As inevitable as bad Wi-Fi and long taxi lines in Vegas, pre-CES leaks are unavoidable. This year, many laptops from big-name PC makers have leaked early, mostly thanks to online retailers surfacing the products before the official release dates. These leaks have largely surfaced via sites such as Engadget and Gizmodo, assisted by a tendency for some of these laptops to actually stealth-surface at retail outlets before anyone's noticed.
Keep in mind, this list is only part of what you'll see at CES in the laptops category--there are still plenty of surprises in store. At the same time, you're sure to hear more from us about some of these during the week, including hands-on impressions and videos.
Dell:
Toshiba:- Toshiba NB305-00F (Atom N450)
- Toshiba Satellite L500-00F (Core i3)
- Gateway NV5905H (Core i3)
- Gateway LT2102H (Atom N450)
Win an HP Mini 311 Netbook!
We're quickly heading toward the finish line of our daily Crave holiday giveaway extravaganza and to kick off the week we have a nice prize courtesy of the folks at HP: The HP Mini 311 Netbook.
I've personally had my eye on this one because it has Nvidia's Ion graphics, which give you HD video and basic gaming capabilities. And laptop guru Dan Ackerman says in his four-star review, "HP's Mini 311 adds a larger, high-definition display and advanced graphics to a basic Netbook, while keeping the price very appealing." (Read the full review).
We'd like to thank HP for offering up this prize and also want to give a shout out to Shopper.com for helping out with the Crave giveaway. Shopper.com powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products. (See all of Shopper's deals, coupon codes, and rebates).
Normally, the HP Mini 311 would cost you about $399, but you ... Read more
On Sale Now: $399.99
View the latest prices for HP Mini 311
This seriously well-equipped desktop costs just $325 (plus shipping).
(Credit: TigerDirect)It's remarkable how much bang for the buck you can get from a PC these days.
For example, if you're looking to replace an aging desktop with something far more powerful, Tech For Less has a refurbished HP Pavilion a6700y quad-core desktop for $325.04. Shipping will run you about $25.
The system offers some mighty impressive specs for the price, starting with an AMD Phenom 9150e quad-core processor. Multitask all you want; it won't break a sweat.
It also comes with 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a DVD burner, and built-in 802.11b/g (a rare perk in a desktop).
The system runs Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. I'm sure most users would prefer Windows 7 at this point, but you can always upgrade later--and there's really nothing wrong with Vista as long as it's running on a powerful machine like this one.
The only mediocre spec here is the integrated GeForce 6150SE graphics--fine for ... Read more
On Sale Now: $191.99 - $219.99
View the latest prices for Zune HD (16GB - black)
We began our look into holiday retail desktops in the beginning of November, reviewing a total of 16 systems that ranged in price from $199 to $1,199. Five weeks later, we have our top picks. This is also the end of a year spent focusing heavily on desktops available at brick-and-mortar retail outlets, and we think we learned something.
Gateway's DX4822-01 is our favorite budget desktop available at retail this holiday.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)Budget pick
Desktops in our budget category ranged from the $199 Acer Aspire Revo 1600 to the $510 Gateway DX4822-01. We always advocate spending as much as your budget can handle for the purposes of longevity, so we weren't surprised when we found we liked the aforementioned Gateway best of the six desktops in this group for its speed and large 1TB hard drive.
... Read more
(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)
This week, we received comments from a reader regarding an iPhone sync glitch with certain Hewlett-Packard-branded PCs.
Mark Lennon said his new HP DV7-3085DX PC running Windows 7 64-bit with the Intel i7 Q720 processor will not sync properly with the iPhone. He explained in an e-mail that there are "tons of messages on HP's discussion boards from other users who still have this iPhone sync problem." All these machines seem to use a new Intel i5 or i7 microprocessor while running Windows 7 64-bit.
We checked the forums at HP and found a fairly lively discussion about the problem. According to some users, HP isn't acknowledging the issue.
(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)
Apple's discussion forums also turned up three threads on this issue:
- Windows 7; 64bit
- Can't sync iPhone with New HP computer with Windows 7 64-bit
- iTunes 9 on Windows 7 x64 Has Problems with iPhone
We sent e-mails to Apple, HP, and Intel requesting comment on the syncing problem. At press time, only Intel had responded. George Alfs
... Read more
Just in time to round out your holiday shopping season, we've consulted the Web traffic oracles and compiled a list of the most popular laptops of 2009.
Based on which system reviews CNET readers clicked on most often, this list shows what's on the minds of laptop shoppers -- and the emphasis is clearly on value over all else.
We've got six Netbooks in the top 10, including the Asus Eee PC 1005HA, which we've held up as a classic example of a Netbook done right. Apple, and 13-inch laptops in general, are also well-represented. Interestingly, while five major PC brands are represented, there are a few big names missing in action, including Gateway, Lenovo, and Toshiba.
To see what the most popular laptops of 2009 were, based on reader interest, click through to the slideshow below.
(Credit:
The Press Democrat)
When it comes to speed radars, why should police officers have all the fun? Santa Rosa, CA-based Pocket Radar, Inc. has engineered a palm-sized speed radar for those curious about the speed of moving objects.
Tattletales might enjoy aiming the device at motorists or speeding cops, but Pocket Radar is intended for more serious applications.
In an interview with the Press Democrat, co-founder Steve Goody explains that it can also be used by hockey, bike racing, horse racing, and soccer fans. "It has an application for any sport with a moving object," he said.
Steve Goody, Chris Stewart, and Grant Moulton spent four years building the product which will release in spring 2010. The three founders are Silicon Valley veterans who hail from companies like HP, Cisco Systems, and Agilent Technologies.
At $199-249, it's likely only die-hard fans will purchase the radar. However, athletic trainers might find it useful in training, as a prototype is already used by a local baseball coach.
In our current roundup of retail-specific laptops, we've divided our 25-plus systems into four price categories, from sub-$700 budget models to high-end ones that cost more than $1,000.
In the "high-end" category, we looked at four off-the-shelf models that all retail for $999 and above. While there's certainly a lot to like about the $2,000 HP Envy 15 (it sported the highest screen resolution and a new Core i7 processor), we thought the best bang for your buck was to be found in the Sony Vaio FW560, which has a big 500GB hard drive and Blu-ray, all for $999.
If you're looking for something even less expensive, the Sony Vaio NW270 offers no-frills Blu-ray for $699.
Note: For a roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges, check here.
Check out details of each system below:... Read more
In our current roundup of retail-specific laptops, we've divided our 25-plus systems into four different price categories, from sub-$700 budget models to high-end ones that cost more than $1,000.
In the "Netbook" category, we looked at three off-the-shelf models that all retail for $399. While you can get a similar set of components for around $100 less if you shop around, these models all offered some kind of step-up feature, from the Gobi 3G antenna in the Asus 1005HA, to the faster Atom N280 CPU and big touchpad in the Toshiba NB205, to the exotic design of the HP Mini 110.
Our favorite from this group was the Toshiba mini NB205-N325BL, because of its excellent battery and touchpad, but we'd actually look into stepping up to an HD model, such as the HP Mini 311, or else trading down to a basic entry level $299 Netbook.
Note: For a roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges, check here.
Check out details of each system below:... Read more
(Credit:
HP)
This post was updated on 11/24, 12:33 p.m., PT with pricing after rebate.
Well, here's a name we haven't heard in the smartphone space for a while, HP. The company announced on Tuesday the upcoming availability of its latest smartphone, the HP iPaq Glisten, which will arrive in the "coming weeks" for AT&T and cost $179.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.
Designed with business users in mind, the iPaq Glisten runs Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional Edition and features a 2.5-inch AMOLED touch screen as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. The smartphone also offers 3G support (UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.
Despite the business focus, you do get a 3.1-megapixel camera with HP Photosmart Mobile software for editing photos. A Facebook app is also preloaded on the device so you can upload photos directly to the social-networking site or post them to the Web via Snapfish.
Other highlights include Voice Commander software, a 3.... Read more
