Techno gadget » Laptop

Dell new E series laptop

krish — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:49:56 +0000

Dell has updated its Latitude E series with a trio of notebook computers that are “simple and affordable”, but are still targeted towards the business user. Some of the noticeable upgrades in the Latitude E6410, E6510 and E6410 ATG (pictured above) include upgrades to Intel Core i5/i7 processors, DDR3 memory and high-definition screens. Dell also tries to sell the eco-factor, noting that 85 percent of an E-series laptop can be recycled. These Dell notebooks also feature more energy-efficient displays and halogen-free motherboards.

LG debuts T280 laptop, X140, X200 Netbooks

krish — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:52:29 +0000

The road to CeBIT is certainly getting crowded. LG has just announced a new laptop and a pair of Netbooks that will be put on display at the tech trade show in Germany next week. First up is the T280 notebook computer, an ultralight and suave-looking piece of machinery.

Adobe Flash 10.1 beta 3 on Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator

krish — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:56:57 +0000

A widely touted substitute has been the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, which some PC makers are using in place of the Nvidia Ion, as it is currently available in Netbooks with Intel’s N450 CPUs. But it’s been a halfway solution at best–it works fine for playing HD WMV files on your local machine, but streaming video sites such as Hulu (which use Adobe’s Flash) couldn’t take advantage of the HD video hardware. At least, not yet. PC makers have been waiting for the arrival of the 10.1 beta 3 version of the Flash Player, which they claimed would support the Broadcom Crystal HD chip.

We’ve been highly skeptical of the benefits of buying a Netbook with a built-in Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. First, we’re fans of Nvidia’s Ion GPU, which not only provides similar HD video playback assistance but also basic 3D graphics support. Second, the Broadcom part wasn’t supported by Adobe’s Flash player, making it useless for streaming Web video, which is what we’d imagine a lot of Netbook owners would want to play. Fortunately, Adobe has finally made Flash 10.1 beta 3 available for download, which, according to the PC makers who offer Netbooks with the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, provides better HD Web video streaming performance. We took a Netbook with the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, HP’s new Mini 210, and ran it through several Web video tests to see if the new Flash player actually provided any benefit. A video overview of our results is embedded (excuse the occasional cameo appearance by my face in the overly reflective glossy screen).

Toshiba’s New Notebooks

krish — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:22:10 +0000

Toshiba announced the new Portege M780 tablet PC and Satellite Pro U500 laptop with multitouch display. The laptop, which are loaded with Windows 7 Professional, bring a touch interface to educational applications (the U500) and IT professionals (the M780). Both models include Toshiba’s touch-ready ReelTime and Bulletin Board applications, which are information organization applications with a visual bent.

MSI’s 16-inch GE600 gaming Laptop

krish — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:58:21 +0000

Powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, the MSI tries to pack a lot of punch within this 2.7kg heavy machine. Featuring an SRS Premium Sound system and an ATI Radeon HD 5730 graphics card (with 1 GB of DDR3 VRAM), there’s plenty to work with for gaming, but also any other media that will keep you entertained. MSI is also going for the “noble” (and maybe the stylish) gamer by mixing in a soft hue of gold into the black encasing, plus a luminescent hotkey set with silver borders. It all sounds so regal and fancy, not like the typical gaming machine.

New Lenovo Dual-Screen Laptop

krish — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:20:30 +0000

The W700ds With dual displays–one 17-inch, and a second slide-out one at 10.6 inches–and a Wacom digitizer surface built in right next to the touchpad, the W700ds was the experimental supersize ThinkPad to satisfy the dreams of desktop replacement dual-monitor fetishists everywhere. Not only does a revamped W700ds finally seem to be nearing a US release, but these specs were leaked by Lenovo, according to ThinkPads.com. These slides certainly look official, but the specs lack any mention of a CPU. We do see some other key details, however: a whopping 16GB of DDR3 RAM, Nvidia Quadro FX 3800M graphics, dual hard drive/SSD drive bays, and built-in color calibration software.

Affordable MSI laptop gets Blu-ray and Core i3 chip

krish — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:28:28 +0000

Intel Core i3 and i5 processors in a laptop is hardly surprising news anymore, but affordable notebook computing–well, that’s another story. MSI tends to be on the bleeding edge of the cheap notebook spectrum, and the company’s recent announcement of updated Classic laptops offers a few eye-openers. The entire line of C-Series 15.6-inch Core i3 and i5 laptops starts at US$649, and there’s even a configuration that includes Blu-ray and a Core i3 for US$699; MSI claims the CR620-033US is US$729, but Newegg does that price US$30 better. All MSI CR-620 models include Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, have at least 320GB hard drives, and have 15.6-inch screens with 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution–not full HD, but at this price, close enough.

Lenovo’s New ThinkPad Edge series

krish — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:57:09 +0000

Lenovo has started to sneak in some AMD chips into its portables. But instead of simply adding Sunnyvale processors as an option for its existing lineup, the Chinese maker has launched a new range, the ThinkPad Edge, as well as an ultrathin model, the ThinkPad X100e (which we’ve covered in a preview). Targeting SMB (small and medium business) users, the new ThinkPad Edge series comes in 13-, 14- and 15-inch flavors with a choice between AMD’s Turion and Neo processors as well as Intel’s offerings. Like the rest of its ThinkPad siblings, the new line sports features such as the ThinkVantage technology and a spill-resistant keyboard. Unlike its predecessors, the ThinkPad Edge has chiclet-style keys as well as a larger multitouch trackpad. The new range is available in black and red with the ThinkPad Edge 13 available from early January at a starting price of S$1,189 (US$846.32). The larger ThinkPad Edge 14 and Edge 15 will hit retail shelves from Q2.

The Dell Vostro 13:

krish — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:36:29 +0000

The big news here is that it’s the company’s first ULV thin-and-light for the business sector, an area that seems to be a big focus factor in a down economy when lots of small business entrepreneurs are looking for affordable portables. We had the chance for a quick up-close hands-on look at one, and it’s definitely an attractive little laptop. With an industrial design that’s heavy on anodized aluminum and borrows a lot of what was eye-catching about the original Adamo, the Vostro V13 is 0.65 inch thick and weighs around 3.5 pounds, comes with a Webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and an ExpressCard slot standard, and starts at US$449–but, mind you, that’s a configuration that includes a single-core Celeron processor and Ubuntu Linux as an operating system.

For Windows 7 and a Core 2 Duo ULV, the price rises in the range of mid-to-high US$600, which is still really good compared with its closest competitors, the HP Pavilion dm3 and Asus UL30A-A1. The Vostro V13 will support up to 4GB of RAM, and can be optionally upgraded with 3G mobile broadband. Battery life courtesy of the sealed-in six-cell is, according to Dell, slightly less than 5 hours, though we’ll have to see for ourselves when we review one. We have to hand it to Dell, though–it seems to have taken a lot of what was so appealing about the Adamo and passed it down into a machine that’ll still be sleek enough to show off.

Targus Laptop Docking Station Is Gateway

krish — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:35:52 +0000

On lower-priced laptops and Netbooks, something typically sacrificed is the ability to link up with an external display through anything but a VGA output. With the Targus USB 2.0 Docking Station with Video (aka the ACP51US) it doesn’t even matter what, if any, display output your notebook or Netbook has, though. Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 systems, the wedge-shaped dock uses DisplayLink technology to connect to an external monitor up to a resolution of 2,048×1,152 pixels. A single USB 2.0 port on your laptop is all that’s needed to add an external monitor, up to four USB devices, Ethernet, speakers, and a mic. Two of the four USB ports are powered, too, in case you need an always-on option for charging a couple USB devices like your cell phone or MP3 player.