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Laptops

Dell rolls out massive laptop hard drives

Laptops are all about cramming the most stuff into the least amount of space, so the Interwebs are rightfully buzzing about the latest offerings found in the Dell and Alienware online system configurators.

With no prerelease hype, you can now order an Alienware m9700or Dell XPS M2010 with a gigantic 250GB 2.5-inch hard drive (running at 5,400rpm)--or even pair two drives up for half a terabyte of ripped DVDs data storage.

That's better than the 160GB drives most laptops topped out at until now, but what's all that extra capacity going to cost you? For … Read more

Intel UMPC update coming soon?

Intel isn't giving up on the ultramobile PC (UMPC) concept. According to a couple PowerPoint slides at HKEPC.com, Intel is set to release new processors and chipsets for UMPCs on April 18 at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing. The new platform, dubbed McCaslin, will shrink the size of the CPU and chipsets, which should allow room for more features and better battery life.

Space is at a premium on UMPCs. Intel's current CPU and north and south bridge chipsets take up a total of 2915mm squared. The McCaslin platform will occupy roughly a third of … Read more

Intel kicks off Centrino Pro

Marketing jargon comes and goes, but one bit of clever sticker-ware that's scored big with the public is Intel's Centrino platform. Laptops bearing the Centrino sticker (introduced in 2003) basically combine a specified combination of CPU, chipset, and wireless network interface, and promise a seamless online experience and better battery life.

The latest update, announced today by Intel, is the Centrino Pro. Previously code-named Santa Rosa, laptops bearing the Centrino Pro sticker must have, among other things, a new T7000-series dual-core CPU, 802.11n support, and a GM965 chipset.

With users demanding more and more from their laptops, … Read more

Sony's rainbow laptops get spring fever

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

Another report of Apple's Leopard in June

Add ThinkSecret to the list of outfits predicting a June launch for Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X.

The latest report says Apple will formally launch the new OS in June, in or around Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicking off on June 11. Apple used last year's conference to highlight several features inside Leopard, and might just use this year's to launch the OS and take the wraps off some "secret features" hinted at by CEO Steve Jobs last year.

It also looks like this year's WWDC will see the launch of the iPhone, … Read more

Is that Apple ripe for the plucking?

Did you know it's been 204 days since the last iMac update? That number might mean more to you and your tech purchasing patterns if we also told you that, according to MacRumors.com's calculations, the average span between iMac updates is 168 days. Thus, the MacRumors Buyer's Guide concludes that you should hold off buying an iMac until Apple makes good on the overdue refresh. Similar guidance is provided for all Mac desktops and laptops along with iPods, Cinema Displays, and Xserve servers. The snapshots of where Apple's various products are in their refresh cycle … Read more

Hewlett-Packard's new business notebooks

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

AMD launches new mobile chipset

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

A computer in the hand

OQO has started to ship a new model of its handheld Windows computer. Now all the company needs is customers.

The new computer, officially model 02, is a full-fledged Windows XP computer that comes with optional broadband wireless from Verizon or Sprint. It costs $1,499 and is available here..

The trick is that it fits into a person's hand, similar to those devices from Samsung or Taiwan's Hi Tech Computer Corp. (Hi Tech announced a handheld Vista-based computer this week.). Sony has a few in Japan.

OQO, however, can lay claim to being in the market the … Read more