Conjuring up your own desktop is pretty far down on the list of "world's most difficult tasks," but actually building your own laptop is another thing entirely. As we've seen with Ben Heck's creations, assembling a lappie rather than buying a pre-fabricated model is a serious undertaking, and while Computer Shopper's guide to constructing your own is more of an "upgrade an existing" walk-through, it's still chock full of interesting tidbits. Ever had the urge to snap up a barebones lap warmer and have your way with it? Head on down to the read link, and don't be afraid of getting your hands covered in thermal adhesive, okay?

Dell is busting out a "Flamingo Pink" version of its much-loved XPS M1530 laptop, but unfortunately for any prospective buyers there aren't any pictures of the thing yet. We're sure it's magical. Just like Midnight Blue, pink will cost you $25 extra.

[Thanks, Brett]

Update: Somebody apparently from Dell said this picture of the laptop was making its way around the office. We can't imagine why.

Don't know about ya'll, but our eyes tend to glaze over with apathy as soon as we see "desktop replacement" in a laptop press release. Nevertheless, here's LG's take on the semi-portable: the 17-inch X-R700 and 19-inch X-S900. They're big -- much bigger than the average mini-skirt found on Korean product waifs. The ₩1,699,000 (about $1,744) Model X-R700 XP50K sports a WXGA display with integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam, 3GB of memory, 512MB of nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics and a 1.83GHz T5550 Core 2 Duo pumping away under the hood. The ₩1,390,000 (about $1,436) X-S900 KP55K model packs the same 1,366 x 768 resolution and processor but slaps in 256MB of ATI Mobility Radeon HD2400 graphics, 2GB of memory, and bumps the disk from 250GB to 320GB spinning at 7,200rpm (thanks Fujitsu). While the laptops are a bit meh, at least you'll notice how much bigger the images are on the new and improved Engadget layout.

Perhaps the ECS G10IL could use some help in the naming department, but it certainly isn't having any trouble bringing a bit of class to the subnotebook market. In addition to those stylish good looks, the G10IL sports a webcam, HSDPA 7.2, three USB ports, Ethernet and a 56Kb modem (joy of joys!). No mention is made of WiFi or Bluetooth, but at least the former seems a given. Other details are slim, but the price is supposedly "sub-$500." Perhaps this "race to the bottom" won't be so horrible after all.

We're hoping to get official confirmation for this in just a few minutes, but the current scuttlebutt is that ASUS is planning to announce the rumored 9-inch followup to the Eee PC soon. The new laptop will be purportedly named Eee PC 900, and should be the same size as the original, just with more screen to squint at. Other rumored additions include 1GB of RAM standard and SSD capacities up to 12GB. The base price will be 399 €, but hopefully that doesn't mean $600-ish in the US -- that conversion rate is certainly getting painful. While we can't vouch for the source of this rumor, Blogeee.net is claiming this is official word straight from Asus, so take that for what you will.

[Via Eee Site]

We don't see much of Samsung's laptops around these parts, and it doesn't look like the P200 is headed Stateside either, but it's certainly a solid entry into the ultraportable market -- which seems to be the new hotness these days. The laptop has been circulating in the UK since February, but is finally "official" here at CeBIT. The P200 runs on "Intel's latest" chips, up to the Core 2 Duo 9500, and integrated graphics come courtesy of ATI's Radeon Xpress 1250, with the laptop wringing 3.1 hours of life out of those chips with a 6-cell battery. The 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 screen is no-gloss, and includes a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam. The laptop also packs Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Atheros Super G WiFi, 6-in-1 memory card reader, PCI Express card slot a whopping two USB ports. The whole kit weighs in at rather hefty-for-its-class 4.2 pounds, and is available in Europe today starting at € 999 ( $1,517 US).

We're not exactly sure what became of that biodegradable laptop being touted by NEC all the way back in 2004, but the concept of corn-based notebook casings is far from dead, with Fujitsu showing off just such a machine at this year's CES. According to Inhabitat, "the main component is polylactic acid, also known as PLA, a resin that comes from the fermentation of the raw biomass from plants," although a small amount of nasty fossil fuels must still be mixed in to create a housing with the proper structural integrity. Fortunately, once the rig is ready for the great gadget heaven in the sky, the plastic can be separated from the PLA so that the latter material can be left to safely biodegrade. No word yet on when we'll see these edible inedible lappies hit the market, so for now we'll have to continue kicking Mother Nature's ass with our biannual tech upgrades.

[Via, and image courtesy of, Inhabitat]

Old laptops are a geek modder's best friend: this particular example is one of the better mods we've seen to incorporate an old lappie, with a guy called Ben sticking his old machine behind the strings of an electric guitar. He then linked up the sound produced by the guitar to a visualizer in the laptop, allowing it to pump some psychedelic-looking sound waves out to onlookers. Beats the usual sticker decorations, dontchafink?

[Via Technabob]

Believe it or not, we've but three days before this year's Black Friday arrives, and Best Buy has just unveiled that it will be offering up Toshiba's Satellite A135-S7403 laptop and a Canon PIXMA 3-in-1 printer for the low, low price of $229. We've already seen Dell throw out a $399 lappie, but this machine hits even lower by offering up a totally weak (but potentially satisfactory) 1.73GHz Intel Celeron M 530 processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB 5,400RPM SATA drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, Windows Vista Home Basic, Ethernet, a dual-layer DVD burner, GMA950 integrated graphics set and a 15.4-inch WXGA (1,280 x 800) TruBrite panel. Furthermore, you'll find four USB 2.0 ports, a PCMCIA slot, built-in speakers, a Li-ion battery, 56k modem and a multicard reader for good measure. Best Buy claims that each store will have a minimum of 20 bundles on hand, but you better show up early in order to secure a ticket. Check out a few more shots of the pair after the jump.

[Via Notebooks]

As evidenced by last week's Ask Engadget, it's pretty clear a few of you have an opinion on what to buy. But how about when? Ron wrote in wondering if the time is right for a new laptop:

"We're ready to replace our home laptop. Is it a good time to buy now or will there be many sales for Christmas time?"

Obviously plenty of sales are going to be cropping up around this time, but is he going to just end up with a dated clunker some big box was trying to clear its stock of? We suppose it differs between different tech categories. And for something like a laptop you've got to take into consideration generations of processor, graphics and connectivity technology -- if you're hoping to rock latest and greatest for any amount of time. Any tips for the man? And as always, you send in your questions to ask at engadget dawt com for your shot at harnessing the collective wisdom of Engadget's fine readers.