Skullcandy 50/50

Skullcandy has made quite a name for itself in the headphone world, thanks largely to its focus on funky fashion and its aggressive marketing tactics aimed at tweens, teens, and young adults. However, the latest Skullcandy earphones to come down the pipe are perhaps the most adult oriented we've seen from the company. Skullcandy 50/50 earbuds, which are moderately priced at US$ 49.95, come in an array of relatively muted color options and feature inline controls for the iPhone and iPod as well as a striking low end response.

The clarity isn't the best and they feel a bit cheap and fragile, but if you're after some earphones with a hint of style and plenty of oomph, these aren't a bad option. As noted, Skullcandy 50/50 earbuds aren't going to win any awards for top notch construction. The earpieces are rather chunky and like the accents and mic module are made of hard, cheap feeling plastic.

The cable is flexible, but it tangles very easily and seems fragile at the connections to the plug and earpieces, both of which indicate the set may not be durable in the long run. The other downside to the design is the relatively large aperture of the earbuds, which may cause some discomfort for those with smaller or not perfectly round ear openings.

Asus Eee PC 1201PN

Asus Eee PC 1201PN, however, only has a single core Atom N450 CPU to go with its Ion GPU, a combination that results in general performance that's weaker than its same priced predecessor. If the 1201N can be found for sale somewhere, it's probably the better buy for now. While the keyboard feel and general build of Asus Eee PC 1201PN are very similar to what we enjoyed in the 1201N before it, its limited processor slows things down, whereas the Ion graphics don't seem to add much more than what we'd already seen in Ion last year and, in some cases, it even seemed to offer less.

In a post iPad era, a Netbook has to offer a low price or an impressive performance, and this Asus really has neither. From the outside and inside, Asus Eee PC 1201PN looks a lot like both the 1201N we reviewed in early January and recent, more affordable Eee PC Netbooks. A plain, glossy black plastic lid that flaunts its fingerprints also comes in red or silver. Inside, more shiny black plastic frames an edge to edge raised Chiclet style keyboard. The double hinge on the lid straddles either side of a battery that has minimal bulge on Asus Eee PC 1201PN's bottom and fits right into the back.

The keyboard's easy to type on and comfortable to work at on a desk or perched in one's lap. The dimpled multitouch touchpad below is flush with the rest of the keyboard deck but responds well to finger gestures. A thin chromed plastic rocker bar for button pressing could have been a little more ergonomic. The LED-backlit 12.1 inch glossy LCS screen has a native resolution of 1.366 x 768 pixels, which matches most laptop displays around 13 and 14 inches. Most importantly, it's a common resolution; browser windows and other programs won't feel shoehorned in like they do with the pixel restrictions on most 10 and 11 inch Netbooks.

Images and video looked as bright and crisp as they did on the Eee PC 1201N we reviewed previously. The stereo speakers on this laptop, embedded on the front bottom edge of the base, are notably louder than other Netbooks. They don't exactly produce well defined music, but we appreciate their volume for TV viewing. Above the screen, a 0.3 megapixel Webcam offers video conferencing and picture taking capabilities, with a passable frame rate and middle of the road image quality.

To its credit, Asus Eee PC 1201PN includes Bluetooth but it better at this price. HDMI is common on any non-Apple laptop, but in the case of this Ion equipped Netbook you might find it more useful than with others, as Nvidia promises smooth 1080p playback of video files on an external HDTV. While that's nice, we imagine more people will want to stream video onto an HDTV (for Hulu, for instance, or YouTube).

Streaming video playback, which relies on Adobe Flash 10.1, worked well sometimes and stuttered at others depending on the site and level of graphic overlay. 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive are increasingly standard offerings for higher end Netbooks. Windows 7 Home Premium is preinstalled, which is an improvement over the Windows 7 Starter many Netbooks offer.

While Asus Eee PC 1201PN is technically the first Netbook with next gen Nvidia Ion graphics, the CPU is decidedly current gen. Unlike the dual core Atom processor we saw in the innovative but hot running Asus Eee PC 1201PN, the single core Atom N450 at the heart of this Netbook is the same one in nearly every Netbook currently for sale. Its performance when augmented with its Nvidia Ion integrated GPU does fair better than other competitors, but Asus Eee PC 1201PN actually is a slower laptop than its dual core predecessor, which cost the same back in January. If you can find the 1201N on sale somewhere, you'll have a faster Netbook.

Gateway NV59C09u

Gateway NV59C09u is a laptop that's slightly thinner and lighter than the nearly identically configured NV5933u we reviewed recently, but to be honest it won't register to most people who aren't studying laptop lineups with a magnifying glass. A matte silver finish with a wavy lined pattern across the outer lid and inner keyboard deck is a little nicer looking than the older Gateway NV design, but by a small degree.

One design change in Gateway NV59C09u is a flatter lid hinge, making a leaner look at the back edge than the bulkier tube shaped hinge design of other NV laptops. The look inside is nice and clean : shiny black plastic around the inset glossy screen and keyboard, and a small mirrored strip above the keyboard that houses a narrow power button. The keyboard and touchpad have been redesigned on Gateway NV59C09u, to mixed results : the wide, flat keyboard is still technically flat versus raised, but the spaces between keys have been widened to create a bit of a raised key effect, even though the gaps are recessed.

It makes the keys slightly more comfortable, but the chances of crumbs and gunk falling down between keys seem like an annoying inevitability. We do appreciate the dedicated volume keys above the adjoining number pad, a move we wish more laptops would include. There's also an interesting "social media" key that looks like little smiling people, which brings up Gateway's software app for glomming Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites together. This isn't anything that programs like Digsby don't already do, but it's nice to see it so effortlessly integrated.

The touchpad is delineated only by thin raised lines on the keyboard deck otherwise, it's basically an extension of the rest of the palmrest surface. We like a more recessed, dedicated touchpad zone, but it worked fine all the same, with a decent surface area comparable to other NV models. The button bar is flush and a rocker bar (we prefer two discrete buttons), but it's a step better than the overdesigned, annoying thin mirrored strip on the lower end Gateway NV models.

Oddly, however, the new design looks cheaper. The LED-backlit 15.6 inch glossy display on the Gateway NV59C09u has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a native resolution of 1.366x768, which is standard for most laptops up to 15 inches. At this size, we've seen higher-res displays the lower resolution is a bit of a disconnect with the included Blu-ray drive and for the not bargain basement cost of $799, we were a little surprised the resolution didn't get bumped up to at least 1.600x900.

Blu-ray discs looked good, but not distinctly better than a good DVD player experience. To really show off your discs, you'll probably want to go through the HDMI out port. Above the screen, a high-def Webcam offers video conferencing and picture taking capabilities, with a maximum resolution of 1.280x1,024. This is one of the few upgrades from Gateway NV59C09u, which could record VGA quality video only. We appreciate the spec bump, and the quality is better than average for laptop Webcams.

Skype software is preinstalled along with a large collection of other programs we're not sure we need Gateway to load on for us. The integrated speakers located above the keyboard and under thin black mesh grilles that too easily trapped small dust particles have better than average volume and bass for movie watching, but are really no better than other NV laptop speakers we've tried. They're good enough and certainly loud enough for video watching, music, and Web chat, but they're not knockouts sonically.

Dell Vostro 3300

Dell Vostro 3300 is meant to glide somewhere between personal and business, and that's exactly what the design of Dell Vostro 3300 suggests : metal and black define the outside, with squared off edges on the front and back, and slightly rounded sides. Dell Vostro 3300 comes standard in Aberdeen Silver (which is what we had) in Core i3 configurations, with the option of adding Lucerne Red or Brisbane Bronze color schemes in the Core i5 configuration for an extra $40.

Overall, the design lies somewhere between the trendy Adamo and the more utilitarian Latitude. Plain, ThinkPad-esque matte black defines the interior of this minimalist Dell, from the keyboard deck up to the material surrounding the above screen Webcam. A few backlit media control keys and a backlit power button above the keyboard are the only flashy touches. Because this Vostro has a slightly thick and squared bottom half, there's room to fit audio in or out jacks, an SD card slot, and a Wi-Fi toggle button on the front edge, although they're a little tightly packed together in the center below the track pad.

The keyboard on Dell Vostro 3300 is similar to ones we've seen on other recent Dell laptops : it could be best described as a flat keyboard with individually raised keys. Though there's no number pad, it's easy to type and feels comfortable during extended writing sessions, and the keyboard goes edge to edge, maximizing the laptop's compact dimensions. The keyboard on our model wasn't backlit and that isn't available as an upgrade option on this exact model, but there is a Dell Vostro 3300 that includes a backlit keyboard on Dell's Web site starting at $708.

Above the keyboard, a small backlit touch controlled media bar has basic play and pause and volume functions. It's useful, but not overly so for a business focused machine. These might have been better spent on videoconferencing and other productivity related toggles. To the right of these are a few LED indicators for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and battery status. The track pad is wider and responds better than that of some brands we've seen. The plain discrete buttons below are nothing remarkable and could be slightly larger, but at least they're not over designed.

A 13.3 inch LED-backlit display on Dell Vostro 3300 has a 16x9 aspect ratio and a native resolution of 1.366x768 pixels, which is standard for most laptops up to 15 inches. These screens also come standard with antiglare, which is far rarer. The experience we had was excellent the screen has the glare free quality of a matte display, with the crispness found in a glossy coating. Text and video were easy to watch in any lighting. The included 2 megapixel Webcam had better clarity, sound recording and light sensitivity than most Webcams we've come across, making it perfect for video conferencing.

A small LED light also indicates the camera's in record mode. Though the camera's professional, Dell's selection of cartoonish effect overlays in its included camera software can only be described as cheese ball. There's only one speaker on Dell Vostro 3300. It's located on the front left edge of the laptop's bottom half, and though it sounds loud and clear, its off center position makes it a weak choice for movie playback. Should you choose to take a break with a DVD, you might want to pack some good headphones.

Dell Vostro 3300 doesn't have a huge selection of ports, but it does have eSATA. It's lacking HDMI-out, however, which is a feature that's becoming nearly universal on all laptops (excluding Macs). Thankfully, at least there's Bluetooth. Configuration options abound on Dell Vostro 3300, as is often the case with Dell laptops. Customization on Dell's Web site offers either a Core i3 or i5 processor, along with RAM configurations from 2GB to 4GB and hard drives from 250GB to 500, all at 7,200rpm. RAM can be expanded up to 8GB.

Despite Core i3 and i5 processors being 64 bit ready, Dell chose to make 32 bit Windows Home Premium the default OS. Upgrading to 32 bit Professional or 64 bit Home Premium costs an extra $70, 64 bit Professional, an extra $120. Depending on the support software, memory and other options chosen, Dell Vostro 3300's price can climb above $1,000, where it no longer seems like a great bargain. We'd advise you keep software services to a minimum and focus on basic needs. Our configuration, at over $800, just straddles the border of what we'd consider paying before looking elsewhere.