Computers
”Question of the Day: Which Company Has The Worst Computer Tech Support?
Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Review (Verdict: Short Ride In A Reasonably-Paced Machine)
The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 comes in the wake of America's new obsession with tiny laptops. I could tell you that it's powered by a 1.6Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (4MB, 800 MHz), packing 120GB of PATA storage and up to 3GB of RAM (2 tested), but all you want to know is that it's over half a pound lighter than the MacBook Air and will impress the fellow yupps at Starbucks. Still, if you're interested in seeing if beauty is more than ultra-glossy skin deep, hit the jump to see what I loved and hated about the Lenovo IdeaPad U110.
Cuba Citizens Can Now Buy Computers, But No Internet Access
Video: Charles Babbage's Difference Machine No. 2 Fully Operational
For those who haven't yet heard, a band of number-crunching nostalgists took the concept design for Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2, and turned it into a real, fully functional machine. But what really makes the Difference Engine amazing is only noticed when you watch its thousands of moving parts in action. Upon first glance, the Difference Engine looks a bit chaotic. But upon closer inspection, it moves with the precision of a Swiss watch while maintaining the fluid motion of a wave about to break. And today, it went on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. More »Question of the Day: Leave Your Computer On Or Turn It Off?
Question of the Day: How Much Time Do You Spend on The Computer?
MSI Wind Notebook To Come In 8.9 and 10-Inch Flavors
MSI has dropped some new info on its contender to the Eee-PC throne, the Wind Notebook, which we first peeked at in March. The roughly 2.2 lb UMPC will come with either an 8.9 inch or 10 inch LCD display sporting a 1024 x 600 resolution. MSI says the Wind will feature a 2.5-inch HDD with an 80 GB capacity and have a purported 7 hours of battery life—compare that with the Eee PC's 20GBs and puny two-hour battery. More »Question of the Day: Does Typing Make Your Handwriting Worse?
Ben Heck Mods Apple IIgs into a Bright, Shiny Laptop
While some people mod PC parts into devices that look like Apple products, Ben Heck has chosen to throw Apple IIgs parts into a laptop mod that looks more like a PC. The Apple IIgs laptop has a 15-inch screen, RAM expansion, compact flash reader for storage, stereo speakers. He also included ports for a floppy disk drive, mouse and joystick. More »Mini iMac Mod Wants to Be a Real Mac When it Grows Up
A German modder under the alias Phyro-Mane took an old laptop and hacked it together to resemble a scaled down iMac, in fact calling it the iMacmini. But ironically, it runs Windows XP skinned to look like OS X. The mod features a 14-inch screen, AMD Athlon XP 1700+ processor, 20 GB HDD and 512 MB RAM. The AMD processor ruled out any possibility of an OS X install. Still, the aesthetic appeal of the iMacmini cannot be denied. [Case-Modder via Hack A Day]A Fleshlight Turned Into an Input Device Lets You Control Your Computer By Fucking It
Gateway "Spots" Contest Ends, One Tattooed Jackass Reigns Supreme
Gateway's Show Us Your Spots contest is at an end, and the winner is picked: some kid named Matt, who permanently brands himself a Gateway fanatic, all to win the system and spite his jerk friend Billy who calls him a Noob all the time. (Guess it worked.) Check out the runners-up, and our impressions of their noble but misguided attempts: More »Asus Eee Desktop PC EP20 Images Leaked
We brought you news about the Eee Desktop PC EP20 a little while back, but it looks like the chaps at Hot Hardware have managed to get hold of some shots of the final, production line models. Unfortunately, they aren't willing to cite their source, but they are willing to say that the images "are indeed shots of an Asus Eee PC Desktop product that should be arriving to market some time in the next quarter or so." From what we have previously seen, the EP20 isn't quite as small as a Mac Mini, but we're still liking the design. The bubbly pattern on the side of the white edition just makes us all fizzy with excitement. We can't wait. [Hot Hardware]
HP 2133 Subnotebook Specs Leaked
The specs for HP's 2133 have surfaced and it appears the flagship model for the 8.9" subnotebook will feature a 1.6 GHz Via C7-M processor, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB 7200 RPM HDD, Bluetooth and Windows Vista Business Edition. The cheaper model features a 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, no Bluetooth and your choice of Vista Home basic or SuSE Linux. Prices will range from $549-$749. [Engadget]
processors
Details Emerge on Intel's First Mobile Quad-core Processor
Chinese-language site HKEPC is reporting that Intel's first mobile quad-core processor will be the 45nm Penryn-based Core 2 Extreme QX9300. The chip will clock speeds of 2.53 GHz, have 12 MB of L2 Cache and 1066 MHz FSB. The QX9300, however, won't be part of the Q2 Centrino 2 launch because it is a 45W processor and current motherboards are designed for 35W chips. [HKEPC via Register Hardware]
gaming
DA on Trial For Building Kick Ass Gaming Rig With State Funds
A Rockwall County, Dallas district attorney named Ray Sumrow is being tried on charges of forgery, theft and records tampering relating to a computer he built as a backup server for his office. You see, this "backup server" he bought with state money was equipped with two hard drives, seven fans, high-end video and audio cards, WiFi and cables that glow under ultraviolet light (what, no flames paint job?). More »
pcs






