You get your choice of processor speeds ranging from 2.26GHz, 2.4GHz, 2.53GHz and that’s it. On the Hard drive side you get your choice between a 32 and 64GB SSD drive.

Also, that 15.4” display isn’t your standard 15” display; it is FullHD with a 1920×1200 resolution. You also get WiFi in the form of 802.11n, sadly there are no pricing or availability details on this notebook, but I can tell you that this news comes from an Italian notebook website, so I wouldn’t really expect to see this outside of that region.

[via itechnews]

Psystar is no longer just targeting Apple’s Mac Mini and iMac lineups, with the new OpenPRO they are even going after the Mac Pro, a computer which, from Apple, has a base price of a fair amount over $2000. The OpenPRO can be had, maxed out with a 1TB HDD, an 8800GT with 512MB VRAM, 8GB of RAM, and a nice case with 3 120mm fans inside and OS X installed for you for $1929.99.

Then there is the Open Computer, or OpenMac as it was formerly known, that is selling for $399 with a plain white case, a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor, 2GB of RAM, integrated Intel Graphics, a 20x DVD burner, 4 USB ports and a 250GB HDD, that’s $200 less than the cheapest Mac and running hardware more comparable to higher end Macs. OS X installation is $155 extra on each machine and includes a copy of the OS as well as the installation being performed for you, you can also get the OpenPRO configured with a number of OS’s including Windows XP Pro, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition, OS X, and even Ubuntu. I must say I’m impressed, and the company is even rumored to be willing to fight Apple’s EULA terms in order to get the OS installed on their hardware.

[via Psystar]

Then they added some little features that make a big difference including adopting the touch sensitive LED backlit keys of some of the XPS systems. The notebooks are now noticeable thinner and lighter and have some other features that road warriors are likely to appreciate, but they still maintain the same low price and they come crap-ware free.

The 1310 is a 13.3” notebook that you can get with up to a Core 2 Duo chip or as low as a Celeron processor, base price is $749. The 1510 and 1710 are 15.4 and 17 inch notebooks respectively and cover the same choices in processor as the 1310, the differences being that they are larger laptops with the 17-inch model aimed at users seeking a desktop replacement solution, the 1510 has a base price of $599 with no base price for the 17-inch model given. The 1310 and 1510 are available today throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; North American and South American markets will get these two notebooks come May 1st with Asia getting them on May 5th, later in May the 1710 will launch globally.

[via notebook review]

The basic computer was reportedly selling for $399, a far shot from the cost of even the most basic Mac which I’m pretty sure is still the Mac Mini ringing in at $499 at its cheapest. Not only are such practices as these generally frowned upon by Apple, but it’s also against the End User License Agreement of Mac OS X to install the OS on any non-Apple hardware.

The basic idea behind the system was using an EFI emulator to run the OS as is. The downside was that even the company admitted that future updates from Apple had the possibility of crashing the system. However they were kind enough to provide a site that you could have used to check whether a particular update would crash your system or not, but, chances are the company is either already out of business or on its way there considering their site went down somewhere around the time Apple’s legal team was likely to be reporting for duty.

[via digitaltrends]

I mean, sure the ULV processor, LED backlit display, and SSD drive will help keep the battery life up, but they also combine to help keep the price up. There wasn’t one listed on any of the sites, and apparently this particular model can only be found on a few of Toshiba’s international sites right now, but I can guarantee it’s going to cost you a pretty penny.

Lets just say that a 128GB SSD in a 2.5-inch form factor is going for at the minimum, $3000 on Google Products right now, and they are going as high as just over $4000. So, you can bet you’ll be paying at least that much for it, and then probably tack on another grand or so for the rest of the notebook that’s attached to it.

[via Engadget]

That means it can record at 1920×1080, which I believe makes it a direct competitor to the Sanyo Xacti HD1000. They guys over at Akihabra haven’t had time to review it yet, but initial comments included one regarding the Auto-Focus saying “AF seems a bit too lazy for me,”

For some reason Sony covered up the actual product picture on the box before sending it out, so you don’t get to see that. But if you recollect from the previous article I wrote about this camcorder is uses MemoryStick PRO DUO cards and records in AVCHD, which to some would be considered some major downers, however, if you already have a predominant collection of Sony products, this will likely integrate with the rest of those quite seamlessly. Plus, it does apparently come with an 8GB card for it as well as several other cables for connecting it to your TV and/or computer.

[via AkihabraNews]

A large portion of that stuff will be electronics, computers, home theater equipment, you name it, the US is probably one of, if not the largest markets for consumer electronics and Black Friday is a great excuse to move a few units out the door. One such product that many cost savvy consumers will be looking for is the coveted uber cheap notebook.

Our friends over at Notebooks.Com have compiled a full list of all the Black Friday laptop sales, and there are some good deals too. If you want to see the full list, check out the via link, but here are a few notable examples:

The coveted $300 or less laptop comes from Circuit City this year, several stores have a sub $400 laptop, but Circuit City has the cheapest one at $299 after a $350 discount. It’s the Compaq Presario C717nr which has a Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo) T2310, a 15.4” LCD, an 80GB HDD, a gig of RAM, and a DVD burner and comes pre-loaded with Vista.

CompUSA has some sales on Apple notebooks including a MacBook with a 5% discount and a MacBook Pro for $100 off. The MacBook is the 2.16GHz version and the MBP is the 2.2GHz 15.4” one.

The last one I am going to list is the HP Dragon from CompUSA, it’s the HDX9010NR and its $2599 after a $400 discount. If you don’t know, this is HP’s 20.1” laptop, this particular model has a C2D T 7500, a 240GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, an HD-DVD ROM drive, Vista Ultimate, integrated webcam, and a TV Tuner. This laptop is amazing specs wise but is only portable in the same way a pocket bike fits in your pocket, as in, its not.

Well, like I said, click on through to see the whole list, its kind of lengthy, and who knows, they could have what you have been looking for, in which case I’d feel obligated to cross everyone else off my Christmas list and think about myself only. But that’s just me, Happy Holidays.

Black Friday Notebooks [via notebooks]

The Pantech Duo is available through AT&T meaning it’s GSM. It operates on the 850, 900, 1800, 1900 frequencies, meaning the phone will suit all of your international traveling needs.

It has a big bright external screen. This makes navigation a breeze. The front of the phone also has a nice indented pattern around the screen. It adds well to the aesthetic of the phone.

Call quality was above what I expected. Very easy to hear whether you’re in a quite room, or a noisy crowd. Speaker quality is good for voice calls, but so-so when playing music with the built in Windows Media Player 10.

The full Qwerty keyboard makes email, and messages a lot easier. No more fumbling around with predictive text. The keyboard is fairly tactile with two large bumps over the space bar to help keep you centered when pounding out those long emails. And the bright backlighting makes it easy to keep them email going al through the night.

The Bluetooth worked seamlessly with every device I paired it to. No cracking when used with Bluetooth headsets, and when I paired it with the new Parrot Boombox it sounded phenomenal.

It is pretty easy to set up, send, and receive email with the C810. You can set up multiple email accounts, and set them to send/receive in intervals as short as every five minutes.

The phone is 3G, which makes surfing your favorite websites quick, and easy. The large screen makes for a pleasant surfing experience. Because the phone operates on the 3G network, it has some of AT&T’s cool new apps like AT&T music, and Cellular Video.

My two complaints about the phone are the battery life, and it’s operating system. We won’t get into the operating system – windows mobile 6 – why beat a dead horse? But the battery life could be better. If you use your phone a lot, you’ll want to pick up a car charger. Expect to get three to four hours of solid use out of it.

Overall, this is a great phone for the business user as well as the everyday consumer in search of an above average phone. I give the Pantech C180 a 4 out of 5. Pick it up for about $300 retail.

Rating:

4 out of 5 gears