laptops

Perhaps inspired by the success of PlayStation 3s done in custom colors, Sony seems increasingly emboldened in taking the paintbrush to its various products. The latest evidence of this flowering can be found in the spring line of its Vaio C series laptops, following its fall colors of last year.

The newest of its limited "Graphic Splash" editions available in "Charcoal Blossom, Black and White Dot, Weathered Blue, or Brown and Turquoise Dot," Engadget says. As for the specs, if you care, the laptops sport an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB or more of memory … Read more

Kudos to Laptop magazine for getting the scoop, with the one of the first hands-on reviews we've seen of the Netgear EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD. There's just one problem: they got one big detail of the product dead wrong. The Netgear product does play songs purchased from the iTunes Store, as confirmed by hands-on tests in the CNET Labs.

We purchased and played two songs from the store, and were surprised to see that the Netgear was able to stream them to the TV/stereo system in the next room just as easily as it could with DRM-free … Read more

If you're shopping for a somewhat snazzy business-oriented notebook, HP's got some AMD-flavored newness for you. The imaginatively named HP Compaq 6515b and 6715b both support a variety of wireless protocols, including EVDO (Verizon) and HSDPA (AT&T). And, being business laptops, they're big on security, including drive encryption, an optional privacy filter for your screen, and a fingerprint reader.

We've got the smaller 14.1-inch 6515b in the CNET Labs right now, and it's actually surprisingly slick-looking for a button-down biz laptop. Both these systems will be available in late April, starting at … Read more

Today AMD announced the M690 chipset, a mobile version of the 690 chipset announced a month ago. Like its desktop counterpart, the M690 seems aimed at the entertainment sector: both the high-end M690T and the budget M690V offer DVI video output, with the M690T adding support for HDMI output so you can connect your laptop to an HDTV. The M690 also is AMD's first mobile platform to support ATI Avivo technology, which the company claims enhances high-definition video playback. Both the M690T and M690V incorporate ATI Radeon X1200 series graphics and Turion 64 X2 series processors; you can find … Read more

Thrifty laptop shoppers can easily put together a decent system for around $800 or so (or even dip down to $500 if they're brave), but these low-cost machines have always had major trade-offs in terms of components and performance.

We can't speak to the performance aspect just yet, but Systemax has hit the $999 sweet spot with a just-announced Vista Ultimate version of its Core 2 Duo 15.4-inch Pursuit 4155 laptop. It's also got 1GB of memory, a 60GB hard drive, and a built-in Webcam.

The Core 2 Duo T5200 processor is admittedly on the low … Read more

Putting one of these laptop shades on your computer might make it look like an old-school microfiche reader from the mustiest corner of your local public library, but I think it could actually serve a useful purpose. Any laptop owner knows that toting your Vaio or MacBook outside is borderline impossible because the glare from the sun renders the screen unreadable. This add-on, called CompuShade, attaches to the top of your laptop and can be unfolded when you're outside and want to block the glare out.

Plus, it can keep people from snooping! So not only can you take … Read more

It's an enticing idea: replace your keyboard with a stylus and tap your screen--or write all over it--to get things done.

That's the basic premise behind tablet PCs, and while they haven't fully caught on yet, the NAVIsis Laptop Tablet lets you give the tablet user interface a go without having to splurge on a brand-new tablet PC.

The NAVIsis Laptop Tablet is a $130 USB device that clips onto the side of your laptop screen and lets you tap, write, and draw on the display to your heart's content.

Sure, $130 is far from free, … Read more

At long last, relief from public ridicule. You've been suffering in the embarrassment of having to tote around that low-end $350,000 Tulip Ego for months, but someone has finally come along with a portable computer worthy of your elevated station. (How on earth could you be expected to carry a laptop that costs less than your cell phone?)

A rather mysterious company named Luvaglio of London has supposedly created a $1 million laptop, which Luxurylaunches says is "believed to integrate real diamonds and other precious jewelry into the chassis of the system." But any facts have … Read more

Technology can be a hazardous to your health, and gadget-related dangers come in all shapes and sizes, from BlackBerry thumb to mouse elbow. One of the most common complaints we hear is from laptop users literally burned by overheated systems. While desktop PC hot-rodders have all kinds of elaborate water-cooling contraptions at their disposal, laptop owners are stuck with decidedly more low-tech solutions.

Many users would never dream of resting a laptop directly on their legs without a pillow, magazine, or some other improvised shield in place. After all, with faster processors, smaller cases, and increased workloads, the modern laptop … Read more