Hasta La Gadget!

Dealing with warranties is one thing — it’s almost always a crap-shoot, and you’re continually pressing your luck when trying to get something covered without any out-of-pocket expense. But how’s about the tech support that’s so whimsically promised with so many laptops these days? Our pals over at Laptop put in an inordinate amount of work in order to find out, pinging a full dozen manufacturers via phone and chat in order to measure hold time, level of support offered and overall satisfaction. Just about every major laptop maker was included (Acer, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and Fujitsu, just to name a few), and an in-depth report of their findings was posted for each one. In general, though, they found that most companies wouldn’t hang around long enough to answer those nagging questions that typically end up in forums (“How do I remove bloatware?”), oftentimes pointing the caller to a paid alternative that would actually take the time to address their issues. If you’re considering a new machine, and you aren’t exactly one of those nerdy go-getters who can troubleshoot everything yourself, you should certainly give the source links below a look. Just try not to get too depressed, cool?

Laptop’s 2010 tech support showdown reveals ugly truth: you’re (almost) on your own originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So Apple didn’t update the Macbook Air, but it did rejuvenate its cheapest laptop with faster parts and a bigger battery. 

Boy, Samsung’s been keeping us busy today — in addition to the Q330 and Q530, the company was also showing the P580 business laptop at the British Museum today. The particular unit we played with had a vibrant 15.6-inch 1,366 x 768 matte screen, although a higher resolution and greater viewing angle would’ve made it a prettier package. To our further disappointment, the keyboard was nowhere as good as the Q-series’ chiclet offering — we kept pressing neighboring keys by accident, and the spacebar’s right-hand side often failed to pick up our input. An isolated issue? Only time will tell — you guys might have better luck when this bad boy eventually arrives in the stores.

Samsung P580 business laptop hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 21:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Laptops with anti-glare screens are hard to come by these days, so it’s nice to see Samsung adding a new option for us all. What you’re looking at here is the P580 notebook, sporting a 15.6-inch 1,366 x 768 LED-lit screen and keyboard with numeric keypad. Underneath the hood you’ll find a Core i3 or i5 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (1GB GDDR3) graphics, Trusted Platform Module security, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and 2GB to 4GB of RAM. If you feel that the four chargeable USB 2.0 jacks (one of which is also eSATA) aren’t adequate, then there’s always the docking port that offers plenty more for your socket fetish. Not bad for a 2.5kg (5.51 pounds) package, and let’s hope this workhorse trots in before long with appropriately alluring pricing. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Samsung announces P580 business notebook with Core i3 / i5 and matte screen

Samsung announces P580 business notebook with Core i3 / i5 and matte screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The only problem with using a Gelaskins cover that features the artwork of one of its latest three artists is that people are going to talk to you. If you’re sitting in Starbucks with a cover this beautiful and trippy on your laptop or phone, the person next to you won’t be able to resist asking about it. You’re going to lose time when you could be working, or just checking your Facebook.

Joe Sorren, who created the three images in the middle, lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, making works that seem troubled and beautiful at the same time. Nanami Cowdroy, on the left, lives in Australia and creates edgy and intricate black-and-white works. BUA, on the right, lives in Los Angeles, but his work is full of the music of his native New York.