It’s not often that the promises of a software company actually live up to the software they publish, so it was nice to see that the new version of Reimage System Repair actually works. The $70 Reimage program—which claims to provide hassle-free relief for damaged Windows installs—delivers on its promise. (www.reimagesystemrepair.com)

Reimage works by scanning for the causes of PC problems, and then with a click of a mouse, fixes them for you. The program is easy to use. You simply go to their website and click Start Scan, install the program as instructed, and run it. The program is small, only about 7.2MB, so it will only take a few minutes to download.

During the scan, Reimage thoroughly goes over every element of your computer. In addition to looking for damaged or Windows files and registry entries, it also looks at how much available room is on your hard drive, how much memory is installed, the running temp of your processor, and which programs are crashing and how often. Once it’s done, it will report back to you in an easy-to-read report.

Reimage even checks your system for malware and viruses. The malware scanner is powered by several systems, such as the well powerful Avira platform, which is one of the most widely-used antivirus programs on the planet.

Once you’re ready to repair your computer, Reimage will repair any files it finds. Prior to the next start-up of your PC, Reimage will finish repairing and replacing any damaged files it discovered during the scan. When that’s complete, your computer finishes loading Windows and displays your newly-repaired desktop.

On my problematic Windows 7 test system, the entire process took about 45 minutes. While no infections were found, Reimage accurately noted several stability problems. The Novell Netware client, Teamviewer, and Google Chrome had all caused a number of crashes recently, and Reimage picked up on all three. After a quick reboot to replace files that were in use (which took less than five minutes), I was deposited back at my Windows desktop. Three days later, I had yet to experience a single crash, and my system was running beautifully.

If a Reimage operation happens to cause a program to stop working on your computer, you can undo the changes. That said, I performed several scans on multiple computers running a wide variety of software and never experienced any unexpected “breakage.”

There is one major downside to Reimage: a working Internet connection is required. In my many years as a technician, one of the most common problems I fixed for people was (you guessed it) a broken Internet connection. I also expect that DNS-hijacking malware will prevent Reimage from contacting its servers in order to block removal or repair attempts.

While I count Reimage’s price tag of $70 per year as a minus, there’s a caveat. For the average home user who doesn’t know how to reinstall Windows or completely remove nasty malware, $69.95 per year is a very good deal. A single trip to the computer repair shop would cost you more than that, and Reimage can definitely prevent those visits. Two more PCs can be covered for $30, and that’s an absolute steal if you have a close friend or family member that gets stung by the periodic computer repair bill.

All in all, Reimage is a fantastic repair utility that can fix some of the ugliest Windows problems out there. It won’t totally replace your local computer technician, but it definitely has the potential to save you money, time, and frustration.

The Asus Eee PC 1015PN is the first netbook to have Intel’s 1.5GHz Atom N550 dual core processor and NVIDIA ION graphics under its hood. Needless to say, it is the most powerful 10 inch netbook to ever hit the market. So how does the machine fare in real life usage?

The folks at Engadget have published a detailed review of the netbook. Long story short, they are quite impressed with the Eee PC 1015PN except for one thing – its inability to support the NVIDIA Optimus technology.

Look and feel
The Eee PC 1015PN has more or less the same looks and case design as other Seashell netbooks from Asus. It has a wide screen bezel and soft-to-the touch lid. The netbook measures 1.4 inches in thickness and weighs around 2.8 pounds. The six-cell battery protrudes from the bottom of the laptop, but some people might like it because it also props up the keyboard. The overall build quality is satisfactory.

Ports
Port selection is satisfactory. The Eee PC 1015PN has 3 USB ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI and VGA jacks, a 4-in-1 media card reader, and a headphone and mic jacks.

Keyboard, touchpad, and screen
The Eee PC 1015PN has a chiclet style keyboard. The keys provide decent feedback while typing. On the down side, some people may not like the shrunken right shift key. But that is an arrangement you will get used to. The touchpad is wide for a netbook of this size and shows decent sensitivity. It has a single mouse button which according to the folks at Engadget is mushy but better than the one found on the Eee PC 1018P.

The Eee PC 1015PN has a matte display which is quite viewable in bright surroundings. Viewing angles are also good. The speakers are loud enough for personal listening, but music aficionados will definitely want to invest in a pair of headphones.

Performance and graphics
The Eee PC 1015PN has a dual core Atom processor. The extra core does improve everyday performance. That said, the machine isn’t significantly faster than a single core netbook. It has enough power to handle day to day jobs like word processing, web surfing and chatting. The netbook comes standard with 1GB of RAM. By upgrading to 2GB of RAM you will be able to speed things up a bit more.

Graphics performance is impressive. The ION graphics deliver significantly better performance than Intel’s integrated graphics. It even rivals AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 4225 that comes bundled with the Athlon Neo K125 processor. Needless to say, you can stream Flash video at full screen, watch local HD video content and indulge in modest gaming. When the ION graphics is on, the 1015PN has no difficulty playing 1080p HD video on its screen. It can also transfer HD video to an HDTV via the HDMI port.

On the flip side, the 1015PN doesn’t support the NVIDIA Optimus technology. Asus ships the netbook with Windows 7 Starter Edition. Obviously, the company wants to keep the cost down. The result is that you have to reboot the computer every time you want to switch between the integrated and discrete graphics options. Of course, you can keep ION enabled all the time, but doing that will reduce the battery life you will get.

Battery life
The netbook has a 6-cell, 56Wh battery. If you keep the ION graphics enabled all the time, you will get only around four and a half hours of battery life. Switching to the integrated graphics option will lengthen the battery life and you will get close to 6 hours.

Conclusion
The Eee PC 1015PN is unarguably one of the most powerful 10 inch netbooks on the market. It delivers impressive CPU and graphics performance. The only downside, perhaps, is that you have to reboot the computer every time you want to switch between graphics. Of course, you can solve this problem by upgrading to Windows 7 Home Premium which supports the Optimus technology. Or you can spend $70 more and buy that 12.1 inch 1215N.

Pros
Great display
Good graphics performance
Decent battery life

Cons
Doesn’t support the Optimus automatic graphics switching technology

The Asus Eee PC 1015PN is now available from Amazon for $425

The Asus G73Jh is an aggressively priced gaming notebook capable of handling just about anything you throw at it. What makes this machine special is that it is the first Asus notebook that can offer some stiff competition to Alienware’s M17x.

Asus G73Jh-A2 Specs
CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Core i7-720QM
Operating System: MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
RAM: 8GB
Hard Drive Size: 1 TB, 7200 rpm
Display Size: 17.3 inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of VRAM
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1
Optical drive: DVD /-R /-RW

The G73Jh is powered by a quad-core processor and ATI graphics with 1GB of dedicated video memory. What’s more, it has a splendid 1080p display, and a full terabyte of storage. And you get all this for $1,599. Similarly configured Alienware M17x costs around $1,000 more.

Design

The Asus G73Jh-A2 comes coated in a black, rubberized material. Its design is inspired by the design of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter.
The lid features an Asus emblem in silver and an etched Republic of Gamers logo below. The notebook weighs 8.8 pounds and measures 2.3 inches in thickness, still it looks pleasantly thin.

Heat and Noise
Heat levels are normal. Despite housing some cutting edge components which are prone to generate a great deal of heat, the machine does manage to remain comfortably cool during long gaming sessions. Noice levels are also normal.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keys are quite responsive and make typing comfortable. The keys are also well sized. To enhance the gaming nature of this notebook, Asus has included white backlighting and icons on keys commonly used for movement.

The touchpad supports multitouch gestures. It is large. The touch surface is slightly recessed and shows good sensitivity. There is only a single mouse bar, but it is long enough, so you will not have any difficulty distinguishing the right click from the left. On the flip side, the touchpad button feels a little stiff.

Display and Audio
The G73Jh-A2 has a 17.3 inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels. Display itself is good. Colors are bright and vivid. There is a button on the upper left of the deck for switching between display modes. Viewing angles, particularly horizontal viewing angles, are extremely good. HD video looks great on the HD display, but standard definition video doesn’t fare just as well. Audio quality is excellent.

Ports and Webcam
There are 4 USB ports, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, 8-in-1 card reader, headphone and mic jacks. There is no ExpressCard port, DisplayPort or eSATA. The 2 megapixel webcam atop the display captures crisp images.

Battery life
Gaming rigs have never really been known for their endurance. The G73Jh is no different. It manages to get only around 2 hours of uptime in some battery tests.

Configurations
The notebook is also available in other configurations. The G73Jh-A1, for instance, has the same specs as the G73Jh-A2, but adds a Blu-ray drive for an extra $100.

Verdict
The G73Jh lacks some cool features of the Alienware M17x, but it delivers incredible power for much less. The notebook is good choice for die hard gamers and multimedia enthusiasts who demand more horsepower than a traditional desktop replacement can offer.

Pros
Great display
Excellent performance
Normal heat and noise levels
backlit keyboard and large touchpad
Good speakers

Cons
Average battery life
No eSATA, ExpressCard Slot, DisplayPort or USB 3.0

The Asus Eee PC T101MT has been reviewed by the folks at Engadget. The Eee PC T101MT is a convertible tablet style netbook with a touchscreen display. It started shipping in the US recently.

According to Engadget’s Joanna Stern, the T101MT is a good netbook: it works well. The T101MT is also a tablet. It comes with a swivel that lets you fold the display down over the keyboard for use in the tablet mode. Joanna isn’t very happy with the tablet experience.

The problem, it seems, is with the Windows 7 Starter OS the netbook ships with. The Windows 7 Starter Edition doesn’t support multitouch gestures. It doesn’t automatically bring up the onscreen keyboard when you tap on a text box either which means that you have to manually bring up the keyboard whenever you want to enter text. Frustrating, isn’t it? Another problem is the resistive touchscreen which isn’t quite meant for tapping with your fingers.

The Eee PC T101MT is offered with Windows 7 Home Premium in some countries, but that option is not available in the US.  While you can upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium by shelling out an extra $50, it doesn’t seem to solve all issues. There is, for example, no accelerometer. So you have to press a button to manually rotate the screen from landscape to portrait mode.

So what is the verdict? Well, Joanna and some other reviewers have pointed out that these problems aren’t limited to the Eee PC T101MT. Almost every other convertible tablet style netbook suffers from these issues. It goes without saying that the touchscreen is the biggest selling point of these tablets. But unfortunately, the rest of their specs aren’t very touch-friendly which means that what you get is a rather unpleasant tablet experience.

The HP Envy 13 is a premium notebook with a premium price tag. It has a 13.3 inch display, power efficient processors and switchable graphics. But does the machine offer everything you ever want in a laptop?

Our HP Envy 13 Specifications:

• Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor SL9600 (2.13GHz, 6M Cache)
• Memory: 3GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066MHz)
• Storage: 250GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
• Display: 13.3-inch LED HP Radiance Widescreen Display with 1366×768 pixels
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 Graphics (512MB) with Intel X4500M integrated switchable graphics

Price as configured: $1,924.99

Build and Design
The HP Envy 13 sports a simple magnesium lid with no attention grabbing graphics. Build quality is good. The notebook looks and feels solid in your hand.

The Envy 13 isn’t very upgrade friendly. There are no easy access panels on the bottom of the notebook which means that you will be better off getting the necessary upgrades when you purchase the notebook rather than trying to do it on your own.

Screen and Speakers
The HP Envy 13 has a 13.3 inch “HP Radiance” display which is remarkably bright. The display is glossy but its brightness compensates for it. In fact you can use the Envy 13 in direct sunlight and you will still find that the display is quite readable. Viewing angles are average.

The speakers produce clear, loud sound. But the overall audio quality isn’t very impressive. Audiophiles should definitely consider investing in a pair of headphones. Alternatively they can use the HDMI output to stream digital audio to a home stereo.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The Envy 13 keyboard is one of the best you would find on a 13 inch notebook. The chiclet style keyboard is full sized with a decent amount of space between each key. the keyboard doesn’t show any flex at all. Individual key action is smooth and quiet.

The touchpad is a Synaptics model. It is large and spacious and comes with integrated touchpad buttons.

Ports and Features
Port selection is average. There is an SD card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI out and a combo audio jack. This is quite disappointing because most 10 inch and 11 inch laptops offer more. In fact given the cost of the notebook HP could have added at least one more USB port as well as FireWire and eSATA.

Performance
Performance is satisfactory, but it is nothing remarkable considering the price of the notebook. The dual core SL9600 processor has enough power to handle day to day computing jobs. Multitasking is also quite possible.

The Envy 13 has both integrated and discrete graphics solutions which means that you can watch HD video and play games without having to compromise on battery life. When the power adapter is plugged in, the ATI graphics solution will automatically get enabled.  And when the notebook is running on battery power only integrated graphics are used.

Heat and Noise
Heat levels are normal. The hard drive cavity does get warm, but there is nothing to worry about. The noise levels are above average. If you need absolute silence at your workspace, the Envy 13 is probably not the laptop to buy.

Battery Life
The notebook has a 4-cell battery rated at 41Wh. It gets around 7 hours of runtime which is very bad for a 13 inch notebook.

Conclusion
The HP Envy 13 is no ‘MacBook alternative’. It was probably built to be one but unfortunately it missed the mark completely. That said, the Envy 13 is one of the most innovative consumer notebooks that HP has ever produced. It has a number of plus points including a great keyboard, impressive build quality, good battery life and an attractive design. On the flip side it lacks a number of ports and is more expensive than the 13 inch MacBook Pro.

Pros:
* Excellent build quality
* Great keyboard
* Bright display
* Good battery life

Cons:
* Expensive
* Overly sensitive touchpad
* Fewer number of ports