Asus' Bamboo Laptop

Are you ready for a bamboo laptop from Asus? That's exactly what you're going to get if you spend $999 on the new U33Jc-A1. CNET says the 13-inch laptop is "partially clad in actual bamboo, creating a unique upscale look and feel that we find greatly appealing to our midcentury modern design tastes."

The laptop features an Intel Core i3 system, as well as Intel's Wireless Display technology for beaming video to an external display. It also has a discrete Nvidia 310M GPU. It's definitely attractive and unique, however, it does not have an optical drive.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Samsung's First 1TB Hard Drive

Computer-maker Samsung has announced that it is launching its first 1TB hard drive for laptops. The 2.5-inch hard drive, which is part of the Spinpoint-series, is being called the Spinpoint MT2 and it uses a 12.5mm form factor, as well as 333GB platters. If you need lots of storage space, this hard drive is your dream come true!

According to Samsung, the new hard drive works at 20% increased performance and uses about 4% less power than other similar hard drives currently on the market. However, reviewers say that the hard drive isn't very fast. It spins at just 5,400 RPM and features a last-generation 3.0Gb/s interface.

Even so, Samsung's vice president of storage marketing, I.C. Park, says the hard drive offers, "the largest capacity in what has previously been offered as an option for portable digital devices."

Generally, any hard drive that is part of the Spintpoint series features SilentSeek and NoiseGuard, which are used to drop noise levels during use. They also feature shock resistance of up to 400G while operating and 800G while not in use. You should expect these features in the new hard drive, along with Samsung's balancing technology, which, according to the company, offers "enhanced stability and reliability."

Unfortunately, with a thickness 12.5 mm, the hard drive is likely to present another problem: it won't fit into every laptop, so there may be a lot of disappointed people out there.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Acer, ASUS gaining ground against HP and Dell.

In the world of laptops a few brands have always been the most popular: Sony, Toshiba, HP and Dell. A few years ago, Acer and ASUS jumped on the scene, producing moderately priced, quality laptops. Those smaller brands started inching their way towards the top. Now it appears worldwide consumers are trending away from paying high dollar for the brand name. Especially when the technology is advancing faster than you can pay your credit card bill.

According to Gartner, which tracks worldwide shipments of laptops and analyzes trends, Acer is gaining ground on the worlds most popular laptop brand, HP. During the 2nd quarter of 2010, HP had about 17% of the market share, while Acer had 13%. That's not very stunning until you compare the same two companies' market share from the 2nd quarter of 2009, HP had 18% and Acer had 12%. (It should be noted, at this time last year, Acer was trailing Dell, 12.6% M.S. in worldwide sales.) To round out the top 5, after Dell is Lenovo, followed by ASUS, which bumped Toshiba out of the top 5 in worldwide sales.

When you look at the US sales statistics, you notice that US sales don't necessarily mimic the worldwide trends. HP still sits atop the list with 25.7% of the market, followed by Dell, 23.7%, Acer, 11.3%, Apple 9.8%, and Toshiba rounding out the top 5 with 8.7%.

In EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) sales are vastly different. Acer takes the the number 1 spot away from HP, with 21.3% of the market. That's up from 18.9% last year. HP is in 2nd place with 19.7%, down from 20.8%. But then there's a dramatic drop off between 2nd and 3rd, Dell sits with only 9.2% of the market in the region, while ASUS, 8.5%, and Toshiba, 5.7% place 4th and 5th, respectively.

These trends could be a result of the worldwide economic downturn, as more and more consumers are tightening their belts and looking at wallet friendly alternatives to fit their laptop needs.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

iBuyPower Has Entered the 3D Laptop Business

To be "in" these days, you have to offer 3D products, whether you sell anything from laptops to plasma TVs. Well, it looks like another computer-maker - iBuyPower - has thrown its name into the 3D laptop business. The company, which is known for its excellent gaming laptops, announced today their new Battalion 101 W860CU-3D.

The new laptop has a 15.6-inch HD screen with 1366 x 768 pixels, and it's capable of displaying 3D images. You can get the computer with a Core i5 or Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a hard drive with 750GB capacity. Other options include a 512GB SSD. The Battalion 101 W860CU-3D also includes a DVD player/Blu-ray drive, a NVIDIA GTX285 discrete video card, and a 3D Vision package, which contains 3D software and a pair of 3D Vision active shutter glasses. It runs the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.

As far as a starting price for the new gaming laptop, you can expect to pay between $1,600 and $1,900, depending on where you purchase it and what kind of specifications you're looking for.

The new laptop wasn't the only announcement iBuyPower made today. The company also announced the launch of two gaming systems that will feature NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 460. They are the Paladin E370 and F860.

The Paladin E370, which starts around $834, will have a Core i5 750 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, and 24x DVD writer in addition to the GeForce GTX 460. The Paladin F860 is priced at $1,849 and includes the GeForce GTV 460, a Core i7 930 processor, 6 GB of RAM, 1TB of storage space, and a 8x Blu-ray combo drive.

For more info on any of these computers, visit iBuyPower.com. For more information on laptops or laptop rentals, visit Rentourlaptops.com.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

New Gateway Laptop with Core i3 Processor

Gateway has just released a 17 inch laptop with the new core i3 processor inside. The laptop comes with everything standard today in a mid range laptop including a light weight of 7.4 pounds, 6 cell battery, 16x9 aspect ratio, 500GB 5400RPM hard drive, integrated graphics, but the real new feature to talk about is the 2.13Ghz core i3 processor. All of this comes in at just the low price of $580 at Best Buy.

The new core i3 processor is part of Intel's new top of the line 32 nanometer processor lineup with the likes of the Intel core i5 and i7. Even though the core i3 has a clock speed of only 2.13ghz, the core i3’s new architecture makes it able to keep up with similar processors with much higher clock speeds like the Intel core 2 DUO T9500 with a clock speed of 2.66GHz.

If you are looking to buy a new laptop soon for a good price then you might want to consider the Gateway NV7915u. It is currently one of the cheapest laptops that offers a core i3 processor and it has received high marks from websites such as CNET who gave it their "Editors Choice Award." The Gateway NV7915u is an impressive desktop replacement that comes with all the features you expect from a high end laptop, but at a budget price.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use.

Interactive E-Book for Kids on the iPad

Many people are enjoying the fact that they can utilize their iPad as an e-book reader. It can be really convenient and sometimes easier to tote around than a book. Now, Kiwa Media has created their QBook interactive series of e-books that is specifically designed for kids. This series gives kids more than just something to read. It makes the whole experience more engaging for even small children since each story now becomes an interactive adventure.

You can purchase stories by QBook at Apple's App Store. The latest release for Kiwa Media's new series is a story called That's not JUNK. It is a story that is all about recycling, and it teaches kids the value of recycling. As mentioned before, the stories are interactive. That's not JUNK features Swipe-to-Read, this allows kids to read at their own pace; Touch-to-Hear, which lets kids touch than hear the words on the "pages;" and Touch-to-Spell, that helps kids improve their early language skills. Kids can decide whether or not they want to use Auto Play or My Narration when they read with QBook. Auto Play reads the story to your child, while My Narration allows your child to record themselves reading the story out loud.

With QBooks, children can see each page of the story in full color, or they can choose to use Paint mode which allows kids to color the pages of the story themselves with a variety of different colors and brush widths. Each page of the story also includes animation and different games that children can play. Basically, one single story has plenty of features to keep your child entertained for hours.

There are several different QBooks that are available from the Apps Store. They are available for iPad or iPhone. That's not JUNK is available now for $4.99. There is also a demo version of Sally Sloth Saves the Day that has just recently been released. Now the demo version only includes 5 pages, so if you get this demo for your kids, they may want to know what happens next in the story.

If you're looking for something to keep your kids occupied, QBooks from Kiwa Media are a great idea. They are fun, interactive, and even educational. For about $4.99 a story, you can keep your kids entertained for plenty of time. It's a great solution to keep the kids occupied on the go.

If you're looking for ways to keep your iPad protected while you're on the go check out the GO! iPad Sleeve, or if you're looking to try out an iPad, check out where you can rent them.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Lenovo's 3D Laptop Now Shipping

3D is all the rage these days and now it's coming to your laptop. The IdeaPad Y560d, from Lenovo, is the company's first 3D notebook, and it's shipping now. The new laptop has a 15.6-inch screen, 16:9 high definition, a Core i7 processor running at 1.60 GHz, 4GB of RAM, and a 500 GB HDD.

A different configuration will be available at a later date. It will include an i7 at 1.86 GHz, a Blue-ray drive, and a "RapidDrive," a hybrid 64GB SSD and 750GB HDD for quicker booting.

The laptop uses TriDef 3D technology (TriDef Media Player) software that turns the standard movie into a 3D movie, using the TriDef Photo Transformer. The same can be done to standard photos, however it does not work on Blu-ray or HD-DVD content.
The laptop will also come with a 3D screen and 3D glasses.

It's currently selling for $1500.

Looking for more 3D information? Check out A Monitor Blog for information on 3D televisions, 3D computer monitors, and other display technology information.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Buying an External Hard Drive: What Should You Be Looking For?

I recently have been having some problems with the Compaq laptop that I purchased when I started my freshman year in college about two years ago. It’s ridiculously slow and has been driving me absolutely insane. I’ve run multiple virus scans, but they couldn’t seem to find anything significant.

I finally decided that the best thing to do would be to purchase an external hard drive to dump all of my important documents and my crazy amount of music and pictures on, and then I figured I would wipe everything on the laptop and give it a new start. When I formulated this plan though, I realized that I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of external hard drive I wanted. So after doing some research, I’ve decided to share what I think are the important things to consider when you’re looking for your hard drive.

First off it’s important to know that for under $100 you can get an external hard drive that can hold over 750,000 music downloads or photos. You can add about a terabyte (1024 GB) of space to your laptop or desktop computer. Every single computer available has the ability to have at least one external hard drive added to it. Some computers even have the multiple ports that allow for the use of more than one external hard drive. You are given the capacity to back up anything you could possibly want or need with an external hard drive.

Okay so if your considering purchasing an external hard drive, the first thing that you want to pay attention to is the type of hard drive that you want. There are two different types of hard drives that you’ll be looking at. There are desktop-style drives and notebook-class styles hard drives. Desktop-style drives are obviously for desktop computers. They require a power adapter, and therefore need to be able to stay in one place for the most part. Right now, you can find desktop-style drives with up to 2 TB (terabytes) of extra space on them.

The notebook-class drives are designed to be portable like you’re laptop. They are powered through the connector cable and do not need to be plugged in like the desktop-style. Most of the Notebook-style hard drives are small enough to easily fir into your pants pocket, which is quite convenient. They come with as much as 1 TB of extra space, but it is more common to find them with 500GB or 640GB which is plenty of room.

The next thing you need to consider is something I never even thought about. You need to decide what kind of input you want to utilize to connect your computer and the external hard drive. There are tons of different hard drives that connect in a variety of different ways. Some connect through USB 2.0 ports, FireWire (400 and 800), eSATA, Wireless USB, USB 3.0, or iSCSI. The USB 2.0 port is the most common way to connect the devices, but its not exactly the fastest. FireWIre is less common, but is much faster. Even faster than FireWire is a hard drive that uses an eSATA connection. If you’re not concerned about transferring all your data quickly, then I think that a hard drive that uses a USB 2.0 port is your best bet, and it will also be cheaper.

The last challenge that you will be faced with when selecting your external hard drive is drive speed. Unless you’re connecting you’re hard drive internally to your PC through the motherboard or with an eSATA cable, there is no need to worry about the drive speed. USB 2.0 and FireWire ports can’t handle a fast drive speed and therefore all that is necessary for your external hard drive is the basic drive speed.

There are always things like color and design to consider when you’re considering external hard drives, but I don’t feel like those are too important. You also can look into warranties, because if you’re really hard on your hard drive it can fail you. Those things are all up to you though. Hopefully now when you’re looking for an external hard drive you will now know what to look for. It’s not as hard as it may sound, ad it is definitely something that can really be a good thing for your laptop or desktop. For a very small amount of cash and a little bit of time, you can create a ton more space or possibly even save your slowly failing computer.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.

Cisco to Release the Cius Android Tablet

At the CiscoLive event held in Las Vegas this past Tuesday, Cisco announced that they will be releasing their Cius 7-inch Android tablet, but they have not said when or what kind of price tag they plan to put on it.

The Cius will be the first Android tablet that is being specifically designed for business. Cisco says that they are using their newest technology that they have designed for mobile business needs. The Cius will have the ability to take 720p video and utilize the Cisco Telepresence solution. It will come standard with Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and an instant messenger app.

Kara Wilson, the vice president of UC and collaboration solutions marketing for Cisco said, “Cisco Cius delivers on our vision of bringing the next wave of collaborative experiences to our customers. It will fundamentally change how your workers, executives and managers will go about their day, ushering in a new era of productivity.”

The tablet measures 7-inches and weighs about 1.5 pounds. Inside the Cius is a 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom processor, 32 GB of internal memory, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a 3G/4G connection. The tablet will run a Mozilla browser, but the company has not named who will be the cellular carrier.

The Cius can be used as a regular tablet or also as part of a docking station. The chief executive of Cisco, John Chambers, also unveiled a smaller version of the Cius that will be more targeted at students.

Cisco says, “You can slowly migrate to cloud computing by deploying business tablets to executives, sales representatives and knowledge workers and then expand mobility across your entire enterprise. Instead of bringing employees to where the work is, you can bring the work to where the employees are.”

I can’t wait to see the Cius in action. It has some great features that you can’t find on just any tablet. I just hope that Cisco doesn’t take to long to release it or that the price tag is too ridiculous. The Cius will just be something that we’ll have to wait and see about.

If you’re looking for a tablet now and don’t want to wait on the Cius, check out the Sony Dash or Apple’s iPad.

---

Looking for Laptop Rental information? Visit our Tech Travel Agent Laptop Rental Page for a variety of laptop rental solutions for business or personal use. Or call today at 800-736-8772.