Notebookcheck's Best of May 2011

30 pieces. That many reviews we published in May.dell latitude e6500 battery You can look at our favorites while our editors are already writing the next test reports. The best devices of each category are summarized here.Dell inspiron 1300 battery

What a month! We actually reviewed 30 devices during the 31 days of May.Dell vostro 1400 battery While not a single Netbook was amongst them, we indeed scrutinized ten Office and nine Multimedia laptops.

In the following,Dell inspiron 1420 battery we compare the reviewed laptops of the same category to each other and elect the best laptop of May 2011 of each of the five categories. Because we did not have any Netbook under review in May, the best Netbook is missing. But, in June they'll be present again.Dell inspiron 1521 battery

The category with the smallest devices included the 4-inch big Samsung Google Nexus S I9020/I9023 in May. dell studio 1535 battery Chief editor Simon Leitner reviewed the Android 2.3 Smartphone during his short travel to Rome and praised the very good display (Amoled and SuperClear). Dell inspiron 1525 battery But, he'd liked to see a dual-core CPU and a better case. The tablet category started with the Dell Streak 7", which convinced us with a good workmanship, high Tegra II performance, very low weight and navigation option (GPS). Dell latitude e6400 battery

The 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 runs under Android 3.0 and features a good battery life of 5:30 to 10 hours and a contrast-rich and bright display. Dell latitude d620 battery Because of its good workmanship, a docking port and, the good quality of the case it belongs to the best test devices in May.Dell latitude d630 battery The sister model, the Acer Iconia Tab W500 Keydock is a Windows Tablet based on AMD Fusion. We liked the contrast-rich, rather viewing angle-independent and bright display. The enhanced functionality of the pre-installed Windows OS could be a decisive factor for some customers.Dell inspiron 1526 battery

The Eee Pad Transformer TF101 under Android 3.0 turns into a Netbook with its Dell inspiron 6400 battery„keyboard docking station“, which allows comfortable typing. We like the attractive aluminium design and the big number of interfaces. The reflective display is a disadvantage.Dell inspiron 1501 battery

Both, the Asus Transformer and Iconia Tab W500 Keydock use the Keyboard-Docking concept and achieve rather good 86 % in our rating.Dell vostro 1000 battery The tester particularly liked the keyboard option under Android, which enhances the usability of the free OS. The cheaper price of 499 euro and the IPS display finally let the TF101 win.Dell vostro 1520 battery

In terms of performance the TimelineX 3830TG with Core i5 and gaming-capable graphics dominates the scuffle of the four 13.3-inchers. Dell inspiron 1720 battery The Vostro 3350 and the U30SD-XA1 have to live with small dedicated graphics cards (Radeon HD 6470 or GT 520M).Dell vostro 1500 battery Featuring the Intel HD, the Aspire 3750 is a pure Office-Subnotebook. The TimelineX has the best input devices and convinces with a battery life of 7:30 hours.Dell latitude d820 battery The other laptops cannot keep up with the TimelineX in terms of battery life, too. However, none of them has a shorter battery life than 5:30 hours in the WLAN-test. We did not like that the TimelineX 3830TG quickly throttles the CPU even in typical use (gaming). The three competitors don't have to struggle with this problem.Dell latitude d830 battery

The Dell Vostro 3350 got the highest total score and convinced us in terms of battery life,dell studio 17 battery performance, and low temperature. Designed for mobile use, it comes with an AR-coated, but not very bright display. The mouse replacement is comfortable and the rather balanced connectivity includes USB 3.0 and eSATA.Dell studio 15 battery

Current subnotebooks with a 13.3 inch screen and the latest hardware.dell studio 1535 batteryAmong others, for example, the Acer Aspire 3750 as an affordable consumer-book, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 Early 2011 with a tried and tested unibody case or the Samsung 900X3A including an illumination-eager LED screen.Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS

Among the ten contenders you'll find every type of Office laptop from the cheap low-cost Sony Vaio VPC-EE4J1E/WI (from 528 euro) up to the expensive Full HD Dell Latitude E6520 i7/FHD (1705 euro).toshiba pa3535u-1brs battery The business bolides HP EliteBook 8560p and Latitude E6520 i7/FHD were running shoulder to shoulder. The Latitude won the race with an advance of just a single point (88 versus 89 points). The WUXGA resolution and the very bright display were the decisive factors.hp pavilion dv2000 battery

The rest of the field consisted of cheap, but good office computers.hp pavilion dv6000 battery The Dell Vostros 3750, 3550, and 3450 (17/15/14-Zoll) convinces with a stable and good workmanship. Our tester rated the keyboard suitable, but ordinary. But, the very big mouse pad was praised,hp pavilion dv9000 battery while the ar-coated displays turned out to be only satisfactory because of its weak contrasts and colors. In this aspect the Latitude E6520 i5/HD did not perform better, but, it features a better keyboard and is quieter than its Vostro colleagues.hp compaq 6710b battery

The 15-incher Toshiba Tecra R850-11P proved to be a quiet and well-tempered business colleague with first-class battery life and integrated UMTS-module.compaq presario cq60 battery The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s lost exactly this kind of mobility.IBM thinkpad r60e battery While the battery life of the Edge of 4:30 might still keep up with the 6:30 hours of the Tecra, using a reflective and rather dark display was definitely the wrong choice.Lenovo thinkpad r60 battery

The Lenovo ThinkPad L520 NWB53GE is alright for serious office workers with a small wallet (from 570 euro).Lenovo thinkpad t60 battery Despite its weak display (narrow viewing angles, low contrast) it got a good overall score, because the input devices, the docking port and the ergonomics are top. Lenovo thinkpad x60 battery The Sony Vaio VPC-EE4J1E/WI (from 528 euro) starts in the low-cost range. This consumer laptop is barely fit for office use: The keys are spongy, and the TFT is glossy. Low temperature and system noise are the only pros.IBM thinkpad X60S battery

The Latitude E6520 i7/FHD earns points where many other laptops fail: the display.Lenovo thinkpad t500 battery Wide viewing angles, sRGB color space, sufficiently bright for use in the sun. The input devices are perfect and, despite high performance, the system noise stays low. The battery life of 4:30 hours is still ok.Lenovo thinkpad t61 battery The only disadvantage: is the always audible, but steady noise of the 7200 rpm hard drive.Lenovo thinkpad r61 battery

HP ProBook 6550b (15.6"), Lenovo thinkpad t400 battery Asus P42JC (14"), Latitude E5420 Essential (14"), E6420 (14"), E6520 i5/HD; HP Elitebook 8460p (14"), Lenovo ThinkPad T420 (14"), ThinkPad T520 (15.6"); Acer Travelmate 8472T (14") Lenovo thinkpad t410 battery

The Dell XPS 15z, Dell Inspiron 15R (N5110), Lenovo x300 battery and the Acer Aspire 5830TG can be carried around more easily. The Dell laptop offer the best workmanship of the reviewed 15-inchers, the Acer Aspire 5830TG with 8 hours the best battery life. Acer 's (surprisingly) and Dell's laptops feature the best input devices. Lenovo x200 battery The Aspire 5830TG has the best gaming performance, the XPS 15z is just slightly slower. The Inspiron 15R is not designed for gaming, but costs only 500 euro. All three of them have run-of-the-mill displays, whereas the XPS 15z has the best viewing angles. Lenovo 3000 v100 battery

The 14-inch big gaming laptop, the Alienware M14x, Lenovo 3000 v200 battery does not meet our high expectations, because it's loud. Considering the size, the gaming performance of GeForce GT 555M, Core i7 Dual Core, and SSD is notable and the workmanship is first-class. If you consider the price of the Alien of 1.800 euro too expensive,Lenovo 3000 c200 battery you'll find an interesting alternative in the Acer Aspire 4830TG, whose GT 540M still offers a feasible gaming performance for half the price. Disadvantages are the low-contrast TFT and the weak connectivity. Lenovo ideapad s10 battery

The winner is not an A-Brand, but comes from the BTO-manufacturer Schenker Notebooks.Fujitsu lifebook t4215 battery The XMG A501 (Clevo W150HRM) costs 1.200 euro and achieved a "good" or "very good" in all aspects. The best is the contrast-rich, ar-coated HD+-display. Fujitsu lifebook t4210 battery A good gaming performance (GeForce GT 555M) and an SSD, which boost the performance even without Core i7, join in. A disadvantage is the moderate sound and the very simple plastic case without aluminium and bells and whistles.Fujitsu lifebook t4220 battery

Other 15 inch all-round laptops, based on the Sandy Bridge processors,Fujitsu lifebook t5010 battery include: Acer Aspire 5830TG, Acer Aspire 5750G, Asus N53SV, Dell XPS 15, Dell Vostro 3550 and Packard Bell EasyNote TS11.apple a1175 battery

The two Workstation- or DTR-bolides ran with 88 or 87 points (ThinkPad vs. MacBook Pro) shoulder to shoulder.apple a1185 battery As they use the same Core i7 processor and the same HDD, the 15.6 and the 17-incher are on par in terms of performance. Even the gaming-performances (under Windows) are on a similar level, apple a1189 battery whereas the ThinkPad W520 features a Quadro-GPU, i.e., a genuine business graphics card. Both laptops have matte, contrast-rich and sRGB-capable displays. So, nothing is missing for a professional use (both FHD).acer aspire 5920 battery

The MacBook Pro 17 Early 2011 was already elected the Desktop Replacement of March 2011.acer aspire 5050 battery Points win: We choose the ThinkPad W520 best DTR of May. Despite professional Quadro graphics its gaming performance is huge. Nearly all test games ran smoothly in FHD. Although the surface temperatures suffer from the high-performance, the system noise stays acceptable.acer aspire 5100 battery

The strong points of older ThinkPads remain: the laptop performs considerably faster compared to older models and boasts a broad set of features.acer aspire 5100 battery Thanks to Optimus, the battery life is long and system noise is low for this form factor.