Have Laptop Will Travel

Time Travel to the Oldest Universities of the World

Originally posted on May 24, 2011 @ 3:55 am

This is the real educational tour plus time travel—visiting the oldest universities of the world. There is no smarter way to traveling with your laptop than visiting the prestigious universities that started all the gems of learning.

University of Bologna. It is the first university to use the word “university” during its foundation. No wonder why it’s also the oldest university in the world. The establishment itself is an interesting piece of artifact. So walking around the university is already an exciting time travel.

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General Dynamics Itronix GD8200 for the Klutz

Originally posted on June 22, 2011 @ 10:08 am

GD8200Well I don’t really think that defense contractor General Dynamics-Itronix was thinking of klutzes when they designed their newest laptop, but the end result will serve klutzes very well. General GD-Itronix recently unveiled the GD8200, which is supposed to be only the first of a line of rugged laptops. To all the other “rugged laptop” makers, it seems GD-Itronix is saying “move over!”

Being a defense contractor, GD-Itronix obviously had law enforcement people in mind when the idea for the laptop was conceived. Think of the military types. Think of the jumping out of planes kind of people. Think police officers who need a laptop on the field. Naturally, the last thing these people would worry about in the face of an emergency is making sure not to drop or jar the laptop. And that’s where the GD8200 comes into the picture.

This laptop has undergone so many tests that the average human being would not be able to withstand. It is meant to function under extreme conditions and can even be used after repeated “falls” on concrete floors. I can’t seem to find information on exactly what kind of material they used for the casing, but whatever it is, I sure wish that Apple would start making laptops using the same material! ;)

Specs-wise, the GD8200 is not unimpressive. It has a second generation Intel Core i7-2655LE dual-core processor which runs at 2.0GHz. This can go as high as 2.9GHz, though, thanks for Intel’s Turbo Boost 2.0 technology. The base model comes with 2GB of RAM, upgradable up to 8GB.

As for the data storage, the GD8200 has all the possible options – from the usual hard disk drives (500GB or 750 GB) to solid state drives (120GB or 256GB) to hybrid drives (500GB). And it doesn’t stop there. This laptop is not only rugged, but it has a touchscreen as well! The screen will work whether you use your finger (with or without gloves! Of course, spies have to use gloves!) or a stylus.

Next month, the GD8200 will be available for only $4,460 – base model. Now if only it weren’t such an eyesore!

Via

Intel Hopes to Introduce Game Changer in Laptop World

Originally posted on May 25, 2011 @ 2:41 am

It seems that technology can do just about anything. From directing your every move, to what you’re going to eat for dinner, to using a reverse phone lookup. Even though their presence has increased in our lives, some companies are doing better than others. The PC hasn’t been doing to well for years now. Apple has been hitting the market, like clockwork, with increasingly newer and fresher innovations that, coupled with an aggressive marketing campaign, has made them a consumer favorite. Most Apple products are far more expensive than their PC counterpart but people are still driven to purchase these high-end machines. Some say that their increased reliability and brand recognition are just a few of the reasons for this success but PC’s aren’t out of the game. Some PC manufactures hope to revitalize their candidacy for supremacy in the computing market with newer sleeker laptops.

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Dell’s Answer to the MacBook Air: XPS 15z

Originally posted on May 18, 2011 @ 9:03 am

Dell XPS 15zEarlier this month, computer manufacturer Dell released a video designed to keep users wanting for more. The video featured what is already being labeled as Dell’s reply to Apple’s MacBook Air: the XPS 15z.

This laptop is supposed to be a continuation of Dell’s Adamo line, which has already been discontinued. This continuation, however, just might hold a lot of promise. Details are rather sparse – in keeping with the theme of doling out bits of information, I suppose – but we know that the laptop will be 15.6 inches and that the whole idea is to go for a streamlined and sleek look. As for the thickness (or thinness, maybe) of the laptop, no concrete numbers have been mentioned, although statements such as the XPS 15z will be “the thinnest laptop in its class” are being thrown around. Since we know that the Adamo was 0.65 inches thick, it is perhaps safe to assume that the XPS 15z will be thinner than that?

Also, rumor has it that the XPS 15z is built around Intel’s Sandy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 processors. That ought to address concerns that Dell’s new offering might prove to be a disappointment in terms of performance, which was the case with the now dead Adamo.

Oh, the price? Somewhere below the $1,000 mark.

Aside from this information, Dell is being rather tight-lipped about the whole thing. You can’t really blame them, what with the extremely rough competition these days. Anyhow, see the video for yourself below.

Having seen the video and having read all the available details, would you say that Dell is successful in trying to build up hype for its ultra-thin laptop? I have to be honest and say that I found the video to be underwhelming. Sure, I’d love to see what they come up with, but only because I want to know if there is finally a worthy Windows-based laptop to compare the Mac to.

Got an HP Laptop? Your Battery Might Have Been Recalled

Originally posted on June 1, 2011 @ 1:30 pm

HP Battery
The grapevine has been afire with news about Hewlett-Packard’s most recent recall of defective batteries. I say most recent as the announcement that was made last week, affecting 162,000 lithium-ion batteries, is not the first that has been made. Affected HP users will definitely not forget the worldwide recall that was done last year. There was also an earlier announcement made – a week before this latest announcement.

The problem is simple, but the results of any malfunction can be painful: the defective batteries may overheat and rupture. Obviously, if you’re using the laptop when/if this happens, you can get serious burns. Otherwise, you run the risk of setting your home/office on fire, just like what has happened to some users in 2010.

So if you have an HP laptop, how do you know if you need to get in touch with HP (and not waste their – and your – time in case you are not affected)?

Certain HP laptops that were manufactured between July 2007 and May 2008 are affected by the problem. So the first thing to do is to check when your laptop was manufactured. If it does not fall in between those dates, go on with your life. If your laptop was manufactured in that period, here is a complete list of model numbers and battery bar codes: US Consumer Product Safety Commission announcement. A quick list: HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP, and HP Compaq.

Once you have determined that your laptop and battery are included in the list, do another check by visiting HP’s validation process web site. From there, you can also start the process of requesting a replacement battery, which is of course, free of charge.

I hope that you are not affected, but if you are, best get that battery replaced NOW!

Photo via Complaints Board