Laptop, notbook, tech news

Some people are buying netbooks to use as their main computer. I’m a big fan of netbooks, but there is no getting around the small keyboard and screen, they are best used sporadically rather than constantly.

Back in May, I wrote that I expected a new class of netbook computer, those with 12 or 11.5 inch screens, would be the perfect mating of low price with a keyboard and screen good enough for everyday, continual use.

One of this new class of netbooks, the Lenvo S12, is currently on sale for $379 (with free shipping). This is an amazingly low price for a 12 inch netbook.

There are multiple models of the S12 and this price is for the cheapest one.

A month ago, when Brad Linder did a lengthy review of the next-model-up S12, it was $499. That model, with an Intel Atom processor, now sells for $449. For $379 you get a VIA Nano processor.

Still, no one buys a netbook for the performance, it’s purchased for some combination of price, portability and operating system.

The most important aspects of the S12, for me at least, are the full sized keyboard and the 12.1 inch 1280×800 screen.

I have not used an S12, or seen a review that comments on just how pokey the VIA processor may or may not be. Certainly the glossy screen will be a turn-off for some.

On the other hand, Linder notes that “Typing on the IdeaPad S12 keyboard is virtually the same experience as typing on a laptop with a 14 inch or larger display” and he estimates the battery life to be between 5 and 6 hours.

He also agrees with me about prefering a larger netbook. He writes :

“As much as I love a 10 inch netbook, I find myself frequently grabbing the larger IdeaPad S12 when I’m on the go because it has many of the benefits of a netbook including long battery life and relatively small size and light weight, with the added advantage of a screen that can display significantly more information.”

Your humble blogwatcher has selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment.

Kasper Jade hears the whispers:

Once rumored for extinction, Apple’s entry-level polycarbonate MacBooks are on the verge of a refresh that will solidify them at the base of the Mac maker’s notebook offerings for the foreseeable future. … The 13-inch portables are presently undergoing an industrial design overhaul that will see them reemerge in the coming months with a slimmer, lighter enclosure and restructured internal architecture.

…
The white MacBook is outselling all other [portable] Macs. … Sales of the sub-$1000 system have remained surprisingly brisk amid the economic crunch, leaving management little choice but to allocate R&D expenses in its favor. … Apple is well-positioned to begin offering a model at considerable discount to the $999 entry-level model that exists today. MORE
Chris Foresman can’t resist:

The lonely white polycarbonate MacBook that still remains in Apple’s otherwise all-aluminum notebook lineup hasn’t changed significantly over the years. … Apple would likely use lower-end Core 2 Duo chips from Intel and could likely ditch the FireWire ports. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple dump the optical drive too, adding further cost and weight savings, nor would it be unusual if Apple designed in a non-removeable battery. (Heck, throw in a physically smaller screen, and you’d pretty much have yourself an Apple netbook.)

…

With nearly 60 percent of back-to-school shoppers looking to spend less than $750 on a new laptop, though, shaving a couple hundred bucks off the MacBook might make even more students and budget shoppers lean towards a Mac instead of a Windows- or Linux-based alternative. MORE
Harry McCracken joins in the fun , and even adds a car analogy:

It wouldn’t stun me if … Apple knocked $100 or so off the pricetag to make it into an upscale alternative to a netbook. … Only a matter of time until Apple ships a non-Air MacBook with no DVD drive–in part to save money, in part to make the system thinner, and hey, maybe even to encourage consumption of movies and music from the iTunes store.

…

One thing I hope Apple doesn’t do is to give the white MacBook’s replacement an aluminum case. … I’m not so sure that plastic-clad notebooks don’t preserve their good looks better than their aluminum cousins, at least if you drop computers as often as I do. (Hey, I used to own a Saturn car, in part because of the plastic body.) MORE
Robert Evans speaks of “Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage” (CULV) devices:

Apple needs to get prices down substantially in order to make their notebooks more competitive with the variety of netbooks and CULVs that have come down the pipe as of late. Increasing battery life by a large margin is believed to be a major priority of Apple’s when it comes to redesigning the MacBook. It’s also likely that, by using last-generation processors and components, they will be able to cut down on costs while offering a solid boost in computing power over the last generation of MacBooks.
This recession has really changed up Apple’s game. They’re focusing less and less on high cost computers and gadgets, and more on affordable, reliable products for budget consumers. The $99 iPhone, the cost reduction for the MacBook Pro line, the revamping of the MacBook line, and the upcoming iTablet are all examples of this. MORE
Dieri Castrejon can’t wait:

I long for the return of glossy white in future Macs. Aluminum (as well as the combination of grey/black) seems too bleak & uber-industrial. Very Windows-esque. MORE

More potential details regarding Nokia’s recently announced netbook have surfaced online, possibly hinting at what the device could cost.

A report from NetbookNews claims that the well equipped 3G enabled Booklet could cost a hefty $799 when it launches–a premium price point for any netbook. Of course this unofficial claim has been made by an “unnamed source”, so be sure to label this one under rumor until we know the official details on September 2nd, when the company will host its Nokia World conference.

Until then, speculation as to what version of Windows 7 the sleek new netbook will run will no doubt continue, but it’s pretty safe to say that we can disregard the Starter Edition.

[Via Engadget]

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QuApple’s latest MacBook Pro lineup has been getting rave reviews. And deservedly so. Of course, as with any new hardware, these models are prone to a few minor hiccups that don’t affect older MacBook models. Here are two of the oddest ones:

Unusual optical disk drive noises. As first reported by Apple last month, the optical drives in these new laptops may exhibit an “unusual series of noises” when starting up or waking from sleep, even though no disc is in the drive. For those wondering exactly what “unusual” means here, Apple provides a recording of the noise. Out of context, I found the noise to be a bit funny; I’ve even thought about using it as a wacky ringtone.

To banish these sounds from your MacBook Pro, insert a disc “almost all the way” into the slot-loading drive (not releasing it from your hand). Then remove the disc and reinsert it, this time letting it go all the way. This unlikely procedure, dubbed by Apple as “resetting the drive,” should eliminate the problem.

Unexpected sleep. If you are lucky enough to have more than one mid-2009 MacBook Pro (or Late 2008 13-inch aluminum MacBook), Apple advises not stacking them on top of each other (at least not with their magnetic latches all facing the same way). If you do, the top computer may go to sleep unexpectedly, even in the middle of a startup.

While not likely to be a common problem, I found it interesting to learn exactly why it can occur. It can happen because “the magnet in the bottom computer may activate the magnetic switch in the top computer.” Apple considers this to be “normal behavior,” because this is how sleep onset is normally activated when you close the lid of an unstacked MacBook. Sleep is triggered when the magnet in the laptop’s display clamshell gets close enough to the magnetic “Hall Effect” switch in the MacBook body. By the way, Apple didn’t make up the name for this switch; you can check out various Web sites, including this Wikipedia page, to learn more about Hall Effect switches.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has released customer satisfaction scores for a number of consumer product sectors including personal computers. While Apple still ranks well above its competitors, its rating slipped a point compared to a year ago.

The ACSI rates different industries each calendar quarter, and for the second calendar quarter of the year, it ranks personal computer satisfaction. The ratings rank Apple and several other personal computer manufacturers including Dell, Compaq, Gateway/Acer, and HP.

Apple ranked number one, with a rating of 84 (based on a scale of 0 to 100). Dell came in second at 75, while the others included on the poll came in at 74. Apple’s rating dropped 1.2 percent from 2008, from 85 to 84, while Dell remained steady at 75. Other companies improved, 5.7 percent for Compaq, 2.8 percent for Gateway/Acer and 1.4 percent for HP.

Commenting on the numbers, Professor Claes Fornell explained that despite the slip, Apple’s customer satisfaction lead is the second largest of any industry the ACSI tracks (Southwest Airlines has a larger advantage than Apple over its closest rival).

“Apple’s success has been a result of innovation, integration of products, customer service and good marketing,” wrote Fornell.

ACSI scores are produced from on a complex set of equations that link customer expectations, perceived quality, and perceived value. Randomly chosen adults are polled by telephone with questions about their use of specific products.

The unreleased Model 2+ ultramobile computer from defunct PC maker OQO is getting plenty of attention on eBay, presumably for its value to collectors.

Bids for the fully functional, pocket-sized PCs have gone past US$4,500 in multiple eBay auctions. That is nearly four times the original price of the devices.

One individual had bid $5,000 for one of the ultramobile PCs as of Thursday, after 26 bids, with four days left until the auction ends. An earlier auction ended with the bidder paying $4,500 for a Model 2+.

The auctions come just months after OQO was forced to shut down after failing to find a buyer. The company unveiled the Model 2+ just a few months earlier at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was considered ahead of its time, and Intel ferried the device around the show floor, showing it in multiple demonstrations to build excitement around the Intel Atom processor family for mobile devices.

OQO gained a reputation as one of the few companies to offer handheld computers with full PC functionality. Known for innovative features and cutting-edge designs, the company introduced its first product, the OQO Model 01, in 2004. Though highly anticipated, the OQO devices were too expensive to attract many buyers at the time.

OQO announced that the Model 2+ would ship midyear with prices starting at $999. The company started taking orders but ceased operations before the device shipped.

Based on an Intel Atom Z-series processor running at 1.86GHz, the Model 2+ weighed less than 1 pound and came pre-loaded with the Windows Vista OS. Some of its features included a 5-inch-wide OLED (organic light-emitting diode) touch screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking. It also included a Qualcomm Gobi chipset for mobile broadband connectivity through networks based on the CDMA2000, EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) protocols.

But this week, questions lingered among OQO fans: Were the Model 2+ devices on auction for real, and why would someone pay such a high price for one? In a message board on OQOtalk, a forum dedicated to OQO device users, some said the unit for sale might be one of a few prototypes that were released by the company, and the OLED touch screen made the device worth it

“Obviously $4,000 is worth it for the only one of its kind,” wrote a poster going by the name Zorg. “I don’t see how you could dispute that.”

But others questioned the craze around the device, saying the initial euphoria would ultimately die down. “I have been wondering why I would do something like that - is the extra functionality really important over what I currently have or would it just be cool to have such a rare device?” wrote a poster going by the name of Marovada.

A highly skeptical poster, Intfan, wrote that the price was too high and that it would be better to wait until it was relisted at a lower price.

The unreleased Model 2+ ultramobile computer from defunct PC maker OQO is getting plenty of attention on eBay, presumably for its value to collectors.

Bids for the fully functional, pocket-sized PCs have gone past US$4,500 in multiple eBay auctions. That is nearly four times the original price of the devices.

One individual had bid $5,000 for one of the ultramobile PCs as of Thursday, after 26 bids, with four days left until the auction ends. An earlier auction ended with the bidder paying $4,500 for a Model 2+.

The auctions come just months after OQO was forced to shut down after failing to find a buyer. The company unveiled the Model 2+ just a few months earlier at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It was considered ahead of its time, and Intel ferried the device around the show floor, showing it in multiple demonstrations to build excitement around the Intel Atom processor family for mobile devices.

OQO gained a reputation as one of the few companies to offer handheld computers with full PC functionality. Known for innovative features and cutting-edge designs, the company introduced its first product, the OQO Model 01, in 2004. Though highly anticipated, the OQO devices were too expensive to attract many buyers at the time.

OQO announced that the Model 2+ would ship midyear with prices starting at $999. The company started taking orders but ceased operations before the device shipped.

Based on an Intel Atom Z-series processor running at 1.86GHz, the Model 2+ weighed less than 1 pound and came pre-loaded with the Windows Vista OS. Some of its features included a 5-inch-wide OLED (organic light-emitting diode) touch screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking. It also included a Qualcomm Gobi chipset for mobile broadband connectivity through networks based on the CDMA2000, EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) protocols.

But this week, questions lingered among OQO fans: Were the Model 2+ devices on auction for real, and why would someone pay such a high price for one? In a message board on OQOtalk, a forum dedicated to OQO device users, some said the unit for sale might be one of a few prototypes that were released by the company, and the OLED touch screen made the device worth it

“Obviously $4,000 is worth it for the only one of its kind,” wrote a poster going by the name Zorg. “I don’t see how you could dispute that.”

But others questioned the craze around the device, saying the initial euphoria would ultimately die down. “I have been wondering why I would do something like that - is the extra functionality really important over what I currently have or would it just be cool to have such a rare device?” wrote a poster going by the name of Marovada.

A highly skeptical poster, Intfan, wrote that the price was too high and that it would be better to wait until it was relisted at a lower price.

Today, MSI announced five new additions to their Classic C-Series ultraportable line that bring some solid bang for your buck.

Cash-strapped gamers will appreciate the CX600 and CX700, both of which feature the ATi Mobility Radeon HD4330 discrete graphics card with 512 megabytes of video memory. The CX600 has a 16-inch 1366 by 768 pixel LCD display, while the CX700’s display weighs in at 17.3 inches with a resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels.

People looking for a portable multimedia PC, however, will probably opt for one of the three new models in the CR line: the CR600-013 and CR600-017 use the same 16-inch display as the CX600, and the CR700 uses the same 17-inch display as the CX700. While the CR line’s NVIDIA GeForce 8200M G integrated graphics card isn’t nearly as powerful as the CX’s Radeon, the CR line has an HDMI port that lets you use any HDMI-capable display as a second monitor, which is particularly useful with the CR600-017’s Blu-ray optical drive (the other four laptops use a Super Multi Optical Drive).

All five of the laptops ship with Vista pre-installed, a 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 4GB of memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a 6-cell battery, as well as laptop standards like a 1.3 Megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 card reader, and 3 USB ports. Each of the laptops is powered by an Intel T4200 Dual Core 2GHz processor, except the CR600-017, which has the T4300 2.1GHz. Models with the 16-inch screen will weigh 5.47lbs with the battery, while models with the 17-inch screen will weigh closer to 6.6lbs. There’s also a three-year warranty included to keep your new baby safe.

Best of all, the new C-series laptops start at a very reasonable $550. Stop by our $500-$1000 laptop chart to get an idea of what other companies are offering for that price, or check out our reviews of the MSI WIND U123 Netbook and the MSI GT 725 Desktop Replacement if you’re looking for more beef or more sleek.

For the past few months, I’ve been working as an intern in Macworld’s San Francisco office, testing products, camping out for the iPhone 3GS, and engaging in a little cubicle warfare. Now I’m heading off to Whitman College for the first year of my undergraduate education. In addition to the usual accoutrements, like sheets (twin extra long, of course), a trash can, books, pens, paper, and the rest, I’m also packing some of my most important supplies: gadgets. After spending my summer surrounded by the latest hardware and software, whittling down my list of essential Mac gear hasn’t been easy. Here’s what’s on my back-to-school list:

My 13-inch white MacBook is the center of my digital life. For taking notes in class, I’ve loaded it with Circus Ponies’ Notebook ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ). In addition to all of its organization features, this handy program can record audio and then match it to the words I type, so I can go back and hear the lecture as I look at my notes.

I’m also taking a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet ( Macworld rated 5 out of 5 mice ) for writing. In certain areas, like math, art, and science, typing is often inconvenient. The tablet provides a more natural interface. And both OS X and Notebook integrate well with tablets–Notebook even offers searchable handwriting recognition.

My iPhone will also play an important role at college. To keep track of my projects and to-dos, I use OmniFocus ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice ), a planning and organizing app from The Omni Group. The program’s iPhone app syncs with its desktop counterpart over a local area network using Bonjour, as well as through MobileMe, so I’ll have my tasks everywhere I go. The program is structured around David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy, to which I am a devotee, but experience with GTD isn’t a prerequisite to effectively using Omnifocus.

Avatron Software’s Air Sharing Pro is another critical app for me. It turns my iPhone into a WLAN storage device on which I can stash useful files for class, including .zip files, Microsoft Office or iWork documents, PDFs, and a variety of audio and video formats. More importantly, it lets me view and e-mail all of the files I put on it.

Hard work is important, but so are study breaks. For times when I need to decompress and have fun, I’ve outfitted my Mac and iPhone with fun apps that don’t break the bank. On the Mac side, I’ve been keeping myself busy with casual fare, such as PopCap’s Peggle ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), Peggle Nights, and Plants Vs. Zombies (Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice). When I need an energy boost, I turn to The Iconfactory’s frantically paced Frenzic ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice), which never fails to wake me up and get me going again. On my iPhone, my current fun favorites are Star Hogs, F.A.S.T., and Flight Control ( Macworld rated 5 out of 5 mice), all of which are ridiculously fun, and ridiculously addictive.

Sony has said some of its Vaio laptops are equipped with faulty graphics chips from Nvidia, which the graphics company has said could cause some laptops to overheat and ultimately fail.

The PC maker is offering free repairs and extended warranty on certain Vaio models with Nvidia graphics chips made of faulty die and weak packaging material. Sony is the latest addition to a growing list of PC makers carrying faulty Nvidia chips, including Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

A user will know their model is affected if a laptop shows distorted video, duplicate images or a blank screen due to failure of the Nvidia chip, the company said on a support Web page.

Sony will cover the cost of repair. The PC maker is also providing an extended three-year warranty in addition to the standard 12-month warranty. No refunds for the laptops are being offered by Sony.

Nvidia last year reported some graphics chips were overheating due to faulty material and the thermal design of some laptops. The overheating could cause laptops to fail, the company said at the time.

After the disclosure, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple offered either a BIOS fix or free replacements for laptops with faulty chips. On Web sites like HP Lies, customers are still complaining about PC makers not offering free repairs for models that may be affected by the faulty chips.

The issue has also taken a toll on Nvidia’s earnings. The company has taken more than US$300 million in charges to cover warranty and product replacement costs. Last week Nvidia took a $119.1 million charge during the second fiscal quarter of the year, while it recorded a $196 million charge a year earlier.

The issue applies to these specific Sony Vaio models with Nvidia graphics chips: VGN-AR1xx, VGN-AR2xx, VGN-AR3xx, VGN-FZ1xx, VGN-FZ2xx, VGN-FZ3xx, VGN-FZ4xx, VGC-LT1xx and VGC-LT2xx.

The story was first reported by enthusiast Web site Semiaccurate on Monday.