HP Envy 14 Get Engadgets Thumbs Up

The HP Envy 14 has always intrigued me. On paper it is so incredibly great it makes me wonder how the hell HP came up with it instead of someone like Sony or Asus. Engadget have had a chance to run it through the paces and have found some interesting facts.
The Envy 14 is a definitely evolution of the old 15, coming in at almost the same size and only shaving a little bit of weight off. Otherwise it fixes the majority of issues, and has even got one of the best keyboards around according to Engadget. If you are interested in the notebook, I would definitely jump over for a very positive review.

Full review on Engadget.

Toshiba’s New R705 Ultralight Gets Reviewed

The Toshiba Portege R705 has been given the deep review treatment by Engadget, and they liked it. The Portege R705 is currently the lightest laptop on the market that uses full notebook processors instead of the low power versions. To make things better, the R705 can be found for under $1000USD at your local BestBuy.
While Engadget did like the weight and construction, they did notice that the laptop did get warm. If you are after a powerful yet light laptop, the new Toshiba might be right up your alley.

Via [Engadget]

Vaio Y Gets i5 And Discrete Update

Sony’s Vaio Y series was Sony’s entrance into the low powered notebook market, but at the time was a little underwhelming. It has been given a much needed refresh, which adds the more powerful Intel i3 and i5 series (the low power versions) of processors to the mix. Additionally, another nice upgrade is the option for an ATI 4550 discrete graphics card (not switchable unfortunately),  256GB SSD and a bunch of pretty colours.
The refreshed Y is available to pre-order now and starts at $US769 . Jump over to Sony.com for more information.

New King Of Biggest Laptop Disk

750GB in a standard height (9.5mm) notebook HDD is quite the achievement. The Western Digital Scorpio will be the highest density HDD on the market, and come in at a reasonable $US150.
Does it get to the point where disks are bigger then the stuff you need to store? Never.

More info Via [Gizmodo]

Full Spec Vaio Z

The Vaio Z refresh has been known for a few weeks now (since the announcement at CES), but a few facts were still in the air. Sony Japan has now announced the Z officially with specs that will blow your mind.

The first thing to note is the new eye melting resolution of 1920 x 1080 (on the top end model). If you found the old z hard to read then this one will surely implode your brain.

It also features all the rumored bits and pieces; the Nvidia 330GT, the quad SSD (no hdd option anymore), back-lit keyboard (reference other article) and the 1.4 kg weight. Price is expected to be around the $US1899 but with the release date of  March you still have plenty of time to start saving those precious pennies (I recommend collecting cans).

Via [Gizmodo]

Powerful VAIO VGN-SZ791N Gets Reviewed

Unfortunately I don’t get to do reviews here, I just can’t afford the toys. The people at PCMag aren’t as unfortunate. They have got their hands on the damn powerful VGN-SZ791N, and they really liked it. They gave it a hefty 4.5 out of 5 circles. It even earned the Editor’s Choice branding. Unfortunately, even the best can’t run Crysis, with a lousy frame-rate of 6 at 1024×768.

For the compete review, click over to PCMag.

Lenovo X300 Review’s (That’s Plural)

Isn’t it amazing that Lenovo had some ultra thin notebook coming, just as Apple had one coming? Unlike the Apple, the Lenovo doesn’t sacrifice any features to do what it does (other then looks). Now it is out and about and a bunch of people have reviewed it.
The all over feel of the reviews is that they really liked it. Most of them directly compared it to the Air, which it truly is aimed at it, and feel that the slight fatness was better then losing features. They liked the keyboard layout, they like the screen, they like the cooling and they like the sound system among other things.
They didn’t like the price and lack of HDD space, but considering the Air is around the same price, you don’t really have a choice. The biggest choice you really have to make between the notebooks is, do you want MacOSX or Windows (XP or Vista)?
Now for my rant (sorry). I think both notebooks are a good step forward in technology, but that Lenovo doesn’t challenge anything. It just makes things as small as possible, which Sony and a bunch of other manufactures will be doing right now.
Sony’s challenge with the TR1 was a ultra small 10-inch notebook. Asus challenge was the EeeCP with a 7-inch with Linux and SSD. Apples challenge was with the Air’s feature sacrifice for size. The Lenovo is an attractive package, but it isn’t anything particularly different.
Unfortunately for Lenovo other companies will soon release products that are similar and possibly cheaper or more attractive (looks and features). I would enjoy the spotlight while I had it Lenovo.

To read the complete reviews, go to PCMag, CNET, CMP Channel, Notebook Review and Walt Mossberg.

Thank you Gizmodo for doing the hard work.

Battery Hotswap Done Right

In the middle of writing a fabulous article on the reason why you love Apple so much, and all of a sudden the dreaded battery low icon pops up. Mad creative flow is at stake here, and your nowhere near a power point, so what are you going to do? Inventor Ric Richardson’s has a solution for this problem, with hotswapable notebook batteries.
The solution works very elegantly, and basically has a connector at the back of the battery, which plugs into the power connector giving the notebook power while you remove the old battery and insert the new battery. Then simply unplug and the battery doesn’t have any downtime.
He has also gone and patented the idea (damn it) and is already negotiating with companies such as Lenovo and HP. Expect to see Ric driving around in Ferrari before the end of this year.

For more info, click over to Engadget.

Continue reading “Battery Hotswap Done Right” »

Seagate Catch Up On Mobile HDD

It is about time Seagate released their 250GB notebook drive. They are only a few months late really. 250GB Momentus 5400.4 is priced a $US165, but considering there is now another competitor in the 250GB 2.5-inch drive market, you can expect everyone to start shredding the dollars. They’re available now.

For more info, click over to Engadget.

Macbook Air The Pro’s And Con’s

There are a million articles out there that explain to you what you get in the new Macbook Air, so I’ve decided to skip all that and do a pro’s and con’s on the device. If you don’t believe me or want for more info, go to Apple.
What is the Apple Macbook Air, and what does it mean for Apple? It is another niche product and a shot at the current ultra light notebook market. It is the worlds thinnest notebook, it is also very attractive. The list of features is great with pro’s such as -

• 5 hour battery life with everything running
• LED backlit display
• Minimalist  design, means you get what you need
• 802.11n wireless, so fast wireless speeds
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, gives you the latest Bluetooth
• Unique multi-touch trackpad
• Core 2 Duo Processor (much smaller design then what other notebooks have)
• Option for SSD (64GB)
• It’s better for the environment (bromide and PVR free, packaging is 56% smaller and mercury and arsenic-free glass)

It is a very interesting feature set and for people who just want ultra small and light, you can’t go past. Not everything is good in Apple town though, because there are issues with this design.

• 1 USB port
• No HDMI
• No removable battery
• No user upgradeable memory
• No user upgradeable HDD
• Built-in speaker is mono
• No built-in mobile internet card (HSDPA or whatever it is called)
• No externel PCi-E connector

The features missing is a gamble for Apple, and seeing that lately they can’t be faulted, hoping the trade off will keep consumer interest. The major problem is the asking price, which is $US1799 (or a ridiculous $AU2499). If Apple didn’t know already, America, your major buyer base, could quite possibly go into recession (if they aren’t already in one) and people will be look to save money.
Apple shares took a dive after the keynote, but I wouldn’t worry to much, Apple fanboys will just go around robbing people to get their crackbook fix. If they could do this for around $US500 cheaper, it would have stormed the market and could become the perfect ultra-portable, unfortunately for Apple for about twice the thickness (which isn’t much really) you can get a whole lot more for your money.

Continue reading “Macbook Air The Pro’s And Con’s” »