laptops

We nearly plunged into despair upon seeing the fuzzy new laptop covers from Lapstyle. We wouldn't go as far as Gizmodo did in calling the heat-retaining cases the "stupidest accessory ever," but many would likely agree that tacky is probably a polite way to describe these mukluks for computers.

Then we spotted these beautiful handmade laptop sleeves on the site Etsy and our faith was quickly restored. They're tastefully yet playfully designed in subtle floral, striped and paisley fabrics--a perfect antidote to the screaming fluorescent shag carpet that sprouts from the Lapstyle bags.

Laptops aren't the most serious of energy hogs. (Oink, oink.) But LG Electronics, the Korean company that's made everything from the Chocolate phone to the Swarovski-studded fridge, is hoping to make them even more power-efficient. Treehugger posted recently about the e-Book, which is powered by a biofuel cell and uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) instead of an LCD screen. Oh, and it's pretty enough that it was nominated for a Red Dot Award this year.

But if this thing ever hits the market, I bet it'll have one biohazard of a price tag.

Traveling movie buffs can now watch the slate of Blu-Ray high-definition movies on a Dell laptop, for a pretty penny.

Dell announced the availability of a Blu-Ray drive for its M1710 laptop Monday. The most expensive version of that laptop--checking in at $3,699--is the only one that features the drive, which allows users to watch HD movies or burn discs with up to 50GBs of data.

Dell's horse in the Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD standards battle is clear, as the company is a founding member of the Blu-Ray Association, along with companies like Sony, Apple, Disney and Panasonic. Some … Read more

Years from now, your children will laugh about how you had to "stay in range" of a Wi-Fi signal in order to stay connected to the Internet when you were young.

The Hewlett-Packard's Compaq nc6400, with integrated UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, marks another step toward that inevitability.

The laptop has built-in WWAN (wireless wide-area network) connectivity that enables users to connect to the Internet via cell phone tower instead of only WLAN (wireless local-area network, or "regular Wi-Fi"). It connects via WLAN also, but you no longer need to get upset when the independent cafe you … Read more

You're a road warrior, and your laptop is getting dangerously close to becoming your best friend. But this relationship is giving you neck and shoulder pains, and you're not going to take it lying down anymore.

That's why your head will undoubtedly be turned (albeit creakily) by the "FlyBook VM" from Tokyo-based Dialogue. This lightweight laptop (3.6 pounds) is beautifully designed with a 12.1-inch that can be raised or lowered to your line of vision by a telescoping arm. We too were seduced by the sleek form and practical functionality of this digital … Read more

Lenovo did the math. On Tuesday, the company expanded the number of ThinkPad models featuring a 15.4-inch widescreen to match rival products for the road-warrior crowd.

Lenovo stretched the T60 display, making it shorter in height than its 15-inch T60 XGA sibling. As a result, it can accommodate up to 30 percent more movie images, uh, data on the screen. Lenovo also boasts that the shorter screen gives greater clearance on the airplane when the passenger seated in front of you suddenly reclines.

The T60 widescreen also features a WXGA display, Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a range … Read more

It's not often that you see a product pitched as "the fusion of Austrian beauty and Taiwanese innovation." On second thought, make that never. But it's a surprisingly accurate description of MSI's new Crystal Collection of laptops.

Unlike other jewel-laden computers, MSI's maiden Crystal model M677 seems to pay as much attention to its function as its form. Laptoping.com provides the details: "It incorporates 15.4-inch widescreen, AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, 5400rpm hard drive and a DVD burner. MSI Crystal M677 is equipped with NVIDIA … Read more

Fujitsu may be experimenting with Frankenstein prototypes, but it remains fully grounded in reality where ultra-portable notebooks are concerned. To wit: Fareastgizmos points out that Fujitsu has introduced a new tablet PC that's less than 1 inch thick and weighs 3.5 pounds, complete with Intel's Duo Core processor, 1GB of memory, 80GB hard drive and a choice of 10.4- or 12.1-inch screens. It doesn't fold away into your pocket, but with those dimensions you made not need it to--proving that contortionism isn't necessarily for everyone.

Gaming laptop specialist WidowPC is gunning for Dell big time in an old-fashioned Texas shootout. Just a few miles down Interstate 35 from Dell's worldwide headquarters, Austin-based WidowPC just announced a new laptop that it claims is less expensive than comparable models from its gigantic competitor while performing just as well.

Fosfor Gadgets says the top-of-the-line Sting 517D features a 17-inch wide screen, Intel's latest Core 2 Duo Merom processor, up to 4GB of high-speed memory, a 200GB SATA hard drive, "the industry's fastest gaming video card" from Nvidia and "lifetime tech support from … Read more