Micro Express NBL60: Pleasantly Unassuming Laptop

Micro Express ships this light-weight, unassuming-looking, 15-inch laptop computer with a robust function set and a moderate price tag. The $1199 unit boasts an Intel Core i7-620M high-end twin core CPU underneath the hood, switchable graphics, an 80GB Intel X25M solid-state generate, and 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory.

What is much more, although the NBL60's scenario seems ordinary (the unit can be a common 1 to one.25 inches thick and has an unadorned black glossy exterior), it weighs just five pounds 10 ounces, sans electrical power adapter--a remarkably very low amount for any unit with the optical generate plus a correct 1080p screen. The energy brick adds a pound.

The laptop's efficiency is really a minor above regular for its class (All-Purpose Laptops), posting a Computer WorldBench six score of 123. This mark could look reduced for a technique with the NBL60's specs, but the laptop's utilization of switchable graphics may support explain it. The NBL60 has equally Intel integrated graphics (to increase battery lifestyle) and AMD's Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 (for more-substantial graphics horsepower). Because of this, nevertheless, virtually 1GB from the laptop's 4GB of method RAM is reserved for graphics.

The NBL60 also manages to cram a full numeric keypad into your primary system, although Micro Express needed to make some sacrifices. For example, in the event you press the Numlock crucial, you drop accessibility to your more substantial navigation keys, which includes PgDn and PgUp--both of which might be quite valuable in editing spreadsheets. You'll be able to press and hold the Shift crucial to make use of the navigation keys temporarily.

Typing on this keyboard is a unique enjoyment. The keys are responsive and do not requiring abnormal force. We did notice a single odd glitch, even so: Just Lead to 2, a recently released Computer game, refused to understand the main or numeric keypad's Enter key--so you can't play the game. Other video games (this kind of as Tom Clancy's HAWX) that use the Enter essential played usually, so the Just Trigger 2 problem is even more inexplicable and peculiar.

The NBL60's connectivity alternatives are very very good. You will get 802.11n, gigabit ethernet, and Bluetooth; only wireless 3G/4G broadband is missing. The 802.11n connection delivered impressively quick efficiency, installing very significant applications and restoring a voluminous Steam video games backup impressively rapidly.

The NBL60 ships having a solid-state drive--but at 80GB, it really is quite puny by today's standards.In fact, loading 6 current-generation games consumed 95 % from the system's accessible disk area. And in some cases if you're not a gamer, you will most likely try to eat up the free disk space swiftly with images, digital media, along with other big files. Exacerbating the scenario could be the 15GB committed to your restore partition, which leaves only about 60GB for person data (soon after Windows can take its share, obviously).

Expansion possibilities are constrained to two devoted USB ports about the right side and 1 combo eSATA/USB port within the left. Video possibilities incorporate HDMI and VGA around the left side, which also houses the ethernet port. A five-in-one memory card reader is created into the front with the unit, and audio input and output jacks are adjacent to your pair of USB ports about the correct side.

Video quality was superb inside our assessments. Upscaled DVD films looked excellent, though off-axis viewing degraded speedily. The truth is, the DVD upscaling was amongst the most beneficial we have seen, with tiny artifacting and few noticeable problems. High-defintion content, played via WMV High definition files, looked fantastic, too. This unit cries out for any built-in Blu-ray disc drive.

Audio playback high quality is relatively neutral and satisfying, but it sounded very thin, missing bass and midrange-bass oomph.

All round, I was quite impressed together with the NBL60, however the skimpy disk area might be considered a dilemma for several customers. Then again, you can probably spec a higher-capacity conventional tough drive and pay even much less money. If you're looking for a strong, unassuming 15-inch laptop computer with an exceptional screen and keyboard, the NBL60 might be a powerful candidate.