7 To Improve Notebook Battery Life

Anyone with a notebook knows that at the end of the day, battery life is still the key mobility factor when using a notebook on the road. Some users might turn to extended batteries, while others already have one and are looking to squeeze out handful of minutes before they run out of juice somewhere. An area that many notebook users overlook is the software that is running in the background on many notebooks that acts as a leech, sucking away at your power and making your notebook work harder than it should. With a few minutes worth of simple changes, you can easily crank out some more time from your notebook following our guide.

1. Keep your processor working at a walking pace

Most notebooks offer power regulation software, and almost all have the ability to change profiles using the Vista power manager. Click on that battery icon on the bottom of your screen, and make sure your notebook is set to Balanced or Power Saver. High Performance is great if you are encoding video or playing games, but it makes your processor work harder than it has to, using more power and throwing out more heat.

2. Tune your radio dial

Keep an eye on your wireless devices, and disable them if they are not in use. If you have your Bluetooth or WiFi device running at all times, you are using chopping off useful battery life that could have been used doing something else.

3. Change your viewing habits

The biggest power draw on your notebook, especially if it is a large one, is the screen backlight. While it may look big, beautiful, and shiny, you are really hurting your battery performance with the backlight at a high level. Start by putting the backlight to the lowest setting, and increase it slowly until you find the lowest setting your find bearable. Remember that this will vary depending on the room you are in, meaning you might have it set brighter in an office setting, but much lower at home at night.

4. Don't be tempted by movies

If at all possible, stay away from using DVD's or CD's in your laptop while using battery power. The drive creates a huge power draw on the system while running. On top of the drive, your processor is also working hard to decode the audio and video, sometimes knocking off close to 30% of your overall battery life. If you must watch movies, try to stick with digital content that you download or stream online. iTunes and Hulu.com are excellent alternatives to the evil discs.

5. Kill unwanted background activities

Right out of the box, almost all notebooks have the following processes running in the background, which eat up precious CPU cycles and trash your hard drive.

Automatic Updates: While keeping your system up to date is a good thing, this should be optional to have done at your own leisure. I prefer to update my system when I don't care about battery life, or have my system connected to AC power. To disable this activity, go into your control panel and click on ‘Windows Update". In the next window click on "change settings" on the left side, and make your way to the next screen. Now change your selection to "Never check for updates", and click OK. Please note that this may make your system vulnerable if you don't manually check for updates on a regular basis.

Windows Indexing: Windows disk indexing helps to reduce search times when trying to find a particular file on your hard drive, but will wreak havoc on your battery life in the process. To disable indexing, open "My Computer" and right click on your hard drive. On the first screen that shows up, uncheck "Index this drive for faster searching". You will need to proceed through a few prompts, as well as clicking "ignore all" if prompted. This may take quite a bit of time depending on how full your drive is.

Anti-Virus Software: AV software is a huge performance hog, but also a life saver depending on what type of sites your visit or what sorts of files you encounter. I am relatively savvy enough to steer clear of harmful items in my daily activities, and have yet to need any AV software for years. Not only can they be a huge resource hog and bog your machine down, they sap away a lot of battery life if they start scanning in the background. Be warned that removing AV software from your system can be risky, and should be done at your own discretion. If need more than one hand to count the number of virus problems you have had in the past, don't follow this suggestion.

The next step of this guide requires you to use the Task Scheduler, and disable a few services that your computer queues up at various times while you are using your computer. This can be accessed by going into your program list, then Accessories, then System Tools, finally clicking Task Scheduler.

In the list of Active Tasks, the following items cause the most unwanted activity in the background. To disable any of these items, double click the selection which will take you to another screen listing more details on that activity. Now all you need to do is right click the item, and click disable to stop it from bothering you in the future.

Consolidator: Runs in the background for the Customer Improvement Program.

Scheduled Defrag: Defragments your hard drive, and will bog down your system in the process. I handle this at my own leisure instead of letting the system schedule it weekly.

6. Clean up after yourself

Having additional programs working in the background when no longer in use can reduce system performance and decrease battery life. If you are done using a certain application, exit out of it properly instead of just minimizing it to the background. Also note that some programs drop down into your taskbar when you click the X at the top right of the screen. These can usually be killed by right clicking them in the taskbar, and clicking exit.

7. Conclusion

By following this guide and being mindful of the software you are using on your laptop, you can extend your battery life so you have that extra time when you really need it. Even when not increasing battery life, many of these tweaks help improve system performance, and many times make a speed demon out of a computer previously thought to be a slow relic. Think of yourself as the computer, and understand if you are working harder, you are expending more energy in the process. If you slow down and work at an easier pace, you will probably have more energy left when all is said and done.

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Microsoft Admits Surface Play Carries Risk

Shortly after clearing up rumours that the Surface tablet won’t, in fact, cost $1000, Microsoft has been hit with another serious challenge: an uncovered admission that in the company’s view the Surface tablet is ultimately a risky play.

Buried in an annual report submitted to the SEC on Thursday, Microsoft candidly admits that the Surface tablet could chill relations with OEMs and weaken support for Windows within the PC industry.

“Even if many users view these devices as complementary to a personal computer, the prevalence of these devices may make it more difficult to attract applications developers to our platforms,” Microsoft reported in its annual 10-k report. “In addition, our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform.

For Microsoft, the Surface tablet represents an incredible dilemma. The company, as it admits elsewhere in the report, faces incredible pressure from tablet and smartphone manufacturers that control both the hardware as well as the software (read: Apple), but attempting to emulate that structure would endanger the Windows/P.C ecosystem of established but separate hardware and software manufacturers.

To compound Microsoft’s troubles, the company realizes that the P.C world is shrinking while the tablet and smartphone world grows.

“We derive substantial revenue from licenses of Windows operating systems on personal computers. The proliferation of alternative devices and form factors, in particular mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, creates challenges from competing software platforms,” Microsoft acknowledges in its report. “These devices compete on multiple bases including price and the perceived utility of the device and its platform. Users may increasingly turn to these devices to perform functions that would have been performed by personal computers in the past.”

Microsoft needs to make inroads into the tablet market, specifically the enterprise tablet market. A successful integration of the Windows ecosystem into the tablet market could solidify future growth for Microsoft, but this needs to be done delicately to not off balance Microsoft’s relationships with OEMs.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430

Design

Click to EnlargeStylistically, the ThinkPad Edge E430 is a departure from the traditional ThinkPad design. Instead of a black textured plastic lid, our Edge E430 featured a black brushed aluminum cover. It's a nice change of pace, but unfortunately turns the laptop into a fingerprint magnet. If brushed aluminum isn't your thing, you can instead opt to get the E430 in soft-touch black or red.

Lenovo decorated the E430's lid with a familiar polished silver Lenovo logo in the bottom right corner. Opposite that, you'll find the ThinkPad logo with the letter "i" that pulses when the notebook is in standby mode.

Take a look under the E430's lid and you'll see the same brushed aluminum coating on the keyboard deck. In the top left corner, you'll find the E430's circular power button surrounded by nothing but empty space. In the deck's bottom right corner, Lenovo added another ThinkPad logo complete with a backlit letter "i." Beyond those design flourishes, the Edge E430 includes the company's trademark red pointer stick and click buttons, fingerprint reader and clickpad.

Measuring 13.3 x 9.2 x 1.1-1.3 inches and weighing 4.6 pounds, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430's dimensions are on a par with those of its predecessor, the ThinkPad Edge E420 (13.3 x 9.1 x 1.4 inches and 4.6 pounds). The Edge E430 also matches up nicely with Acer's Aspire TimelineX 4830TG-6808, which measures 13.3 x 9.4 x 1.2 inches and weighs 4.6 pounds. Other 14-inch notebooks are more svelte than this Edge, especially Ultrabooks, but most of them lack an optical drive.

Display and Audio

Click to EnlargeThe E430's 14.1-inch 1366 x 768 anti-glare matte display offered a sharp but not very bright picture. Its 176 lux brightness rating is well below the average thin-and-light (201 lux). The Acer 4830TG was little better, at 186 lux. An optional VibrantView glossy display promises sharper brighter colors, but will naturally suffer from glare problems. When watching an HD trailer for "The Hobbit," we could make individual strands of hair in Gandalf's telltale gray beard. Viewing angles, however, were fairly narrow, with images washing out before 40 degrees to either side.

The ThinkPad Edge E430's stereo speakers, located on the underside of the system, are surprisingly powerful for a small business laptop. When we listened to Nicki Minaj's "Beez in the Trap," each bass hit sounded clean and distortion-free. Kansas' "Carry on Wayward Son" sounded just as good, with the blues-inspired guitar riffs and cymbal crashes coming through loud and clear. The included Dolby Advanced Audio 2 software is a definite plus. Turn it off, and the Edge's audio quality takes a significant hit.

Keyboard, Pointing Stick and Touchpad

Click to EnlargeWe've long considered Lenovo's keyboards to be some of the best in the business, thanks to their responsiveness, key spacing and overall comfort. The E430's spill-resistant, island-style keyboard lives up to that reputation. We recorded our highest score on the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor while using the E430, 80 words per minute with a 3 percent error rate, far better than our usual 75 words per minute. The layout felt somewhat stiff, but we presume this will lessen as you break it in.

The E430's rubberized TrackPoint pointing stick and associated mouse and scrolling buttons proved accurate and responsive as ever, allowing us to seamlessly transition from typing to controlling the on-screen pointer and back without ever having to take our hands off of the keyboard.

Click to EnlargeThe Lenovo's 3.5 x 2.1-inch UltraNav textured clickpad was also quite accurate. Multitouch gestures worked for the most part, but we found ourselves repeating some of them occasionally, such as using the three-finger flick function to navigate the picture gallery. Two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom, however, were spot on.

Heat

After streaming a full-screen Hulu video for 15 minutes, the ThinkPad Edge E430's touchpad reached just 79 degrees, while the keyboard registered 80 degrees. The hottest point on the Edge was its underside, which hit a relatively cool 83 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees to be comfortable.

The ThinkPad Edge E430 includes all of the ports and plugs a small business owner could need. On its left side are a VGA port, USB 2.0 slot, HDMI port and two USB 3.0 ports. Over on the right side, are the E430's power port, Ethernet jack, tray-loading optical drive, a USB 2.0 port that can charge devices while sleeping and a combination audio and microphone jack. Up front, the E430 features a 4-in-1 media card reader.

Webcam and Videoconferencing

Click to EnlargeThe Edge E430's 720p webcam provided bright, but slightly grainy images. Fine details like facial wrinkles were easy to decipher, although colors were somewhat inaccurate. When we tried using the webcam in a darker setting, image quality took a nose dive.

To help improve voice chat quality, Lenovo outfitted the Edge E430 with keyboard noise cancellation technology. Lenovo says the E430's microphone audio field has also improved to allow users to switch between conference mode, in which several people can be picked up by the microphone, and single user mode, which only picks up the voice of the person sitting directly in front of the microphone.

Fingerprint Reader

Click to EnlargeOur ThinkPad Edge E430's fingerprint reader was extremely easy to set up, and can be set to open specific websites and apps with the swipe of a finger. We could also set the reader to log us into secure websites, as well as log on to Windows.

Performance

Our configuration of the ThinkPad Edge E430 comes with a second-generation (Sandy Bridge) 2.5-GHz Intel Core i5-2540M processor rather than a newer third-generation Ivy Bridge CPU. However, you can configure this laptop with one for $55 more. Still, with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive, our Edge E430 proved more than capable of holding its own against the competition.

On PCMark 07, a synthetic benchmark that tests a system's overall performance, the E430 scored 2,337. That's on a par with the thin-and-light laptop category average (2,389), and about 200 points higher than the Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830TG-6808, which has the same CPU.

The Edge E430 also managed to boot faster than the competition, starting up in just 44 seconds compared with the category average of 57 seconds and the Acer 4830TG's 65 seconds. That's largely a result of the difference in rotation speeds between the E430's 500GB, 7,200-rpm drive, and the Acer's 500GB, 5,400-rpm drive.

The ThinkPad Edge E430 fared pretty well on the LAPTOP File Transfer test, duplicating 4.97GB of mixed media files in 2 minutes and 53 seconds for a rate of 29.4 MBps. That's nearly identical to the category average of 29.9 MBps.

The E430 also performed well on our OpenOffice Spreadsheet test, matching 20,000 names to their corresponding addresses in 5 minutes and 4 seconds. This showing is just two seconds slower than the Aspire TimelineX, but faster than the category average of 6 minutes.

Graphics Performance

Having Intel's HD Graphics 3000 on board means you'll be limited to watching HD movies and mostly casual games. On the 3DMark06 benchmark, the Edge E430 scored just 3,822. That's well below the category average of 5,117, and more than 5,000 points below the Acer Aspire TimelineX, which benefits from an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M GPU.

When we played "World of Warcraft" with the graphics set to autodetect, the Edge E430 managed 34 frames per second, an acceptable frame rate for a nongaming machine. But when we bumped up the graphics to the highest setting, the frame rate dropped to an unplayable 17 fps. By comparison, the average thin-and-light notebook registers 52 and 26 fps, respectively.

Battery Life

Click to EnlargeThe ThinkPad Edge E430's 6-cell 62WH lithium ion battery provides plenty of endurance for mobile workers. On the LAPTOP Battery Test, which involves continuous Web surfing with the display brightness set to 40 percent, the Edge E430 lasted 6 hours and 53 minutes. That's 33 minutes longer than Lenovo rated the battery and 25 minutes longer than the thin-and-light notebook category average.

Configurations

Our E430 came equipped with a 2.5-GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-2450M processor; 4GB of RAM; a 500GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive; an Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrated graphics chip; anti-glare display; 720p webcam ($20); 62WH battery ($10) and Windows 7 Professional for $719. The brushed aluminum coating alone cost $50. Note that some online retailers are selling this notebook for as low as $649.

If you're looking for something with a bit more oomph, you can pick up an E430 with a 2.1-GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-3612QM processor, 8GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive and a 16GB Micro SSD ($40) for improved performance for $1,154.

If your budget is tighter, you can buy the base model for just $549. That version comes loaded with a 2.3-GHz dual-core Intel Core i3-2350M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, no webcam, a soft-touch paint job and Windows 7 Home Premium. There's no price difference between the anti-glare display or VibrantView screen.

Software

Click to EnlargeLenovo loaded the ThinkPad Edge E430 with some helpful utilities. For instance, Power Controls lets you optimize your system's power settings, and Enhanced Backup and Restore and Airbag Protection, which turns off the hard drive when a fall or other damaging event is detected. In addition to those, the E430 features Lenovo's SimpleTap tool, which provides you with quick access to different notebook features, websites and applications by two-finger tapping the laptop's clickpad twice.

Lenovo's RapidBoot and RapidBoot Shield features help to improve the system's boot speed by using the E430's RAM to cache boot files and delaying the launch of nonessential programs until Windows is fully started.

The Edge E430's InstantResume software helps users reconnect to the Web quickly when taking the laptop out of sleep mode. Lenovo says the feature will continuously scan for Wi-Fi connections, allowing the system to connect to the web in less than two seconds when it goes back online.

One of the most useful features Lenovo packed into the E430 is its Mobile HotSpot software. The program lets users configure the E430 to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five people. The feature works by connecting the Lenovo to an available hotspot, then setting Mobile Hotspot software to begin broadcasting a wireless signal for your co-workers or friends. And since Lenovo lets you set up your own Network SSID and password, the wireless signal you send out will be secure.

Other programs loaded on the E430 include a 30-day trial of Norton Internet Security, 5GB of free online storage through SugarSync and Splashtop Streamer.

Service and Support

Lenovo provides users with its Solutions for Small Business suite. Features include the ability to schedule when you would like the system to perform updates and basic upkeep, configure the E430's USB ports to block users from attaching thumb drives or gaming controllers and set the system to shut down in the evening and restart in the morning.

If you run into any trouble with your ThinkPad Edge E430, Lenovo provides its users with a standard one-year parts and labor warranty. See how Lenovo fared in our Best & Worst Brands Report.

Verdict

Click to EnlargeWith good performance, an excellent keyboard, long battery life and top-notch speakers, the $717 Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430 is a system that will fit well in any office. The easy-to-use fingerprint reader and helpful small business software are other pluses. However, you might want to skip the brushed aluminum lid for the soft-touch red or black option to avoid fingerprints--and save yourself $50 in the process. The only other drawback is this notebook's display, which is dimmer than average. Overall, though, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E430 is a great choice for small business users.

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Dell’s Development Computer

Dell has announced a fall release for Project Sputnik, a notebook targeted specifically at developers. This official developer laptop will be based on the Dell XPS 13 and include Ubuntu 10.04 LTS pre-loaded, which will help provide an ideal computing environment for developers.

Project Sputnik is optimized to provide a complete client-to-cloud solution, using a full set of Linux hardware drivers as well as Cloud and Profile tools. Developers will be able to use these features to immediately create micro-instances and easily push these directly to production servers. There will be a library of profiles, including Ruby and Android, which will expedite the lengthy set-up process usually involved when creating new development environments and tool chains.

Project Sputnik was launched to a select group of beta testers in May and positive feedback from the development community has ushered in the official launch. “By listening to developers, Dell can provide them with solutions and products to help make them more productive and allow for greater innovation,” said Barton George, project Sputnik’s lead and director of Dell’s web vertical marketing. “We have continued to be amazed by the amount and quality of interest and input we have received.”

This is not the first time that Dell has released a laptop running a Linux build rather than the popular Windows operating system. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9, released in 2008, ran a customized version of Ubuntu’s Netbook Remix. With Project Sputnik, however, Dell is demonstrating a commitment to open source software, releasing a notebook targeted at developers with an unmodified Linux build. This new laptop will help alleviate much of the work involved with setting up and maintaining a robust development environment.

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The Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse

Mouse Razer has introduced a new gaming mouse that’s fully customisable and even physically transformable to adjust to any hand size or grip style. The Razer Ouroboros is somewhat reminiscent of the Mad Catz Cyborg RAT 9, featuring an adjustable palm rest capable of moving up to .9 inches (20 mm), two interchangeable side panels and an adjustable back tilt angle to ensure palm support.

Unlike the RAT 9, however, the Ouroboros is designed to be ambidextrous and can operate wired or wirelessly, running up to 12 hours of continuous gaming on a single charge according to Razer. Its single AA battery charges while operating on wired mode and there’s also an included charging dock.

Razer’s latest gaming mouse offers 11 programmable buttons and up to 8200 DPI via combined laser and optical sensors. Additionally, a clutch trigger lets you temporarily reduce or increase the DPI as you game, so you can “go from high-sensitivity assault to more measured sniper” as needed.

You’ll be able to find Ouroboros starting in Q4 2012 with a suggested retail price of $129.99.

Razer also announced several updates to their mechanical keyboard lineup, including a BlackWidow Tournament Edition ($80) that ditches a few features for a slimmer profile, a BlackWidow Ultimate ($140) with individually backlit keys, and the base model BlackWidow 2013 ($100) with 50g actuation force, 10 key anti-ghosting, 5 dedicated macro keys, headphone/mic jacks and a USB port.

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MSI G series gaming laptops upgraded with GeForce GTX 680M

Introduced only a few months ago, MSI has updated its GT60 and GT70 gaming notebooks to offer the fastest mobile graphics processor in Nvidia's arsenal. Priced at $1,900, the GT60 comes equipped with a 15.6-inch 1080p display, an Intel Core i7-3610QM, a GeForce GTX 680M with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, 12GB of DDR3 1600MHz RAM, a 750GB 7200RPM hard drive and a DVD drive.

For $2,600, the GT70 pushes that to a 17.3-inch 1080p screen, dual 128GB SSDs in RAID alongside a 750GB storage drive, 16GB of RAM, a Blu-ray burner and a second USB 2.0 port. Expectedly, the larger system's overall weight increases by nearly a pound from 7.7lbs to 8.6lbs.

Both machines carry a programmable multi-color backlit
gaming keyboard designed in partnership with SteelSeries, a network card by Killer Gaming, gold-plated audio jacks with an amplifier, a 720p webcam, a 7-in-1 card reader, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, three USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, as well as VGA and HDMI 1.4 outputs.

The systems ship with a nine-cell battery, though MSI doesn't seem to offer any estimations on run time. "Not long" is probably a fair guess if you're doing anything intensive, as the GTX 680M alone has a 100W TDP.

Based on Notebookcheck's tests, the Kepler GPU should offer playable framerates when running most modern games on respectable settings. A notebook similar to the GT70 offered between 40fps and 60fps when playing titles like Max Payne 3, Dirt Showdown, Alan Wake, Batman: Arkham City, TES V: Skyrim and Crysis 2 on high or ultra.

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Hybrid Laptop+Tablet Windows 8 Computers Unveiled By Fujitsu

Microsoft has come up with a brand new operating system for Windows users with Windows 8. The new Windows 8 operating system features a whole host of improvements over the most recent versions of Windows, but the main new feature is the improved touch integration into the OS.

Microsoft has brought the Metro UI design from their mobile phones to the desktop environment and from early reports they’ve fully improved the touch experience in Windows –you no longer need a stylus to get around a touchscreen Windows PC, a finger will do just fine for regular computing.

Since Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 8 earlier this year Windows PC makers have already got some design samples available for consumers eyes. Makers like Lenovo and Acer have already shown-off computers that will take full advantage of the much improved touch functionality in Windows.

The 11.6-inch Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 hybrid laptop tablet offers a bright IPS display that should be great for viewing angles. Image: Fujitsu

Yesterday PC maker Fujitsu unveiled two new hybrid laptop computers for professional users ready for Windows 8 to be released. The new models include the Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q702 which offers a 11.6-inch touchscreen IPS display that can be detached and reattached to a custom keyboard dock (equipped with its own battery) when a user wants a tablet instead of a laptop. The second model is a 13.3-inch convertible tablet PC (laptop with a rotatable touch display) named Fujitsu LIFEBOOK T902.

The convertible Fujitsu LifeBook T902 tablet PC offers improved performance over previous editions. Image: Fujitsu

Both the Q702 and T902 have targeted release dates of Q3 2012. Fujitsu will be shipping each with Windows 7 Professional, but all buyers will be able to get Windows 8 upgrades once it’s released by Microsoft. Pricing will be quite high for the new models, the start price for the adventurous STYLISTIC Q702 will be $1,899 and the more tame LIFEBOOK T902 will be $1,099.

Main features

Although the Q702 and T902 are both touchscreen equipped PC’s for business users, they type of user that will appreciate each model will be different. The Q702 is equipped with a design and a feature set that best suits a mobile business person who needs a portable business computer with a touchscreen that’s Windows 8 ready. On the other hand if you want a more traditional business laptop that has a touchscreen, but doesn’t sacrifice performance, ports or an optical drive the T902 is your machine.

Below you can check out the main features that Fujitsu has released for the Q702 and the T902.

Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q702

                - Intel Core i3 and i5 processors (3rd gen. Ivy Bridge)

                - 11.6-inch 1366×768 LED backlit AH-IPS anti-glare display with multi-touch support for pen or touch input and a Gorilla Glass protective coating

                - USB 2.0 and 3.0, HDMI, SD/SDHC expansion ports

                - Accelerometer, gyrometer, magnetometer, and ambient light sensors for fluid computing experience

                - Front-facing and rear-facing webcams with complementing dual microphones for video conferencing

                - 64 or 128 GB mSATA SSD

                - Intel® HD Graphics 4000

                - 4GB of DDR3 RAM

                - The Keyboard docking station features a removable 4-cell battery and expansion ports including USB, LAN (RJ-45) and external display support (VGA)

                - Optional WWAN/3G LTE mobile broadband support available at a later date (support may vary by region)

                - Biometric fingerprint sensor, Computrace® support, HDD and BIOS password protection, embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Intel® Anti-Theft Technology, and Intel® vPro™ Technology with select processors.

                - Up to 4.5 hours of battery life with the tablet only and with the dock battery life is estimated at up to 9 hours.

1.88 pounds approx. weight

Fujitsu LIFEBOOK T902

                - Intel Core i5 and i7 vPro processors (3rd gen. Ivy Bridge)

                -13.3-inch 1600×900 LED backlit display with multi-touch support for pen or touch input and a     Gorilla Glass protective coating

                - Built-in modular bay with quick release latch for easy interchangeability supports second           battery, second HDD, Super multi DVD-RW, BD-writer or weight saver

                - Complete suite of security features including dedicated Smart Card Slot, biometric fingerprint                 sensor, Computrace support, HDD and BIOS password protection, security panel, Intel® Anti-    Theft Technology, and optional Intel® vPro™ Technology

                - Optional TCG OPAL compliant SED drives

                - Accelerometer, gyrometer, magnetometer, and ambient light sensors for fluid computing        experience

                - Optional WWAN/3G LTE mobile broadband support available at a later date (support may vary                by region)

                - Anti-microbial, spill resistant keyboard with trackpad

                - Up to 16 GB of DDR3 1600 MHz RAM

                - Bi-directional display hinge, hard drive shock sensor

                - up to 11 hours of battery life

                - 4.1 pounds approx. weight

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first to offer Ultrabook laptop and 3G/4G hotspot bundle to consumers

Today Sprint became the first carrier to officially adopt Ultrabook class laptop computers to their product line.

Sprint is offering consumers that require a wireless Internet connection beyond just Wi-Fi for their laptops the opportunity to purchase a 13.3-inch Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook and get a 3G/4G mobile hotspot with free service for 3 months. With the mobile hotspots all you need is a Sprint 3G/4G signal to get access to the Internet on your IdeaPad U310 laptop once you get service setup.

Price wise Intel claims Sprint will sell you a Ultrabook+mobile hotspot bundle for as little as $799.99 with a signed 2-year agreement (price excludes taxes). Since you get 3 months of service free Sprint only lists future service charges for the four available bundles. The cheapest bundle will carry a future monthly charge of at least $34.99 (not including taxes), but there are more expensive packages that offer more monthly 3G/4G data (3G/4G data is what you’ll be using to get Internet access with the mobile hotspots).

If you don’t want to sign a 2-year agreement with Sprint you do have the option of buying everything included in the bundle separately for a higher initial cost. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook is available for purchase currently with a starting price of $599.99 on the shop.lenovo.com webstore.

It’s worth noting that the base $599 U310 Ultrabook features a 1.40GHz Intel Core i3 ULV dual-core processor while the Sprint bundle model comes with a 1.70GHz Intel Core i5 ULV dual-core processor that will offer slightly faster performance. The Core i5 base model starts at $699.99 on the Lenovo webstore, so it’s still cheaper than buying from Sprint.

As for purchasing your own standalone mobile hotspot you can purchase the units that Sprint is willing to throw in for free online for between $60 and $100. However even if you buy a mobile hotspot on your own you’re still going to need a carrier to provide you with some 3G/4G service for your hotspot. All the major carriers in the U.S. offer hotspot service and some even offer pay-as-you-go data plans for mobile hotspots if you don’t want a contract (the best monthly prices relative to the amount of data you get tends to favor contract customers at some carriers).

Laptop specifications

If you’re not to familiar with the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 or it’s features let me list off the main attributes of this laptop–Ultrabook:

                -Windows 7 comes pre-installed

                - 13.3-inch LED back-lit glossy display with a native resolution of 1366×768

                - Intel 2nd and 3rd generation ULV processing chips. There is one Core i3 2nd gen. chip and the                 rest are either Core i3 or i5 chips from the new 3rd gen. family code-named Ivy Bridge.

                - 4GB of DDR3 memory that runs fast at 1600 MHz speeds

                - 500GB 5400 rpm spinning hard drives come standard, but there are options for additional SSD                 storage if you want more speed

                - Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth built-in

                - Webcam with a microphone integrated

                - The U310 is 0.7-inches at it’s thinnest point and the machine weighs 3.7 lbs.

                - Battery life is estimated at up to 7 hours with the included 3 Cell Li-Polymer battery

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ZOTAC Unveils GeForce GT 630 and GT 640

ZOTAC International, a global innovator and channel manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards and mini-PCs, today ushers in a new era of quiet computing with the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition and GeForce GT 630 ZONE Edition graphics cards.

The ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition redefines quiet computing with a new video processing engine and supercharged architecture to create the perfect card for home theater PC and everyday use while the ZOTAC GeForce GT 630 ZONE Edition delivers an outstanding value to quiet computing users.

Packing a new enhanced video processing engine, the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition takes the home theater PC to the new 4K era with 4K video decoding capabilities for stunning details and smooth playback of high-resolution video up to 4096×2160 resolution. A new NVEnc video encoding engine integrated in the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 accelerates video encoding tasks for lightning-fast video conversions and transcoding, with compatible software.

“The new ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition is our new silent powerhouse graphics card perfect for home theater PC usage,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International. “By coupling 4K video decoding capabilities with the new NVEnc encoding engine, we’re able to deliver a completely silent graphics card that lets users connect to 4K displays and view native 4K video content flawlessly – there’s also extra power available to accelerate video transcoding to quickly put your video content on portable media devices and smartphones.”

Triple-display support with NVIDIA Surround technology makes the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition a productivity booster by maximizing computing efficiency and enabling simultaneous displays of multiple application windows. NVIDIA CUDA technology accelerates compatible video and image editing applications on the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition to quickly and smoothly apply effects without making a single fan-whisper.

The ZOTAC GeForce GT 630 ZONE Edition is available for less demanding users that desire silence, adequate performance and outstanding features at an excellent value.

It’s time to play with the ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition and GeForce GT 630 ZONE Edition.

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