with little differences that should bring a small performance increase and a bump in power consumption. However, the new CPU is clocked at 2.5 GHz and its Turbo Boost frequency is 3.1 GHz opposed to the 2.3 – 2.8 GHz clocks on the previous Core i5-6200U.

Anyway, we still have the 2/4 core/thread count, 3MB last level cache, and a TDP of 15W, which includes the iGPU and the dual-channel DDR4 memory controller. Speaking of the former, the chip integrates the newer generation Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics chip clocked at 300 – 1000 MHz.

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i5-7200u/

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i5-7200U scored 6.405 million moves per second. In comparison, one of the most powerful chess computers, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – Intel HD Graphics 620

Intel’s HD Graphics 620 integrated iGPU can be found in various ULV (ultra-low voltage) processors from the Kaby Lake generation. The GT2 version of the graphics chip uses 24 EUs (Execution Units) that can be clocked up to 1050 MHz and it has a base frequency of 300 MHz but the former can vary depending on the CPU. Since the iGPU doesn’t have a dedicated memory of its own – or eDRAM for that matter – it uses the available RAM on the system which is 2x 64-bit DDR3 or DDR4.

The TDP depends on the CPU model but it’s usually equipped with a SoC rated at 15W including the memory controller.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/intel-hd-graphics-620/

Temperatures

The stress test that we do doesn’t really represent real-life use since the general user won’t reach 100% CPU and 100% GPU load for extended periods of time but it gives us a good glimpse of how the notebook will fare in the long run and how well is the cooling system built.

We started with an hour-long CPU torture test and the results seem promising. At first, the CPU ran at its maximum 3.1 GHz but after half an hour or so, the chip toned down to 2.6 – 2.8 GHz but still kept things within the Turbo Boost frequencies. Nevertheless, the chip was running a bit hot at nearly 80 °C.

Quite expectedly for a thin ultrabook, the processor started throttling when we turned on the GPU stress test. This way the CPU will give enough headroom for the iGPU to perform and lower the overall temperatures down to 69 °C.

We’ve also recorded the temperature on the surface of the notebook and found out that the aluminum interior does indeed disperse heat across the whole surface but the palm rests and the keyboard area remained cool, nonetheless.

Verdict

There isn’t we can say against the Yoga 910 because it surpassed almost all of our expectations. It’s sleek, powerful, versatile and portable. The build quality is just impeccable while the keyboard and touchpad assure excellent user experience. And even though the weight of the notebook has increased a bit, we can’t really blame Lenovo for that because it houses a monstrous 78Wh battery that will get you through the day and a half probably. Our battery tests confirm that with record-breaking results and quite honestly, you won’t find any other notebook at this price range with similar endurance.

Another unique feature that sets the Yoga 910 apart from its rivals is the unusual 13.9-inch screen diagonal that fits inside a 13.3-inch chassis without the extra bulk. The almost bezel-less screen gives the notebook a distinct look and offers more working space while the iconic Yoga watchband hinge keeps things tight and can be adjusted to your liking.

Speaking of the screen, it has numerous useful properties for a good multimedia experience – wide sRGB coverage, high contrast ratio and no PWM across all brightness levels. However, the maximum brightness might be an issue for some users that tend to use the device outdoors under direct sunlight. Still, the recorded 292 cd/m2 will be enough for indoor use even near a strong light source.

Finally, we would like to address one issue that might be a deal-breaker for some – the absence of some essential connectivity options. There are just two USB-C ports – one of which is used for charging and none of them is Gen 2 supporting up to 10Gbps bandwidth – and one USB-A 3.0 connector. Also, the Yoga 910 skips the SD card reader, which was present in the Yoga 900.

Aside from the connectivity options, the Yoga 910 is downright the best Yoga device up to date and probably the best premium all-rounder if you have the extra cash. It even beats Dell’s legendary XPS 13 in so many aspects and wipes the floor with HP’s Spectre 13, except in weight and thickness, of course.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2f0ZNMD

“Shatter desktop performance cliché” – this is how MSI markets its latest MSI GT83VR Titan SLI notebook which comes to take the place of the ludicrously powerful GT80S Titan SLI. The latter is equipped with two GeForce GTX 980 GPUs and although this is a 2014 model the notebook easily handles 4K resolutions at medium-high graphics settings in almost any gaming title. But what if you want to play in 4K at Max/Ultra settings (oh, and you have unlimited amount of money)?

MSI GT83VR Titan SLI is the answer – ultra-powerful 18.4-inch gaming notebook with up to two GTX 1080 GPUs. We have the “budget” alternative of the top model (just $3,499), “6RE” which comes with two GTX 1070s. Don’t worry, they will do the work. We’re talking about 16GB GDDR5X and Pascal graphics power, supported by the Core i7-6820K CPU and NVMe PCIe Gen3 X4 SSD storage. If that’s not enough, you can use the Turbo mode to overclock the CPU and GPU, and we’ll definitely put that to the test.

We have a lot of interesting things to cover so let’s get to work!

You can find the current price of MSI GT83VR Titan SLI here: http://amzn.to/2eqUyTB

Contents

What’s in the box?

If your GT83VR Titan SLI has just arrived, don’t waste time but drink an energy drink (or two), carry it to the biggest desk or table in your house and start unboxing. Besides the notebook in the box you’ll find a pretty big cleaning cloth for the 18.4-inch screen, several manuals, “drivers & utilities” DVD and two 230W chargers both of which you’ll need to power the laptop.

Design and construction

“Well…at least it won’t throttle” – these was the first words we said while bringing the 5.5 kg (12 lbs) GT83VR out of its box. It better don’t, but we’ll check that a bit later. Anyway, we’re pretty sure that this is not just the heaviest laptop we’ve ever tested but it’s also the thickest – we measured 69 mm (2.71″) at the back.

MSI doesn’t share much about the construction of its GT83VR – the official page doesn’t even mention that it has a metal body, but we’re here to test everything you might (or might not) wan’t to know. Did you know that MSI has used different process for the lid and the interior? Both of them have brushed aluminum finish but the lid is covered with a ~0.15 mm coating which means that it will be very resistant to wearing. In comparison, the Apple MacBook Pro’s anodization thickness is 0.05 mm. The palm rest of MSI GT83VR Titan is protected by ~0.10 mm layer – a bit thinner but this isn’t actually a palm rest since you won’t rest your palms on it (or it would be sort of weird and uncomfortable) – the keyboard is placed at the front and there is free space behind it. On the right we have a fusion between a numpad and a trackpad with two physical buttons. Contrary to our initial expectations, we didn’t need much time to get used to it.

As you may see in the photos, the keyboard isn’t the typical island style as in almost every other notebook on the market. We have a mechanical keyboard, made by Steelseries. It has brown Cherry MX switches with great tactile feedback.

MSI GT83VR Titan has just three above the keyboard, and none of them have macro capabilities. The first one pushes the fans to their boundaries, the second turns off the display and the third one is the Power button.

On the left side of the notebook we have an optical drive, card reader, three USB 3.0 ports, two audio port connectors for microphone and headphones, cooling grills, Kensington lock slot, Hi-Fi audio jack and SPDIF-out connector. The right side has just two more USB 3.0 ports and some more cooling grills, while the rear side is covered by big air vents and Mini-Display port, HDMI connector, RJ-45, USB 3.1 (Type-C) and the power connector.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Here’s one very big drawback – in order to upgrade your machine you have to remove the screws from the bottom which can’t be done without tampering the warranty sticker. Sure, there is a risk while opening your $4000 machine out of a licensed service but this is your own property, after all.

Anyway, you have 4x RAM slots, 5225mAh (75.24Wh) BTY-L78 battery, HGST 1TB 7200RPM hard drive and two Samsung SM951 SSDs in RAID0 (NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4).

Display quality

MSI GT83VR Titan SLI features a matte IPS-type panel (Super PLS), Samsung XJY7J-184HL. It has 18.4-inch diagonal (46.74 cm) and 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) resolution. It has a pixel density of 120 PPI and 0.21 x 0.21 mm pixel pitch. Samsung XJY7J-184HL becomes “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal to or greater than 70 cm – that’s the distance beyond which the human eye with “standard” 20/20 vision will stop distinguishing the individual pixels.

MSI GT83VR Titan SLI has comfortable viewing angles. Here you can see how the screen looks like when viewed from 45°.

GT83VR’s screen has pretty high maximum brightness – 350 cd/m2 in the center of the screen and 321 cd/m2 mean maximum level (with highest deviation in the lower left corner – 12%). The color temperature is 7640K at max brightness and white screen – it’s a bit colder than the typical sRGB 6500K and colors may appear slightly blue-ish. The contrast ratio is 1100:1 before and 830:1 after calibration.

The maximum DeltaE2000 (compared to the center of the screen at 100% RGB and 100% brightness) is 3.0. Values bigger than 4.0 are undesirable. This is a very important characteristic if you intend to work with colors.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios and the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s hard to be covered by today’s displays. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows the MSI GT83VR Titan SLI’s coverage. The screen can represent 93% of sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976. In other words, it can show almost all colors used in Internet and HDTV. Good result.

Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut before and after calibration.

You can also compare the results with and without the Office & Web Design profile, which can be bought here (Check our “Buy our profiles” section).

The “Office and Web Design” profile is created at 140cd/m2 luminance, target illuminant white point 6500K (D65) and sRGB gamut.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors such as light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the Office & Web Design profile.

The Office & Web Design profile offers much better DeltaE – 1.6.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games at low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings while the right one is with an activated Gaming & Movie Nights profile. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis the luminance of the display. With the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself and see how your display handles the darkest nuances, but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 19.0 ms. A very good result for an IPS screen.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable by the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our specialized article on PWM.

MSI GT83VR Titan uses Pulse-Width Modulation for all brightness levels below 100%. The frequency is 250 Hz which means that the PWM is aggressive and harmful.

The Health-Guard profile eliminates the PWM at 140 cd/m2 (max position of the slider).

Blue light emissions

The installation of our Health-Guard profile not just eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that affect negatively your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our specialized article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP).

Check out the spectral power distribution at white screen and 140 cd/m2 brightness with and without our Health-Guard profile.

Conclusion

MSI GT83VR Titan SLI’s display has very big area which comes in handy when watching movies or playing games. Its panel has high brightness and contrast and comfortable viewing angles. It also covers 93% of the sRGB colors so it can reproduce almost any color you can see in the Internet. We didn’t like the presence of aggressive PWM for all brightness levels except 100%.

While the overall quality of GT83VR’s display is good, our profiles improve the display in many aspects.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for MSI GT83VR configurations with 18.4″ Samsung XJY7J-184HL (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2erouze

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

MSI GT83VR Titan SLI has four 3W speakers and another 3W subwoofer so you shouldn’t be surprised that the sound system is pretty loud. All frequencies are clear except for a hardly noticeable part of the lower frequencies where we found light distortion.

Specs Sheet

These technical specifications refer only to the particular device tested in this review. Laptops from the same series could have different characteristics and features.

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CPU	Intel Core i7-6820HK (4-core, 2.70-3.60 GHz, 8MB cache)
RAM	32GB DDR4, 2133MHz (up to 64GB)
GPU	2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5, SLI)
HDD/SSD	1x M.2 SSD SATA, 2x NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4, 1x 2.5″ HDD/SSD
Display	18.4-inch Full HD Super PLS (IPS), matte (60 Hz)
Optical Drive	DVD Writer
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi Killer ac, Bluetooth 4.1
Other features	5x USB 3.0 (Type-A) 1x USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 (Type-C, Gen2) Mechanical Backlight Keyboard (Single-Color, Red) HDMI (4K @ 60Hz) Mini-DisplayPort 1.2 RJ-45 SD (XC/HC) Card Reader 1x Mic-in, 1x Headphone-out, 1x Headphone-out (HiFi / SPDIF), 1x TOSLINK SPDIF Out 4x 3W loudspeakers + 1x 3W subwoofer
Battery	75Wh Li-Ion
Weight	5.5 kg (12 lbs)

Software

If you need drivers for MSI GT83VR Titan we recommend downloading them from the official page:
https://www.msi.com/Laptop/support/GT83VR-6RF-Titan-SLI.html#down-driver&Win10 64

MSI GT83VR Titan comes with a lot of pre-installed apps, one of which is MSI Dragon Center. It has System Monitor, System Tuner and even a panel for overclocking the CPU and GPU.

Battery

MSI GT83VR Titan has relatively small battery given the size of the notebook and its specifications. The dual GTX 1070 are definitely power hungry and the Core i7-6820HK also sucks a lot of the battery’s life. Not to mention the 18.4-inch screen. Let’s see what will happen in our usual battery tests – Web surfing, Video playback and gaming.

Web Surfing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

Chances are you won’t bring your GT83VR to Starbucks but if you have to check something on the go, you have 143 minutes (2 hours and 23 mintues) before running out of juice.

Video playback

For our Video playback test we use a 720p HD film.

Watching movies on a laptop with 18.4-inch IPS screen is great, although you should check their duration first, because our MSI GT83VR Titan went from 100% to 0% in just 128 minutes (2 hours and 8 minutes).

Gaming

For accurate gaming simulation, we use the F1:2015 benchmark on loop, at lowest graphic settings and 768p resolution.

What about going to a LAN party without the two chargers? Not the brightest idea of course, but you should know that if you happen to get into this situation, you’ll have 88 minutes before running out of battery life.

CPU – Intel Core i7-6820HK

Intel Core i7-6820HK represents the Skylake H family and it’s a high-performance chip with relatively high consumption – 45W TDP, which matches its little sibling i7-6700HQ. The Core i7-6820HK has four cores ticking at 2.7GHz and can go up to 3.6 GHz for one active core, 3.4GHz for two active cores and 3.2 GHz for four active cores. However, since the cooling system in MSI GT83VR is enormous, the processor is clocked at 4.00 GHz, even when all the cores are active. That’s а whooping 25% overclock!

Intel Core i7-6820HK has 8 MB Intel Smart Cache which is the other notable difference with 6700HQ (with 6MB Smart Cache). The silicon supports the so-called Hyper-Threading technology that emulates one virtual core for each physical and thus establishing a total of 8 threads.

Furthermore, the chip is manufactured using 14nm FinFET process and integrates Intel HD Graphics 530 GPU with 24 EU (Executable Units) clocked at 350 – 1050 MHz. The memory controller supports up to 64GB of DDR3 or DDR4 RAM at 1600 or 2133 MHz respectively. The CPU is suitable for heavy applications and gaming.

Take a look at our CPU rating system to see where the Core i7-6820HK stands:
http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

More information about the CPU can be attained here:
http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i7-6820hk/

Check the prices of all notebooks equipped with Core i7-6820HK: http://amzn.to/2e3cPZc

Storage speeds

MSI GT83VR uses two Samsung SM951 SSDs in RAID0 so as you might guess, the storage speeds are colossal. We measured 3.2GB/s sequential read and 1.4 GB/s sequential write speeds. Here is a quick comparison:

GPU – 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5, SLI)

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a part of NVIDIA’s Pascal generation of GPUs and unlike previous releases, the company finally closes the gap between mobile and desktop graphics processors and that’s why there’s no “M” in the branding of Pascal GPUs. All thanks to the 16nm TSMC manufacturing process of the GPU, which allows better thermals and overall performance in a smaller form factor. That’s a big technology jump compared to the 28nm Maxwell generation.

Compared to its desktop counterpart, the GTX 1070 doesn’t differ too much. They share an identical number of ROPs (64) and identical memory – 8GB GDDR5 with 256-bit bus clocked at 8000 MHz. However, there’s a minor difference in clock speeds – the laptop GPU ticks at 1443 MHz and can go up to 1645 MHz while the desktop variant is running at 1506 MHz – 1683 MHz. To compensate to some extent, the laptop 1070 carries more CUDA cores (2048 vs 1920) and slightly more TMUs (170 vs 120).

Due to its performance, thermals and power consumption, which is believed to be 10W more than the GTX 980M, the GPU is suitable for large 17-inch or bigger laptops with the appropriate cooling solution.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find more information and specifications about the pair of GTX 1070s: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/2x-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-8gb-gddr5-sli/

Check the prices of all notebooks equipped with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070: http://amzn.to/2dlgbY5

Gaming Tests

If you jump over to our YouTube channel, you can see how GTA V and Rise of the Tomb Raider run on the MSI GT83VR Titan SLI with 2x GTX 1070 (SLI) at maximum settings. If you’d like to see more gameplay benchmark videos you can subscribe to our YouTube channel.

All the gaming tests we ran with the GeForce 373.06 drivers on Minimum, Average and Max settings and Full HD resolution.

We managed to squeeze additional 3% in Rise of the Tomb Raider and GTA V, at max settings. It’s not a big difference but GT83VR shows great performance anyway (much higher than other laptops with the same components).

Temperatures and Comfort

MSI GT83VR’s cooling system looks great – it has two huge turbines on the back and third little fan, placed close to the CPU. They should cool the components really cool, especially having in mind the fact that the i7-6820HK is ticking at 4.00 GHz by default. Let’s check that.

100% CPU load

First, we start with 100% CPU load. 10 minutes after the start the notebook doesn’t show any signs of trouble – the cores temperature is 75-85C and the frequency is still 4.0 GHz. In other words, no matter what the computing task is, GT83VR will handle it at its Turbo clock – 25% over the default one of 6820HK. After an hour, things look pretty much the same so we’re heading to the next chapter of our torture test…

100% CPU + 100% GPU load

Without stopping the 100% CPU load, we add 100% GPU load and we keep the notebook in that state for one more hour. After the total of two hours, the CPU ran at 3.4-3.5GHz / 85-95C, and the GPU at ~1.5GHz / 4.2 GHz and 70-74C.

Comfort

External temperatures at Idle

At idle or light load, the notebook keeps very low external temperatures – the panel behind the keyboard goes to 32C and the “hottest” point on the keyboard is 24C.

External temperatures after 2 hours of Maximum load

After two hours of maximum load, the main panel went to just 38.6C which is great. The keyboard is cool as well.

Verdict

MSI GT83VR Titan isn’t for the masses. MSI GT83VR Titan is more like “Look what we can do”. We’re sure that the folks at MSI don’t think that GT83VR will become a great hit – its purpose is just to show that they have one of the best engineers out there and they can lead the market. MSI GT83VR Titan SLI has unmatchable performance (for a notebook) and we know that even though the price/performance ratio is far from the best, there will be many users who have more than enough money and just want to have the fastest notebook on the market. In case you’re one of them, the machine is great. GT83VR Titan has the best cooling system we’ve ever tested and really takes advantage of the pair of GTX 1070s / 1080s and the Core i7-6820HK processor.

The hardcore games will definitely value the fact that this is the first notebook to feature mechanical keyboard, but we would be happy to see G-Sync support and screen with more than 60 Hz refresh rate. However, GT83VR’s display did pretty well in our quality tests, except for the PWM – it uses aggressive 250 Hz modulation. We recommend to check out our profiles.

MSI GT83VR is equipped with ultra-fast PCIe NVMe storage and up to 64GB RAM so chances are you won’t be able to surprise it with any task it won’t be able to do. Along with the plenty of positives we can’t skip to share our disappointment by the fact that you can’t upgrade your machine without voiding the warranty.

You can find the current price of MSI GT83VR Titan SLI here: http://amzn.to/2eqUyTB

Acer is expanding its successful business-oriented TravelMate lineup with a sleek new offering – the TravelMate X349. It’s supposed to come out on the market this fall with an absurdly low starting price of around $649, although the model we’ve acquired sports a Core i7-6500U chip, thus considerably more expensive. Still, the new TravelMate X349 can easily go against other more expensive 14-inchers like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga. But, of course, you won’t get the 360-degree rotatable hinge with Acer’s solution.

Anyway, the TravelMate X349 surprises with excellent price/performance ratio, good IPS panel and exceptional build quality complimented with an all-aluminum design. Another interesting thing about this laptop is the wide range of connectivity options including a USB-C 3.1 connector, which allows you to use Acer’s USB-C docking station. It gives you more connection options and a GTX 960M GPU, which will be more than enough for you to enjoy some gaming on the go without sacrificing mobility. We will try to go into detail regarding this feature and see how it will play out.

You can find some of the available models here: http://amzn.to/2fspUK6

Contents

Retail package

The retail package contains all the usual user manuals, DVD with drivers, AC adapter and power cord.

Design and construction

The outer clamshell of the notebook looks strict, minimalistic and premium and the design concept continues on the inside but we cannot stop thinking about ASUS’ ZenBook laptops while looking at the interior. The keys, the keyboard tray, the anodized aluminum, the general layout – all of it looks just too familiar. Nonetheless, Acer was able to implement something of its own – slightly concaved/curved keys on the keyboard for more comfortable typing experience.

Let’s start with the lid, which is covered in dark gray anodized aluminum. Fingerprints stick easily on the surface but aren’t as visible while the stability of the material is rather questionable because it bends under small weight. Interestingly, though, this doesn’t cause distortions or ripples on the LCD screen on the other side of the lid. Speaking of the screen, when we opened the notebook we were pleasantly surprised by the relatively thin bezels. There’s one big hinge supporting the whole display and stretches almost across the whole base and there you will also find the main exhaust vent. Another similarity with the ASUS ZenBook UX303 for example. Moreover, the hinge is tight enough to eliminate excessive wobbling while typing on unstable surface but loose enough to allow opening the machine with just one hand. It’s also the only plastic element on the chassis and to be honest, it doesn’t feel very rigid. And as for the bottom plate, it’s again made of thin aluminum sheet featuring two grill openings for the loudspeakers on the sides.

The ultrabook’s portability properties are backed up with a pretty thin profile of just 18 mm at its thickest point but doesn’t fail to deliver the usual set of ports you will find on a 14-inch form factor. Also, the port distribution is excellent without overcrowding either of the sides. The left side adopts the DC charging port, HDMI, USB 3.0 and USB-C 3.1 connector while the right side houses the SD card reader, 3.5 mm audio jack and USB 3.0.

What’s left is the interior. It continues the same simplistic design concept with little distractions. The palm rest area is big and houses a huge touchpad for improved usability. It’s generally good with silky-smooth surface, light mouse clicks, and accurate gesture control. No wobbling occurred while working on it. The keyboard left us with the same impression – comfortable, stable and clicky. We have decent key spacing, travel and slightly curved buttons aiding with the overall usability. You won’t see any difference between this keyboard and a standard 15-inch one, except for the missing Numpad area. What’s interesting, though, is that Acer added and an extra column of keys – Home, Pg Up, Pg Dn and End keys also serving as media player controls. We would have appreciated a different key placement regarding screen brightness, volume and media controls. We assume these keys will be more frequently used and should have been placed near the Fn key so you can operate with one hand. But this is actually a minor drawback. Kudos to the elegant implementation of the fingerprint scanner located next to the TravelMate X sign on the right side.

Weighing just 1.53 kg, the TravelMate X349 is one of the finest all-aluminum ultrabooks we’ve tested so far. The pricing is going to be crucial because there are a good number of competitors in this price range with similar design, features, and hardware. To stand out from the rest, Acer must keep its aggressive pricing strategy to make its ultra portable TravelMate X lineup worthy of its name.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Opening the machine is really easy task. You just have to remove all the screws around the corners and pry up the plate with a plastic tool so you won’t scratch the surface.

Storage upgrade options – M.2 SSD slot

The notebook uses a 2280 M.2 SSD stick for storage and the unit ships with an SK Hynix SATA-enabled drive. However, you can upgrade it with an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD as the motherboard seems to support it.

RAM

One of the main drawbacks of the device is the soldered RAM that can’t be upgraded and even the mid-range Core i5-6200U-equipped model ships with just 4GB of DDR4 RAM.

Other components

The Wi-Fi card is easily accessible and it’s right next to the cooling fans.

We see some empty space around the battery and we would have appreciated a slightly bigger unit but given the excellent battery results we got, there’s not much room for complaints. The 48Wh unit does its job pretty well.

Cooling system

The cooling system seems a bit of an overkill with those two relatively big fans but, hey, it’s better to run things cooler than keeping the internals hot.

IF you require more instructions, you can visit our full disassembly article here.

Display quality

The notebook features a Full HD (1920×1080) IPS display with model number B140HAN02.1 manufactured by AU Optronics. The diagonal is 14 inches so the pixel density is 157 ppi and the pixel pitch is 0.161 x 0.161 mm. It can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 56 cm.

The display’s colors don’t shift and offer good viewing experience from a 45-degree angle.

We find the display’s maximum brightness a bit low – 234 cd/m2 in the middle and 224 cd/m2 as average with just 13% deviation. Color temperature, on the other hand, is pretty close to the optimal 6500K – 6730K. The contrast ratio is also pretty high – 1240:1 before and 1100:1 after calibration.

The maximum color deviation of dE2000 is 3.4 in the upper-middle part of the screen but it’s still lower than 4.0, which is an unwanted value.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

If you look at the yellow dotted triangle, you will see that the display covers just 50% of the sRGB color space, which isn’t enough for a good multimedia experience – half of the colors will be missing when reproduced.

Below you will see practically the same image but with the color circles representing the reference colors and the white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut pre and post calibration.

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We adjusted the luminance to match 140 cd/m2 and also to reach an optimal white point (D65) and gamma in sRGB mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the Office & Web Design profile.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the Gaming & Movie Nights profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 19 ms. That’s surprisingly good result for an IPS panel.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our specialized article on PWM.

So in this case, the notebook’s screen doesn’t use PWM for regulating brightness levels so it can be considered as “user-friendly” and will not put unnecessary strain on your eyes.

Blue light emissions

Installing of our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our specialized article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP) graph.

Conclusion

It really depends on what you are looking for but most of the user base, which would be businessmen, will be absolutely happy with the presented image quality. It’s a matte, high-contrast IPS panel with good viewing angles and close to optimal color temperature but somehow narrow sRGB coverage and slightly inaccurate color reproduction. Also, the screen’s maximum brightness might not be sufficient for outdoor use.

But as we said earlier, the panel will be perfectly fine for most users doing general web browsing, office work and will satisfy your needs for multimedia on the go. It sure is a breath of fresh air in the lower and mid-range segment of the market. The X349-M will struggle to compete only against higher-priced models where the Core i7-6500U configuration stands. And finally, it’s really important to mention that the display doesn’t use PWM at all and this is really important because as a business laptop, you are ought to spend a lot of hours in front of the screen. So keeping your eyes safe is a top priority.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Acer TravelMate X349-M configurations with 14.0″ AU Optronics B140HAN02.1 (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eeSAZB

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

The stereo loudspeakers provide good sound quality throughout all frequencies and the maximum allowed volume is decent as well.

Specs sheet

The specs provided below may differ from the final unit and configurations may varry depending on your region.

Check price

CPU	Intel Core i7-6500U (2-core, 2.50 – 3.10 GHz, 4MB cache)
RAM	8GB (1x 8192MB) DDR4-2133
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 520
HDD/SSD	256GB M.2 SSD
Display	14-inch Full HD (1920×1080) IPS, matte (touchscreen is optional)
Optical Drive	–
Connectivity	Intel® 802.11ac (2×2) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 Combo
Other features	2x USB 3.0 1x USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C with Thunderbolt support HDMI SD card reader 3.5 mm audio combo jack keyboard LED backlight Can be paired with Acer’s USB-C dock
Battery	48.9Wh
Thickness	18 mm (0.71″)
Weight	1.53 kg (3.37 lbs)

Software

The testing unit came with pre-installed Windows 10 (64-bit) and we used it for our testing. However, if you wish to perform a clean install of the OS, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from Acer’s official support page when the notebook hits the market.

Battery

The battery on this thing is truly amazing. It comes as close second behind the ASUS ZenBook UX303 in terms of battery life while sporting roughly the same hardware – Core i7-6500U and a 14-inch IPS display supported by a 48.9Wh unit. The battery runtimes even beat some considerably more expensive notebooks along with some 12-inch and 13-inch devices with Core m processors, which by default should provide longer battery life.

Anyway, all tests were run under the same conditions as always – Wi-Fi turned on, Windows battery saving feature turned on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

More than an excellent result – 619 minutes (10 hours and 19 minutes).

Watching a movie

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

Much lower score but still comes on top of most devices – 441 minutes (7 hours and 21 minutes).

Gaming

For accurate simulation, we used the Metro Last Light benchmark running on loop with graphic settings set to minimum.

This test got the most of the battery since it’s the most demanding one – 223 (3 hours and 43 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i7-6500U

Intel Core i7-6500U is part of the Skylake generation processors and it’s entitled to the ULV lineup (ultra-low voltage) with 14nm FinFET manufacturing process. It has two cores that support Hyper-Threading technology resulting in up to 4 threads. The chip is a direct successor to the Core i7-5500U Broadwell CPU expecting slightly better performance with emphasis on the power efficiency features.

The CPU is clocked at 2.5 GHz and can go up to 3.1 GHz for one active core or 3.0 GHz for two active cores. Also, the silicon includes an Intel HD Graphics 520 iGPU that sports 24 Execution Units ticking at 300 MHz and can go up to 1.05 GHz. The whole SoC supports DDR4-2133/DDR3L-1600 memory in a dual-channel array. So the whole chip is rated at 15W TDP including the memory controller and the integrated graphics thus making it suitable for 11-inch notebooks or bigger. It also supports the cTDP down feature and the OEM can lower the TDP to 7.5W.

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i7-6500u/

Fritz

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i7-6500U reached 6.124 million moves per second. By comparison, one of the most powerful PCs, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – Intel HD Graphics 520

Intel HD Graphics or also known as GT2 is an integrated graphics processor used in ULV (Ultra-low voltage) chips from intel that are part of the Skylake generation processors. The GT2 core boasts 24 Execution Units (EUs) that are clocked up to 1050 MHz, but the latter can be changed depending on the CPU that’s used in. The graphics processor supports up to DDR3L-1600 or DDR4-2133 RAM and uses two channels for reaching maximum bandwidth.

The revised GPU now supports H.265/HEVC hardware decoding but the most notable feature here is that the chip supports DisplayPort 1.2 while the HDMI support is limited to the older 1.4a. The GPU can support up to three displays simultaneously. The power consumption of the whole chip (along with the CPU and memory controller) is 15W.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/intel-hd-graphics-520/

Temperatures

This test doesn’t really translate into real-life use because the general user won’t be able to reach 100% CPU and 100% GPU load for such long periods of time but it’s still a good way to determine the reliability of the system as a whole.

We started off with 100% CPU load for an hour. At first, the system was able to utilize the full potential of the chip reaching 2.8 GHz but then declined to 2.7 GHz, which is still in the Turbo Boost range. Also, the temperature of the CPU was pretty low and you can hardly hear the fans spinning. Very silent cooling solution we have there.

After we switched on the GPU stress test as well, the chip’s temperatures rose and the CPU started throttling to give enough headroom for the GPU to perform. Everything went smooth throughout the test.

Even the surface temperatures were pretty low as you can see on the heat map below.

Verdict

Acer has finally introduced ultra-portables under the TravelMate branding especially for business and we can honestly say it’s a step in the right direction. The TravelMate X349 is going to be affordable, portable, durable and with a sleek all-aluminum design delivering excellent input devices along the way. It’s also pairable with Acer’s USB-C dock that expands the port range and GPU performance with a GTX 960M on board suitable for some light gaming on the go. It’s really hard not to recommend this device since it has little drawbacks that the general business user won’t mind.

We mean the hardware configurations include only Skylake processors despite the fact that Kaby Lake chips are already hitting the end consumer next month. But our best guess is that the notebook has been planned for a release months before Intel even announced the new Kaby Lake generation. It’s likely that the refresh of the TravelMate X3 series will come in the following months.

But even without the Kaby Lake on board, the X349 shows excellent performance in all other areas – battery life, screen quality, and cooling. And all of this comes without the extra bulk on the price. In fact, the low-end model with Core i3-6100U and the mid-range variant with Core i5-6200U come at an exceptionally low price and will most likely appeal to most users. It’s good to see that Acer has kept its aggressive pricing for its TravelMate series. We only have concerns about the higher-end model with Core i7-6500U because it will have to compete against other well-known models like the ASUS ZenBook Ux303, which sports a more powerful GPU and better screen but still beats the hell out of the bulky Dell Inspiron 7359.

You can find some of the available models here: http://amzn.to/2fspUK6

A year after we’ve reviewed the Ideapad 100 from Lenovo, we get to play around with the refreshed Ideapad 110 lineup, which hasn’t changed much in most aspects but receives a slightly re-designed chassis, a new updated processor and a lot better maintenance procedure that doesn’t require the keyboard to come off.

With the Ideapad 100 and Ideapad 110 being almost identical with little changes under the hood, it will be interesting to see how this has reflected on the user experience as a whole. Does the updated CPU maintain lower or at least the same temperatures as before due to the fan-less cooling design, does the display still have PWM and does it improve the overall picture quality and is there any battery improvements? We find out in the detailed review below.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eM7Z2u

Contents

Retail package

The retail package is modest containing only the user manuals, AC cord, and adapter along with the notebook itself, of course.

Design and construction

From a design standpoint, you can’t really expect a high-end chassis without compromises in the build quality but the Ideapad 110’s case seems to be pretty decent. It’s also been updated with an interesting pattern over the surface, which wasn’t present in the previous Ideapad 100. Unfortunately, it’s still a huge fingerprint magnet so frequent cleaning is required.

The lid feels pretty nice, smooth and “grippy” so it’s easy to carry it around. But as we mentioned, the fingerprints are quite prominent. The surface bends under pressure and causes ripples on the LCD screen but not as much as we expected, to be honest. By opening the lid you will feel that the hinges are a bit overly tightened towards the end and middle of the travel but turn loose in the beginning. So opening the lid requires both hands but one hand is enough just to lift it up. The good thing is that the bottom piece features the same finish without contrasting to the whole design signature. Something we see quite often on even higher-end laptops. There you will see only one big opening for extra airflow for the CPU.

The sides integrate the bare minimum of ports with the left one adopting the HDMI, LAN, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectors, 3.5 mm audio jack and the DC charging port, which is placed on an utterly awkward position – in the center. So the cable might get in the way sometimes. This is probably due to design limitations, as the motherboard is located near the bottom left of the base so the DC charging port,has to be somewhere nearby. As for the right side, it has only the optical drive in place. And as far as portability is concerned, the notebook hasn’t gone any slimmer than last year’s model – 22.9 mm at its thickest point vs the 22.6 mm height on the Ideapad 100.

With a slightly different finish, the interior of the Ideapad 110 resembles faux leather to touch but it’s easy to see that it’s plastic. And despite the different finish, the plastic surface still attracts a lot of fingerprints. But what about the input devices? Well, the keyboard is decent for the price range but two things didn’t make a good impression. The short key travel is understandable but the feedback when pressing the keys should have been a little bit better. Also, the whole keyboard tray is a bit spongy and even the lightest press of a button causes the keyboard to sink. On the contrary, the wrist rest area is solid and rigid. The same goes for the trackpad area, which uses two stiff mouse buttons instead of a whole touchpad plate and we strongly prefer this design on a low-end machine for sure. Usually, the entry-level notebooks have flimsy touchpad design so the one on the Ideapad 110 will suit most users pretty well.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Unlike its predecessor, the Ideapad 100, the new Ideapad 110 offers a more simplified upgrade procedure that doesn’t require the keyboard to be removed in order to access the internals. You just need to take care of the optical drive…

…and then proceed with the bottom piece.

Storage upgrade options – 2.5-inch HDD slot

Quite expectedly, the Ideapad 110 houses one 2.5-inch drive slot usually taken by a 500GB or 1TB HDD depending on the configuration you will buy. If this isn’t enough, you can always swap the 2.5-inch HDD for an SSD and stick the HDD into a caddy replacing the otpical drive.

RAM

The RAM can’t be upgraded as it comes soldered to the motherboard. Make sure you choose the appropriate amount of RAM since it cannot be changed.

Other components

The Wi-Fi module is located right above the covering plate of the CPU. Its model number is SW10A11648.

The battery is rated at just 24Wh and it’s located right between the screen hinges.

Cooling system

The Ideapad 110 uses a passive cooling system because the Intel Pentium N3710 allows it. You won’t find any fans – just a big heat sink and a thermal paste applied to it for heat dispersion.

If you require more instructions, you can visit our full disassembly article here.

Display quality

As a low-end machine, the Ideapad 110 uses a budget 15-inch WXGA TN panel with 1366 x 768 HD resolution. It’s manufactured by LG with model number LP156WHU-TPG1 and has pixel density of just 100 ppi and 0.253 x 0.253 mm pixel pitch. It can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 86 cm.

There’s noticeable color shift from a 45-degree incline due to the TN panel as you can see in the photo below.

We were able to record a maximum brightness of 210 cd/m2 in the center of the screen and 219 cd/m2 as average with a bit higher than usual maximum deviation – 21%. The color temperature is 7370K in the center and an average of 7310K so colors will appear a bit colder than they should. The contrast ratio is low – 470:1

As of color deviation, we’ve measured dE2000 of 4.2 in the lower left corner of the screen. Keep in mind that values above 4.0 are unwanted.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook. Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios and the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s hard to be covered by today’s displays. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

But as far as sRGB coverage is concerned, the display goes as far as 51% as shown in the image below.

Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut before and after calibration.

We’ve created the profile at 140 cd/m2, optimal white point (D65, 6500K) and sRGB gamma mode.

Below you can see the results from the accuracy color checker with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. The results are before and after calibration.

We’ve also measured how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image. It’s essential when watching movies or playing games. The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings while the right one with our custom profile for gaming and multimedia. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis the luminance of the display. The display offers good visibility in dark areas of an image but it’s further improved by installing our profile.

We illustrate the first five levels of the gray (1%-5% white), right after black level, using the five boxes on the image below. Keep in mind that whether you can distinguish them or not strongly depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 16 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Our equipment was able to detect pulsations across all brightness levels but at extremely high frequency (40 kHz). This means that the display may have an impact on users with extra sensitive eyes, although it’s quite unlikely. We can consider it as user-friendly and safe to use for longer periods of time. However, if you happen to experience some eye soreness or a headache after prolonged use, you can always turn up the brightness to 100% where the flickering stops.

Blue light emissions

With our Health-Guard profile installed, you can benefit from reduced blue light emissions. You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP).

Conclusion

The notebook’s TN panel isn’t the best one for multimedia purposes but it’s sufficient for the usual office work and web browsing. It has normal maximum brightness, sRGB coverage, contrast ratio and color accuracy for a machine at this price range. However, a big plus is the high-frequency PWM, which the screen produces. Although present, it should not affect users even with sensitive eyes during long hours of work.

Buy our display profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Lenovo Ideapad 110 configurations with 15.6″ LG LP156WHU-TPG1 (HD, 1366 x 768) TN, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eDurs0

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

$9.99

Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

Sound

We didn’t notice any major distortions at low, mid and high frequencies but the maximum volume isn’t high enough.

Specs sheet

Check price

CPU	Intel Pentium N3710 (4-core, 1.60 – 2.56 GHz, 2MB cache)
RAM	4GB (1x 4096MB) – DDR3, 1600MHz
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 405 (Braswell)
HDD/SSD	500GB HDD (5400 rpm)
Display	15.6-inch HD (1366×768) TN panel, glossy
Optical Drive	DVD burner
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	1x USB 3.0 1x USB 2.0 built-in webcam built-in microphone 3.5 mm audio jack HDMI 4-in-1 SD card reader (MMC, SD, SDHC, SDXC) RJ-45 built-in loudspeakers
Battery	3-cell, 24Wh
Thickness	22.9 mm (0.90″)
Weight	2.2 kg (4.85 lbs)

Software

We used a freshly installed Windows 10 (64-bit) for the writing of this review. If you wish to do a clean install yourself as well, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from Lenovo’s official support page.

Battery

We have mixed feelings about the battery life of this notebook because it’s one of the most affordable solutions out there so it’s hard to have any complaints. However, when we reviewed last year’s model with Intel’s Celeron N2840, we got slightly better readings – around 13 to 15% better to be exact. It must be the fact that the Celeron draws slightly less power than the Pentium. Battery capacity has remained the same, though – 24Wh.

All tests were performed with the usual settings – Wi-Fi turned on, Windows battery saving feature turned on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

The notebook scored merely 204 minutes (3 hours and 24 minutes) on the web browsing test, which was kind of expected.

Video playback

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

We got even lower result on the video playback test – 195 minutes (3 hours and 15 minutes).

Gaming

For accurate simulation, we used the Metro Last Light benchmark running on loop with graphic settings set to minimum.

This test got the most of the battery since it’s the most demanding one – 62 (1 hour and 2 minutes).

CPU – Intel Pentium N3710

Intel’s Pentium N3710 is an entry-level SoC usually found in affordable notebooks. It features a quad-core design based on the 14nm manufacturing process with tri-gate transistors. This improves the overall energy efficiency and performance compared to the older Bay Trail platform.

All four cores are based on the Airmont architecture and it’s pretty close to the previous Silvermont architecture so performance per clock isn’t improved as much but the new 14nm manufacturing process allows better utilization of the Burst frequency leading to better overall performance. Compared to the old Intel Pentium N3700, the N3710 successor reaches a maximum of 2.56 GHz and works at base 1.60 GHz frequency.

The whole SoC – including the integrated Intel HD Graphics (Braswell) and the DDR3L memory controller – is rated at 6W TDP while the SDP is 4W. Keep in mind that since the chip uses a passive cooling design, its performance strongly depends on the implementation of each OEM.

The chip should be sufficient for general work, browsing and in some cases even multimedia but will struggle with more demanding tasks and applications.

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Pentium N3170 scored 4.462 million moves per second. In comparison, one of the most powerful chess computers, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – Intel HD Graphics (Braswell)

An integrated GPU used in all CPUs part of the Braswell generation. The GPUs frequency can vary a lot – from around 300MHz to up to 700MHz, depending on the model of the processor. It has 16 EUs (Execution Units) and its architecture is almost the same as the one on the Core M CPUs (while the Core M’s graphics integrate 24 EUs).

The GPU can support up to 3 displays with a maximum resolution of 4K, but internally can handle only 2560 x 1440 (QHD) via eDP. The external displays can be connected via HDMI or Display Port. Other major features include the support of DirectX 12 and Open GL 4.2.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/intel-hd-graphics-braswell/

Verdict

As we stated earlier, the notebook’s chassis has its strong sides and its flaws but we are mostly happy with the presented build quality, of course, considering the price point. The only thing that concerns us is the spongy keyboard and the lack of feedback of the keys. We also can’t miss mentioning the super easy disassembly of the notebook that now doesn’t require the keyboard tray to be removed. The previous Ideapad 100 was a pain to maintain.

As far as the hardware is concerned, the Pentium and Celeron configuration will do just fine for education purposes and normal everyday tasks along with browsing. Just make sure you don’t spend too much time away from the charger as the 24Wh battery will only get you less than a few hours of work.

The display is also suitable given the situation and will not be suitable for any kind of multimedia activities. However, it will keep your eyes safe due to the high-frequency PWM, which should affect only users with extremely sensitive eyes.

So at the end of the day, if you are on a hunt for an ultra-affordable laptop, the Ideapad 110 should be considered if you are ready to make the logical sacrifices that come with the ridiculously low price. But don’t forget to include the Dell Inspiron 3552 and the Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-573), which carry their own perks and drawbacks as well but are still in the same ballpark.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eM7Z2u

To be honest, it’s really hard to like something after reviewing the absurdly well-built HP’s ProBook 440 lineup because it covers all basic needs of a businessman while offering a little something on the side. Dell’s direct answer to the ProBooks, however, are the Vostro series, more particularly the 14-incher we have here for a review. It falls into the same price range but lacks some of the perks the ProBook 440 G3 has – for instance M.2 SATA SSD support.

However, the Vostro 14 5000 series make a compelling choice with key selling points on the portability, design, and rigidity. It will be interesting to see how it stacks against the ProBook 440 G3 in terms of display quality, GPU performance, and battery life since those are the main aspects setting these two apart. Let’s see if the Vostro 5459 is up for the challenge.

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eFFyj6

Contents

Retail package

The containing box doesn’t offer anything out of the ordinary – just the usual user manuals, AC adapter, power cord and the notebook itself.

Design and construction

As we already said, the Vostro 5459 is mostly design-centric device and by the looks of it, you can clearly see why. The lid and interior feature brushed aluminum plate while only the bottom piece is made of plastic. It definitely brings a nice and refreshing touch to this entry-level business companion and also keeps the weight relatively low. The device is 1.7 kg and just 18.5 mm thick so if portability is a top priority for you, the 14-inch Vostro 5459 is an excellent choice.

Let’s begin with the lid. It’s made of brushed aluminum plate, which looks flexible at first but bending it doesn’t cause major distortions on the LCD screen. Also, the color we got for the review looks pretty nice – something resembling champagne gold. The screen is supported by a big hinge spanning across the width of the base and that’s where the main exhaust vent is located. The hinge is made of plastic and feels a bit too stiff making it hard to open the machine with one hand but this will come in handy to the touch-enabled variant as it will eliminate the annoying screen wobbling to some extent. And as for the bottom, it’s entirely made of plastic with the same gold-ish color and a few extra vent openings for better airflow. It’s held by a number of screws that need to be removed in order to access the hardware inside. But more on that in the next section of the review.

The sides are flat and connect to the interior seamlessly. No gaps or holes are to be seen. We are also happy with the port distribution because most of the connectors are positioned on the left clearing up enough space for the external mouse on the right. They are as follows: left – DC charging connector, HDMI, RJ-45 for wired LAN connection and two USB 3.0 while on the right – SD card reader, USB 2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack.

As a business notebook, the Vostro 5459 should impress with excellently designed interior accompanied by comfortable and accurate input devices. And for the most part, the laptop delivers. We’ve got again brushed aluminum surface surrounding the touchpad and keyboard but with a dark gray color contrasting to the outer chassis. Anyway, the touchpad feels extremely light and comfortable to use. Left and right clicks are registered correctly, swipes and gestures are on spot and so does the overall touchpad experience. Quite frankly, we can’t say anything bad about it and we can even say we liked it more than the one on the HP ProBook 440 G3, which adopts a more old school design with dedicated mouse buttons. Usually, this is the better way to go on low-end devices but the Vostro 5459 surprises with a stable and accurate surface. However, we aren’t as happy with the keyboard. Slightly bigger keys would have been appreciated but the spacing is good. Some of the keys at the edge of the keyboard tray feel a bit mushy – probably because of the plastic tray – and the key travel doesn’t feel very “convincing”. The ProBook 440 G3 definitely takes the lead on this one.

In any case, for the asking price the Vostro 5459 delivers more than you’d expect – it’s quite thin, portable and rigid featuring mostly aluminum. It also features great touchpad design and healthy port distribution, however, there’s some room for improvement when it comes to the typing experience.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

The Vostro 5459 is rather easy to disassemble and you will only need a screw and a plastic tool to pry up the bottom plate as shown in the photos below.

Storage upgrade options – 2.5-inch HDD

Like most budget-oriented devices, the Vostro 5459 features only one 2.5-inch HDD and no M.2 SSD support, although the HP ProBook 440 G3 has one and holds an edge over Dell’s offering as far as storage options are concerned. The HDD is Seagate-made with 500GB capacity.

2.5-inch HDD/SSDSeagate 500GB HDD (5400 rpm)Upgrade options

RAM

The motherboard supports only one DDR3L-1600 chip and the maximum supported memory is 8GB, although our unit came with a small 4GB SK Hynix chip.

Other components

The Wi-Fi card can be found right next to the cooling fan and it’s made by Intel with model number 3165NGW.

The battery unit is rated at 43Wh and can be easily replaced.

Cooling system

The cooling system isn’t anything out of the ordinary. It consists of two heat pipes connected to the cooling fan, which, by the way, looks a bit big but it’s perfectly capable of keeping the internals cool. The Skylake-U chip and the GeForce 930M GPU aren’t as demanding even under high load.

IF you require more instructions, you can visit our full disassembly article here.

Display quality

The notebook we’ve tested uses a WXGA TN panel with 1366 x 768 resolution in a 14-inch diagonal leading to a pixel density of 112 ppi and pixel pitch of 0.227 x 0.227 mm. It’s manufactured by BOE with model number DP36C. It can be considered as “Retina” if viewed from a distance equal or greater than 80 cm.

Viewing angles aren’t good due to the use of TN matrix. Here’s how colors shift under a 45-degree angle.

The maximum brightness is a bit low – 206 cd/m2 and 201 cd/m2 as an average across the surface with only 5% deviation. Color temperature is 7590K in the middle and 7390K as average, which is considerably more than the optimal 6500K so colors may appear a bit blue-ish and cold. The contrast ratio is also low – 250:1. Anyway, the maximum color deviation dE2000 is just 1.3 in the bottom center part of the screen. This is an excellent result as values above 4.0 are unwanted.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. Starting with the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy. Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that has been used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used by professional cameras, monitors and etc. for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook. Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios and the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s hard to be covered by today’s displays. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

We’ve recorded merely 55% coverage of the sRGB gamut but that’s rather common at this price range. OEMs tend to use budget TN panels for their entry-level models.

Below you will see practically the same image but with color circles representing the reference colors and white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut before and after calibration.

We’ve set the profile at 140 cd/m2, 6500K white point and sRGB gamma mode.

Below you can see the results from the accuracy color checker with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. The results are before and after calibration and as you can see, after calibration the screen has excellent color reproduction.

We’ve also measured how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image. It’s essential when watching movies or playing games. The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings while the right one with our custom profile for gaming and multimedia. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis the luminance of the display. The display offers good visibility in dark areas of an image but it’s further improved by installing our profile.

We illustrate the first five levels of the gray (1%-5% white), right after black level, using the five boxes on the image below. Keep in mind that whether you can distinguish them or not strongly depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Gaming capabilities (Response time)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 10 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Unfortunately, we’ve recorded aggressive pulsations (300 Hz) from 0 to 99% brightness so we don’t recommend using the screen for longer periods of time if you are not planning to set the display at 100% luminance. And with just 200 nits of maximum brightness, you will probably find it comfortable to use at 100% brightness for most of the time.

Blue light emissions

With our Health-Guard profile installed, you can benefit from reduced blue light emissions. You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP).

Conclusion

As expected, the model doesn’t excel in display quality due to the budget TN panel used for this configuration. Its properties don’t make it good for multimedia purposes but it will do just fine for general browsing and office work. Still, the low maximum brightness and contrast ratio might be a deal-breaker for some. Moreover, the panel uses PWM at extremely low frequency (300 Hz) so if you are planning to use it for long periods of time, we suggest installing our Health-Guard profile or just pair it with an external monitor in order to keep your eyes safe.

Buy our display profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Dell Vostro 5459 configurations with 14.0″ BOE DP36C- (HD, 1366 x 768) TN, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eF83xK

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

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Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

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Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

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$9.99

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Sound

No distortions were noticed throughout all frequencies. The maximum allowed volume is satisfactory.

Specs sheet

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Processor	Intel Core i3-6100U (2-core, 2.30 GHz, 3MB cache)
RAM	4GB (1x 4096MB) – DDR3L, 1600 MHz
Graphics card	NVIDIA GeForce 930M (2GB DDR3)
HDD/SSD	500GB HDD
Display	14.0-inch HD (1366×768) TN, matte
Optical drive	–
Connectivity	LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	2x USB 3.0 1x USB 2.0 HD webcam microphone 3.5 mm audio jack RJ-45 HDMI SD card reader fingerprint reader Kensington lock
Battery	3-cell, 44Wh
Thickness	18.5 mm (0.73″)
Weight	1.7 kg (3.75 lbs)

Software

We used a freshly installed Windows 10 (64-bit) for our testing and if you wish to perform a clean install of the OS as well, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from Dell’s official support page.

Battery

We didn’t get any record-breaking results on the battery tests but that was expected. Still, the 43Wh unit performed well and even put up a fight against the ProBook 440 G3, which scored a bit better than the Vostro 5459.

Of course, all tests were performed using the usual settings – Windows battery saving feature turned on, screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2 and Wi-Fi running all the time.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

Probably the most important test and the notebook got 395 minutes (6 hours and 35 minutes).

Video playback

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

Interistingly, the laptop scored slightly better in our video playback test – 407 minutes (6 hours and 47 minutes).

Gaming

We recently started using F1 2015’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.

It’s quite unlikely that you will start a gaming session without being close to a power source, but it’s good to know that you can play for more an hour – 175 minutes (2 hours and 55 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i3-6100U

The Intel Core i3-6100U is part of the Skylake generation processors from Intel and also representing the ULV (ultra low voltage) series. The chip doesn’t support the Turbo Boost feature for dynamic frequency adjustment but has the important Hyper-Threading feature that emulates one virtual core for each physical one and thus establishing up to four threads. The two clocks run at 2.3 GHz and they are manufactured using the 14nm FinFET process.

The CPU also includes the Intel HD Graphics 520 iGPU and GT2 being its code name. It has 24 EUs (Execution Units) and are clocked at 300 MHz and can go up to 1000 MHz. The whole SoC draws approximately 15W at full throttle and that includes the memory controller (DDR4-2133/DDR3L-1600), the CPU and the iGPU. The chip also supports cTDP down so the TDP can go as low as 7.5W but that depends on the OEM and it affects heat dispersion and performance.

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i3-6100u/

Fritz

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i3-6100U reached 4.725 million moves per second. By comparison, one of the most powerful PCs, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – NVIDIA GeForce 930M (2GB DDR3)

The NVIDIA GeForce 930M is a lower-mid-range GPU that’s included in budget notebooks or multimedia-oriented ones. It was released in March 2015 and it is based on last year’s GeForce 840M with GM108 GPU inside. We are expecting the GPU to be marginally faster than its predecessor since the Maxwell generation GPUs mostly improve power consumption and don’t emphasize on performance as much. However, the TDP is rated at 25W (for this particular version as there’s another variant with GDDR5 memory controller). Furthermore, GeForce 930M offers 2GB of DDR3 memory, 16 ROPs, 32 texture mapping units and 384 shaders. The graphics processor runs at 928MHz with Boost clock being 941MHz which should be enough to run most of the new games at lower settings or other software that isn’t that demanding. Memory speed is 1800MHz with a bus width of 64 bit. Notable features like DirectX 12, NVIDIA Optimus support, OpenGL 4.5 and CUDA cores are at hand.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this GPU: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/nvidia-geforce-930m-2gb-ddr3/

Temperatures

The two-staged stress test that we perform isn’t a good representation of real-life usage since it’s impossible for the general user to reach such high loads but it’s the best way to determine the stability of the system in the long run, especially the cooling design.

We started with a 100% CPU load for an hour and things looked pretty good. The CPU ran at its maximum 2.3 GHz while the temperatures were pretty low.

When we turned on the GPU stress test as well, the CPU temperatures remained stable along with the clocks. Also, the system was able to utilize the full performance of the GPU.

The surface temperatures were low even after the long stress test.

Verdict

Dell was able to build a solid all-rounder for the asking price but to be honest, it’s really hard to compete against the HP ProBook series, which happen to have a 14-inch model as well. It has slightly better battery life, better input devices, more storage options including M.2 SATA SSD support and arguably better hardware (CPU and GPU) depending on the configuration.

However, the Vostro 5459 makes a compelling choice with rigid construction, refreshing design and comfortable touchpad leaving only the keyboard with some room for improvement. It’s also pretty portable and slim given the price point.

Our only major complaint about the screen is the use of an aggressive form of PWM across all brightness levels (except 100%). But generally, it has the same properties as its direct rival, the ProBook 440 G3. Good thing that our Health-Guard profile can eliminate the negative pulsations and also limit the blue light emissions.

Finally, the battery performance is pretty good for an entry-level device despite the fact that it falls behind HP’s budget solution by a tad.

So if you are strictly looking for a 14-inch laptop, probably you’re better off with the budget configurations of the HP ProBook 440 G3 or if you even have a bit more cash to spare, you can look for the budget Acer TravelMate X349-M configuration with the same sreen specs and the same processor (Core i3-6100U).

You can find some of the available configurations here: http://amzn.to/2eFFyj6

Lenovo introduced the Yoga Book a few months back but it still something the Internet likes to talk about and we can clearly see why. The Yoga Book is one of the most – if not the most – versatile product we’ve ever touched. It’s suitable for school, business, daily Android or Windows driver and even for creativity. The included stylus opens up possibilities we’ve rarely seen on a mobile device. But, of course, there are some trade-offs as with every device that’s the first of its kind.

You might find using the LED touch keyboard a bit tricky to use while the touchpad and keyboard integration into the Android platform is pretty sweet but it’s not there yet. We expect most of these problems won’t be present in the Windows version of the tablet but this requires for you to get out some extra cash. So here’s our experience with the Yoga Book – what we liked, what we didn’t and how well does the device perform in terms of image quality, raw performance, and battery life. We let the numbers speak for themselves.

You can find the notebook here: http://amzn.to/2fWgu8J

Contents

Retail package

Since it’s a versatile device, it comes with a bunch of cool accessories and supplies. Aside from the tablet, you will find the Wacom stylus, which can also be a real pen and uses standard pen refills but we will get to that later. Along with the pen, you will find a notebook with empty A3 sheets of paper, which can also be replaced when they run out. And, of course, there’s also the service manual, AC adapter, and micro USB cable for charging.

Design and construction

The Yoga Book sports excellently built chassis with premium feel without being too boring. The base unit and the lid are covered in matte anodized aluminum finish (the main frame is reinforced with magnesium aluminum alloy) while the sides feel slightly rubberized. This way the base or the lid won’t slip on the surface when used in tent mode. Speaking of the sides, there are limited ports – only two to be exact – mini HDMI for external display and micro USB for charging and data transfer. There’s also the SIM card tray between them. And as for the right side, you will find the volume rocker, power button, and the 3.5 mm audio jack. The stereo loudspeakers are placed on both sides.

The one thing that really stands out on this device is the iconic Lenovo watchband hinge, which, as always, feels pretty nice, stable and has linear travel. In fact, maybe a little too stable. It requires some force in order to rotate the screen, yet the added stiffness eliminates most of the annoying wobbling effect when using the touchscreen in tablet mode. Also, the system detects the mode in which you are using the device and adjusts the UI accordingly.

And now the interesting part – the keyboard. Since it’s a virtual keyboard and touchpad, you can’t expect flawless typing experience but we do have to admit that we got used to it pretty fast. Mostly because the size of the keys are normal and if you are a fast typer, you will adjust quickly. Every button you press, you get haptic feedback from the base, which helps with typing but it’s not quite there. We would have definitely appreciated dedicated vibration for each key in order to bring the typing experience closer to a real keyboard. And as for the touchpad, it’s quite responsive and accurate, although a bit too small to our taste. We do understand that this is just a 10.1-inch device after all so it’s hard to complain. Its optimization, however, needs some work because we often found the touchpad registering clicks when it shouldn’t. There’s also no gesture support, except for the double tap and drag function that doesn’t really get along with Android. So no two-finger swiping, instead, you will have to hold down your finger on the touchpad and then swipe. Kudos for the quick access to some functions via the keyboard like the Alt+Tab key combination, the quick Fn keys on the F-row, etc.

When you turn off the keyboard using the sensor key on the top right, you get a whole another device in your hands. Using the Wacom stylus, which registers 2048 levels of pressure, gives you the freedom of writing or drawing notes like you do on a normal paper. The surface on the interior is matte and has low resistance so writing on it is a pleasure. We were told that this is developed by Wacom, so no surprise here. Keep in mind that the surface gets dirty quite often so it requires frequent cleaning. Nonetheless, if the Wacom tablet doesn’t cut it for you and you still need real paper, the Yoga Book has got you covered. There’s a real notebook included in the package and the stylus’ tip can be replaced by a real ballpoint tip. This way you can write down notes on the real paper and they still appear on the screen. You can even change the ink and the A3 papers with your own when they run out. The features will still work as long as you use the included stylus.

What amazed us the most is that the better part of the features that this tablet offers are not gimmicky. Something we are used to seeing way too often with newly introduced tech. Sure, the keyboard takes some time to adjust and can’t really replace the physical one but the Wacom tablet and stylus work flawlessly. Interestingly enough, they are approved for the authenticity of digital signatures. All of this comes in an impeccable, premium-looking chassis. It’s also incredibly lightweight (690 g) and absurdly thin – just under 1 cm, or 9.65 mm to be exact.

Display quality

The notebook features a 101.1-inch Full HD (1920×1200) IPS panel with 16:10 aspect ratio and 224 ppi (pixel density). The pixel pitch is 0.113 x 0.113 mm and can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 38 cm.

Since this is an IPS panel we are dealing with, viewing angles are excellent at a 45-degree angle.

We measured a maximum brighntess of 426 cd/m2 in the middle of the screen and an average one of 398 cd/m2. This kind of brightness is inherent to a tablet because notebooks usually have significantly lower brightness. It should be sufficient for outdoor use. The deviation is 16% in the middle-right section. The color temperature is 7300K and it’s slightly colder than the optimal 6500K. The contrast ratio is 1040:1.

The maximum color deviation is right on the verge of being too high – dE2000=3.9. That’s because values above 4.0 are unwanted and easily noticed. It’s an important aspect if you are planning to do color-sensitive work on the screen.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The display covers 91% of the sRGB color space so it’s a good choice for multimedia content.

Below you will see practically the same image but with the color circles representing the reference colors and the white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut. According to the graph, colors will appear accurate despite the color temperature being a bit colder than usual.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our specialized article on PWM.

Our equipment didn’t detect any pulsations except at the lowest level where the brightness is just 20 cd/m2. But even then, the pulsations are 39 kHz and probably won’t cause any harm even to users with extra sensitive eyes. Also, it’s quite unlikely that you will use the display at 20 cd/m2 brightness.

Conclusion

The display’s quality is excellent and will suit the needs of most users. Only those who plan to use the panel for color-sensitive work will probably need some fine tuning. However, since this is and Android-powered device, such changes can’t be made but we will make sure to test the Windows version and create profiles for the display.

In any case, the maximum brightness, contrast ratio, sRGB coverage and even the color temperature, which is just a tad off, make up for a good screen. The absence of PWM is also a great plus to consider.

Sound

For a small device like the Yoga Book, we were impressed by the maximum allowed volume and the clarity at low and high frequencies.

Specs sheet

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CPU	Intel Atom x5-Z8500 (4-core, 1.44 – 2.24 GHz, 2MB cache)
RAM	4GB (1x 4096MB) LPDDR3-1600
GPU	Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail)
HDD/SSD	64GB ROM
Display	10.1-inch, Full HD (1920×1200) touch IPS, glossy
Optical Drive	–
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 4G LTE (optional)
Other features	micro USB v2.0 mini HDMI Wacom stylus with 2048 pressure levels built-in Wacom graphics tablet virtual keyboard with haptic feedback 3.5 mm audio combo jack
Battery	8500 mAh
Thickness	9.65 mm (0.38″) touch version
Weight	690 g (1.52 lbs)

Battery

Lenovo constantly stresses on the fact that the Yoga Book is actually more of a notebook than a conventional tablet and if considered as such, we can easily say that the battery life is pretty good. However, for a tablet, the battery endurance isn’t amazing. The 8500 mAh charge that the unit can hold can get you through the better part of the day but will require some charging especially if you plan to use the Halo keyboard, which draws a considerable amount of energy due to the LED and haptic feedback. We suspect that the Wacom graphics tablet is also one of the main energy consumers.

Keep in mind that the battery tests that we performed were conducted in a controlled environment – Wi-Fi turned on at all times, GPS and Bluetooth disabled and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2. Also, the Windows 10 version of the device will surely have a tad shorter battery life.

Software

Since the device uses an Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor, it can support both Android and Windows 10 OS. The version we reviewed works on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and it’s the most affordable one but if you want the full-featured Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) OS, you will have to pay a little bit more.

Anyway, along with Android, Lenovo has included several useful apps to boost your creativity and experience with the Wacom tablet and stylus. Writing and editing on the virtual notebook feels pretty natural and offers several customization options including the type of pen you are writing – standard ballpoint pen, pencil, brush etc.

And as we already said, the keyboard appears to be well integrated into the Android OS. You will find most of the usual Fn shortcut keys each of which executes useful applications like Google search, screenshot, opening the app drawer, changing the keyboard language, adjusting screen brightness, etc. We also have a substitute for the Windows key, which leads back to the home screen when tapped. Unfortunately, the standard Ctr+C/F/V functions don’t work but the Alt+Tab combination opens up the recent apps menu.

The best part is that the tablet doesn’t come with all the annoying bloatware that usually comes with custom Android UI’s. This time, Lenovo has taken a more modest approach in terms of customization. We welcome this decision because less bloatware and UI overlays mean fewer software issues in the long run. We really appreciate the preserved stock Android experience.

There are just a few exclusive features, which are mostly related to the stylus and the Halo keyboard as you can see from the screenshots below. The Halo keyboard menu allows customization of the LED brightness, sensitivity, typing speed, vibration intensity, and how long does it take for the keyboard to go to “sleep”.

The Android version is going to sell for $500 while the pricier model will sell for $550 but will include a fully-featured Windows 10 Pro. We remain a bit skeptical about the SoC’s performance under Windows. We had the chance to try out the Windows version for a short period of time and didn’t experience any lag, freezes or performance issues but it will take some more time and convincing to be sure that there won’t be any major issues with the more demanding OS.

Quite frankly, most of the users will be absolutely fine with the Android version because it holds an edge over the Windows variant in terms of battery and usability but users who demand no trade-offs compared to a fully-featured laptop, Windows is the way to go. It will also allow better multitasking, creativity, and more features. Just keep in mind that the Intel Atom x5-Z8550 isn’t one of the most powerful SoCs out there, especially when it comes to supporting a fully operational Windows 10 Pro with its features.

Performance

The device uses an Intel Atom x5-Z8500 SoC manufactured using Intel’s 14nm process. The processor relies on 4 cores running at 1.44 GHz base frequency and 2.24 GHz maximum operating frequency. It also integrates an Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) GPU running at 200 – 600 MHz. It’s also capable of running the DirectX 11.2 API.

Along with the LPDDR3 memory controller, the whole SoC has an SDP of just 2W while the TDP is rated at 4W. The relative performance of the processor is on par with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 but the main advantage is that the Atom x5-Z8500 supports both Android and Windows OS.

Below you will find the performance of the CPU and iGPU defined by the benchmarks we ran.

CPU – Intel Atom x5-Z8500

GPU – Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail)

Verdict

Can the Yoga Book be your notebook replacement? Probably not. But in most cases, the Lenovo Yoga Book can do so much more while other conventional tablets and laptops fail. In terms of productivity, the Halo keyboard might pose an issue to some users because let’s face it, you can’t beat the physical keyboard with a virtual one. Although, the one presented in this device comes pretty close. Also, if you really rely on your everyday tasks, the Windows version will suit you better while the Android variant will be more suitable for casual use and creativity, not to mention that the Android version still needs more polishing in terms of usability as we already mentioned in the software section.

As far as the hardware goes, the SoC is powerful enough to handle multitasking – as much as Android can support – and we didn’t notice any hangs, lag or slow downs. The battery is good enough for a notebook but doesn’t surprise with record-breaking results for a tablet. And the screen appears to have most of the essential properties for a good multimedia content. However, if you need more accurate colors – because the stock settings won’t quite cut it – you will have to opt for the Windows-based version and our custom profiles. We will post them as soon as we get our hands on the Windows version.

And finally, we would want to address the excellent build quality and design along with the iconic Lenovo Yoga watchband hinge. It’s also pretty sturdy without sacrificing portability along the way. The only thing we would want to be changed in the next version is the presence of a lip or indentation so that you can easily lift the lid without putting in your nail. These are small design quirks that most users won’t probably have problem with.

You can find the notebook here: http://amzn.to/2fWgu8J

It’s really hard not to have an opinion about Dell’s top-shelf XPS notebook lineup and it’s harder not to like it, to be honest. The XPS 13 often has been named as the best alternative to Apple’s MacBook Pro 13. The ultrabook packs impressive specs, beats most 13-inch laptops on the market in terms of portability while design and build quality are rarely matched.

All of this comes at a price, though, and it’s not a small one. Some of the XPS 13 configurations are even more expensive than the MacBook Pro but our opinion still remains from two generations ago – it’s worth every penny. The battery life is amazing, the performance is good, the input devices are comfortable and whichever display option you choose, the image quality is always vivid, crisp and the screen is extra bright. Let’s see how the latest Kaby Lake refresh has changed, what new features holds, and will the new Core i7-7500U live up to the expectations and Intel’s claims.

Dell XPS 13 (9343, 2016 Broadwell review

Dell XPS 15 (9350, Skylake) review

You can find all of the available models: http://amzn.to/2ggcMvh

Contents

Retail package

The box contains only the user manuals, the AC cord and the small and stylish charger. The notebook, though, comes in a smaller black, matte box.

Design and construction

The overall design and build quality perfectly match the premium nature and price of the product. The only noticeable change in this aspect is the inclusion of rose gold as a color of choice. The refreshed version retains the sturdiness, the excellent choice of materials and portability from the last generation.

Anodized aluminum remains the main material while carbon fiber base peeks through the matte and slightly transparent silicone surface on the interior. We also noticed that the hinge is more tightly pulled in order to counter the annoying wobbling effect when tapping on the touchscreen. Nevertheless, it still swings when using the touch panel but it’s not as prominent. Speaking of the screen, we see identical to the previous generation XPS 13s layout – ultra-thin bezels and a compact chin accommodating the webcam in the lower left corner only to shrink even more the overall size of the machine.

It’s really hard to come across such small 13-inchers. A small exception is the recently reviewed Lenovo Yoga 910 where things are done slightly different. The form factor hasn’t been changed as much but holds a bigger 13.9-inch display. Also, given the price point of both devices, it’s pretty fair to say that the Yoga 910 holds an edge over the XPS 13 when it comes to versatility. The 360-degree rotatable watchband hinge takes the lead in this one.

However, the XPS 13 holds several other features that should appeal even to the most pretentious users. For instance, the keyboard experience is just excellent. You might notice the short key travel but this has been compensated with a clicky, tactile feedback. This type of keyboard feel always reminds us of the HP Spectre 13 and it’s also comparable to the Yoga 910’s, although the layout of the XPS 13 is entirely different. The touchpad, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. It’s responsive, stable, clicky and recognizes gestures excellently, but the surface isn’t coated with a low-resistance material. Something very essential for more precise movements of the cursor.

With no visual or build changes, the XPS 13 still remains one of our top choices for a 13-inch device in terms of quality and design. We’re also delighted by the fact that the newer XPS 13 have not grown in size and weight despite the inner hardware changes.

Disassembly, maintenance and upgrade options

Accessing the internals is a fairly easy task. You just need to remove the screws and pop it open. Oh, and don’t forget to open the little cap in the middle as it holds one extra screw, as shown in the photos below.

Storage upgrade options – M.2 SSD slot

As a premium and ultra-thin device, the XPS 13 is equipped with an M.2 SSD as a storage solution. It supports the PCIe NVMe standard holding a standard 2280 stick. It’s manufactured by Toshiba and we found the same drive in the Acer Predator 15 and 17 notebooks and in the ASUS ROG G752VS. It’s even a tad faster than its Samsung counterpart.

RAM

The RAM chips are soldered to the motherboard, therefore cannot be upgraded. Make sure you pick up the best configuration depending on your needs.

Other components

Interestingly, the Wi-Fi module is a Killer AC 1535 with a main focus for gaming.

The battery has seen a slight bump now offering a 60Wh charge opposed to the 56Wh in the previous model.

Cooling system

The cooling design hasn’t changed as much and still offers good cooling properties. There’s one heat sink on the chip and a heat pipe leading to the fan, which pushes out the hot air. It may look too simple but it’s effective enough for this kind of device and the workload that’s going to withstand.

IF you require more instructions, you can visit our full disassembly article here.

Display quality

Since the last two generations of XPS 13 that we reviewed were equipped with a 1080p panel, we can’t really compared them to this year’s unit. But a quick research on the web shows that the laptop retains the sam IGZO IPS panel from Sharp from the previous Skylake-powered generation – SHP144A.

This is a 13.3-inch panel with glossy finish and a QHD+ resolution (3200×1800). This makes up for 276 ppi or 0.092 x 0.092 mm pixel pitch. It can be considered as “Retina” when viewed from a distance equal or greater than 30 cm.

The panel offers excellent viewing angles even from a 45-degree incline.

We measured the maximum brightness with Dynamic Brightness turned off only to find out that the it’s comparable to some smartphones. We got the whopping 456 cd/m2 in the middle and 409 cd/m2 as an average value across the surface. This means around 20% deviation. The color temperature, on the other hand, seems a bit off – 7270K so colors will appear slightly colder than usual. The contrast ratio is 1020:1 before calibration and 930:1 after.

The maximum dE2000 (color deviation) compared to the center of the screen is 5.0 which is slightly higher than the maximum allowed 4.0. This is important when doing color-sensitive work.

Color reproduction

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

So in this case, the notebook covers 95% of the sRGB color gamut making it an excellent choice for multimedia activities as well.

Below you will see practically the same image but with the color circles representing the reference colors and the white circles being the result. You can see main and additional colors with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation inside the sRGB gamut pre and post calibration.

The “Office and Web Design” profile has been created with 140 cd/m2 brightness, D65 white point and the gamma has been corrected to fit the sRGB mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the Office & Web Design profile.

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The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the Gaming & Movie Nights profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and reverse.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 26 ms.

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse Width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Unfortunately, the display uses PWM for regulating brightness but at much higher frequencies than usual (19.8 kHz). This means that it will affect only users with sensitive eyes while others won’t notice any negative impact.

Blue light emissions

Installing of our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our specialized article on Blue Light.

You can see the levels of emitted blue light on the spectral power distribution (SDP) graph.

Conclusion

The high-end display fits the high-end profile of the notebook with some excellent properties like wide sRGB coverage, high contrast ratio, relatively accurate color accuracy and incredibly high maximum brightness. However, there are some issues that need to be addressed like less than optimal gamma, color temperature and the presence of PWM from 0 to 99% screen brightness.

Luckily, our profiles are able to fix all this. They will help reduce the eye strain by eliminating the negative blue light emissions and PWM while correcting setting straight the gamma curve and color temperature.

Buy our display profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package is meant for Dell XPS 13 configurations with 13.3″ Sharp SHP144A (QHD+, 3200 x 1800) IPS, which can be found on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2gZMuN0

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office work / Web design

If your field is office work or web design, or you just want your monitor's color set to be as accurate as possible for the Internet color space, this profile will prove to be useful.

$4.96

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Gaming or Movie nights

We developed this profile especially for occasions on which you spend a lot of time in front of your monitor with some games or watching movies – it will be easier for you to discern fine nuances in the dark.

$4.97

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Health-Guard

This profile reduces the negative impact of pulsation and the blue spectrum, securing your eyes and body. You still get a pitch-perfect color image, albeit slightly warmer.

$4.98

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$9.99

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Sound

We didn’t catch any noticeable distortions and we can say that the sound quality is very good.

Specs sheet

The current specs sheet is for this particular model and configurations may differ depending on your region

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Processor	Intel Core i7-7500U (2-core, 2.70 – 3.50 GHz, 4MB cache)
RAM	up to 16GB (1x 16384MB) – LPDDR3, 1866MHz
Graphics card	Intel HD Graphics 620 (integrated GPU)
HDD/SSD	256GB Toshiba THNSN5256GPUK M.2 SSD (PCIe NVMe, 2280)
Display	13.3-inch – QHD+ (3200×1800), Infinity display
Optical drive	–
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11ac 2×2, Bluetooth 4.0
Other features	2x USB 3.0 1x USB-C 3.1 (Thunderbolt 3) webcam 3.5 mm combo audio jack SD card reader SD, SDHC, SDXC) keyboard backlight
Battery	60 Wh, 4-Cell Battery
Thickness	0.33-0.6″ (9-15mm)
Weight	1.20 kg (2.7 lbs)

Software

We used the pre-installed Windows 10 (64-bit) OS for the writing of this review but if you wish to perform a clean install without the bloatware, we suggest downloading the latest drivers from Dell’s official website.

Battery

Quite frankly, we were surprised by the excellent battery performance, even though the unit is equipped with a juicy QHD+ screen that draws a lot of power. In fact, the new XPS 13 scored a little better than its FHD predecessor so we can only imagine how much better the battery life would be on the Full HD variant.

There are three main reasons for the outstanding results – the IGZO IPS panel, which is more energy-efficient than the standard IPS panels, the update to the Kaby Lake Core i7-7500U CPU and the slightly bumped battery capacity from 56Wh to 60Wh.

Anyway, we ran all the tests using the same settings as always – Wi-Fi turned on, Windows battery saving feature switched on and screen brightness set to 120 cd/m2.

Web browsing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.

Outstanding result – 613 minutes (10 hours and 13 minutes).

Video playback

For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.

Considerably lower result but understandable given the resolution of the screen – 327 minutes (5 hours and 27 minutes).

Gaming

For accurate simulation, we used the Metro Last Light benchmark running on loop with graphic settings set to minimum.

This test got the most of the battery since it’s the most demanding one – 117 minutes (1 hour and 57 minutes).

CPU – Intel Core i7-7500U

The Core i7-7500U is part of the latest Intel Kaby Lake generation of CPUs built upon 14nm manufacturing process – or 14nm+ as the company markets – and should offer marginal performance gains over the Skylake generation while improving overall power efficiency. It’s a direct successor to the Core i7-6500U (Skylake) and Core i7-5500 (Broadwell) but opposed to previous architecture refreshes, the Kaby Lake Core i7-7500U is bringing much higher clock rates. Now the chip is clocked at 2.7 – 3.5 GHz (compared to the 2.5 – 3.1 GHz on the Skylake Core i7-6500U) and still adopting the 2/4 core/thread count using the HyperThreading technology with a maximum 4MB cache.

However, the Core i7-7500U’s TDP is still rated at 15W including the iGPU and dual-channel memory controller that supports DDR4-2133, LPDDR3-1866 and DDR3L-1600. And as far as the iGPU is concerned, it integrates a slightly improved Intel HD Graphics 620 clocked at 300 – 1050 MHz, which is slightly higher than the iGPU on the Core i5-7200U (300 – 1000 MHz).

You can browse through our top CPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook we’ve tested with this processor: http://laptopmedia.com/processor/intel-core-i7-7500u/

Fritz is a chess benchmark that tests the computing capabilities of the CPU with various chess moves. The Intel Core i7-7500U scored 6.891 million moves per second. In comparison, one of the most powerful chess computers, Deep(er) Blue, was able to squeeze out 200 million moves per second. In 1997 Deep(er) Blue even beat the famous Garry Kasparov with 3.5 to 2.5.

GPU – Intel HD Graphics 620

Intel’s HD Graphics 620 integrated iGPU can be found in various ULV (ultra-low voltage) processors from the Kaby Lake generation. The GT2 version of the graphics chip uses 24 EUs (Execution Units) that can be clocked up to 1050 MHz and it has a base frequency of 300 MHz but the former can vary depending on the CPU. Since the iGPU doesn’t have a dedicated memory of its own – or eDRAM for that matter – it uses the available RAM on the system which is 2x 64-bit DDR3 or DDR4.

The TDP depends on the CPU model but it’s usually equipped with a SoC rated at 15W including the memory controller.

You can browse through our top GPUs ranking: http://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-graphics-ranking/

Here you will find other useful information and every notebook with this GPU that we’ve tested: http://laptopmedia.com/video-card/intel-hd-graphics-620/