The Legion of Gaming Masters- Top Three Gaming Laptops of 2010
matthew | 11:02 pm | August 15, 2010 | Laptop Reviews
No one can judge the performance of a laptop better than a gamer can.
Those unbelievably close to reality graphics, a gameplay that requires super human reflexes, and controls that can take full control of player’s imagination – with all that and so much more, modern 3D games have now changed the meaning of ‘virtual reality’.
Despite so many gaming platforms available, the idea of having a portable machine, which can also serve your other computing needs has always fancied a responsible gamer. Yet, as much as these games have the power to take you to the extremes, they also demand the same extreme power from your machine. Generally, most work and home use laptops soon surrender to these power drainers, and each and every weakness begins to show up.
Fortunately, most manufacturers were smart enough to realize their shortcoming, and we now see a line up of laptops designed and built specifically to meet gaming requirements. Some do live up to the expectations, but some are merely using the title to bluff the clueless gamers. So, no more falling for that trap fellow gamers, here is a list of the best that awaits you in stores this year.
Alienware M17x
Doesn’t it sound like the best weapon to take on the whole league of outer-space invaders? So it is! And the best part is- it even looks like one.
It is to-date the most fastest portable gaming laptop. Typically, you can get a Core 2 duo CPU in fair prices, nothing compare to the priceless gaming experience you are going to get. Yet, if you are willing to pay more, you can get a Core i5 or I7. And before you go hands on with your laptop, you might consider a little customization with colours and laser etching.
MacBook pro 15 inch
If we restrict this list to the laptops launched in 2010 only, the whole list would have been filled with Alienware, so, we decided to choose a runner-up from yester years. Don’t panic, these machines were quite ahead of their times and still are among the best you can get in a little less price than that of the winner.
No matter whose side you choose in the PC vs. Mac debate, you can’t deny MACs superior gaming ability. So don’t get fooled by the size of this little notebook here. This 15 inch machine unleashes a longer and better gaming experience with its unbeatable battery life. Now you know what a genie in a bottle can do.
iBUYPOWER Battalion 101 CZ-10 touch
If you wish to go hands-on with your ultimate gaming laptop, The iBUYPOWER Battalion 101 CZ-10 touch can help you with that- literally. It is the first ever multi-touch gaming laptop. Sounds like there really are some people who really care about the gamers. CZ-10 is one seriously cool machine, which was again designed specifically to meet a hard core gamer’s requirement and it did live up to the expectations. Despite its 15 inch size, it comes equipped with a DVD SuperMulti burner.
Toshiba launches laptop “Trade-In” scheme
oleg | 2:32 pm | July 5, 2010 | Laptop News
If you are thinking to get rid of your old Pavilion dv6000 you might be interested in the following news. Toshiba has announced the launch of a new “Trade-In” programme describing it as “an initiative designed to help consumers offset the cost of buying a new laptop whilst ensuring that their old laptop is disposed of in an environmentally sustainable way”.
When purchasing a new Toshiba Windows 7 laptop, consumers are offered cashback in return for their old laptop depending on its condition and technical specifications. Before you buy a new computer you can use Toshiba’s Trade-In website to get the price of your current notebook calculated. For example, for an old Dell Inspiron 1501 in good condition the quote is £58 while if selecting higher specification laptop such as HP Compaq 6720s or Acer Aspire 5920, Toshiba is offering up to £150.
After visiting the website for valuation go ahead with the trade-in, you will see the laptop collected by Toshiba’s partner Tier 1 Asset Management who will pay out – assuming all is good with the device – within 10 days.
The Toshiba Trade-In programme is live now over at www.toshiba.co.uk/tradein
“Nanotecnological” laptop only for $99
Alexandra | 2:04 pm | May 10, 2010 | New Laptops
Nanotechnologies are entering our life at incredible speeds. The device Ben NanoNote seems to present by itself the limit of miniaturization in the class of laptops. Having the price of $99, the weight of 130 gr and the size of 99х75х17.5 mm this gadget can boast the practically full-bodied QWERTY keyboard.
However, the rest doesn’t impress so much. The display resolution is 320х240 pixels, the RAM capacity is 32 Mb, the frequency of the XBurst Jz4720 processor is 336 MHz. Of course, there’s no hard disk, but one 2-Gb microSD flash card instead.
There’s a speaker, a microphone, a slot for headphones and one USB port. The battery capacity is 850 mAh. The working platform of the device is Linux.
The manufacturer thinks Ben NanoNote is an excellent media-player, a memo book and a reader. Of course, any modern smartphone will give good headstart to this odd device in terms of functionality and convenience. Still, Ben NanoNote can be a very cool present, a nanotecnological one.
HP 2010 laptops for small and medium businesses
Alexandra | 12:36 am | April 8, 2010 | New Laptops
The new line form HP includes 6 new models presented — a transformer EliteBook 2740p with touch screen and multi touch support, a light 12-inch EliteBook 2540p with the weight of 3.3 pounds and four models of the ProBook line with the S index which mainly differ by the screen diagonal — 13, 14, 15 and 17 inches. All models support the Intel i3, i5, i7 processors with Turbo Boost technology, can use up to 8 GB of memory, work with hard drives with up to 500 GB of capacity (apart from the tablet computer) and optionally all the models are equipped with webcams and biometrical sensors.
The transformer HP EliteBook 2740p has a 12-inch touchscreen with 1280х800 resolution, and weighs a bit over 3.7 pounds. The optical drive is not included in the set and can be bought separately with an external connection. There are ExpressCard slots, a slot for SD cards and three USB ports, one of which supports the power supply (!). In the given model accumulators with the support of Smart SATA II up to 320 GB can be used. The price in the base configuration is US $1600.
HP EliteBook 2740p
The HP EliteBook 2540p laptop weighs only about 3.4 pounds in its basic configuration, and has a price tag of US $1100. The Intel i7 processor version is also equipped with the optical drive, and has a 1.8-inch hard drive with the capacity of 500 GB.
HP EliteBook 2540p
The new line of laptops ProBook 4х20s looks more attractive thanks to unusual case colors. But everything is pretty standard otherwise.
HP ProBook 4320s
The resolution of the 13-inch model HP ProBook 4320s is 366х768 pixels. The weight of this laptop is 4.4 pounds without the optical drive.
All these models are equipped with 16:9 screens, HDMI slots and one USB port are combined with eSATA. They also have stereo input for a microphone. The release dates of the two previous models are known already (April, 2010), the prices and time for the ProBook line launch will be announced later.
The HP ProBook 4420s model differs only by a 14-inch screen and a weight of 4.7 pounds. Will optical drives disappear in simple notebook models at all as it happened to 3.5-inch slots for diskettes? We’ll see…
HP ProBook 4420s
The 15-inch model HP ProBook 4520s of the new line can also be supplied without the optical drive but it has one interesting option in the form of an additional digital keyboard.
HP ProBook 4520s
At last, the 17-inch model HP ProBook 4720s is equipped with a 1600х900 resolution screen. The size of this beast is 28×411x266 mm and it weighs about 6.6 pounds.
HP ProBook 4720s
Alex PC – the simplest laptop for your grandparents or children
Alexandra | 4:44 pm | March 5, 2010 | New Laptops
Almost all of us sooner or later are faced with the need of purchasing the first computer for grandparents (parents) or children. In this case you think about price and simplicity much more than about technical characteristics. So, meet Alex PC, the simplest laptop for those who are baffled by modern day technology. It was developed by the Broadband Computer Company in the UK and is based on the upgraded version of the 15-inch Clevo M760T laptop.
Alex PC uses the Linux operating system, but access to all the necessary functions is simplified as much as possible. To run a player client, a text or graphics editor just press one of the large icons tightly pinned to the desktop. All the new software versions will be downloaded to your laptop without asking any annoying questions (this point can be also considered as a problem for those who pay for internet traffic).
Users will not find usual user accounts with logins and passwords on Alex PC, instead of them each family member can use a personal password protected USB flash drive with desktop settings, personal files and other useful stuff.
The laptop is based on Intel Celeron T1600, has a 1 GB RAM, a hard disk of 120 GB, a Wi-Fi module, 1.3 megapixel webcam and a DVD-drive. All this user friendliness will set you back about 620 dollars.
Scientists can make laptop batteries from ink and paper
Alexandra | 5:15 am | January 19, 2010 | Laptop News
Scientists from Stanford University used nanotechnology to create ultra-lightweight, flexible batteries and supercapacitors from ordinary paper. They just covered a sheet of paper with ink comprising carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. And as a result they got a new storage device that can be used for production of innovative power supplies (laptop batteries, chargers for mobile phones, electric vehicles, etc.).
Capacitors can hold their charge for smaller period of time compared to batteries, but they can also be charged much faster. Professor Yi Cui (Stanford researcher) claims that used nanomaterials contain structures with a very small diameter, allowing ink to attach to fibrous paper. So it makes the paper batteries resistant to wear. Moreover, they can be recharged about 40,000 times (it’s incommensurably more than corresponding characteristics of lithium-ion batteries).
Yi Cui tried to create an analogous storage device form plastic earlier. But his new study shows that paper-based solution has greater prospects. This battery can be crumpled, placed into liquids (even acidic solutions!) without any damage to its performance.
Calculations show that paper with a kilogram of ink can power a 40-watt bulb for about an hour. It’s not an impressive result, but you should take into account that scientists are running their first experiments now. Be sure, after a couple of years your laptop battery will be much thinner and lighter in weight, allowing you to enjoy liаe without chargers and AC adapters for days, not hours.
Stolen and lost laptops in the UK: do you want to be the next victim?
Alexandra | 9:53 pm | December 7, 2009 | Security
Every week thousands of people lose their laptops. According to the last study conducted by Dell, business travellers lose more than 15,500 laptops per week (in the EU). A researcher has found that London Heathrow has the highest number of missing or stolen laptops (900 gadgets a week).
Unfortunately, most of people in the United Kingdom don’t undertake any measures to ensure security of their personal information which they keep on their mobile computers. Lost or stolen laptop means not only loss of your device but also moral damage and loss of valuable information (not only your private letters and photos, collections of favourite videos and music). For most of businesspeople loss of information takes the form of unrecovered damages, loss of money and reputation. But nevertheless Dell statistic shows that the British don’t realize consequences of their carelessness:
- “My data is not backed up” – that was the answer of 43% of respondents in the UK.
- “I do not take steps to protect my confidential information” – 59%.
- “Sometimes I left my laptop under the supervision of my fellow passenger” – 42%.
- “I employ disk encryption” – only 12%.
- “I use biometric methods to secure my laptops” – only 6% (while fingerprint scanner systems prevent unauthorised access to Toshiba, IBM, Lenovo, ASUS and many other laptops).
There are lots of gadgets and software products that can help you reduce negative consequences of the loss of data. Firefound (add-on for Firefox and Fennec) is one such solution. It cleans your personal data in just a few simple clicks and enables you to find your stolen computer.
Firefound uses geolocation to determine your current position and sends this information to your laptop (using it like an internet server). If your mobile computer is lost then you can get into the web interface of Fifefound and get to know where your laptop is and remove all your personal data.
You can also configure levels of safety in such a way that you will receive a letter if your laptop is used more than a certain number of miles away from your location. Or Firefound will remove your personal information if criminal is not able to enter the correct password with the X number of attempts.
But remember that it’s much easier to prevent such problems than to fight them, by keeping your laptop from getting lost or stolen.
Cool USB gizmos – little friends for your laptop
Alexandra | 6:10 pm | November 30, 2009 | USB Stuff
Tiny mouse
Those who like mobility and don’t want to carry extra load will certainly appreciate surprising compactness and ease of the Super Slim USB optical mouse. It measures just 45 x 64 x 14 mm, and its weight is 28 grams. The mouse easily fits in your hand, while having very high resolution (1800 dpi). It works on most of surfaces, providing precise positioning. You can choose one of two models – white or black one.
High-speed scanner
The Neatdesk Scanner developed by the Neat company allows to work with most of the documents. It has three loading trays for different paper formats. The smallest one is designed for business cards, the second tray accepts cheques, and the biggest one works with the A4 paper size.
You can download up to 10 cards and 10 cheques at the same time, just press the button, and then all the documents will be scanned one by one. If you have a pack of A4 documents, you can load up to 50 sheets and they will be scanned automatically thanks to the document feeder. The maximum resolution is 600 dpi. The data can be exported to Outlook and Excel.
Special Neatdesk software allows you to automate scanning process. Just put the scanner near your laptop and enjoy a new film while this useful gadget is doing its work.
Desktop Vacuum Cleaner
A USB-powered miniature vacuum cleaner was designed expressly for fans of funny USB-toys. Despite its tiny size, it can manage its task. Use it to clean up crumbs and dust from the surface of your desk and laptop keyboard. Surely, this little helper means more power consumption for your battery, but having a spotlessly clean desk may well be worth it. 
A warm touch of bamboo
You are certainly tired of plastic that surrounds you everywhere. Do you want something natural? So you should pay your attention to Micro Innovations’ USB wooden keyboard and mouse that were made of bamboo for those who like “real” things. Quite unconventional, yet full of character.
Pedal Charger – Use Laptop without Battery
Alexandra | 1:06 am | November 14, 2009 | Concept Laptops, Laptop News, USB Stuff
Sometimes technologies of the past help us to go in the future. Let’s take the first pedal powered machine for XO laptops as an example. Akmal Waak and Mike Dawson, technicians working for OLPC (the One Laptop Per Child Association, Inc.) in Afghanistan, have designed such a mechanism to charge XO laptops. Of course, it is made not just for fun or health improvement, this new prototype has noble mission, it allows to use OLPC gadgets in countryside and rural areas beyond the power grid.
Developers claim that their human power machine can be used without any difficulties even by children of 3rd and 4th graders. Users can run laptop and at the same time charge it, moreover it requires no additional batteries or special adapters.
Аbout 2,500 laptops were delivered in Kabul, Herat and Jalalabad schools. Now specialists of OLPC Afghanistan’s deployment analyze impact of these educational innovations and plan to create a new pedal charger of smaller size to provide more comfort and mobility.
Such mechanisms can be helpful not only in developing and least developed countries, but also in advanced economies. Why not? Among other kinds of energy given by sun’s rays or wind we can rely on simple pedal power. And some producers have already done it. So a company from China has put on the market its Рedal Powered LED Spotlight Combo Contraption, new charger for gadgets with a USB port.
The Green That Makes Trees Scream
Christine | 10:05 pm | April 16, 2008 | Green Laptops, Uncategorized
The voices telling us about eco-friendly laptops are getting louder, but so far they sound, to put it mildly, boring and unimaginative. Certainly, with winter temperatures getting closer to summer ones each year it is silly not to consider environment these days. However, it seems that “eco-friendly” developers experience some kind of a creative thinking crisis.
Most of new nature-oriented concepts of laptops or actual products are based on wood (examples include Micro-Star International GX-620, Swedx monitor, Thallbach USB-drive, Asus Eco Book, followed by new WoodShell concept). And it looks as if one designer came up with the idea and herds of others took it up.
These devices scream “I am ecology-friendly!”, but are they really? One wooden laptop born means one tree dead. With so many wooden designs today it’s high time that some other options are considered.
And again, here comes Fujitsu. First they used corn to produce plastic for their laptops, and now they have developed new bio-based plastic for their FMV-BIBLO NX95Y/D. Which is definitely a welcome change for those hungry for new ideas.
