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 »

Note: Be sure to read our full review on the Acer Timeline.

Acer has just released new version of their popular Acer Timeline Series. The Acer AS3810TZ-4078 has many great things all in one package: 8-10 hour battery life, fast CPU, quiet operation, excellent screen quality, and evenly spaced keyboard. Another bonus: it comes with Windows 7! Yeah! The only negative is that you’ll have to get rid of the bloatware the machine comes preinstalled with. This a great system for students or business people on the go or for basis everyday computing. Some users are getting beyond 10 hours with minor system tweaking. Amazing.

Newegg is selling the AS3810TZ-4078 for $549 ($150 off the $699 retail price) with free shipping. You can buy it at this discounted price until November 22nd.
Read More about the Acer Timeline

Product: MacBook Pro 13-inch
NotebookManufacturer: Apple
Wired Rating: 8

The littlest MacBook Pro finally gets all the features of its larger brethren, making it pound for pound one of the most impressive laptops on the market today. For starters, the aluminum unibody construction is solid to an extreme: There’s no wiggle or shimmy when you lift up this laptop. It’s a high-tech brick that, if you gathered enough of, you could probably pave your driveway with. Read the rest of this entry »

Every once and a while a notebook emerges on the scene that sets a whole new standard. In recent years laptops have come forth that are powerful, sleek, and lightweight. However, until now, most laptops have been lacking in the most important feature of all: battery life. This summer Acer released the Timeline Series – 13″, 14″ and 15′” laptops that have stellar battery life.  The Acer Timeline 4810T has a 9 hour battery life! Imagine that! Turn your laptop on in the morning & use it on battery power all day. Other positives abound: wireless N connectivity, slim 1″ of thickness, 4.2lb package, cool & quiet system. It’s two negatives, the mediocre screen and choppy high-def playback, are frustrating but in this case the positives vastly outweigh the negatives.

The 4810T has dual core 1.4Ghz processors, a 320GB (5400 RPM) Hard drive, 4GB (DDR3) RAM, 14-inch 1366 x 768 resolution screen, and Windows Vista. This laptop is designed for the consumer looking for a basic laptop or semiportable business machine. See the Acer Timeline 4810T

Last year Best Buy introduced what they called Blue Label laptops – they were HP & Toshiba laptops that featured thin and lightweight designs, long battery life, backlit keyboards, and two-year warranties. This year Toshiba just released the the Satellite E105-S1602. It’s an improved Blue Lapel laptops with much lower recession pricing. Best Buy is the only store that sells E105-S1602 at the $899.99 price.

The E105-S1602 is built with sturdy construction, a longer 5.5hr battery life, and bright 14″ screen. The E105-S1602 comes with Intel Core 2 Duo (2 GHz), 4 GB (DDR2) RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, has Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, weights 5.1 lbs, and has a nice sized 14.1 TFT active matrix LCD screen. See it on Toshiba’s website. Read More About this Laptop