Even despite the far from optimistic forecasts of analysts, the laptop class as such does not give up its position to tablets and continues to be popular all over the world. A significant role in this matter was played by the dimensions, where the dimensions and weight of modern laptops were significantly reduced. A good half of manufacturers still decided to switch to SSD drives and learned how to make thin frames around the display.
However, the cost of such devices, even with a modest set of chipsets, was high for the average consumer, not to mention schoolchildren and students for whom laptops of five years ago remain an acceptable option.
Not so long ago, the Prestigio brand introduced on the domestic market a new line of ultra-thin and lightweight gadgets, among which was a very remarkable laptop - Prestigio Smartbook 133S (PSB133S01ZFH DG). Reviews about the model were left entirely positive, and it was clear that the manufacturer approached his brainchild with all seriousness and continued to take care of him until now.
Positioning
The brand collects and positions its device as an office device, that is, it can also be called a netbook. It maintains a reasonable balance between sophisticated design, acceptable performance and a very affordable price.
There are two types of laptops on the market - the PSB133S01ZFH DG version and the Prestigio Smartbook 133S PSB133S01ZFP DB. Reviews about the modifications are mixed. In general, users do not understand why it was necessary to branch this series without visible changes. The first (DG) has a steel body color and a pre-installed home "Windows 10", and the DB version is available in brown and with Win10 Pro on board.
In stores, you can often find a modification of DG, because the reviews for the Prestigio Smartbook 133S PSB133S01ZFP DB laptop are not so flattering. That is, here, users for the most part evaluated the color of the device, and many people liked the steel modification. Next, we consider the laptop in more detail.
So, the subject of this review is the Prestigio Smartbook 133S (13 ”3) netbook. User reviews, advantages and disadvantages of the model, as well as the appropriateness of the purchase will be considered in our article.
Equipment
Despite the abundance of “Ultra” prefixes in the description of the device’s dimensions, the netbook is packed in a rather massive box made of thick cardboard. On the front part we will see the image of the device itself, its name and brand logo.
Behind is a brief specification, which shows the most “delicious” characteristics of the laptop, as well as a few random reviews about the Prestigio Smartbook 133S. The latter, of course, are custom-made, so you should not take them into account. At the ends there is a familiar dealer surroundings in the face of barcodes, labels and stickers.
The interior is built very competently. The laptop itself literally pours into its regular place, as well as other accessories, so there should be no problems with the battle during transportation. In general, the box and other trifles show that the manufacturer did not save on packaging.
Contents of delivery:
- Prestigio Smartbook 133S;
- Power Supply;
- documentation with advertising leaflets;
- warranty card.
The equipment is simple, but more, in fact, is not required. Any additional accessory raises the price bar, and it’s kind of not necessary for a budget model. In any case, you can start working with the device “out of the box”, and buy bags, covers, a headset and other accessories separately at your discretion.
Appearance
Judging by the reviews of the Prestigio Smartbook 133S, the laptop at the first acquaintance produces a wow effect with its truly ultra-thin body and attractive design. The appearance of the laptop can not be called budgetary, because it more closely resembles premium solutions from venerable brands.
But the prefix "ultra" does not fit the weight of the device. The device is clearly not super lightweight: 1.4 kilograms may be less than the average 2 kg for laptops, but it will not work for a long time to keep it on weight, especially on fragile female handles. Here, the bulk falls not so much on the inside of the device with the battery, but on the aluminum case. The latter, although it gives the laptop an enviable stiffness, but the backpack or bag draws noticeably.
We can say that the design of the model is thought out to the smallest detail. The lid is hooked by a convenient and familiar movement with any finger (in thickness) to the recess and is easily opened with one hand. The friction mechanism of the hinges cannot be called tight, but to fully open the display, you still need to hold the base due to its lightness.
Design features
Reviews on the laptop Prestigio Smartbook 133S in this regard are entirely positive. Many users are bothered by the ill-conceived opening mechanisms of the lid: some are too tight at first, then barely hold when opening to the working angle, others have to be equipped with wedges after a week, and here we have a competent design, which practically does not have demolition.
The cover itself is thin - about 3 mm, with barely noticeable frames around the perimeter of the screen. On the edges you can see two rubber protrusions for protection during transportation, and on top - the brand logo with laser engraving.
The lower part is occupied by rubber legs almost flush with the body, so sliding on smooth surfaces is almost impossible. There you can see an empty compartment, covered with a cover for an additional SSD-hard drive (class M2 - up to 512 GB). All this looks stylish, appropriate and gives solidity to the netbook.
Interfaces
On the left and right ends are full-fledged USB-ports 3.0, so there should not be any problems with connecting peripherals. Also on the left side you can see the micro-HDMI video output, allowing you to broadcast the image to a TV or projector. There is also a small hole for the built-in microphone.
On the right side there is a card reader for external SD media, a standard 3.5 mm mini-jack audio output and an interface for power supply. Many users in their reviews of the Prestigio Smartbook 133S netbook have repeatedly complained that there is no charging inductor near the network jack. A small LED would not be superfluous and obviously would not affect the concept of "Ultra", and you have to look at the recharge statistics directly on the screen, which is not always convenient. It’s good that in the working area they didn’t stint on three laptop status indicators. The latter are located in the upper left part above the keyboard.
Display
A 13.3-inch screen works on an IPS matrix with high resolution (Full HD) and a spread of 1920 x 1080 pixels (16 to 9). Such a “filling” is simply luck for a budget model, and a good half of competing counterparts can count on maximum HD-development.
Taking into account reviews of the Prestigio Smartbook 133S and synthetic tests, we can say that the output picture is close to ideal. The maximum margin of brightness also did not disappoint: with the device you can safely sit outdoors on a sunny day, and in the room the level quietly drops to 50-60% without loss of comfort. It is also worth noting that the screen received a matte surface, and this eliminates the visual part from glare and reflections.
Matrix Features
The device showed itself especially well while watching photo and video content. The matrix perfectly copes with the tasks assigned to it and does not leave phantom loops on the screen, managing to quickly “digest” frames without touching the semitone.
Viewing angles are also at an acceptable level for the IPS-matrix - about 160 degrees. Of course, this is not an ideal MVA with its 180⁰, but you can quite calmly watch the same photos or videos in the company of one or two like-minded people.
Keyboard
The device received an island-type keyboard. The buttons have a barely audible response and a slight soft stroke. Despite the compactness of the work area, working with it is pleasant and convenient. Judging by the reviews of the Prestigio Smartbook 133S, users do not experience any discomfort during printing.
The designers managed to place on a small work area all the necessary functionality for ordinary needs: context keys, navigation for documents and other office surroundings. The device shutdown button is in the upper row on the right, that is, it is part of the keyboard. The solution may not seem to be the most successful, but information about frequent accidental clicks in user reviews about the Prestigio Smartbook 133S is not found.
Touchpad
The touchpad surprised me with its sensitivity, legibility to touch and accuracy of positioning. To meet such a responsive manipulator in the public sector is a great success. There is no discomfort, especially when working in cramped conditions (on the knees). The only thing users sometimes complain about in their reviews is the hypersensitivity of the sensors: you have to hold your hand almost to the canopy.
The touchpad supports all standard gestures, including two fingers, which is very convenient when viewing photos (zoom) or turning pages in a browser. Mechanical keys work clearly, but you need to make some effort to press.
Performance
Intel is responsible for the performance by no means a new, but well-established processor of the Celeron class N3350 series from Intel operating on two cores at 1.1 GHz. Under heavy load, the latter can accelerate to 2.3 GHz.
The graphic part fell on the shoulders of the built-in HD Graphics N500 video accelerator, perfectly "digesting" all ordinary multimedia queries. The main feature of this set of chipsets is the economical consumption of energy resources and the performance of any office tasks. With what he, in fact, copes well.
Three gigabytes of RAM is enough for trouble-free operation of the operating system and office applications. Difficulties arise during the launch of modern games. Yes, the chipset set copes well with toys such as Fallout 3, League of Legends, Dota or CS: GO, but there can be no question of launching the last Witcher, fifth GTA or the same Fallout 4.
For the user's personal needs, the Prestigio Smartbook 133S provides a drive, even a 32 GB flash drive, of which only half of this volume is available, since the rest of the space is occupied by the Windows operating system. You can increase the memory with the same flash drives up to 64 GB or by installing an SSD-drive in a special slot on the case. The latter option is more attractive (512 GB), but at the same time very expensive (about 6000 rubles).
Wireless protocols
The device is equipped with all the necessary modules for wireless information transfer, including Wi-Fi on the 802.11 b / g / n protocol. Tests have shown that there are no delays or data losses due to the fault of the laptop, so this is all right.
The transmitter on the Prestigio Smartbook 133S netbook is quite powerful and calmly copes with the concrete wall at a distance of 10-15 meters from the router. There were no problems with the fourth-generation Bluetooth either: the mouse and headphones worked with a minimum delay for this type of equipment.
Offline work
The device received a good 5000 mAh (7.4V) battery. As for ordinary office tasks, everything is fine here: web surfing, Word, music and viewing photos put the battery in 8 hours. If you turn on the video in high resolution with 80% of the screen brightness, then the battery will last for about 6-7 hours.
With a capital load of “heavy” games (“Fallout 3”, Alien Isolation, “Star Craft”), the device starts asking for an outlet after 3 hours. The results are not bad, especially when compared with competing budget counterparts.
Summarizing
The Prestigio Smartbook 133S will be a convenient and extremely elegant companion for everyday tasks. It copes with any office applications and multimedia content. The device’s compactness will allow you to take it to almost any place, and a long battery life will calm your nerves in the absence of an outlet.
Web surfing, music, photos, videos, documents - this is what the model can easily cope with. Two third-generation USB ports will allow you to connect any peripherals and work, as they say, without leaving the cash register. If you splurge on a good SSD-drive, then there will be no problems with the storage and reading of data, since the design allows for upgrades. By the way, you can also increase the amount of RAM, if it turns out to be small.
Of course, the laptop is not designed for "heavy" gaming applications, but it is not in the price category to seriously ask about it. So we have an excellent workhorse with a quality component, and it’s extremely compact and pretty.
Advantages of the model:
- dimensions of type "Ultra";
- attractive and stylish appearance;
- high-quality matrix with Full HD-development;
- nice and comfortable keyboard with touchpad;
- two independent USB ports of class 3.0;
- acceptable battery life;
- affordable price tag for available features.
Disadvantages:
- mediocre set of chipsets (not for serious games);
- very small capacity of the internal flash drive (you need to buy an SSD-hard drive).
Estimated cost - about 17,000 rubles.