NEC gifts LaVie J laptop lineup with wireless USB

We're a bit bummed that wireless USB-equipped laptops are merely trickling in versus pouring, but we reckon we'll take what we can get. Next on the docket is the LaVie J series from NEC, which consists of the flagship LJ750/LH along with the lower-end LJ730/LG and LJ700/LH. Besides the whole cord free USB thing, you'll also find up to a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U6700, 2GB of RAM, a 12.1-inch display (1,280 x 800 resolution), 160GB of HDD space, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The pain? Around €1,735 ($2,543) for the top-of-the-line stuff.

[ClaMs @ Feb 19th 2008 10:30AM]

Wireless USB scares me a bit. How long before your printer starts printing porn from your nasty neighbor's house?

With WiFi printing and simple USB hubs, anyone else thinks it's a gimmick?

[Dustin Frazier @ Feb 19th 2008 10:56AM]

Who prints out porn? I find that thought scarier than wireless USB.

[pfromg @ Feb 19th 2008 10:56AM]

Wireless USB = Must have NOW !.

Apple really would have been on the ball if they had put wireless USB in the MacBook Air.

[johnnychipface @ Feb 19th 2008 11:09AM]

Personally I think the sale of laptops (ultra portables etc) should be made illegal until they allow you to do what you do on a desktop on the move. Sure I can use a laptop in place of a desktop on battery power but only for like 30 minutes. Assuming this also comes with wired usb ports otherwise it's a fail.

[fraz @ Feb 19th 2008 11:37AM]

It's interesting you say that, because I have a samsung q35 and I seem to be able to pretty much never use my self-built desktop anymore because of it - weighs practically nothing (

[Dave @ Feb 19th 2008 11:26AM]

I don't know how to say this nicely, but experience with wireless USB leads me to believe it sucks. My experience is limited to several Dell XPS M1530 laptops that have it built in, so I can't say for sure if it's the chip in the laptop, the hub which is made by Belkin (who usually makes nothing but crap), or if it's the standard itself. I seem to remember that USB itself wasn't anything great when it first came out and I have a feeling that this initial effort isn't going to last very long. As it is now, wireless USB it utterly useless when it comes to storage devices and that is really what I use USB for in the first place. These M1530's have Bluetooth built in so that pretty much takes care of mouse and keyboard duties (a common USB peripheral). Just about the only use I can see for this right now is printing, and IMO this is better served through networking.

[NLI @ Feb 19th 2008 12:46PM]

"the only use I can see for this right now is printing, and IMO this is better served through networking."

You're right if you're talking about medium-high end printing. For low end, domestic printing, a "disposable" inkjet printer is the best deal to be had. Considering that the low end networkable printers use expensive ink cartridges, it does make some sense to use Wireless USB to make a cheap printer turn wireless.

[Jaspal Singh @ Feb 25th 2008 7:51PM]

Dave, Why is WUSB useless when it comes to storage devices? Why can't we connect with an external HD via WUSB?