Xperia X10: Keep in touch with style

Managing Facebook and Twitter updates becomes even easier with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

When you look at the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the first thing that will grab your attention is its large 4in screen.

The screen dominates the front of the smartphone and is capable of displaying beautiful and vivid pictures.

The X10 runs on Android 1.6 which is a tad older than other smartphones in the market which use Android 2.1.

I'm really new when it comes to the Android operating system or even smartphones so it took awhile to adapt to the user interface. I found it cool that I could switch screens by just swiping my finger horizontally or vertically on the screen.

However, I was not thrilled that applications took a littler longer to launch. As I am a little impatient, the screen will be covered with fingerprints due to repeated tappings by the time the app actually launched.

Xperia X10: Keep in touch with style

Managing Facebook and Twitter updates becomes even easier with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

When you look at the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the first thing that will grab your attention is its large 4in screen.

The screen dominates the front of the smartphone and is capable of displaying beautiful and vivid pictures.

The X10 runs on Android 1.6 which is a tad older than other smartphones in the market which use Android 2.1.

I'm really new when it comes to the Android operating system or even smartphones so it took awhile to adapt to the user interface. I found it cool that I could switch screens by just swiping my finger horizontally or vertically on the screen.

However, I was not thrilled that applications took a littler longer to launch. As I am a little impatient, the screen will be covered with fingerprints due to repeated tappings by the time the app actually launched.

Xperia X10: Keep in touch with style

Managing Facebook and Twitter updates becomes even easier with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

When you look at the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the first thing that will grab your attention is its large 4in screen.

The screen dominates the front of the smartphone and is capable of displaying beautiful and vivid pictures.

The X10 runs on Android 1.6 which is a tad older than other smartphones in the market which use Android 2.1.

I'm really new when it comes to the Android operating system or even smartphones so it took awhile to adapt to the user interface. I found it cool that I could switch screens by just swiping my finger horizontally or vertically on the screen.

However, I was not thrilled that applications took a littler longer to launch. As I am a little impatient, the screen will be covered with fingerprints due to repeated tappings by the time the app actually launched.

Full Review of Dell Latitude E6510

Durability, security, and performance. That's what any business notebook shopper is looking for in a good workhorse. And the 15.6-inch Latitude E6510 delivers all of the above, starting with a sturdy yet attractive Tri-Metal case. You also get a Core i7 processor and discrete Nvidia graphics for serious power, plus a high-resolution (1600 x 900) display. Add in a host of data protection features and you have a pretty solid package. But is this notebook worth nearly $2,000 (RM 6,100)?

Design

At 14.7 x 10 x 1.3 inches and 6.6 pounds (with 9-cell battery), the E6510 sits right on the borderline between a bulky notebook you can tolerate carrying and a weighty workstation you just have to leave on the desk. If you're willing to lose a few hours of battery life, you can opt for the less-powerful 6-cell battery, which brings the weight down to a much more reasonable 5.5 pounds.

The subtle, yet attractive design ID of the entire Latitude E Series hasn't changed much, but why mess with a good thing? The smooth, aluminum lid comes in three colors: Slate Silver, Regal Red, and Regatta Blue. Our review unit came with the Regatta Blue lid, which looked stunning, particularly when paired with the silver battery. When you open up the lid, you'll notice a completely matte black bezel, keyboard, and deck, accented with attractive light blue status lights that match the lid. The push-button latch adds another touch of class.

Keyboard, Touchpad, Pointing Stick

The E6510's keyboard uses a traditional layout with full-size keys. When taking the Ten Thumbs Typing test, we managed to get our average 80 words per minute, but with a higher-than-usual 2-percent error rate. The key feel was comfortable overall, though a bit on the mushy side. For those who like typing in the dark, the keyboard has a backlight which can be set to stay on all the time or turn on only when the notebook's light sensor detects it is in a dark room.

Like Lenovo ThinkPads and HP EliteBooks, the Dell Latitude E6510 has both a touchpad and a pointing stick. Though which method one prefers is largely a matter of personal preference, we like pointing sticks, because they're more accurate than touchpads and touch typists can use them without removing their fingers from the home row. However, while the pointing stick on the E6510 provides these benefits, it has a much lower profile than ThinkPad's that makes you bend your finger more to use it. Worse, the cursor was quite jumpy when we used the stick, even after decreasing the pointing speed.

The 3.3 x 1.8-inch touchpad helped us navigate around the desktop quickly and easily, but when performing multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, it wasn't as responsive. For example, the pad sometimes mistook a pinch gesture for rotate when using two fingers on one hand. We had better results when we used one finger from each hand.

Heat

The Latitude E6510 stayed pleasantly cool throughout our testing. After playing a video at full screen for 15 minutes, we measured the touchpad at a chilly 88 degrees Fahrenheit and the keyboard at a reasonable 92 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees to be comfortable. The bottom measured at 102 degrees, but most notebook bottoms reach 100 and, unless you're built like Shaq, you won't be putting this notebook on your lap.

Display and Sound

The 15.6-inch 1600 x 900 matte display provided plenty of screen real estate for our documents and Web pages while outputting sharp, colorful images at fantastic viewing angles. Whether we were watching a 1080p WMV file we downloaded from Microsoft HD Showcase, a DVD of Dark City, or a 720p episode of Fringe, video was smooth and free from visual noise.

When we listened to both a rock tune, The Heavy's "Sixteen," and a jazz song, "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra, the E6510's stereo speakers provided sound that was accurate, if not overly rich. At maximum volume, the E6510 was loud enough to fill a large living room, though music became a little bit tinny.

Ports and Webcam

Because it's a large and expensive business system, you'd expect a lot of ports from the E6510 and, for the most part, it delivers. On the right side are an ExpressCard 54 slot, Smartcard reader, FireWire 400 port, audio in/out jacks, and two USB ports. Mounted on the back are an Ethernet port and VGA-out. On the left side are an ExpressCard/34 slot, a 6-in-1 card reader, HDMI-out, and two more USB ports for a total of four. Noticeably absent are an eSATA and USB 3.0 ports. Though USB 3.0 is still rare, competitors like the ThinkPad W510 offer them.

The high definition webcam is able to shoot stills and videos at a whopping 2048 x 1536 resolution or 3.1-megapixels. Better still, the lens handles low-light situations with aplomb. Even when we sat in a dark livingroom, our image was sharp and colorful. On Skype our image was smooth and relatively noise-free, considering the poor lighting conditions. This is definitely one of the best webcams we've tested.

Performance

Equipped with a 2.66-GHz Core i7-610M CPU, an Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics card,4GB of RAM, and a 7,200 rpm hard drive, the Dell Latitude E6510 provided some of the highest performance numbers we've seen on a business notebook this size. On PCMarkVantage, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance, the E6510 scored a whopping 7,796, around 90-percent above the mainstream notebook category average, about 40-percent faster than the HP EliteBook 8440p, and roughly 10-percent faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11, which has the same processor.

Compare PCMark Vantage results with similar laptops

The Latitude E6510's 250GB 7,200 rpm hard drive booted Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) in 61 seconds, about 2 seconds faster than the category average and 17 seconds quicker than the Tecra A11 (78 seconds). However, the HP EliteBook 8440p was much faster at 44 seconds. It took just two minutes and 33 seconds to complete the LAPTOP Transfer test, which consists of copying 4.97GB of mixed media files. That's a rate of 32.3 MBps, nearly 50-perecent better than the 22.9 MBps category average and comfortably ahead of the Tecra A11 (27.8 Mbps) and HP ElteBook 8440p (29.6 MBps).

Compare LAPTOP File Transfer Test results with similar laptops

When it came to transcoding video, the E6510 also excelled, as it took only 46 seconds to convert a 114MB MP4 to AVI using Oxelon Media Encoder. That's 17 seconds better than the category average of 63.5 seconds, but only a little bit faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11 (48 seconds) and HP EliteBook 8440p (53 seconds).

Graphics

By pairing Nvidia NVS 3100M discrete graphics with its 2.66-GHz Core i7-620M CPU, the Latitude E6510 provides strong enough graphics performance for any business application and many games as well. On 3DMark06, which measures overall graphics prowess, the notebook scored 3687, which is just above the category aerage of 3,426. The Toshiba Tecra A11, which sports a slower Nvidia NVS 2100M CPU, got a slightly lower score of 3406 and the integrated graphics-powered HP EliteBook 8440p managed only 1766.

Compare 3DMark06 results with similar laptops

The E6510 got a whopping frame rate of 144 frames per second when playing World of Warcraft at 1024 x 768, though that rate dropped to a much-more-modest 28 fps at the native 1600 x 900 resolution with special effects turned up. Though those numbers were far above the 71.4 and 23.5 category averages, the Toshiba Tecra All turned in similar scores of 129 and 26 fps.

On the very-demanding game Far Cry 2, the Latitude E6510 got a reasonable 46 frames per second, though that numbered dropped to an unplayable 12 fps at 1600 x 900. The lower-res number is way ahead of the category average of 31 fps, while the high res number is just slightly slower than the category average of 15 fps. Either way, the Dell is good enough to do some light gaming when you're not crunching numbers.

Battery Life and Wi-Fi

Due to the massive 9-cell battery on our review unit, the Dell Latitude E6510 lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That time is way longer than the the 3 hour and 48-minute category average and the 2 hours and 6 minutes turned in by the Toshiba Tecra A11. However, as we mentioned above, the 9-cell battery adds nearly a pound of weight over its 6-cell counterpart.

Compare LAPTOP Battery Test results with similar laptops

The notebook's Intel Centrino 6200 802.11n radio produced strong transfer rates of 39.9 and 21.1 Mbps at distances of 15 and 50 feet from the router respectively. The 15-foot score was much better than the HP EliteBook 8440p (31.9 / 24.6 Mbps).

Green Testing

When charging, the Latitude E6510 took 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach 80-percent of capacity and a full 2 hours and 6 minutes to reach full charge. Both times were much much quicker than the category averages of 1:34 and 2:23. During that charging period, the notebook used an average of 49.8 watts. That gives the E6510 a LAPTOP Green Efficiency rating of 24.4, much better than the category average of 33.1 (lower is better).

Configuration Options

Though our review unit cost a whopping $1,854, base configurations of the Dell Latitude E6510 start at just $729. When configuring your E6510, you can choose between 6 different Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. You can also decide between a 1366 x 768, 1600 x 900, or 1920 x 1080 resolution screen. Both discrete Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics and integrated Intel graphics are available. Storage drive options range from a 160GB 5,400 rpm unit on the low end to a 256GB SSD on the high end, with lots of 7,200 rpm and encrypted drive options in between. The base config starts with 1GB RAM, but can be specked up to 8GB. Though the default battery is a 6-cell unit, a 9-cell option is available as well.

Unless you need workstation-level performance, we recommend you save money by choosing a Core i5 or Core i3 CPU, but that you splurge to get the full 1920 x 1080 resolution panel (a $129 option). If you get the full HD panel, a Core i3 CPU, 250GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, integrated graphics, a 6-cell battery, and a webcam, the notebook will only cost you $1068, $30 less if you get it in Silver rather than Blue.

Dell Latitude On

If you just can't wait 61 seconds for Windows 7 to boot, you can the button to the left of the power button, which triggers Dell Latitude On, an "instant on" OS based on Device VM's popular Splashtop operating system. After about 18 seconds, you'll be hit with a login prompt and then asked which of five applications you wish to launch first: e-mail, web browser, chat (aka instant messaging), VoIP (aka Skype), or Remote Desktop. When you click one of these you'll wait another 10 to 15 seconds for the app and the Latitude On OS to launch.

In Latitude ON, you have a taskbar that lets you easily switch between the five initial launch programs and adds a few others including Citrix Receiver and VMWare view for running virtualized apps, a music client for playing tunes, and a photo viewer. While the different Latitude On applications we tried ran smoothly and the Latitude On environment had an attractive user interface, we were left wondering how many users would want to use this scaled down operating system just to save 30 seconds or less of start up time.

Full Review of Dell Latitude E6510

Durability, security, and performance. That's what any business notebook shopper is looking for in a good workhorse. And the 15.6-inch Latitude E6510 delivers all of the above, starting with a sturdy yet attractive Tri-Metal case. You also get a Core i7 processor and discrete Nvidia graphics for serious power, plus a high-resolution (1600 x 900) display. Add in a host of data protection features and you have a pretty solid package. But is this notebook worth nearly $2,000 (RM 6,100)?

Design

At 14.7 x 10 x 1.3 inches and 6.6 pounds (with 9-cell battery), the E6510 sits right on the borderline between a bulky notebook you can tolerate carrying and a weighty workstation you just have to leave on the desk. If you're willing to lose a few hours of battery life, you can opt for the less-powerful 6-cell battery, which brings the weight down to a much more reasonable 5.5 pounds.

The subtle, yet attractive design ID of the entire Latitude E Series hasn't changed much, but why mess with a good thing? The smooth, aluminum lid comes in three colors: Slate Silver, Regal Red, and Regatta Blue. Our review unit came with the Regatta Blue lid, which looked stunning, particularly when paired with the silver battery. When you open up the lid, you'll notice a completely matte black bezel, keyboard, and deck, accented with attractive light blue status lights that match the lid. The push-button latch adds another touch of class.

Keyboard, Touchpad, Pointing Stick

The E6510's keyboard uses a traditional layout with full-size keys. When taking the Ten Thumbs Typing test, we managed to get our average 80 words per minute, but with a higher-than-usual 2-percent error rate. The key feel was comfortable overall, though a bit on the mushy side. For those who like typing in the dark, the keyboard has a backlight which can be set to stay on all the time or turn on only when the notebook's light sensor detects it is in a dark room.

Like Lenovo ThinkPads and HP EliteBooks, the Dell Latitude E6510 has both a touchpad and a pointing stick. Though which method one prefers is largely a matter of personal preference, we like pointing sticks, because they're more accurate than touchpads and touch typists can use them without removing their fingers from the home row. However, while the pointing stick on the E6510 provides these benefits, it has a much lower profile than ThinkPad's that makes you bend your finger more to use it. Worse, the cursor was quite jumpy when we used the stick, even after decreasing the pointing speed.

The 3.3 x 1.8-inch touchpad helped us navigate around the desktop quickly and easily, but when performing multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, it wasn't as responsive. For example, the pad sometimes mistook a pinch gesture for rotate when using two fingers on one hand. We had better results when we used one finger from each hand.

Heat

The Latitude E6510 stayed pleasantly cool throughout our testing. After playing a video at full screen for 15 minutes, we measured the touchpad at a chilly 88 degrees Fahrenheit and the keyboard at a reasonable 92 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees to be comfortable. The bottom measured at 102 degrees, but most notebook bottoms reach 100 and, unless you're built like Shaq, you won't be putting this notebook on your lap.

Display and Sound

The 15.6-inch 1600 x 900 matte display provided plenty of screen real estate for our documents and Web pages while outputting sharp, colorful images at fantastic viewing angles. Whether we were watching a 1080p WMV file we downloaded from Microsoft HD Showcase, a DVD of Dark City, or a 720p episode of Fringe, video was smooth and free from visual noise.

When we listened to both a rock tune, The Heavy's "Sixteen," and a jazz song, "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra, the E6510's stereo speakers provided sound that was accurate, if not overly rich. At maximum volume, the E6510 was loud enough to fill a large living room, though music became a little bit tinny.

Ports and Webcam

Because it's a large and expensive business system, you'd expect a lot of ports from the E6510 and, for the most part, it delivers. On the right side are an ExpressCard 54 slot, Smartcard reader, FireWire 400 port, audio in/out jacks, and two USB ports. Mounted on the back are an Ethernet port and VGA-out. On the left side are an ExpressCard/34 slot, a 6-in-1 card reader, HDMI-out, and two more USB ports for a total of four. Noticeably absent are an eSATA and USB 3.0 ports. Though USB 3.0 is still rare, competitors like the ThinkPad W510 offer them.

The high definition webcam is able to shoot stills and videos at a whopping 2048 x 1536 resolution or 3.1-megapixels. Better still, the lens handles low-light situations with aplomb. Even when we sat in a dark livingroom, our image was sharp and colorful. On Skype our image was smooth and relatively noise-free, considering the poor lighting conditions. This is definitely one of the best webcams we've tested.

Performance

Equipped with a 2.66-GHz Core i7-610M CPU, an Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics card,4GB of RAM, and a 7,200 rpm hard drive, the Dell Latitude E6510 provided some of the highest performance numbers we've seen on a business notebook this size. On PCMarkVantage, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance, the E6510 scored a whopping 7,796, around 90-percent above the mainstream notebook category average, about 40-percent faster than the HP EliteBook 8440p, and roughly 10-percent faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11, which has the same processor.

Compare PCMark Vantage results with similar laptops

The Latitude E6510's 250GB 7,200 rpm hard drive booted Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) in 61 seconds, about 2 seconds faster than the category average and 17 seconds quicker than the Tecra A11 (78 seconds). However, the HP EliteBook 8440p was much faster at 44 seconds. It took just two minutes and 33 seconds to complete the LAPTOP Transfer test, which consists of copying 4.97GB of mixed media files. That's a rate of 32.3 MBps, nearly 50-perecent better than the 22.9 MBps category average and comfortably ahead of the Tecra A11 (27.8 Mbps) and HP ElteBook 8440p (29.6 MBps).

Compare LAPTOP File Transfer Test results with similar laptops

When it came to transcoding video, the E6510 also excelled, as it took only 46 seconds to convert a 114MB MP4 to AVI using Oxelon Media Encoder. That's 17 seconds better than the category average of 63.5 seconds, but only a little bit faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11 (48 seconds) and HP EliteBook 8440p (53 seconds).

Graphics

By pairing Nvidia NVS 3100M discrete graphics with its 2.66-GHz Core i7-620M CPU, the Latitude E6510 provides strong enough graphics performance for any business application and many games as well. On 3DMark06, which measures overall graphics prowess, the notebook scored 3687, which is just above the category aerage of 3,426. The Toshiba Tecra A11, which sports a slower Nvidia NVS 2100M CPU, got a slightly lower score of 3406 and the integrated graphics-powered HP EliteBook 8440p managed only 1766.

Compare 3DMark06 results with similar laptops

The E6510 got a whopping frame rate of 144 frames per second when playing World of Warcraft at 1024 x 768, though that rate dropped to a much-more-modest 28 fps at the native 1600 x 900 resolution with special effects turned up. Though those numbers were far above the 71.4 and 23.5 category averages, the Toshiba Tecra All turned in similar scores of 129 and 26 fps.

On the very-demanding game Far Cry 2, the Latitude E6510 got a reasonable 46 frames per second, though that numbered dropped to an unplayable 12 fps at 1600 x 900. The lower-res number is way ahead of the category average of 31 fps, while the high res number is just slightly slower than the category average of 15 fps. Either way, the Dell is good enough to do some light gaming when you're not crunching numbers.

Battery Life and Wi-Fi

Due to the massive 9-cell battery on our review unit, the Dell Latitude E6510 lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That time is way longer than the the 3 hour and 48-minute category average and the 2 hours and 6 minutes turned in by the Toshiba Tecra A11. However, as we mentioned above, the 9-cell battery adds nearly a pound of weight over its 6-cell counterpart.

Compare LAPTOP Battery Test results with similar laptops

The notebook's Intel Centrino 6200 802.11n radio produced strong transfer rates of 39.9 and 21.1 Mbps at distances of 15 and 50 feet from the router respectively. The 15-foot score was much better than the HP EliteBook 8440p (31.9 / 24.6 Mbps).

Green Testing

When charging, the Latitude E6510 took 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach 80-percent of capacity and a full 2 hours and 6 minutes to reach full charge. Both times were much much quicker than the category averages of 1:34 and 2:23. During that charging period, the notebook used an average of 49.8 watts. That gives the E6510 a LAPTOP Green Efficiency rating of 24.4, much better than the category average of 33.1 (lower is better).

Configuration Options

Though our review unit cost a whopping $1,854, base configurations of the Dell Latitude E6510 start at just $729. When configuring your E6510, you can choose between 6 different Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. You can also decide between a 1366 x 768, 1600 x 900, or 1920 x 1080 resolution screen. Both discrete Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics and integrated Intel graphics are available. Storage drive options range from a 160GB 5,400 rpm unit on the low end to a 256GB SSD on the high end, with lots of 7,200 rpm and encrypted drive options in between. The base config starts with 1GB RAM, but can be specked up to 8GB. Though the default battery is a 6-cell unit, a 9-cell option is available as well.

Unless you need workstation-level performance, we recommend you save money by choosing a Core i5 or Core i3 CPU, but that you splurge to get the full 1920 x 1080 resolution panel (a $129 option). If you get the full HD panel, a Core i3 CPU, 250GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, integrated graphics, a 6-cell battery, and a webcam, the notebook will only cost you $1068, $30 less if you get it in Silver rather than Blue.

Dell Latitude On

If you just can't wait 61 seconds for Windows 7 to boot, you can the button to the left of the power button, which triggers Dell Latitude On, an "instant on" OS based on Device VM's popular Splashtop operating system. After about 18 seconds, you'll be hit with a login prompt and then asked which of five applications you wish to launch first: e-mail, web browser, chat (aka instant messaging), VoIP (aka Skype), or Remote Desktop. When you click one of these you'll wait another 10 to 15 seconds for the app and the Latitude On OS to launch.

In Latitude ON, you have a taskbar that lets you easily switch between the five initial launch programs and adds a few others including Citrix Receiver and VMWare view for running virtualized apps, a music client for playing tunes, and a photo viewer. While the different Latitude On applications we tried ran smoothly and the Latitude On environment had an attractive user interface, we were left wondering how many users would want to use this scaled down operating system just to save 30 seconds or less of start up time.

Full Review of Dell Latitude E6510

Durability, security, and performance. That's what any business notebook shopper is looking for in a good workhorse. And the 15.6-inch Latitude E6510 delivers all of the above, starting with a sturdy yet attractive Tri-Metal case. You also get a Core i7 processor and discrete Nvidia graphics for serious power, plus a high-resolution (1600 x 900) display. Add in a host of data protection features and you have a pretty solid package. But is this notebook worth nearly $2,000 (RM 6,100)?

Design

At 14.7 x 10 x 1.3 inches and 6.6 pounds (with 9-cell battery), the E6510 sits right on the borderline between a bulky notebook you can tolerate carrying and a weighty workstation you just have to leave on the desk. If you're willing to lose a few hours of battery life, you can opt for the less-powerful 6-cell battery, which brings the weight down to a much more reasonable 5.5 pounds.

The subtle, yet attractive design ID of the entire Latitude E Series hasn't changed much, but why mess with a good thing? The smooth, aluminum lid comes in three colors: Slate Silver, Regal Red, and Regatta Blue. Our review unit came with the Regatta Blue lid, which looked stunning, particularly when paired with the silver battery. When you open up the lid, you'll notice a completely matte black bezel, keyboard, and deck, accented with attractive light blue status lights that match the lid. The push-button latch adds another touch of class.

Keyboard, Touchpad, Pointing Stick

The E6510's keyboard uses a traditional layout with full-size keys. When taking the Ten Thumbs Typing test, we managed to get our average 80 words per minute, but with a higher-than-usual 2-percent error rate. The key feel was comfortable overall, though a bit on the mushy side. For those who like typing in the dark, the keyboard has a backlight which can be set to stay on all the time or turn on only when the notebook's light sensor detects it is in a dark room.

Like Lenovo ThinkPads and HP EliteBooks, the Dell Latitude E6510 has both a touchpad and a pointing stick. Though which method one prefers is largely a matter of personal preference, we like pointing sticks, because they're more accurate than touchpads and touch typists can use them without removing their fingers from the home row. However, while the pointing stick on the E6510 provides these benefits, it has a much lower profile than ThinkPad's that makes you bend your finger more to use it. Worse, the cursor was quite jumpy when we used the stick, even after decreasing the pointing speed.

The 3.3 x 1.8-inch touchpad helped us navigate around the desktop quickly and easily, but when performing multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, it wasn't as responsive. For example, the pad sometimes mistook a pinch gesture for rotate when using two fingers on one hand. We had better results when we used one finger from each hand.

Heat

The Latitude E6510 stayed pleasantly cool throughout our testing. After playing a video at full screen for 15 minutes, we measured the touchpad at a chilly 88 degrees Fahrenheit and the keyboard at a reasonable 92 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees to be comfortable. The bottom measured at 102 degrees, but most notebook bottoms reach 100 and, unless you're built like Shaq, you won't be putting this notebook on your lap.

Display and Sound

The 15.6-inch 1600 x 900 matte display provided plenty of screen real estate for our documents and Web pages while outputting sharp, colorful images at fantastic viewing angles. Whether we were watching a 1080p WMV file we downloaded from Microsoft HD Showcase, a DVD of Dark City, or a 720p episode of Fringe, video was smooth and free from visual noise.

When we listened to both a rock tune, The Heavy's "Sixteen," and a jazz song, "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra, the E6510's stereo speakers provided sound that was accurate, if not overly rich. At maximum volume, the E6510 was loud enough to fill a large living room, though music became a little bit tinny.

Ports and Webcam

Because it's a large and expensive business system, you'd expect a lot of ports from the E6510 and, for the most part, it delivers. On the right side are an ExpressCard 54 slot, Smartcard reader, FireWire 400 port, audio in/out jacks, and two USB ports. Mounted on the back are an Ethernet port and VGA-out. On the left side are an ExpressCard/34 slot, a 6-in-1 card reader, HDMI-out, and two more USB ports for a total of four. Noticeably absent are an eSATA and USB 3.0 ports. Though USB 3.0 is still rare, competitors like the ThinkPad W510 offer them.

The high definition webcam is able to shoot stills and videos at a whopping 2048 x 1536 resolution or 3.1-megapixels. Better still, the lens handles low-light situations with aplomb. Even when we sat in a dark livingroom, our image was sharp and colorful. On Skype our image was smooth and relatively noise-free, considering the poor lighting conditions. This is definitely one of the best webcams we've tested.

Performance

Equipped with a 2.66-GHz Core i7-610M CPU, an Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics card,4GB of RAM, and a 7,200 rpm hard drive, the Dell Latitude E6510 provided some of the highest performance numbers we've seen on a business notebook this size. On PCMarkVantage, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance, the E6510 scored a whopping 7,796, around 90-percent above the mainstream notebook category average, about 40-percent faster than the HP EliteBook 8440p, and roughly 10-percent faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11, which has the same processor.

Compare PCMark Vantage results with similar laptops

The Latitude E6510's 250GB 7,200 rpm hard drive booted Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) in 61 seconds, about 2 seconds faster than the category average and 17 seconds quicker than the Tecra A11 (78 seconds). However, the HP EliteBook 8440p was much faster at 44 seconds. It took just two minutes and 33 seconds to complete the LAPTOP Transfer test, which consists of copying 4.97GB of mixed media files. That's a rate of 32.3 MBps, nearly 50-perecent better than the 22.9 MBps category average and comfortably ahead of the Tecra A11 (27.8 Mbps) and HP ElteBook 8440p (29.6 MBps).

Compare LAPTOP File Transfer Test results with similar laptops

When it came to transcoding video, the E6510 also excelled, as it took only 46 seconds to convert a 114MB MP4 to AVI using Oxelon Media Encoder. That's 17 seconds better than the category average of 63.5 seconds, but only a little bit faster than the Toshiba Tecra A11 (48 seconds) and HP EliteBook 8440p (53 seconds).

Graphics

By pairing Nvidia NVS 3100M discrete graphics with its 2.66-GHz Core i7-620M CPU, the Latitude E6510 provides strong enough graphics performance for any business application and many games as well. On 3DMark06, which measures overall graphics prowess, the notebook scored 3687, which is just above the category aerage of 3,426. The Toshiba Tecra A11, which sports a slower Nvidia NVS 2100M CPU, got a slightly lower score of 3406 and the integrated graphics-powered HP EliteBook 8440p managed only 1766.

Compare 3DMark06 results with similar laptops

The E6510 got a whopping frame rate of 144 frames per second when playing World of Warcraft at 1024 x 768, though that rate dropped to a much-more-modest 28 fps at the native 1600 x 900 resolution with special effects turned up. Though those numbers were far above the 71.4 and 23.5 category averages, the Toshiba Tecra All turned in similar scores of 129 and 26 fps.

On the very-demanding game Far Cry 2, the Latitude E6510 got a reasonable 46 frames per second, though that numbered dropped to an unplayable 12 fps at 1600 x 900. The lower-res number is way ahead of the category average of 31 fps, while the high res number is just slightly slower than the category average of 15 fps. Either way, the Dell is good enough to do some light gaming when you're not crunching numbers.

Battery Life and Wi-Fi

Due to the massive 9-cell battery on our review unit, the Dell Latitude E6510 lasted 5 hours and 41 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That time is way longer than the the 3 hour and 48-minute category average and the 2 hours and 6 minutes turned in by the Toshiba Tecra A11. However, as we mentioned above, the 9-cell battery adds nearly a pound of weight over its 6-cell counterpart.

Compare LAPTOP Battery Test results with similar laptops

The notebook's Intel Centrino 6200 802.11n radio produced strong transfer rates of 39.9 and 21.1 Mbps at distances of 15 and 50 feet from the router respectively. The 15-foot score was much better than the HP EliteBook 8440p (31.9 / 24.6 Mbps).

Green Testing

When charging, the Latitude E6510 took 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach 80-percent of capacity and a full 2 hours and 6 minutes to reach full charge. Both times were much much quicker than the category averages of 1:34 and 2:23. During that charging period, the notebook used an average of 49.8 watts. That gives the E6510 a LAPTOP Green Efficiency rating of 24.4, much better than the category average of 33.1 (lower is better).

Configuration Options

Though our review unit cost a whopping $1,854, base configurations of the Dell Latitude E6510 start at just $729. When configuring your E6510, you can choose between 6 different Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 CPUs. You can also decide between a 1366 x 768, 1600 x 900, or 1920 x 1080 resolution screen. Both discrete Nvidia NVS 3100M graphics and integrated Intel graphics are available. Storage drive options range from a 160GB 5,400 rpm unit on the low end to a 256GB SSD on the high end, with lots of 7,200 rpm and encrypted drive options in between. The base config starts with 1GB RAM, but can be specked up to 8GB. Though the default battery is a 6-cell unit, a 9-cell option is available as well.

Unless you need workstation-level performance, we recommend you save money by choosing a Core i5 or Core i3 CPU, but that you splurge to get the full 1920 x 1080 resolution panel (a $129 option). If you get the full HD panel, a Core i3 CPU, 250GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, integrated graphics, a 6-cell battery, and a webcam, the notebook will only cost you $1068, $30 less if you get it in Silver rather than Blue.

Dell Latitude On

If you just can't wait 61 seconds for Windows 7 to boot, you can the button to the left of the power button, which triggers Dell Latitude On, an "instant on" OS based on Device VM's popular Splashtop operating system. After about 18 seconds, you'll be hit with a login prompt and then asked which of five applications you wish to launch first: e-mail, web browser, chat (aka instant messaging), VoIP (aka Skype), or Remote Desktop. When you click one of these you'll wait another 10 to 15 seconds for the app and the Latitude On OS to launch.

In Latitude ON, you have a taskbar that lets you easily switch between the five initial launch programs and adds a few others including Citrix Receiver and VMWare view for running virtualized apps, a music client for playing tunes, and a photo viewer. While the different Latitude On applications we tried ran smoothly and the Latitude On environment had an attractive user interface, we were left wondering how many users would want to use this scaled down operating system just to save 30 seconds or less of start up time.

IT Market Study in Brazil 2010

Brazilian IT spending is expected to bounce back in 2010, following strong growth in computer sales in the first half of the year. Government and retail demand drove most of the growth, as Brazil's economy made a robust recovery, while still-sluggish business demand is expected to pick up in H210. Demand for IT products and services is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% over the forecast period, making Brazil one of the best-performing global IT markets. A National Broadband Plan announced in May 2010 should help to drive future growth in demand for IT products and services.

After 2010, the fundamentals of low computer penetration and growing affordability should keep the market on an upward path. Despite current economic uncertainty, a PC penetration rate of less than 25% indicates plenty of room for market growth. Infrastructure investments following the award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive new spending on IT systems and solutions.


Industry Developments

In May 2010, the Brazil government formally launched a National Broadband Plan (PNBL), which aims to triple access to broadband services by 2014. The government will invest BRL11bn in the plan, which will be managed by former state-owned telecoms company Telebras. The government has set an ambitious target for Brazil to have 90mn broadband connections by 2014, reaching half of Brazilian homes. The plan could provide a boost to the Brazilian computer market, as most broadband infrastructure is currently concentrated in major cities and towns.

Vendors reported an upturn in government IT spending in Q110, boosted by computer procurements by the Ministry of Education and schools. Government information and communication technology (ICT) spending reached BRL1.89bn (US$1bn) during January-July 2009. In terms of types of service, consulting accounted for about half of government ICT expenditures in the first seven months of 2009 with investment of BRL915mn.

In H110, the government continued to roll out its 'one computer per student' programme. The programme received a boost in 2009 when Brazil's central bank authorised BRL100mn in funding for national development bank BNDES to purchase PCs through the programme. The funds will be made available to public schools for the purchase of low-cost portable computers and will also cover networking infrastructure costs.

Competitive Landscape

The Brazilian PC market leader remains Positivo Informatica, ahead of leading multinational rivals like HP, Dell and Acer. Positivo has been the sales leader in Brazil for the last 22 quarters and reported a 31.8% year-on-year rise (y-o-y) in revenues in the first quarter of 2010. The company achieved sales of BRL617mn (US$348) on the back of strong sales to the government sector. Positivo's quarterly PC shipments reached 427,741 units, with desktop and notebook shipments increasing 32.2% and 30.9% respectively.

The Brazilian IT services market is competitive with multinationals such as IBM, HP, Accenture and Indian vendors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) competing with local players like Politec, CPM Braxis and Stefanini. Brazil's government is determined to encourage the development of the domestic IT sector, in line with ambitions for Brazil to become one of the world's top outsourcing destinations by 2010.

One growth area is expected to be demand by Brazilian organisations for services to facilitate use of cloud computing. In March 2010, business process outsourcing (BPO) player Tivit announced that it was launching cloud computing services, branded as Tivit virtual services, which will be targeted at corporations. Meanwhile, Brazilian IT services provider Avancera is the exclusive national distributor of Microsoft Dynamics AX in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, and claimed in March 2010 to be on its way towards closing six to eight Microsoft hosting contracts in the year.

Computer Sales

Brazilian sales of computer hardware are projected to grow around 17% in US dollar value terms in 2010, following a strong increase in shipments in the first quarter of the year. PC volume sales were up by around one-third in Q110, boosted by government tenders, a recovering economy and easier credit.

Software

Brazil's software market is projected to be worth US$3.8bn in 2010, with more robust growth compared with 2009. Software CAGR for 2010-2014 is projected at around 13%. The current economic crisis led companies in some key Brazilian software spending verticals such as manufacturing and oil and gas to review IT budgets or look to defer systems updates.

IT Services

Brazil's IT services market is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2010, with total spending of around US$8.9bn as the economy continues to bounce back from recession. The award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive substantial investment in IT, not only directly associated with the games, but also related to transport and other infrastructure projects.

E-Readiness

The World Economic Forum's latest IT report ranked Brazil 53rd in the world in the area of 'degree of preparation to participate in and benefit from information and communications technology', placing Brazil fourth in the region behind Chile, Barbados and Mexico. The government recently said that 37mn elementary school children in Brazil should have access to broadband by 2010.

IT Market Study in Brazil 2010

Brazilian IT spending is expected to bounce back in 2010, following strong growth in computer sales in the first half of the year. Government and retail demand drove most of the growth, as Brazil's economy made a robust recovery, while still-sluggish business demand is expected to pick up in H210. Demand for IT products and services is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% over the forecast period, making Brazil one of the best-performing global IT markets. A National Broadband Plan announced in May 2010 should help to drive future growth in demand for IT products and services.

After 2010, the fundamentals of low computer penetration and growing affordability should keep the market on an upward path. Despite current economic uncertainty, a PC penetration rate of less than 25% indicates plenty of room for market growth. Infrastructure investments following the award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive new spending on IT systems and solutions.


Industry Developments

In May 2010, the Brazil government formally launched a National Broadband Plan (PNBL), which aims to triple access to broadband services by 2014. The government will invest BRL11bn in the plan, which will be managed by former state-owned telecoms company Telebras. The government has set an ambitious target for Brazil to have 90mn broadband connections by 2014, reaching half of Brazilian homes. The plan could provide a boost to the Brazilian computer market, as most broadband infrastructure is currently concentrated in major cities and towns.

Vendors reported an upturn in government IT spending in Q110, boosted by computer procurements by the Ministry of Education and schools. Government information and communication technology (ICT) spending reached BRL1.89bn (US$1bn) during January-July 2009. In terms of types of service, consulting accounted for about half of government ICT expenditures in the first seven months of 2009 with investment of BRL915mn.

In H110, the government continued to roll out its 'one computer per student' programme. The programme received a boost in 2009 when Brazil's central bank authorised BRL100mn in funding for national development bank BNDES to purchase PCs through the programme. The funds will be made available to public schools for the purchase of low-cost portable computers and will also cover networking infrastructure costs.

Competitive Landscape

The Brazilian PC market leader remains Positivo Informatica, ahead of leading multinational rivals like HP, Dell and Acer. Positivo has been the sales leader in Brazil for the last 22 quarters and reported a 31.8% year-on-year rise (y-o-y) in revenues in the first quarter of 2010. The company achieved sales of BRL617mn (US$348) on the back of strong sales to the government sector. Positivo's quarterly PC shipments reached 427,741 units, with desktop and notebook shipments increasing 32.2% and 30.9% respectively.

The Brazilian IT services market is competitive with multinationals such as IBM, HP, Accenture and Indian vendors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) competing with local players like Politec, CPM Braxis and Stefanini. Brazil's government is determined to encourage the development of the domestic IT sector, in line with ambitions for Brazil to become one of the world's top outsourcing destinations by 2010.

One growth area is expected to be demand by Brazilian organisations for services to facilitate use of cloud computing. In March 2010, business process outsourcing (BPO) player Tivit announced that it was launching cloud computing services, branded as Tivit virtual services, which will be targeted at corporations. Meanwhile, Brazilian IT services provider Avancera is the exclusive national distributor of Microsoft Dynamics AX in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, and claimed in March 2010 to be on its way towards closing six to eight Microsoft hosting contracts in the year.

Computer Sales

Brazilian sales of computer hardware are projected to grow around 17% in US dollar value terms in 2010, following a strong increase in shipments in the first quarter of the year. PC volume sales were up by around one-third in Q110, boosted by government tenders, a recovering economy and easier credit.

Software

Brazil's software market is projected to be worth US$3.8bn in 2010, with more robust growth compared with 2009. Software CAGR for 2010-2014 is projected at around 13%. The current economic crisis led companies in some key Brazilian software spending verticals such as manufacturing and oil and gas to review IT budgets or look to defer systems updates.

IT Services

Brazil's IT services market is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2010, with total spending of around US$8.9bn as the economy continues to bounce back from recession. The award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive substantial investment in IT, not only directly associated with the games, but also related to transport and other infrastructure projects.

E-Readiness

The World Economic Forum's latest IT report ranked Brazil 53rd in the world in the area of 'degree of preparation to participate in and benefit from information and communications technology', placing Brazil fourth in the region behind Chile, Barbados and Mexico. The government recently said that 37mn elementary school children in Brazil should have access to broadband by 2010.

IT Market Study in Brazil 2010

Brazilian IT spending is expected to bounce back in 2010, following strong growth in computer sales in the first half of the year. Government and retail demand drove most of the growth, as Brazil's economy made a robust recovery, while still-sluggish business demand is expected to pick up in H210. Demand for IT products and services is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% over the forecast period, making Brazil one of the best-performing global IT markets. A National Broadband Plan announced in May 2010 should help to drive future growth in demand for IT products and services.

After 2010, the fundamentals of low computer penetration and growing affordability should keep the market on an upward path. Despite current economic uncertainty, a PC penetration rate of less than 25% indicates plenty of room for market growth. Infrastructure investments following the award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive new spending on IT systems and solutions.


Industry Developments

In May 2010, the Brazil government formally launched a National Broadband Plan (PNBL), which aims to triple access to broadband services by 2014. The government will invest BRL11bn in the plan, which will be managed by former state-owned telecoms company Telebras. The government has set an ambitious target for Brazil to have 90mn broadband connections by 2014, reaching half of Brazilian homes. The plan could provide a boost to the Brazilian computer market, as most broadband infrastructure is currently concentrated in major cities and towns.

Vendors reported an upturn in government IT spending in Q110, boosted by computer procurements by the Ministry of Education and schools. Government information and communication technology (ICT) spending reached BRL1.89bn (US$1bn) during January-July 2009. In terms of types of service, consulting accounted for about half of government ICT expenditures in the first seven months of 2009 with investment of BRL915mn.

In H110, the government continued to roll out its 'one computer per student' programme. The programme received a boost in 2009 when Brazil's central bank authorised BRL100mn in funding for national development bank BNDES to purchase PCs through the programme. The funds will be made available to public schools for the purchase of low-cost portable computers and will also cover networking infrastructure costs.

Competitive Landscape

The Brazilian PC market leader remains Positivo Informatica, ahead of leading multinational rivals like HP, Dell and Acer. Positivo has been the sales leader in Brazil for the last 22 quarters and reported a 31.8% year-on-year rise (y-o-y) in revenues in the first quarter of 2010. The company achieved sales of BRL617mn (US$348) on the back of strong sales to the government sector. Positivo's quarterly PC shipments reached 427,741 units, with desktop and notebook shipments increasing 32.2% and 30.9% respectively.

The Brazilian IT services market is competitive with multinationals such as IBM, HP, Accenture and Indian vendors Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) competing with local players like Politec, CPM Braxis and Stefanini. Brazil's government is determined to encourage the development of the domestic IT sector, in line with ambitions for Brazil to become one of the world's top outsourcing destinations by 2010.

One growth area is expected to be demand by Brazilian organisations for services to facilitate use of cloud computing. In March 2010, business process outsourcing (BPO) player Tivit announced that it was launching cloud computing services, branded as Tivit virtual services, which will be targeted at corporations. Meanwhile, Brazilian IT services provider Avancera is the exclusive national distributor of Microsoft Dynamics AX in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, and claimed in March 2010 to be on its way towards closing six to eight Microsoft hosting contracts in the year.

Computer Sales

Brazilian sales of computer hardware are projected to grow around 17% in US dollar value terms in 2010, following a strong increase in shipments in the first quarter of the year. PC volume sales were up by around one-third in Q110, boosted by government tenders, a recovering economy and easier credit.

Software

Brazil's software market is projected to be worth US$3.8bn in 2010, with more robust growth compared with 2009. Software CAGR for 2010-2014 is projected at around 13%. The current economic crisis led companies in some key Brazilian software spending verticals such as manufacturing and oil and gas to review IT budgets or look to defer systems updates.

IT Services

Brazil's IT services market is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2010, with total spending of around US$8.9bn as the economy continues to bounce back from recession. The award of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro is expected to drive substantial investment in IT, not only directly associated with the games, but also related to transport and other infrastructure projects.

E-Readiness

The World Economic Forum's latest IT report ranked Brazil 53rd in the world in the area of 'degree of preparation to participate in and benefit from information and communications technology', placing Brazil fourth in the region behind Chile, Barbados and Mexico. The government recently said that 37mn elementary school children in Brazil should have access to broadband by 2010.

Review Starcraft II: Hell, it's about time

StarCraft 2: Wings Of Liberty returns players to the Koprulu Sector to settle the score between the Terrans, the Zerg and the Protoss. Let's hope you've built enough pylons.

Back in 1998, Blizzard released one of the most popular and influential games of its time,StarCraft. The strategy game pitted the resourceful Terrans, the ancient Protoss and the relentless Zerg against each other in a battle of strategy and resources.

Twelve years later and after the clamouring of its myriad fans, Blizzard has finally released the sequel.

StarCraft 2 returns to the frontlines of the Terran-Protoss-Zerg war, bringing with it some nifty new units, a polished new 3D interface, familiar gameplay mechanics and the continuation of an epic story set against the backdrop of a war-torn distant future.

After the long wait, what do gamers have to say about this?

Hell, it's about time!

Familiar stars

StarCraft 2 is actually a trilogy of games, with the first entry being StarCraft 2: Wings Of Liberty.

Wings Of Liberty delivers the Terrans' single-player campaign, but the overarching story continues in Heart Of The Swarm and Legacy Of The Void.

The loud noise that you just heard was your wallet screaming in realisation that to enjoy the full breadth of StarCraft 2's single-player campaign, you'll have to fork out the cash to purchase three separate games.

Judging from the quality of gameplay and sheer fun packaged into Wings of Liberty, however, your investment will be well worth it.

If you've played the original StarCraft before, then you'll be immediately familiar with the gameplay.

You still collect minerals and Vespene gas using SCVs, probes or drones.

ZERG RUSH: When you're up against Kerrigan's pets, you better have plenty of endurance because they'll keep coming and coming until they penetrate your defences.

Iconic units like the marines, zealots and hydralisks return. Annoying Zerg players still swarm you with those pesky little zerglings. Grrrr!

In fact, if it weren't for the addition of new units to each faction's arsenal and the spiffy new 3D engine, you could have easily mistaken StarCraft 2 for the original.

StarCraft 2 doesn't make any bold new advances in the core gameplay; There's no new game-changing mechanic like what WarCraft 3 did with the hero units.

Compared to the original StarCraft, it's essentially the same game. However, it's how you play it and how it's presented that's different.

A campaign for freedom

The single-player campaign of Wings of Liberty is an entirely different beast from the "standard" build-your-base-and-kill-the-enemy offering.

The campaign is built on same gameplay mechanics, yes, but Blizzard adds so many innovations to the way it's played that it almost feels like a different game.

The story begin four years after the end of the devastating Brood War.

BRIDGING MISSIONS: After each mission in the single-player campaign, you get the opportunity to explore the Hyperion, Raynor's mobile base of operations. Chat with the crew, purchase upgrades from the armory, and when you're done, head over to the bridge to plan your next move.

You take the role of Jim Raynor, the rebel hero and leader of Raynor's Raiders, as he struggles against Arcturus Mengsk's oppressive Dominion.

The storyline itself is fairly linear, in the sense that there's only one ending to the campaign, but as Raynor you get to choose which missions you want to play, how you play them and which rewards you unlock.

Every mission you play as Raynor and his merry group of rebels/mercenaries has a unique twist that keeps the gameplay fresh.

One mission has you racing to harvest minerals in a resource-starved junk world so you can hire mercenaries before the enemy does; another puts you in a Night Of The Living Dead type of scenario where hordes of "zombies" assault your base when the sun sets.

In between missions, you can use the credits and research points you've earned from completing missions and secondary objectives to purchase upgrades for your ever-growing army or unlock absurdly powerful new technologies.

GOT CASH TO BURN?: Then make your Firebats burn better. The ability to purchase upgrades inbetween missions lets you make longterm investments in the single-player campaign.

The campaign pulls no punches - units that were considered unbalanced for multiplayer are yours to command (and upgrade!) as you fight the Dominion, rogue Protoss and Zerg.

Calling the presentation fantastic is an understatement; the 3D graphics engine, voice actors and story writers worked overtime to present in-game cutscenes of cinematic quality.

That's incredibly impressive for an RTS game, and we're ecstatic to see that storytelling remains one of Blizzard's strong points.

In fact, we'd go as far to say that even with the amount of quality and polish Blizzard puts into the rest of its product, the single-player campaign of Wings Of Liberty is easily the best feature of the package.

Of course, we might just be biased against the multiplayer because we kept getting our asses handed to us by players online.

Online, in space

Even though the Terrans get most of the love in the single-player campaign, all three factions are fully playable in skirmish and multiplayer games.

As mentioned before, the core gameplay mechanics for each faction remain the same, even ifStarCraft 2 introduces new units like the transforming air/ground Viking unit and the teleporting Stalker unit.

The most significant new aspect of StarCraft 2's multiplayer is its integration with Battle.net.

SMALL DETAILS, LARGE CROWDS: A lot of minor but significant improvements have been introduced such as the ability to select more than 12 units at a time. Wait... it took 12 years to get that implemented?

StarCraft 2's reliance on Blizzard's online gaming service is so tight that we'd actually suggest rethinking purchasing the game if you don't have a decent Internet connection.

You can technically play StarCraft 2 offline if you're only interested in the single-player game, but you'll still need to be logged into Battle.net to activate your game, earn achievements and download maps.

Yes, that's right - don't be surprised if you can't even play a skirmish with an AI opponent if you didn't first download the "default" maps.

While the integration of Battle.net proves to be a major downer to players with poor net connections and players who want to play the game on a LAN, it has its upsides.

Our experience has shown that the matchmaking system makes it really easy to find players of similar skill to battle, or partners to co-op with against AIs opponents.

If you're a competitive player, there's always the leagues and tournaments on Battle.net to keep you busy.

The RealID system - which sparked a controversy in July when Blizzard announced they were integrating it into their forums - is present in StarCraft 2.

If you're not aware of the ruckus it caused, the RealID system made a player's real name public when they posted in the forums, much to the ire of privacy advocates.

But don't worry, in this incarnation it mostly takes the form of a prevalent instant messaging system that lets you keep in touch with your friends on Battle.net, even if they aren't playing the same game as you.

Your real name is (theoretically) only revealed to the friends you add to your list and their friends. Standard privacy caveats apply.

If you're a bit of a game developer yourself, you'll be happy with one more aspect of the Battle.net integration - StarCraft 2's powerful map editor is also tied to the service, allowing you to log in and quickly publish your creations online.

Conclusion

StarCraft 2: Wings Of Liberty is hands down one of the best games currently available on the PC and Mac.

It's essentially everything that made the first StarCraft such a popular game, but with so much added polish that it's practically shining.

YO' MOTHERSHIP SO FAT ... light can't escape its gravitational pull! Wait, maybe that's how it cloaks nearby units.

Fans who wanted an evolution in the gameplay will be less ecstatic to see that the core mechanics remain essentially the same as the original StarCraft, however.

But that said, the absorbing and refreshingly innovative single-player campaign should do much to allay their disappointment.

Twelve years might have been quite a wait, but Blizzard has deftly answered the question as to whether it could create a worthy sequel to its iconic RTS game.

Now only one question remains: When are the next two installments coming?

Pros: It's the StarCraft that players love; single-player campaign is fun even on its own; integrated Battle.net functionality.

Cons: A little too tied to Battle.net; No new innovations to the base gameplay mechanic.