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Lenovo's compact V100 reviewed
Yeah, we're officially removing any "ultracompact" or "ultraportable" marketing speak that might have slipped in to describe the V100 from Lenovo, but there's plenty else to love about this slightly bulky compact notebook. First off, at 1.25-inches thick and weighing 4.4 pounds, the laptop is no X60 (which doesn't contain the DVD burner of the V100), but it does look positively skinny beside Dell's new M1210. The V100 features a nice glossy 12.1-inch WXGA screen, and a built-in 1.3 megapixel camera that captured his smarmy mug much better than those featured on the M1210 and MacBook. Lenovo also doesn't seem to have as much trouble keeping the Core Duo cool as Apple is; the V100 ran plenty cool even though it doesn't have the low-voltage version of the chip run by its X60 brother. The plastic case build is a bit drab and not near as sturdy as a ThinkPad, but it should hold up fine. However, the 3 to 4 hour battery life seems barely acceptable. There's an ExpressCard 54 slot, so you might want to hold off until an EV-DO solution comes along. The integrated graphics really limit the gaming options, but the V100 really does provide a lot of functionality for the price, especially if you're not up for lugging an external drive around and want some of that Core Duo power.
Ask TUAW: Where do you put your Apple remote?
"Where's the zapper?!"A time old phrase uttered countless times in countless living rooms across the world, usually accompanied by an expletive or two. Now that Apple has standardized Front Row and bundled a remote with nearly its whole range, Mac mini, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners are also screaming out for their lost "thingy", "zapper" and "remote control". iMac owners are in the clear: they've got a nice little magnetic section on the side of their machine that the Apple remote will elegantly stick to. Mac mini, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners aren't so fortunate. Apple's forgot to give us non-iMac owners a place to stash our remote! The MacBook, with its magnetic lid, offers a semi-viable solution. The remote will happily stick to the left and right corners at the top of the screen where the lid magnets are. It looks pretty stupid though.One solution that Apple could use, for the MacBook Pro at least, is to adapt the Apple remote so that it will fit inside the laptop's ExpressCard slot. That would allow users to store the remote out of the way while the machine was closed (our less than elegant solution shown above doesn't tackle that problem). Have any TUAW readers come up with a way to keep the Apple remote with their Mac when they're not using it? Guides for Velcro mods, tractor beam construction manuals and levitation how-tos are welcome!
Evesham releases 12.1-inch, dual-core Quest A230 laptop
Our favorite UK laptop rebadger is back with a new 12.1-inch member of their Quest series, called the A230, that offers dual-core technology for around $1,500. Featuring AMD's Turion 64 X2 processor, Evesham's A230 also comes with 1GB of RAM under the hood, integrated two-flavor WiFi, a built-in ExpressCard slot, and almost certainly, integrated graphics. British shoppers looking for an ultraportable around 4-pounds (that refers to the weight, not the price, wiseguy) can pick up their very own A230 immediately.[Via Core Duo Info]
Linksys intros EC1000 ExpressCard and OGV200 traffic optimizer
Linksys had some gear to announce at this year's E3, and when we caught up with them last night they hooked us up with the skinny: they've officially gone ExpressCard with the EC1000 gigabit Ethernet adapter, the followup to the PC Card PCM1000, which will have an integrated pop-up RJ45 jack and will fit in your 34 or 54 slot. They also had a dedicated hardware network traffic optimizer which goes by the callsign of OGV200. This one will make sure your game and VoIP traffic will make it to its intended destination faster than any other traffic traveling out of your home's data pipe -- simple enough. Both are available now for $59.99 and $69.99, respectively.
Fujitsu-Siemens' 3G-enabled Lifebook E8210 reviewed
With most manufacturers concentrating on making smartphones ever-smaller, it's refreshing to see Fujitsu-Siemens flip the script and release what may be the world's biggest Windows-powered handset, eschewing CE for XP in the process. Actually, F-S is marketing the six-pound Lifebook E8210 as a laptop, what with its 15.4-inch, 1,680 x 1,050 display, 2GB of RAM, and full-size keyboard, but any data-centric device that can make cellphone calls (thanks to the built in HSDPA-compatible 3G card) is a smartphone in our book. Whatever you wanna call it, the E8210 impresses on many fronts, says Trusted Reviews, who give the 2.16GHz, Core Duo T2600-powered model nine out of ten stars, highlighting its connectivity (802.11/a/b/g, Bluetooth, HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS, PCMCIA/ExpressCard slot, four USB, and even serial, parallel, and D-SUB ports), security (fingerprint reader and Smartcard), and benchmark performance. The only downsides here seem to be the lack of a 3G CDMA option and the ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics, which definitely makes this Lifebook anathema to gamers -- but at over $3,500, the E8210 is clearly being targeted at corporate, and not LAN party, deployment.
Novatel X620 EV-DO ExpressCard gets real
If you've got a snazzy new laptop that includes an ExpressCard slot but no legacy PCMCIA slots, you've probably been suffering a little for your commitment to the cutting edge: there are still far more cards available that meet the old standard than the new one, especially for things like wireless communication (which, let's face it, is the main reason to still have one of these slots, unless you use it to stash extra cash). Fortunately, that shortage is rapidly being remedied, and Gearlog managed to score a hot little number: a prototype of Novatel's X620 EV-DO ExpressCard. The card, for use with Verizon's EV-DO network, should work with any Windows laptop -- and to prove it, Gearlog hooked one up to a MacBookPro running Boot Camp. Novatel expects Apple to ship Mac drivers soon as well, so if you've picked up a MacBook Pro and want a native way to cruise on down the highway, you shouldn't have to wait all that long.
Mac EVDO card in May
I happened by Om Malik's blog today and saw, as CTIA winds down, he's caught wind of an EVDO card from Novatel Wireless that's due in May. The best news is, it's going to be an Express card, and it'll work in the MacBook Pro, no Windows partition needed. So what? Well I guess C.K. can finally get back to playing World of Warcraft in Central Park (and freaking out the squares). If you just can't wait until next month, when they are rumored to appear, you can keep an eye on this MacBook Pro page on EVDOinfo.com. Wireless is great, especially if it's everywhere. There is a USB EVDO device from Novatel that'll be out "later this year."
MacBook Pro will support 34mm PC Cards
As the dust settles a bit around MacWorld, it seems a few details about the new MacBook Pro's are becoming clearer. First on many PowerBook users' minds: will my EVDO card work without PCMCIA?It turns out a little naming confusion is the key to this mystery. On the "What's Inside" page for the MacBook Pro, under the Expansion category, you may notice this entry: ExpressCard/34 slot It turns out that ExpressCard is just another name for the ever-confusing standard known as PCMCIA. The good news is, yes, Virginia, there is a Stevie Claus, you will be able to have your EVDO card. The bad news is that this ExpressCard is a 34 millimeter slot. So, if you are rocking the usual 54 millimeter PCMCIA cards, you're going to have to buy some new gear (think Hammerfall PCMCIA for you audiophiles, wifi cards for you wardriving mac geeks, and EVDO cards for the roaming journos). One card that will fit in the MacBook Pro's slot is this 4-in-1 media card reader.[more info about EVDO usb dongles and other ungainly hardware patches for existing PCMCIA cards on the MacBook Pro]
