Review - Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 13.3-inch Ultraportable Laptop PC

The ThinkPad laptops have always been about durable exteriors but that that also carries a high price. The ThinkPad SL300 looks to balance this durability with a more affordable price tag. To do this, Lenovo has decided to go with a glossier plastic exterior instead of a magnesium shell. This gives the SL300 a different look and feel from other ThinkPads but should stand up to usage.

Performance is one of the better aspects of the ThinkPad SL300. Equipped with the new Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, the system easily outperforsm many other ultraportables. This makes it excellent as a primary system for those that still want to have a high level of mobility. Performance could have been stronger if Lenovo used DDR3 memory with the new platform but the goal is also to keep costs down.

Graphics are really quite good with the ThinkPad SL300. It can use the new Intel GMA X4500 graphics but the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics give it a bit of an edge over most ultraportables. It won't give it performance for 3D gaming but does improve such tasks as high definition video decoding and playback. The 13.3-inch screen is very bright with good color. Since it uses an LED backlight, it also helps reduce power consumption.

The reduced power consumption of the LED panel and various power states of the new CPU/chipset combination along with a 6-cell battery pack give the ThinkPad SL300 some above average battery life for an ultraportble. This gives users plenty of time to work between charging.

One of the big downsides of the ThinkPad SL300 though is its size. It may have lots of performance and a very reasonable price tag but it ends up being heavier than many other ultraportables that use 13.3-inch display panel.

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Sony Introduces Cheaper Blu-ray Vaios

The Vaio NS and CS series can both be optioned with Blu-ray drives for around $1,000.

With the prices on standalone Blu-ray players finally starting to slowly tick backwards, Blu-ray drives in computers are beginning to follow. Sony introduced two cheaper Blu-ray equipped notebooks on Friday with the NS and CS series Vaios, which will sell for as low as $1,000 in Blu-ray-equipped form.

The two notebooks are primarily differentiated by their form factors: the NS gets a standard 15.4-inch screen while the CS gets a more compact 14.1-inch screen. Both have been tailored for high-def viewing with Xbrite-Eco LCDs, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and 4GB RAM in the Blu-ray configurations. They also get dedicated A/V modes to cut down on the number of steps needed to get a movie playing or control playback.

Like the NR series that preceded both the NS and CS, Sony will market the new notebooks as fashionable budget machines. The NS will come in nightfall blue, silk white, and granite silver, while the CS will come in four glossy shades: sangria, cosmopolitan, dove and black.

The NS series will start at $650 and rise to $1,000 in its cheapest Blu-ray form, while the CS will start at $920 and leap to $1,070 with the player.

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Apple MacBook Air Laptop

When Apple launches a major new product they love to raise the bar every time and this is no different when they launched the Apple MacBook Air laptop.

The MacBook Air is ultra portable and ultra thin; it changes what we think about laptops by breakthrough design and the use of wireless innovations.

Apple’s latest notebook takes mobile computing to another level and keeps what’s really needed for its internal hardware, and devices like optical drives are left as external devices, if needed at all.

The main specs include a 13.3-inch LCD, OS X v10.5, a 80GB hard drive or SSD option for more money, 2GB DDR2 memory, and a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with an option to upgrade.

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Acer Aspire One Mini-Laptop for Mobile Computing

The world has taken yet another step towards truly mobile computing. One of the major PC manufacturers, Acer, has designed a mini-laptop, which is about the size of a mass-market book. Yet, it has a qwerty keyboard and 8.9-inch screen. The Acer Aspire One also comes with Wi-Fi, 3G, hard disk or flash memory for storage, and Linux or Windows operating system.

A mini-laptop is a perfect companion for anyone who regularly has to carry a computer. Maybe it is to a friend’s house, to a hotel, to the college, or just the short distance from study to kitchen. The point is that the device is so small that you don’t hesitate to take it with you. Ultra-portable PCs may lack a CD drive, huge storage space, or processing power to edit videos, because these features have been sacrificed for ultimate portability.

Our own experience with a mini-laptop is that a few missing features is worth the sacrifice for anyone who wants to have a laptop at hand practically anywhere they go. Typically, new individual usage patterns start to emerge with a tablet or ultra-portable PC. Someone may use a mini-notebook for instant messaging, reading news, posting blog entries, someone else for video chatting and viewing YouTube clips, or listening to music.

Acer Aspire One key features and specifications:

• 8.9-inch color screen in 1024 x 600-pixel resolution. It is a backlit CrystalBrite LED display.
• Qwerty keyboard.
• WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g Internet connectivity from hotspots.
• 3G or Wimax for high-speed mobile connectivity. It is good to keep in mind that Wimax is a future wireless technology, and not yet widely available.
• Linpus Linux Lite orMicrosoft Windows XP Home operating system software.
• Memory card slot that can read and write SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, and xD cards.
• 8GB of flash memory or 80GB hard drive for storage space.
• Webcam, Acer CrystalEye, capable of live video streaming and video conferences.
• VGA, Ethernet, and USB ports.
• 512MB or 1GB of RAM memory.
• Intel Atom processor.
• Available in four colors: dark blue, white, golden brown and pink.
• Dimensions of the unit: width 24 cm, height 17 cm.

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Sony Recalls VAIO TZ Series Due to Overheating

Sony announced this morning that it was aware of an overheating issue with its TZ notebooks and is urging customers to bring units for repairs. According to the announcement put out by Sony, the overheating might affect any VAIO system in the TZ Line (including VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series):

The issue involves a small number of units which may overheat due to a wiring problem. Sony has initiated a voluntary program to perform a free inspection and, if necessary, a repair to ensure these units meet our high quality standards.

To find out if your VAIO laptop is one of the affected units, you can check out the following link: http://esupport.sony.com/fixmypc. You will be prompted to input your product code and serial number located on the bottom of the notebook. Sony will provide an inspection and, if necessary, on-site repair at home.

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