Shopping for a new notebook? Here are the latest product announcements and reviews from around the Web.
Ultralight Fujitsu P1000 Notebook
[10/04/03] Spotted at Slashdot: The Fujitsu P1000 notebook weighs only 2.2 pounds, runs Windows XP and, with the addition of a second battery (to total 2.5 pounds), boasts up to nine hours of battery life. Read more.
Dell under attack over Inspiron 8500 notebook keyboard
[8/09/03] Spotted at The Inquirer: Users are accusing Dell of deleting messages on its support forum and downplaying a flaw in the design of the keyboard of its high-end Inspiron 8500 portables, over fears that customers might be spooked. Apparently, a fix is available, but only offered if customers complain. Read more in the first set of Dell threads and second set of Dell threads.
Dell Recalls Inspiron 2650 Notebooks
[5/03/03] Spotted at News.com: Dell Computer has launched a service campaign to replace motherboards in nearly 20,000 Inspiron notebooks. The Round Rock, Texas, company will replace the flawed motherboards inside nearly 20,000 Inspiron 2650 laptop models manufactured between the middle of November and the middle of December 2002. According to the company, the replacement program was introduced to remedy a bad component that could short out and render the notebook unable to power up, when turned on. Here's the full story.
HP introduces its first DVD-writing Notebook
[4/03/03] Spotted at News.com: HP has introduced its first DVD-writing notebook at a price-point characterized as "incredible" by some industry watchers. An HP Pavilion ze5300 series notebook configured with a 2.6GHz Pentium 4 processor, 15-inch SXGA+ display, 512MB double-data rate (DDR) SDRAM, a 40GB hard drive, a DVD+R/RW drive, 802.11b wireless networking and Windows XP Home is US$1,723 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Dropping to a 2.4GHz processor and a 30GB hard drive would reduce the price to US$1,574 after the rebate. Notebooks with DVD burners are also available from Dell Computer, Gateway, Sony, Toshiba and Apple. The units from Apple, Sony and Toshiba use the competing DVD-R/RW format. (Apple PowerBooks support only DVD-R.)
Intel moves beyond Megahertz marketing
[3/13/03] Spotted at MacWorld UK: Intel says the 1.6GHz Pentium M offers a 13 per cent to 15 per cent improvement in performance over the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M. The 1.6GHz Pentium M also offers 76 per cent longer battery life than the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M, according to Intel.
Centrino Notebooks Galore!
6:41 PM, Wednesday, March 12, 2003 by Graeme Bennett. Comments (0)
c|net has a mini-review of seven Centrino-based notebooks announced today at the huge CeBIT tradeshow in Germany. The IBM ThinkPad T40, for example, weighs a mere 5.4 pounds, yet promises up to seven hours of battery life from the energy-efficient new Intel Pentium M chip. There's a Comparison chart detailing differences between the new products.
2.9-pound Lindows subnotebook
[02/20/03] Spotted at Slashdot: As of March 1, US$799 will get you this Lindows 2.9lb subnotebook with a VIA C3 933MHz Processor, 256 megs of RAM and a 20 gig hard drive, a 12-inch screen (powered by a fairly nasty Savage AGP 4x graphics chipset, similar to that noted in our review of the HP zt1175, elsewhere on this site), USB 2.0, FireWire and of course the Linux-based Lindows OS. Pre-orders have already started. Elsewhere, an interesting thread discusses the pros and cons of the company's choice of a VIA C3 as the unit's CPU.
Also notable: iDot's Subnotebook Comparison pits the Lindows subnotebook against models costing about $1000 more from IBM, Toshiba, NEC and Apple (which offers a 12" PowerBook the chart incorrectly identifies as an iBook). Not mentioned in the chart are somewhat bulkier value leaders like the Inspiron 2650 from Dell which, at this writing, you can pick up for US$656 (after rebate), including a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive and free shipping. Read more....
Notes from the Tablet PC Launch
[11/7/02] Spotted at Slashdot: Notes from the Tablet PC Launch.
Budget Notebook with "Desktop" CPUs: What's the drawback?
[11/5/02] Noted at Slashdot: Tom's Hardware takes a look at the drawbacks of buying a budget notebook (Dell's SmartStep 250N is a case in point) with a desktop chip installed instead of a more energy-efficient notebook-optimized CPU. In short, it's not just the battery life that suffers -- the thing runs at half speed when operating on battery power. Read more....
Wide-screen Notebook
[10/23/02] Noted at PC World: Best Buy is selling a new portable designed by Porsche Design. The ultra-thin unit has a 15.2" screen with a "wide screen" DVD-appropriate aspect ratio similar to that of Apple's pricey Titanium PowerBook. The US$2399 Vpr Matrix 200A5 sports high-quality sound, integrated Ethernet and Wi-Fi, a DVD/CD-RW "Combo" drive and NVIDIA GeForce42Go graphics. PC Magazine has details.
Laptop Video Upgrade
[08/13/02] Noted at Slashdot.org: Upgrading the video subsystem in a portable? It's not out of the question, if your notebook is an 8x00 series Dell Inspiron. As noted at GotApex:
The process was not even that difficult - four screws on the bottom of the laptop removed the keyboard and three more and you were able to get the video card off of the motherboard. Right next to it lies the socketed CPU which can also be changed.
The video card upgrade doesn't even void the Dell's warranty -- the GeForce4Go is a standard replacement part, which can be ordered direct from Dell's website. Read more....
New Sony VAIO Laptop sports 16.1" Screen
[07/12/02] Noted at Slashdot.org: Sony has announced a new VAIO laptop that comes with a DVD-R/RW CD-R/RW drive along with a Radeon 7500 Mobility and 16.1" UXGA LCD. Read more....
Comparative Laptop Reviews
[06/27/02] Noted at Slashdot.org: A recent thread discusses the merits of various laptops, including Apple iBooks and PowerBook G4, Fujitsu Lifebook 2000 series and Gateway 9550 portables, and other models. Here are a few comments about the new Fujitsu Lifebook P-2000 series portables.
..."The Fujitsu 2040 series has a base battery life of 5ish hours with the six cell main battery. If you take out the DVD drive and stick in the secondary battery, the time goes up to [approximately] 12 hours. I've got the 2046, and I'm completely satisfied with it. The 800mhz Crusoe CPU doesn't feel slow in the least. I've seen the 2040 on sale at Fry's for USD$1399.
"...small, light, amazing battery life, awesome screen (1280x768), includes a CD-RW/DVD combo drive...starting at around US$1449. Check their website." (http://www.fujitsupc.com)
Graeme's comments.
The Fujitsus is not as fast as some similarly priced models, but worth considering if extended battery life and ultra-light weight are important in an x86 portable. Read more....
New Tablet PCs due Nov. 7
[06/25/02] Noted at News.com: At TechXNY on June 25, Microsoft demonstrated of no less than nine different Tablet PCs. Based on a special Tablet PC edition of Windows XP Professional and weighing three to four pounds, the first units are due to ship Nov. 7 from Toshiba, Acer and Fujitsu. At least six other manufacturers, including Viewsonic, Motion Computing and Via, have also committed to shipping Tablet PCs. One feature not previously seen was the incorporation of an electromagnetic pen, allowing a tablet user to move the cursor by hovering the pen over the tablet surface, or draw a line by touching the tablet. Microsoft says it will supply a new application, dubbed Microsoft Journal, to leverage the tablets' wireless internet connectivity and digital ink capabilities. Read more....
WinBook J4 Review
[06/12/02] Hardware Central asks: "Why pack a scaled-back, throttled-down, mobile Pentium 4 when you can carry the real thing? A full 2.2GHz of desktop-processor power (plus 15-inch screen and ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics) make WinBook's luxury laptop the fastest we've tested -- with not the worst battery life, either. But what's the cost in weight and, well, cost? Read more....
Toshiba thinks high-end with notebooks
[06/11/02] Five new Satellite notebooks--ranging from a US$1,299 model that emphasizes value to a 2GHz Pentium 4 machine designed to deliver maximum performance at the expense of battery life are on their way to retailers by the end of June. All models include a wireless antenna and a combination CD-Rewritable/DVD drive. Read more at News.com.
HP: Thin is no longer in
[05/29/02] The new zt5100 notebook from HP weighs close to 7 pounds, but delivers more performance than your average notebook, with up to 2.2GHz of Pentium 4 processor power inside. It manages only about 2 hours of battery life. The machine will start at US$1,699 with a 2GHz desktop Pentium 4, a 15-inch screen, and a combination CD-rewritable/DVD drive. The 2.2GHz version will cost from US$1,900 to US$2,299, depending on configuration. Read more at News.com
Toshiba Satellite 5105 Review
[05/28/02] You've seen hefty desktop-replacement notebooks with jumbo 15-inch screens and Pentium 4 power -- but Toshiba's 1.7GHz, GeForce4 Go multimedia showpiece is under 7.5 pounds, under $2,500, and packed with sleek design features and luxury frills. Does this streamlined system promise laptop nirvana, or will a single flaw keep it shy of our five-star rating? Read more at Hardware Central....
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