Nokia Lumia 625 full review

Budget price, unimpressive specs, lots of colour
The Nokia Lumia 625 is a phone that is designed
to really hit two key things users are looking for:
cheap 4G and a larger screen.
It ticks both of those boxes, coming as it does
with a price tag of around £200 ($320, around
AUS$340) and offering a 4.7-inch display into
the bargain. However, given it's now competing
with up to 12 other Lumia choices, it doesn't
really stand out as well as it should.
The Lumia 625 isn't a bad phone though; it's
one that comes with a playful ethos thanks to
the return of interchangeable covers and the
same glut of Nokia fun on board.
This means Mix Radio to get free music on the
go, Nokia's Here mapping service to get you from
A to B without munching on reams of data
(important with 4G) and the new Smart Camera
for more interesting pictures to plop on
Facebook.
However there are some compromises here: the
City Lens, which is meant to unlock any new
territory with augmented reality, has disappeared,
as has NFC . The Smart Camera is only capable
of taking seven pictures, rather than the 10
offered by the Lumia 925 , and each of these on
the newer phone will only be 1MP resolution.
In our tests these didn't look too bad - the speed
of shooting wasn't amazing, but within tolerance
for a phone of this price. However, blow these up
and we suspect you're going to be quite
disappointed with the quality levels.
The lack of NFC won't worry too many people,
but it does take away one of the cooler elements
of the phone, as it means you can no longer tap
to pair with Nokia's range of wireless
headphones and speaker docks. It also makes
the addition of a Wallet app Wireless charging
isn't included either, but given the added cost
this brings, we can see why it's out.
What is more confusing, in both a good and bad
way, is the spec list. Firstly, the phone is a little
heavier than you might expect from something
covered in plastic (admittedly rubberised
polycarbonate), as it tips the scales at 159g. It's
also only got 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal
storage - with less available thanks to the OS.
But don't worry about that, as you can now put
a 64GB microSD card in there too in order to add
in movies and music and photos without having
to constantly connect up to your computer (or
save it on the 7GB of SkyDrive storage on offer).
In the hand, the Nokia Lumia 625 doesn't feel
really impressive, nor does it feel cheap. It just
feels, well, uninspiring. It's rounded in a nice
way, it's a little thick but squarely hits the marks
you'd expect for a phone that is half the cost
(and then some) of the Samsung Galaxy S4 .
Windows Phone 8 is nicely packaged with the
larger screen, and even the WVGA resolution (800
x 640) doesn't irk as much as it should.
It's also got a dedicated camera button and the
removable shell for changing the colour of your
phone to suit an outfit - and no matter what
happens we can't help but love that, whether you
see it as some beautiful nostalgia or just
something that means you're not carrying around
an identikit black oblong in your pocket.
But there's nothing really impressive to say
about the Lumia 625. It has got a larger screen,
but while it doesn't look horrendous, colours
aren't as vivid, web browsing is pixelated when
zoomed out and although we couldn't test any,
video is unlikely to look stellar.
We honestly don't think users are wanting
cheaper 4G phones just yet - in the UK 4G is still
a luxury, and many users want something that
will actually work and delight rather than just
offer a faster connection.
We still don't have any idea on a global release
for this phone beyond 'Q3' although we do know
it will be landing in the UK during September.
Early verdict
We walked away from playing with the Nokia
Lumia 625 feeling distinctly underwhelmed. In a
vacuum, this would be an interesting device, with
a larger screen and low price point for Windows
Phone.
But the 625 is a handset with around 11
Windows Phone brethren, and that makes it hard
to work out where this fits. The Lumia 620 is not
long into this world and already it's being
upgraded, and it's with a phone that doesn't feel
anything like an evolution. Depending on the
shop, a user could be left thoroughly confused
about which phone is right for them.
Is a larger screen the most important thing to
some people? Is 4G so entrenched that users are
desperate to get it cheaper? Is a low end phone
in a sea of others going to make any waves? The
answer to all of these questions feels like a
resounding no, which means we can only wonder
if the Lumia 625 will survive without any other
USPs.
However, fingers crossed this heralds a move
from Nokia to start to bring larger-screened
phones to the world - something like that 4.7-
inch screen at a higher resolution would be a
much more attractive choice.
Lower carrier subsidy could push the 625 into a
decent proposition for some and it may benefit
from a major marketing push when the big UK 4G
rollout comes later this year, but without that we
can see the phone sinking without a trace.

LG 55LA740V Review

Introduction
After years of
consistent, even quite
spectacular progress in
the TV world, topped
off by the successes
it's achieved with its
passive 3D format, LG
still finds itself under a
world of pressure this
year, thanks to the
arrival of a frightening
number of fearsomely
good rivals.
Still, LG's 55LA740V
certainly looks as if it's
got the weapons to
stake its claim on the
TV world's hotly
contested middle
ground.
Its incredibly slinky design is a match for almost
any other television we've seen this year, and its
extensive feature list includes one of the most
heavily populated and well-interfaced smart TV
engines in town, as well as the sort of picture set
up subtleties normally reserved for high-end
models.
The 55-inch TV - priced at £1,499 (around US
$2,290 / AU$2,485) - also supports playback of
a wide variety of multimedia file formats. And
promisingly its edge LED picture technology is
supported by a contrast-boosting local dimming
system, which is something we certainly don't
always expect as standard on a mid-range TV.
If you want to go high-end instead of sticking
with the mid-range LG 55LA740V, then LG has
alternatives to tempt you. One step up you get
the LG 55LA790W, which adds an extra HDMI
port and provides a different stand design, while
the LG 55LA860W provides an even trimmer
design and introduces a built-in camera and
high-level video processing power.
Where alternatives from other brands are
concerned, the Sony 55W805A and Panasonic
L55ET60 spring to mind - two models we'll cover
in more detail at the end of the review.
Features
LG is very much at the top table now when it
comes to TV design, and this trend extends
confidently down to its latest mid-range model.
As we would expect given current trends, the LG
55LA740V's bezel is extremely thin, and gains
extra style points for the way it stands proud of
the rear.
The television's stand is also highly striking with
its unusual 'inverted arch' shape, metallic finish
and open frame design.
There's a slight disappointment on the rear,
though, where a search uncovers only three
HDMI ports when we would ideally like to find
four these days. This is quite a surprise on an LG
TV, since the Korean brand can usually be
depended on to offer more features and
connections than average, rather than fewer.
The TV does, though, offer extensive multimedia
playback via three USB ports and Wi-Fi-enabled
DLNA network playback, and it enables you to go
online with LG's latest smart TV service.
This service quickly turns out to be one of the
best in the current smart TV world for two
reasons. First, its interface is hugely impressive,
thanks to its on-screen layout and Magic Remote
handset - more on these in the Usability section.
Second, its neat folder-style menu system hosts
a huge array of apps, taking in everything from
games and information to those most important
of online TV services, the video streaming
platforms.
TV and film highlights are Netflix, Lovefilm, BBC
iPlayer, Blinkbox, BBC Sport, YouTube and
KnowHow Movies. This is a fair selection of big
hitters, but it's impossible to ignore the absence
of other catch-up TV services such as 4OD, ITV
Player and Demand 5 - services that are all
found on the latest smart TV platform from LG's
arch-rival, Samsung.
But LG has done a better job than Samsung of
delivering a good iOS and Android control app for
its latest TVs, offering a good interface, lots of
integrated functionality (versus the piecemeal
approach of Samsung's control app) and a
strong array of features.
As usual with an LG TV, the LG 55LA740V is
endorsed by the Imaging Science Foundation
(ISF), which means that as well as a couple of
ISF picture preset slots that an ISF-certified
engineer could use for professionally calibrating
day and night modes, you get a truly expansive
suite of picture tweaks.
There's colour management, gamma
management, white balance adjustments,
contrast boosters, sharpness boosters, noise
reduction systems - the list of options really is
huge.
Some of these features are more useful than
others - the sharpness booster and noise
reduction features at the very least need to be
treated with extreme care if not ignored
altogether when watching HD sources if you
don't want them to actually make pictures worse
rather than better.
Overall, though, you've got everything you need
to give images believable, 'industry standard'
colours if that's your thing, or extreme levels of
vibrancy and punch if you prefer that.
The panel at the LG 55LA740V's heart is a Full
HD affair, as is almost standard these days, and
it's illuminated by an edge LED lighting array
bolstered by a local dimming system, whereby
sectors of the LEDs can have their brightness
levels set individually, to bolster images'
potential black level response and contrast.
The panel is also, of course, one of LG's passive
3D types, with no less than six pairs of cheap
passive glasses included with the TV (four 3D,
two for enabling two users to enjoy simultaneous
full-screen gaming).
Picture quality
Unfortunately the LG 55LA740V presents a mixed
bag of results in this all-important part of any
TV's makeup. Let's get the bad news out of the
way first.
The biggest problem is contrast. LG just hasn't
moved the contrast response of this latest
passive 3D panel as far forward in 2013 as we'd
have liked, resulting in black levels during dark
scenes that look significantly less deep and
natural than those of many rival TVs.
The darkest sequences in the alien tunnels in
Prometheus , for instance, look distinctly washed
out/greyed over when using the panel in its
native state, resulting in some slightly off-key
dark colours and a need to squint through the
mist to try to spot background details.
Thankfully, calling the LG 55LA740V's local
dimming system into action leads to a dramatic
increase in the screen's black level response.
However, even with the local dimming system
running on its highest setting, black levels are
still only fair to middling, plus there's another
problem: backlight blocking.
What we mean by this is that whenever there's a
bright object within a predominantly dark
background - which actually happens more than
you might think, especially when watching a film
- you can see a fairly clear 'strip' or rectangle of
extra light around the bright object, stretching all
the way from the top of the image down to the
bottom.
It doesn't help in this regard that LG is still
ranging its edge LED lights along the top and
bottom edges of its screen rather than down the
sides, since experience suggests that light blocks
caused by local dimming are at least a bit easier
to control when lights are ranged down the TV's
sides.
Using the local dimming system on its lowest
power setting reduces the obviousness of the
light blocking problems, but the bottom line is
that at no point did we feel able to become
completely immersed in very dark scenes.
The other issue with the LG 55LA740V's
performance is that its handling of colours feels a
little basic at times. Large expanses of colour
can look a little short of tonal subtleties and skin
tones can sometimes look a touch plasticky.
And some background areas containing lots of
subtle colour information (such as the faces of
Ron and Hermione in the background of the
scene where Harry speaks to Griphook near the
start of the final Harry Potter film) can look a bit
blocky and low-res.
HD picture
Right, now for the good news. Starting with the
exceptional sharpness the screen is able to
deliver with HD footage. Every last pixel of
resolution in a Full HD source is rendered with
aplomb, and without leaving the picture looking
forced, gritty or stressed around object edges.
The sense of clarity only reduces marginally,
moreover, when you're watching action scenes,
revealing the LG 55LA740V to have a decent
innate response time.
Calling into play LG's motion processing system
can improve motion clarity even further,
especially when it comes to judder reduction.
And it delivers its improvements without
generating too many unwanted side effects - at
least if you only use the motion processing on its
lowest power setting.
Next, while colours lack some finesse versus the
best TVs in town, they are at least very boldly
and vibrantly presented, making images look eye-
catching and punchy. In fact, they're so bold that
they do a fine job of hiding the panel's black level
shortcomings with the majority of typical TV
fodder, which tends to be predominantly bright
with just a few dark elements.
The panel has plenty of brightness to help drive
its rich colour saturations off the screen too, and
during bright scenes colours still manage to look
quite natural despite their aggressive saturations
and aforementioned lack of subtlety in places.
3D picture
The LG 55LA740V can be watched from a slightly
wider viewing angle than many rival screens
without contrast or colour saturations dropping
off too heavily too, and its 3D pictures are
eminently watchable thanks to their brightness,
lack of flicker and crosstalk (so long as your
vertical viewing angle is under 13 degrees) and
generally less fatiguing nature compared with
active 3D images.
The 55-inch screen is large enough to reveal
passive 3D's weaknesses of a slight reduction in
resolution versus Full HD active 3D screens,
occasionally visible horizontal line structure
across bright parts of the image and some
jaggedness around curved edges. But for many
people, the passive 3D advantages will outweigh
its negatives.
Standard definition picture
Standard definition is fast becoming less
important, especially now the BBC has
announced five more HD channels for 2014. But
on those odd occasions where you really can't
avoid standard definition, the LG 55LA740V does
a good job of upscaling it to its native Full HD
pixel count, adding detail without exaggerating
noise or leaving proceedings looking soft or
processed.
The last point to cover here is input lag - the
amount of time it takes the LG 55LA740V to
render an image after receiving it at its inputs.
And here it comes up rather short of
expectations, averaging around 65ms - a time
significant enough to reduce your video gaming
performance.
Usability, sound and value
Usability
LG has tried very hard indeed on the 55LA740V
to deliver an exceptionally user-friendly smart TV
interface. The highlight of the system is the
Magic Remote you get with the TV alongside a
standard model.
As well as greatly streamlining the button count,
the Magic Remote rather brilliantly enables you
to select options by just pointing the remote at
the right part of the on-screen menus. This feels
brilliantly intuitive, and will come as a godsend to
technophobes who usually start trembling at the
very sight of a normal remote control. And most
importantly, it provides a genuine shortcut to the
huge amounts of content that the LG 55LA740V
makes available.
Another great feature of the Magic Remote is the
spinning wheel button at its heart, which enables
you to quickly shift up and down menu option
lists.
The LG 55LA740V's on-screen menus are very
well designed for the most part, too. The
approach taken is to divide the countless apps
up into themed folders, with a few highlighted
options available from the front of each folder
directly from the main hub screen while further
selections pop up if you select a folder's More
button.
The sheer quantity of direct app link icons that
the menus can carry without looking cluttered or
overbearing is impressive, and really sells the
scope of LG's smart offering.
LG's TV adjustment menus are a bit less elegant
and forward thinking than its smart menus, but
they get the job done cleanly enough - especially
because they're quite sensible in the way they
keep the most complicated features tucked away
from the eyes of casual users, and the way you
can still navigate options with the Magic Remote.
One final strength of the LG 55LA740V's
operating system is the accompanying app that
LG has designed for iOS and Android devices.
This features attractive menus, reasonably logical
organisation and a strong feature count,
underlining our belief that such second-screen
apps will become a huge part of TV functionality
in the next year or so.
Sound quality
LG joins an impressive roster of manufacturers
this year who really seem to have got to grips
with the thorny issue of how to get a convincing
audio performance out of a slim bodied TV.
Its twin 12W speakers are given solid support by
a rear-firing subwoofer to ensure that the
soundstage has both more bass and more mid-
range clarity than you might normally expect.
The soundstage is also larger than that heard
from most flatscreen TVs, and even manages to
avoid sounding excessively cramped during loud
parts of a dense mix.
Value
The full £1,499 (around US$2,290 / AU$2,485)
asking price for the LG 55LA740V is reasonable
in some ways. After all, it's got a 55-inch screen,
its pictures look enjoyable with bright footage,
it's beautifully designed, and its smart TV
interface is outstanding.
However, the television's problems with dark
scenes will likely make it look a bit expensive to
avid film fans, while its input lag will similarly
make it feel like a costly frustration for serious
gamers.
Verdict
On paper, the LG
55LA740V seems
tailor-made to make a
big impact on the mid-
range of the big screen
TV market. Its £1,500
(around US$2,290 / AU
$2,485) price isn't by
any means
unreasonable for a
well-specified 55-inch
TV, and its design
offers an exciting twist
on the super-slim
designs that are
currently all the rage.
Its feature count is strong too, dominated as it is
by a content-rich, beautifully interfaced
multimedia/online system, a superbly intuitive
'point and click' Magic Remote handset and
more picture calibration tools than you'd expect
to find on many rival brands' flagship TVs.
There are times, too, where the LG 55LA740V's
performance really shines - predominantly with
bright, colourful content. But unfortunately the TV
has a weak point that's revealed whenever you're
watching something dark. It struggles to produce
dark scenes with real conviction, leaving you
frequently feeling unable to get totally immersed
in dark content.
The TV also suffers enough with input lag to
make it a compromised option for gamers.

Toshiba BDX2400 Full Review

The Toshiba BDX2400
is a tiny Blu-ray player,
measuring just 290 x
180 x 36mm (11.4 x
7.1 x 1.4 inches) and
weighing a mere 800g
(1.76lbs). It has BBC
iPlayer and HD Blu-ray
features. All for an
asking price of £69/US
$129.99 (around AU
$115). And yet
Toshiba's entry-level
Blu-ray player for 2013
isn't much fun to use.
Smart in both looks and
features, this matt
black plastic-adorned box looks like a Freeview
box or a portable DVD player - it's impressively
slim and small.
On its side is a USB slot capable of playing video,
while the rear of the machine is home to just
three more ports for HDMI, coaxial digital audio
(a change from the usual digital optical) and a
wired Ethernet LAN slot. The latter enables DLNA
networking from nearby PCs, but flags up the
absence of a Wi-Fi module inside.
Those after Wi-Fi ought to spend the extra
money on the step-up Toshiba BDX3400, which
also adds Miracast (streaming from an Android
phone). Miracast is flagged up on the Toshiba
BDX2400's on-screen menus, but it's listed as
'not available yet', even though it never will be.
All the major surround sound formats are here on
the Toshiba BDX2400, including Dolby Digital
True HD and DTS Master Audio, while the deck
can output in PCM or bitstream.
Performance
If you think the always-on green circular light
around the standby switch could get annoying,
you've seen nothing yet. The Toshiba BDX2400 is
blessed with one of the dreariest user interfaces
around, and its simple carousel of low resolution
icons on the left-hand side of the screen aren't
much helped by the lightweight remote control.
In practice it's fairly unresponsive, and we had to
hit a few buttons a number of times before
anything happened. Everything on the Toshiba
BDX2400 happens a second after it should.
If that's not a great start, the Toshiba Cloud
Portal screen is a pleasant surprise, even if it
does take a while to load, doesn't have its own
button on the remote control, and is rendered in
a rather low resolution.
It boasts a basic readout for the current weather
and temperature below a grid for app icons
ranged around a couple of pretty pictures of an
iceberg and the Louvre museum in Paris. Eh?
At least the choice of apps is good. Top billing
goes to BBC iPlayer, of course, but it's also got
Acetrax movie streaming and Netflix, the BBC
News app, Picasa and YouTube. YouTube is
supplied in its all-new Lean Back flavour, though
in our test the category icons were constantly
bunched up so as to be almost unreadable, while
some of the virtual navigation controls appeared
in the middle of the screen during video playback.
No such problems bug the BBC iPlayer, which
loaded quickly and played Top of the Lake in HD
smoothly and stably. It was also quick to zip
around, and navigating proved easier than using
the Toshiba BDX2400's other functions.
Some will miss a Lovefilm app - and any
semblance of an 'app store' for downloading new
apps - though the Toshiba BDX2400 puts some
flexibility back into the mix with its functional
USB slot.
Choosing My Video, My Music or My Photos for
some reason ceases the Portal screen in favour
of a rudimentary interface, though we did manage
to get all the major formats to play, including
MKV, AVI, AVC HD (albeit with the odd fuzzy
diagonal edge) and MP4.
JPEG slideshows were speedy, while the Toshiba
BDX2400 also deals in the lossless WAV and
OGG (though not FLAC) music formats, as well
as MP3 and M4A. Rely solely on DLNA
networking and you'll have to forgo MKV
playback. That USB slot also powers basic BD
Live features if fitted with a USB flash drive
that's then formatted by the Toshiba BDX2400.
However, put a CD in the Toshiba BDX2400 and
it's immediately obvious that there's no display
on the front, and unfortunately the disc doesn't
start automatically. Add an unresponsive remote
and a relatively slow deck, and we weren't sure
whether we were trying to play or pause a CD. It
took us multiple minutes to get anything from
the Toshiba BDX2400 - it's a poor choice for
those wanting to listen to CD collections.
Incidentally, Blu-ray discs load and play in
around 15 seconds.
Picture quality
It's hardly fun to use, but the Toshiba BDX2400
does spit out some decent HD video.
Both DVD and streamed video - in this case from
the The West Wing and the BBC News app -
were upscaled to some extent, largely cleaning
them up, though both looked soft on our 40-inch
TV, and displayed some stepped edges. Still, both
looked better than most standard-definition
digital TV channels.
During our 2D Blu-ray test with both a 46-inch
TV and a projector, edges on our test disc
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon held together and
motion was impressively smooth in 24p mode.
Colours are on the muted side, though well
saturated, and while close-ups retain a lot of
detail, we have seen more precise performances.
Night-time scenes lacked a little shadow detail
and can look a little empty, but overall it's hard
to argue with for this kind of money.
Verdict
The Toshiba BDX2400 is a budget Blu-ray player
with BBC iPlayer, Netflix and YouTube. It's
otherwise as basic as it gets, and can be a pain
to use, but if you're after as low cost an option
as possible, this unobtrusive deck is just about
capable of dragging your living room into the
smart era.
We liked
The low price is nice,
as is the choice of core
apps, while USB
playback is flexible and
impressive. However,
it's the BBC iPlayer app
that's the highlight,
since it's speedy and
an all-round delight to
use.
There's a clean look to lower quality sources,
while images from Blu-ray are full of detail. We
also like the Toshiba BDX2400's tiny size - two
could easily fit side-by-side on an AV rack.
We disliked
Any so-called smart machine needs Wi-Fi, in our
opinion, but the Toshiba BDX2400 has other
problems. A slightly repetitive, hugely basic and
slow to navigate user interface is the biggest
problem. We're just not sure why it needs both a
Portal screen for apps and a separate carousel of
settings, since almost everything is just
replicated. It's here the R&D costs have been
slashed.
But the biggest issue is with the remote control,
which is unresponsive and generally irritating to
use. Even the relatively pleasant Portal page
takes too long to load. There's also a bug in the
YouTube app, which is a shame considering that
there are only six apps available.
Final verdict
It looks so much like a
set-top box and puts
such an emphasis on
its apps that its Blu-ray
disc tray is something
of an afterthought, but
it's nevertheless with
HD discs that the
Toshiba BDX2400
excels.
However, given that
most people are after a Blu-ray player primarily
to give their TV a smart dimension without
having to upgrade, we're not sure the Toshiba
BDX2400's BBC iPlayer and Netflix apps are
quite enough. Even for those who are happy with
that double act, the poor remote control will add
a layer of frustration that's not worth saving a
few quid for.
Also consider
If you're on a limited budget but can stretch up
to £100 or so, consider Toshiba's flagship
BDX5400 deck. For the extra spend you'll get 3D
playback and a glosser design that uses
aluminium, though it's got the same tiny
dimensions.
However, if you can spend that kind of money it
would be silly not to at least test-drive the
Samsung BD-F6500 , which has an altogether
smarter interface and an unrivalled selection of
apps that includes Lovefilm, BBC Sport, BlinkBox
and 4OD.

EVGA GTX 770 SC Review

Like:
Great performance; Good ACX cooling; Fairly
quiet while under load; Competitive price
Dislike:
Not a huge increase in performance over last-
gen

introduction

One of the only issues we have with the GTX 770
concerns Nvidia's decision to drop the lovely
trivalent chromium plated cooling solution from
the GTX Titan and 780 onto it. We had no
problem with the level of cooling it affords and
we certainly had no problem with the look - it
couldn't look any more bling unless it had a
diamond-studded hubcap in the middle of the fan
housing.
The problem is that the only way for card
manufacturers to differentiate themselves is to
design own-brand cooling solutions and slap
them onto their cards, maybe with a hefty
overclock to boot. And that's exactly what EVGA
has done with this Superclocked version of the
excellent GTX 770.
So instead of the matte-finished, LED-lit, robust
Nvidia cooler, EVGA has gone with its brand new
ACX (we're not using the word "Xtreme", EVGA)
cooling array. Instead of the trivalent chromium
plating, we've got plastic surrounds and a couple
of chunky fans.
It would be shallow indeed if our big concerns
around a new graphics card launch were about
its aesthetics alone, but it's a fact that no matter
how good the cooling performance of such a
replacement chiller on either a GTX 780 or GTX
770 , they're going to suffer by visual comparison.
Xtremely cool
And that's a shame, because the ACX cooling is
really quite impressive on these Superclocked
cards. Like EVGA's GTX 760 version, this GTX
770 iteration manages to chill the GPU down by
at least 10ºC.
The stock cooler, as good-looking as it is, still
gets rather hot when you apply some serious
graphics loads. We were knocking around 80ºC
with the Titan-esque cooler at 100 per cent GPU
load - this Superclocked card, on the other hand,
is sitting resolutely at 69ºC.
We couldn't spot much difference in general
acoustic levels with the out-of-the-box settings;
the top-end Nvidia reference cooler is pretty good
regarding standard noise levels. The chunkier
fans mean the ACX cooler doesn't have to spin
up so quickly to dissipate the heat, so it
shouldn't hit the same top-end noise levels.
But what about the actual gaming performance
of this factory-overclocked card? The standard
GTX 770 is already impressive, batting ahead of
the GTX 680 it's essentially replacing, and even
this OC version is cheaper than any GTX 680 I've
found.
Benchmarks
The Active Cooling Xtreme chip chiller on EVGA
cards is really impressive, especially up against
the lovely high-end Nvidia reference cooler. Being
able to stay below 70ºC - even when the chip is
dialling up to 1,228MHz with GPU Boost 2.0 in its
out-of-the-box state - is quite a feat.
DirectX 11 tessellation performance
Heaven 4.0: Frames per second: Higher is better
EVGA GTX 770 SC: 26
NVIDIA GTX 770: 24.9
EVGA GTX 760 SC: 20.6
DirectX 11 gaming performance
Crysis 3: Frames per second: Higher is better
EVGA GTX 770 SC: 31
NVIDIA GTX 770: 29
EVGA GTX 760 SC: 24
ACX cooling performance
100% GPU load: Degrees centigrade: Cooler is
better
EVGA GTX 770 SC: 69
NVIDIA GTX 770: 79
EVGA GTX 760 SC: 71
Verdict
In real terms, this Superclocked card doesn't
really offer much in terms of extra gaming chops,
compared with the reference card, which can
easily be pushed up to the same levels as this
pricier version.
What you do get for the extra money you're
spending on EVGA's Superclocked GTX 770 is a
card that can hit those top clocks without
melting the silicon inside your expensive new
GPU. It will happily run at the enhanced clock
speed, at lower temperatures than the standard
card can manage running slower.
Combined with EVGA's warranty support, this
overclocked card is worth a look for that
impressive ACX cooling alone. So long as you
don't mind ditching the chrome, that is

Samsung Galaxy Nx full review

The Samsung Galaxy NX is unlike any other
camera out there. When an engineering sample
was placed in Pocket-lint's hands in Paris
months ahead of its anticipated official launch we
had this weird-meets-wow moment. Weird
because the device feels to be somewhere
between a Samsung Galaxy S-series smartphone
with the large image sensor, interchangeable lens
system and a chunky grip of the existing NX-
series, albeit on a yet-larger scale. Wow because
we're the first in the UK to have a couple of hours
to play with the camera in the real world and take
some pictures. So what do we make of the Galaxy
NX? - is it revolutionary for where cameras are
headed, or more a reactionary experiment to
counter smartphones' impact on the imaging
market?
Paranoid Android
We've seen cameras running Android - indeed
we've seen the Galaxy NX before , in a locked-
down room - and they've delivered mixed results.
The Nikon Coolpix S800c was too expensive,
while the Samsung Galaxy Camera lacked the
bitingly sharp image quality that it needed to
deliver a true camera-centric experience.
Conceptually, however, there were elements in
both models that made perfect sense.
READ: Samsung Galaxy Camera review
The Samsung Galaxy NX, from what we've seen
so far, avoids the latter pitfall and - based on the
already-released Galaxy Camera's price in
relation to the then-top Galaxy S3 smartphone -
it might be on the right side of affordable too.
The Galaxy NX's APS-C sized sensor is the same
as found in the NX300 and is already proven to
deliver results. Price-wise the combination of
Galaxy S4 smartphone processor (quad-core
Exynos) and NX300 features might scream pricey,
but we think Samsung will go in with a sensible
price point - it has to, because the NX series is
among the least prominent in terms of market
sales, and this could be the camera to turn it
around. It sure does how wow factor.
READ: Samsung Galaxy S4 review
But then the Galaxy NX's initial negative is that it
feels somewhat alien in the hand on account of
its physical size and lack of many physical
controls. The fusion of a smartphone-derived
operating system merged with an interchangeable
lens system does make sense, but the omission of
physical buttons means almost everything runs
through the power of the touchscreen. And that
means taking the camera away from the eye and
out of both hands more than a typical DSLR or
compact system camera (CSC) user might
otherwise. It's a different prospect, and one that
took us a while to adapt to.
There is one exception to the touchscreen control
- a large thumbwheel atop the camera that
doubles up as a button to toggle between key
settings, or when held down it dives into full
Android OS complete with apps, Google Play and
the like. It's certainly a useful control mechanism
but we found it to be finicky - defaulting to adjust
the shooting mode rather than the settings and
without resounding clarity as to which settings
were in play for adjustment.
Never plan the future by the past
After extended use the Galaxy NX's controls start
to take; it forges into something more familiar,
yet something entirely new. Before long we were
fixed into our more typical way of shooting -
aperture priority mode selected, thumbwheel used
to stop up or down - but snapping away was a
combination of tapping the touchscreen for
compact-camera-like focus, along with using the
included electronic viewfinder as we would with a
DSLR or similar all-in CSC.
There are significant benefits to the Android
operating system too - not least connectivity and
sharing which, again, we'll address in more detail
later - that quickly come into play. Simple things
come to mind: press and drag on an image in
playback while zoomed in to get a close-up look
of the important parts at absolute size - which
saves the faff with lots of buttons and
directional-pad controls. Everything operates
through the touchscreen, the gallery is far more
organised than any other camera we've seen and
apps loaded into the 16GB of internal storage can
directly load up images to work with.
At other points we could say quite the opposite.
For example, within the menus a fair amount of
digging is required to switch between expert and
standard shooting modes. There's no simple way
of getting there, so if you know what you're doing
that's fine, if not then, well, you'll end up stuck.
There's the occasional feeling that Android has
been strapped on to a high-spec camera which
got us thinking as to who the target audience is
supposed to be. If the Galaxy NX is aimed at
those who would otherwise buy an
interchangeable lens camera then it needs to
always match up in the ease of use stakes - and
then use Android to build upon and better the
areas where more conventional cameras lack. At
the moment it's a mix of both better and worse.
The Galaxy NX sure is a bold design. Pretty it
isn't, but it's dived in headfirst and by avoiding
almost all physical control buttons it makes its
point - Android and touch are all that are really
needed to use a camera. But the fact it's opted
for such a large 4.8-inch screen size means that
- and we didn't think we'd say this - it's too big;
it's long . The screen takes up almost the
whole of the rear of the camera, and makes for a
larger camera than the NX300 already is - much
like the original Samsung Galaxy Camera, the
Galaxy NX hasn't shied away from physical size,
and we're not entirely convinced of that being
necessary.
READ: Samsung NX300 review
NX phone home
But for our weighing scale of uncertainty when it
comes to the physical vs virtual control debate,
there's one area where the Galaxy NX prevails:
connectivity. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and, if you add in a
SIM, mobile data are all available direct from the
camera. These features paired up with Android
are totally awesome - there's nothing else outside
of Samsung's camera range that makes sharing
so accessible and easy right from the camera.
It's not locked down to Samsung's services
either. Things like Samsung Kies are on board,
but anything you can do on a high-end
smartphone you can do with the Galaxy NX. Load
up Chrome to browse websites, pull a bunch of
shots out of the gallery and pop them into your
Dropbox account - it's all available and we have
a lot of love for that.
In our time with the camera we didn't have a SIM
card inserted, but did sync the NX with Wi-Fi and
when prompted with one of those annoying log-in
screens - courtesy of the hotel we happened to
be staying at, so not the camera's fault - we
could easily access and type into a browser to
move things forward. No additional password
loopholes from the camera itself were asked for
outside of individual programmes' demands. And
that was it, we were away, sharing and browsing.
No other interchangeable can match up to that.
Android adds other features that are certainly fun,
but not likely to be go-to controls most of the
time. Voice Control is one such example. Switch
this on and tell the camera to "shoot" and it will
obey. Surprised it's not called the SAM 9000 or
something. The feature makes great sense for
group shots where there's no need to set up a
self-timer, and other commands such as "smile"
or "cheese" can also kick the camera into action
(in the English language version). We even tried
out voice control with background music on to
see if the camera was still able to understand and
it did. Words do need to be spoken clearly as we
had a couple of first-time failed attempts, but
nothing unexpected. It's not human after all.
Elsewhere there are seamless tie-ins with GPS
location tracking, which includes an Around-Me-
style suggestion app to let you know where
things are. We couldn't use this extensively due
to being in a venue for the majority of an entire
evening, but the potential is significant.
With a SIM inserted you'll also obtain a phone
number. Now we don't expect people to be using
the Galaxy NX just like a phone, but from what
we can see within the settings it is possible to
receive calls on speaker. Crazy, but fun.
Image quality
We've snapped some pre-production shots which
even from the early sample model we think look
top. In agreement with Samsung we are not able
to show these at absolute size.
The Galaxy NX's imaging strength comes from
the fact that it's not forgone any of the top
imaging build of other NX-series cameras. While
these other, earlier interchangeable models aren't
smart cameras, as such, what they consistently
get right is image quality. The large APS-C size
sensor found in the heart of the Galaxy NX is the
same 20.2-megapixel offering as would be found
in the NX300 model. It's physically as large as
that in almost all current DSLR cameras and,
from what we've seen, has the quality to match.
It's a case of few surprises, really, but that's a
good thing. Although 20.2-megapixels is a
significant resolution, there's plenty of detail to
be seen at the low ISO settings and the ability to
crop into shots - as we have in one example
image - is of little sacrifice to quality. We think
Samsung would have been risking it to develop a
sensor with any greater resolution than the
current standard, so it's good to see NX300
quality on board.
At 20.2-megapixels there's a lot to be asked of
the sensor, particularly at higher ISO settings, but
even shots we took at ISO 800 of flower
arrangements on tables at a dim indoor location
came out well, despite questionable white balance
- but there's every chance that this will be
tweaked for the final unit.
We'll see how the final model fares, but initial
inspection is good and we see no reason that the
Galaxy NX will fall behind the current NX
standard.
There is one area where that assessment comes
unstuck: there's currently a slight mismatch
between some settings and who we feel the
camera is aimed at. For example: It's possible to
shoot raw images. It's possible to shoot JPEG
images. But not shoot both together, at least not
in this sample model. Bizarre. As we had no
access to software able to read the raw files at
this stage in development we were only able to
shoot JPEG fine images.
Just like with the Samsung Galaxy Camera the
Galaxy NX also offers a batch of in-camera styles
that can be added to images in post. Sepia, Mono
and a mixture of old-style effects make up the
bulk of what's on offer. With the processing
power behind this camera they snap into play
double quick and save in no time at all too. We
can see this being built upon further - a
connected camera such as the Galaxy NX could
tap in to future updates and additional third party
apps to expand upon its feature set. Something to
keep an eye on.
Initial verdict
A quick fumble around with the Galaxy NX isn't
enough time to make total sense of this
connected camera, so to have an extended period
of use with it has made all the difference in our
assessment. This curious camera is complete
with a sea of ideas and potential - some of which
work rather well, others which require too much
menu digging for immediacy.
If one thing's abundantly clear it's that Samsung
has the current best connected camera series out
there. Android just works, and while the concept
of buying a SIM for your camera might sound a
little bit out there, there are an increasing number
of affordable pay as you go (PAYG) plans
available which make sense to buy into. Do that
and true sharing on the go is at your fingertips.
Size-wise we do find the Galaxy NX's rear screen
a little large and the lack of physical controls
feels alien (at least at first), but this comes at no
cost to image quality which, from what we've
seen so far, ought to match up to the current
NX300.
Start-up time from cold lags a little more than
we'd like, and the eye-sensor activation time of
the electronic viewfinder also introduces a brief
break from preview proceedings - both of which
are areas that could be improved upon.
The last thing that really demands a thorough
testing is battery life, as that's something we
can't accurately comment on right now. After a
few hours of use we found the rear right side of
the Galaxy NX to be rather hot where the
processor was obviously punching out the heat,
but the camera soldiered on for the evening
without showing signs of cutting out.
So is the Galaxy NX the future of cameras? When
it comes to connectivity it definitely paves the
way. But the current Galaxy NX design seems to
want to appeal to all user bases and in doing so
feels a little diluted in its focus. It didn't need the
huge screen size to deliver the usability of
Android, and the removal of quick-access function
buttons may see more advanced photographers -
who traditionally might look to the NX series as a
shooting option - alienated. It's brave, it's bold,
it's often brilliant and introduces true connectivity
to an interchangeable camera for the first time -
but it's still got its work cut out in a market
that's hard to crack.

Android 4.3 made for Nexus Details

Build JWR66N has made its way out into the
wild for the LG-made Nexus
A few weeks after Android 4.3 leaked for the the
Google Play edition Galaxy S4 , today we're seeing
the same pre-release build — JWR66N — leaking
out online for the Nexus 4. The unofficial firmware
comes to us from Jeff Williams on Google+, who
bought his Nexus 4 on Craigslist from a Googler,
only to find it running the pre-release software.
With a little help from the Google+ community,
IRC users and XDA , Jeff was able to create a
system dump and backup of the ROM. Currently
the radio and bootloader are missing from this
package — word on the forums is that they'll be
provided at a later date.
The files can be restored through TWRP ​
(TeamWin recovery) if you know what you're
doing, giving you a working version of Android 4.3
ahead of the official release. Though with any
leaked pre-release firmware of unknown origins,
we'd advise caution if you decide to put this
firmware on your own device , as unknown bugs
and other nasties may be lurking. (What's more,
the official 4.3 launch is probably less than a
week away .)
We've successfully restored the firmware to our
own Nexus 4, and we've found it to be much like
the leaked 4.3 build for the GPe Galaxy S4 . That
is to say it's almost identical to 4.2 to the
untrained eye, but new developer settings and
other subtle changes give this away as the
genuine article. For more on the behind-the-
scenes changes in Android 4.3, check out our
hands-on feature .
With Android 4.3 now having leaked not once but
twice, it's likely we won't have too much longer
to wait before this new version of Android
becomes official. Google's got an event scheduled
for next Wednesday, July 24, and we'll be
covering the day's announcements live.

Htc One Mini Full Review

A little slice of the world's best mobile phone.
The HTC One Mini follows in the footsteps of its
outlandishly successful bigger brother, slicing off
some components but managing to maintain a
real sense of class.
When it comes to the HTC One , there was a big
call from fans to follow it up with something a
little more affordable, in the same manner as
Samsung has done with the Galaxy S4 Mini .
However, while coming in at a similar price (well,
unconfirmed but likely) and a slightly lower set of
specs than its Samsung competitor, there's no
doubt that the HTC One Mini is a more
impressive device (and it has a higher-resolution
screen to boot).
For a start, it takes on that unibody design from
the larger One, only adding in a plastic band
around the edge but maintaining the aluminium
back and front speakers. It still feels very
premium in the hand, and at 122g feels very well
balanced.
Those that love specs will baulk at this device, so
we'll get the downgrades out of the way early
doors: there's no NFC chip, the CPU is a
Snapdragon 400 dual core option clocked at
1.4GHz, and the screen has been shrunk to 4.3-
inches and a 720p resolution.
However, HTC has managed to keep in the main
things we're fans of with the One: namely
BoomSound and the UltraPixel sensor. BlinkFeed
is there as well (and enhanced thanks to the One
Mini running Android 4.2.2 right out of the box)
but that's something that many users are finding
they only use sporadically.
We've said before: spend some time setting
Blinkfeed up and it will reward you, but we
understand how this is a hassle for some people.
However, it's impressive that it's made it in a
full-fledged format for the One Mini, making it
really feel like this is just a shrunken version of
the larger option.
There are other compromises too: the battery is
down to 1800mAh, and that could play havoc
with some users if the battery life isn't up to
snuff, which has been a problem for HTC over the
years. However, the One managed to tame its
power demons after a refresh, so we're hopeful
HTC Has managed the same thing here.
In the hand, as we mentioned, the HTC One Mini
is a really premium-feeling device. It almost
annoys us how little the plastic band,
manufactured in the same way as the HTC One X
+, doesn't interfere with your general use, as this
just shows that Nokia got it totally the wrong
way round with the Lumia 925 .
The plastic band also makes the phone a little
easier to grip, which we're big fans of, as the
One did have a slight kamikaze habit in normal
use, so overall the tweaks in design don't seem
to have hurt the little tyke.
With the lower-speed processor, you'd be
forgiven for worrying that the One Mini would
have real problems keeping up with all the things
that life might throw it at - in reality, we noticed
not one issue when flipping through the apps and
screens.
Firing up the HTC One Mini camera app was no
problem, and it's great to see the HTC Zoe
functionality (and the exact same camera
interface) staring straight back at us when we
did so.
The burst mode and 3-second Zoe clips all
performed precisely as we'd hoped they would,
and even uploading was speedy too (which is
also possible over 4G as the One Mini supports
that too). The 1GB of RAM might be a concern
for those that recognise the weight of certain
parts of the Sense UI, which HTC runs over the
top of native Android, but we encountered no
issues in our fairly lengthy hands on time with
the phone.
In fact we can only see one glaring issue with the
HTC One Mini: only 16GB of storage on board.
The company told us that it didn't anticipate that
the target demographic would want to fill it up
with more than that, but that seems to preclude
anyone that wants to pop a movie or two, a large
game and a year's worth of HTC Zoe video
highlights in there.
Sure, there will be those that only use 1GB of
photo over the course of the device, and they'd
be the same people that take pictures of their
kids, animals and food, but there are many other
tech-savvy users out there that don't think twice
about downloading a couple of movies and Grand
Theft Auto, yet don't want to pay top whack for a
smartphone.
However, beyond that we can see that this is a
really quality phone, and one that packs all the
treats that HTC is quickly becoming famous for:
a great camera in low light, a swift shot latency,
great audio (with the same internal amplifier and
Beats Audio on board) and Sense 5.0 with the
latest version of Android on board.
Early verdict
Would we recommend the HTC One Mini to a
friend? Of course not - it's not out yet. But we
would urge anyone looking to spend around £25-
£30 ($40) a month on a phone contract (that's a
rough estimate, as we don't have final pricing for
the HTC One Mini) to wait and check out this
phone, when it's launched in August.
If you're not a fan of the HTC One for price alone,
then the One Mini is definitely going to fill your
needs. It seems a little expensive given the
compromises on offer - we'd have preferred to
see this phone coming in at £20-£25 ($30) a
month to be truly attractive - but there's no
doubt that it's got all the bits it needs to be a
winner, and if users can get on board with the
lack of external storage (why, HTC, WHY?) then
we can see a real winner on the shelves of your
local phone emporium in the weeks to come.
In fact, it makes us wonder whether Samsung
will think about refreshing the Galaxy S4 Mini in
the meantime, as it's now very likely to be
second best to this little nugget - and even
Apple's cheaper iPhone, which is likely coming
later this year, will have more of a fight on its
hands than it would have previously been
expected to encounter.

Lenovo Yoga 11S Full Review

If you're in the market for a Windows 8 tablet
or laptop you'd be remiss to not check out
the Lenovo Yoga 11S.
Like:
Extremely portable; Strong hinges; Up to an
i7 processor; Starts at just $799; HDMI port;
Great touch-screen;
Dislike:
USB 2.0 not 3.0; Tablet mode leaves keys
exposed; No backlit keyboard; No Haswell
option;
Introduction and Design

Pundits have been predicting the "death of the
PC" for more than a decade. Of course, if you
looked at the balance sheets of former industry
juggernauts as HP and Dell you'd be inclined to
think that those prophecies may actually be on
the verge of coming true. And then there's
Lenovo. While other manufacturers are busy
pointing fingers as to why the PC seems to be
struggling in the face of competition from that
Cupertino-based company and myriad tablets,
Lenovo is both pumping out solid Windows 8
devices while at the same time, turning a profit.
Which brings us to the Lenovo Yoga 11S.
Lenovo is known for making primarily productivity
machines for productive people. Its Thinkpad line
is known the world over as a no-nonsense,
reliable Windows 8 machine. However, the Yoga
Lenovo has let its hair down and gotten a little
bit playful. A transforming ultrabook in silver or
metallic orange with an equally colorful screen,
it's just as functional but much "cuter" than
what we usually see from Lenovo.
Of course, this isn't Lenovo's first time on the
yoga mat. The 13-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
was released last year to very favorable reviews.
The appropriately named 11s is a size down. At
just 11.6-inches, it's the smallest form factor
that can support a full QWERTY keyboard.
Design
Sporting a rather heavy duty hinge, the flexible
Yoga 11S is designed to bend over backwards at
a moments notice. You can easily use the Yoga
11S as you would any other laptop, replete with a
full QWERTY keyboard. While it's relatively small,
we had no problem writing on this keyboard. This
review, for instance, was a breeze. That said, we
would have appreciated the Yoga 11S having a
backlit keyboard. While this is in no way a deal
breaker, it's a nice feature when using the laptop
in darkened classrooms or meetings.
Where the Yoga 11S really shines is the flexibility
that that hinge provides. If you want to use the
Yoga 11S as a Windows 8 tablet you simply fold
the keyboard all the way to the back. In this
mode, you're basically just using an 11-inch
tablet. Also, since the keys are still exposed in
this mode they're disabled. That said, it's still
sort of weird to feel them when you're sitting on
your couch using the device in tablet mode.
In stand mode you can orient the keyboard
around 30-degrees from the display, and you can
easily stand the Yoga 11S on a table or desk. In
our tests we found this mode great for
presentations or reading recipes in the kitchen.
It's also perfect for watching movies and
television shows in bed.
Specifications and Performance
The Yoga 11S boasts a nice selection of ports,
including an HDMI port and an SD card reader.
However, for some reason, Lenovo went with USB
2.0, not 3.0. What's more, it's a traveler's
delight - weighing in at only 3.1lbs. But again,
the lack of backlit keyboard means typing on a
dark nighttime flight won't be easy.
The display is sharp, and brighter than what
we've seen on Lenovo models like the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch and the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon. With a resolution of 1366 x
768, it's not full HD, but at only 11.6-inches it's
not really an issue.
Despite its playful exterior, there's real
processing power available for the Yoga 11S. You
can get up to an i7 processor in this ultrabook,
and complement it with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of
RAM. That said, similarly sized notebooks from
Apple and Sony are now shipping with Haswell
processors. While this may not impact speed
necessarily, Haswell-equipped machines will no
doubt experience much better battery life. The
Yoga 11S could do well with the battery life gains
that Hawsell promises.
Performance and battery life
Cinebench CPU test: 1.74 pts
Cinebench OpenGL test: 11.52 fps
3D Mark Pro Ice Storm: 25,169
3D Mark Pro Cloud Gate: 2710
Powermark Pro Balanced: 3 hours 49
minutes
Powermark Pro Productivity: 5 hours 40
minutes
Powermark Pro Entertainment: 2 hours 53
minutes
Verdict
Functional and flexible, the Lenovo Yoga 11S
looks to be just what we want in an ultrabook.
Light enough to travel easily, and so small it can
tuck in any bag with ease. It also has serious
specs. The combination of an i7 processor and
SSD make for a peppy Window 8 experience. That
said we think it would better compete if it was
rocking a Haswell processor.
We liked
We liked how versatile the Yoga 11S is. With
strong hinges, the Yoga 11S is both extremely
portable and it also feels nice and solid. You can
easily configure a Yoga 11S with an i7 processor.
We also really like the fact that you can start
configuring them at just $799.
We disliked
There isn't much we didn't like about the Yoga
11S. That said, we were puzzled that Lenovo
equipped it with USB 2.0 and not 3.0.
Additionally, the keyboard isn't backlit and going
forward, Lenovo is going to have to refresh it
with Haswell eventually to remain competitive.
Verdict
If you're in the market for a Windows 8 tablet or
laptop you'd be remiss to not check out the
Lenovo Yoga 11S.
While it currently lacks a Haswell option, it's still
plenty fast enough for whatever you want to do,
with the exception of hardcore PC gaming. We
took this model on several business trips and
experienced nary a hiccup. On planes its
diminutive size made it perfect for working or
watching videos and it easily tucks away nicely
into any bag you may be traveling with.

Samsung Galaxy S3 and Note 2 may skip straight to Android 4.3

Don't be jelly of HTC

Android 4.3 is inevitably headed our way, but
while the HTC One might have just been injected
with Android 4.2.2, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and
Note 2 might have to hold out a bit longer before
they see an update.
But don't worry, it's coming. At least that's what
a so-claimed insider speaking to Temefy reckons,
saying that the 4.3 Jelly Bean update is well
underway. And right now the plan is for the
Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 to leap over 4.2.2
to get there.
The report goes on to tell us that the next
update for the two handsets will arrive in
November or December this year, making it very
likely that 4.3 is on the cards.

Delayed droid

Finally, we're told that the Samsung Galaxy S4 ,
Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 2 will
all be upgradeable to the next major Android
overhaul - ie 5.0 Key Lime Pie. However, the
release across the devices will be somewhat
staggered.
About a month ago we heard that Android 4.2.2
for these devices was to be delayed beyond its
expected June/July release date, so we're hardly
gobsmacked.
It's all just rumours right now but it does a fair
amount of sense if 4.3 is imminent. After all,
what's the point of getting 4.2.2 if the next best
thing is just around the corner?

Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p Full Review

Like:
Massive screen; Ready for any task; Quite the
looker; Included AV inputs;
Dislike:
Rather expensive; Awkward 3D viewing angle;
Hideous mouse; Unpleasant remote;

Windows 8 has a lot to answer for, doesn't it?
Forget Microsoft's drive towards hypnotic
coloured squares and u-turn design policies; it's
the insistence on touch that's made the most
impact on the market. Just about every PC
manufacturer worth its salt is saturating the
market with wacky touchscreen designs and form
factors that we potentially don't need.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p doesn't slide into
the same odd niches as, say, the Asus Taichi or
Dell's twisty screened XPS 12 - which will end up
as artefacts when people later come to analyse
the crazy decisions made in this decade - but it
is kin nonetheless.
It's a stab at something new, a bucket of
features poured into a PC mould. It might seem
to have been cast from the iMac imprint, but it's
far removed.
The Lenovo IdeaCentre
B540p is a huge all-in-
one PC, and when we
say huge, we mean we
had to roll our chair far
from our desk in order
to work on its
enormous 23-inch
screen comfortably.
Of course it has a
touchscreen, that most
vital of components; in a desk context, this is
absolutely unnecessary and ungainly, though it
wouldn't be undue to suggest that the desk isn't
the Lenovo B540p's most native environment. It
wants to live on a dresser, on a kitchen counter,
on a stand in your living room. It's a touch-
enabled TV wrapped in a PC shell, with coax
aerial and HDMI inputs for all your entertainment
needs.
Equally, the Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p is a
capable PC performer, with a reasonable Intel
Core i5 processor in the version we reviewed
(though there's a Core i7 model available too), a
huge cache of RAM, a decent Nvidia GeForce
graphics card and a passive 3D panel.
Pinning it down to one function feels utterly
impossible. Forget the Dell Inspiron One or the
HP Pavilion TouchSmart line, if any machine
deserves the 'all-in-one' title, it's this.
The big question is whether 2013's scad of
innovations has built up to the peak of PC
versatility, or a muddled, pointless mess priced at
£1,350 / US$1,200 (around AU$2,210). Let's
look at exactly what's inside this black slab of
technology.
Specifications
Let's start from the outside and work our way in.
The whole front of the Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p
is a slick pane of glass, meaning the multi-touch
screen is completely edge-free. We'll forgive it its
hefty bezel, because it's quite an attractive
machine, and the bottom edge conceals touch-
sensitive buttons for volume, brightness and
screen configuration.
The unit is propped up by an adjustable stand
that clicks between two primary positions, and
you can angle the screen between these by
putting a disconcerting but effective amount of
additional stress on the rear leg.
The sides harbour the
extras you might
expect. There's an
optical drive, Blu Ray
on most models (and
we wouldn't
recommend plumping
for the DVD-only
version, because
scrimping when you're paying this much for a PC
is lunacy), along with a couple of USB ports, a
multi-card reader, and audio in and out.
At the back you'll find four more USB ports,
HDMI in and out, and a coax socket for the built-
in digital TV tuner. It's software only, sadly, so
you'll need to be booted into Windows 8 to
watch anything.
So, to the inside. Lenovo hasn't skimped. The
screen is luscious and bright, a 23-inch 1080p
panel with passive 3D capabilities, although its
polarised viewing angle is rather shallow so
you'll need to pick the perfect spot in the room
to watch it from.
The webcam sensor is 720p and surprisingly
ungrainy compared to many, even in low light. A
pair of Dolby-enhanced speakers blast sound
from the base of the unit, and while Windows'
internal volume isn't linked to the core volume
control of the unit, they produce a satisfying
sound, which is something that can't be said for
most all-in-one desktop PCs, or even many
dedicated TVs.
There's more in the box besides. There's a
couple of pairs of polarised 3D goggles - yes,
they'll make you look stupid, but they fit over
conventional glasses so we'll give them a pass.
Plus there's a remote control - it's horrible, of
course, but it at least has proper buttons so it's
nowhere near as horrible as some - and a
wireless mouse and keyboard combo.
Lenovo really likes its keyboard. We don't. Sure,
it's slim and perfect for use on a lap. And it
doesn't feel cheap, as such. But typing is quite
unpleasant, and the placement of the arrow keys
means that right-shift aficionados will have a
hard time. The mouse, conversely, does feel
cheap, small, and although we didn't break it
completely, we were tempted to crush it
underfoot.
Windows 8 comes pre-installed, and there's a
cache of bloatware to keep Lenovo's sponsors
happy. The important bits - PowerDVD 10 for
discs, AVerMedia TV Player for keeping up with
your favourite shows, CyberLink YouCam for
taking silly pictures of yourself - are fine. The
rest is easily ignored.
Performance
Guts-wise, our review unit sported a quad-core
Ivy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor, which is no
slouch in processing terms, and a previous-
generation Nvidia GeForce 650M graphics card
with 2GB RAM onboard.
Benchmarks
3DMark:
Ice Storm: 67009
Cloud Gate: 7444
Fire Strike: 1218
The benchmark results show that Lenovo's
spread of focus means the IdeaCentre B540p falls
behind most desktop computers in technical
terms.
It's not nearly as zippy as a comparably priced
gaming laptop such as the Samsung Series 7
Gamer , and it pales in comparison to proper
desktop constructions under the 3DMark
benchmark.
But while its combination of components might
not have the same grunt as a desktop processing
set, we found them to be perfectly adequate in
the context, and more than enough to at least
run every game we tested. The 12GB of RAM in
the PC probably didn't hurt matters, either.
It's not really fair to
focus too much
attention on graphical
performance, though.
This is primarily an
entertainment device,
and it does its job well.
The speakers boom, the
3D screen displays 3D
perfectly well if you're
the kind of masochist
that enjoys that sort of thing, and Windows 8
boots quickly enough that the lack of a dedicated
TV tuner component doesn't feel like that big a
deal.
If you don't power it down completely, the
Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p's startup from standby
is as close to instant as you'll possibly get -
certainly aeons faster than most living room TVs.
The fact that you can switch the PC on and off
with the included remote is just, as they say in
the rap game, gravy.
The touchscreen is responsive and slick - though,
as we've said, it's a recipe for gorilla shoulder
and ruined eyes if you want to use it in desktop
form. In fairness that's not a direct fault with the
Lenovo B540p itself, more an issue with its
context. Stand up to poke it then sit back down
and it's just about perfect.
This is a PC that might struggle to find a niche in
your life, though. Are you looking for a TV? You
can go and buy a much more capable 50-inch
TV, with smart features and internet connectivity
and a 3D screen, for much less money. Are you
looking for a powerful PC? You can find one for
half the price and wire it up to a comparable TV.
Is a touchscreen so important that you absolutely
must invest in a heavy 23-inch one that's
tethered to a wall socket? Good luck to you. But
if regular portability isn't important and you want
a PC that does just about everything to a decent
level, this might, just might, be for you.
Verdict
The Lenovo IdeaCentre
B540p could well be
Lenovo's flagship home
desktop PC. It's less
stuffy than its ThinkPad
business laptops, less
gimmicky than its flip-
over Yoga laptop-tablet
hybrids, and vastly
superior to its previous
line of all-in-one
machines.
It's absolutely
crammed with features,
and although it's
pitched at a high price
point it seems to
deserve its billing.

We liked

Lenovo's IdeaCentre
B540p isn't as big as the TV you might have in
your living room, but its range of media features
make it the perfect TV for a bedroom or kitchen.
It's got HDMI-in, a digital tuner of its own, an
integrated Blu-ray drive, hefty rich speakers and
a 1080p touchscreen 3D-capable panel, which
means it can cater for just about every media
whim.
But it's not just a TV. The competent selection of
components within mean it'll play just about any
game with reasonable settings, and its wireless
peripherals combined with that massive 23-inch
panel mean you'll be able to perform most tasks
from a distance. You'll have to, to be fair,
because sitting close to a panel that bright is not
the most pleasant experience.
We normally baulk at do-it-all PCs. They're
usually jacks of all trades, master of none. We
wouldn't pin the 'master' badge on the Lenovo
B540p, but we'd highly commend it in just about
every aspect of its form. Plus, it's rather nice to
look at - something most all-in-one computers
seem to forget about.

We disliked

Conversely, there are
some imperfect things
about the Lenovo
B540p. The remote
control is full of tiny
buttons unsuitable for
the massive thumbs of
overweight tech
journalists. The
keyboard is unpleasant
to type on, the mouse a
flimsy plastic shell that
feels cheap and begs
for instant replacement.
There are plenty of better ways to spend your
money, too, if this isn't the exact bit of hardware
you're looking for. As a TV it's small, as a PC it's
not all-powerful, and the 3D features suffer from
a rather restrictive viewing range.

Final verdict

If you're absolutely sure you want a PC/TV
combo, and you've got the money in your pocket,
we can see no reason to buy any all-in-one other
than the Lenovo IdeaCentre B540p. It's just
about the pinnacle of the genre, and we reckon
the impetus is now on Lenovo's competitors to
catch up.
If our ethical compass weren't so finely attuned,
we'd hang on to our review model forever. But
we probably wouldn't shell out the cash, because
we're cheap.