The IdeaPad Y450

Did you think it was impossible to find an reasonably inexpensive, big screened laptop with a full size keyboard and loads of multimedia features? Well, Lenovo has changed that train of thought with their IdeaPad Y450.

The IdeaPad Y450 has a different look than any previous laptop. It sports a black cover like many other laptops on the market, except for the fact that the cover is not the traditional glossed-over top but instead a textured honeycomb pattern that gives the lid a coarse, grainy feel. This will certainly assist in promoting less fingerprints and smudges on the laptop’s cover. The edges of the lid are trimmed in a copper tone, while the inside is a stark white. This all unites to produce a stylish, modern looking laptop.

The Y450 measures 13.4 x 9.2 x1.4 inches (HWD) and weighs about 5 pounds. It features a 14-inch widescreen with 1,366 x 768 resolution. It also includes three USB ports, FireWire, Ethernet, a built-in webcam, and excellent speakers. Added bonuses not normally included in laptops in the Y450’s price range are the DVD burner, eSATA, and HDMI-out ports. Another important fact to consider is the Y450’s 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor.

This impressive, budget-friendly laptop can be purchased in retail stores for around $599. Yes, there are plenty of other thinner and lighter laptops on the market, but they will dig a lot deeper into your pocket. The IdeaPad Y450 has excellent features, a slick design, and a heart-warming price tag. I think this is certainly a laptop that can satisfy most average people laptop needs.

The New Acer Aspire One

The new Acer Aspire One is now thinner and lighter than any previous Acer netbook. Acer managed to eliminate a sizeable amount of plastic within their best-selling netbook design to allow for these qualities, while still maintaining their reasonable price point.

Netbook design is not really one of Acer’s strengths. Although the plastic-topped Aspire One does not win any beauty pageants, there are many qualities that make up for the netbook’s lack of style. The Aspire One beats most comparable netbooks with its mere 0.8-inch thickness. This makes it thinner than the Samsung N120, the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the ASUS EeePC 1008HA (Seashell), and the HP Mini 1000. The new Acer netbook is now also lighter. With the three-cell battery, it only weighs 2.4 pounds.

Considering other aspects, the Aspire One retains the standard 10-inch screen, 1,024 x 600 resolution, and customary keyboard. The 89 percent keyboard is certainly a feature that Acer needs to attend to. Acer was able to include mutitouch capabilities into the Aspire One, but with the limited space you have to work with performing such actions can be difficult at times.

The Aspire One features three USB ports, VGA-out, an Ethernet port, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11 g WiFi, and a 4-in-1 card reader. It also has a 160GB hard drive, which is the same or better than all other netbooks currently on the market. The Aspire One contains a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB of memory, and Intel integrated graphics.

Even with the new updates found in the Acer Aspire One, Acer has managed to retain its affordable price. The Aspire One is the most reasonably priced netbook to be found at about $300, which is the reason why the previous Acer model was the best-selling netbook available. The Aspire One is lighter, thinner, and cheaper than most other netbooks out there. If you’re looking for an inexpensive netbook, this is definitely one to check out.

MSI X-Slim X320 13-inch Notebook

The MSI X-Slim X320 is the worlds thinnest and lightest 13-inch notebook on the market right now. The X320 should not be mistaken for a low quality netbook. The latest X320 model comes with a 250GB Hard Drive and 2GB DDR2 RAM. Some low notes though is it comes with a Intel Atom 1.6GHz Processor that will be sure to bottle neck the notebooks performance. It also only comes with a 4 cell battery, but with such a barebones laptop you could probably expect the battery to be more than suitable.

The real selling point for the MSI X-Slim X320 is its size, weight and low cost. The laptop is 6mm at its thinnest and 20mm at its thickest. Also with the low weight of 2.8 pounds you should never have to worry about the hassle of carrying around your laptop. The price really makes it a great buy. Coming in at only $599 right now on sites like newegg.com you can expect this to be a hot seller.

The 13″ 16:9 glare type display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and uses LED backlight.

The MSI X320 also comes with a 1.3MP web camera, speakers, wifi, Bluetooth, an ethernet port, thre USB ports, card reader, and a VGA port. One feature that is a real disappointment is the MSI X320 lacks an optical drive to read cd’s and dvd’s. This is no doubt due to its extremely thin design, but it seems like an almost necessity to have in a laptop for watching movies, installing programs, and ripping music. Overall a great ultra thin and light notebook that lacks some features, but makes up for it with the price point of only $599.

The New Revolutionized MacBook

The new and improved MacBook is certainly one of the sleekest most well designed notebooks I have ever seen. It has revolutionized the way notebooks are designed with its seamless covering made from a single sheet of aluminum. This allows for a remarkably noticeable difference in the weight and size of the laptop. The whole enclosure is lighter and thinner than the previous MacBook and just seems to have a more sophisticated air about it.

The MacBook embodies many other incredible qualities. The keyboard is crisp and wonderfully responsive, and comes with the now standard feature of illuminated keys. The trackpad on the MacBook has currently been engineered not only to assist in navigation, but also to double as a button. By pressing down on the trackpad you can easily click on anything you need to select. Also, the MacBook now features Multi-Touch gestures. Use two fingers to scroll up and down the page, a pinch to zoom in and out, three fingers to flip through photo libraries, a four finger swipe to switch between open applications, or a variety of other gestures to assist in your computing experience.

The MacBook also features built in wireless capabilities, ultrathin 13.3-inch LED backlit screen, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, tons of memory, and up to 5 hours of wireless productivity. I believe that this notebook is obviously a huge advancement in the field of laptops, but the draw back is the price. Starting at $1299, these notebooks are on the pricey side. Of course you pay for what you get. This is a technological masterpiece and contains many incredible features. You will not be disappointed with the quality or let down by the advancements of the new MacBook. I guess you just need to decide whether the amazing new features of the MacBook are worth the price tag to you.

ASUS Eee 1008HA Seashell Review

ASUS seems to be getting a lot of stories on our humble little blog. Maybe its because every time we turn around there is something new from ASUS coming out. You'd think they'd get tired by now but ASUS is still pumping out the goods.

Well now we have a review of the ASUS Seashell. One of the main things you will notice first about the Seashell is it's style. ASUS has definitley taken a step forward with their design. The Seashell somewhat resembles the style of the MacBook Air. It has a thin, curved chassis that measures only an inch thick at the largest point. It comes with a glossy finish which means your going to get a lot of smudges on it, but it will still look really slick. But the slimmed down design isn't all just for looks. The design has some practical value to it as well. The slimmer design makes the Seashell very comfortable to hold and is easily carried one handed and only weighs 2.4 pounds. The 1008HA is not as top heavy as some of the other netbooks on the market. This just means it wont capsize over backwards off your lap while you are using it. ASUS has taken great lengths to make the Seashell look good. All of the ports on the laptop are hidden behind little doors so you have a smooth uninterrupted look.

The interior of the Seashell is also very nice. The keyboard is around 92% of a full size keyboard which makes it very comfortable to use. If you are highly into the details of things, then you will be very pleased to know that the Seashell is the very first Eee PC to offer a full size right shift key. The touch pad works fairly well. It has dimples and a two finger zoom in and out function but lacks two fingered scrolling. The chrome rocker is nice with its clicky responsiveness and the whole mouse package overall is way better than most netbooks on the market.

The specs on the Seashell are pretty standard for most netbooks. It comes with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 950 graphics, and a 160GB hard drive. It has a better processor than most netbooks on the market with its 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 as opposed to the N270 put in most of the other netbooks. The Seashell only has two USB 2.0 ports, a min VGA port, and a headphone jack, all of which are behind those little doors mentioned earlier. There is a mini VGA to VGA adapter that comes in the box to make up for the lack of an actual VGA port. Located on the bottom of the chassis is a magnetic slot designed to hold the adapter which is a good solution to the annoying situation that could arise from the adapter. One potential problem with those little flaps on the port, however, is that larger USB keys will not fit requiring you to get an adapter. Yet the Seashell still has 802.11 B/G/N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 10/100Mbps Ethernet, and a non-removable, high-density, lithium polymer battery with a supposed life span of 6 hours.

The Seashell's performance is about the same as some of the other netbooks on the market. It can still do all the mundane, everyday tasks like browsing the internet, editing documents, or streaming video but is in no way more special than other netbooks. It does boot up a little faster and opens things like Word faster but isn't anything special. The high-gloss screen has quite a glare if you are out in the sun which can become an inconvenience for many users. The battery, advertised as lasting for 6 hours, actually lasts around 4.25 to 4.50 hours. However, if you turn off the Wi-Fi, disable the camera, take it down to 40% LCD brightness, and turn on power saving mode, you can squeeze out 5.75 hours, which is pretty close to the listed battery life.

The Seashell's skinny form makes for a really enjoyable user experience. Then if you add to it the awesome keyboard, the nice touchpad, and the boosted you come up with a pretty awesome netbook. The Seashell is more expensive than most netbooks coming in at a price tag of $430. But if you think about it, you can get the HP Mini 100 for around $414 or the Dell Mini 10 for around $349, not to mention the huge line of ASUS netbooks already on the market. The Seashell is definitley geared towards people seeking a higher-end netbook and has bumped the netbook category up a notch. The Seashell isn't your run-of-the-mill netbook, even though it does have some of the average specs about it. Definitely one of the best netbooks on the market and definitely one worth looking at.

Dell Latitude 2100

Never before has a laptop been more designed with a student in mind. The new Dell Latitude 2100 is a netbook that is designed specifically for the education market, especially students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The Latitude’s durable design and kid-centered features make this laptop ideal for the rapidly developing minds of children.

The fundamental components of the Latitude are very comparable to those of most other netbooks. It features Intel Atom CPU, Windows XP, and 1 GB of RAM, but the major difference with the Latitude is its covering. The outside is rubberized, thicker, and heavier than most typical netbooks. This casing protects the laptop from the rough patches it is sure to go through in the hands of a child. Another interesting child-friendly note is the anti-microbial keyboard that is offered when purchasing the Latitude. This feature helps prevent the spread of germs between laptop users.

This laptop has many other aspects to consider. One which is definitely worth noting is the network activity light that is centered on the back of the lid. This light glows when the Latitude is connected to the internet. Dell designed this feature to alert teachers when a student is drifting away from their school work and instead surfing the Web. Dell also says that educational software designers will be able to incorporate this light into their programs to allow for teachers to see when a student has completed their assigned tasks in class.

The Latitude is larger and heavier than most 10-inch netbooks. It weighs 2.9 pounds with its three-cell battery and measures 10.4 x 7.3 x 5.7 inches. To solve any problems with the weight, Dell has designed a custom computer carrying cart that can be used in classrooms to store up to 24 netbooks. The Latitude comes in five fun colors: School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon, and School House Red, and its starting price is $369.

I think that Dell has done a fantastic job developing this idea of a student netbook. A kid-friendly laptop with a durable design, an anti-microbial keyboard, and a light that indicates Web surfing is something that schools have been waiting for. Laptops are necessary within schools for projects, activities, research, and a variety of other instances, so having a laptop that can take a few scratches and bruises will save them from expensive computer repairs. The network activity light will aid teachers in keeping students on track and eventually allow for notice of a students completion of an activity. All these features, plus the reasonable starting price, make the Dell Latitude 2100 a wonderful new technological development for many schools and students.

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H

The Eee PC 1008HA "Seashell" has basically just started to get recognized and, instead of letting the machine soak up the press, ASUS has decided to announce new variations of the 1008HA, and only a day after. But these new netbooks are not the 1005HAB that was tipped off on ASUS' support site. They are, however, the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M and the 1005HA-H.

The 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H have the same slim styling as the "Seashell" but with a few added upgrades. Both computers have removable batteries, both 6-cell for each computer good for up to 8 hours of battery life.

The 1005HA-M takes a lower end approach coming in with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 160GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM and Wi-Fi and a 1.3 megapixel webcam but does not support Bluetooth.

The 1005HA-H is mostly the same as the "Seashell" as far as integral gears go with a few differences. The 1005HA-H has two USB 2.0 ports, keeps the 1.66GHz Atom Processor, supports Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 1 GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive. Both the 1005HA-H and 1005HA-M have 10-inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 displays with the 1005HA-H adding a glossy coating.

Connectivity wise, both computers contain 3 USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out, ethernet, and a 2-in-1 card reader. The measure about 10mm thicker than the Eee PC 1008HA and also weigh about 0.3kg more.

The ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-H comes with a price tag of $473 and the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-M comes in at $405. Both machines come in either black or white colors and should go on sale in France by the end of July with a release in the U.S. sometime after that.