Let’s be frank: the idea of switchable graphics has always been appealing, but the implementation thus far has been a huge downer. If you wanted to switch your notebook’s active GPU from integrated to discrete, you had to either to log out or reboot the computer. The process was typically accompanied by a not-too-comforting flickering black screen, which would probably lead the laymen into thinking that a problem had occurred.
But not anymore. With the arrival of Nvidia’s Optimus technology, the switchable graphics experience has become what users (and reviewers) always thought it should be: seamless and simple.
Click the link to read a detailed (but short) description of how Optimus works or to just watch the video of it in action:
Steve Jobs calls his new tablet “a magical device at a breakthrough price,” but chances are you don’t need one and can’t afford it anyway.
It’s basically a giant iPhone that goes for $729. It costs more if you want more storage, less if you can do without mobile broadband and don’t need as much room for videos, music and so forth. With six models to choose from—16-, 32- and 64-gigabyte flavors, each with or without a 3G radio—prices range from $499 to $829.
That’s about two to three times as expensive as most netbooks, those inexpensive miniature laptops that Steve Jobs treated with such derision at the beginning of his iPad presentation. Of course Apple hates netbooks—there’s no way to charge an outrageous premium on a zero-margin product. But customers love them. Netbook sales shot up 103 percent in 2009, and Apple wants in on that bigger-than-a-smartphone-smaller-than-a-… honey. Hence the iPad.I was very excited when first hearing about the Ipad coming out but now im not sure... more
For those of you who shop online, you might be interested to know that there is a cheaper and more fun way of buying the things you only wish you had the money to buy. Here's your chance. Penny auctions are the new way to buy brand new products at 50% off as well as all the way up to 95%. Sound too good to be true?
Honestly, I thought it to be just another scam until I started to do the research. Penny auctions work through a few simple principles:
For those who may be unfamiliar with auctions, the way it works is after finding the item you wish to purchase, you and others will take turns bidding. The difference between normal in-person auctions and penny auctions, such as CheapOh.net, is that bids are sold for $0.50 a bid in bid packs that are sold from 10 bids for 5$ to 1000 bids for $500.
After your bids are credited to your account you will use these bids to bid on an auction. (They work as credits). Once the item is put up for auction, the bidding price starts at $0.00. When you use a bid on an auction this will drive the price of the auction up by $0.01 and increase the countdown timer by 10 seconds. The person with the last/highest bid on the auction when the countdown timer gets to 0 wins the auction. Once the auction is won, the winner will pay what the final price of the auction. (Usually save between 50-95% off MSRP).
CheapOh! is an upcoming site with a lot of promise. They officially started Beta testing today by auctioning off 3 Visa gift cards of different values. In the future, items sold will range from Products from Apple, Microsoft, Nikon, Sony, ect. Registration is open for users to buy bids now so that when these products are available, users can jump right in with bidding.
Other promising news with CheapOh! is that on the 15th of every month CheapOh! will donate all profits made off of every auction won on that day to the Red Cross.
So check it out, at CheapOh.net http://www.cheapoh.net/For those of you who shop online, you might be interested to know that there is a... more
"Guide to Laptops | Laptop computer, also known as a notebook computer, is a small personal computer designed for mobile use.Modern laptops weigh 3 to 12 pounds (1.4 to 5.4 kg).Most laptops are designed in the flip form factor to protect the screen and the keyboard when closed.
""Guide to Laptops | Laptop computer, also known as a notebook computer, is a... more
After the Christmas bombing fiasco in Detroit, prettymuch everyone is talking about new body scanners and more torture and terrorism against decent law abiding airline passengers. Are we saying a word about the Dutch who lied to us about the terrorist's passport or the Israelis, yes, let's admit who they really are, whose airport security companies only seem to protect El Al planes and nothing else? No more terrorist "walk arounds" or hidden box cutters on planes. We aren't buying it anymore. We have had one coincidence too many.
Do we talk about folks like Michael Chertoff, the creator of our totally broken system of phony counter terrorism when he headed Homeland Security with its spying on everyone BUT terrorists. Chertoff, is the guy who now is out selling radioactive scanners to fix the problems caused by his own incompetence. He is going to make tens of millions off his own utter incompetence, or what we hope is incompetence. Does anyone really think we can stay ahead of the human mind with gadgets operated by illiterates, incompetents and, at times, terrorist sympathizers?
I would hate to start putting together a pattern of money grubbing companies, "fly by night" Cheney/Rove demagogues and the worldwide network of Israelis who seem to have their hands in both ends of every disaster and come up with an inescapable conclusion: If terrorism weren't so damned convenient, useful and profitable for everyone but the victims and the supposed terrorists, the two groups that get blown to hell, we might not have terrorism at all.
You don't have to be a genius to see a con, not one this lame.
astr
The next time an "expert," be it a retired spy, self proclaimed counter-terrorist consultant or one of the robotic Pentagon morons or, worse yet, the especially despicable gang at Family Security Matters, the GOP front group that fills my mailbox with childish "terrorist under the bed" stories intermingled with "vote for my thieving friend" and "send us more money so we can keep lying" messages, sticks its head up, it might be time to consider a Jihad here at home.
Time to call a halt to all of it.
I'm sorry. I am not buying any of it anymore. I'm not buyin 9/11 and Rumsfeld telling me, "I didn't know there were terrorists, it was a big surprise to all of us," or every Air Force plane in the US suddenly breaking at the same time.
I am not buying the, "We're sorry about lying to all of you about Saddam and his WMD's but we needed to steal his oil and it only killed 5000 or so kids, most of them not all that important anyway."
I am not buying the "Let's bomb and invade Iran though there is even less proof Iran has a weapons program than Saddam. There hasn't been a credible word about Iran, only the usual harping from the Murdock/Israeli press and the folks who want a chance at stealing Iran's oil too.
We knew the oil from Iraq, the oil Americans were bled to death paying for, was stolen from the people of Iraq. If a crime works once, why not try it again. Iran, expect a visit, we are coming to save you from yourselves. Start digging graves for your children, our oil tankers are on their way.
Then we come to the "whatever" in Afghanistan. I won't call it a war. War needs an enemy and some sort of objective. Our only objective is to "surge." Can't we do that here at home? It has kind of an indecent sound if you think about it.
I'm not buying the surge. Nobody is, but a few are pretending to, mostly because they are so addicted to constantly lying that they don't know how to stop. The entire idea behind our strategy is based on smoke, mirrors and horse manure. "Yes, the warlike Pashtun tribes are waiting with open arms for us to start handing out Ipods and Laptops. Nothing brings out love in a fanatical Jihadist like a bit of Steve Miller Band."
More at link:NO MORE CONVENIENT COINCIDENCES
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
After... more
Asustek showed off its new 'wave' design concept in a few devices at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), including a concept netbook that unfolds into a tablet PC and a 47-inch LED TV.Asustek showed off its new 'wave' design concept in a few devices at the... more
Live in Las Vegas, Kevin Pereira gets his hands on some of the hottest gadgets from CES 2010, like the Google Nexus One with its voice keyboard, the Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 camera, the Lenovo U1 Hybrid Laptop/Tablet and the LG LED 8500 HDTV.
SWWS is new to the marketplace.
Car Desk to mount your laptop
Laptop computers are necessities in business, especially for those whose work takes them by car between customer and division locations. Between visits, a user must often use the laptop to prepare for an upcoming visit or to process the results of a just concluded one. In addition, the user may need to communicate with his home location to check and respond to messages received in his absence. When seeking to use a laptop in a car, the user encounters serious difficulties. Most importantly, there is the need to present the laptop keyboard at a comfortable and ergonomically desirable angle and position and the need to present the display in such a manner as not to lead to vision or muscle strain. What is Ergonomics? Ergonomics comes from the Greek words “ergos” meaning work and “nomos” meaning natural law. Ergonomics is essentially fitting the task to the worker and the product to the user. The benefits of ergonomics include improved comfort and productivity as well as reduced injuries and illnesses. Ergonomics is important in offices, industrial areas, and most important, the use of a laptop in a parked automobile!
A healthier way to get the job done.SWWS is new to the marketplace.
Car Desk to mount your laptop
Laptop computers... more
Looks like Acer is aiming to make the Aspire One netbook the best-selling netbook of 2010, just as they did back in 2008. Though there is far more competition now, the Acer Aspire One AO532h has a lot going for it. The new Intel Atom N450 processor, the promise of 10 hours of battery life, and a price that blows away the comepetition: $299. Yep, just $299 for a netbook that will most likely be pretty sweet.
We’re fans of the Aspire One series, particularly those models that come with 6-cell batteries as the AO532h will. And if the press images are to be believed, this netbook will come with Acer’s wonderful FineTip keyboard. The touchpad also looks fairly large and promises to be multitouch, another nice feature.
The price alone is worth getting excited about, but don’t forget that battery life. Even if it doesn’t get up to 10 hours, I’ll take 7 – 8 and be happy. Like most new netbooks, the AO532h will come with Windows 7 (Starter Edition, unfortunately), which isn’t so great for netbook battery life. But Intel’s Pine Trail CPUs are more energy-efficient, and help to give back some of the battery life Windows 7 steals. Acer also claims that the “10.1-inch LED-backlit TFT LCD saves 22.2 percent power compared with other netbook displays.” Will all this allow the low-capacity battery (4400 mAh) to last long enough? We’ll see when we test it.
People love netbooks because they’re light and affordable but one thing is missing: good graphics performance. That’s where Nvidia’s Ion comes in, a GPU that’s paired with Intel’s Atom processor to provide a better multimedia experience on mini notebooks. Ion-enabled machines can not only handle mainstream games like World of Warcraft, they can play high-definition video and stream your favorite shows at full screen on sites like Hulu without any stuttering. You can even edit video at a fast clip using programs like vReveal, which allows the GPU to do the heavy lifting instead of the Atom processor.
Unlike traditional 10-inch netbooks, Ion systems feature 11- to 12-inch displays with higher resolutions (1366 x 768) for enjoying high-def content, as well as HDMI ports for outputting video to the big-screen. And they’re only a bit heavier than regular netbooks, ranging from 3.2 to 3.4 pounds. Going the Ion route does involve a couple of trade-offs. Windows 7 models are more expensive than their Atom-only counterparts ($399 to $649), and you’ll sacrifice some battery life. But if you like the idea of owning a netbook that offers plenty of multimedia muscle, Ion is for you. But which one is best? We’ve tested four Ion machines — The HP Mini 311, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, ASUS Eee PC 1201N and Samsung N510 — and judged them based on Design/Ergonomics, Overall Performance, Graphics, Gaming, Video, and Value. Click here to see which netbook came out on top:
Buying a new notebook is a personal and important decision that shouldn’t be made on a whim. Even if you wind up purchasing your laptop online, the hands-on experience at a retail outlet could be an invaluable part of the shopping process. Ideally, you should be able to gauge a prospective system’s weight, check the display's viewing angles, hear the speakers, inspect the design, and test the keyboard and touchpad. Product reviews and image galleries are a necessary start, but they don’t always give you the complete picture.
That makes brick-and-mortar retailers potentially invaluable to the consumer. Not only should you find a location that will let you test drive a potential purchase, but the sales team should be able to answer your most important questions, such as, “Do I need an optical drive?” or “What is HDMI?”
To keep you from striking out on your next notebook hunting trip, we went undercover at the biggest national chains where laptops are sold, including the Apple Store, Best Buy, Costco, Staples, and Wal-Mart. The goal? To find a haven where we could lift a machine to gauge weight, type on the keyboard, see the screen and its viewing angles, and connect a flash drive full of documents and media to test the speakers. We visited two locations of each chain, quizzing the staff along the way to test their knowledge of the following topics:
• The differences between netbooks and notebooks
• The relevance of optical drives
• The definition of HDMI
• The benefits of discrete graphics
Click here to find out which brick-and-mortar stores soared and which ones sank:
"Good gifts do come in small packages, like the HP Mini 311 Netbook. Chris Hardwick and Kevin Pereira take a look at this mini laptop that weighs only 3.2 lbs with an 11.6" HD LED screen and an Nvidia Ion graphics card. See if this compact netbook is worth $400.""Good gifts do come in small packages, like the HP Mini 311 Netbook. Chris... more
AT&T is offering a subsidized Samsung Go with 3G through their website and in stores. We liked this netbook when we first reviewed it earlier this year, but that was when it had a 6-cell battery and lasted over 8 hours. The AT&T model has a 4-cell battery and lasts just over 2 hours on a charge.
Why would AT&T take a perfectly good netbook and make it less appealing for their store? It's as if they don't want people to use the 3G network as much. Take a look at all the other netbooks AT&T offers: small, 3-cell batteries. Why take away one of the key features of netbooks, their longevity?
Apple’s popular I’m A Mac commercials reveal more than just their cleverness and snarky attitude toward Windows machines. They also highlight that Apple’s notebook offerings are unified, elegant, and simple. If you’re a PC you might be an HP, a Dell, an Acer, or any number of disparate vendors. But when you’re a Mac, you’re getting a Mac.
From now until the end of the year we’re taking a holistic look at notebook brands and how vendors fare when we aggregate data from our reviews and research, as well as third-party data. Check out Apple’s strengths and weaknesses and their 2009 review scorecard. Then sound off in the comments and tell us what you think of the brand and about your own experience with your Mac. Without your input, our report card will be incomplete.
Criminals set up fake websites and then go through the same process legitimate eTailers do in regards to search engine optimization, search engine marketing and online advertising via adwords. They use key words to boost their rankings on Internet searches to show up along side legitimate sites. These same processes are also being used to infect unsuspecting users with malware. Here are ten tips for secure online shopping.
Seems odd, doesn't it, that a magazine about laptops would admit they hate some things about them. But when you spend as much time testing and reviewing notebooks as we do, you not only discover what's great about them, you also see all the things that need fixing.
It’s one thing to complain about a notebook’s short endurance, wimpy speakers, or finicky touchpad during the course of a review. But it’s a whole different ball game when you need to live with that issue (or issues) after you’ve purchased a laptop.
Click the link to find out how to deal with the biggest pet peeves we have with portable PCs, both through quick fixes and affordable upgrades. Or, if your laptop is just too annoying to bother, we've included the shopping advice you need to get a machine that works the way you want it to right out of the box.
Giving children computers of their own and teaching them how to use and take care of them has many benefits. When you're ready to give a kid that responsibility, netbooks make a good first computer because they’re small and inexpensive. Some are even made for pre-teen and educational markets.
Which should you choose? That depends on the age of the kid or teen in question, your level of tech savvy, and how much you want to monitor. We've found 6 great netbooks for both younger and older kids. Many are durable -- spill-resistant keyboards and solid state drives to limit damage from bumps and drops -- and some come with parental control software. There are also some software suggestions for the laptops that don't come with it.
