Posts in Notebooks
Belkin wants a romp on the couch
Edvarcl Heng | Jun 14, 2007
It's nothing overtly complicated or terribly techie. In fact, Belkin's new CushTop and PocketTop would look more at home in Ikea than an IT shop. Upholstered like any well-made piece of furniture, these "stands" are designed to sit between your lap and the base of a laptop. For the family man who prefers to work from the couch, it's a comfort that his spawning goals will no longer be compromised by elevated temperatures between his legs.
The angled CushTop (S$59.99) is fairly rigid and is a blessed release for wrists aching for ergonomic typing comfort on a laptop. Belkin says you can keep power adapters within the recessed storage crevice, but enterprising types will sooner convert it into a cubbyhole for their remotes.
Belkin says that the PocketTop is apt for users who lug their laptops from room to room, but the PocketTop (S$69.99) isn't as small as its name suggests. It is, in fact, rather huge since it doubles as both a mobile computing workspace and an indoor laptop casing. We say "indoor" because it's not protected from the elements and should be allowed into the streets only on the condition that your laptop is waterproof. And should the family man decide to enjoy a little nookie on upholstery, be warned, both "tops" aren't shockproof.
More images of Belkin's "tops":
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Technocolor Sony VAIO CR laptops
Michelle Thatcher, CNET.com | Jun 14, 2007
Forget Roy G. Biv--the rainbow according to Sony includes such colors as sangria, cosmopolitan, dove, and indigo. At least, those are the shades the company offers for its new VAIO CR series laptops. (City-dwellers, take heart: They're also available in black.)
| Editors' note:
Sony Asia declined to disclose VAIO CR launch details in Asia for this story, though a Sony spokesperson revealed that it will be released in Asia eventually.
|
Sony has long led the laptop-as-fashion-accessory movement (see previous C series models and the FJ series that started it all), offering laptops in wild colors when other manufacturers were just starting to experiment with hues beyond black and gray. The CR series is no different, featuring a case that is saturated with color, right down to the touchpad. Sony's press release also touts that each CR series laptop comes with "funky VAIO branded wallpaper" as well as the option to purchase a matching carrying bag and mouse. And proving that flashing LEDs aren't just for gamers, the VAIO CR series includes a pulsating LED beneath the laptop's trim.
Those of you who still believe that it's what's inside that counts can rest assured: These thin-and-light laptops will include Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform, with Core 2 Duo processors, integrated graphics, and an 802.11n wireless card. The 14.1-inch widescreen display includes a fairly standard 1,280 x 800 native resolution, and the display bezel has room for a built-in Webcam and microphone.
The six new CR series models start at US$1,350 and will start shipping at the end of June in the US.
Via CNET Crave
More images of Sony VAIO CR:
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Dell selling laptop as world's greenest
Elsa Wenzel, CNET.com | Jun 11, 2007
The Dell Latitude D630 is the first laptop on the market worldwide to win the highest, gold rating from EPEAT, which measures energy-efficiency and green design elements in electronics.
EPEAT ratings, run by the nonprofit Green Electronics Council, take into consideration low-toxic materials as well as the energy conservation and ease of recycling of computers, printers and monitors. The acronym stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. When that program launched last year, the pickings were slim. Yet now there are 3 products marked EPEAT gold, 442 ranked next-best as silver, and 62 items rated basic bronze.
The Dell notebook meets EnergyStar requirements of 80 percent efficiency and ships in packaging made from partly-recycled cardboard. Judging by its CNET Editors' Choice award, the Dell D630 performs well, too.
The HP rp5700 Business Desktop as well as Dell OptiPlex 740 and 745 mini-tower systems also received gold EPEAT labeling recently.
Dell this week announced plans to reduce its corporate carbon footprint by 15 percent or more within five years and demand that suppliers disclose their own greenhouse gas emissions. Dell also gives customers the option to pay a few bucks extra per PC purchase to plant a tree. Many mainstream electronics makers, including HP and Apple, are pushing to cut carbon emissions and energy waste.
Via CNET Crave
Toshiba R500: How did they fit it all in?
Darius Chang | Jun 06, 2007
When we first had a glimpse of the then-embargoed Portege R500, the first thought which came to mind was how Toshiba managed to cram an optical drive into such a slim chassis.
Like the Sony VAIO G series, the Toshiba Portege R500 is an enterprise-classed 12.1-inch ultraportable that does not sacrifice features for weight savings. At 1.09kg with a footprint of 283 x 215 x 19.5mm, only those who consider lifting a beer mug as exercise will find the R500 a chore to carry around. The R500 has a strong set of data security and the physical protection expected of a business machine. However, it is not based on the Santa Rosa chipset and thus does not offer the features of the Centrino Pro platform like the Intel Turbo Memory or IT management applications.
So how did Toshiba do it? According to the company: "To achieve this ultracompact footprint, Toshiba utilized its proprietary High Density Mounting Technology process to create a miniature motherboard with dual-sided component mounting." The optical drive was also miniaturized to a slim 7mm.
In July, users can opt for a solid-state harddisk on the R500 for even greater weight savings, though be prepared to pay a pretty penny for the flash-based machine.
Apple unveils upgraded MacBook Pro laptops
Caroline McCarthy | Jun 06, 2007
The laptops are still available in three models: Two 15.4-inch versions that retail for S$3,388 (US$2,491.18) and S$4,188 (US$3,079.41) and a larger 17-inch edition that costs S$4,688 (US$3,447.06). But with the update, the lower-end 15-inch model is now equipped with 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors (previously, it had a 2.16GHz chip); the higher-end 15-incher and the 17-incher now come with 2.4GHz processors, up from 2.33GHz. These new processors are indeed Intel's latest Centrino (or Santa Rosa) chips, which were introduced in early May.
All three MacBook Pros additionally can now be upgraded from 2GB to 4GB of RAM at an extra cost, and have faster Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics cards designed for media-intensive animation and gaming.
The 15-inch models also have an energy-efficiency boost, with LED-backlit displays; Apple has touted these not only as power-saving but also mercury-free.
The announcement follows another Apple laptop upgrade in May, when the company released new versions of its lower-priced MacBook machines. Those laptops received processor and memory upgrades in addition to a hard drive space boost (which was not part of the MacBook Pro boost), but did not come with Santa Rosa processors or LED-backlit screens as had been rumored.
The last major update to the MacBook Pro laptops was in October, when they were first manufactured with Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
It's shaping up to be a hot summer for Apple. The company is expected to make more product announcements--though no one's really sure what they will be--at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week. And then the iPhone will hit US stores on June 29.
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