Laptop Buying Guide

new designer netbook from Asus

I got a chance to spend a few minutes with the new designer netbook from Asus . The Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid Edition is pretty much a standard Pine Trail netbook for the most part, but it’s one of the first designer edition netbooks I’ve seen that has a pattern that not only incorporates the lid and keyboard area, but also the base of the computer.

And eagle-eyed Joanna Stern from Engadget noticed something that I missed: The designer edition has a removable 3 cell asus A31-S5 batterytery. Up until now, all Asus Eee PC 1008-series netbooks had built in batteries that could not easily be removed by users, which makes the batteries a pain to upgrade or replace.

You can check out a video of the new battery at Engadget. And there are more shots from the news conference as well as some promotional shots after the break.

 

Dell Tech Peeps Through Woman’s PC via Webcam

Here's a good reason why you shouldn't be sitting naked behind the LCD display.

Last week, a Texas NBC affiliate reported that a Dell laptop battery technician remotely turned on a woman's webcam via the Internet without her permission. The woman, Dianna Annunziato of North Richland Hills, originally called Dell Computer's customer support line after 9:30 pm because her new PC was having issues and was still under warranty. However, the online service call came to an abrupt halt.

"First, the technician started asking me what time of day it was," she told the Dallas-Forth Worth NBC affiliate. She then said that the technician activated the webcam a moment later—she could see herself peering back from a little box on the LCD monitor. She added that the technician did not ask for permission before activating the device.

Infuriated, Annunziato asked for a supervisor. Rather than receiving a sympathetic apology, she instead received laughter after explaining that she could have been sitting in her seat undressed when the device was activated. Shocked by the reaction, she decided to take matters to a higher level.

"We apologize for the issue and appreciate the customer bringing this matter to our attention," the company said in a statement. "An investigation is currently under way, and the company will administer appropriate action when complete PA3191U-3BRS."

As of currently, the NBC report is a bit sketchy on details. Did Annuziato accidentally hit a webcam/media button on her laptop? How was Dell able to access her computer through when she called by phone? Did her Dell come with remote access software designed for Dell technicians already in place? Why didn't Annunziato ask the tech what was going on? She didn't seem to mention if she even asked "did you just turn on my webcam?"

While Dell does offer remote access tech support, this could be a case of someone with an aim to extort some form of payment out of Dell.

First Impressions of the New Apple iPad

It’s about the software, stupid. While all sorts of commentators were focusing on how much Apple’s new $499 iPad tablet computer looks like an oversized iPhone, the key to whether it can be the first multi-function tablet to win wide public acceptance probably lies in whether consumers perceive it as a suitable replacement for a laptop in key scenarios. And that, in my view, depends heavily on the software and services that flow through its handsome little body laptop battery.

I have only spent a short time hands-on with the iPad–too short to fully run it through its paces and formally review it yet. But, after attending the rollout of the new device today, and trying out some of its features for myself, I have some first impressions.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs positioned the iPad as belonging to a new category of device between the smartphone and the laptop (since the netbook, in his view and mine, is really just a small, cheap laptop). But, as the demos unfolded, I kept thinking it was more like a hybrid of the two.

It uses the iPhone’s basic user interface and physical design. But, taking advantage of a 9.7″ screen and a fast Apple-designed processor, the iPad adds some user interface elements and functionality that aren’t available–or at least typical–on smart phones, but look more like computer software. For instance, its photo program works more like iPhoto on a Mac than the photo app on an iPhone, and it will be available with a touch version of Apple’s iWork productivity suite, which is Apple’s take on Microsoft Office. This is a much more powerful program than the phone-based office suites for the iPhone or BlackBerry, and Apple A1078，A1079(AAPL) is only charging $30 for it.

Also, Apple has rewritten most of the core iPhone apps so they look more like, and have more of the features of, Mac or PC programs. But they aren’t mere clones of full computer apps. For instance, many forego standard menus for clever overlays and sidebars that work more naturally with the iPad’s multi-touch interface. Other app developers can do this, too. But, even if they don’t, the company said the iPad will run most of the current 140,000 iPhone apps, either in a small window on the screen, or in a full-screen mode. That’s a huge plus for a new device.

Mr. Jobs said after the onstage program ended that he sees the iPad’s user interface as a fuller expression of the one on the iPhone, which had been limited by screen real estate.

And, although the reported video and music streaming services were nowhere to be seen at this preview, Mr. Jobs did offer a taste of how the iPad could deliver content, beyond simply downloads from the iTunes store. He showed off a new e-book reader app with built-in online book store that, visually at least, blew away the Amazon Kindle, even if it seemed to lack all of the Kindle’s features and may have a smaller catalog. Representatives of the New York Times showed an iPad digital version of their newspaper that seemed vastly more usable than the clumsy version now on the Kindle and its ilk.

So, the iPad is more than just a giant iPod Touch or iPhone, even though it looks like one. But the question is, will that be enough to get consumers to shell out for it, and make it part of their daily lives? Or will it be a niche product, like Microsoft’s Tablet PC or Mr. Jobs’ own Apple TV?

On the plus side, the device is handsome, feels comfortable and solid to hold, and has all that beautiful software built in. Oh, and it’s amazingly low-priced for an Apple product, with that modest $499 price tag for a base version with 16 gigabytes of memory and Wi-Fi, but no cell phone data connectivity. (A fully loaded model with 64 gigabytes, Wi-Fi and a no-contract 3G cellular data plan is $829, and there are variations in between.)

It also boasts a decent 10 hours of A1185，A1189，M8403 battery life, and Mr, Jobs told me after the event that, for some functions, like playing video and music, the battery should last even longer.

But there are minuses. First, since it’s too big to go in a pocket, people might perceive it as just another thing to carry around, despite the fact that it’s only a half inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds. It also lacks a common and popular laptop feature–a web cam. So, it can’t be used for video chats or for the creation of web videos.

Also, the carrier for the iPad’s 3G plan is the deeply unpopular AT&T–there were groans and boos among Mr. Jobs’ otherwise excited audience when this was announced. AT&T is offering bargain prices for iPad data service compared to what it charges laptop owners. But its network is overwhelmed in many big cities and many iPhone lovers, who are strong candidates to buy an iPad, curse the carrier daily.

Finally, while it’s too early for me to say without lots of testing, the size of the iPad’s virtual keyboard may be a liability. I found it almost too wide for thumb typing, and a colleague who’s a whiz at touch typing and tried it briefly found it awkward to type on. Apple is offering an auxiliary physical keyboard that docks with, and charges, the iPad. But you won’t want to lug that around.

Still, the software looked impressive, and that could help Steve Jobs do the one thing even he has never done in an amazing career: get the public to love not just a better version of an existing type of gadget, but a whole new category of gadget.

Leaked HP, Toshiba ‘Core i3′ laptops not pricey

Thought that the newest laptop PA3191U-1BAS technology is always priced at a premium? Think again. Due in the next few weeks from Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Gateway and a host of other PC makers, some of the first laptops using Intel's new Core i3 processor will be priced as low as $700.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, which starts January 7, PC makers will debut laptops using Intel's freshly minted Core i3 processor, as was previously reported. Core i series processors are based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture. In 2010, the chipmaker will move most of its processor lines from the current Core 2 technology to the Core i design.

Core i3-based laptops PA3191U-1BRS are, in a word, cheap. Cheap in the context that these are systems using a brand new processor based on a new Intel microarchitecture--in the past, this kind of technology has commanded a steep premium. A system from HP now posted on online retailer eCost is priced at $865. And a Gateway laptop listed on Canadian retailer Future Shop is priced at $730 Canadian dollars or about $694 U.S. dollars.

And add a Toshiba system to the mix (priced at $799 Canadian dollars or about $763 U.S. dollars). The Toshiba Satellite (PSLS6C-00F005) packs the same Core i3 processor but uses a 16-inch screen, according to a posting on Future Shop.

HP Core i3-based Pavilion laptop (WA786UA#ABA) as listed by eCost:
Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330m

Display: 15.6" LED

Memory: 4096MB DDR3

Hard disk drive: 320GB 7200rpm

Optical drive: DVDRW

Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Video card: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator HD

Price listed by eCost: $864.99
The $694 Gateway system has the same screen size (listed with a 1600 x 900 native resolution) and memory configuration as the HP laptop but ups the ante with a 500GB hard disk drive and, most interestingly, uses an as-yet-unannounced ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics chip instead of Intel's graphics silicon.

Product specifications aside, one of the most anticipated laptop technologies at CES this year is Arrandale, the codename for Intel Core i series mobile processors targeted at the mainstream laptop market. The Arrandale-based Core i3 is the first mainstream Intel laptop processor to combine two processor cores and a graphics function together in one chip package (previously, the graphics chip was in a separate chipset), resulting in better overall power efficiency.

And the new built-in graphics technology will offer better PA3191U-2BRS graphics performance than current technology, according to Intel. The chipmaker will try in earnest to prove this at CES with plenty of demos showing off Arrandale's graphics prowess. (Though not all PC makers are convinced that Intel's new graphics technology is the way to go, as evidenced by Gateway's decision to use a discrete ATI graphics processor from Advanced Micro Devices).

One thing worth noting is that the Core i3 won't have Turbo Boost technology, which speeds up and slows down individual cores to meet processing and power-efficiency needs, respectively. This will only be offered in higher-end Core i5 and i7 processors--including Arrandale i5 models. However, the Core i3 will have Hyper-Threading, which can double the number of tasks--or threads--a processor can execute. This is not offered in current Core 2 chips.

What you get (pros) and don't get (cons) with the Intel Core i3 mobile processor:
Pro: graphics built directly into the CPU, which means better overall power efficiency

Pro: improved graphics performance over current Intel 4500MHD graphics silicon

Pro: Hyper-Threading

Pro: Intel's newest 32-nanometer chip technology

Con: no Intel Turbo Boost

Con: not four cores, only two

Con: relatively small cache memory size

Apple Tablet Rumors Stirring Strong Wave of Demand

A January ChangeWave survey of consumer PC buying trends showed the 'iSlate' – Apple's (AAPL) highly rumored but yet to be announced Tablet Mac – is causing a major wave of demand among consumers, with repercussions that are already affecting the PC industry and related laptop battery markets.

The survey also shows a surge in computer purchases over the past 90 days, driven in large part by Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows 7 momentum.

Past 90 Days. A total of 15% of the 3,314 respondents in our January survey bought a laptop in the past 90 days and 8% a desktop – the highest combined level of the past two years.

But going forward, the rumored upcoming launch of an Apple 'iSlate' Tablet is already having a powerful impact on PC PA3176U-1BRS demand.

The 'iSlate' is expected to be a mobile multimedia and web browsing device costing between $500-700, according to most analysts, who also believe it will be available as early as March 2010. Expected features include a 10-inch touch screen display, an innovative 3D user interface, virtual keyboard, WiFi and full integration with iTunes and Apple's App store.

Apple's confirmed January 27th event to introduce its "latest creation" has heightened media speculation. To gauge the potential for the Tablet Mac, we asked respondents how likely it is they'll buy an 'iSlate' if-and-when it becomes available.

The survey results show strong consumer interest – with 4% of respondents saying they are Very Likely and 14% Somewhat Likely to buy one for themselves or someone else.

Among interested consumers, three-quarters say they're willing to pay $500 or more for the new 'iSlate,' and 37% say they'd pay more than $700. But how does this level of interest stack up against previous Apple product transformations that were launched after a prolonged and powerful media buzz?

While there are no exact comparisons, one way to gauge the level of interest in a Tablet Mac is to compare it to the reaction in 2005 when Apple announced it would begin producing its Macs using the Intel (INTC) chip.

In an August 2005 ChangeWave survey we asked consumers if Apple's switch to the Intel chip made them more likely to buy an Apple computer in the future, less likely, or would it have no effect?

The results were strikingly similar to our current findings for the 'iSlate'. Here is a comparison of the pre-launch demand findings for each:

In the current survey, the exact same percentages say they're likely to buy the Apple 'iSlate' as we found when we surveyed consumer reaction to Apple's switch to the Intel chip back in 2005.

Bottom Line. Apple's switch to the Intel chip widely broadened the Mac's appeal to consumers and proved to be one of the great moves in Apple PA3178U-1BRS  history. Five years later, our ChangeWave survey shows similarly high levels of pre-launch excitement for the Mac Tablet.

While this, in and of itself, doesn't guarantee success – and the product has yet to prove it'll live up to super-high consumer expectations – it does show the enormity of the Mac Tablet's potential to alter the dynamics of the PC market and related markets (e.g., e-reader/ e-book market). But the real impact won't be fully determined until consumers get to see it, feel it, test it and decide if the 'iSlate' is all it's chalked up to be.

In short, while historically Apple products have had an enviable track record in terms of exceeding consumer expectations, until consumers get their hands on the 'iSlate' – in spite of the powerful pre-launch demand – it's important to remember the product doesn't officially exist yet.

Regardless, the unrelenting media frenzy has jolted the 'iSlate' into the spotlight, and it is already having an impact on PC demand trends and related markets.

PC Manufacturers

As mentioned, PC sales for the past 90 days have been absolutely stellar, up 31% between our October 2009 and January 2010 surveys.

The rising tide has lifted all boats, although going forward our survey shows the normally expected post-holiday dip in consumer planned PC buying – with planned buying of laptops (8%) down 2-pts and desktops (5%) down 2-pts.

Focusing on the traditional PC market, the surge in sales of the Windows 7 Operating System has been clearly helping both Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL).

Hewlett-Packard Sales – Past 90 Days: Hewlett-Packard has experienced a 4-pt jump in laptop market share (29%) since October, although its desktop share (27%) has remained unchanged. Note that approximately 70% of H-P's sales come from outside the U.S., whereas our ChangeWave surveys focus primarily on the U.S. PA3191U-1BAS market.

Dell Sales – Past 90 Days: A total of 29% of respondents who bought a computer over the past 90 days say they purchased a Dell desktop – 5-pts higher than in October. Another 18% say they got a Dell laptop – a 1-pt uptick.

Apple Sales – Past 90 Days: After experiencing a huge surge in laptop sales during September and October due to multiple factors – including updates to its laptop line and a strong Back-to-School season – Apple's laptop share (17%) was 7-pts less over the past 90 days. However, its Mac desktop share (20%) was up 3-pts.

Importantly, overall PC sales for the past 90 days have experienced a huge 31% rise, primarily due to the Windows 7 effect and the improved consumer spending environment. It's understandable, therefore, that Apple's laptop share was lower this survey relative to its traditional competitors who have greatly benefited from the Windows 7 upgrade.

The X Factor. Overall, we expect Apple to report solid Mac sales for the holidays. However, the survey results also suggest that an X factor may be coming into play – and that some potential Mac laptop buyers may have already begun delaying their purchases short term in order to wait for the 'iSlate' release before they make their final decision.

Back in our August 2005 ChangeWave survey, 37% of potential Mac buyers said they would delay their purchases short term to wait for the new Intel chip.

Skipping to the present, while nowhere near that number of Mac laptop buyers are delaying their decision because of the 'iSlate' media hullabaloo, our data suggests it is already causing some customers to hold off on an immediate Mac purchase.

This trend may also help explain Apple's enormous secrecy to date regarding the Mac Tablet.

No one can say for sure, but the fact that they haven't confirmed the product even exists yet suggests there are good reasons why they've kept mum – and undoubtedly among them is to keep planned Mac buyers from delaying their purchases to wait for the 'iSlate' release.

If and when the 'iSlate' becomes available, however, our survey suggests Apple purchases will surge. And we note that planned Apple computer purchases for the next 90 days are already up 2-pts each for both laptops and desktops in our January survey.

We will take another look at consumer demand for the Mac Tablet – along with a close-up look at its impact on Amazon and the e-reader/ e-book PA3191U-1BRS,PA3191U-2BRS market – in a follow-up survey the week immediately following Apple's January 27th announcement.

Number One In Customer Satisfaction. Regardless of the 'iSlate', Apple's number one ace in the hole remains its extraordinary customer satisfaction rating for its Mac computers. As the following chart shows, Apple Macs continue to receive the highest Very Satisfied rating in the industry.

IBM Power7 hot topic at Hot Chips conference

The Hot Chips conference in Palo Alto, Calif this week is focusing on high-end chips for servers and scientific computers, with IBM's ThinkPad R50 battery upcoming Power7 as a standout.

On Tuesday, IBM will give a presentation on its next-generation server chip, the Power7. IBM documentation describes the chip as having up to eight cores. A dual-chip module holds two processors for a total of 16 cores, according to IBM.

Each core has a rated performance of 32 gigaflops, providing 256 gigaflops per processor--one of the fastest chips to date based on this scientific-centric performance benchmark.

Power7 will be used in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications "Blue Waters" supercomputer, the first system of its kind to sustain one petaflop performance on a range of science and engineering applications, according to the NCSA. A petaflop is one quadrillion floating point operations per second ThinkPad R50e battery.

Power7 "will be the first of a powerful new system design from IBM. The design includes extensive research and development in new chip technology, interconnect technology, operating systems, compiler, and programming environments," according to the NCSA.

Other chips to be described at the conference include the Sparc64 VIIIfx: Fujitsu's new 8-core processor for Peta scale computing. Sun will discuss its "next-generation multi-threaded processor Rainbow Falls" and AMD will spell out its Magny Cours processor, 12-core chip.

Intel will present a paper on its upcoming Nehalem server processor.

Intel will also discuss Moorestown, an upcoming version of the Atom processor targeted at mobile Internet devices and smartphones. Intel will also give a presentation entitled "Understanding the Intel Next Generation Microarchitectures (Nehalem and Westmere) transitioning into the Mainstream ThinkPad R51 battery."

Apple may yet again play the role of market maker

A few months ago, you had no desire for a tablet computer. The laptop battery market, after all, has hyped tablets for years, to little effect.

Now, with Apple expected to launch its tablet, you've mortgaged your house so you can buy one. Analysts are projecting that we'll buy tens of millions of such tablets this year.

Why?

Because Apple has blessed the category as "cool."

Sure, Apple gets it wrong sometimes. How many Apple TVs do you own? "Zero" is the correct answer. But on balance, we're willing to bet Apple will get a  3R305,Inspiron 2500 battery product right.

It's therefore ironic that Apple tends not to enjoy the fruits of being a market maker--not as much as its rivals do, anyway.

For example, Microsoft has built a massive profit machine on the personal computer, a market that Apple created with its groundbreaking Apple II back in 1977. But it was Microsoft, not Apple, that has been breaking ground on new facilities to accommodate its dominance in the market ever since.

Recent history suggests that Apple may be turning the corner, given its success in both introducing and monetizing the iPod and iPhone. The company may not fare as well in the tablet market, though.

Why? It's a matter of price. Apple succeeds in the mass market only at lower price points, and it's generally not willing to drop prices to get there. The iPod was priced at a premium to competing music players, but the cost was still within the budget of tens of millions of people.

The same is true of the iPhone, thanks to subsidies from a wireless carrier. Take away those subsidies, and Apple's market share in smartphones would be much, much smaller than it is today.

With a projected price tag of $1,000, Apple's Inspiron 3700 battery tablet is not going to fit those same budgets. It will be a luxury item, not a necessity.

But that's OK. Apple is a premium brand. It doesn't seem to want to be anything more (or less).

It could be that low-cost applications will make the hefty price tag seem skinny, but I doubt it. Not until the cost drops to $500 or so will Apple's tablet hit the mainstream. And by that time, Sony, Samsung, Dell, and others will undoubtedly have competing products in the market.

Dell and Samsung, in particular, could give Apple grief. Both have traditionally been known for offering "cheap and good-enough" products. Samsung, however, has been moving upmarket: my new high-definition LCD TV is Samsung, and the reason is quality, not cost.

Dell, for its part, is learning that design sells, as evidenced by its sleek Z series laptop line.

If any of these mass-market vendors cracks the code on cool at a compelling price, Apple may yet again play the role of market maker...but not market beneficiary--not at the scale that its innovations deserve, anyway.

Apple is a mass-market luxury company. Its Inspiron 3800 battery tablet is going to fly off the shelves as price-insensitive early adopters buy into its hype. But the mainstream market, which values design but must also pinch pennies, is simply not going to buy into a $1,000 luxury item. It can't.

Apple announces its new tablet computer next week

The first computer I ever bought for myself was an Apple laptop battery Macintosh Color Classic. It was cute and anthropomorphic, so I named it "Banana Jr." after Oliver Wendell Jones' computer in Bloom County. I even replaced the hard drive icon with a little .gif of the walking, talking PC from the comic strip.

A few years later I bought myself a PowerBook 150. I called it Deep Thought. Soon after, I upgraded to a PowerBook G3, one of the cool ones in the Wallstreet Series. I called it HAL, set the desktop image to a screenshot of HAL 9000's iconic red eye, and installed system sounds so it would speak in the psychotic AI's voice. ("I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that" is a pretty awesome error message, at least the first hundred times you hear it.)

I've owned a number of machines since then, and continued to name them all after fictional computers. At present, I own three computers; a Toshiba Satellite notebook Latitude D810 battery ("Bender"), an Acer Aspire One netbook ("Holly"), and a mammoth Dell XPS desktop gaming rig ("Joshua," after the artificial intelligence in War Games.)

I also have a name for my work PC, but it does not follow the existing pattern, and I would get in no small amount of trouble if I printed such an impolite word anywhere under a Forbes masthead.

That small departure aside, my computer naming convention holds strong. And when Apple announces its new tablet computer next week, I will probably buy one Latitude D820 battery, and name it The Guide. I will place it in a case, and I will inscribe the words "Don't Panic" in large friendly letters on its cover.

All of this leads to the question: Do you have a naming convention for your computers? What is it? And what's the name of your current PC?

HP and Tam collaborated again to create the new look in digital clutch chic

Fusing the worlds of fashion and technology, HP laptop battery today announced with Intel a product integration with Lifetime Television’s hit show “Project Runway” that makes HP’s touch-enabled PCs and notebooks an integral part of the creative process throughout the show’s new season.

Contestants will, for the first time in the history of the series, have the option to use computers to sketch designs and inspire their work. “Project Runway” season seven will premiere Jan. 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime.

“Technology is what’s next in fashion design. Forward-thinking designers are exploring new ways to use  technology in the design process,” said Barbara Schneeweiss, vice president of Production and Development for TV and Feature Film at The Weinstein Company.

“We are excited about HP’s new technology and think it will add a great new element to this season of Project Runway,” said JoAnn Alfano, executive vice president of Entertainment at Lifetime Networks.

Throughout Project Runway’s seventh season, viewers can expect to see some designers trade in traditional sketchpads and pens for HP PCs with Intel® processors that give them greater freedom to experiment with design mock-ups for each challenge.

HP has been at the forefront of fusing fashion and technology since unveiling the HP Mini Vivienne Tam “digital clutch“ notebook on the catwalk of Tam’s 2008 fashion show at New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park. Models walked down the runway with the peony-adorned Minis at hand, a first on an American runway.

Last September, HP and Tam collaborated again to create the new look in digital clutch chic. The design reflects Tam’s Spring 2010 collection, inspired by the classic Chinese love story, “Butterfly Lovers,” a beautiful tale of freedom, romance and inspiration. The Butterfly Lovers digital clutch is expected to be available this spring with the rest of Tam’s collection.