Posts in Notebooks
New Vista-friendly ATI chipsets
Darius Chang | Sep 26, 2006
ATI Technologies has released a range of graphics cards for the mobile platform which will be compatible with the next generation of Microsoft operating system.
The lineup consists of the Mobility Radeon X1700, Mobility Radeon X1450 and Mobility Radeon X1350. With advanced power consumption for longer battery life and support for HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies (including HDCP), it should be able to display Windows Vista's Aero interface in all its glory.
The new graphics processors are expected to first appear in ASUS line of high-end multimedia and entertainment laptops, with the ASUS W2P leading the way.
Is that an LCD in your pocket or...
Darius Chang | Sep 26, 2006
Engineers at the University of Cambridge have developed materials that may result in electronic displays flexible enough to be rolled up.
Termed "morphing materials", Dr Keith Seffen, lecturer in structural engineering at the university, said that the new components being developed can be folded into three permanent shapes, though currently absolute structural stability has yet to be achieved. Targeting to hit the market in five years, flexible displays could be used in conjunction with portable devices with small or nonexistent screens, or used in portables for an exceptionally slim profile.
Korean Air bans Apple and Dell notebooks 
Darius Chang | Sep 26, 2006
| Editors' note : Virgin Atlantic has eased its restrictions on the use of Dell and Sony notebooks in its planes. Only laptops which are not on the list of recalled batteries are allowed to be used in-flight, though they juniperfoo: though they have to be plugged to the in-seat power supplies with the battery stored in the check-in baggage. |
If you are flying to the land of Kimchi, be warned that watching My Lovely Sam-soon on your Dell or Apple portable may get you in trouble with the stewardess.
According to The Korean Times, the national carrier is prohibiting the use of these notebooks due to concerns over the recent battery recall. Flyers may carry the portable provided the power cells are placed inside the check-in baggage. The ban was implemented on August 30 following a similar ruling for Quantas Airways, Australia's national carrier.
ThinkPad on fire at LAX
Darius Chang | Sep 21, 2006
| Editors' note : The identity of the notebook which met with a fiery end has been confirmed to be a ThinkPad T43. Investigations by Lenovo and Sony are still ongoing to determine if the power cell in question belonged to the contaminated batch of batteries. |
According to reports at Something Awful forums, a ThinkPad made a spectacular showing in the Los Angeles airport by becoming a flaming hotplate. The owner of the ill-fated machine claimed that his battery was not on the list of recalled power cells--a fact which gave little comfort to the group of passengers gathered around the ThinkPad as it went up in smoke.
Could this be yet another case of contaminated Sony-manufactured batteries? Though we do know that some ThinkPads are using cells made by the Japanese manufacturer, Lenovo has not, at the time of publishing, initiated a battery recall unlike Dell and Apple. According to Lenovo Singapore, a team of investigators have been dispatched to perform forensics on the DB (dead battery) and laptop. Meanwhile, we are pretty certain the Korean and Australian national carriers may be considering adding ThinkPads to the list of banned laptops on their flights.
Toshiba recalls batteries
Darius Chang | Sep 19, 2006
Toshiba has just initiated an exchange of its notebook batteries. These cells, like the Dell and Apple power units which were recalled, were manufactured by Sony. According to the former, failures from the 340,000 affected units will not result in a fiery death for the laptop. They would simply fail to charge and store power.
The affected models are:
More information can be obtained from Toshiba's battery exchange website.
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