Sunday, May 31, 2009

The New Revolutionized MacBook

new macbook The new and improved MacBook is certainly one of the sleekest most well designed notebooks I have ever seen. It has revolutionized the way notebooks are designed with its seamless covering made from a single sheet of aluminum. This allows for a remarkably noticeable difference in the weight and size of the laptop. The whole enclosure is lighter and thinner than the previous MacBook and just seems to have a more sophisticated air about it.

The MacBook embodies many other incredible qualities. The keyboard is crisp and wonderfully responsive, and comes with the now standard feature of illuminated keys. The trackpad on the MacBook has currently been engineered not only to assist in navigation, but also to double as a button. By pressing down on the trackpad you can easily click on anything you need to select. Also, the MacBook now features Multi-Touch gestures. Use two fingers to scroll up and down the page, a pinch to zoom in and out, three fingers to flip through photo libraries, a four finger swipe to switch between open applications, or a variety of other gestures to assist in your computing experience.

The MacBook also features built in wireless capabilities, ultrathin 13.3-inch LED backlit screen, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, tons of memory, and up to 5 hours of wireless productivity. I believe that this notebook is obviously a huge advancement in the field of laptops, but the draw back is the price. Starting at $1299, these notebooks are on the pricey side. Of course you pay for what you get. This is a technological masterpiece and contains many incredible features. You will not be disappointed with the quality or let down by the advancements of the new MacBook. I guess you just need to decide whether the amazing new features of the MacBook are worth the price tag to you.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

ASUS Eee 1008HA Seashell Review

ASUS SeashellASUS seems to be getting a lot of stories on our humble little blog. Maybe its because every time we turn around there is something new from ASUS coming out. You'd think they'd get tired by now but ASUS is still pumping out the goods.

Well now we have a review of the ASUS Seashell. One of the main things you will notice first about the Seashell is it's style. ASUS has definitley taken a step forward with their design. The Seashell somewhat resembles the style of the MacBook Air. It has a thin, curved chassis that measures only an inch thick at the largest point. It comes with a glossy finish which means your going to get a lot of smudges on it, but it will still look really slick. But the slimmed down design isn't all just for looks. The design has some practical value to it as well. The slimmer design makes the Seashell very comfortable to hold and is easily carried one handed and only weighs 2.4 pounds. The 1008HA is not as top heavy as some of the other netbooks on the market. This just means it wont capsize over backwards off your lap while you are using it. ASUS has taken great lengths to make the Seashell look good. All of the ports on the laptop are hidden behind little doors so you have a smooth uninterrupted look.

The interior of the Seashell is also very nice. The keyboard is around 92% of a full size keyboard which makes it very comfortable to use. If you are highly into the details of things, then you will be very pleased to know that the Seashell is the very first Eee PC to offer a full size right shift key. The touch pad works fairly well. It has dimples and a two finger zoom in and out function but lacks two fingered scrolling. The chrome rocker is nice with its clicky responsiveness and the whole mouse package overall is way better than most netbooks on the market.

The specs on the Seashell are pretty standard for most netbooks. It comes with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 950 graphics, and a 160GB hard drive. It has a better processor than most netbooks on the market with its 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 as opposed to the N270 put in most of the other netbooks. The Seashell only has two USB 2.0 ports, a min VGA port, and a headphone jack, all of which are behind those little doors mentioned earlier. There is a mini VGA to VGA adapter that comes in the box to make up for the lack of an actual VGA port. Located on the bottom of the chassis is a magnetic slot designed to hold the adapter which is a good solution to the annoying situation that could arise from the adapter. One potential problem with those little flaps on the port, however, is that larger USB keys will not fit requiring you to get an adapter. Yet the Seashell still has 802.11 B/G/N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 10/100Mbps Ethernet, and a non-removable, high-density, lithium polymer battery with a supposed life span of 6 hours.

The Seashell's performance is about the same as some of the other netbooks on the market. It can still do all the mundane, everyday tasks like browsing the internet, editing documents, or streaming video but is in no way more special than other netbooks. It does boot up a little faster and opens things like Word faster but isn't anything special. The high-gloss screen has quite a glare if you are out in the sun which can become an inconvenience for many users. The battery, advertised as lasting for 6 hours, actually lasts around 4.25 to 4.50 hours. However, if you turn off the Wi-Fi, disable the camera, take it down to 40% LCD brightness, and turn on power saving mode, you can squeeze out 5.75 hours, which is pretty close to the listed battery life.

The Seashell's skinny form makes for a really enjoyable user experience. Then if you add to it the awesome keyboard, the nice touchpad, and the boosted you come up with a pretty awesome netbook. The Seashell is more expensive than most netbooks coming in at a price tag of $430. But if you think about it, you can get the HP Mini 100 for around $414 or the Dell Mini 10 for around $349, not to mention the huge line of ASUS netbooks already on the market. The Seashell is definitley geared towards people seeking a higher-end netbook and has bumped the netbook category up a notch. The Seashell isn't your run-of-the-mill netbook, even though it does have some of the average specs about it. Definitely one of the best netbooks on the market and definitely one worth looking at.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Dell Latitude 2100

delllatitude2100Never before has a laptop been more designed with a student in mind. The new Dell Latitude 2100 is a netbook that is designed specifically for the education market, especially students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The Latitude’s durable design and kid-centered features make this laptop ideal for the rapidly developing minds of children.

The fundamental components of the Latitude are very comparable to those of most other netbooks. It features Intel Atom CPU, Windows XP, and 1 GB of RAM, but the major difference with the Latitude is its covering. The outside is rubberized, thicker, and heavier than most typical netbooks. This casing protects the laptop from the rough patches it is sure to go through in the hands of a child. Another interesting child-friendly note is the anti-microbial keyboard that is offered when purchasing the Latitude. This feature helps prevent the spread of germs between laptop users.

This laptop has many other aspects to consider. One which is definitely worth noting is the network activity light that is centered on the back of the lid. This light glows when the Latitude is connected to the internet. Dell designed this feature to alert teachers when a student is drifting away from their school work and instead surfing the Web. Dell also says that educational software designers will be able to incorporate this light into their programs to allow for teachers to see when a student has completed their assigned tasks in class.

The Latitude is larger and heavier than most 10-inch netbooks. It weighs 2.9 pounds with its three-cell battery and measures 10.4 x 7.3 x 5.7 inches. To solve any problems with the weight, Dell has designed a custom computer carrying cart that can be used in classrooms to store up to 24 netbooks. The Latitude comes in five fun colors: School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon, and School House Red, and its starting price is $369.

I think that Dell has done a fantastic job developing this idea of a student netbook. A kid-friendly laptop with a durable design, an anti-microbial keyboard, and a light that indicates Web surfing is something that schools have been waiting for. Laptops are necessary within schools for projects, activities, research, and a variety of other instances, so having a laptop that can take a few scratches and bruises will save them from expensive computer repairs. The network activity light will aid teachers in keeping students on track and eventually allow for notice of a students completion of an activity. All these features, plus the reasonable starting price, make the Dell Latitude 2100 a wonderful new technological development for many schools and students.

Friday, May 15, 2009

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-MThe Eee PC 1008HA "Seashell" has basically just started to get recognized and, instead of letting the machine soak up the press, ASUS has decided to announce new variations of the 1008HA, and only a day after. But these new netbooks are not the 1005HAB that was tipped off on ASUS' support site. They are, however, the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M and the 1005HA-H.

The 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H have the same slim styling as the "Seashell" but with a few added upgrades. Both computers have removable batteries, both 6-cell for each computer good for up to 8 hours of battery life.

The 1005HA-M takes a lower end approach coming in with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 160GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM and Wi-Fi and a 1.3 megapixel webcam but does not support Bluetooth.

The 1005HA-H is mostly the same as the "Seashell" as far as integral gears go with a few differences. The 1005HA-H has two USB 2.0 ports, keeps the 1.66GHz Atom Processor, supports Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 1 GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive. Both the 1005HA-H and 1005HA-M have 10-inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 displays with the 1005HA-H adding a glossy coating.

Connectivity wise, both computers contain 3 USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out, ethernet, and a 2-in-1 card reader. The measure about 10mm thicker than the Eee PC 1008HA and also weigh about 0.3kg more.

The ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-H comes with a price tag of $473 and the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M comes in at $405. Both machines come in either black or white colors and should go on sale in France by the end of July with a release in the U.S. sometime after that.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

HP ProBook 4510s

HP Pro Book 4510sA laptop is one of the most important pieces of equipment a person needs, especially if you are always on the road traveling for business reasons. But finding an affordable laptop that has all the features you need for your business is no easy task.

well HP's new laptop, the ProBook 4510s, is perfect for any traveling businessman by offering substance as well as style at a reasonable cost. The ProBook is HP's entry-level computer for business users. The laptop has a black, glossy lid which is prone to fingerprints, a glossy keyboard, a speaker strip lining the top of the laptop as well as a satin palm rest. The ProBook has a thin bezel which is easy to focus. An interesting design feature is the turquoise blue glow that emanates from the QuickLook 2 buttons, the power button, and LED lights on the system and if black isn't your style and you are looking for a hotter look, the ProBook also comes in red, or Merlot, as HP calls it.

The ProBook also has a good size to it. It measures 15.6 inches and weighs about 5.6 pounds. It has a 16:9 display with a wide footprint of 14.6 x 9.8 inches and 1.2 to 1.5 inch thickness. The ProBook is also the first laptop from HP to have island-style keys which makes for a more refined look. The slight texture to the keys, which are also scratch resistant, have a nice finish and are spaced apart comfortably. The touchpad, which measures 3.3 x 1.7 inches, has a rubber-like surface which gives the perfect amount of friction but the buttons on the touchpad are different from traditional ones. The touchpad buttons on the ProBook only depress at the end closest to the user. It kind of gives the feeling of pressing a piano key, which some people may like or dislike.

The 15.6 inch display is bright with an LED backlight and has a matte finish that provides really good viewing angles. The sound system varies depending on what you are listening to. Video clips and movies sound good whereas music was faint, even at max volume.

Considering this is a business computer, the ProBook 4510s has a plethora of ports for all of your needs. It comes with Ethernet and modem jacks, a Kensington Lock slot, headphone and mic ports, one VGA output, one HDMI output, and four USB 2.0 slots. For low-profile broadband cards, the ProBook comes with an Expresscard/34 slot and also has a 5-in-1 memory card reader. Another interesting design feature is that none of these ports are located on the back of the laptop, aside from the memory card reader, mic ports, and headphone ports which are located on the front, all the ports are located on the sides. The ProBook also comes with a good battery life. The six0cell battery lasts you around four and a half hours which is longer lasting than the average laptop by about 70 mins. There is also an optional eight-cell battery upgrade which claims to add 34% more battery life at a $10 fee.

All in all this computer is perfect for anybody on the road constantly for business trips, meetings, or one who is just in the habit of traveling. A definite recommendation for anyone looking for an affordable business laptop.