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Filed under: Laptops

Just because you haven’t gotten up the nerve to build your own laptop doesn’t mean that everyone’s just running out and buying pre-fabricated lap warmers, now does it? Antec sure hopes not, else its new CBB component initiative will become a serious money loser. Said outfit has just revealed a slew of new interchangeable kit designed to act as “building blocks” for folks looking to piece together their own notebook. It even goes so far as to proclaim that this is the “first time that system builders will be able to build customized, personalized laptops from individual components,” and while we′re pretty sure that’s exaggerating it, there’s no doubt the commercialization here makes it easier to digest. The new enclosures, docking station, CBB / RC2-specific keyboards, AC adapters, battery packs, webcams and more are available now for tinkerers who care.

[Via ExtremeTech]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Laptops

This week’s episode of Ask Engadget (you know you can submit your own inquiry at ask at engadget dawt com, right?) poses a beautifully simple, albeit timely question about those bantam laptops that have taken over the world in recent months. What was once a niche market is now a blossoming sector, and the choices are indeed overwhelming.

“With so many netbooks now available, which is the best one out there? I’m mostly concerned with getting the best bang for my buck, so I’m not too interested in any of those higher-end units.”

For those of you who have bit the bullet on one netbook or another, what kind of taste has it left in your mouth? Would you recommend your current unit? Would you suggest looking elsewhere? Let the battle of the bite-sized lappies begin!

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Not that these units are a complete surprise or anything, but HP’s taking the time to get really, really official with its minty fresh EliteBooks. Up first is the beastly EliteBook 8730w (that’s the 6830s pictured), which packs a 17-inch DreamColor display, a quad-core Intel CPU, 8GB of RAM and one of NVIDIA’s 1GB Quadro FX graphics cards. Keeping things going are the EliteBook 8530w and 8530p, both of which boast a 15.4-inch display, 8GB of RAM, a Core 2 Duo chip (8530w supports optional quad-core) and HP’s own brushed anodized aluminum DuraCase. As for pricing and release information? Good luck on the guessing.

[Thanks, Christopher]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Anyone remotely familiar with the Zepto brand understands that it doesn’t mess around when it comes to PC gaming, and anyone (in the UK, at least) remotely interested in treating themselves to an all new machine should certainly give this one a glance. The 15.4-inch Nexus A15 arrives in a fairly respectable £599 ($1,181) / £699 ($1,378) base configuration, but things get entirely more exciting when adding in the 2.53GHz Intel P9500 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive (or 32GB SSD, if that’s your thing), a Blu-ray optical drive and a 6-cell battery sure to wither away in no time flat. All the regulars are on board too: WiFi, NVIDIA’s GeForce 9600M GT, Windows Vista, audio in / out, a multicard reader, Ethernet and a few USB ports for good measure. Have fun making those previously mentioned price points look absurdly small.

[Via PCLaunches, thanks vinit]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

We’ve been hearing the faintest of whispers that Lenovo had a new IdeaPad on tap, and while we haven’t received any official confirmation just yet, we figured it prudent to pass along the latest. According to an anonymous tipster, the 𑜆 will boast a 14.1-inch WXGA display, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, Vista Home Basic, a DVD burner, NVIDIA’s 256MB GeForce 9300M GS and a 6-cell battery. Furthermore, you’ll find 802.11a/b/g WiFi, no webcam and an undisclosed array of ports. Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to pricing / availability, but surely we’ll know something more soon. Surely.

[Thanks, anonymous]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

No, not that dual-screen, silly. Or that one. Or that one! The dual-screen lappie we’re talking about actually has two LCD panels, one of which takes the place of a traditional keyboard / trackpad. Reportedly, ↤ Designs — which takes credit for dreaming up the design some four years ago — is working with an undisclosed US firm in order to bring said concept to market. We’re told that the keyboard display will likely support haptic feedback so users can feel when a keystroke is registered, and of course, voice recognition will also play a large role. It’s not that we don’t think these are coming, but ↤’s Valerio Cometti is suggesting that they’ll be ready for consumption in a mere 16 months. Don’t hate us for being skeptical, but… we’re skeptical.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Hooray! More Sony VAIO laptops with naming schemes impossible to decipher! Following up on those tasty new FW and SR lappies that we were informally introduced to earlier this week comes even more foreign images detailing a 13.1-incher. On the surface, it looks like said machines will feature a Core 2 Duo processor, 1,600 x 900 native resolution, 4GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics card, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi, integrated HSDPA connectivity and a modest array of ports. For more details on which model gets what (off the record, of course), dip on into the read links below.

Read - Images / specs of new machines
Read - More details on rumored VAIOs

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

As we’ve seen, laptops have a tendency of getting stolen from even the most unsuspecting places, but a new study has now found one not entirely surprising place where your laptop is particularly unsafe: the airport. According to the Ponemon Institute, more than 10,000 laptops are reported lost at the 36 largest airports in the US each week and, of those, 65 percent are not reclaimed. They also reported a further 2,000 laptops lost at medium-sized airports, with 69 percent of those not reclaimed. According to the institute, folks also aren’t very confident that they′ll ever see their laptop again once it goes missing, with 77 percent of the people surveyed saying they had “no hope” of ever recovering a laptop lost at the airport, and 16 percent saying they wouldn’t even do anything to attempt to recover it. Of course, there’s no shortage of suggestions out there for preventing your laptop from getting lost or stolen, and Network World’s Richard Stiennon has a couple of good ones at the link below.

[Via Network World]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

Check it L.E.S hipsters, a laptop that can withstand the stresses of sporting an ironic mustache and deep v-neck Tee around town. The magnesium alloy B51E features ruggedized touches like rubber (baby) bumpers along the edges and a protective film to ward off scratches on the chassis and display. It also features a keyboard with integrated drainage path and hard drive “floated on a sponge protection system” capable of withstanding mojito spills of up to 120 cc / 4 ounces and tabletop drops from 75 cm / 2.5 feet. Oddly, the screen dimensions are not mentioned though the laptop is 14.37-inch wide and tops-out with a Core 2 Duo 󏆬 proc, up to 4GB of memory, Intel GMA X3100 graphics, up to 320GB disk, and integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam. Now lean in and start maliciously rubbing your hands together — we’ve got the abuse video after the break.

[Via I4U]

Continue reading Video: ASUS’ rugged B51E — tougher than a hipster yuppie

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

This certainly won′t be the first time ASUS has shipped an in-demand item elsewhere in the world while USers ponder the thought of importing, but apparently the outfit’s potent G70 is now on sale in the UK. For those who missed it, this monstrosity features a 17-inch WUXGA / WXGA+ panel, an optional Core 2 Extreme processor, twin GeForce 8700M GT graphics cards, 1GB of RAM, an optional Blu-ray writer, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth / WiFi and oodles of LED accents. Word on the street has it going for around £1,999 ($3,948) well equipped, but those blokes across the pond aren’t too worried about a US release date.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

Not to crack open a can of worms or anything, but we’re honestly curious to see what the legions of Area-51 m15x / m17x owners would change about their machines. When launched, both rigs were fawned over for their top-notch specifications, but the m15x hasn’t seen the warmest of receptions from its owners. As you well know, the 17-inch sibling just now started landing on doorsteps everywhere, and we’re genuinely hoping that it doesn’t present those same cracking issues as found on the aforesaid m15x. Beyond defects, we also want to hear what you′d change about a flawless m15x / m17x. Whittle down the weight? Change up the style? Swap out a few components? Go on and let ‘er rip in comments below.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops

There’s no denying it: Lenovo’s ultrathin X300 grabbed its fair share of attention earlier this year, due in large part to its estranged rivalry with the MacBook Air. Now that a few months have passed since the first wave of adopters welcomed the 13.3-inch ultraportable into their homes, we figured the time was right to ask you all how things have been coming along. Do you still feel like a proud papa when checking out those three USB ports? Is there really enough horsepower in there to churn through your pivot tables in a timely manner? Or are you longing for one of the many netbooks that have since demanded the limelight? We already know how the experts feel about it, but this one’s for you — how would you mold the 𕣬 into the machine it should’ve been from the start?

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Original post by Darren Murph

If the tiny 7″ screen of Asus Eee PC is big enough to work on, it’s certainly big enough to act as a secondary mini-monitor for another computer. That’s exactly what Asus new UFOTO U𑑏 will do.

Sold in the guise of a music playing digital photo frame, the 800×480 UFOTO will also act as a “Sub-Display”, letting you either mirror the computer’s main screen, extend it, or just select a part to display.

The specifications list only a USB port for connection, so I assume that it uses some kind of DisplayLink-like tech to send the video signal via USB.

The metal frame also has slots for the major memory card formats. Whether this is actually useful or not depends largely on the price. If it’s cheap, it’s a surefire winner.

The trouble is, you can pick up a whole 22″ LCD monitor for not much more than $200.00 USD, and most LCD picture frames are over $100. If it’s $50, I’ll buy one, even if it does look like a turquoise Etch-a-Sketch.

Source: The Asus UFOTO U𑑏 Press Release

Tags: laptop, Shopping, Technology

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Original post by Sean R.

If the tiny 7″ screen of Asus Eee PC is big enough to work on, it’s certainly big enough to act as a secondary mini-monitor for another computer. That’s exactly what Asus new UFOTO UF735 will do.

Sold in the guise of a music playing digital photo frame, the 800×480 UFOTO will also act as a “Sub-Display”, letting you either mirror the computer’s main screen, extend it, or just select a part to display.

The specifications list only a USB port for connection, so I assume that it uses some kind of DisplayLink-like tech to send the video signal via USB.

The metal frame also has slots for the major memory card formats. Whether this is actually useful or not depends largely on the price. If it’s cheap, it’s a surefire winner.

The trouble is, you can pick up a whole 22″ LCD monitor for not much more than $200.00 USD, and most LCD picture frames are over $100. If it’s $50, I’ll buy one, even if it does look like a turquoise Etch-a-Sketch.

Source: The Asus UFOTO UF735 Press Release

Tags: laptop, Shopping, Technology

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Original post by Sean R.

Open hardware specs seem to be catching on. After the OpenMoko released CAD design files for all of its handsets, Via’s gone and done the same thing with their new OpenBook. It’s only the outside that’s being released as an open design, but that’s not a bad start.

The OpenBook site spells it out like this:

The external panel CAD files for the VIA OpenBook Reference Design are being released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license giving customers the flexibility to bring their own innovative style and brand value propositions to the Mini-Note market segment. This also helps customers reduce product development costs and speed time-to-market.

This is really cool, however I suspect that once you give people a taste of what’s possible, they’re going to demand the whole enchilada, not just the external design, but the internal boards, the BIOS, everything.

I’m convinced that we’re now seeing changes in the way hardware is created and marketed that emulate the way open source software has been produced, not just in the sense of making things available for other people to re-use, but in the sense of how that changes where the real innovation will be taking place.

There’s always going to be room for people like Apple, whose designs are patented (i.e., closed) but typically groundbreaking but there also ought to be a place for folks like Asus, where the design is just a place to start.

Tags: Hardware, laptop, Open Source

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Original post by Sean R.