Have Laptop Will Travel

Facebook gets a Facelift

Originally posted on April 11, 2007 @ 9:54 am

Facebook gets a Facelift

As a student, I spend at least an hour a day on Facebook. The addictive feed of recent friends activity on the front page is updated every few minutes and I find myself checking back when I should be studying or working on other important things.

Last night Facebook rolled out a major update with the goal of making their service simpler, more flexible, and to make their network structure more relevant. Facebook’s blog summarizes the new features quite well:

1. A navigation and profile simplification—Ever feel like you couldn’t find what you were looking for on that long left menu? We’ve redistributed all these menu options into “Core Aspects” on the top menu, “Applications” on the left menu, Settings on the top right, and everything else at the footer of the page. As for the profile, we’ve added drop-down menus to the top of every user’s profile page, making it easier to get to the information you want to see. You can read more about the navigation changes here.

2. The introduction of “Inbox”—The former “My Messages” and “My Shares” pages have been redesigned to make the communication between you and your friends easier. Now you can send a group of your friends a message with or without a shared link, and easily track the ensuing conversation in one “thread” in your Inbox.

3. Network Pages—To make networks more relevant to their real-world counterparts, we’ve built out pages where network members, events, trends, and demographic info are displayed. Anything visible on a Network page is something that is already accessible to members of that network, and we’ve added additional “Publicize” options to groups and events that make it easy to distinguish what will and will not appear on your Network page. In addition, each page has a full version for members of the networks, and a public version—with certain kinds of information blocked—for people outside that network.

Personally, I could not be more happy with these changes. One of my biggest annoyances with Facebook was the amount of clicks that it took to get somewhere, now I can get to any page just a couple clicks. I am still undecided about the inbox share as I have not really used it yet; shares were a flop in past Facebook updates.

As for the network pages, they have already become a love-hate. New features called network statistics list things such as top movies and political view percentage. These are all very interesting but I myself with just one more thing to check every 10 minutes when I am four hours into a marketing assignment. Good job Facebook.

Asus releases new upgradeable notebook

Originally posted on July 31, 2007 @ 10:27 pm

I know I’ve talked about gaming notebooks yesterday but having read this new gaming notebook from Asus — I just have to write about it.

I am quite excited by the Asus C90 because of the company’s claim that it is upgradeable (Asus has even decided to market it as a “tailor made” notebook computer). The machine, which has a 15.4 inch widescreen monitor capable of displaying a resolution of 1680 x 1050 has a Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor. Asus said that this is of the desktop variety.

What is quite interesting about the C90 though is that the processor can actually be overclocked. This is the first time I’ve heard of an overclockable notebook computer. Asus said that the C90 can reach up to 2.93Ghz. What makes this feat even possible is the Turbo Gear technology that does the job of keeping the machine cool. It does this through fan control and thermal module technologies that are in place.

Asus has really made the notebook’s innards easily accessible. It is easy to swap the CPU, the graphics card, RAM, the hard disk and even the optical drive. This feature really drives home the fact that it has also entered the desktop replacement territory.

Other great features of the C90 include a built in 2 megapixel rotating CMOS camera with a face traking capability, a finger print scanner and a tv tuner.

Now who wouldn’t want to get one of these babies?

The Asus Eee brings ultraportables to the masses

Originally posted on July 20, 2007 @ 8:02 am

I’ve been using laptops for the last few years. For me, the one big benefit of using a laptop is that it has unshackled us from our desks. We can now work anywhere we want, communicate with coworkers and loved ones wherever we are and have a convenient and deep storage for the various files that are important to us.

I have to admit though that sometimes I wish I can just bring a notebook and pen with me for the simple reason that laptops are quite heavy. Yes, over the years laptops have continuously shaved off the unwanted poundage but they can still give you a good workout. Ultraportables are now quite fashionable for those who want svelte and ultra lightweight computers but what they lost in weight, they gain in currency. These are very expensive gadgets and only those with very deep pockets can really take advantage of them. People like me, who are not necessarily swimming in money, are left out of this exclusive club.

Thus, it is with great anticipation that I am looking forward to Asus‘ newest entry in the ultraportable market. The Asus Eee PC 701 is one of the newest entrants in the ultraportable market. But it’s trump card is its price. At just $200 for the entry level 4GB version, this 7-inch marvel can revolutionize the whole market by bringing the benefits of having a super compact computer within reach of everyone.

Tomorrow I’ll be talking more about the specs of the Asus Eee. I have to say that at this point I am already eager to get my hands on one.

Acer Gemstone Series offers bang for the buck laptops

Originally posted on July 23, 2007 @ 7:44 pm

The worldwide prices for laptops have been steadily going down the last few years with no sacrifice in features and quality. In fact, the features that are being packed into laptops are actually making laptops more value-laden. For example, even mid-range and value-range laptops are being fitted with powerful onboard video that now allow users to play the latest games on their laptops. This was a feature that was only found in top of the line models a few years back.

One laptop that I was recently looking at is the Gemstone series from Acer. This range of low to mid range laptops are some of the most feature laden that I have seen in years. And at a price that is just within the $1,000 range for the AMD Turion-powered 4520 series, laptops have now entered the impulse-buy territory (I almost bought the laptop last weekend!).

As for features, aside from the aformentioned nifty onboard video (an Nvidia GeForce 8400 for the 4520G) , it has a built in 5 in 1 card reader, generous memory, built-in webcam for making video calls, and CrystalBrite LCD. Being a music lover, I particularly love the fact that the Gemstone Series has build int Dolby Digital Surround Sound. A fellow audio nut I know who recently bought this laptop claims that mp3s played on the Acer Gemstone sounds infinitely better compared to his iPod. He even said he’ll be ditching his headphone amp because he won’t need it anymore.

I hope I can find an Acer Gemstone under my Christmas tree this December.

Computers and depreciation

Originally posted on August 10, 2007 @ 9:06 pm

I recently visited the buy and sell section of one of my favorite online forums. I periodically do this because I have discovered that some really great bargains could be had from the buy and sell section. I was doing the virtual equivalent of window shopping when I chanced upon an ad posted by one of the forum members. This guy was selling his old iMac G4 20″ desktop PC for about $1,199. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The ad further explained that the G4 had been used for a fe w years and that he initially bought the iMac for $2,800.

If you look at the numbers you’d think that you’re getting a real bargain. The guy must be crazy if he’s selling it at that low price! The seller may think that he’s offering a great bargain price, but in reality, he’s ripping off any prospective buyers. Here is where the iniquity of depreciation kicks in. A cursory look in eBay and you will discover that the highest bid for a used but good condition iMac G4 is $200. Yes, a measly 200 bucks. And to put it in a better perspective, the newly released iMac Aluminum, that marvel of desktop architecture, has a base price of, hold on, $1,199. That’s the price being offered by the seller in that buy and sell section!

Depreciation really sucks especially when it involves items that you paid so much money for. The seller may not have any intention of tricking hapless buyers and only wants to recoup some of his investment on a PC. But the sad reality is, the moment you buy a computer, whether it’s a desktop PC or a laptop, it is already obsolete and have devalued in price.

If you have any intention of recouping your investment in computers. Follow this simple advice: Sell it off after two years. Even then, the most that you can get is maybe half of what you paid for it.