Hasta La Gadget!

In his recent review of the Lenovo ThinkPad W700, Cisco Cheng noted that this high-end portable workstation for photographers and artists would soon be available with an optional secondary display to complement its 17-inch, 1,920 by 1,200 screen. The idea is to relegate lower-end tasks like reading e-mail, word processing, and Web surfing to the smaller screen, leaving the full 17 inches of the primary screen free for photo or art editing.

The dual-screen version, the W700ds, has arrived in our labs, and I took it out for a spin. It works as intended, and many professionals in its target audience may find it worth it to plunk down the 400+ bucks for this novel option.

Lenovo’s W700ds stands out from the rest in an incredibly crowded laptop market — and not just because it’s bigger than almost any two of its competitors combined. It’s one of the very few laptops to offer an auxiliary display and has room for a full number pad and an integrated tablet to boot. With those two screens and that pop-out stylus it’s a little bit like a Nintendo DS that entered the Major Leagues and spent a few decades on the juice chasing home run records — but, being a Lenovo, this luggable has little interest in games. It’s powerful and very functional, but bulky dimensions and a similarly unwieldy price tag leave it with two major handicaps to overcome.

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds laptop review: two screens of fury in one hefty package

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds laptop review: two screens of fury in one hefty package originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Telegent Systems on Friday announced the TLG2300, a single-chip analog/DTV receiver, which the company plans to sell to notebook and netbook makers.

While this may sound intriguing, Telegent still isn’t developing chips around the U.S. ATSC standard, but rather the DVB-T standard used in Europe, Australia, and parts of southeast Asia.

Like its predecessor, the TLG2300 includes support for the NTSC/PAL/SECAM analog standard, but with the U.S. kinda/sorta turning off analog TV signals on Feb. 17, the importance of that feature remains somewhat in doubt. (There continues to be growing concern over whether or not Americans will stage some sort of mass revolt if they can’t receive “American Idol” over their analog rabbit ears.)

It’s been just under half a year since we originally asked about the best netbook out there, and a lot has changed in the meanwhile. Thanks to some incessant begging from reader Chad (we kid, we kid), we’re putting this out once more for an updated look at your best option for a minuscule lappie.

“Hey guys. How about we pose the topic of best netbook once more since so many new models have arrived since the original? Much appreciated!”

So, what netbooks have impressed you over the back end of ’08? Are you still insistent that the first-generation Eee is the one to buy? Are closeout models a better option? Spill it all in comments below, then send us a question of your own at ask at engadget dawt com.

Filed under: Laptops

Ask Engadget: What’s the best netbook out there (redux)? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were all about what Gateway was doing with its MC Series, and if you were too with the exception of the price, here’s your sign. Launching today alongside the 13.3-inch UC Series is the bargain-minded MD Series. The 15.6-inch machines tout a lowly 1,366 x 768 resolution panel, support for Intel or AMD chips, a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 (or a GMA 4500MHD), 160/250/320/500GB SATA hard drives, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 5-in-1 card reader, LabelFlash technology, WiFi, Ethernet, a DVD burner (Blu-ray is optional) and inbuilt speakers. There’s also an HDMI 1.3 socket, four USB 2.0 connectors, VGA, audio in / out, ExpressCard and a six- or eight-cell battery to boot. The 7.7-pounder ships this month with Windows Vista Home Premium and a starting tag of $799.99. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Gateway trots out bargain-minded 15.6-inch MD Series notebooks

Filed under: CES, Laptops

Gateway trots out bargain-minded 15.6-inch MD Series notebooks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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