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Fujitsu drops a quartet of new notebooks
So Fujitsu's got four portable machines for us to peep today, but unlike the slew of Merom-powered notebooks we've been seeing, only one of these models rock that dual-core goodness. First off are two new members of the 15.4-inch Biblio NF family (pictured above), the NF60T with a 1.6GHz Turion 64 X2 CPU, and the 1.46GHz Celeron M 410-powered NF40T. The 60T rocks ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 graphics, 512MB of RAM (4GB max), and a 100GB HDD, while the 40T also gives you 512MB RAM (only expandable to to 2GB, though) and just 80GB of HDD capacity and integrated graphics; both machines, however, offer a full complement of connectivity options, with WiFi, FireWire, USB 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, PCMCIA, ExpressCard, and D-Sub standard. Next up is the Core Solo-equipped (1.20GHz U1400) FMV-Biblio LOOX Q, with a 12.1-inch WXGA LCD, integrated graphics, 30GB HDD (hey, it's really slim, at least), 512MB of RAM, and both WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 radios. Finally we have the 8.9-inch LOOX P70T/V convertible tablet, which sports the exact same specs as the Q, but obviously replaces the XP Pro OS with Tablet PC Edition 2005. Look for the ¥185,000 ($1,581) NF60T and ¥150,000 ($1,282) NF40T to drop on September 2nd, the ¥260,000 ($2,222) LOOX Q to be available on the 15th, and the ¥250,000 ($2,136) P70T/V to hit shelves on September 28th -- all initially in Japan, of course.Read- Biblio NFRead- LOOX Q and P
Sony gives FE, AR, and SZ Vaios the gift of Merom
Never one fall behind its competitors (well, except maybe on the portable audio front), Sony's stepped it up and given Core 2 Duo options to a total of eight different laptop configurations: one in the 15.4-inch Vaio FE series, three in the 17-inch AR series, and four in the ultraportable 13.3-inch SZ series. The VGN-FE770G is currently the cheapest way to get your Merom-on through Sony, though you're still getting a decent feature set for your $1,350: a 1.83GHz T5600 CPU, 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM, a 120GB, 5,400RPM HDD, and a dual-layer DVD burner- though just a 1,280 x 800 resolution and integrated graphics that eat up 128MB of that RAM. As for the SZ series, you're starting out with the $1,950 VGN-SZ320P/B (T5600, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, DVD burner, nVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 graphics) and ending up with the $2,550 VGN-SZ370P/C, which jacks the processor up to a 2.0GHz T7200 and the RAM up to 2GB but leaves the rest of the specs untouched. Finally we have the AR's, with the $1,800 VGN-AR230G being your cheapest 17-inch option; here you get that ole T5600, a GeForce Go 7400 card, 1,440 x 900 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 200GB of HDD capacity, and obviously, a DVD burner. If you're looking to go high end, Sony's got you covered there too, as the $3,500 VGN-AR290G (pictured) sports a T7200 with 4MB L2 cache, GeForce Go 7600GT graphics, two gigs of RAM, 200GB of storage, a sweet 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA resolution, and best of all, that multi-format Blu-ray burner that will make you the envy of all your friends and colleagues. We could bore you with an even longer list of specs for all eight lappies, but instead we'll just link you to their respective product pages and let you peruse at will....Read- VGN-FE770GRead- VGN-SZ320P/BRead- VGN-SZ330P/BRead- VGN-SZ360P/CRead- VGN-SZ370P/CRead- VGN-AR230GRead- VGN-AR250GRead- VGN-AR290G[Via laptoping]
Fujitsu Siemens kits up with football club crested laptops
Custom laptop designs are a dime a dozen these days, with everything from fast car logos to glorious "Pink Feather" designs being stamped onto the back of LCDs in an attempt to draw the eyes of punters looking for a new lappie. The latest custom job on the market is Fujitsu Siemens' team of soccer themed laptops which don the colors and crests of four different UK clubs: Celtic, Aston Villa, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur, to be precise. Under the soccer shirts, the laptops are Amilo 1536 models featuring 1280 x 800 15-inch displays powered by a 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics adapter. Dig a little deeper and you'll find a 1.83GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and a roomy 120GB 5400RPM SATA drive. Not quite striker material, we know, but the £1000 (plus three year warranty) price tag ain't too shabby considering the bundled paint job. Fujitsu Siemens is promising other clubs will join the line-up to celebrate the recent start of the Premiership season, although don't expect any teams with notable rivalries to be released at the same time. If you follow English football, you'll notice that the first four club themed laptops are a rather disparate lot: there's no Liverpool to go with Everton, no Rangers to go with Celtic, and so on. These guys obviously know how to manage their laptop teams without starting a football riot.[Via Reg Hardware]
Battery recall cause for panic? Null says no
With all the sensational press about battery recalls and exploding laptops (much of it found right here on these very pages), you might think that your own notebook is a ticking timebomb set to blow at any moment (Qantas sure does). Therefore, many people have been tempted to eject their recalled batteries as quickly as possible and send them off to Dell (and now Apple) before they burst into flames and become fodder for numerous gadget blogs. But is the situation really that urgent? Former Mobile editor-in-chief and current Wired and Yahoo! Tech contributor Christoper Null sat down to do the math, and figured that the odds of your lappy going boom in, say, the next two months, are actually pretty slim. Using the Dell recall as a baseline, Null went in with the assumption that the problem is much worse than the company knows about (or is reporting), and that over the next three years, ten times as many batteries will blow as have already combusted so far. Even in such a pessimistic scenario, the odds of your particular Dell pulling a Dell in the next 60 days (1 in 1,230,000) are far less than the chances that you'll die this year from freezing to death, choking on your own vomit, and even falling out of bed. While you may disagree with Null's numbers and methodology, the point here is clear: there's no real need to panic, and if your notebook hasn't already turned into a charred husk of its former self, you'll probably be okay waiting out the initial flood of returns and sending your battery back in a few weeks. After all, if we let the defective batteries change our way of life, then the defective batteries have already won.
Sony announces price on battery recall, checks couch for loose change
Product recalls are certainly nothing new to the tech industry, but two significant PC players (Dell and Apple) having to recall a collective 5.9 million batteries has to sting just a little for Sony. Macworld is reporting that the Japanese company announced an estimate on the cost of said sting: between ¥20 billion to ¥30 billion (US$172 million to $258 million). The moral of this story? QA is a good thing.Let's hope the upcoming summit in San Francisco on li-ion battery manufacturing standards - jointly held by the likes of Apple, HP, Dell and Lenovo - helps cut down on the exploding notebooks so we can all get back to our daily routines.
OLPC gets a name: the CM1, or Children's Machine
So, it's official: the hundred-plus-dollar laptop spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte -- and called the OLPC up to this point for lack of better terminology -- can now be definitively referred to as the CM1, or The Children's Machine. The 7.5-inch, 1,200 x 900 pixel configurable and mesh-networkable notebook, which runs a Fedora Linux distro powered by a 400MHz AMD Geode processor, is meant to supply kids in developing countries with a super-cheap way to access the Internet and thus bridge the so-called technological divide. Although India has publicly scorned the string-powered lappy as "pedagogically suspect," several other nations have expressed interest in submitting the minimum required order of one million units; so unless players like Microsoft suddenly swoop in with their own alternatives, it looks like the CM1 is well on its way to seeing widespread distribution. Three cheers for The Children's Machine, and three more for the fact that we can stop awkwardly referring to this product by the name of the project.[Via OLPC News]
Daewoo Lucoms' Core Duo-powered Solo M410 notebook
We recently brought you the Solo M1 UMPC from Daewoo-spinoff Daewoo Lucoms, and now the company is back with another member of the Solo family, but this one is a regular old Core Duo-powered notebook. The 5-pound, 14-inch M410 sports a 1.83GHz T2400 processor, WXGA display, 512MB of DDR2 RAM (maxed out at 1GB), and an 80GB hard drive. Also on board are a DVD Super Multi Drive, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 card reader (which is a bit misleading -- it really has just 2 slots for SD / MMC and MemoryStick / MS Pro), an Intel wireless card supporting 802.11a/b/g, and as you'd expect, Intel integrated graphics. As far as ports go, you're getting four USB 2.0 jacks, and one each of FireWire, Ethernet, VGA, Parallel, and S-Video -- though obviously no DVI or HDMI. Pricing seems to range from 1,490,000 to 1,590,000 won ($1,543 to $1,646) depending on configuration, and as the currency indicates, this model will only be hanging out in Korea for the time being.
Dell recall prompts inquiry into all Sony laptop batteries
Just as we suspected, Dell may not be the only manufacturer recalling countless batteries due to fire hazards, as the Sony-made lithium-ions are also found in laptops from Apple, HP, and Lenovo, not to mention a variety of other consumer electronics products. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledged on Tuesday that the batteries "are not unique to just the Dell notebook computers," and have launched a review of all Sony laptop cells manufactured between April 2004 and June of this year. Some manufacturers, like Apple, claim to be looking into the matter on their own, while others -- namely HP -- have publicly distanced themselves from the affair by stating that "It's a Dell issue." Sony itself also believes the problem is limited to batteries in Dell PCs, while Lenovo seems to be side-stepping the recall with claims that "we have not seen any unusual pattern of problems in our notebooks." Although it's true that the recent spate of toasty lappies does indeed seem confined to machines from the Texas-based manufacturer, we have a hard time believing that Sony was only sending crappy batteries to Dell while everyone else got quality product. That being said, we're anxious to hear the results of the CPSC's inquiry, but until that time, we certainly won't be so cavalier about keeping our notebooks powered up 24/7, regardless of branding.
Laptop mag puts tech support through the torture test
Usually when shopping for a computer, the only two factors that really matter to most people are cost and features; if you can get the specs you want at a price you can afford, well, you're probably a happy camper. What many folks don't consider -- until it's too late, that is -- is the quality of the tech support provided by your PC's manufacturer when a problem arises. Well luckily Laptop magazine is very interested in customer support: so interested, in fact, that they actually concoct fake problems and call up the various manufacturers to see how they fare with what would normally be considered very simple issues. This time around, they switched off the WiFi on their notebooks and installed a number of startup-slowing applications, and then graded the nine major laptop makers on both their online and phone support. Coming out on top were Apple and Lenovo -- followed closely by Fujitsu -- whose websites were so well stocked with info that they precluded the need to call for help in the first place; they still called, just for kicks, and found all three support teams to be prompt in both picking up the calls (no long hold times) and solving the problems. Gateway, Sony, Dell, and HP all ended up in the middle of the pack, performing well in some areas but floundering in others. The worst of the bunch were Acer and Toshiba, with the former earning a "D" for its lousy online documentation (though hold times were non-existent), while the latter apparently experienced some damaged phone lines to its Manila call center during the testing, and was unable to solve any of Laptop's problems (or even answer the phone in under an hour, for that matter). While these results should not be considered gospel on the quality of the support you're going to get from each manufacturer, they're probably a decent representation on what you can expect following your purchase of a particular machine -- or maybe not. Readers, do you have any first-hand experiences which either support or disprove these rankings?
Samsung's ultraportable Q40 is pretty in pink
Proving once again that people seem to be willing to overpay for underpowered gadgets that could possibly be seen as "fashionable," Samsung has released a new £1,300 ($2,460) notebook whose main (read: only) selling point is its bright pink exterior. At this price point we'd expect to see words like "Core Duo" and "GeForce" on the spec sheet, but the new 12.1-inch Q40 only manages to throw down a disappointing 1.2GHz ULV Core Solo processor, just 512MB of RAM, a scant 60GB hard drive capacity, and those integrated Intel graphics which will only please gamers who are into Minesweeper and Sudoku. Still, you are getting a built-in DVD burner and Windows XP Professional as the operating system, so this lappy isn't a total lost cause. Although the shiny Q40 is available exclusively at PC World, we have a feeling that you'll soon be seeing it in the hands of celebutantes worldwide, and perhaps even being given away as a door prize on a future episode of My Super Sweet 16.[Via Shiny Shiny]
Fujitsu to add Core 2 Duo options to LifeBook N6400 series
We've sure seen a lot of Core 2 Duo- and Core 2 Extreme-equipped desktops today, so props go out to Fujitsu for breaking up the monotony and announcing a laptop spec-bump instead. Available sometime during the fourth quarter, the new and improved LifeBook N6400 series -- which was one of the first to get the original Core Duo treatment -- stays true to the lineup's origins by featuring the same 17-inch, Crystal View display and built-in subwoofer as its predecessors, but speeds things up a bit with some of that Merom-style Core 2 Duo love. The rest of the specs probably won't change too much either, so you can expect to see configurations sporting dual 160GB hard drives, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and most likely a non-integrated graphics chipset of some sort. With the release still more than a month away we don't have any pricing details to share with you, but the current-generation N6410 (pictured) goes for around $1,700, so maybe that will give you some idea of what to prepare for.[Via laptoping]
PC-Koubou announces Lesance AS520AW-DUO gaming notebook
We know that it's a bit of a tease to keep featuring products that will never be available in the US, but we figure that if you're not down with foreign devices, you probably would have stopped visiting this site long ago (or maybe you just skip over these types of posts). Anyway, the latest look-but-don't-touch model comes from Japanese manufacturer PC-Koubou -- the same company that dropped seven new laptops on us not too long ago -- who just announced the impending release of its 15.4-inch Lesance AS520AW-DUO gaming notebook. As you probably guessed from the model number, this Windows XP Home Edition-powered machine sports an Intel Core Duo processor of the 1.83GHz T2400 variety, along with ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics (featuring 256MB of VRAM), a 1,200 x 800 pixel display, 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM, and a 60GB hard drive running at 5,400 RPM. Also along for the ride are an ExpressCard slot (though no PCMCIA), 8x DVD super-duper multi drive, and four USB 2.0 ports, though WiFi and Bluetooth are nowhere to be found. If you happen to be visiting Japan starting next month, you can snatch one of these beauties up for just $1,371.[Via MobileWhack]
Lenovo announces ThinkPad Z61p mobile workstation
Lenovo has just announced a new addition to its Z61 series of ThinkPad notebooks -- which currently consists of the Z61t and Z61m -- in the form of a "mobile workstation" called the Z61p. Like the other models in this lineup, the 15.4-inch Z61p offers consumers several Intel Core processor options (maxing out with the 2.0GHz Core Duo T2500), but improves upon the graphics setup by including a Mobility Fire GL V5200 chipset from ATI with 256MB of VRAM. Other features include 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM (expandable to 3GB), up to 100GB of hard drive capacity (in either 5,400RPM or 7,200RPM varieties), a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel display, WiFi, Bluetooth, an ExpressCard slot, and the popular ThinkVantage suite -- though you're not getting the 3G WWAN or titanium case options found on the other Z61 models. While all the pricing details are not immediately clear, it looks like a well-configured system will be going for around $2,400 when these become available next week.[Via laptoping]
Rock launches Xtreme CTX T2700 gaming laptop
UK rebadger PC manufacturer Rock has a blazing new 17-inch laptop in store for British gamers, the Core Duo-powered Xtreme CTX T2700. As its name suggests, this model sports a T2700 CPU running at 2.33GHz, along with 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, a zippy 7,200RPM 100GB hard drive, 8x dual-layer DVD burner, and on the connectivity tip, the always-popular Bluetooth and three flavor WiFi. Graphics on this model also promise to impress, with a 512MB-equipped GeForce Go 7900 GTX card from nVIDIA handling the heavy lifting for the 1920 x 1200 WUXGA display. As you'd expect, a configuration like this doesn't come cheap, and will cost around $3,200 when it drops in the next few days.
Toshiba adds new M105, A105, and P105 notebook configurations
Toshiba's got more notebooks in store for us today than just the R25 convertible and U205 ultra-portable we spotted earlier; nine more in fact, as the 14.1-inch M105, 15.4-inch A105, and 17-inch P105 Satellites have all been upgraded with three new configurations each. Focused on multimedia and gaming, the new P105 configs (pictured) -- the $1,199 S6024, $1,499 S6084, and $1,999 S9312 -- offer several compelling features, highlighted by Core Duo processors throughout the line, a nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS graphics chip in the S6084, and an external USB tuner in the Windows Media Center Edition-powered S9312. The A105 also gets three fancy new looks, all featuring 5,400RPM hard drives, 533MHz DDR2 RAM, and integrated graphics: the $700 S2141 (1.46GHz Celeron M, 512MB of RAM, 80GB HDD), $999 S4074 (1.6GHz Core Duo T2050, 512MB RAM, 120GB storage, dual-layer DVD burner, Media Center Edition 2005), and $1,349 S4134 (same as the S4074 except for a 1.66GHz T2400 and 2GB of RAM). Rounding out the upgrades are S1021, S3041, and S3064 versions of the M105, which sport either Celeron M, Core Solo, or Core Duo processors, between 512MB and 1GB of RAM, 80GB or 120GB hard drives, and either a combo drive or DVD burner -- and are priced between $650 and $1,199. All nine new models are available immediately either directly from Toshiba or from your friendly neighborhood PC retailer.Read- P105Read- A105Read- M105
Toshiba announces U205 ultra-portable and R25 convertible notebooks
Toshiba just introduced another pair of Intel-powered notebooks to join the Epson and Alienware models we spotted earlier, both members of the Satellite series: the U205 ultra-portable (pictured) and the R25 convertible tablet (pictured after the break). Weighing in at 4.1 pounds, the 12.1-inch U205 (which is pretty similar to the U200) comes in either S5002 (Core Duo T2300E, 100GB hard drive) or S5022 (T2400, 120GB HDD) configurations, with both versions sporting 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM, WXGA TruBrite TFTs, integrated graphics, dual-layer DVD burners, and Toshiba's LifeSmart Technology -- which includes a fingerprint reader, shock-absorbing components, and spill-resistant keyboard. Meanwhile, the 5.95-pound R25-S3503 also sports a Core Duo processor -- though only the 1.66GHz T2050 -- along with a 14.1-inch WXGA+ display, 100GB hard drive, and the same burner, graphics, memory configuration and LifeSmart swag as the U205. Both models are available immediately, with the S5022 and the tablet each going for $1,349, and the S5002 priced at $1,199.Read- U205Read- R25
Sony's Blu-ray-equipped Vaio AR laptop reviewed
Surely one of the most highly-anticipated notebooks of the year, Sony's Blu-ray-sporting Vaio VGN-AR190G offers a lot of compelling features for HD buffs on paper -- 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA+ Xbrite display, HDMI out (cable and DVI-adapter included), 200GB worth of storage, and of course that high definition optical drive -- but specs don't mean much if the machine can't perform in the real world. Thus we've been eagerly awaiting the first reviews of this 8.4-pound, 17-inch model, and much to our delight, it seems to work almost exactly as advertised. Laptop magazine was lucky enough to get a pre-release unit for putting through the old benchmark torture test, and came away very impressed with the high resolution, anti-glare screen and video output quality, pretty impressed with the performance of the 2.0GHz T2500 Core Duo CPU and nVidia GeForce Go 7600 GT graphics, and not all that impressed with the 2-hour battery life, inconveniently-placed trackpad/mouse buttons, and pokey 1.0x Blu-ray burning speed. Still, the simple fact that you can burn to an HD optical disc at all puts the AR190G in a class by itself and makes it more attractive than Toshiba's Qosmio G35-AV650 with read-only HD DVD, but Laptop still feels that even the burner and the better screen don't quite justify the extra $500 you'll have to thrown down for the Sony.
Averatec's 10.6-inch AV1150 ultra-portable notebook
Averatec has just released the first member of its new 1100 series of ultra-portable notebooks, the AV1150-EW1, which sports the same low voltage Pentium M chip that we saw last year in the company's 1000 series, but improves on several other key specs. The most notable difference between the two series is the inclusion of a DVD burner on the new model, although doubling the RAM from 512MB to 1GB is certainly a much appreciated bump as well. All the rest of the features -- 80GB HDD, integrated graphics, WXGA display, and 802.11b/g -- remain the same, and yet Averatec has still managed to shave off a few ounces to help the 1150 weigh in at just 3.4 pounds. Available immediately online or in select stores, we found this model selling for a wallet-friendly $1,300, which is a bit less than the AV1050 commanded at its debut.[Via The Gadgets Weblog]
White MacBooks showing premature discoloration?
It's not uncommon for electronics -- and especially laptops -- to begin showing some discoloration after a few months or years of wear and tear, but reports coming out of Mac forums and websites of three- and four-week old white MacBooks sporting heavy staining on the trackpads and wrist rests are causing no small amount of alarm among the Apple faithful. Having ruled out heat, smokers, and people not washing their hands enough, commenters are now starting to use ugly terms like "manufacturing defect" to explain why disparate white MacBooks are all showing signs of heavy use barely weeks out of the box, with afflicted users reportedly unable to remove the stains even armed with the harshest of cleaning agents. While it's too soon to really gauge the scope of this supposed problem, if we owned a MacBook we might start using external input devices just to be safe, and if we were in the market for a new one, well, we might even drop the extra loot for that fancy -- and seemingly stain-resistant -- black edition.[Thanks, Calamier]
Sony offering trade-in credit for your old laptop
While not quite as sweet a deal as getting a free computer for your rusty and bloodied old gun, Sony has still managed to one-up rival Apple's PC recycling program by actually offering you a cash incentive to bring in your used, non-Mac notebook when you go to purchase a new one from the Japanese electronics giant. Depending on your machine's capabilities, the company will give you anywhere from $23 (for a Pentium II-powered lappy) all they way up to $318 (for a Pentium 4 rig) as a trade-in credit towards a new Vaio, with Sony-brand laptops unsurprisingly fetching more loot than products from other manufacturers. Consumers interested in this deal can either bring their old gear to a Sony retail store or simply mail it in when they order online; as for us, we'll still be paying full price for our Sony products, because the CSR we spoke with just laughed and hung up when we asked how much they'd give us for our still-working Osborne.
