Archive for the 'Computers' Category

There has been an explosion in the ultra-portable laptop market in the last few years. With our busy schedules, having a computer at all times is a necessity for many. From the consummate traveler to college students, a computer has for the most part replaced pen and paper for many. Naturally, if you plan on taking a computer with you to class daily or traveling, you would want something light and portable. Unless you want a desktop replacement or a gaming laptop, the days of 15 pound laptops are long gone. When it comes to daily use, the lighter the better.

A perfect candidate for those looking for an ultra-portable laptop is the Acer Aspire One Notebook. Weighing in at a shade over 2 pounds, this laptop is ideal for students, travelers, businessmen or anyone who just wants to lighten their load.

Equipped with an 8.9” screen, an Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz Processor, Linpus Linux OS and 802.11b/g Wireless, this tiny laptop has all you need for basic computing.

The computer mouse hasn’t changed all that much since its initial design. Sure, it’s become more ergonomic, extra buttons were added, and the scroll wheel was introduced, but it’s the same basic design. But with computers moving away from desks and into living rooms, that basic design doesn’t make sense for every computer application out there. So, finally, the mouse is getting an overhaul of sorts.

Just take a look at the Logitech MX Ultimate Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse. It’s completely wireless, allowing you to use it while you’re sitting on the couch if your computer is across the room. You don’t need a flat surface for it, either. That’s because it’s motion controlled, allowing you to point around your screen with the wave of your hand. It’s the perfect mouse for home theater PCs and any setup where you aren’t at a desk. It’s the mouse, evolved.

Full sized laptops are portable, sure, but they aren’t so portable that you want to carry them around with you wherever you go. They require a dedicated bag, are pretty heavy and bulky, and are just more than you want to have with you when you’re loading up your backpack or messenger bag. What you need is something smaller, something light enough to bring with you everywhere that doesn’t compromise on features. What you need is the HP KX870AT 2133 Mini-Note PC 8.9 inch Notebook PC.

With an 8.9 inch screen, a 1.6 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and Vista Business loaded on it, it’s a fully fledged computer that just happens to have a slim and light shape. At less than 3 pounds, it’s light enough to bring with you everywhere. And unlike other small notebooks, it has a full Windows operating system and the guts to run all of your standard programs without any hiccups. So go ahead, bring your computer with you wherever you go.

Asus Eee PC notebook has been very successful. It should come as no surprise to anyone. The Eee PC notebook is a full-fledged computer with great portability at bargain basement prices.

Well, Asus has done it again, this time with an ultra portable desktop. Asus recently unveiled the Eee Box. It’s a space saving mini desktop PC. You could easily mount it on the back of your LCD monitor.

The Eee Box comes with a keyboard and mouse, so it’s ready to go right out of the box. The Eee box is ideal for students or anyone who wants a space saving PC.

You can’t just toss your laptop into a bag unprotected, unless it’s a bag designed to cushion and protect your precious cargo. If you already have a bag that you like and want to use that as your laptop bag, you’ll need some extra protection.

If you simply get one of these Case Logic SNS-13 13 inch Student Laptop Shuffle Sleeve, you’ll be able to protect your laptop wherever it is. It’s a sturdy, soft sleeve that fits just about any 13-inch laptop computer, and it’s complete with extra compartments for papers and the like. It’ll allow you to play a little rougher and tumble with your laptop without having to get a dedicated laptop bag for it. Because really, who needs another bag?

Tiny laptops are the biggest thing in computing these days. Well, not the biggest, obviously, but surely the most popular. And with good reason! They’re cheap, super-portable, and powerful enough to do most tasks you’d want out of a laptop.

One of the newer entries in the field is the MSI Microstar Wind U100 10-inch Notebook. Featuring a 10 inch screen, an Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor designed for mobile efficiency, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive and coming loaded with Microsoft Vista Premium, it’s an excellent little computer. And I mean little. It weighs a mere 2.6 pounds and has a footprint smaller than that of a magazine. So if you’re looking for a computer you can take with you everywhere without weighing you down, take a look at the Wind.

If you’re looking to do some drawing on the computer rather than on a piece of paper, you probably find using a mouse or trackpad to be restrictive to the point of making the entire task impossible. After a lifetime of learning to draw using a pen, having to completely relearn the art is not a fun or easy task. So why do it? What you need is a tablet.

Wacom is the first name in tablets, producing some of the best peripherals available. The Wacom Bamboo Fun Small Tablet is the perfect tablet to get you started. It works on both Macs and PCs, and it doubles as a mousepad and a tablet. It lets you draw on your computer just like as if you were using a pen and paper. It comes loaded with a bunch of great multimedia software that’ll get you started, but it works with major software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Why reinvent the wheel? Stick with the pen.

Computers, once relegated to the office, are finally making their way into living rooms as media center PCs. These computers aren’t meant to deal with spreadsheets or things of that nature. Instead, they’re designed to store and play back all of your digital media, from movies to TV shows recorded off the air to your music collection. With almost all our media being stored digitally these days, the day has finally come for PCs in the living room.

That means, however, that we need to upgrade our remote controls. You use a keyboard for your computer in your office, so why not one for your computer in your living room? The Logitech diNovo Mini Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for Home Theater PCs is meant for just that. Wireless and small, it’s designed to sit on your coffee table and not look like an errant piece of office equipment. Instead, it will help you search through shows on your DVR schedule, your movie listings, and your music collection. It’s a peripheral that’s worked wonders for the PC elsewhere for many years, so why not bring it into your living room now as well? It’s time.

Somewhere between laptops and smartphones are ultra-mobile PCs, known to those familiar with them as UMPCs. These hybrid devices contain the power of a small laptop in a smaller design, allowing you to toss it in your bag and carry it around without getting weighed down.

One of the more popular UMPCs is the Samsung NP-Q1U/P01 Q1 Ultra Premium 7″ Ultra Mobile Personal Computer. It’s a legitimate Windows XP computer, featuring a 1.33GHz Intel Pentium processor, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB Hard Drive, wireless internet connectivity, and two webcams (one on the front and one on the back). Rather than a keyboard that folds out like a laptop; it has a keyboard on either side of the screen, letting you type with your thumbs while you hold it. It has a touchscreen, letting you manipulate it that way as well, and it’s nice and light so you can really bring it everywhere. If you want something a little smaller than a laptop but more powerful than a smartphone, this is the device for you.

Sometimes, you just want to toss your computer in your bag and go. But with many laptops, you’ve got a computer that’s too large to really toss in a bag without that bag being specially designed for its carrying. What if you want to toss it in a purse or a backpack? You need a much smaller, more versatile computer. A computer like the Fujitsu FPCM21341 LifeBook U810 Mini-Notebook PC.

The LifeBook U810 is tiny, about the size of a paperback, making it one of the most portable computers around. It has a small 5.6-inch screen that can be flipped around and used as a touchscreen, allowing you to ignore the little keyboard altogether if you’re just doing some thing like surfing the web. It has a thumb nub for a mouse, one that’s positioned so you can hold the computer with two hands and use the mouse with each thumb. It’s certainly a unique little computer, one that takes some getting used to. But if you want portability, it doesn’t get much more portable than this.