Merely months after Gateway thrilled your soul with the introduction of all sorts of new desktops, the outfit has apparently received the upgrade bug. Starting right now, the 17-inch P-Series, 15.4-inch M-Series and 14.1-inch T-series laptops can be ordered with Intel's latest Core 2 Duo chips, more spacious hard drives and dual-layer DVD writers. For those eying a tower, the FX Series, DX Series and GT Series now provide (up to) a Core 2 Quad Q9300 CPU, 6GB of RAM, an overclocked NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT and price tags starting as low as $549.99. For more on these absolutely riveting upgrades, hit the read link and try not to fall out of your seat.

Gateway knows that it takes more than a bunch of meaningless digits related to "CPU speed" and "hard drive capacity" to get today's fast-paced teenagers buying its laptops -- which is why they've just announced new "skin" updates to the M-Series and T-Series models. Beginning today, users will be able to purchase the computers in their original "Garnet Red" and "Pacific Blue," as well as the new shades "Merlot," "Siver," and "Arctic Bloom." Finally, there can be more to your Gateway than mere technical features.

For the most part, Sony's latest ultra-compact member of the ultra-popular T-series line of digital cameras sounds like the perfect all-around point-and-shooter -- with a few important caveats. For starters, the DSC-T30 features a Carl Zeiss lens backed up by a 7.2 megapixel CCD, and Sony was gracious enough to toss in some optical image stabilization for steady hand-held shots even at slower shutter speeds. You also get a 3-inch display that fills nearly the entire backside of the camera, and that, according to Imaging Resource, performs much better than average in direct sunlight. For as low as $400, it would seem that this followup to the DSC-T9 should be unrivaled in the marketplace, but several non-minor flaws -- including heavy noise in low-light shots captured above ISO 200 and audible artifacts in some video clips -- would suggest that this model is not for everyone. Still, the small size, good overall photo quality, and superior battery life (400+ shots) are enough to make the T30 one of Imaging Resouce's coveted "Dave's Picks."

[Via Photography Blog]