Laptops
Eee PC 1201N: Fastest netbook yet? 
Good news, portable computing fans -- Asus has just announced the Eee PC 1201N multimedia netbook, which packs a twin-core Intel processor and dedicated Nvidia Ion graphics. In other words, it's one of the first netbooks to offer decent processing power and the potential for complex 3D graphics.
Whereas many of its rivals resort to either an Intel N270 or N280 CPU, the 1201N uses an Intel Atom 330, which has two cores, each running at 1.6GHz. If this sounds familiar, that's because it's the same dual-core chip used in Asus' Eee Box 1501 mini PC. Continue reading...
Google demos Chrome OS: Out late 2010
Netbooks running Google's own operating system -- Chrome OS -- rather than Windows, yesterday took a giant step forward as the company released the underlying source code to the developer community.
At a conference in the US, Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management, announced the lightweight operating system is about a year away from release. He also promised it would ship pre-installed on Chrome OS-optimised netbooks, rather than be provided as a free download for anyone to install on any computer. Continue reading...
Lenovo X100e is a bundle of netbook joy
Word of a new Lenovo netbook has just flashed across the electronic Births, Deaths and Marriages page that is the Internet. We haven't yet had the chance to wipe it clean, cut its umbilical wire and count its toes and fingers, but judging by its early scans, this one is deserving of a fate other than the clinical-waste bin.
Its proud biological parent, Lenovo, has already chosen the name X100e, though we think that's a tad cruel -- it looks more like a Darren to us. It's a big baby by netbook standards. It's been weighed at 1.5kg with its six-cell battery and measures 282 by 209 by 29mm, thanks mostly to its freakishly large 11.6-inch screen. Continue reading...
Survey: Asus laptops more reliable than Apple, Sony
US warranty firm SquareTrade -- no doubt inspired by our console reliability survey -- has released its own findings into the failure rates of some 30,000 laptops. It's good news for Asus, whose machines seem to be the most reliable, but bad news for HP, whose portable computers are more likely to break than any other brand. Premium brands Apple and Sony do well, but still trail Asus and Toshiba. Continue reading...
Asus G51J 3D: Nvidia 3D technology comes to gaming laptops
If the world of 21st century technology was a field of powerful horses and delicious cows, 3D stuff would be the waste that comes out the back of them. No matter how much we say, "We don't want 3D TV," the more manufacturers interpret that as, "Ah, so you want more 3D TV?"
The gaming world is a moderately more tolerable adopter of this entirely unimpressive technological venture, however, so 3D laptops earn our mild interest. Acer showed one off in October, and now Asus has announced its first 3D gaming laptop: the G51J 3D. Continue reading...
AutoExec WM-01 Wheelmate: Computing has never been more exciting
If driving while holding a mobile phone is an offence, and driving while using a hands-free kit is legal, it stands to reason that driving while using a mobile phone -- or any other electronic device -- is entirely within the law* as long as your hands are free to control the steering wheel.
If that's the case, and you can't bear to be apart from Facebook on those long road trips, cast an eye on the AutoExec WM-01 Wheelmate steering-wheel desk tray. This ingenious device attaches to your steering wheel and provides a strong surface on which users can mount a laptop, update important papers, or even eat their lunch. Continue reading...
litl Easel: Bends over backwards for you
It's been a while since we saw a new netbook (approximately a day and a half, to be precise) so we'd started to worry that the tiny laptop gods had forsaken us. Petrified, we did a little rain dance before our netbook shrine and the diddytop deities blessed us with the litl Easel.
This device looks like no other netbook we've seen before. Its name comes from the fact its 12.1-inch, 1,280x800-pixel display can be flipped almost 180 degrees into what its makers refer to as Easel mode. This means it can be used to display photos and movies without the device taking up too much space. Continue reading...
Intel settles with AMD for $1.25bn
Rival chip manufacturers Intel and AMD have settled their bitter legal disputes in a massive $1.25bn deal, our sister site ZDNet UK reports. Intel was accused of trying to shut AMD out of the market and was hit with a €1bn fine from the EU earlier this year. The companies will also share patent rights for the next five years. Continue reading...
Dell Adamo XPS is picture perfect
Dell has stopped messing about with teaser shots and finally released official pictures of its super-skinny Adamo XPS, the second in its series of laptops designed to make the MacBook Air look like Pavarotti -- sort of.
It's a good thing too, because the Adamo XPS is sexier than Megan Fox in that film she did with the cars who could turn into robots or whatever. It measures a horribly malnourished 9.9mm at its thinnest point, 340mm at its widest, and is 274mm deep, so it's wider and deeper, but half as thick, than the 325mm by 227mm by 19mm MacBook Air is at its thinnest point. That said, it's also a tad heavier -- 1.44kg versus the Air's 1.36kg.
Continue reading...
Nokia Booklet 3G hits US: Hands-on verdict
Nokia's Booklet 3G netbook has arrived in the US and our chocolate-voiced NYC colleague Dan Ackerman has one in. It's designed to be sold on a phone-like contract, with AT&T offering it for $299 (£180) on a hefty $60 (£36) monthly tariff. Big Ack was impressed with the Booklet's build quality and high-res 10-inch display, but its titchy keyboard was too small for his bear-like paws and its sluggish performace was a turn-off too. Continue reading...
