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| 5/24 |
| 2005/3/14-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:36684 Activity:moderate |
3/14 I'm thinking about getting a new laptop. I don't want to buy a Dell
because I'm not a Republican supporter and I don't want to buy a Mac
because my work involves Linux development/VMWare. What are other
alternatives I have? Thanks.
\_ If it's for work, why not expense it to your company and get the
most expensive Sony Viao you can get?
\_ Apparently today is "troll the motd" day.
\_ Kinda like "the Troll Olympics" isn't it?
\_ obGetAThinkPad
\_ ob Support the CHICOMS?!? omgwtfbbq
\_ They're still American, better buy quick though.
\_ What is not made in China these days?
\_ I make sweet love to yermom right here in the USA.
\_ My 2-year-old Fujitsu S series is made in Japan.
You'd have to ask a new buyer if you wanted to know
if they were still made there, considering how cheap
one is on http://newegg.com now ($1,250 before tax).
\_ Just not an X31--*nix is a nightmare on it. I'm told X40s are
OK for Linux/BSD though. Be very careful to check the various
Linux-on-laptop sites for compatibility first. -John
\_ Assuming this is not a troll, Dell and IBM are at the top tier
in terms of on-site support. Toshiba's probably right behind.
HP, I dunno, I think they're notebooks look worse than ThinkPads.
HP, I dunno, I think their notebooks look worse than ThinkPads.
My feeling about Sony's is they're more about form than function,
but I could be totally wrong; don't know about their on-site support
\_ I know Gateway Cowbrand can go into Chapter 11 anytime, but anyone
has any experience with their laptops?
\_ I have a Compaq NC6000 for work. Features, speed, ergonomics are
great. Reliability is meh (several of us already have had HDs
replaced for this model).
\_ Have you considered Fujitsu? The lifebook and toughbook series
are pretty nice and very rugged.
\_ I'll second this. The toughbooks are amazing. Look at the W2.
\_ toughbooks are Panasonic
\_ toughbooks are Panasonic. Get the Y2, for ~ .5 pounds more
you get 14" instead of 12" screen.
I see on http://engadget.com on http://cnet.com a couple people complaining
I see on http://engadget.com & http://cnet.com a couple people complaining
the screens suck compared to the Fujitsu S series with
CrystalView.
\_ Apparrently Linus now uses a Mac for his primary work machine so
perhaps Linux support on the Mac will be getting a lot better in
the near future. -dans
\_ Long thread from Aug 2004
http://www.engadget.com/entry/7044941173883695
I like the posts talking about the Fujitsu S7010/S7010D |
| 5/24 |
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| www.engadget.com/entry/7044941173883695 Laptops Vaio 505 Extreme Reader Mike S wants to know what the best laptop for travel is, and rath er than actually take the time to answer this ourselves, we figured wed turn this over to the collective wisdom and accumulated knowledge of th e Engadget readership. Heres what he wrote: My old Dell is on its last legs and its time to buy a new notebook. I n eed something thatll be good for business travel, since I take at leas t two or three trips a month. Any Engadgeters out there think they can help a brother out with some sug gestions? Add your comments) Reader Comments 1 Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:08 PM ET by Adrian Travel laptop... Not leading edge specificati on but solidly built for throwing around the inside of an airplane. jason iBook I've had a 12" iBook for two years and I love it. I travel a lot (like ev ery three weeks on average, frequently more) and it's never failed me. I have two batteries, so I can get about 3+ hours of DVD watching on an a irplane, plus it's got the best WiFi support around. If I were buying a new one, I'd probably go with the 12" powerbook, but I won't be in the market for a new laptop for a really, really long time. jason iBook I've had a 12" iBook for two years and I love it. I travel a lot (like ev ery three weeks on average, frequently more) and it's never failed me. I have two batteries, so I can get about 3+ hours of DVD watching on an a irplane, plus it's got the best WiFi support around. If I were buying a new one, I'd probably go with the 12" powerbook, but I won't be in the market for a new laptop for a really, really long time. Snapster I love my sony TR series if you don't need a huge amount of processing power, you might check out the Sony TR series. It's one of th e smallest notebooks around, and still has wide screen hi-res LCD. I was initially worried about the relatively slow GHz but the centrino proces sor (and enough ram) seems to get all my jobs done. additional longer life battery lasts me over 5 hours with l ight use. It's become my main machine, since I do little these days beyond Web and email. There's no DVD, but i t's small, light, cheap ($700 for an 800 Mhz G3). Virtual PC on it is su re slow, but I use it only rarely. Sure, for more money you can get a mu ch faster processor, DVD, etc. You should be able to go see one in your l ocal bestbuy or circuit city, and both charge about $2000 for it. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:21 PM ET by DukeTogo IBM ThinkPad X-Series If you are not looking for an Apple laptop, I would recommend the IBM Thi nkPads. Nice and light, durable , built in WiFi, lots of features. Neither has an optical drive, but this is of limited use to me. Copy an i mage of your DVD's (DVD Decrypter) or your CD's to your hard disk and th en mount them using Daemon Tools. Probably enhance your battery life thi s way too, since you won't be powering a physical optical drive. If you are interested in an Apple laptop, either the iBook or PowerBook 1 2" models will make you very happy. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:22 PM ET by Fatlimey Replacing the Dell 8100 I too have been looking to replace my Dell 8100 with something a little m ore "choicy", but the new dell lineup is just nasty to look at. I've don e a heap of looking around and been finding myself drawn to the Thinkpad T41 as the ideal replacement. It's thin, a whole lot lighter than the I nspiron and alltogether sexy. It's a good work station too, being the la ptop of choice for the programmers at Google, which is recommendation en ough for me! Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:24 PM ET by SpineDoc Definitely TR I have to say my Sony TR is the BEST portable computer, plenty of process ing power for all non game related duties, and even runs some games like call of duty. You can get a good 3 hours out of the s tandard battery, and a good 9plus hours out of the extended battery. Eve n with the extended battery it is tiny and very very light. Additionally it is very very stylish, people definitely look at the lapto p when you walk into a room. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:24 PM ET by DukeTogo IBM ThinkPad X-Series If you are not looking for an Apple laptop, I would recommend the IBM Thi nkPads. Nice and light, durable , built in WiFi, lots of features. Neither has an optical drive, but this is of limited use to me. Copy an i mage of your DVD's (DVD Decrypter) or your CD's to your hard disk and th en mount them using Daemon Tools. Probably enhance your battery life thi s way too, since you won't be powering a physical optical drive. If you are interested in an Apple laptop, either the iBook or PowerBook 1 2" models will make you very happy. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:25 PM ET by SpineDoc Definitely TR I have to say my Sony TR is the BEST portable computer, plenty of process ing power for all non game related duties, and even runs some games like call of duty. You can get a good 3 hours out of the s tandard battery, and a good 9plus hours out of the extended battery. Eve n with the extended battery it is tiny and very very light. Additionally it is very very stylish, people definitely look at the lapto p when you walk into a room. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:27 PM ET by Fatlimey Replacing the Dell 8100 I too have been looking to replace my Dell 8100 with something a little m ore "choicy", but the new dell lineup is just nasty to look at. I've don e a heap of looking around and been finding myself drawn to the Thinkpad T41 as the ideal replacement. It's thin, a whole lot lighter than the I nspiron and alltogether sexy. It's a good work station too, being the la ptop of choice for the programmers at Google, which is recommendation en ough for me! Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:34 PM ET by DukeTogo IBM ThinkPad X-Series If you are not looking for an Apple laptop, I would recommend the IBM Thi nkPads. Nice and light, durable , built in WiFi, lots of features. Neither has an optical drive, but this is of limited use to me. Copy an i mage of your DVD's (DVD Decrypter) or your CD's to your hard disk and th en mount them using Daemon Tools. Probably enhance your battery life thi s way too, since you won't be powering a physical optical drive. If you are interested in an Apple laptop, either the iBook or PowerBook 1 2" models will make you very happy. Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:35 PM ET by Hugo Mr I've been there... a fan of small and portable notebooks I long and hard to find a replacement for my Toshiba Portege 3110. I was about to by a s ony TR series, but finally settled for a 12" powerbook and I can tell yo u there isn't a day when I don't look back and think about how happy I a m to have "switched". I am not a PC hater or a Mac fanatic, but this lit tle powerbook rocks! Posted Aug 5, 2004, 2:39 PM ET by andy IBM Thinkpad The T series of IBM Thinkpads are excellent! My T40p gets over 7 HOURS of battery life on one battery! They contain embedded security chips that encrypt your data and can't be bypassed like power-on passwords, hard drive passwords, or windows passw ords can. Hardware security solutions trump cheesy password security. If I lose this machine, I'm less likely to worry about someone gaining acc ess to its contents! The built-in Wireless networking (mine has B+A, newer models have G+A) is much better than the competition because of the advanced IBM software. I set up a roam list and no longer deal with Windows' clumsy "Available Wireless Networks" screen. I can even set profiles for each network for seperate homepages, vpn settings, File Sharing settings, security etc. Touchpad AND Trackpoint: The pointing stick is a MUST for me, so I wouldn 't even consider many of the machines available. The right side of the t ouchpad can be set up for scrolling, and the corners can be set up to la unch programs or do certain window actions. The touchpad is smart enough to ignore accidental touches with my wrist, which is incredibly useful. Hardware Volume Control: I can adjust/mute the volume regardless of Windo ws' "Master Volume" setting and never have to worry about accidentally b lowing up my speakers due to programs maxing out the volume -- something that colleagues with Dells and Sonys have had happen quite often. I love this Thinkpad and will probably buy another one soon. Pos... |
| newegg.com New at Which price comparison website do you use most frequently? |
| engadget.com MyMo, Taiwanese company GuideTek Tec hnology will intro the iCare Baby Bear cell phone to fill the gaping voi d in devices that may mangle young brains. It is iCute to the point of b eing iNauseating, but is so simple that we may as well just implant them in our toddlers, already. bigger digits in you somewhere), we have to say this is definitely the m ost intense American Samsung handset weve seen in a long time. Expect i t in the second quarter to come with that 2-megapixel camera, swiveling dual display, EVDO support, Bluetooth, MPEG-4 video support, stereo spea kers and VOD. Very nice indeed, especially since it still happens to be very small and light; however, we didnt catch a memory slot on this thi ng, and that could be a big problem real quick. cars We havent really given a whole lot of thought to where all the antennas are hidden in modern cars; were just glad theyre not sticking up on th e hood like they used to. But the New York Times has queried the industr y, and has a good overview of where the wires are stashed. It turns out there are people in the auto industry who spend their whole careers find ing places to hide antennas that are needed for everything from keyless entry systems to cruise-control systems. Good spots include the insides of doors, side mirrors and windows. If youre in the market for a personal mugging deterrent, or perhaps if you have an ex-friend you really want to deafen, peep the $3 00 Sonic Devestator from Future Horizons. Its a handheld, battery-power ed device outfitted with an output transducer that emits intense ultraso nic blasts at 130 decibels. At that level, its safe to say youll be ab le to startle any would-be attackers in the near vicinity supposedly e ffective in the range between between 20 and 50ft. To say that this devi ce produces irritation is, well, an understatement. NTT DoCoMo did the slider form factor justice in the D901i. You just cant argue with a 262k color 24-inch QVGA screen (esp ecially not one with lots of crazy crap on it, like above), let alone a miniSD slot, 2-megapixel camera, QR code support, and 3G. Plus, gotta lo ve that chic 70s amber/beige/earthtone/copper color scheme. AOL Logo America Online is rolling out some new services to mobile carriers, inclu ding the Instant Pictures feature for AIM and two new MapQuest features. The Find Me feature uses GPS to help cellphone users locate themselves, get maps and driving directions, and find nearby sites of interest. The Traffic feature delivers realtime traffic info for 90 major US cities . The 35 x 12 x 083-inch device only has a miniscu le 262k color 128 x 160 pixel LCD but what do you expect? It also hits y ou up with a VGA resolution camera, 87MB internal memory, and TransFlash (aka microSD). PMP thickerin this case, the Erae Foceat the novelty e xpensive of slide-revealed controls and 2oz of wow. And maybe its just us, but it looks pretty big for a 5GB Microdrive based player, too. The 42 x 19 x 065-inch phone weighs only 345 ounces, has an OLED subdisplay, and sit s in a magnesium and aluminum case. It may not be all that feature rich, but dont worry so much about it; You know, we figured wed really give it the onc e-over, just for fairness sake. And then we looked at one another and s aid, What were they thinking? Maybe if they can add X-ray vision capa bilities in the 2nd rev? PEBLbut a lot more plasticy , and somehow even a lot more desirable. Kyoceras A1430K has a very ret ro-display feel to its subdisplay, while the inside was nice and shiny c lean, featuring a 22-inch QVGA LCD. Oh, and that lack of metal made for a severely light device, one we wouldnt be ashamed at all to carry des pite its lack of features otherwise, and general super-femminess. Yeah, outside the VGA camera, the handset wasnt really of note, but damn if t he Japanese low-end isnt just so very nice. Sonys Connect online music store, at least not when its la unched later this year. Nah, instead itll have support for both MP3 and AAC, with the idea is that youll load it up with music from your own c ollection (itll ship with a 512MB Memory Stick Duo card). We were told that eventually they might add support for Connect (which would require a firmware upgrade, since the W800 doesnt currently support ATRAC3), as well as whatever wireless music download services the carriers might be cooking up, but in the meantime they just want to make it easy for peop le to get music on to their phones, and over-the-air aint it. its soft materials are perfect for the fashion style of young wom en. Is it just us, or does this phone kind of remind you of what ET w ould look like if reincarnated as a femmy Japanese VGA-cameraphone? PS Engrish bonus: A soft and lovely mobile phone just for you. PPS Second Engrish bonus: Japans first mobile phone wrapped in soft material for a cushiony feel. Gotta love cellphones with the same descr iptive terms as toilet paper. Visa smart card You remember how stoked everyone got when Visa was all up on chipping the ir cards (not that anything really useful came of thatat least in Ameri ca, anyway); already 10% of Visa customers worldwide have their CCs pimp ed like that. Visa wants to have cards with flexible LCD, OTF T, or OLED displays that read out recent transactions, balances, or exch ange rates, and other relevant information. Okay, sounds good to us, but then you have to worry about securing the credit card with biometric co untermeasures, and adding microprocessors and even wireless and syncing, by the end youll wind up with a 05-inch thick $150 piece of plastic t he maitred s just going to cut up after dinner when youve overextende d your line of credit. Firefly were gracious enough to let us tool around a li ttle while with their emergency cellphone, and believe it or not, we act ually started to forget it was a kids device. In all reality, it might just as easily make for a great backup emergency phone to give your swee tie, but they didnt forget who it was really intended for: the Firefly felt very sturdy in that plasticy, kids stuff kinda way. Okay, so theyre showing it off at CeBIT, and Samsungs claiming this 35g biz to bust 50Mbps on the 23GHz band (thats a new oneoh, and despite what the Inq says, no , WiFi and Bluetooth actually do reside on the 24GHz band) and be capab le of supporting seamless tower handoffs at up to about 35mph. Except Samsung already gave em up and had WiBro running in December of last year; plus theyre already rolling it out to three Korean carriers and testing in Japan and the US. as weve w hined before, we cant stand dealing with batteries. And were psyched t hat at least two companies Toshiba and Antig Technology were showing off their latest methanol cells at CeBIT last week. Antig has actually come up with a cell that you can pop into the CD bay of your laptop (ass uming you can get along without your optical drive), which they claim wi ll be market-ready later this year. Toshiba, however, is still hedging o n their long-delayed drive, saying that it wont be ready for commercial production until theyve addressed size, weight and regulatory issues. We dont know what Antig has done to address these issues that Toshiba h asnt, but well be first in line to check out their cell when it launch es. In other words, in the SLVR family, its the middle of the road. Otherwise, both werent quite as small as w ed hoped, but they felt very solid; wed be more than happy to slip one in our back pocket and take off with it. Remixed Slider KX5 at the show tod aynot a whole lot remixed from most of the other sliders weve seen, bu t it did have a few interesting twists. Namely, Kyoceras and Alienware s partnership became apparent with the Kyocera Gamepad, a weird dock-ish gamepad amalgam. It may have wobbled a lot more than wed have liked, b ut at least its different; they also showed off the audio dock, which w asnt much more than a charging cradle with audio outs for playing music off the phone. Nokia 6155 Nokia dropped three newbies of CDMA loving grace today: the 6155 (shown a bove) sports a 1-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, video recording/ playback at 15fps, 262k color primary display. It ... |
| cnet.com -> www.cnet.com/ Longhorn goes to pieces Microsoft is dialing back the feature list on the next version of Windows (code-named Longhorn and due sometime in 2006). One of the biggest changes: The next-gen OS won't have WinFS, an add-on to the file system that would theoretically make it easier to find documents, e-mail messages, and multimedia files--no matter what their format--on local PCs and across networks. Yahoo boosts free e-mail storage Responding to the threat from Google's Gmail free-mail service (which will supposedly offer users 1GB of mail storage), Yahoo says it will up the allotment of online storage for its free users to 100MB Paid customers will get "virtually unlimited" storage. The upgrades will launch this summer, along with a face-lift for the service as a whole and more tie-ins to other Yahoo services, such as Photos and Messenger. PalmOne updates Treo Handheld maker PalmOne has released a software update for its Treo 600 smart phone. Among the tweaks: enhancements to the browser and e-mail program, as well as improved "audio-quality reliability." The device has been overwhelmingly popular but has not been without its critics. The update is initially only for Sprint customers who own the phone; |