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(Credit:
T3 Gadget Website)
In the past, we've seen laptops named after high-end sports car manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, but what about the luxury car enthusiast? Well, the wait is now over: Ego has announced the Bentley laptop. In keeping with the tradition of the hallowed British brand, the laptop features a hand-stitched leather lid cover and a curved metal case painted the same colors as the car. When closed, the laptop can be carried by its handle, which is also reminiscent of the door handle of the automobile.
Otherwise, you're getting a pretty standard laptop, featuring Windows Vista 64-bit and a 160GB hard drive. It costs a whopping $20,000--but considering the cost of your average Bentley, we guess that's something of a bargain. The Bentley laptop should be available later this summer (in the U.K., at least). So you still have time to take out a second mortgage on your home and be the talk of the town.
(Credit:
Western Digital)
While many are marking 2008 as the year of the solid-state hard drive, Western Digital seems to be saying if it doesn't spin, it's crap. The company is reportedly developing a 20,000rpm Raptor drive--double the rotational speed of its current Raptor lineup--to combat the increasing popularity of SSDs.
While a 20,000rpm drive might compete on performance with SSDs and offer greater capacity, it would seem to be moving in the opposite direction when it comes to energy efficiency--another chief benefit of the SSD set. Also, heat and noise concerns grow as the revolutions per minute increase. To the end, Western Digital is said to be working on housing that will not only dissipate the heat output, but also dampen the noise. The drive will reportedly feature the same design as the VelociRaptor--2.5-inch platters inside a 3.5-inch enclosure.
It's too early to say when we might see a 20,000rpm Raptor drive, but I would suggest RATT's Round and Round for use in the marketing efforts. When the going gets tough, the tough get hair metal.
(Credit:
SureFire)
With so many unimaginative dolts apparently working in technology marketing, we all too often see product names that are about as creative as Social Security numbers. But then there are those on the opposite end of the spectrum that are stupefyingly prosaic, as evidenced by the brilliant "Cat Speaker" just hours ago.
This next item falls into the latter category, though at least they didn't called it "The Big Flashlight," and it's actually pleasantly menacing: "The Beast." And that it is, considering it's only a flashlight but weighs 4.5 pounds and is 15.5 inches long. Not only does its name sound like a '50s drive-in movie, but it also looks more like a Transformer appendage than a flashlight.
SureFire has outdone itself this time with more than just cyborgian good looks, making the latest uber-light (technically "The Beast II," for those keeping track) capable of emitting a 2,000-lumen beam--the equivalent of 130 conventional flashlights that run on two D-cell batteries. But the kicker is the price: $7,000, according to Coolest-Gadgets. If that doesn't make it a monstrosity, we don't know what does.
(Credit:
YG Acoustics)
Some insightful readers have gleaned that Crave has, on occasion, shown a weakness for unorthodox or expensive loudspeakers (preferably both).
The latest "Voyager" model from YG Acoustics fits that profile to a tee, with a Star Wars-esque design and a price of $100,000 per pair, not to mention that they tip the scales at a full 200 pounds apiece. But what really attracted us to these cast-aluminum monsters was the description from Audio Junkies: "If the YG Acoustics Voyager loudspeakers appeared in the new Transformers movie, I would expect them to promptly turn into a robot and kick someone's ass." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
This is about as close as we'll ever get to them anyway, as AJ says they're "available only to music and film 'industry leaders.'" And here we were just about to pull out our Visa. Oh well.
(Thanks, Lukas)
Is the HD-A2's sub-$400 price tag sparking sales?
(Credit: Toshiba)Just got an e-mail from the PR firm representing HD DVD, and the North American HD DVD Promotional Group has announced that "sales of dedicated HD DVD consumer electronics players reached more than 100K units sold in the United States, ahead of any other high definition format." I'm not sure why, but that figure doesn't include sales of HD DVD PC drives or the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, which the group says, "are also selling strongly."
I presume that Team HD DVD may not want to compare total HD DVD hardware sales to total Blu-ray hardware sales, which includes sales of PS3 units. But that would be cynical of me. For now let's just applaud the 100K figure, leave it at that, and wait for The Big Lebowski to come out on HD DVD next month. (There was something in the press release about The Complete Matrix Trilogy coming in May from Warner Home Video, but that's not "The One" I'm looking forward to).
Vidikron's flagship Vision Model 150 is now available.
(Credit: Vidikron)We have to give the folks at Vidikron a hard time about the company's announcement that its flagship front projector, the Vision Model 150, is now shipping. Make no mistake, the thing looks awesome. (I think that word was in the press release somewhere.) But what's with the $99,995 pricing for the base model? If I've got that kind of money to spend on a projector, what do I care about 5 bucks? We're not talking about a $999.99 plasma; we're talking about the ultimate projector. So come on, guys, let's go straight to a hundred grand.
For the full specs on this three-chip DLP projector, you can go to Vidikron's Web site. It doesn't cost anything to look.
Everyone likes to know what everyone else is listening to, right? At Download Music we listen to a lot of music each and every day, and so we decided it was about time to get up from our desks, face the cameras (courtesy of our friends at CNET TV), and talk about some of the best songs and albums we've heard lately.
Our new weekly video report has the brilliantly simple title, Best New Music--clever, eh?--and includes photos, video clips, and songs as well as our bright and sunny personas. Give it a whirl, then check Download Music to hip yourself to even more. This week's artists include Bright Eyes, LCD Soundsystem, and Lucinda Williams, as well as an undeniably enjoyable new Earth, Wind & Fire tribute album.
Stop the presses. We mean it this time. Vizio is selling a 42-inch plasma HDTV for under $1,000.
(Credit:
Vizio)
But don't rush out with your riot gear just yet: Electronista says the flat panels will go on sale at that price at Costco for one day only next week, presumably Black Friday.
Vizio will be offering deals on other products as well, but the 42-incher is the headline grabber, the first high-definition TV of its size to break the $1,000 barrier. "A slight upgrade to the existing P42, the VP42 carries over many of the existing features such as 720p/1080i video support, a built-in ATSC tuner for HDTV broadcasts, and HDMI input," Electronista says.
OK, now you can strap on your helmet. If the PS3 competition is any indication of shopping fever this year, you may need it.
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