Sony Aplogizes for Battery Problems
Sony has publicly apologized for the woes consumers and laptop manufacturers have experienced because of faulty Lithium-Ion batteries sourced from the company. Worries over battery packs over-heating and catching fire have led several laptop manufacturers including Dell, Apple, Lenovo and Fujitsu to conduct major recall and replacement programs for affected laptop batteries.
AP reports that Sony seems to have been reluctant to admit its faults. This is apparent with how the company executives acted during the press conference, in which they bowed lightly while seated. In contrast, it is a practice by executives of Japanese companies to bow deeply while standing up when they make public apologies.
In particular, Sony claims that the battery problem is not actually a safety issue, but it has grown to be a social one. The company stands by its earlier statement that the battery packs only overheat in rare cases, and when handled a certain way, and that they have launched the voluntary recall program to show their willingness to ensure the safety of laptop consumers.
Still, for avid laptop users like ourselves, any possibility of danger being caused by potentially flammable parts deserves attention by the manufacturers.
Meanwhile, Sony expects this issue to hurt the company’s bottomline, affecting the Japanese economy in general, too. Sony has offered other concessions, too, such as slashing prices of its upcoming PlayStation3 console in the Japanese market. Analysts predict, however, that Sony will be able to weather this storm and still come out to be a strong player in the portable power industry, especially because there are only a few competitors in that field.
Core 2 Duo Apple MacBook Pro Now Available
The rumors that Apple will not be able to use Core 2 Duo processors on its laptops because of legal issues did not run true, after all. Apple has announced that all its new MacBook Pros now feature Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
The entire MacBook Pro line of notebooks now includes the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor and delivers performance that is up to 39 percent faster than the previous generation. All MacBook Pro models now offer double the memory and greater storage capacity than the previous generation, as well as a FireWire 800 port for connecting to high-speed peripherals.
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is already shipping, while the new 17-inch version will start shipping next week.
Acer Aspire 5102WLMi Review
Laptop Magazine has a review up on the Acer Aspire 5102WLMi, a cheap dual-core machine.
A dual-core notebook for less than $900? Acer delivers just that with the AMD Turion 64 X2-powered Aspire 5102WLMi, which boasts strong multitasking performance along with all the features you could want in a 15.4-inch notebook.
Style mavens may not appreciate the 5102WLMi’s rather utilitarian silver design; it’s all business here, folks. Once the lid is popped, you’re treated to a smooth, silver-and-black interior with glossy highlights. The 5102WLMi’s non-glossy, 15.4-inch WXGA display is fine for watching DVDs.
In the end they give the sub-$900 notebook a decent three out of five. The biggest negative for me is its battery life, which only clocks in at three hours for a six-cell battery.
Check out other dual-core notebooks from Digital Advisor.
Liebermann Computers Fake Quad-Core Laptop
Better known by many people as L Computers, Liebermann Computers has put up a new page for a too good to be true notebook with a Quad-Core CPU, and 12 hours of battery life.
Totally rediculous, but here are some details from their press release:
Based on Intel’s Quad-Core Processors and featuring all-round PCI-Xpress bus architecture, Liebermann showed off concept PC designs featuring design approaches to soon be integrated in its upcoming portable computing product line. The new blueprints, include the first keyboardless series laptop machines, replaced with a large secondary full-color and fully programmable high-resolution touch screen OLED display.
OLED-based virtual keyboards can be reconfigured as needed as a programmable high-resolution multi-function flat-panels.
Aside from next-generation PuRAM Solid State Drive Technologies largely improved in I/O and transfer speeds allied to record breaking low power consumption figures and extended long-term reliability, the new laptops may equally also feature new power sources like hot-swappable fuel cell batteries based on both hydrogen or methanol designs, providing up to 24 hours of continuing power and indefinite runs without any need for direct electrical recharging.
It is fun to dream, but you shouldn’t be trying to sell the dreams to people.
Living With My ThinkPad: Part Two
A comment from David on the first post of the Living with my ThinkPad series mentioned that I should upgrade my RAM on my ThinkPad and that I could load OS X onto my machine.
I jumped around online looking for the specifications of the RAM I would need, and my first stop was Kingston.com which has a great RAM search tool. I selected IBM and then found my machine. It said that I have one slot open which I could put upwards of one 1024MB DDR2-533 Module per slot. The prices listed at Kingston.com for the one gigabyte stick were from PC Connection, Kingston Technology, and Buy.com with Buy.com having the lowest price at $159.93 USD. I live in Canada though, so that makes things a little different and a little more difficult.
Browsing over to the site where I buy a fair bit of my technology, NCIX.com, I found that they had a variety of RAM sticks that say DDR2-533. I needed to make sure I limited it to SODIMM, which is the shorter stick that laptops take and I found I still had many choices.
Corsair brand at $139.15 CDN, Mushkin for $150.65 CDN, and an OCZ branded one gigabyte stick for $141.31.
No matter how I looked at it, getting my machine a new one gigabyte stick was out of my price range. So maybe grabbing a half-gigabyte would be better for me at this point. I could get Corsair Value RAM for only $73.78.
Dealing with RAM is one of those decisions, especially for a laptop that you have to really research and think hard about, as some sticks won’t work in some laptops, and there are so many different brands, types and all the different speeds.
I have not placed my order yet, as I am not fully confident that I have the right stick of RAM for my ThinkPad, and rather than making a mistake, I am going to go with David’s advice and join the ThinkPad forum, and ask them what types of RAM they have had success with in their T43’s.
Living With My ThinkPad will hopefully be an ongoing series where I talk about my problems, and enjoyment in having my laptop, which happens to be an IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T43 with a 1.7GHz processor, 512MB Ram, 40GB hard drive, and an ATI X300 video card.
$100 Laptops on Test Run
Quanta Computer, which the One Laptop Per Child project has contracted to produce the low-cost notebook computers for students in developing countries, has started test production of their low-cost laptops. Initial runs of the computers, which OLPC intends to sell for $100 each in bulk, should be available by November.
DigiTimes Systems cites a source within Quanta Computer for the information:
Recent reports that Libya placed an order for 1.2 million US$100 notebooks has come as a confidence boost to the project, the sources said. The project has raised doubts about where demand for the notebooks will come from. But the order from the Mideast nation, which is not from one of the originally targeted markets, shows that demand will be coming not only from such emerging markets as Brazil, China, India, Russia, Africa or Eastern Europe, the sources remarked.
Quanta president Michael Wang stated in August that the company has set a shipment goal of 10 million units for the US$100 notebook project for a period of 12 months starting from the first quarter of 2007 when shipments actually start.
Living With My ThinkPad: Part One
I disconnect my laptop from its adapter and put it in its IBM branded black leather bag. I am getting ready to go show a client the work I have done thus far on a website for them. My ThinkPad beeps as it goes into a standby mode. I put the bag over my shoulder, and get ready to go out.
Before I bought my Lenovo sold machine, I was all excited. The IBM name meant corporate, durability, and made me feel as though I was deserving of a little more respect than those that had gone with a lesser brand name machine. After I bought the laptop, I figured that I had made the best choice possible. There were rumors that Apple was going to release an Intel powered machine, but I assumed that it would be hardware locked to only running OS X, and while I loved the polish of Apple’s operating system, I was not ready to detach myself from the Windows world just yet.
Getting to my appointment, I opened up my laptop and slowly waited for it to come to life. I tapped the touchpad, waiting for it to spring to life any second, so I could show the work I had done. The laptop eventually rose from its slumber and showed me that I needed to log in. I swiped my finger on the fingerprint reader, and the machine went to the default Windows screen saver. My face cringed at my nearly two thousand dollar machine doing the oddest of things. I moved my finger along the touchpad, and the machine asked me again to log in. I swiped my finger again on the fingerprint reader, and it said that it could not recognize my finger. I sighed and tried again.
On receiving my laptop from Lenovo, I opened it like a child does knowing they are getting the exact present they wanted for Christmas, wrapping, and air filled bags flew left and right as I uncovered my black matte machine. I had wanted a laptop for a long while, and even more since I started blogging, but the excitement quickly died down as I realized it was just another laptop.
Sure there were some cool features, like the fingerprint reader, great Wi-Fi connectivity, and a light attached to the top of the screen, allowing me to illuminate the keyboard for work in the dark.
Getting the laptop working, I finally showed off what I had done on the website. My client seemed impressed by the work I had completed, but I only felt embarrassed by my laptop’s performance. I was having a bit of MacBook envy, as my half a gigabyte of RAM filled up, and my machine lagged. Thanks Microsoft for creating such a wonderful operating system.
I can’t say that I dislike my ThinkPad, but I wish it was a little more powerful, in both CPU abilities, and battery life. I don’t mind Windows, but I would love to be given the choice of using any or all operating systems currently on the market.
Living With My ThinkPad will hopefully be an ongoing series where I talk about my problems, and enjoyment in having my laptop, which happens to be an IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T43 with a 1.7GHz processor, 512MB Ram, 40GB hard drive, and an ATI X300 video card.
Free Wi-Fi in Airports
Travelling can be such a hassle sometimes if you can’t connect to the Internet, but at many airports in the US and abroad, you can find areas that are covered by wonderful Wi-Fi high speed internet access.
Wi-Fi Free Spot has such a list of which airports have Wi-Fi and where you can find it, as well as a short tip for travellers needing to connect.
A Pilot has told me that most FBO’s (Fixed Base Operators are the service stations for corporate aircraft) which are located at almost all airports large and small are offering unrestricted WIFI service in their facilities. Go to the general aviation facility for any airport, ask where corporate aircraft arrive and depart, go into the facility and ask them if you can use the WIFI capability. Most of these FBO’s have waiting areas and some provide separate computer rooms (like a large phone booth) as well as the ability to print.
via Gizmodo
Toshiba May Want Money from Sony
After dealing with every major manufacturer recall their Sony made batteries, Sony might have a new problem on their hands, the other companies want money.
Toshiba, has basically said that they would like to seek compensation related to the aftermath of the whole recall craziness. Toshiba also is claiming that the batteries hurt their brand and reputation thusly hurting future sales.
The important thing will be to see if Toshiba gets any blood money because if they do, everyone else will be right their to get some as well. And with the PlayStation 3 launch coming up, this is not what Sony will want to happen.
Source: Yahoo
Almost Half of all Computers Purchased were Macs
While that subject line might seem misleading, it is the truth for Princeton, where upwards of 45% of all computers purchased were Apple computers.
In 2003, when this year’s seniors arrived on campus, just 15 percent of them chose Macs. The next year, a quarter of incoming freshmen did, and the year after that, 38 percent. These statistics aren’t comprehensive, because some students choose not to buy their computers through OIT. Nonetheless, the upward trend is real. Macs are where it’s at.
Again, I feel that if I had known that Apple was going to shift into Intel CPU’s so quickly and Bootcamp was going to come out, I might have waited on getting this ThinkPad, and gone the Apple route. So it is not surprising to me that the popularity of Apple machines are up. What does surprise me is how fast it went from 15% to 45%. In less than three years they almost have half of Princeton students running around with the Apple symbol. I doubt any other single laptop producer can say that about Princeton.
Source: Daily Princetonian
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