laptops

Looking for a new Windows Vista laptop but don't want to break the bank? For about the same price as, say, a PlayStation 3, you can actually take your pick of a couple of new models.

The catch, of course, is that these systems use Vista Basic, the extremely stripped-down version of Microsoft's new operating system. No Aero interface, no Media Center, and so on.

For $498, you can get the new Everex Stepnote VA4101M (available at Wal-Mart, of all places). This 15.4-inch laptop includes Vista Basic, an Intel Celeron M processor, and only 512MB of RAM, … Read more

If Steve Jobs had anything to say about it, any "official laptop bag" created by Microsoft would probably be a giant fanny pack in '80s-style Day-Glo colors that was desperately trying to be cool. Just imagine it worn by John "I'm a PC" Hodgman. But remember, Vista has made Microsoft cool. (They wine-and-dined us at Cipriani, after all.) So, Ballmer & co. have commissioned luggage manufacturer Samsill to create its official laptop bags geared toward female customers, as recently seen on ShinyShiny. They might not be real leather (poly with accents of "leather-look vinyl&… Read more

Even in the digital age, some people just can't shake their habit of reading the morning newspaper in pulp. This won't solve the paper fix for those die-hards, but it could at least simulate the broadsheet experience.

The "Dual Touch Screen Laptop" from Italian design house V12 may be only a concept at this stage but is becoming far more feasible as computer makers increasingly experiment with multiple LCDs in a single device. This model, according to BornRich, envisions a touch screen and electronic pen as well--more vestiges of the pre-Internet days. But we wouldn't … Read more

If you've been playing around with a prerelease version of Windows Vista Ultimate (millions of people have been testing different versions of the new OS for months), you might have been wondering about all the extra features promised in the highest-end Ultimate edition.

Instead of the usual "no extras are currently available" message, users can now download two new features. The first is Hold 'Em Poker, a basic single-player poker simulator. The second is a series of enhancements that make it easier to use the BitLocker hard drive encryption system.

It may not be the most awe-inspiring … Read more

We saw this news over on Crunchgear this morning, and sure enough, the Apple Store has a download enabling 802.11n wireless networking on the majority of its current desktops and laptops. It'll cost you $1.99 (nickel and dime much, Apple?) but for that affordable price you can upgrade an Airport Extreme-equipped Mac Pro and every Core 2 Duo-based MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac (minus the 17-inch, 1.83GHz model). We're disappointed the MacMini didn't make the cut, but then it still uses Core Duo (note the missing "2"). Perhaps when/if the little … Read more

Who says geeks don't like football? This Superbowl Sunday you can do your part to shatter that age-old stereotype with these laptop and iPod skins from SkinIt. Even if you're not a Colts or Bears fan, you can show your team spirit with any of the other NFL teams, and Gearlog says the skins will be available for cell phones too. But if you're a 49er fan like us, you may want to keep these under a plain brown wrapper for another season or three.

At this afternoon's Windows Vista launch luncheon in New York, members of an expert panel, including Dell CEO Kevin Rollins, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, waxed poetic about the new operating system and generally patted each other on the back.

More interesting to laptop enthusiasts was the slide show that opened the event, during which Vista's hardware partners were represented almost exclusively through laptops. In quick succession, we saw plugs for the first two Windows Vista laptops we reviewed, the HP Pavilion tx1000 and the Toshiba Portege R400 (both convertible tablets, interestingly enough), along … Read more

Intel already has a significant advantage over AMD in CPU efficiency. As expected, today Intel announced that starting in 2008, that gap could become even wider. The specs for its new processors, code-named Penryn, have been finalized, and new desktop, laptop, and server CPUs should go into production in the latter half of 2007, with a street date planned in the first half of 2008. The Penryn chips will use a 45-nanometer manufacturing process, which should let Intel dial up clock speeds while maintaining relatively stable levels of power consumption.

In chipspeak, the fewer the nanometers the better. Intel uses … Read more

Ever wanted to upgrade your laptop's graphics chip? HardOCP has a great feature up today on why this initiative has stalled. Pinging unnamed, inside sources from both Nvidia and ATI, this story provides a comprehensive overview of why we can't walk into Best Buy and pick up a laptop-compatible 3D graphics card. If you're thinking "standards" right now, you're not far off.