Samsung Galaxy S1 Review

Pros

• Exynos 5410 chip performs well
• Comes SIM-unlocked, with no carrier influence or bloatware

Cons

• Only quad-band HSPA+ and no LTE
• Battery life is decent, not quite as good as Snapdragon GS4
• OS takes huge chunk of onboard storage

Bottom Line

The Exynos-powered GS4 is just as excellent as the Snapdragon 600 variant, with slightly better performance. However, the lack of LTE will be a dealbreaker for some

Acer Aspire R7 Review

Pros

• Innovative design, well-build
• Bright 1080p display
• Good specs for the money

Cons

• Cramped keyboard, awkwardly placed touchpad
• Unimpressive battery life
• Relatively heavy
• Only one configuration right now

Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire R7 is a unique take on the Windows 8 laptop, with an adjustable display and an attractive hinge design. And, at $1,000, it's also a pretty good deal.

Sony Vaio Pro 11 Review

 

Pros

• Exceptionally lightweight
• Long battery life, sheet battery option
• 1080p display with great viewing angles
• Keyboard is improved over the old Z
• Webcam excels in low light

Cons

• Keyboard is cramped on this 11-inch model
• Stiff touch button, flaky trackpad
• Fan can get loud sometimes

Bottom Line

Sony's old Z series flagship comes back to life with epic battery life, an even lighter design and a more reasonable price

Sony Vaio Duo 13 Review

Pros

• Much-improved design
• Bright 1080p display
• Great battery life

Cons

• Cramped touchpad
• Oddly placed rear camera

Bottom Line

Sony completely revamped its slider design for the VAIO Duo 13, and the result is a well-made machine with longer battery life and a more comfortable keyboard.

Huawei Ascend W1 Review

Pros

•     Cheap
•     Attractive, well-built hardware
•     Excellent performance
•     Big battery

Cons

•     1.88GB of usable storage
•     Inconsistent camera

Bottom Line

This very good Windows Phone 8 device is hampered by a lack of storage and a lackluster camera, but good performance may tempt speed freaks.

HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook Review

Pros

•     Snappy performance
•     Decent speakers
•     Solid build quality

Cons

•     Poor keyboard layout
•     Antiquated trackpad
•     Lackluster display
•     Mediocre battery life

Bottom Line

HP's 14-inch Chromebook offers zippy performance and solid build quality, but ultimately cuts too many corners. The poor keyboard layout and antiquated trackpad make this machine particularly hard to recommend.

Macbook Air 13 inch mid 2013 Review

Pros

•     Phenomenal battery life
•     Fast I/O from PCIe SSDs
•     $100 less than last year
•     Great keyboard and trackpad

Cons

•     Still no Retina display
•     Base CPU performance lower than last year

Bottom Line

The 2013 MacBook Air offers amazing battery life and disk I/O performance for an even more accessible price, but it sure could use a few more pixels in that display.