March 18, 2010 at 18:05Packard Bell EasyNote LJ65 review
Hi, Habr.
After a somewhat protracted break, lay out the first and trial review.
Any suggestions and advice are accepted. We are waiting for your comments on it, it would be nice to know that the review is superfluous, that they have undeservedly ignored what to focus on in the future. However, we always wait for comments and your opinions.
Not so long ago, namely from the beginning of spring, we began to deal with Packard Bell laptops. We decided to get to know them ourselves and introduce others.
Like some other American companies, Packard Bell traces its history from distant times, since 1926. During the boom of the IBM PC, the manufacturer of radio receivers and household appliances turned into a large vendor among desktop computers and later laptops. Despite the low prices and the lack of unique developments, the company's products enjoyed the fame of reliable and high-quality samples. After many financial troubles, Packard Bell, together with its former rival in the US market (Gateway), became the property of Taiwanese multi-brand giant Acer Inc. From this moment, the gradual promotion of the updated brand to the European market began. By the way, in Russia Acer is promoting laptops of the eMachines and Packard Bell brands in various image categories. If the first one plays in the league of cheap working machines,
The more interesting it will be to get to know him better.
“We live in a world full of colors!” - says the slogan of the official Packard Bell advertising campaign, which began recently. Its main idea is the transition from gloomy violet tones, which used to prevail in the design of notebooks of the brand and external angularity, to bright colors and smoother lines.
This was not reflected on the box - the white cardboard packaging carries a plain design. The laptop is in an antistatic bag, a package of brochures in a separate box. The set of accessories is small: a power supply with a cable, a battery and two manuals - a diagram with pictures for the first start-up and a slightly more detailed book describing the functions of computer devices.
There are no recovery disks, they can be created using the standard Packard Bell Recovery Management utility at any time (or you can restore the operating system from a hidden partition, as is usually the case on all modern laptops). In general, there is nothing special here.
The specifications of the laptop in question are shown in the table below:
It is necessary to pay attention to the clearly playful orientation of the configuration - the nVidia GeForce GT 240M is one of the fastest mobile video cards. Against its background, a powerful processor and a large amount of RAM look harmonious.
From afar, the case can easily be confused with a briefcase made of leather, such as a crocodile. The texture of the lacquered plastic on the top cover and the metal strip with an engraved brand name only reinforce this implicit similarity. Like on any other polished surface, fingerprints will have to be erased constantly - a napkin as standard could be very handy.
Despite the large body area, the front side is empty. The lid of the case is not equipped with latches, it opens easily - but it is inconvenient to hold a wide laptop in weight in one hand (the center of gravity is shifted to the front).
On the right are two USB 2.0 ports, a TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633C DVD burner and a power button, which is quite original on the end of the screen hinge. The button, of course, is highlighted during operation - along with the other LEDs, you can find the included laptop in a dark room with the top cover closed. The distance between the USB ports is not quite enough to accommodate two wide devices, although sticking a USB mouse and a flash card at the same time can be done without problems.
The back is also empty, as well as on the front face - even the battery compartment is moved to the lower plane.
The left side is most saturated with ports: right at the end of the hinge is the Kensington Lock. Next is the power cable jack, LAN (RJ-45) network card output, VGA and HDMI video outputs, as well as line acoustics jacks and two more USB 2.0 ports. The universal card reader completes the picture under the plug on the slant of the base.
It is noteworthy that the video outputs are reasonably spaced farther apart from each other (after all, the plugs of their cables are quite wide), as well as two USB 2.0 ports (on both sides of the audio connectors). Of course, it would be most convenient to make the video outputs to the back, but the dimensions of the case allow you to do with a more traditional layout.
The battery is mounted vertically in a niche with two latches. It is reliable and convenient, but significantly increases the thickness of the base. However, in a computer of this class it is difficult to worry about reducing the thickness - the large cooling system of the nVidia GT 240M video card and the Intel Core 2 Duo (T6600) Penryn processor sets its own bar.
A metal radiator and a wide cooler are open to any look. Their sizes, by the way, allow achieving better cooling - the larger the diameter of the fan, the lower its rotation speed (and hence noise) can be. When working with Packard Bell LJ 65, this is constantly confirmed - during testing, the fan did not make any sounds that can be considered an interference. Moreover, there are no vibrations - if they were, the massive case will easily dampen them.
Holes, of course, must not be closed during operation - that is, it is better to install the laptop on a flat, smooth surface.
The large-format display manufactured by AUO of China has a visible area of 38 x 21 cm (17.3 inches) with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The working resolution is 1600 x 900 pixels, this is enough for placing two sheets side by side in MS Word or (which is more popular in a multimedia computer) for convenient viewing of theater-format films. Yes, the screen is glossy, but the bright LED backlight allows in most cases to compensate for the inconvenience of reflecting your own face or extraneous light on the display.
Built-in speakers from Creative Labs Inc. are under the polished panel above the keyboard. The holes for them are made in the form of decorative slots. It is in these holes that dust will accumulate during active use, and you will need to think about cleaning the cracks regularly. The operation of the Realtek ALC272 sound chip is not surprising at all, while the audio output supports S / PDIF and Dolby Digital, which suggests that using external speakers with a digital input will bring more pleasure.
An unnamed native utility manages the operation of the same simple 0.3-megapixel webcam.
In addition to changing the resolution and shooting “photos”, there is nothing superfluous in its interface.
The main keyboard looks very solid - this is facilitated by the strict shape of the wide keys, and their polished shine. The digital block is compressed vertically, its Enter is moved down - despite the fact that the width of the base is quite enough. This inconvenience, however, does not cause any.
Above is the touch panel service keys. A good and almost obligatory addition to a multimedia device is located on the varnished plane of the base. If for some reason enemy spies want to see which of the service keys the laptop owner presses most often, they can easily determine this by the density of prints around. It’s good that the panel is not marked by relief or engraving, so you can wipe it with one motion.
The touchpad from Synaptics, in turn, is slightly recessed relative to the base. A single rocking key is made of multilayer plastic with an engraved brand. It is pressed easily and quite distinctly.
Wireless communication is provided by the built-in Wi-Fi a / b / g adapter (Intel Wi-Fi Link 1000 BG), during testing it showed a reliable quality of signal reception and transmission.
All utility utilities went to the laptop from the Acer Extensa platform - including the operating system recovery program. However, third-party software also meets with something new - in particular, a full-fledged Russian version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0, a very good graphic editor, is preinstalled on the computer.
Data security is provided by Norton Online Backup and the Internet Security firewall. Help with burning discs as well as system diagnostics is available from Nero 9 Essentials. The rest of the software was repeatedly considered in reviews of laptops from Acer, right up to the client to the portal with casual on-line games.
For an objective and comprehensive assessment of the performance of a Packard Bell EasyNote LJ 65 laptop, we used the following tests:
Everest - taking complete system information and comprehensive testing, including the
PCMark04 hard drive - a test designed to measure computer performance when working with office and other similar applications;
PCMark05 - general test, processor, memory and hard drive test;
3DMark05 - a general test for performance in 3D games;
Battery Eater - a test for the battery life of a laptop in read mode.
The measurement results can be found by clicking on the corresponding thumbnails.
The results of a comparative analysis of the tests of this laptop and a similar model from another manufacturer (Acer Aspire 7738G-664G32Mi) are summarized in the general table below.
The identical platform of both laptops (Intel Cantiga PM45 Montevina) is the reason for the coincidence of the main nodes, including the central processor, dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, operating frequency 2.2 GHz (11 x 200). The large volume of the first level cache and high frequency provide it with excellent performance. It is logical that benchmarks evaluate the performance of the CPU of these machines in exactly the same way, and this rating is high.
Hitachi disk drive (model HTS545032B9A300 - 320 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA-II) - good capacity with not the fastest interface and access speed in various modes. The chipset has two RAM slots soldered, each of which supports modules up to 2 GB DDR3-1066 SDRAM. Thus, in this model the maximum amount of memory is predefined. The manufacturer of this pair is Samsung, the module code M471B5673EH1-CF8, operate in synchronous mode.
Very low operating temperatures of the units are achieved by the efficient operation of the cooling system. Many classmates of these laptops, built on a similar platform with the same processor, sometimes sacrifice active cooling in pursuit of reducing the thickness of the case. Often this turns out sideways for them - but in this case, as we see from the stress test, everything is in order.
The synthetic benchmark test results are summarized in a common table:
Testing the configuration as a whole and the nVidia GeForce GT 240M video chip (1024 MB) shows the high performance of both laptops in modern 3D games and three-dimensional applications. The video chip, built on a thin 40nm process technology, supports technologies such as GeForce Boost, HybridPower, CUDA and PhysX, with mandatory and full compatibility with DirectX 10.1
The conclusion from the tests follows by itself - technically, these are two absolutely identical laptops with similar characteristics, approximately the same cost and different image designation.
Test laptop battery life:
Packard Bell laptops, and this LJ 65 model in particular, are Acer’s great move to increase diversity in the multimedia notebook lineup. Having relied on a proven configuration and a solid bright design, the manufacturer put on sale models that will be in demand by fans of classic forms and known reliability. Although under the plastic of the laptop case the same “hardware” as that of the working models of Acer is outwardly a gentleman who knows his own worth.
Pros:
• high performance and a wide range of expansion ports;
• widescreen 17-inch display;
• attractive classic design;
• high-quality ventilation system.
Cons:
• polished touchpad
ps IMHO, against the background of the fact that it’s the same Acer and there are not so many models in this niche and price category, it turns out that Packard Bell, as a manufacturer, should not be discounted. We have long been advised to choose not only for the filling and the manufacturer, but also for our own aesthetic reasons. In this case, Acer demonstrates this principle quite clearly. Different prejudices against one or another brand should gradually remain in the past. Perhaps it is time to evaluate the quality of not the product itself, but the company's post-sale service. And look for reviews on this topic, and not about: - is this product good or not?
Although you can always wait a month or two and with a high probability will appear in the right niche laptop (s) of the desired manufacturer.
pps How interesting is it to find out what annoys people in a particular manufacturer? :)
In principle, it should be quite realistic to collect such data :)
After a somewhat protracted break, lay out the first and trial review.
Any suggestions and advice are accepted. We are waiting for your comments on it, it would be nice to know that the review is superfluous, that they have undeservedly ignored what to focus on in the future. However, we always wait for comments and your opinions.
Not so long ago, namely from the beginning of spring, we began to deal with Packard Bell laptops. We decided to get to know them ourselves and introduce others.
Putting on an evening tuxedo.
Like some other American companies, Packard Bell traces its history from distant times, since 1926. During the boom of the IBM PC, the manufacturer of radio receivers and household appliances turned into a large vendor among desktop computers and later laptops. Despite the low prices and the lack of unique developments, the company's products enjoyed the fame of reliable and high-quality samples. After many financial troubles, Packard Bell, together with its former rival in the US market (Gateway), became the property of Taiwanese multi-brand giant Acer Inc. From this moment, the gradual promotion of the updated brand to the European market began. By the way, in Russia Acer is promoting laptops of the eMachines and Packard Bell brands in various image categories. If the first one plays in the league of cheap working machines,
The more interesting it will be to get to know him better.
Specifications and equipment
This was not reflected on the box - the white cardboard packaging carries a plain design. The laptop is in an antistatic bag, a package of brochures in a separate box. The set of accessories is small: a power supply with a cable, a battery and two manuals - a diagram with pictures for the first start-up and a slightly more detailed book describing the functions of computer devices.
There are no recovery disks, they can be created using the standard Packard Bell Recovery Management utility at any time (or you can restore the operating system from a hidden partition, as is usually the case on all modern laptops). In general, there is nothing special here.
The specifications of the laptop in question are shown in the table below:
| CPU: | Intel Core 2 Duo 2200 MHz Penryn (T6600) |
| Tire: | 800 MHz 2 Mb L2 Cache |
| RAM: | 4096 MB DDR3-1066 MHz |
| Screen: | 17.3 "LED Mirror (Glare) |
| Resolution: | (1600x900) WXGA ++ |
| Video Card: | nVidia GeForce GT 240M, 1024 + 1790 MB |
| Sound card: | Intel High-Definition Audio |
| HDD: | 320 GB (5400 rpm), SATA |
| Drive unit: | DVD ± RW (DL) |
| Communication: | lan 10/100/1000 |
| Wireless connection: | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (802.11a / b / g) |
| Ports | 4xUSB, Kensington security, Line out (S / PDIF support), HDMI, Mic-in, VGA |
| Expansion slots: | Card Reader (SD / MMC / MS / Pro / xD) |
| Additional devices: | Camera (0.3) |
| Input Devices: | Windows Keyboard, Touch Pad |
| Battery: | Li-Ion 4400 mAh (up to 3 hours) |
| Weight: | 3.4 kg |
| Color: | The black |
| Keyboard color: | The black |
| Case (L x W x H): | 412x280x38 mm |
| Software: | MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) |
| Warranty: | 1 year manufacturer warranty |
It is necessary to pay attention to the clearly playful orientation of the configuration - the nVidia GeForce GT 240M is one of the fastest mobile video cards. Against its background, a powerful processor and a large amount of RAM look harmonious.
Exterior, design, ergonomics.
From afar, the case can easily be confused with a briefcase made of leather, such as a crocodile. The texture of the lacquered plastic on the top cover and the metal strip with an engraved brand name only reinforce this implicit similarity. Like on any other polished surface, fingerprints will have to be erased constantly - a napkin as standard could be very handy.
Despite the large body area, the front side is empty. The lid of the case is not equipped with latches, it opens easily - but it is inconvenient to hold a wide laptop in weight in one hand (the center of gravity is shifted to the front).
On the right are two USB 2.0 ports, a TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633C DVD burner and a power button, which is quite original on the end of the screen hinge. The button, of course, is highlighted during operation - along with the other LEDs, you can find the included laptop in a dark room with the top cover closed. The distance between the USB ports is not quite enough to accommodate two wide devices, although sticking a USB mouse and a flash card at the same time can be done without problems.
The back is also empty, as well as on the front face - even the battery compartment is moved to the lower plane.
The left side is most saturated with ports: right at the end of the hinge is the Kensington Lock. Next is the power cable jack, LAN (RJ-45) network card output, VGA and HDMI video outputs, as well as line acoustics jacks and two more USB 2.0 ports. The universal card reader completes the picture under the plug on the slant of the base.
It is noteworthy that the video outputs are reasonably spaced farther apart from each other (after all, the plugs of their cables are quite wide), as well as two USB 2.0 ports (on both sides of the audio connectors). Of course, it would be most convenient to make the video outputs to the back, but the dimensions of the case allow you to do with a more traditional layout.
The battery is mounted vertically in a niche with two latches. It is reliable and convenient, but significantly increases the thickness of the base. However, in a computer of this class it is difficult to worry about reducing the thickness - the large cooling system of the nVidia GT 240M video card and the Intel Core 2 Duo (T6600) Penryn processor sets its own bar.
A metal radiator and a wide cooler are open to any look. Their sizes, by the way, allow achieving better cooling - the larger the diameter of the fan, the lower its rotation speed (and hence noise) can be. When working with Packard Bell LJ 65, this is constantly confirmed - during testing, the fan did not make any sounds that can be considered an interference. Moreover, there are no vibrations - if they were, the massive case will easily dampen them.
Holes, of course, must not be closed during operation - that is, it is better to install the laptop on a flat, smooth surface.
Packard Bell EasyNote LJ65. Screen, camera and sound
The large-format display manufactured by AUO of China has a visible area of 38 x 21 cm (17.3 inches) with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The working resolution is 1600 x 900 pixels, this is enough for placing two sheets side by side in MS Word or (which is more popular in a multimedia computer) for convenient viewing of theater-format films. Yes, the screen is glossy, but the bright LED backlight allows in most cases to compensate for the inconvenience of reflecting your own face or extraneous light on the display.
Built-in speakers from Creative Labs Inc. are under the polished panel above the keyboard. The holes for them are made in the form of decorative slots. It is in these holes that dust will accumulate during active use, and you will need to think about cleaning the cracks regularly. The operation of the Realtek ALC272 sound chip is not surprising at all, while the audio output supports S / PDIF and Dolby Digital, which suggests that using external speakers with a digital input will bring more pleasure.
An unnamed native utility manages the operation of the same simple 0.3-megapixel webcam.
In addition to changing the resolution and shooting “photos”, there is nothing superfluous in its interface.
Packard Bell EasyNote LJ65. Input Devices
The main keyboard looks very solid - this is facilitated by the strict shape of the wide keys, and their polished shine. The digital block is compressed vertically, its Enter is moved down - despite the fact that the width of the base is quite enough. This inconvenience, however, does not cause any.
Above is the touch panel service keys. A good and almost obligatory addition to a multimedia device is located on the varnished plane of the base. If for some reason enemy spies want to see which of the service keys the laptop owner presses most often, they can easily determine this by the density of prints around. It’s good that the panel is not marked by relief or engraving, so you can wipe it with one motion.
The touchpad from Synaptics, in turn, is slightly recessed relative to the base. A single rocking key is made of multilayer plastic with an engraved brand. It is pressed easily and quite distinctly.
Packard Bell EasyNote LJ65. Wireless connection
Wireless communication is provided by the built-in Wi-Fi a / b / g adapter (Intel Wi-Fi Link 1000 BG), during testing it showed a reliable quality of signal reception and transmission.
Software and general notes
All utility utilities went to the laptop from the Acer Extensa platform - including the operating system recovery program. However, third-party software also meets with something new - in particular, a full-fledged Russian version of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0, a very good graphic editor, is preinstalled on the computer.
Data security is provided by Norton Online Backup and the Internet Security firewall. Help with burning discs as well as system diagnostics is available from Nero 9 Essentials. The rest of the software was repeatedly considered in reviews of laptops from Acer, right up to the client to the portal with casual on-line games.
Benchmarks
For an objective and comprehensive assessment of the performance of a Packard Bell EasyNote LJ 65 laptop, we used the following tests:
Everest - taking complete system information and comprehensive testing, including the
PCMark04 hard drive - a test designed to measure computer performance when working with office and other similar applications;
PCMark05 - general test, processor, memory and hard drive test;
3DMark05 - a general test for performance in 3D games;
Battery Eater - a test for the battery life of a laptop in read mode.
The measurement results can be found by clicking on the corresponding thumbnails.
The results of a comparative analysis of the tests of this laptop and a similar model from another manufacturer (Acer Aspire 7738G-664G32Mi) are summarized in the general table below.
The identical platform of both laptops (Intel Cantiga PM45 Montevina) is the reason for the coincidence of the main nodes, including the central processor, dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, operating frequency 2.2 GHz (11 x 200). The large volume of the first level cache and high frequency provide it with excellent performance. It is logical that benchmarks evaluate the performance of the CPU of these machines in exactly the same way, and this rating is high.
Hitachi disk drive (model HTS545032B9A300 - 320 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA-II) - good capacity with not the fastest interface and access speed in various modes. The chipset has two RAM slots soldered, each of which supports modules up to 2 GB DDR3-1066 SDRAM. Thus, in this model the maximum amount of memory is predefined. The manufacturer of this pair is Samsung, the module code M471B5673EH1-CF8, operate in synchronous mode.
Very low operating temperatures of the units are achieved by the efficient operation of the cooling system. Many classmates of these laptops, built on a similar platform with the same processor, sometimes sacrifice active cooling in pursuit of reducing the thickness of the case. Often this turns out sideways for them - but in this case, as we see from the stress test, everything is in order.
The synthetic benchmark test results are summarized in a common table:
Testing the configuration as a whole and the nVidia GeForce GT 240M video chip (1024 MB) shows the high performance of both laptops in modern 3D games and three-dimensional applications. The video chip, built on a thin 40nm process technology, supports technologies such as GeForce Boost, HybridPower, CUDA and PhysX, with mandatory and full compatibility with DirectX 10.1
| Laptop model | PCMark Vantage General | PCMark Vantage Productivity | PCMark Vantage TN & Movies | 3D Mark 06 score |
| Packard Bell LJ 65 | 4175 | 3621 | 2641 | 6542 |
| Acer Aspire 7738G-664G32Mi | 4303 | 3636 | 2246 | 6557 |
The conclusion from the tests follows by itself - technically, these are two absolutely identical laptops with similar characteristics, approximately the same cost and different image designation.
Test laptop battery life:
Conclusion
Packard Bell laptops, and this LJ 65 model in particular, are Acer’s great move to increase diversity in the multimedia notebook lineup. Having relied on a proven configuration and a solid bright design, the manufacturer put on sale models that will be in demand by fans of classic forms and known reliability. Although under the plastic of the laptop case the same “hardware” as that of the working models of Acer is outwardly a gentleman who knows his own worth.
Pros:
• high performance and a wide range of expansion ports;
• widescreen 17-inch display;
• attractive classic design;
• high-quality ventilation system.
Cons:
• polished touchpad
ps IMHO, against the background of the fact that it’s the same Acer and there are not so many models in this niche and price category, it turns out that Packard Bell, as a manufacturer, should not be discounted. We have long been advised to choose not only for the filling and the manufacturer, but also for our own aesthetic reasons. In this case, Acer demonstrates this principle quite clearly. Different prejudices against one or another brand should gradually remain in the past. Perhaps it is time to evaluate the quality of not the product itself, but the company's post-sale service. And look for reviews on this topic, and not about: - is this product good or not?
Although you can always wait a month or two and with a high probability will appear in the right niche laptop (s) of the desired manufacturer.
pps How interesting is it to find out what annoys people in a particular manufacturer? :)
In principle, it should be quite realistic to collect such data :)