| Killer Notebooks Executioner |
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Features:
When we received the Executioner model, the first thing that jumped out at
us when we opened the box was the unique emblem the notebook had on its outside
cover. As you can see in the picture, to demonstrate the ability they have
to provide customization to their notebooks, KillerNotebooks.com graciously
placed our Techware Labs logo on the outside. This is a very nice feature
and one that we would recommend to make your laptop less common looking and
much more personalized. Mark has the ability to create custom covers based
on images that his clients send him.
The instruction manual provided with the notebook was quite substantial, and we highly recommend reading it since it has some very nice "secrets" within it that will help keep things under control on your notebook. A few things that we noticed right away were the hotkey / special key functions on this notebook. Pressing the Fn then F2 key sequence turns your notebooks fans on "turbo mode" which is the fastest speed your fans will run. This is a great feature when you are planning on doing anything that will generate alot of heat for the video or cpu as it allows the system to stay much cooler, with only a little more fan-noise to contend with. The Executioner maintained a 32 deg. C temperature, while the office maintained a 26 deg. C ambient temperature, during average usage and work performed on the laptop with the fans set to turbo mode. To set the fans back to normal quiet mode one only has to press the Fn then the F2 key again and it returns to its default fan mode. Other mentionable hotkey / special keys are those that enable/disable the wireless ethernet signal (for those times when you are wired to the network); enable / disable the touchpad (for those that use a mouse and for gaming... ever get tired of accidentally hitting the touchpad with your thumb?!); enable / disable the built-in Web-Cam, and the keys to enable / disable the bluetooth module should you order one with your notebook.
As we open the notebook, we are greeted by the large GlassView display screen which makes everything look richer in color and depth. At the top center of the display frame we notice the built-in 1.3 MegaPixel camera that with the installed software can be used to take pictures, and as a webcam for conversing and sharing over the internet.
At the top of our unit, we find three hotkeys that with just one touch quickly enable the e-mail, the internet homepage, and any user specified application. This last key can be customized to start any user specified application quite easily by programming it via the Hotkey setup icon in the taskbar. The full size keyboard and separate number pad clearly stand out as being the right size a full grown man. Across the top of the keyboard, the function keys are clearly displayed with icons that allow for quick reference of the commands they store. On either side of the keyboard are the large speakers which are part of the Hi-Definition Azalia SoundBlaster Pro compatible SRS WOW system.
Below the keyboard and centrally located is the large touchpad with side scrolling bar area. Just below the touchpad are two large elliptically shaped buttons and one circular button in the center. The two large buttons perform the same functionality of the left and right mouse buttons on a normal mouse, where as the circular central button has four arrow indicators on it .....??
Below the touchpad /button area is the Audio "DJ' CD Player. This built-in standalone audio CD player provides the owner direct hardware control for audio CD's and DVD's when the notebook computer is shut down, but still has a working power source in the form of the battery having charge or leaving it plugged in. This allows you to open the CD-Tray, so you can place the CD's/DVD's for listening; controlling the volume, looping or repeating a track set, digitally indicates to you which track you are listening to and provides you control over forward, reverse, play/pause, stop and ejecting the CD-Tray. This is a fantastic feature set.
Next to the Audio "DJ" CD Player and to the right is where the dynamic microphone is located on the Executioner.
Along the right side we find the headphone-out and microphone-in jack ports, the 7-in-1 card reader, the Express Card 34 / 35 slot, a Mini-IEEE 1394 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and the right speaker.
Along the left side we find the security lock slot, the left speaker and the Optical CD/DVD drive bay.
Across the back of the Executioner from left to right we have the outlet for the hot air coming out of the laptop from the heat pipes, the S/PDIF-Out Jack, The Line-In Jack, two USB 2.0 Ports, the DVI-Out Port, the TV Antenna Jack (enabled with TV Tuner Only), the RJ-11 Phone Modem Jack, the RJ-45 LAN Jack, a 7-Pin S-Video-Out Jack, the DC-In Jack and the Serial Port.
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