Top end laptops: everybody wants one but most of us can’t afford one. Those lucky enough to have an extra $2,299 laying around can purchase the Sony Vaio VPCZ116GX/S and be happy with high end componets! This 13 inch Ultra Thin has a CPU (2.4GHz Intel Core i5 M520) and Graphics Card (Nvidia GeForce GT 330M) that packs enough power to play mid level games and multitask with ease. The high end 256GB SSD hard drive is very fast and outperforms older SATA hard drives.  The thing weighs 3.0 pounds and has a battery that lasts about 3 hours. Other nice features are the optical drive and the Windows 7 64 bit OS.

TopTechReviews describes that outer body of the system is made up of a combination of brushed metal and magnesium giving it a sturdy look. The base of the keyboard is made up of silver the keys are black. TopTechReviews seemed to think the that raised island style keyboard has keys that are a little bit small and the spacing between keys is a bit too much. Three quick-launch buttons sit above the keyboard. One launches a built-in suite of Sony support resources and troubleshooting apps and easy access to tech support contact info. The second is user assignable, and the third launches Sony’s Media Gallery software. The touchpad is very usable and amazing.

The 13.3-inch wide-screen LED display (1,600 x 900 resolution) makes it good for 720p video and gives you plenty of desktop real estate.

CNET was very impressed with the sheer power that the VPCZ116GX/S brings to the table. Intel’s Core i5 ran the multitasking test around twice as fast as the HP Envy 13 we reviewed back in November. The Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics card produced 57.2 frames per second in Unreal Tournament 3 at 1,440×900 pixels. Another cool thing about the VPCZ116GX/S includes are the switchable graphics. When playing 3-D intensive games you can switch the graphics to  ”speed” for high end power. When doing normal everyday computing you can leave the graphics on “stamina” for longer battery life. In overall use, CNET found the Vaio Z116 to be probably the fastest 13-inch laptop they’ve ever used, and “great for effortless multitasking.”

CNET Video Review

Imagine yourself standing in line at Best Buy to buy new laptop. As you stand there you feel yourself in the “outer body experience” of joy and wonder. You’ve been scrimping and saving for 5 months! You are actually holding the brand new unopened box in your hands! You can’t wait to take it home, boot it up, and play with it. Your thoughts of bliss screech are  interrupted by the teenage cashier who mindlessly asks “Do you want to the protection plan for this laptop? It’s $199.”

One Hundred Ninety Nine Dollars! That’s like 35% of the total $799 cost! Wow. Is that worth it?

I’ve been asked these questions over and over for the past 10 years. Ah – the protection plan. Every major big box seller has one. Best Buy, Fry’s, Staples, Radio Shack, on and on. Always when you’re in the middle of the purchase some type of sales person interjects one reason or another to buy their plan. Madness. Read the rest of this entry »

Netbooks like the Toshiba’s NB305-N410 are best used for everyday basic computing (surfing the net, typing documents, & watching videos). It’s 1.66GHz CPU gives average performance levels. The NB305-N410 comes with a 250GB Hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and a 3G wireless card (for getting mobile internet through a wireless carrier). Included are 3 USB ports can charge any USB device while the netbook is turned off. It also comes with all the standard ports: VGA Out, Ethernet, Headphone, Microphone, and an SD slot.

The best thing about the NB305-N410 is the $399 price. Not bad for a 9 hour machine! This would be a great portable netbook for business or personal travel. The great thing about the NB305-N410 is being able to get internet most everywhere with the activated 3G wireless card. Netbooks like this are taking off and becoming more popular because of they’re lightweight, have a long battery life, have mobile internet, and are easy to use.

Think about all the digital pictures, videos, and documents you have. I just took at look and found that my digital collection includes 7 years of pictures, 3 years of videos, more than 500 music albums, and countless documents. All this data takes up a lot of space – my hard drive is now 2/3 full. It’s definitely time to buy myself another hard drive.

Do you know how full your hard drive is? Do yourself a favor and take a quick look right now. How much data is on it? How much free space do you have? My 250GB hard drive (232 gigs of usable space) has 147 gigs of used space and only 85 gigs of free space. From my experience I’ve found that it’s never good to fill a hard drive more than 2/3 full. Hard drives tend to crash if they’re filled beyond 75%.  Read the rest of this entry »

Make no doubt about it – Alienware is king in the computer gaming world. Their machines cost a pretty buck but deliver top end gaming performance. The Alienware M15x is a vast improvement over previous generations: it’s 15.6″ screen has a shows high def in all it’s glory (1920 x 1080 resolution), it’s Core i7 720QM CPU scores ultra high on PCMark Vantage, and it’s video card scores above average compared to others in its class. The chassis is a little bulky and speaker quality somewhat sub par. At max settings battery life is limited to two hours. CNET gives the M15x 4 out of 5 stars because of the amazingly powerful CPU & Video card.
The top end tricked out system costs $3,199. If you’re a gamer looking for your next rig the M15x is worth every penny.

Remember the old days when laptops were cumbersome, heavy, and had 2 “stellar” two hour battery life? Well those days are long gone. This past summer Intel released a new brand of processor called a CULV that changed the face of mobile computing. Instead of guzzling power it these new CPU’s “sip” from the power source. What does that mean? It means that now laptops get phenomenal 8, 10, and 12 hour battery life! You can literally go all day without having to plug in your machine. More freedom is always good.

I just bought the Toshiba T135-S1309. It’s a 13.3″ Ultra Thin CULV laptop that gets about 8 hours battery life.  The T135-S1309 comes with fairly speedy 1.3Ghz dual core processors, 3GB of RAM, and a spacious 300GB hard drive. The screen is bright and beautiful, ultra thin (1″), and only weighs 3.9 pounds! I’ve found the keyboard very easy to type on; the touch pad is somewhat average but functional. This ultra thin comes with all the basics: wireless N, webcam, card reader, LAN networking, and 3 USB ports. The only things missing are onboard Bluetooth and an optical drive. Most software be can installed via the internet (or external DVD drive) so optical drives really aren’t needed these days. Bluetooth is a nice feature to have but not absolutely required in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

Gateway’s SX2840-01 is a clever improvement of their fabulous SX2800-01. This slim tower has 2.93GHz quad core machine multitasks with ease and has very fast performance. The specs (6GB RAM, 64MB Video Card, 1TB Hard drive) make it perfect for home or office use. It’s got HDMI (video) out which means that you can also use it as a Home Theatre PC. The missing onboard wireless networking can easily be remedied by installing an internal or external device. The SX2840-01 is CNET Editors Choice for Feburary 2010.

You can buy the SX2840-01 for $559 at Newegg and $569 Amazon. Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you know – I’ve been repairing computers for the past 17 years. All technology has evolved over the years I’ve continually heard one statement over and over: “Backup your data.” From the old 486 machines, through the Pentium era, onto to today’s quad core systems…I’ve heard this same “Backup your data” statement so often that it’s almost become a mantra. Back up stuff up so if, for some reason or other you loose your data, you can retrieve it from the backup. If you only have one copy of your data don’t risk loosing it – back it up. More About Backing Up Your Stuff

This week Newegg is featuring the Acer Aspire AS5739G-6959 for $649.99. That’s actually a $150 savings off the usual $799.99 price. It’s nearly identical to the Acer AS5739G-6132 which ranked #1 in our Best 5 Laptops on Newegg – October Edition. This machine’s main two drawing points are the bright 15.6″ LED backlight display (1366 x 768 resolution) and the powerful 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M video card. News flash! This video card is a pure beast according to this user opinion on Tom’s Hardware. It runs World of Warcraft on highest settings! The CPU is a 2.2GHz Intel Dual Core with 4GB RAM and a 320GB Hard drive. The AS5739-6959 also comes with Windows 7 and today’s standard lineup: 720p Webcam, Wireless N, an HDMI port, and 5.1 surround sound (coming out of two built-in stereo speakers and one Tuba CineBass Booster). More About this Acer Laptop