The Asus G51J 3D is the first laptop to feature NVIDIA’s new 3D vision technology, and it takes advantage of a high performance, 15.6-inch 120Hz LCD that, when coupled with shutter glasses (yup, you still need glasses) garnered these praises from Laptop:

…unlike the TriDef technology that powers Acer’s 3D laptop, titles optimised for 3D vision give you a great sense of depth without negatively affecting gameplay. On first person shooters, for example, we found it difficult to aim when using the Acer 5738DG. On the Asus G51J 3D, you don’t make any compromises in terms of control or accuracy.

For the 3D tech, you’ll take a resolution hit (there’s no 3D 1080P display option) and pay a $US200 premium, making the full gaming $US1700.

Keep in mind that Acer’s system, while utilising only rudimentary polarised glasses 3D, costs under $US800. [Laptop Mag]

AU: We’re still waiting on a local release date… _-EH

Price

$US300 with two-year AT&T contract, $US600 à la carte

Verdict

Nokia has built a great netbook, but they’ve done nothing to redefine the genre. Their 10-inch Booklet 3G has your typical 1.6GHz Atom, 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM. Running Windows 7, that means the performance is just passable. I’d be this close to pounding my head against the wall when a program would begin installing or a video would load.

That’s typical.

What’s ever so less typical is the sharp, 1.3kg unibody-esque construction (complete with sweet MacBook-like under-hatch battery and a hinge that bends nearly 180 degrees), HDMI output (not that you can really playback HD videos smoothly on an Atom) and of course, solid integrated 3G and integrated GPS (though Nokia’s bundled Ovi software apparently requires a phone or PC to activate, and after 30 minutes of fiddling I honestly gave up on mapping.)

The battery life is impressive, too. In non-stop 3G browsing and app-running with the screen at 80 per cent brightness, the machine’s svelte 16-cell battery ran for a bit over six hours and 30 minutes. That was a strenuous test, and dimming the screen and/or browsing through Wi-Fi should truly be enough to get you through the workday sans-recharge. (For instance, CrunchGear’s John Biggs reported a pretty remarkable 10 hours of movie playback.)

But alas, even for a nice netbook, the Booklet’s price is a bit too opulent for what you’re really getting: an ever-so gussied up version of the same machine you could buy from Acer, Asus, HP, etc, for half the price (before subsidies). Meanwhile, there are plenty of ULV systems in the $US700 range with bigger screens, better performance and portable-minded design (of course, they’ll mostly require 3G dongles).

Give me some rhinestones and a bit more power, then we’ll talk. Or just hand me back my iPhone.

Quality build

Long battery life

Plastic monitor back makes whole thing feel cheaper

It’s still a $US600 netbook

At the moment, only 10 per cent of PCs or TVs are actually recycled in this country, and even those generally have a cost involved with them. The introduction of a mandatory recycling scheme should see that number increase to over 80 per cent, which could save up to 2.5 million tonnes of e-waste sent to landfill over the next 20 years.

The scheme is most likely going to be industry driven, and will consequently mean that the TV manufacturers will pass on the costs to consumers at the point of sale. The good news is that the EPHC (Environment Protection and Heritage Council) report reckons that the cost would be between $5-$10 for each TV, which is such an insignificant sum when buying something worth hundreds or thousands of dollars that it makes you wonder why this wasn’t introduced years ago.

So far, Panasonic, Sony and Sharp have filled my inbox with press releases stating their public support for the scheme. Lets hope that all the other manufacturers jump on board as well, and this thing gets up sooner rather than later…

[EPHC (pdf)]

We’ve already seen an Intel motherboard hit the market with USB 3.0, but it’s technically manufactured by Asus, and it’s running a third-party USB (3.0) controller. So we’ll see USB 3.0, especially in the custom PC market, before 2011 (because we already are). But like we said, in terms of the standard arriving in mass anytime soon, things are looking grim. [TGDaily via Engadget]

A bottle of bad whiskey, on the other side, would be perfect for it. After all, I’d rather have a liquefied 3.5-inch SBC board with an Intel P3 733EB processor and a 40GB notebook HDD inside, than that horrible engine cleaner known as Ballantine’s.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a glass of Hudson Manhattan Rye waiting for me.

[MetkuMods via Lifehacker]

People who own PCs and Macs, the category I fall into, got 15 per cent of the vote, which was also a little higher than I expected. Make of this what you will, but the difference between the poll compared to our OS tracking graphic pictured here should indicate why we wanted to focus on your own hardware — not the computer you use at work. At any rate, the race is really still too close to call. You have time to cast your vote and help tip the scales in your favour.

The tablet itself sounds pretty decent: It’s got a 12.1-inch screen, measures in at 38.1mm thick and starts at 2.45kg with a four cell battery and SSD. It’s built off the Latitude XT2 laptop, so offers many of the same features, including:
o Intel Core 2 Duo processors with up to 5GB[iii] of DDR3 1066 MHz memory.
o QuadCool Thermal Management System enables excellent performance, even in extreme temperatures from -23 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius.
o Four-, six- and nine-cell battery options.
o Standard data security features that include Dell ControlVault and Dell ControlPoint, as well as optional solid state and spinning disk drives with full disk encryption.
o Impact resistant, sunlight viewable, 12.1-inch wide LED display with capacitive multi-touch gestures-enabled or optional resistive touch screen.
o Optional hot-swappable modules including GPS (in the coming weeks) and webcam.
o Optional expansion sliver provides camera/light, serial, and RJ11 inputs.
o A full complement of wireless connectivity options including wireless LAN 802.11 a/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and mobile broadband.

The rugged tablet will run XP Tablet edition rather than Windows 7 out of the box, although it will certainly have the juice for the new operating system. It’s not available in Australia yet, but should land in the coming months.

But really, all I want to do is try and smash it. Is that wrong?

[Dell]

Before you answer the poll, keep this in mind: work machines don’t count. Presumably, you made a personal choice between a Mac or a PC for your private compute — and that is the one we want to know about.

Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 400 – Scalable)

on Oct. 12, 2009

The Inspiron Zino HD is an affordable small form factor PC that has a
unique design, competitive features, and has optional removable color
and pattern lids.

PERSONALIZATION

Customers can choose from color and design pattern lids that express
their style and/or complement their environment.

Key Features:

· New Dell ID, 3.5L Small Form Factor Chassis with options –
with ODD, without ODD

· ENERGY STAR® 5.0 Compliant

· AMD Athlon™, Athlon™ X2, Athlon™ Neo X2 Processor

· AMD RS780G Chipset

· ATI Radeon HD3200 Integrated graphics, with optional ATI
Radeon HD4330 512MB discrete upgrade

· 1GB dual channel DDR2 RAM, up to optional 8GB

· 160GB SATA HDD @ 7200RPM, up to optional 1TB

· Support No Optical Drive, 8X 12.7 Trayload DVD+/-RW, Blu-ray
Disc Combo options

· Integrated 2.1 Channel High Definition Audio

· Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet connection

· Built-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader

· Optional wireless with 802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g/n

· 4 USB Ports (2 Front, 2 Rear)

· HDMI connectivity and 2 eSATA Ports

· Support wireless keyboard / mouse, and remote control options

· Support Linux (Ubuntu Netbook Remix) 9.04, Vista, Win7 OS

Unfortunately, there’s still no word on pricing or release dates, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the official announcement from Dell…

[Thanks Oddo!]

Besides that, it’s got a lot of juice available in options — up to 8GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce GT 240M (1GB) graphics, an integrated subwoofer, and some kind of crazy “touch-sensitive slide bar for easy desktop navigation.” It’ll retail at around $US1400 to start.

It comes with Lenovo Enhanced Experience for Windows 7, basically optimisation that results in faster bootup and shutdown times as well as easier backup.

Lenovo New IdeaPad Laptops and IdeaCentre Desktops Deliver Style, Ease of Use and Multimedia Features for Consumers
New PCs Bundle Lenovo Enhanced Experience Certification for Windows 7 and complementary Intel Processor Technology
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – October 26, 2009: Lenovo (HKSE: 0992) (ADR: LNVGY) today unveiled a lineup of new IdeaPad laptops – U150, U550 and Y550P – and IdeaCentre desktops – B500, K300 and H230 – designed to meet the performance, style and usability standards of today’s multi-tasking consumers.
The new Idea PCs combine stylish designs and innovative features enabled by the ultra low power Intel® CoreTM processor family of products and improved performance with an Intel® CoreTM i7 processor. These new products ship with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system and also include the unique Lenovo Enhanced Experience for Windows 7 – the result of joint engineering by Lenovo in collaboration with Microsoft to provide users with faster system boot and shutdown, richer multimedia features and easy system maintenance tools.
“Our Idea products are designed with the user experience in mind – every aspect of product design and technology is engineered to improve how consumers seamlessly use these products to enrich their daily lives,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president, Idea Product Group, Lenovo. “Today’s additions to the Idea product portfolio are among Lenovo’s most feature-rich and powerful PCs to-date, providing our customers more choices to find the PC that best meets their unique digital lifestyle.”
“Lenovo and Intel share a vision to create products that are faster, lighter, thinner and with longer battery life and delivering them to consumers in the quickest and most cost effective way,” Gregory Bryant, vice president, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel Corporation. “Whether you are looking for ultrathin, stylish laptops with exceptional performance or beautiful and powerful desktops, Lenovo and Intel are working together to deliver Idea products with the right Intel® processor technology inside to meet your needs.”
“As a result of our joint engineering investments, Lenovo is demonstrating their commitment to Windows 7 by making significant improvements in important areas like start-up, shutdown and resume times. We congratulate Lenovo on its work, as we think it will help business customers and consumers benefit from a better computing experience on Lenovo’s leading products,” said John Kalkman, vice president of OEM Engineering and Services at Microsoft Corp. “With Lenovo’s Enhanced Experience, customers can be confident that their new PC delivers more of the exciting benefits that Windows 7 has to offer.”
Idea Product Facts
Lenovo’s latest IdeaPad laptops and IdeaCentre desktops meet consumer demands for mobility, added power to effectively multitask, flexibility to support professional and personal computing needs, data security, stylish designs and the latest multimedia features.
IdeaPad Y550P – Cutting-edge power for multimedia on the go
The Y550P is ideal for today’s multi-tasker and the most powerful laptop in Lenovo’s consumer portfolio. The Y550P is Lenovo’s first notebook to use the new Intel Core i7 processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology1 that automatically speeds up the processor when the PC needs extra performance. This high-performance laptop also features powerful NVIDIA discrete graphics, a 15.6inch HD widescreen display, Dolby® Home TheaterTM surround sound, and unique Lenovo tools like SlideNav – a touch-sensitive bar above the
keyboard that makes it faster and easier to navigate programs, documents and shortcuts, or even quickly change the desktop wallpaper on users’ systems.
IdeaPad U150 – Slim and chic portability
The U150 is just 13.5mm thick and weighs only 1.35kg2, yet under the textured red or black cover lies a range of features designed to strike the right balance between mobility and functionality. The ultraportable U150 with an energy-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processor offers up to 8GB DDR3 memory, 11.6in HD widescreen display and long battery life. The Active Protection System on the U150 helps protect the hard drive if the laptop is dropped or gets bumped. A new version of OneKey Rescue System, Version 7.0, performs data backups up to twice as fast and includes more powerful antivirus scanning that can be run even before loading the operating system.
IdeaPad U550 – Ultraportable laptop with added flexibility for the office and home
At just 24mm thick and with a 15.6in wide HD wide screen display, the new IdeaPad U550 laptop with Intel Core 2 Duo processor includes a range of features that make it easy for users to transition between work and home use. For example, switchable graphics let users turn their discrete graphics card on and off at the press of a button to better manage PC battery life. Dolby® Sound Room surround-sound via the laptop’s large, integrated speakers brings presentations to life and makes games and movies more enjoyable. The Ambient Light Sensor automatically adjusts screen brightness based on light conditions, reducing strain on the eyes. An integrated DVD drive delivers added flexibility to access and share content. The integrated fingerprint reader and VeriFaceTM facial recognition software on the U550 provide additional ease of use when logging onto the PC.
IdeaCentre B500 – High performance all-in-one, immersive entertainment experience
Featuring an Intel® CoreTM2 Quad processor, powerful discrete graphics, up to 8GB DDR3 memory and 1TB HDD storage space, the IdeaCentre B500 all-in-one desktop is the ultimate PC for serious gamers and multimedia users. The 23in Full HD screen and high-quality JBL- brand integrated speakers provide a quality viewing experience. Coupled with a 4-in-1 remote control that acts as a motion-drive games controller, VOIP handset, air mouse and media remote, the B500 supports a dynamic multimedia entertainment experience. Additional unique Lenovo features on the B500 include CamSuite, a tool that helps to keep users in the center of the Web camera’s focus and adds special effects to live video feeds.
IdeaCentre K300 – Desktop PC with optimized power and control
The IdeaCentre K300 with the Intel Core 2 Quad processor is a performance desktop loaded with powerful technologies including high-performance RAID configured hard drives for added storage and peace of mind. It also includes the Lenovo Power Control Switch, which makes it simple for users adjust the level of power they need – from all-out performance to more energy-efficient modes.
Lenovo H230 – Functionality at a value price
Available starting at US $299 and equipped with a range of HDD and DDR3 memory configurations, the H230 is designed to offer consumers the perfect mix of performance and value. Integrated tools such as Lenovo Rescue System provide users a worry-free experience by enabling quick and easy data recovery and advanced antivirus technology.
Lenovo U350 and S10-2 – Eye-catching new textures and patterns marry fashion with functionality The IdeaPad U350 ultraportable laptop and S10-2 netbook are now available in a range of new textures and colorful patterns. The U350 can be purchased with a cool, eye-catching cover texture such as brown lizard print, white lamb skin print and red light weave. Using the latest PC cover-painting technology, the popular S10-2 comes in new colorful designs such as pop art, violet floral, red floral, green floral, phoenix, garden, sailing and origami.

[Lenovo]