Sony has officially unveiled their new range of VAIO CR-Series laptops.
Looking shinier than a shiny button with a highly reflective finish, the laptops look absolutely lovely and come in a range of attractive colours, excitedly christened with marketing department-spawned names like, “Blazing Red”, “Indigo Blue”, “Pure White” and “Luxury Pink”.
Continue reading Sony Goes Super Shiny With Vaio CR Series Laptops
Get ready for a bonkers-ly small Linux machine, called Linutop, as it comes on sale.
For us the cool features of the Linutop are its silent operation, small size (9.3 x 2.7 x 15 cm) and low energy consumption – less than 6 watts.
Linutop comes with xubuntu, a shrunk-down version of the hugely popular Ubuntu Linux, including Firefox providing Web access and Gaim for instant messaging in its build.
Continue reading Linutop: Tiny Linux Computer On Sale
When I travel, I always look for ways to try and reduce the bulk of what I have to carry.
My Apple Mac iBook laptop has a bug where the track pad randomly freezes when it’s plugged into the mains (despite digging I’ve never found an answer as to why, including from Apple), so I’m forced to carry a mouse.
Currently I use a mini optical mouse that I’ve been pretty happy with to date, but that could change having seen the Slim G4 optical mouse that KJ Global is stocking.
Continue reading Slim G4 Optical Mouse – Very Cool
New research has revealed that seven out of ten old folks aren’t down with this new fangled keyboard- compu- interwebby thing, and Age Concern is worried that their lack of PC skills is making them miss out on workplace opportunities.
Age Concern’s figures have been released to tie in with the launch of their UK-wide Digital Inclusion Network which is tasked with “plugging the gap in opportunities” for crumblies and getting them up to speed with Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Continue reading Age Concern Launches Digital Inclusion Network
Taiwanese chipset manufacturer Via Technologies has released a motherboard so teeny-weensy that it could almost fit in a box of playing cards.
Via claims that their VT6047 Pico-ITX form factor motherboard is the smallest fully-featured x86 mainboard in the known universe, and we certainly haven’t seen anything smaller.
Although motherboards may not be the sexiest piece of kit around, creating a board as tiny as this little puppy opens up a world of possibilities for ultra-compact PC systems and appliances.
The Pico-ITX ‘board measures up at just 10cm x 7.2cm, and is around 50 per cent smaller than the previous ‘smallest motherboard’ title holder, the Nano-ITX form factor.
The pint sized motherboard is designed to be powered by one of Via’s energy efficient processor platforms – like the Via C7 or the fan-free Eden processor in the 21mm x 21mm nanoBGA2 package – with the resultant combo delivering a hefty clout into a low heat, low power, ultra-compact package.
“The Pico-ITX represents Via’s commitment to spearhead x86 innovation through our proven technology leadership in driving down the platform size,” purred Richard Brown, vice president of corporate marketing at Via.
“As with the Mini-ITX and Nano-ITX form factors before it, this new platform has raised the excitement level among enthusiasts and customers alike, firing the imagination an almost unlimited range of what were previously impossibly small systems,” he added.
Consumer PCs built around the Pico-ITX form factor motherboard are expected soon.
Apple has also announced the summer release of Final Cut Server, a cross-platform (Mac+PC) piece of software designed to serve the Final Cut’s 800,000+ users, alongside its announcement of Final Cut Studio 2.
We think that given the Mac OS is based on a form of Unix, and Apples dislike for Microsoft, it’s surprising that Apple hasn’t released a Linux-based server.
The software automatically catalogues large collections of assets and lets editors collaborate and share videos with each other, supported by keyword searching of video clips, access controls and workflow templates.
This is an aggressive move by Apple into the area that has until now been dominated by highly specialised video editing packages.
Final Cut Server will cost $999 (£649) for a 10-user license or $1999 (£1,299) for one server and unlimited concurrent users.
It is expected to be released in Summer 2007.
Large pools of envious drool and “gimme! gimme! gimme!” saliva were found dripping around the desks at Digi Lifestyle after Sony’s latest version of the superlight Vaio G1 laptop was spotted on t’web.
Previously released as a featherweight 2.1 pounds laptop sporting a 40/80GB hard drive and 12.1 inch display, Sony have just cranked up the VAIO’s desirability rating to wanton craving with the news of a 32GB Solid State Disk option.
With the hard drive ejected and replaced with super silent, super fast, super durable solid state flash memory, the laptop can now claim to be the world’s lightest 12.1-inch laptop, registering a butterfly-untroubling 1.89-pounds.
Without a hard drove rattling away inside, the standard battery life has been extended by half an hour, giving a very generous 6.5 hours in total. Users investing in the longlife ‘L’ battery can enjoy a battery life that will leave even the Duracell bunny in need of a fag and lie down, with Sony claiming a whopping 12.5 hours of use.
As well as the 1,024×768 pixel (XGA)screen, there’s also an Intel 945GMS Express video card, 2 x USB 2.0 ports, a Type2 PC card slot, memory stick PRO/DUO and SD card/MMC slots, Gigabit Ethernet, modem and voice input/output.
Its dimensions may be small (277 x 215 x 23.5-25.5mm) but the price tag is a bit of a heavyweight beastie, with the base unit starting at around 229,800 Yen – adding up to a hefty $545 premium over the 40GB hard disk option.
Life in Digi-Life towers has become considerably more stressful recently after our Mesh PC started to give out an annoying high pitched whine from one of the PC’s fans.
At first, it was just an occasional background noise that would start just as quickly as it would stop. Then it started to become more regular. And louder. And more irritating.
Put the boot in
We noticed that a highly unscientific boot to the PC’s case (carry out at your own risk) often stopped the noise, but in the past few weeks the fan has become so noisy that we feared we may end up committing GBH on the machine.
With a level of grumbling that would make Mr Grumpy on Tax Return Day seem like a happy chap, we reluctantly pulled open the PC to look for the culprit.
Naturally, the machine decided to switch to ‘absolutely silent’ mode for the first ten minutes, but eventually we tracked down the culprit: the chipset fan on our ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard.
‘No problem,’ we thought, we’ll just pop along to the nearest PC fair and grab a £2 replacement fan and silence will be, once again, truly golden.
Before shelling out for the fan, we thought we’d take a quick look on the Web to see if there were any issues about fitting replacement fans and that’s when the expletive count started to hit Gordon Ramsey levels.
It’s the chipset, Jim
It turns out that our motherboard is not only near legendary for its incessantly whining fan, but worst of all, Asus fitted the mobo (Motherboard) with a stupid, steeenkin’ non-standard fan. Aaargh!
Although we can only admire the near-Klingon-esque sci-fi looks of the Asus fan in question, its proprietary fitting means that you can’t simply slap in an off-the-shelf replacement.
According to some online forums, Asus will apparently send you a free replacement fan once you’ve filled in several forms in triplicate, but we haven’t heard back from them yet (the mobo comes with a three year warranty).
A request for help on the urban75 forums brought forth disturbing tales of folks fitting their own replacement fans, a process which involves the enormous hassle of removing the entire motherboard – not a job for an impatient journo with pressing pub deadlines.
Some had simply botched up a solution, with one user wedging in a standard chipset fan with a zip-tie, while another had manoeuvred a case fan to blow over the chipset at low revs.
Others suggested plumping for a passive cooling solution, employing a Zalman Silent Motherboard Heatsink – a bargain at under £3, but once again requiring the entire PC be taken apart.
We’ll be keeping you informed if Asus honour their free replacement fan offer (we’ve also written to Mesh, the PC makers), but for now you’ll have to excuse us if a few of our posts get a little tetchy as the ruddy thing has started making a whining noise all over again.
In the meantime, may we recommend that users looking to upgrade or build a new PC invest in a motherboard with passive chipset cooling rather than risk suffering the slings and arrows of an outrageous PC racket.
Just like clunky eight track cartridges, brick sized cellphones and desk hogging CRT monitors, the trusty hard disk could be heading for oblivion as Intel announce their first move into the flash drive market.
Yesterday, the electronics big boy elbowed its way onto the Flash Memory table clutching news of their Intel Z-U130 Value Solid-State Drive, offering USB 2.0/1.1 interfaces.
Despite its instantly forgettable name, Intel reckons that the NAND flash memory can whip the spinning botty of hard disk drives and removable USB storage devices, offering nippier boot times, embedded code storage, faster data access, silent operation and lower power consumption.
Although no one’s predicting that flash memory will replace hard disks quite yet (mechanical drives still enjoy a considerable cost advantage at large capacities), Greg Matson, product marketing manager for Intel’s NAND flash memory division reckons they could provide a more reliable and cheaper way of storing information on PCs for emerging markets.
The drives could also be fitted into PCs and servers as a way to speed up the boot process, and thus deprive workers of a good excuse to pop out for a walk, “while the PC’s starting up.”
Intel is currently keeping schtum about the pricing for their Z-U130 Value Solid-State Drives (it doesn’t get any more memorable the second time around, does it?) but the capacities will vary from 1GB to 8GB, with 8GB drive not expected to emerge until the end of the year.
Intel’s Green Xeon Processors
Elsewhere, Intel were giving their Eco-Trumpets an extra long parp with the announcement of two new Quad-Core Xeon processors – the L5320 and L5310.
Intel claims that these offer between a 35 and 60 percent reduction in power consumption on low-power, quad-core processors designed for high end users like data centres, blade servers and financial industries.
“Intel has really responded to the industry’s call to deliver unprecedented breakthroughs for datacenter energy efficiency,” frothed Kirk Skaugen, VP of Intel Digital Enterprise Group and GM of the Server Platform Group.
“IT managers can get outstanding quad-core Intel Xeon server performance today and at no premium to dual-core products,” he added.
After one battle too many with our ever-flaky Epson printer (see: My Printer Hell), we elected to get ourselves a cheap laser printer for knocking out black and white documents (and those annoying PDF manuals that now keep coming with new products).
The printer was a cinch to set up, and for a laser it’s a compact jobbie too, measuring a reasonably modest 14″ x12″ x10″ (378 x 299 x 227 ) – perfect as a desktop printer for the home/small office.
The Samsung ML 2510 hooks up to the PC via USB, although Samsung have also included a parallel port for users still trundling on with steam-powered desktops (but there’s no Ethernet port for networking, unfortunately.)
We were certainly impressed with both the Samsung’s print quality and speed. Text came out every bit as crisp as you’d expect from a laser and our test prints managed to just surpass Samsung’s claimed 24 pages per minute, peaking at an impressive 26ppm.
Capable of 1200 x 600 dpi output, the ML-2510 handled text cleanly and crisply, although – as with most lasers – photos weren’t too hot.
The printer tray at the bottom stores a useful 250 sheets, so you can let it get on with big jobs unattended, with the printer fairly quiet in operation.
With just a combined toner and drum to replace, maintenance is something of a no-brainer task, taking less than a minute.
Replacement toner cartridges can be picked up for fifty quid or so and should be good for around 3,000 pages; working out at around 1.6p per page (not including the paper).
It’s worth noting that although the ML-2510 comes with a free cartridge, it’s a bit of a cut-down number and can only handle 1,000 pages.
Still, that’s really nitpicking when you consider that you can pick up this fast, cheap-to-run and excellent printer for around £70. As cheap as cut-price chips!
Our verdict
Features: 82%
Ease of Use: 87%
Build Quality: 88%
Overall: 87%
SPECIFICATIONS:
Monochrome laser printer
Format A4, 76 x 127 mm, Legal (216 x 356 mm)
Paper Classic paper, Transparencies, Labels, Cards, Envelopes
Resolution 1200 x 600 dpi
Speed Up to 24 pages per minute
Computer Interface Compatible USB 2.0
Optional Exthernal Ethernet box
Compatible Platforms Windows 95/98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP/2003 Server,
Divers Linux including Red Hat 8~9, Fedora Core 1~3, Mandrake 9.2~10.1 et SuSE 8.2~9.2,
Mac OS 10.3
Cartridges Monobloc toner catridge
Dimensions (mm) 378 x 299 x 227
Weight (Kg) 5
Other 1st page printing time: 8.5 s
Sound level: printing 50 dB /35 dB on standby
Max monthly prints: up to 10 000 pages/month
Integrated memory: 8 Mb
