Mighty Gadget Blog: The latest technology news & reviews in the UK

It wasn’t long ago that Chinese Computer firm Lenovo announced its IdeaPad Y560d, it’s first 3D laptop. Well it’s on sale in the States now. 3D technology is a bit of a blur to me sometimes with active, passive technology etc and now it appears there’s another way that this laptop achieves it. Read on for more.

To start with the basic specs which compared to most laptops aren’t that “basic”. Windows 7 Home Premium, powered with that fantastic Core i7-720QM processor and 4GB of RAM should be able to keep the laptop running smoothly, surely running any 3D content types on it’s 15.6” Full HD will be more strain than your average images. It also packs a 500GB HDD.

Now the 3D bit. It uses what’s known as TriDef 3D. A mixture of polarised glasses like your normal 3D stuff. A layer of special coating on the screen and then a 3D software generator that renders standard content into a 3D affair. This means rather than it being true 3D the combination of the three give it what Lenovo say a “life-like 3D experience.” So basically your standard 2D photo snaps could be made to look 3D by the laptop. Sadly 3D inputs, such as 3D Blu-Ray will not be compatible, but the software will give a good go at your movies to make them look 3D too. How good this looks I don’t know.

Available in the States now at $1499 or £990 in English monies, we don’t have an official UK date or price yet.

I think quite a while ago we looked at a prototype of a dual screened netbook/slate type computer substituting the keyboard for another touchscreen with a software keyboard for extra screen space. Well now Toshiba have announced the “clamshell” Libretto W100 a similar affair, obviously taking the simplicity of a DS and adding the functionality of a netbook and smartphone.

The two 7” screens run Windows 7 Home Premium, with an Intel Pentium U5400 Processor. Further look at the specs show it’s no simple pushover either. With 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 62GB SSD storage, N-standard WiFi, SB, microSD and a 1MP webcam the user also has a choice of built in 3G connectivity too. Sadly the downside is the battery life which Tosh claims is a measly 3 and a half hours.

Everybody was looking forward to a Microsof slate after iPad rocked the world but it never surfaced. This is certainly looking promising as a player in the market and certainly will be interesting to see in action. Bad news is we only know it’s getting released sometime over the summer and there’s no price.

As we touch on the portable computing seen quite a bit, you can see an obvious regular trend. If you want a power house of a machine running top spec applications and games then you have to buy a big bulky power hungry (rubbish battery life) laptop. If you want portability with good battery life you have to get an under specced netbook only capable of browsing the net and sending the odd email. Now obviously computer technology improves at quite a vast rate and it may seem obvious that eventually the low end technology will catch up to the high spec, which in turn will advance further etc……anyway Toshiba have developed a laptop that kinda incorporates both……

The Portege R700 is a 13.3” Windows 7 operated laptop that weighs a mere 1.3Kg. The picture we found courtesy of Electricpig shows that it can be held with one hand at one side and the weight distribution is so spread out it doesn’t feel heavier at one side than it does another.

Spec wise you can choose between Core i3, i5 or i7, up to 4GB of DDR3 and a choice of 320GB HDD or 128GB SSD. It also has 3 USB ports and an HDMI out socket. It’s available with built in WiFi like most machines but also comes with optional 3G connectivity. Now whats also interesting for an ultra light, ultra thin laptop like this is that it has an optical DVD drive. Now what is also surprising, with all that spec, Toshiba claims it’ll do 9 hours of use on a full battery charge.

As per we don’t have a release price but we do know it should be with us next month sometime so if you’re after a lightweight, portable but powerful lappy, this could be for you.

If you’re not a gamer, more of a business user chances are you want an ultra portable laptop that doesn’t leave out all the goods required for a useful, fast computer. Toshiba Satellite laptops have always been reliable and do tend to deliver in their field. Now they’ve release two new models to the line, the thinnest Satellite models yet a mere 17.6mm.

Firstly is the T210. Packing a Intel Pentium U5400 processor this 1.48Kg, 11.3” laptop comes with up to 3GB of memory, 250GB of storage and the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Bundled with Windows 7 Home Premium and a battery life that Toshiba have said will last 8.5 hours.

The second is the T230. A slightly heftier 1.75Kg this has a 13.3” screen, running an Intel Core i3 processor, up to 4GB of RAM and 500GB of hard storage and again Windows 7 Home Premium. What’s surprising is the battery life for this is exactly the same as its smaller counterpart.

Both the Toshiba Satellite T210 and T230 will be available in July, however no pricing has been confirmed.

If you pop on to the Asus website, they’ve just added it’s next model into its Eee range with the 1015P netbook. “Another netbook?” you might say “What’s different?”. Well according to Asus this little baby will work mains free for up to 13.5 hours, a current record from what I can gather.

Specs wise it’s not the most powerful but still pretty good considering the fact it can last so long on it's battery. This is probably due to the fact it uses Intel’s latest Atom N450 chip. Options come with a 160GB, 250GB or 320GB HDD. It comes with 1GB RAM upgradeable to 2GB and comes with N-standard WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1. With a 10.1" LED Backlight WSVGA Screen and running Windows 7 Starter, the website states it’s available in black, white or blue.

No luck with the full details yet though but Asus have confirmed it will be available in the UK, so if you’re interested, just keep your eye on that website.

HD content is all the range now and unless you’re living under a rock you aren’t going to know about it. Acer have announced two new models into its netbook range powered by AMDs new range of chips focusing on the power needed for mobile HD use on a computer, which some smaller form machines might struggle with.

The 521 is a 10.1” 1024x600 affair run by a single core AMD V105(1.2GHz) whilst the meatier 721 is at 11.6” 1366x768 run by a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo K325. Both run Windows 7 and can have up to 4GB RAM. For the HD”ness” they will both run ATi Mobility Radeon HD4225 GPUs easily capable of firing out Full HD video and modern PC games should run ok too.

Other features include HDMI out so you can output onto a larger screen, a multi-touch trackpad for easy use. It will also have built in webcam and Bluetooth and there’s also optional 3G connectivity for internet on the go. We aren’t doing well today for getting prices on products but we do know they should be available by next month.

Samsung have entered the touchscreen netbook market which may be a little late with the soon to be arriving folding tablets but where it makes up for it is in its durability and its compact size.

A not so great 1024x600 10.1” it’s standard size for a netbook but this has a nice touchscreen for you to prod around with and as its running Windows 7, the touchscreen friendly OS unlike most netbooks that run Windows XP. However despite its superior OS the netbook itself isn’t a top of the range power monster. Intels Atom N450 is the processor with 1GB RAM. It also comes with with a choice of 160GB or 250GB HDD.

However it looks like Samsung are aiming for a particular market with this one as it seems its been built to last the elements and general wear and tear despite its lack of future-proof tech. The drives are anti-shock protected and the case is reinforced to withstand the odd drop or bump in your bag, probably from them idiots at the train station who insist on barging you out the way. It also has a liquid resistant keyboard. Whether you can spill your coffee on it and it still work I would like to see although at £350 a throw for the machine, it would be an expensive test.

Not available in the UK yet and no release date, the Samsung NB30 Touch is on sale in Italy now so it shouldn’t be too far off a British release.

Although officially not released by Sony yet, Tesco had put up a new Sony Vaio M Netbook for sale for just under £300 but now it appears to have been removed from the site probably due to the fact Sony are keeping quiet about its official release, oops.

A nice little black number the Sony Vaio M if pricing is true will be the cheapest Vaio we’ve seen to date and if you’re looking for a netbook this offers some pretty decent spec and the obvious recognition of quality Sony craftmanship. Inside the 10.1” Netbook will be Intel’s latest Atom chipset the N450(an improvement in speed and power consumption) powering a 250GB HDD, 1GB RAM and Windows 7 Starter Edition.

As said Sony haven’t confirmed it for sure and are still staying coy about it and although it appeared on Tesco the other day, I’m struggling to find it now but surely it won’t be long till it’s in officialdom.