Another Day With My PC

Orange is giving away a free Asus mini laptop that is if you subscribe to their 24-month broadband contract.

The Asus unit is Orange’s first Sim-embedded laptop and it will be available for free if you sign-up for £25 ($40) per month. A 24 month contract totals to £600 or $960.

Orange as of this writing has two mobile broadband offers. The company currently has a mobile broadband subscription for £15 a month. The subscription plan comes with a free dongle and a discounted Asus Eee mini laptop.

Vodafone is currently the only network that offers laptop with an embedded Sim card. Orange currently has limited the offer of the same workstation to business users only.

Source: Mobile Today

The first prototype of laptop fuel cell made by Panasonic was bigger than the laptop that it is supposed to provide power to – that isn’t the case anymore. The company was able to reduce the size of this power battery by more than 50%.

This is what revealed by the Japanese company after the prototype methanol fuel cell received a warm welcome from green technology enthusiasts. The fuel cell was first shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2006 and since then; the company did not stop working on the wonder battery.

The new prototype version sports a smaller 270 cubic centimers. This batter can provide power between 10 to 20 watts. According to the company, the battery weighs 320 grams. This battery can provide more than 20 hours of straight power source for any laptop.

The company also boasted their stand alone DMFC or direct methanol fuel cells charger. It has USB power outlets and can provide power for many portable devices such as PSP and iPod.

These new products will be first shown to the public this coming Hydrogen Energy Advanced Technology Exhibition 2008 in Wednesday

Source: PC World

HP makes its small laptop even smaller. The company overhauled its HDX 18 to make it HDX 16, equivalent to a transformation of its 18-inch display in a 16-inch LCD.

The smaller screen perhaps made it cuter and yet the metallic finish and classy chrome interior still makes this laptop gorgeous. The laptop now weighs 7.4 pounds with a 6-cell battery. Buyers have the option to upgrade its power source into either a 12 or a 16-cell battery.

The laptop suffered a slight loss in resolution quality. From 1080p it now has a 1,366-by-768 screen resolution.

The HDX 16 however packs a powerful machine inside. It is powered by Intel’s Centrino 2. It has a 2.26-GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 processor that is backed by 4GB DRR2 RAM. Its nVidia GeForce 9600M GT engine should be enough for small graphic rendering.

The HDX1 is available with 320GB storage, an optional TV tuner and a fast eSATA port.

One amazing thing about this laptop is the number keypad. HP placed a whole functional num pad on the left side of the keyboard to give you that perfect PC experience.

On related news, HP will also be releasing HP Pavilion dv6929wm-b, a special laptop that will be available exclusively in Wal-Mart. This laptop is part of HP and Wal-Mart’s green drive.

HP Pavilion dv6929wm-b runs on a 2-GHz AMD Turion X2 TL-60 processor. It has a 250GB hard drive and is bundled with a Windows Vista Home Premium OS. It is also packed with a savvy nVidia GeForce Go 7150 integrated graphics chipset inside. It is tagged at $1,049.

HP is yet to announce the price of HDX 16.

Source: PCMag

Mobile gamers will have a new gadget of interest. This is the Asus G50V, the company’s latest gaming laptop.

G50V is a high-powered machine that wields a 15-inch screen that showcases a 1680×1050 default resolution. The gaming laptop boasts a processor of 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400. Its memory of 4GB running at 800MHz undoubtedly makes it fast. It carries one of the best Nvidia graphics engine, the GeForce 9700M GT with 512 MB of DDR3 memory. It has a hard drive of 500GB.

Asus’ new laptop is not an ordinary laptop. It has an automatic overclocking function that turns the CPU into a Turbo mode. Players only need to push a button to activate this feature. Gamers can also hold onto the headset to activate Turbo Extreme mode.

G50V also carries a 2.0 MP built in webcam. It is decorated with LEDs along side the screen.

But this laptop is not just all about gaming. G50V also sports other mobile computer functions like Express Gate button, facial recognition system, HDMI-out and an eSATA port.

G50V is out now and can be bought with a DVD burner for $1,699. A version boasting Blu-ray system with 200BG storage is sold for $1,899.

Source: News CNET

Commodore now joins the bandwagon of Netbook manufacturers. And why not, since they came up with a competitive Commodore UMMD 8010/F, Netbook buyers will now have another great option in their list.

The company announced their new mini laptop at the IFA consumer show in Berlin. Reports indicated that the UMMD will be powered by a C7-M processor, running at 1.6GHz. The internal storage boasts 80GB capacity. It has a 1GB RAM. Connectivity will not be a problem with an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and optional Bluetooth. The netbook sports a 10-inch display LCD and 1.3-megapixel built-in camera.

The Commodore UMMD 8010/F is the latest addition to the Netbook market that is initiated by Asus’ Eee PC.

Netbooks sport low-power processors, small screens and keyboards. But their efficiency and low price ticks the heart of many computer and gadget enthusiasts.

The Commodore UMMD 8010/F sports a nostalgic appeal. A perfect irony since the brand Commodore is best related to the iconic 1980s computers like the C64 and the Amiga. Yeahronimo Media Ventures, a Dutch company purchased the rights to the name with a goal of resurrecting an old glory.

Commodore UMMD 8010/F will be sold for $610.

Source: Crave CNet

Lenovo improved its ultraportable Thinkpad X300 thru the introduction of X301. Thinkpad X301 boasts more advanced features compared to its predecessor.

The new Thinkpad sports a lightweight design, tipping the scale at less than three pounds. At one-inch thickness, X301 is sleek and stylish. Users can go for the basic 64B solid state drive storage or they can purchase the upgraded version with 128GB. Study revealed that the X301 is 20% more efficient in terms of speed and power consumption compared to the earlier X300. X301 is equipped with the latest DDR3 memory and IntelCore 2 Duo processor.

Thinkpad X301 is also packed with productivity tools from ThinkVantage Technologies. It has Lenovo’s improved Access Connections tools that give the mobile computer a friendly interface. It also has a more controllable and customizable laptop functions that allow superior power management.

The laptop is Wi-Fi enabled and has Bluetooth connection. The Thinkpad X301 is at par with the best when it comes to wireless connectivity. Future Thinkpad X301 versions will also come with WiMAX feature.

The laptop also carries features to support mobile entertainment. It has DisplayPort, a feature that makes viewing of high definition movie and images easier. The DisplayPort, combined with standard VGA enables the user to select different display options.

ThinkPad X301 will hit stores on August 26. It will be tagged at $2,599.

Source: CRN

If you think that notebook and mouse combo is passé because of advanced touchpad and trackpad, think again. Logitech’s unique clip-and-go notebook mouse promises to give laptop users the efficiency they have when using desktop PCs with mouse.

Trackpads and touchpads are good, but experts agree that it cannot beat the functionality and efficiency that the mouse has. The only thing that hinders many laptop users from getting their mouse is the fact that the hour of mousing bliss is often replaced by the trouble of keeping your mouse safely as you move from table, desk or counter when using a laptop.

This is what drove Logitech to come up with the V550 Nano cordless laser mouse for notebooks. The V550 Nano features a 2.4 GHz wireless receiver that can be attached to a standard USB port. The mouse uses minimal power making it use two AA batteries for more 18 months.

But what separates V550 from other mice is its two Cli-and-Go docks: one silver and one black. This allows users to literally dock the mouse on their laptop, making it stay with you wherever you go.

This mouse works both with Windows PCs and Mac computers. It is tagged at $55.99.

Source: Digital Trends

Many predict that 2008 will be the year when laptops would finally succeed in their bid to dethrone desktops as the PC of choice. I agree.

For two decades, the desktop has lorded over almost all conceivable machines which could read and process electronic data. It was supposed to be the “future” of data processing. Everybody thought that the size and shape of the PC would not change significantly for generations to come.

Small Enough?

It’s not difficult to see why many didn’t dismiss the desktop as something that’s only transitional. Back when hard disks were still as big as cupboards, many wished for a computer that could easily fit one’s bedroom without having to throw out everything in it, including the bed. It took several decades before that prayer was answered. When IBM came out with a design that perfectly fitted study and office tables, many fostered the conviction that this was what a computer should look like and that any alteration of its structure would considerably diminish its appeal and even functionality.

Of course, being the only constant thing in this world aside from politics, change redefined the looks and functions of the PC. The world shrunk, and time became a very expensive commodity. Everything has to be done fast. While the term “multitasking” was already popular even during the days of Windows 3.1, the word took on a whole new different meaning a decade after the IT industry had started to blabber it as if it was a cuss word.

Run Run Run

As we all know, recent operating systems allow the juggling of different tasks, functions, or programs. Depending on the amount of memory and the type of processor that your computer have, large applications like CAD or multimedia programs could run side by side with other software. Nobody now asks if one could perform several things at the same time on a computer. The question has already been answered a long time ago.

Now that programs could already be ran simultaneously in a single computer, the question that was next asked is if one could still run all of them while he is actually running. As I have intimated a while back, everybody seems to be running after time and running out of it. Eight hours seem to be just eight minutes. It’s not surprising then when people started to wish that they could bring and do their tasks even when they’re out of the office.

Personal Accessory

To inaccurately borrow the words of the HP slogan, laptops made personal computers personal again. While mainframes exponentially shrunk to desktop size, it still isn’t exactly personal and portable as your watch or mobile phone. You simply can’t bring it anywhere, well at least not conveniently.

Everybody is maximizing the use of his or her time. It’s not surprising then if people treat travel time as an extension of their office hours. Laptops are not just becoming more affordable, but more importantly, they are also making time an affordable commodity. Don’t be surprised, then, if laptop sales exceed desktop purchases this year.

Have you ever thought of giving your mom a desktop or a laptop for Mother’s Day?

The digital divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” is also replicated between those who grew up playing board games and those who spent their summers holding keypads and tapping keyboards. It’s not surprising then why many old folks are virtually clueless as to what a CPU is.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not saying that they’re entirely clueless about PCs. That’s impossible considering that almost every human activity is assisted, facilitated, or somehow affected by Information Technology.

While it would be great or ideal to orient the older generation on how easy or convenient life could be with a computer around, teaching them how to incorporate new things in their daily routines could be a very challenging undertaking. It’s not as if using a computer is similar to operating a blender. PCs need constant maintenance. While it would be easy for you to demonstrate to your mom how to use instant messengers, teaching her how to clean the registry or get rid if viruses could be a very daunting task.

I’m not discouraging you from giving your mom a brand new PC on Mother’s Day. On the contrary, I’m encouraging everybody to give their moms that sleek HP or Compaq notebook that adorns the display window of many computer shops. Just make sure that the unit is ready to use. Don’t expect your mom to know how to install the operating system, antivirus, registry cleaner, and other essential system utilities. Guide her through the process step by step. Or better yet, install all necessary applications first before giving it to her. Make things easy for her, especially on the day that’s dedicated to women like her.

The world is getting smaller, and so are the things that virtually make it go around. No, I’m not talking about the value of our money. Money doesn’t make the world go round, but I’m certain that you won’t be able to go around the world without your mobile phone, laptop, or pocket PC.

It seems that every electronic gadget gets a centimeter smaller every year, and that goes double for the PC. A few decades ago, you would need a large room just to be able to set up a computer in your own home. Today, you won’t need the services of a carpenter to make room for your PC. Your tailor could do that now for you.

While notebooks have already made waves around the world, pocket PCs are also trying to establish themselves as viable alternatives to the desktop. Not everybody’s too crazy about them though. Well, at least not yet.

I haven’t tried using one to surf the net. However, I’ve heard that it can easily browse through Web sites like a typical notebook. I’m not that ready or excited to go that tiny yet. I’m already happy with my 14.1-inch laptop. Even though it needs occasional maintenance and optimization, it still meets my everyday demands.

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