Thursday, March 22, 2007

Clevo strikes again with NVIDIA 8800-based M570RU 17-inch laptop

If that 11.9-pound monstrosity, Clevo’s D900C, is just a bit too much laptop for you, there's always second best: the 17-inch M570RU.


Clevo hasn't stripped everything out of this guy, there's still the NVIDIA GeForce Go 8800 graphics, room for 4GB of RAM and even the addition of Intel's latest wireless chipset for 802.11n MIMO WiFi.

The screen has been pared down to a 1280 x 800 resolution, but where the M570RU really differs from its big brother is that it's running a traditional mobile version of the Core 2 Duo processor, instead of that Core 2 Duo Extreme desktop chip inside the D900C. Other frills include a webcam, subwoofer and fingerprint security, along with a snazzy orange trim.

No word on price for this one, but we're guessing that just because it has a mobile processor and weighs a few less pounds, doesn't mean you'll be seeing one of these for less than a couple grand.

Posted by Nandy18 at 11:10 AM | | Comments

spilled liquid on your laptop???

The bad thing about a laptop is that you tend to sit down with it at places where a computer actually doesn’t belong. Like the livingroom, the garden, the kitchen or even in bed. That’s the whole point with a laptop, that you can move around with, but unfortunatley we also very often present our preasiuos black boxes for uneccesary risks like enjoying a glass of wine in its precense.

Accidents with beverages and laptops are more common then I though and this became apparent after I wrote the article Salvage your device after liquid spill which was about a router that got water into it.

The amount of emails that I’ve gotten since then from people that spilled both wine and other things into their laptops made me do this experiment / tutorial where I will pour one glass of wine and one of lemonade into my laptop and then recover it.

Don’t even think about doing this as an experiment unless you’re 110% sure about what you’re doing!! Not only can you ruin your laptop beyond repair but you can also get to see other unwanted effects like electrocution, fire or even explosion caused by the shortcut the liquid causes. You’ve been warned.

For this experiment I used an old Dell Latitude CSx 500Mhz that was donated to me after my former boss managed to crack the screen on it after passing an x-ray machine while travelling. Except for the screen that has a crack in it; it’s a perfectly fine laptop. As liquids I used a glass of a lemonade.

Have a look at the video to get you started with what the effect the wine and lemonade had on the laptop. It’s less dramatic then you’d think

So now you have a laptop which has suffered from alcohol and sugar poisoning and the absolute first thing you need to think about is to disconnect all power sources to not make things worse. E.g. unplug any AC adapters and take the battery out of the laptop.
The second thing you need to keep in mind is that time is not your friend. Many people that have this happening to their laptop will try to ‘dry it out’ and this is one of worst things you can do.

All liquids contain minerals which lead electricity and many liquids contain sugars and other interesting ingredients which of many are corrosive.

You need to get this out of your laptop as soon as possible.

Actually it’s quiet simple. Take the laptop apart, which can be a challenge in itself, and rinse the parts affected (no more no less) in tap water and when it’s clean rinse it again with distilled water to make sure that the tap water in gone as it contains minerals, chlor and calcium. Let it dry and then assemble it again.

Posted by Nandy18 at 11:05 AM | | Comments

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Top Ultra-Mobile PCs

Ultra-Mobile PCs, or UMPCs, are the result of the Origami Project, a joint venture by Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, and other big names in technology. Their mission was to create an affordable computer in a small, highly mobile body while maintaining the functionality of a full-sized machine; a highly sought-after combo for field workers and other mobile professionals. Because these handhelds run the full version of Windows, the thinking goes that they are more versatile than smart phones yet portable enough to use while standing.

Although any manufacturer can produce a UMPC, each machine must meet the required minimum specs, which include an LCD with 800 x 480-pixel resolution, 256MB to 1GB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, 2.5 hours of battery life, and a 900-MHz Intel Celeron M, Pentium M, Core Solo, or Via C7-M processor. Because of their small size, some UMPCs (like the Samsung Q1P SSD) lack a true physical keyboard; virtual dial keys or an onscreen keyboard enable users to input text and navigate the touchscreen displays with a stylus. Other devices, such as the FlipStart 1.0, the OQO model 02, and the Sony VAIO UX Premium, come with full QWERTY keyboards.

The most useful UMPCs (the FlipStart and OQO) house 3G radios for connecting to the Web at broadband-like speeds from anywhere cellular reception is available. The VAIO UX chugs along at slower EDGE speeds on Cingular's network, while the Samsung Q1P SSD doesn't have a cellular connection at all, although an HSDPA-enabled version should soon be available.

Although UMPCs were originally intended to fall into the $500 price range, they typically cost around $2,000, which pits them directly against full-sized ultraportable notebooks that have more spacious keyboards and faster processors. Still, if you're in the market for an extremely mobile, lightweight PC, one of these micro machines could be for you.

Posted by Nandy18 at 11:54 AM | | Comments

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Laptop Buyers Guide

When you are considering buying a laptop, also referred to as notebooks or portable computers you need to ask yourself what you’ll be using it for:
Is it's primary function to be a portable computer, making weight and battery life important? Is it a desktop replacement, making a large screen size and good keyboard a must? Will you be using it for everyday tasks, like emailing, word processing, surfing the web? Our laptop guide is aimed to help you decide exactly what sort of laptop you need without spending the earth to get it.

Size and Weight
There are several classes of laptops, organized by weight and size. At the lighter end, you'll find machines weighing just 2 to 4 kg. These models, from companies like IBM, Sony, Dell and Toshiba, are designed for sheer mobility and as a result often have less features. For example some lack internal Floppy, CD or DVD drives, though some companies, like Sony have managed to fit these drives into truly thin and light machines – at a price.

Processor Speed
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) determines the overall power and speed of your laptop. Processors come in a variety of different speeds, types and from a number of manufacturers. Intel and Athlon are the two main processor manufacturers, both produce high quality processors for laptops and computers.


Memory
Random Access Memory (RAM) is the temporary store for programs and other data. Your laptop stores all applications and program data you are currently using in this area. How much RAM your computer has will influence how fast your computer works and the number of programs it can run simultaneously. Some laptops will come with only 32 MB. But, given the needs of most modern programs, you should look at getting at least 64 MB. For more intensive applications, 128MB is recommended.

Hard Disk Drives
The Hard Disk Drive (HDD) stores files and any document you save to the computer. The size of HDD, measured in Giga Bytes (GB), determines how much data you can save. The more hard drive space you have, the more data you can store. The minimum space you should look for is 4Gb, but ideally 10 - 20Gb is recommended. Some high-end laptops have as much as 60 – 80Gb HDD, probably more space than you’ll ever need.

Display
Laptop screens these days start at 12 inches and go up to 16 - 17 inches measured diagonally. A larger screen is more comfortable to work on but will contribute to the overall weight and price of your laptop.

Battery Life
Battery life will vary depending on the type of battery that comes with your laptop. You should note though that although Lithium ion is the superior battery, today’s laptops are more sophisticated and thus demand more power. You will thus not experience much more battery life from Lithium than you would from an older model laptop running a NiCad or NiMH battery.

You should note though that although Lithium ion is the superior battery, today’s laptops are more sophisticated and thus demand more power. You will thus not experience much more battery life from Lithium than you would from an older model laptop running a NiCad or NiMH battery.

Expansion Ports and Slots
Expansion ports and slots extend a laptop’s functionality and allow it to talk to devices like printers and external drives. Ports include serial, parallel and Universal Serial Bus (USB). While serial and parallel are pretty much standard, USB will allow you to run many external devices available on the market today.

Most laptops also come with expansion slots, like PCMCIA for use with adapter cards which will allow you to add for example a modem or additional memory. Another way of adding ports to your laptop is via a port replicator.




Posted by Nandy18 at 9:12 AM | | Comments

$100 Laptop Aims for 150MM Units in Five Years

The brainchild of MIT's Nicholas Negroponte, Laptop XO, a.k.a. the $100 laptop, is aiming to land in 10 million children's hands in undeveloped countries by the end of 2008.

Some 50 million of the laptops will be delivered by 2010, and 150 million thereafter - with the goal of distributing a laptop to every child in the undeveloped world, according to Next Generation.

The beauty of the laptops is that they are open source, allowing kids not only to play games, use applications and communicate with others but also to see how the software works and potentially remake their online world.

"Eventually, we'll look back on this moment as the beginning of something that changed the world for the better and completely transformed economies the process. And it'll happen in our lifetime," said Daniel Ostenso, Assoc. Professor at the Illinois Institute of Art at Chicago.

Posted by Nandy18 at 8:59 AM | | Comments