You're trying to be all things to everyone now...latest issue

I'm as adept with PC's as a one-eyed Baboon, but we have to accept that new technology will play a bigger part and become more influential. I just believe it's a supply and demand thing rather than anything sinster, accept the fact that laptops will become more commonplace between the sheets of most traditional home entertainment mags - just hope the standard bearers, like CDP's, Turntables etc. don't suffer as a consequence.

I don't think it's anything sinister at all PP, but when I see new amps on the market (Harman Kardon HK980 at the highly contentious £350-£350 budget price) that are still off the radar you wonder how much activity is being brought to bear on encouraging the likes of HK to send in a review sample. They seem to be rolling off the shelves in Richer Sounds given the stock limitations when you check the RS website. Okay, it's only one amp, but the absence in the mag jumps out.

I could have understood the rationale better behind this particular test if the laptop pricepoints were a third or even a half of what they are, but no-one out there is going to hand over £1200 for a machine like that for that purpose and come to WHFS&V to buy it. I'm hoping this was a one-off and not going to become a regular (or even quarterly) feature.

We've been reviewing both desktop and laptop PCs/Macs since they started becoming a home-entertainment hub for many - we've even picked Award-winning Media Centre PCs for the past couple of years.

No, it's not going to be a regular feature - just the odd First Test or round-up when there are new products of interest.

The fact that the first batch of full-spec Blu-ray laptops has just appeared was the reason for including them - especially at the time of year when people are preparing to pack students off to college and may be looking for such a one-stop work/entertainment solution.

As for the Harman Kardon issue - we are in regular contact with HK (they were in just a couple of weeks back with some JBL kit), but don't always get the review samples we request. It seems they've a change of approach coming up that could - hopefully - make it easier for us to get hold of products and bring you reviews.
 

I'll speak out as one of the growing band who totally depend on a computer for their music and say thanks for the review. I bought a laptop with the intention of using it for music and a bit of surfing, so the more information the better.

Us headfiers have also been spoiled over the past few issues with amp and can reviews. I suspect at some point there will be a dry spell with no headfi reviews. Maybe during that time record players will get some more coverage, swings and round-a-bouts.

Sorry Record Spot, but I totally disagree that PC reviews is too far. I would never say stop reviewing record players because they are a minority interest and old school. If a source is current ie CDPs, PCs and not redundant ie minidisc, cassettes, it should be reviewed IMHO.

We also specifically included the 'I Remember When' page on turntables to remind people that just 10 years ago vinyl was rescued from its seeming terminal decline by the revival of affordable, easy-to-use decks. Back then in 1999 we'd even abandoned  a dedicated turntables category in our Awards - something that was later restored and  is still going strong!

Yes, and I haven't forgiven you lot for that either! I was apoplep-, apolep-, ap -, really angry that you dumped the Turntable category in the mid-90s!

IDC: fine, but there isn't anything WHFS&V could do for you in that case. You'd be looking for a machine's capability to store an application, some software and have free space. That's no really relevant for the purposes of the mag's remit. The Blu-Ray DVD drive was the rationale for inclusion this time not whether or not a machine can run music software, etc.

You might need a laptop or PC to run a test for computer based music granted, but the review of the machine itself wouldn't answer many questions in lieu of your requirements as a buyer. What Laptop, or similar, would be a bigger help for you (benchmark tests, etc., being something you might find more useful for example and which would likely not be included in a WHFS&V test).

the record spot:

You're trying to be all things to everyone now...

You say it like it's a bad thing...

Not at all Andrew, but I think in order to do that for the video capabilities of a laptop, you need something more comprehensive - Blu-Ray drives are one thing, but graphics handling capabilities, benchmarking against reference models, processing power of the chip, bundled RAM, operating system, etc? All will have an impact on the end result. Hence my query - thanks, incidentally, to Clare for her answer earlier.

By covering BD laptops, we're merely covering what is demanded of us from our recent survey of 7000 readers.

I think you underestimate the amount of use a laptop gets as a movie device, even by AV fans, for use on planes, trains and hotel rooms etc when the AV set-up is less than brilliant. With regard to the tech stuff, we take it into account, but have to steer clear of the confusing jargon and answer the basic questions - what does it look/sound like and is it worth the money. We're a consumer buyer's guide, not a PC magazine.

It's really no different to covering wireless or high-end headphones for your iPod when we also cover high-end speakers and systems. Everybody consumes music and movies in different and changing ways and we're concerned with making sure you get the best entertainment experience wherever you are.

 

 

 

the record spot:

Laptop review. Did someone decamp from What Laptop by mistake this month?

Granted, not an inherent review of each machine as a computer for doing computery things, but nevertheless, this is a branching out of the magazine's remit too far IMO.

I don't doubt there'll be a stiff defence of the inclusion of this group test and yes, I'm wholeheartedly aware that people use their laptops on trains for watching movies, the BBC iPlayer and the like, but that's perhaps not the core reason for buying one. The "Now add these" box is wasted here; how many people out there will use their Acer as their core means of watching a movie? Very, very few. I'd be astounded if it gets beyond three figure totals.

Five laptops in this group test. That's more than some of your recent turntable reviews of the past few years.

What on earth is going on? The fact you can get playback on a laptop is incidental. The magazine is trying to be all things to everyone more and more now. If someone is looking to buy a laptop, they'll get one of the specialist titles of which there are many.

IMO, and with the greatest of respect, you're spreading yourselves way too thinly. Either rebrand and become "What Entertainment" or ditch the products that flutter around the fringes of the entertainment/hi-fi marketplace (and barely in the case of laptops) and stick to what you're best at.

I agree with you record spot. There are magazines far better placed to provide reviews of laptops and the more WHFS&V gets watered down with this sort of coverage the less specialist and informative it seems.

I have absolutely no doubt at all that the magazine has the expertise and the facilities to be superb, but the lack of depth in hi-fi reviews is getting to be a bit tiresome. Using pages up on areas of home entertainment where other publications have more expertise seems a great shame when so much more could be said on the hi-fi issue.

I fear the label 'consumer buyers guide' says it all. No longer that much of a specialist magazine then really.

The blu-ray laptops was one of the first things i read & i must say it was an enjoyable read, portable blu-ray, good topic.

Richard Melville:

By covering BD laptops, we're merely covering what is demanded of us from our recent survey of 7000 readers.

I think you underestimate the amount of use a laptop gets as a movie device, even by AV fans, for use on planes, trains and hotel rooms etc when the AV set-up is less than brilliant. With regard to the tech stuff, we take it into account, but have to steer clear of the confusing jargon and answer the basic questions - what does it look/sound like and is it worth the money. We're a consumer buyer's guide, not a PC magazine.

It's really no different to covering wireless or high-end headphones for your iPod when we also cover high-end speakers and systems. Everybody consumes music and movies in different and changing ways and we're concerned with making sure you get the best entertainment experience wherever you are.

 

 

 

Hi Richard and thanks for your comments.

I use a laptop - or did - for work. I took mine around the place and used it on the train between London and Edinburgh, in hotel rooms in Brighton and though it doesn't have a BR-DVD drive, it did okay. Nothing special and probably much like the hardware reviewed this issue in that regard.

I'd beg to differ that it is substantially different and the rationale behind this test and your comments is at odds here. If the concern is to ensure we get the best experience out there, then there are better laptops out there more capable than the ones reviewed in the current issue. One two star machine obviously doesn't cut it and four others don't even ripple the surface when it comes to the other products out there.

My own laptop is HDMI enabled with an Altec Lansing sound system. My last one was Dolby Digital equipped. The present one's a dual core, 3Gb RAM, Vista OS machine with a 250Gb HD. Some HQ streams from YouTube are pretty decent. BBC iPlayer is pretty excellent. It cost me £380, so roughly 1/3rd that of the machines in this issue. Bearing all that in mind, are there other non-BR enabled laptops that would cut the mustard? I have no idea and this feature did nothing to answer those questions really.

Sorry to bang on about it, my point is made I think, but thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply.

matthewpiano:

......I agree with you record spot. There are magazines far better placed to provide reviews of laptops and the more WHFS&V gets watered down with this sort of coverage the less specialist and informative it seems.

Surely all What Hifi are doing is concentrating on one aspect of a PC; its ability to fit into a hifi/av setup, which is what more and more of us are doing now. That is pretty specialist to me.