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Archive for January, 2012

I realize that “cheap” is in the eye of the beholder. Not only that — the laptops in this article might not even be as cheap as something you could get off eBay or even as inexpensive as a refurbished laptop.

But, face it: new laptops are almost always going to be more expensive than the equivalently configured desktop PC because of the need for miniaturization of the components. And laptops have to use different (more expensive) technologies to maximize battery life.

Bottom line: you’re going to pay more for a laptop; or you’re going to get less laptop for your dollar compared to a desktop PC.

That said, these three laptops — Sony VAIO, HP Pavilion, and Dell Latitude — are all solid buys in a range of prices that is very competitive for brand new equipment. And they come from decent companies and offer you a range of features as well.

Let’s get started…

Sony VAIO N170GT

This Sony model is that it doesn’t have a lot of junky frills on it. It is a clean looking design. It is stylish, too. The screen is very bright. It doesn’t get a lot of glare. The speed and performance is okay. In fact, for the price, it’s not bad. The battery is good for probably around four hours. Not super, but enough to watch a movie on a plane flight.

On the downside, this laptop uses an older Intel Core Duo processor. It comes with integrated graphics, which means that the performance is not that great. But you’re not paying a lot of money for this laptop either. If you’re going to install Windows Vista on this machine you’re going to want to upgrade the memory.

Overall, this model of Sony’s VAIO gives you a good price, but not a really powerful processor. But the laptop looks great. It’s very stylish and attractive.

If looks count and you want to save some bucks, this is a great machine. Brand-new, this model costs about $1100 plus tax and shipping.

HP Pavilion DV6205US

This laptop is part of the HP Pavilion DV6000 series. It is designed to appeal to the mass market. It is a very stylish laptop with a shiny finish — designed to appeal to the same customers who might consider a Sony or an Apple laptop. It’s got a series of high-end components and multimedia features at a price that’s lower than the comparable Dell laptop.

This laptop has some pretty nice stereo speakers from Altec Lansing. They’re located above the controls. But be aware that if you close the top the sound gets can get muffled.

This laptop also has a 1.3 Megapixel WebCam built right in, as well as two microphones.

There is a row of buttons above the keyboard that launches different features like the media player, volume-control and playback. The keys look nice, but they make a really annoying beeping sound when you press them (and you can’t really turn that off either).

This laptop weighs a little over 6 pounds — lighter than the comparable Dell laptop. When you add the AC adapter, it brings the whole thing up to a little over 7 pounds.

The screen is 15.4 inches wide. It has a shiny finish that makes colors very bright and vibrant. It does give it a bit of glare in bright sunlight or next to a window.

The keyboard is very comfortable. The touchpad has an on-off button. This is very cool because it keeps your cursor from flying off in the wrong direction if your hand passes over the touchpad while using an external mouse.

It has a decent number of ports including a FireWire port, a VGA port, S-video and 3 USB 2.0 ports. You also get a microphone jack and two headphone jacks.

As far as processors go, you have a couple of choices. You can do a 1.86 GHz Celeron or a 2.0 GHz Core Duo. This laptop can be configured for up to 2 GB of RAM, and it’ll work with hard drives of up to 200 GB in capacity.

Bottom line: it’s got lots of entertainment features, you can configure it lots of different ways and it is very affordable. Brand-new out-of-the-box, you can get one for as little as $600-$800 plus tax and shipping.

Dell Latitude D600

The D series laptops from Dell use the Pentium M which comes in 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz, and 1.6GHz speeds–all paired with Intel’s new 855PM chipset. You can this laptop with between 128MB – 2GB of fast 266MHz DDR SDRAM. It also comes with a faster 40GB hard drive, or a choice of 20GB, 30GB, and 60GB drives running at slower speed.

It’s got a 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics chip. There are a number of swappable modules for the single internal bay, including CD, DVD, CD-RW, DVD/CD-RW, floppy, a second hard drive, or a second battery.

The average-sized, 14.1-inch screen isn’t super. But it comes with a pretty good 1,400×1,050 native resolution. (You can also save a few bucks by opting for the 1,024×768 display instead.)

It’s very fast, and it includes an integrated wireless antenna that is of the dual-band type. This means that if you are within range of a Wi-Fi hotspot that runs either “b” or “g” wireless protocols, this laptop will be compatible with either protocol. It also has built-in Bluetooth.

On the downside, this laptop is part of the D-series notebooks for Dell which means it will not be compatible with C-series Dell laptops. This means that if you have a C-series docking station, you’re out of luck. And if you have media modules that are for another C-series notebook you’ll have the same limitation.

Overall, this is a very thin and light notebook computer at a fantastic price — $400, plus tax and shipping.

Conclusion

No matter how you define “cheap,” these three laptops give you a great value.

New iPod models have sprung up as quickly as mushrooms after the rain and each time they just seem to get better and better. I have to say though that this U2 special edition iPod just captured my heart the moment I saw it. Being very much a U2 fan, the fact that the back panel has the band members’ signatures engraved on it is enough reason in itself for it to be the best. The U2 iPod is easily recognizable from all the other models due to its style. While the others are usually white – or plain black in the case of some 5G models – this baby’s black front panel and bright red click wheel is sure to stand out.

The U2 iPod is so much more than eye candy, though. Twenty gigabytes of storage may seem meager compared to the storage capacity of the newer models but believe me, it still translates to a lot of songs. I have had the iPod for a little over a year now and I still haven’t filled it up.

The U2 iPod has similar features as that of other iPods of its generation. It is so easy to use – all you need in order to do whatever you want with your songs is your thumb. Superior sound quality lets you enjoy all your favorite songs.

One drawback is the battery life. It is supposed to be able to play songs continuously for 12 hours. In my experience, it could be anywhere from 4-9 hours. Factors such as file size and playback options may be the reason for this. The lock button on the top of the iPod can help conserve battery. When not in use, you can lock it so that you won’t accidentally run the battery down. Another concern is that the iPod gets scratched easily. Solution: get a case for protection.

Indeed, compared to the other models with their newer features, the U2 iPod is a bit expensive. If you think about it though, it has everything you need in an mp3 player – unless it’s video you’re after. I suppose the bottom line is whether you are enough of a U2 fan to splurge on it. Then again, even if you are not and you have enough cash to spend, the stand out look of the U2 iPod should be enough reason to get it for yourself.

The progression of technological advancement this decade is forking in many directions – from biotech projects using Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc to more electronic endeavors that utilize the latest in HD and 3D projection. While some of the results of these advancements may not be seen for decades, others could be hitting the market in multiple incarnations in just the next couple years. 

The new pico projector technology by MicroVision will allow users to play video games on any surface they choose and essentially convert any and all projected images into touchscreen interfaces. Premiering at the Consumer Electronics Show, the projector is roughly the size of an envelope and can easily attach to any laptop or smartphone. Supported by green laser diodes, PicoMagic devices are able to project in 720p high-definition with an output of 25 lumens. People standing near the emission are able to control the display, which will not be limited to video games. Word documents, spreadsheets, photo galleries, and movies can all be projected and controlled using only hand movements and surfaces.

Imagine the possibilities that will arise when you can control the content of a projected file as though it were a touchscreen device. This technology seems likely to catapult everyday business affairs into Minority Report-like information grappling whereby presentations, meetings, and classroom settings are greatly enhanced. Recreational activities will be enhanced too, as gamers and video-watchers will no longer be confined to their conventional consoles and screens. One can also imagine a wide variety of new entertainment forms and other developments that will arise from this technology, including early virtual reality modeling.

This is just another step in the direction of embeddable interfaces. Our society seems to be rapidly moving in the direction of ubiquitous screens, in which everyday surfaces become functional interfaces through which people can conduct business, make financial transactions, and purchase goods and services. Whether or not this will advance to the extent of Minority Report anytime soon remains to be seen, but we appear to be poised to embrace the core ideas sooner rather than later.

MicroVision, which is a small company only employing 100 people, is also using their ultra-miniature laser display technology PicoP to create heads-up displays for cars. This technology, which will be connected to your vehicle through an Android smartphone, will help you drive home by projecting pertinent information onto your windshield. One has to hope people won’t combine technologies and project videogames onto their windshields.