Maindot Technology News

Laptop mag posted a new review on the Dell Inspiron 710m laptop:

Sometimes, small things can pack a big punch. The Dell Inspiron 710m measures a compact 11.7 x 8.5 x 1.5 inches, but it offers snappy performance behind its 2-GHz Pentium M 755 processor, which is complemented by 512MB of memory and a 5,400-rpm 80GB hard drive. As a result, the 710m is recommended for those always on the go who refuse to sacrifice power in the quest for a thin-and-light notebook.

The Dell Inspiron 710m features that gets appreciated in this review: fast application performance, Long endurance with extended battery, Beautiful glossy display, Good warranty

PC Mag reports about the first Toshiba Gaming Laptop : Toshiba P105-S921

Toshiba is set to launch its first gaming laptop, the Satellite P105-S921, along with several other new Satellites notebooks.
The Toshiba P105-S921 will be the “deluxe” model of the Satellite P105 line that will have two other less tricked-out configurations. Besides the GeForce Go 7900 GS, the high-end system will also take on an Intel Core Duo T2400(1.83Ghz) CPU and 1GB of RAM. Sporting a 17-inch TruBrite screen and tipping the scales at 7.2 lbs, it’s clearly a desktop-replacement system. Like the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600, the P105-S921 will also employ a Dual Mode Touchpad, embedding slick-looking illuminated icons within the touchpad itself. The big laptop also features a massive 160GB hard drive and a DVI-D output port. You can expect the P105-S921 to retail for $1,999.

Also the mag reports that Toshiba plans to update several of its mainstream units, the Satellite M105 and A105 series, with Intel Core Duo processors.

There is a new review of the Dell Precision M90 from Digital Video Editing:

This laptop has more than just a pretty face, too. There are multiple benefits to having these new Intel Core Duo processors inside. One is increased battery life, even in light of the fact that there is an industrial-strength graphics card and two processor cores chugging away under the hood. Even when you’re using this notebook in the real world, its nine-cell 85 watt/hour batteries will probably give you about 2.5 hours of hard use per charge, and up to three hours if they’re just running a battery benchmark.

Dell Precision M90 Specifications:
Processor / Chipset Read the rest of this entry »

Channel Register reports ” Dell extends Precision portable workstation line – Precision M90 and M65 laptops”

The Dell Precision M90 and Dell Precision M65 are using Intel’s 945PM chipset and feature up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR 2 SDRAM. Dell is offering the machines with Core Duo CPUs ranging from the T2300 to the T2600, and up to 120GB of 7,200rpm Serial ATA hard disk storage.

The higher-end model sports a 17in display driven by a Quadro FX 2500M graphics engine with 512MB of dedicated video memory or an 1500M with 256MB of memory. Screens are offered with native resolutions of 1,440 x 900 or 1,920 x 1,200.

The M65’s 15.4in display is connected to a Quadro FX Go 350M with 256MB of memory. Dell is offering native resolution options of 1,680 x 1,050, 1,920 x 1,200 and 1,280 x 800.

Both machines ship with a Trusted Platform Module security chip ready to work with the integrated smart-card reader – which ships as standard – and an optional fingerprint scanner. They also include 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi.

Dell Precision M65 Specifications:
Read the rest of this entry »

There is a new Dell Inspiron E1705 Notebook review from Laptop Mag:

With blazing dual-core performance and a bright 17-inch display, the Dell Inspriron E1705 is a Media Center powerhouse.
Those looking for a big-screen screamer need look no further than the Dell E1705, which sports a 17-inch TrueLife display that’s ideal for playing games and watching DVDs. Under the hood is Intel’s blazing 2-GHz Core Duo processor, plus Nvidia’s GeForce Go 7800 graphics for serious graphics horsepower.

The Inspiron E1705 laptop from Dell turned in a remarkable MobileMark 2005 score of 251 and blazing 3DMark03 score of 9,298. It’s not as fast as the XPS M170, but you should be able to play any demanding title like F.E.A.R. at the highest resolution without a problem on this system. Also , the battery runtime of 2 hours and 33 minutes is considered good considering the speed and size of this notebook.

Laptop Mag features a new review of the Acer Aspire 9500 laptop and writes:

Entertainment notebooks usually come in two sizes: large and very large. Acer’s Aspire 9500 breaks that mold with a slim 17-inch footprint that you can take on the road. It’s a very good machine for watching DVDs, listening to music, and even watching and recording TV. The system’s high-end hardware will make any multimedia maven happy.

The battery life of this Acer Aspire Laptop model is appreciated : With the Wi-Fi radio turned off, the 9500 lasted for well over three hours unplugged, which is a good runtime for a desktop replacement system. But the test did not run successfully with Wi-Fi on.

The conclusion of this Acer Aspire 9500 review: Overall, the Acer Aspire 9500 is an excellent notebook for entertainment enthusiasts who’d rather have a manageable size and weight over a behemoth that tries to do too much. It’s, ahem, something to aspire to.

Notebook Review features an Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M3438 / M4438 review and writes:

“This notebook’s screen is a 1440 x 900 17″ WXGA LCD with extra bright coating. The colors are just great, very bright and the contrast offered is excellent. There were no dead pixels found on the screen.
The speakers, which consists of two regular front speakers and one subwoofer, are good enough without being anything spectacular. Basically I can say they’re loud enough to watch a DVD with a small group of friends gathered in a room (well, except if they’re the loud type of friends if you know what I mean!)

The 1.87 GHz Intel Pentium M Sonoma class processor is great and can handle the most demanding games (Doom 3, Battlefield 2, etc) with ease, and even HDTV clips in 1080p. I got the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M3438 – M4438 laptop configured with 512MB of RAM instead of 1GB. As we all know, it is cheaper to upgrade the RAM yourself than having the retailer or manufacturer do it at the time of purchase. I plan to buy an additional 1GB.

The hard drive is a quite common 5400RPM 80GB one. I plan to buy one or two 7200RPM hard drives as this beast has a RAID controller! Having a RAID controller is a rather strange decision on a laptop though, you see that in servers usually. Following are the results from the HDtach program when run agains this 5400RPM hard drive”

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M3438 – M4438 Review – Conclusion

Apart from the lack of Bluetooth, I’m still looking for things that should be improved. This is a great desktop replacement 17″ screen laptop, and if you want a Dell Inspiron 9300 equivalent, with a nicer design and for less money – well here it is!

Read more about the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M4438

Notebook Review has a Panasonic R4 review and writes:

The Panasonic R4 is the smallest and lightest notebook of Panasonic’s Let’s Note lineup. Weighing only 2.2lb, Panasonic R4 laptop is also one of the lightest notebooks on the market. The prior model, the R3, was recently updated to the R4. The update included moving to a 1.2 GHz Pentium M processor, the more recent 915GM Intel Chipset, and upgrading to DDR2 ram. Besides the R4 badge, the units casing remained the same. The unit also features an extra long 9 hour claimed battery life.

And the verdict of this Panasonic R4 review:
“All summed up I am very happy with this notebook. I would NOT recommend it to someone shopping for a primary computer who is not planning on taking it with them often. One could buy a notebook with many more features and luxuries for much less money. However for the person looking for a no frills ultraportable with a long battery, lightweight, and compact design this notebook is perfect. I cannot stress enough how small and lightweight this machine is, while still being extremely practical for everyday use.”

Reviewed Panasonic R4 specs:
Read the rest of this entry »

News.com reports : GM drives Hummer-branded laptop:

General Motors is expected to announce a new laptop next week that’s styled after its popular Hummer multi-terrain vehicles.

The carmaker has signed an exclusive three-year licensing agreement with Spokane, Wash.-based Itronix to make a portable computer designed for people who work outdoors: police officers, firefighters, claims adjusters and construction workers, for example, as well as people who own a Hummer and are fascinated by anything related to the oversize vehicles.

GM – Itronix Hummer Laptops

Itronix makes laptops and tablet PCs for the U.S. military, said it wanted to style a new category of “semi-ruggedized” laptop. Priced at $2,988, the hummer laptops come with enough padding to survive six separate drops from a height of 30 inches onto two 3/4-inch sheets of plywood placed on top of concrete.

The Hummer Laptop PC specs include a 1.86GHz Intel Centrino Pentium processor, a 12.1-inch color display, 512MB of memory, a DVD/CD-R/W combination drive, 802.11a/g/b wireless connectivity and Microsoft’s XP Professional operating system.

“Both computers have a flip-out LED light to illuminates the screen and help users work in low-light conditions. The laptops also come with four wireless radios, including an integrated GPS antenna that helps Microsoft Streets and Trips map software locate your position and help you to your destination, Gerber said.”

The Itronix Hummer laptop’s battery life is approximately four hours which can be pushed to seven hours with a battery extender.

The GM Hummer laptop will be available at Hummer car dealerships from November 1.

PC World features a Toshiba Tecra M4-S515 review and writes : ‘The Toshiba Tecra M4-S515 is a nicely designed convertible notebook that’s easy to use as a tablet PC. It has plenty of ports accessible in both tablet and laptop modes, but our test unit’s touchpad didn’t always work.

To convert the M4-S515 into a tablet, you have to swivel the 14.1-inch screen clockwise and lay it flat against the keyboard. Along with the touch screen, the M4-S515 offers two keyboard pointing devices: an eraserhead and a touchpad. The eraserhead worked fine, but the touchpad did not. No matter how I tweaked the settings, the touchpad wouldn’t reliably select text when I dragged my finger across it. Selection usually required several swipes, and sometimes it didn’t work at all.’

Read more about Toshiba Tecra M4