Computer Shop

Novatech has started shipping GTX280 laptops (at last!). They were announced way back at the beginning of March at Cebit, but finally they seem to be hitting the shop floors in the UK.

The X90 GTX 280 Clevo whitebox features a 17″ display, three 500GB 7200RPM HDDs or three 64GB SSDs in a RAID 5 configuration, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a Blu-ray reader DVD/RW multi burner, Nvidia GTX 280 Graphics, an 802.11n wireless LAN and a whole host of other connectivity options.

Novatech is also handing customers the opportunity to customise the much sought after laptop/console with a ‘modify’ button on their website allowing potential buyers to heighten or strip down the specifications to suit their desires and budget.

Already, Novatech seems to be creating a bit of a buzz as their general prices seem to undercut the competition, with the standard X90 going for £1493.85 including VAT, whilst the Pro version is going for £1666.35. Very reasonable. And that’s not all – for Novatech will be the UK’s first e-tailer to put Nvidia’s GTX280M and GTX260M graphics (and Intel’s Core i7) into a laptop.

For those with money to burn, Novatech will thrown in an Intel Extreme QX9300 2.53GHz 12MB Cache 1066FSB Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor instead of the standard Core 2 Duo Mobile P8400 for an additional £900. Wallet-wadded consumers can also swap out the standard 250GB hard drive for a 160GB Intel X25M MLC Solid State 2.5″ Hard Disk Drive, or a 256GB Samsung PB22-J Solid State 2.5″ Hard Disk Drive for £600 and £540 respectively.

The appearance of these excellent Clevos could be shock to the system for Dell, however, which has been splashing the cash promoting its Alienware offerings as “the fastest notebook on earth.” Alienware reckon they have ‘pwned’ their competition with the unveiling of ‘the most powerful 17-inch gaming laptop in the world’, the M17x, but the Clevo could well give the Dell-owned £1700 machine a run for its money.

Intel has embarked on a simplification of branding for its PC chips, saying it would phase out the Centrino name and consolidate desktop and laptop processors under the Core umbrella.

In what apparently will create a smoother structure, Centrino will be dumped in favour of three processor levels - the Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3. The first represents the best performing chips while the latter reflects the lower end of the spectrum. Starting next year, Core i7 and Core i5 chips would include Intel’s vPro security and management technology used by many firms.

The Centrino name, introduced in 2003, would be ditched as a mobile PC platform brand beginning in 2010. Instead, it would become the new name for Intel’s Wi-Fi and WiMax wireless product lines. Centrino is used currently to cover a combination of mainboard chipset, mobile processor and wireless network interface for laptops.

Intel would continue to use the Celeron name for chips targeted at inexpensive, entry-level computers, and the Pentium brand for PCs that provide basic computing. The Atom name would continue to be used for processors targetting devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones.

Intel said the changes are necessary because the current structure is too convoluted for consumers and businesses. “The fact of the matter is, we have a complex structure with too many platform brands, product names, and product brands, and we’ve made things confusing for consumers and IT buyers in the process,” Intel spokesman Bill Calder said.

However, independent bloggers refute this statement, claiming that the changes do nothing to inform customers how the Core chip would perform. Apparently the logic of having chip names that actually tell the user what is inside them has escaped Intel.
“If you buy a Core 2 Duo, punters know that they are getting a two-core processor made out of Core 2. Usually the clock speed is advertised as well. But what the hell is a Core i5 when it is at home?” asks one blogger?

“It seems the mystery is only open to those in Intel’s marketing department,” replied another miffed writer.

Changing branding is not uncommon for companies, particularly when the naming structure is seen as getting too complex for customers. Intel formally launched the Core i7 brand in November of last year with the release of quad-core desktop products.

A Conservative MP from Devon has paid back nearly £400 he claimed on expenses for a designer leather carrying case for his laptop. Hugo Swire, MP for east Devon, paid £395 for the laptop bag from Mulberry – the luxury accessories company.
Many of the brand’s products are said to be favoured by A-list celebrities. Mr Swire said he had not been asked to pay back his expenses claim for the laptop bag but after consulting his colleagues, he thought he should do as it may be deemed “extravagant”.
“It’s a leather one - I use it every day,” he said. “But when you start going through four years of expenses pile after pile the only thing that stuck out was this bag. I thought it could be extravagant, I took a sounding from the rest of my office and I offered to pay it back so I paid it back fully. I have not been asked to pay it back by anyone but it was the one thing that I thought could be deemed perhaps to be extravagant.”
Swire is one of many MPs who have been embarrassed after their claims were made public, sparking an expenses row which has seen many fired or walk out, including House of Commons speaker Michael Martin. The news also comes as Scotland Yard has decided to launch an investigation into the alleged misuse of expenses by a small number of MPs and peers. Police say its economic and specialist crime command will investigate.
Labour’s David Chaytor has admitted he is one of the MPs under scrutiny, and his party colleague Elliot Morley is also understood to be interviewed. Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph says more than 50 MPs have claimed expenses for council tax they have not paid. The MPs are said to have claimed more than the rates of tax published by town halls.
Mr Chaytor said his solicitor had been contacted by the police and that he would co-operate fully with the investigation once he was invited for an interview.
“I want to explain my case, explain what happened. I’ve acknowledged that there is an error here and I want to clear my name,” Chaytor said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing police investigation; however we always expect all Labour Party representatives and members to cooperate fully with the police. The Labour Party has already taken tough action on expenses, including barring MPs found to have broken the rules from standing as Labour candidates at the next general election.”
The Conservative Party has declined to comment.
The decision to launch an investigation follows several weeks of preliminary inquiries by a team of police investigators, prosecutors and legal experts.

The economic crisis is even forcing Apple to open a summer sale that looks like it’s here to stay. The Californian electronics company recently cut prices from 5% to 15% on most MacBook laptops, from the 13-inch machine now dubbed MacBook Pro, to the slim MacBook Air. The revamped MacBooks include SD card slots for convenient photo and video downloading and built-in batteries that will last up to seven hours.
Apple also announced that its new Macintosh operating system, Snow Leopard, will go on sale in September for just $29 (£18), which is $100 (£61) less than the last operating system makeover, Leopard.
“We are surprised by Apple’s aggressive reductions,” analyst Gene Munster says.
The moves reflect reduced component costs, dramatic price cuts among laptop competitors and a recession that has lead to a 7% first-quarter drop in global PC sales according to the technology research firm IDC. During that period, Apple’s US market share slipped 1.2% whilst in the second quarter, laptop sales were down 2% and desktops down 4%.
“Lowering their prices was a big move for them,” IDC analyst Richard Shim says. “When a lot of your competitors are lowering their prices, you look ridiculous when you are too far above the fray. They’ve got to respond to the market.”
Nevertheless, MacBooks remain in the higher echelons when it comes to price. Apple’s least expensive model is the $999 white laptop with a polycarbonate plastic exterior. Some competitors’ notebooks — the mini-laptops that became popular after Asus launched its Eee PC brand — sell for around $300. And regular non-Apple laptops running on Windows are going for $500 to $800.
“This pricing activity is really only incremental,” said Stephen Baker, vice president at NPD Group, which tracks the retail industry. “Apple isn’t trying to compete in the bargain basement of the PC market, nor is it expanding its distribution to outlets that might have a lower-price reputation. That would be damaging to its premium brand.”

Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook backed this stance when quizzed on whether the company would be looking to produce budget alternatives to suit the current climate: “When I look at what is being sold in the laptop space today, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens — and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly,” he said. “It is a segment we would choose not to play in.”

Tesco is going head to head with Carphone Warehouse, offering free laptops to customers who purchase many of its mobile broadband packages.
The grocery and retail supermarket giant, which openly aspires to become the UK’s leading telecoms player, is offering two free laptop models at 50 of its in-store phone shops with a selection of mobile broadband packages from the network providers Orange and 3. The retailer is hungry for a big slice of the 200,000 per month dongle market with new laptop deals, and will sell the networked dongles bundled with a choice of around 30 ‘free’ laptops.
Tesco’s move follows the mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse’s launch of combined free laptop and mobile broadband packages in September 2007. Carphone Warehouse now sells a wide range of reduced-price and subsidised laptops from Dell to Toshiba, with all major network providers – apart from Vodafone – in all of its 820 stores.
Lance Batchelor, the chief executive of Tesco Mobile and Tesco Telecoms, said: “We believe that mobile broadband is going to really take off in 2009 and we want to help our customers get the very best deals, making it easier than ever for them to stay connected wherever they are.”
One senior director at a rival said: ‘Tesco are a bit late. Mobile broadband “really took off” last year. They are playing catch up.’

Tesco plans to open 100 dedicated ‘phone shops’ by March 2010, and to have them in all of the 210 Tesco Extra supermarkets in around two to three years’ time. Their current in-store deals include a free Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop with a 24-month mobile broadband package from 3 at £29.36 a month.
The Tesco vs Carphone Warehouse battle coincides with the epic news that Carphone is scrapping their much-loved company icon, ‘Mowbli’. The company is returning to its ‘simple, impartial advice’ strap line as it looks to relaunch as a mobile and laptop provider. Carphone is believed to have attempted ditching ‘Mowbli’ three times since the start of the year, with the character considered no longer relevant given the retailer’s moves into laptops and broadband.

Gamers rejoice! Alienware reckon they have ‘pwned’ their competition with the unveiling of ‘the most powerful 17-inch gaming laptop in the world’, the M17x. Certainly an audacious claim, but it could well prove to be justified as the laptop hits the shop shelves in what is Alienware’s most important release since being bought out by Dell back in 2006.

According to the company themselves: ‘Alienware M17X laptop combines brains with brawn to give you the ultimate Hi-def mobile gaming and entertainment powerhouse. With mind-blowing graphics, the latest generation of processors and its new industrial design, you’ll have the universe bowing before you. Be all powerful, it’s yours for the taking.’

Riveting stuff, but let’s take a closer look. Using an entirely new design scheme, the large chassis of the M17x is built from anodised aluminium and is available in a choice of metallic silver or black finishes, but what actually lies within that ‘brawn’?

Well, buyers can configure their systems from a range of Intel Core 2 Duo, Quad and Extreme processors, and up to 8GB of DDR3 memory. Up to 1TB of hard disk space or 256GB of Solid State Drive storage can also be configured, and a Blu-ray drive can be added for full HD compatibility. A choice of nVidia GeForce GTX 260M or 280M GPUs running alone or in an SLI configuration can be chosen for utmost performance.

You can also switch between dedicated and integrated graphics to save power when required and extra features include facial recognition software, a backlit keyboard, a dual CCFL backlit LCD screen and a 2-megapixel webcam.

The most striking aspect of the laptop is the glowing red lighting which emanates from every possible orifice including the keyboard, trackpad, and ‘grill’, declaring in chest-thumping style “I’m a gaming laptop” to anyone who dares approach it.

Available now, the M17x starts at £1699 (inc. VAT) which includes Quad 9000 (2.0GHz). You need to spend around an extra £700 to buy the Quad Extreme QX9300 (2.53GHz).

Remember how everyone used to wrap their school textbooks in funky gift-wrap or magazine pages to liven them up a bit? Well, with textbooks dying out and many schools now making their curriculum available online, it seems only right that students can continue to glam-up their work and now they can thanks to Dell’s new Design Studio which allows customers to customise the design of their laptop lid. (We say ‘new’ – of course it’s been around in the US for yonks but finally it gets the red carpet treatment in the UK.)

At a Paris press conference, Dell revealed that purchasers of a Studio 15 or 17 laptop will be able to select from over 200 different lid designs. Artists whose work is available include Derek Welch, Dell favourite Mike Ming, and - if you’d like to personalise for a cause - (PRODUCT) RED designs from Joseph Amedokpo, Bruce Mau and Siobhan Gunning – with proceeds from these sales donated to AIDS-related projects in Africa. As of yet, there has been no official line on customisable lids for other models.

However, breaking the mould will of course add to the cost of the default laptop. Choosing a different coloured lid to the standard black lid for a Studio 15 notebook costs an extra £29. For more ornate designs, you’ll be forking out an added £69.

“You can pick from over 200 designs that we’ve commissioned exclusively,” says Michael Tatelman, Dell’s vice president of consumer sales and marketing. He also promised that more designs would be on the way. “You’ll also see various things coming over time that will allow you to associate potentially various music acts or sports teams or other things.” Customers can’t currently add their own designs to laptop lids but this ‘could be’ available in the future.

To try out the Design Studio for yourself, visit www.dell.com/studio

A popular broadband news and price comparison site vows that consumers can now get themselves a laptop in a new mobile broadband deal which works out cheaper than a cup of coffee in a high street café.

By allowing consumers to spread their payments over a prolonged period of time, mobile broadband laptop offers have enabled many people to buy portable computers affordably. Such offers have also allowed people to purchase higher-end laptops over the £500 mark which would normally have been too expensive.

The monthly cost of these mobile broadband deals have reduced quite significantly in 2009 and a new deal being offered by 3 has helped bring this down even further, with a cost of £22.50 per month for a deal offering 15GB of data downloads and an Acer Aspire A150b laptop, which compared to the stand-alone mobile broadband package at £15 per month is only an extra £7.50 to fork out which industry experts hail as being cheaper than a weekly coffee on your way to work.

An industry spokesperson said: “With cheap laptop deals proliferating by the hour, the days of a laptop being thought of as a luxury purchase are long gone. Combining the purchase of a laptop with a mobile broadband connection can offer astonishing value. A price point of £22.50 a month for a laptop and 15GB of mobile broadband means that even in these troubled times, many people can afford to own a great laptop simply by making some small sacrifices. 3’s deal is a perfect offer for students or for anyone who wants to spread the cost of a laptop purchase.”

The monthly cost to users has been further reduced with the data usage allowance of 15GB which, according to experts who have found that most mobile broadband users only download 1.2GB of data each month on average, means that users over-stepping their download limit is now a rare occurrence.

Mobile broadband currently covers a large majority of the UK at speeds of over 7 Mbps. Average speeds vary depending on location, so it’s advisable to check broadband coverage in your area before signing up to any mobile broadband deal, contract or otherwise.

The Sony VAIO NW laptop seems set to start a portable price war, promising to deliver the best priced Blu-ray laptop available in the UK, bringing the technology within every household budget.
The VAIO NW will hit the shop floors in the US next month with a starting price of $800 (£485), or including Blu-ray for an extra $85 (£50). So what do you get for your money?
Well, the 15.5-inch laptop delivers a true 16:9 aspect ratio screen and built-in Blu-ray player for quite possibly the best HD on a budget around. As far as the main spec is concerned, the VAIO NW is motored by an Intel 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor in tandem with 4096MB of memory, 400GB hard drive and the added choice of a capacity 5.5 hour battery.
It possesses an isolated keyboard for more restful typing and a translucent, textured touchpad (not multi-touch). There’s a display off button for saving power and a ‘instant internet’ button for browsing without having to boot-up Windows (64-bit Visa Home Premium supplied). Media playback is a big focus of the new notebooks, with Sony using its XBrite-Eco LCD displays and an HDMI output for High Def playback.
With a “wavy textured finish”, available in three colours - walnut brown, birch white, and rattan silver - and bundled with the excellent media software you’d expect from Sony, the Vaio NW range is sure to be as popular as the original VAIO range, especially considering it will retail at around half the price of the base 15” MacBook.
For the time being, Sony VAIO NW is only on sale in the US and there has been little word of a UK launch but, if the pricing continues in the same vein, this could prove to be one of the most aggressively-priced multimedia laptops out there.

In this day and age, it isn’t uncommon for children to be more au-fait with technology than their parents; many have grown up in tandem with a mobile phone or portable games console such as a Nintendo DS, so it comes as little surprise that Disney are now looking to piggyback on this youthful exuberance with their own range of ‘Netpal’ laptop computers specifically built and designed for children between the ages of 6 and 12.

The mammoth media and entertainment company will release two different notebooks - the Pink Princess for girls and the Blue Magic for boys – and rather than just slap a Disney logo on the lid of an established laptop already on the market, they are designing the products from scratch in order to truly tailor them for this new target market.

“We think there’s a significant opportunity to grow the market for laptops with kids,” said Disney Vice President of Electronics Chris Heatherly. “They really want a simple but powerful experience. They want to surf the Internet. They want to be able to do simple e-mail. They want to be able to do simple word processing and documents.”

Disney aren’t daft – they’re capitalising on a laptop market that is expected to flourish with researcher IDC forecasting a 300% growth in the children’s computer sector this year, compared to 2008 –  yet they’ll be fully aware of they competition they will face from some established major players such as Dell and Hewlett Packard.

“We’re bringing a lot to the party,” Heatherly said. “We’re bringing great, fun Disney content for kids to play. We’re bringing a lot of security for the parents.”

The Netpal is said to based loosely on the popular Asus Eee PC, which will be music to the ears of those who witnessed Disney’s first sortie into the laptop market in 2004 when their offering came complete with Mickey Mouse-style ears. Its 8.9-inch screen illuminates with Disney’s set of characters, and children can vary between whether they want a Toy Story, Cars, or WALL-E desktop theme amongst many others.

The Disney Netpal MK90 will be retailed exclusively in Toys “R” Us and features a 16GB SSD while the Disney Netpal MK90H will ship with a huge 160GB HDD for all those High School Musical soundtracks. Both laptops will come equipped with 1GB of memory, an Intel ATOM N270 processor, built-in Wi-Fi and three USB terminals.

The Netpal will be unveiled in the US next month at around 350$ (£215).