Hasta La Gadget!

You may not realize it, but there’s a good chance that the laptop you’re using right now was made by Quanta — the company is the largest laptop manufacturer in the world, and it looks like it’s only getting bigger. According to PC World, the company (which counts HP, Dell and Sony among its clients) set a new record for laptop shipments in June, moving upwards of 4.8 million laptops for about $3.1 billion in revenue. It does expect shipments to “slow down a little bit” in July, however, but says things should rebound again in August. What’s the cause for the uptick? Quanta says it’s at least partly due to the easing of some component shortages, including those Arrandale processors that have been in short supply — as PC World notes, Intel has said that it’s been ramping up production in order to catch up with demand before the end of the second quarter.

Quanta sets new record for laptop shipments in June originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s always had a knack for making some of the best multimedia laptops around, and the VAIO EC Series is all about continuing the trend. The desk-dominating 17.3-inch laptop is a monster of a machine, and has the internal guns to match – it’s got a Core i3 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics card, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage and a Blu-ray drive. For $949.99, there are definitely more affordable desktop replacements on the market, but can Sony’s usual superior manufacturing build, design and multimedia prowess elevate it above the others? Hit that ‘read more’ link to find out in our full review.

Continue reading Sony VAIO EC Series review (VPCEC25FX/WI)

Sony VAIO EC Series review (VPCEC25FX/WI) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ll admit that we never took Best Buy as the kind of company to sell its own wireless service, but you know what Best Buy does sell? Laptops with unlocked WWAN modems, and to that end, the retailer’s Best Buy Connect offering seems to be a pretty attractive one. Monthly plan pricing is about what you’d expect from anyone else, and you’ll be able to choose between two-year, one-year, and contract-free packages for the same price — the only difference is how much subsidy they’ll throw in for you upfront. On a two-year deal, you’ll get $275 off the compatible laptop of your choice, which compares favorably against all of its competitors — AT&T at $150, Verizon at $200, and Sprint at $250 — while you’ll pay $60 for 5GB of data, $40 for 500MB, or $30 for 250MB (only available without a contract). Sure, you might not attract the glitz, glamor, and curious stares that a high-fashion name brand like Verizon might… but seriously, who are we kidding? Data is data, and if this works well, it sounds like a square deal. Hit up the source link for all the details.

[Thanks, Christian]

Best Buy Connect wireless service is official, offers contract-free plans originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba and Intel have announced that they’re partnering up to deliver the latter’s convertible Classmate PC to Japanese youths — just in time for the new school year. Sporting a 1.66GHz Atom N450 and an overhauled design, this latest iteration of the educational use netbook will start filtering through Nipponese school corridors this August. It packs 160GB of storage room and 2GB of RAM under a nice 1,366 x 768 10.1-inch touchscreen. The latter flips around to facilitate pen input with an included stylus, while the whole package is protected by a well rubberized and ruggedized case. Now if only it had some multitouch and one of those crazy 15-hour batteries, we might have considered going back to school and using it to finish our floristry studies. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Intel Classmate PC becomes Toshiba CM1 in Japan

Intel Classmate PC becomes Toshiba CM1 in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looking for a netbook with a little more oomph, or perhaps a thin-and-light laptop that doesn’t break the bank? We’re not quite sure which category the Acer Aspire 1551-5448 falls under, but we reckon it’s liable to satisfy both camps with an 11.6-inch LED-backlit display and a 1.5GHz AMD Turion II Neo K625 CPU. Like the single-threaded Aspire 521 and 721 cousins we’ll be reviewing later this week, this dual-core machine sports a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 GPU for stutter-free 1080p playback, and extra memory to boot. Here, Acer crammed 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, HDMI-out and a six-cell, five-hour battery into a package weighing just over three pounds. If you’ve got $550 to drop, there’s an Aspire 1551 with your name on it, available now practically wherever laptops are sold.

Acer Aspire 1551 hits retailers with 1.5GHz dual-core Turion II CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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