Hasta La Gadget!

We managed to be among the very first to snag a coveted Sony Vaio Lifestyle PC, so here are a couple of in-the-wild photos, plus some first hands-on impressions.

Despite the small overall size, we found the keyboard fairly eay to use. At first, the lack of a touchpad worried us, but the trackpoint was fast and responsive, and after 15 minutes or so, we got fairly used to navigating with it — a very light tap on the pointing stick will give you a left mouse click. We’re still not entirely sold, however, and still think a touchpad is better for many tasks.

The 1,600×768 screen has a higher resolution than many 15-inch laptops. Some initial attempts at online video streaming played fine, and the built-in Verizon-powered mobile broadband worked as advertised.

Even with Vista as the operating system, the Vaio seemed to run about as well as any Intel Atom system with XP we’ve used (2GB of RAM and an SSD hard drive help). With Windows 7, purportedly excellent for Netbooks, it would probably fly (relatively speaking).

It’s hard to convey just how small this thing actually is. In the photos below, you’ll see it positively dwarfed by an HP Mini 1000.
…

Originally posted at CES 2009

There’s no Turbo Boost or anything involved with this bunch, but Mio has launched four mildly interesting navigators for 2009. The new Moovs all sport an improved “Spirit” software platform, and while the S300 features a 3.5-inch panel, text-to-speech and 12 million POIs, the S500 steps up to a 4.7-inch panel. The Moov S556 keeps the same 4.7-inch display but adds in Bluetooth and Junction View, while the S700 breaks out a 7-inch panel. The whole lot is supposed to ship before the second half of this year for $199.99, $249.99, $299.99 and $299.99 in order of mention.

[Via GPSTracklog]

Filed under: CES, GPS

Mio launches four new Moov navigators at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Indie rock’s bards of the border continue their remarkable hybrid: old Southwest dirges cross-bred with a particularly dark and brooding folk-pop. Few bands in the scene pull off such a natural dignity–or intimacy. “Absent Afternoon” is exclusive release for Threadless.com

Download
free MP3 now!

Originally posted at Crossfade

We’ve got a VAIO P in the house, and we thought it’d only be fitting to put the quintessential “it’s not a netbook, we swear!” up against the quintessential netbook, ASUS’s Eee PC (in convenient 7-inch and 10-inch flavors). Stand by for further impressions, but boy is that screen densely packed with pixels. There’s another shot after the break of the P being swallowed by a 17-inch MacBook Pro… juxtaposition!

Continue reading VAIO P vs Eee PC… fight!

Filed under: Laptops

VAIO P vs Eee PC… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CNBC.com: For whatever reason, there aren’t many restrooms on the golf course. And, when you get to a certain age, you really can’t wait 18 holes.

Dr. Floyd Seskin, a urologist in the Miami area, said guys used to come in all the time telling him how they would hit their ball in the woods every few holes to, uh, alleviate the situation.

Then, one day, he was golfing with a few buddies. They all had his back to them and that’s when the lightbulb went on. What if you could make a device discreet enough that you could just turn your back and no one would know?

And with that the UroClub was born.

Here’s how it works: You unscrew the cap on the dummy club. Then, clip the privacy towel to your waistband or belt. The UroClub also clips onto the towel so you have both hands free to, discreetly handle the situation. Screw the triple-seal leak-proof cap back on, replace the club and then get back in the game!

Stupid or Cool? Check Out These 12 Weird Gift Ideas [CNBC.com]