- +
Life on the EEEdge: Daily life with Asus' tiny laptop 04 January, 2008 07:15:21
6 annoying things (and 3 great ones) about Asus' ultraportableLike many gearheads, I've owned a lot of portable computers over the years -- and I've wanted to replace every last one with a smaller, sleeker upgrade, from the "luggable" Apple IIc onward. But most of those upgrades have left me disappointed: with the lack of software; with cheap, hard-to-use interfaces; and with "optional" add-ons that were in fact very much necessary to make the machine useful. - +
Are we there yet? 05 December, 2007 13:53:33
Smaller, lighter and faster has long been the mantra from notebook vendors everywhere - but how much further do we need to go? - +
FAQ: Everything you need to know about the MacBook Air 17 January, 2008 11:30:17
What do you get, and give up, if you buy Apple's latest laptop?When Apple's CEO Steve Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of an interoffice memo envelope -- nice touch, that -- the crowd at Macworld Conference & Expo oohed and aahed. And applauded. And some even did your basic shout-out. - +
Review: Sony's flash-based notebook -- a road warrior's dream 28 November, 2007 10:41:05
What's notable about this almost-weightless workhorse is that there's no traditional platter-spinning 2.5-in. hard driveSony Electronics' Vaio TZ191N notebook proves that good things do come in small packages. Inside the black carbon-fiber case is an Intel Centrino Duo processor (a 945GMS chip running at 1.2 GHz) with a bus speed of 533 MHz, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM and a double-layer DVD writer. The 11.1-in. WXGA active-matrix TFT color LCD screen (1,366 by 768 resolution) is amazingly sharp and drew oohs and ahhs from colleagues. In terms of size and weight, it's a road warrior's dream: It measures 10.9 in. wide by 7.8 in. deep by 1 in. high and weighs in at a mere 2 lb. 10 oz. (with battery) or 3 lb. 6 oz. (if you throw the power cord into your travel bag). - +
Solid state drives 03 December, 2007 07:50:30
Coming to a data center near youFor laptop owners, flash-memory drives boost battery life and performance while making notebooks lighter and more bearable for frequent business travelers. In the data center, benefits include higher reliability than their magnetic counterparts, lower cooling requirements and better performance for applications that require random access such as e-mail servers.
Click here for case studies, whitepapers and other useful vendor content Newsletter Subscription
Sony has introduced a flash memory-based Vaio notebook that, compared to a hard-drive model, costs US$700 extra and delivers 68GB less storage.
The TZ18GN is a small notebook, weighing in at 1.15kg with an 11.1-inch display. It has a 32GB flash memory-based storage area and is driven by a low-energy 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor with 1GB of main memory. Its battery life is about 5 percent better than its cheaper hard-drive based sibling.
Sony says that the benefits of its flash memory over its hard drive-based cousin, the TZ17GN, include a faster boot time, lower weight, longer battery life and extended durability through having no hard drive which could fail.
However, the extended battery life is 11.5 hours, only thirty minutes more than the TZ17GN with its 100GB hard drive. This weighs approximately the same (1.2kg), uses the same keyboard and case, and has an eleven-hour battery life. It also costs about US$3,600, US$700 less than the TZ18GN, which is priced at US$4,299.
The battery life is the longest that can be expected. The actual life can be very much less. If you play a couple of DVDs on a long flight you'll probably exhaust it.
This flash Sony notebook has been given a low-power CPU to extend battery life, but the extension doesn't amount to much. The limited 32GB of storage says that owners with average data storage needs will quickly buy an external disk, thus nullifying its low weight.
AlienWare is offering a 64GB flash storage capacity notebook. You can specify a single 32GB solid state disk (SSD) unit with a 200GB hard drive, thus getting the flash speed boost and a respectable amount of storage capacity. It won't be as light as the Sony unit though.
ARN Member Login
ARN Panel Sessions: Day 3The last of our panel sessions recorded live at CeBIT 2008. Today, the topic is storage. Data is growing at an enormous rate, so what does the future hold?
IFA: LG's newest TV includes BluetoothBluetooth will be installed in models in LG's PG7000-series plasma sets and LG7000-series LCD sets, which are due on sale across Europe before the end of September.
Brian's bloopersIt takes a long time to produce an episode of Channel Watch. Maybe you'll understand why after watching this...
When an IT disaster occurs, how handy it would be to push a button and start again as if nothing had happened.
Discover and learn more about CA XOSoft today.
Tumbleweed appoints O2 Networks to its Australian Channel Partner Program 29 August, 2008 12:31:00
HP ProCurve Brings Big Business Gigabit Switching Features to Small Businesses 29 August, 2008 12:00:00
GlobalConnect Provides Treatment for Healthcare Provider’s Contact Support Requirements 29 August, 2008 09:59:00
Sybase and Logica Partner To Mobilise The Supply Chain 29 August, 2008 09:47:00
New global landscape for qualitative researchers with Spanish and Chinese software releases 29 August, 2008 09:34:00
NAB works with Avanade® to leverage Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 for its branch offices
In 2007, Avanade helped the National Australia Bank use Windows Server 2008 to simplify deployment, maximise the efficiency of their low-bandwidth wide area network and consolidate its IT infrastructure.
Subscribe to ARN
