CyberpowerPC's Compal PBL21: The Shark's New Teeth
by Dustin Sklavos on July 11, 2011 12:30 AM ESTThat Same Great 1080p Screen
The model number of the screen in the Compal PBL21 appears to match up to the screen used in the NBLB2, although our tests do reveal some variance. That said, it's still basically excellent. Although we've had one notebook that disappointed us, generally speaking a 1080p screen is almost always a great investment: contrast, color gamut, color accuracy, and viewing angles all seem to be improved by the finer pitch. The screen on the PBL21 is a joy to use and thankfully it comes standard.
The screen on the Dell XPS 15 was a foregone conclusion as a clear winner; their B+RG LED backlighting produces an outstanding color gamut in their screens along with superior contrast. But the Compal PBL21 is still largely able to keep pace with the Clevo unit's 1080p screen, and is frankly an excellent upgrade over competing notebooks with their 1366x768 panels. There are also various reasons to prefer lower color gamuts, and in terms of coming close to the sRGB standard the Compal LCD wins out over the Dell. The Compal LCD is also quite bright at ~350 nits, which is useful if you happen to use it in brightly lit environment or outdoors (though you'd still want to be in the shade unless you have a ~600+ nits backlight).
Viewing angles on the PBL21 are likewise stellar. As I mentioned in my review of the Alienware M17x R3, a TN panel doesn't necessarily have to mean doom and gloom; TN panels are capable of being much better than they used to be, and the PBL21's panel is proof enough of that. For regular use or even color-intensive use, the PBL21 should do in a pinch.
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DanNeely - Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - link
It's true, and if that was litigatible class action lawyers would've been circling Sony like sharks years ago. the first PS3 game to upsample came out only a year or two after the console launched. The clueless brigade of the internet press concluded that it meant that PS# hardware was maxed out and that the console would be fated for a very early replacement.shooty - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
"Noise levels are comfortably low even under extreme load..."Is the this the only mention of noise or did I miss something? Noise levels are important in a notebook, can you please have a comparison graph of this notebooks noise levels idling and under load? Similar to what is done for graphics cards.
Thanks
aranyagag - Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - link
why is it that except apple no one is capable of giving a 16:10 or taller screen -- am I the only one that does not spend all the time on the notebook watching movies?and even for 16:9 movies I prefer the onscreen menu to remain visible-- and not hide the movie.
Kakureru - Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - link
last time I had a Compal laptop, the support was complete crap.I was left to my own devices as I had to fix obscure built in un replaceable components
with the life cycle of less than one service pack cycle...
I would be willing to invest another look if that has changed.
StrangerGuy - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - link
WTF...vendors still wanna build laptops with glossy surfaces in Q3 2011 despite we saying a million times that we don't want out laptops to be fingerprint and scratch magnets.