Archive for July, 2007

Acer started to offer notebook PCs with preinstalled Ubuntu Linux operating system, according to the advertisement on HardwareZone website.

The advertised Ubuntu-powered Acer Aspire 5710z is priced at 999 Singapore dollars, which is about 659 U.S. dollars. It has a 15.4-inch widescreen display, Intel Pentium dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 80GB hard drive, a DVD burner and 802.11b/g wireless module.

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After the recently announced shipment delays, Dell Inc. has published it expect to begin large-scale production and to ship Dell XPS M1330 laptop PCs in all regions beginning this week.

However, there are some components like an optional “slim and light” LED backlight display that may add time to an estimated ship date, according to post at Dell’s official blog.

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Fujitsu has expanded its desktop replacement notebook PC lineup with the Intel “Santa Rosa” platform-based 17-inch LifeBook N6460, which provides Core 2 Duo processor, ATI Radeon HD 2600 graphics, HDMI port, and high definition optical drives option.

According to laptop’s specifications, Fujitsu LifeBook N6460 is based on Intel PM965 chipset, paired with Core 2 Duo T7300, T7100 or T5250 CPU, depending on model. Its ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 video card with 256MB of dedicated graphics memory is DirectX 10 compatible and empowers the 17″ widescreen display with resolution of 1440-by-900 pixels. The notebook supports up to 4GB of DDR2 system memory and comes with up to 500GB of storage space by combining two 250GB internal hard drives at 4200rpm rotational speed.

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Sony has refreshed its VAIO SZ notebook series by introducing the SZ6 models with Intel “Santa Rosa” laptop platform, hybrid graphics solutions, hybrid hard drives and 13.3-inch LED backlight displays.

The preconfigured Sony VAIO SZ6 notebooks for the U.S. market, listed at Sony Electronics’ Business Solutions website, come with Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 or T7700 processors, while the built-to-order model additionally provides a choice of the T7250 CPU. These laptops ship with 160GB hybrid hard drives (H-HDD) featuring 256MB of onboard Flash memory and 5400rpm rotational speed, or with the standard 120GB, 160GB or 200GB HDDs, depending on model. The SZ6s have built-in DVD burners.

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Toshiba today announced Wireless UWB Port Replicator for Portege R400 Tablet PCs. It is the world’s first wireless port replicator capable of transferring baseband video, according to Toshiba.

“The integration of Ultra Wide Band (UWB) high-speed wireless technology capable of transmitting digital video wirelessly, allows the Toshiba Wireless UWB Port Replicator to stream baseband video with up to SXGA resolution. This enables users to easily stream unencrypted/uncompressed video, such as home videos, music and video CDs or Internet-based video,” the company’s press release says.

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The HP Pavilion HDX entertainment laptop PC, featuring a 20.1-inch display, Intel “Santa Rosa” platform, Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme processor, ATI Mobility Radeon X2600 XT graphics, HD DVD drive, HDMI output and a dockable Media Center remote control, is now available for purchase.

HP Pavilion HDX, the Hewlett-Packard’s biggest consumer notebook to date, supports 1680 x 1050 resolution and high-definition 1080p quality on its 20.1″ Ultra BrightView widescreen display. A dual hinge lets you tilt the screen and move it forward or backward for better comfort. The graphics is powered by the DirectX 10-compatible ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT with 512MB of dedicated video memory, while the sound is managed by Altec Lansing speakers (4 Panel Mounted and 1 Sub-Wolfer). The HDX supports up to 7.1 external speaker configurations and features the integrated HP HDTV Hybrid NTSC/ATSC TV Tuner.

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Medison Celebrity, a Linux-powered laptop PC priced at only $150 US dollars, is available and ships within four to six weeks, Engadget reports.

The Celebrity notebook, probably the world’s most affordable laptop currently, features a 14-inch widescreen display with 1280-by-768 pixel resolution, Intel Celeron M Processor 370 at 1.5 GHz, a 256MB DDR2 memory expandable up to 1GB, a 40GB hard drive, and a Combo optical drive. It has the integrated VIA PN800 graphics, a 5.1-channel sound system, as well as Ethernet LAN and 802.11g wireless. There is no modem, according to notebook’s specifications.

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The OLPC XO notebook, aimed to help the education of children in developing countries, may be also available commercially by Christmas, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s chief technology officer Mary Lou Jepsen said yesterday.

The XO computer could sell initially for about $350, or twice its production cost, although the OLPC is also considering a higher price tag reportedly. This laptop, which was initially planed to cost $100 for developing countries, has reached the non-commercial $175 price tag.

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Alienware has added solid state drive (SSD) options to its notebook PCs. The offered SSD choices include 32GB units, as well as 64GB RAID 0 option with two 32GB drives.

These Flash memory-based Serial ATA drives are available on the 17-inch Area-51 m9750 and Aurora m9700 laptops, as well as on the 15.4-inch Area-51 m5550.

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Asustek has added the Intel Turbo Memory option to the wide range of its “Santa Rosa” mobile platform-based notebook PCs.

According to Asustek, the Turbo Memory brings reduced boot time, improved application responsiveness, and accelerated application loading to Asus notebooks with Intel’s “Santa Rosa” and Windows Vista operating system.

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Lenovo and Dell are the first PC makers to release the notebooks with built-in Wireless USB modules. According to the USB Implementers Forum, Lenovo ThinkPad T61/T61p and Dell Inspiron 1720 are among the first six products to pass compliance and certification testing for Certified Wireless USB.

Wireless USB is expected enable computer peripherals and electronics devices, such as printers, external hard drives, mice, keyboards, digital cameras, and MP3 players, to connect to a system without a USB cable. This type of connection is similar to Bluetooth, but with much faster data transfer speeds. Currently, there are products like Wireless USB hubs with adapters, allowing users to place their computer anywhere in a room while still maintaining wireless access to standard USB devices.

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Toshiba today announced the availability of the Qosmio G45-AV680, the first notebook PC in the new G45 audio-video series. The 17-inch Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV680, “the first U.S. model to feature an HD DVD-R (writable) optical drive and full 1080p playback resolution”, uses Intel “Santa Rosa” platform, NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT graphics, and the Dolby surround sound technology.

Along with HD DVD playback, HD DVD media burning, and 1080p quality delivered by a 17-inch diagonal widescreen Ultimate TruBrite 1920×1200 display, the Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV680 provides a HDMI output for connection to external High Definition TV or monitor. There are also Toshiba’s external USB HDTV Tuner and a remote controller. Regarding audio features, the first Qosmio G45 comes with four built-in Harman Kardon Bass Reflex stereo speakers, a built-in subwoofer, a 1 Bit Digital Amplifier, and Dolby Home Theater technology.

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One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization today announced it has authorized mass production of the XO laptop, based on the release of the final Beta-4 (B4) engineering model.

“This triggers the supply chains of 800 parts that come together and rollout off the assembly line in October,” the OLPC’s press release says.

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Logitech announced today the VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks, which features a very small USB receiver.

“The mouse’s plug-and-forget nano-receiver provides highly mobile notebook PC and MacBook users with a mouse that simplifies life on the road. Because the USB receiver is so small and is nearly flush with the notebook, people no longer need to constantly plug and unplug it when moving from place to place,” Logitech’s press release says.

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The estimated ship dates for new orders of Dell XPS M1330 notebook is about four weeks, because the process to ramp production has taken a bit longer than the company expected. In addition, some specific components like the thinner WLED display will add time to those estimated ship dates, Direct2Dell weblog reported.

“The reality is that due to the unique nature of some features of the notebook, we’ve had to work through some additional manufacturing processes”, the post at official Dell Inc.’s blog says.

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