Search Results for lenovo

How the iPad and Twitter Have Changed My News Consumption

Image courtesy of CleanSlate and Better Homes and Gardens I’m 47 years old–the “wedge” generation just after the Baby Boom, and just before Generation X.  I’m old enough to have owned a black-and-white TV (13″; it was my high school graduation gift!), had rotary dial phones (Michael just talked about these the other day!), one phone company for the whole country (Ma Bell!), three TV channels, and read the newspaper for news. I don’t delve into this nostalgically–I love all my modern gear.  I have an iPad, iPhone, Lenovo Thinkpad T61, DVR, DVD player, a 1 Terabyte drive for storage…


Hewlett Packard Mini 5103 NetBook PC Review

I recently reviewed the Hewlett Packard (HP) Elitebook 8440w and loved it, so when I had the chance to look at the recently released HP Mini 5103 my thought was: ‘take the 8440w and shrink it to netbook dimensions and you have the PERFECT business netbook’! At first glance that seems to be exactly what they did, but of course, I needed to put it through the day-to-day paces of my work life to see how it did. And since I have an unhealthy obsession with trying to shoehorn ‘big PC’ games onto netbooks, naturally I had to see how…


OnLive – Are You Ready for Full Price Rentals?

A while back the OnLive gaming service launched, and I posted my first impressions, and proceeded to spend much of my free time playing free demos of the various games available on the service. Now after a few months of hands-on experience I am ready to deliver my thoughts on this start-up video game-over network service. How does it work? Read on and find out! The Hype: OnLive is the pioneer of on-demand, instant-play video game services, delivering real-time interactive experiences and rich media through the Internet. With groundbreaking, patent-pending video compression technology, OnLive harnesses cloud computing to provide the…


Android Mobile Phone Review: Motorola Droid 2

Just a short time ago Motorola appeared to be on the ropes. That all changed when Motorola found Android.  Less than a year ago Motorola released and sold millions of their first Android device, the Droid on the Verizon network.  Since then, they have brought out the Cliq, Cliq XT, The Flip and the Droid X.  Today I am reviewing the sequel to the Droid, the Droid 2. Hardware The Droid 2 has similar looks to the original Droid.  It is a little less blocky, but it’s almost identical to the original Droid in size, weight and thickness.  The front…


5 Ways iPad is Better Than Netbook … and 5 Ways it is Worse

Prior to the release of the iPad, there were a multitude of articles – some touting 15 ways the iPad was better than a netbook, and others talking about the 42 ways the netbook was better than the iPad, and so on. As my Netbook Gamer series indicates, I am a netbook lover. I am also a proud iPad owner, and have had a few weeks using them both to look at the strengths and weaknesses of each. So here are 5 ways I feel each is better than the other … and I leave it to you to decide…


Don’t Trust That Label!: The Netbook Gamer

Image courtesy of GameSpot There are two paths I take when working on games to review for the Netbook Gamer: on the one hand I love to dig up classic PC games from the late 90’s that will still run on WIndows XP. On the other hand – particularly recently – I have been pushing the boundaries of what a standard netbook is capable of doing. Sometimes – like in the recent Tron review – things go very well. Sometimes – like in the Thief Deadly Shadows review – they work at a level that is barely acceptable. Sometimes I…


Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004, FPStealth): The Netbook Gamer

One of the great things about doing the Netbook Gamer is revisiting games and memories from years past. The Thief franchise of first-person stealth-action games touches a couple of memories. I was given the first game as a Christmas gift when it came out in late 1998, at a time when having two children under two years old was pretty much all consuming and left scant time for computer games, most of which I spent on first person shooters. So a stealth game like Thief demanded me to change my basic approach to gaming.


Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

Every now and then we come across something that brings us back to the origins of our love for a hobby. For me and computer games, my first real love was Castle Wolfenstein for the Apple ][ in 1981. I have related that story more than once now, since I have reviewed the iPhone version of Wolf 3D, the iPhone game Wolfenstein RPG, and last fall’s franchise reboot Wolfenstein for PC, X360 and PS3. In between all of that, Activision released Return to Castle Wolfenstein in late 2001. In this episode of The Netbook Gamer I see how the game…


Be.ez LA robe 11.6″ Netbook Case Review

Be.ez (be easy), a French brand that designs stylish accessories for the mobile lifestyle, announced a new addition to their popular line of protection sleeves for netbooks – LA robe Netbook 11.6. This netbook sleeve is nicely made with a very thick shock absorbing material, and it’s available in 2 different colors — Black & White and Red Kiss. So, how good is this sleeve in doing its job, protecting your precious netbook? Read on to find out! Features:- Low Resilience Polyurethane (LRPu) Technology Robe protection Thickness 5MM Trendy, Unique Design Inner Lip for maximum protection Stand alone or in…


Alienware m11x Gaming Laptop: First Impressions

… and as Alienware claims, this is NOT a netbook! Sitting side-by-side with my Lenovo s10 the Alienware m11x seems large, and given that it weighs twice as much as the Lenovo it also FEELS much bigger. But compared to my 15″ Macbook Pro or the HP Compaq 15″ laptop I use at work, it looks and feels quite small. That is exactly what Alienware was going for – a high performance system in a portable package. So while I have only had a short time with the system, here are a few initial thoughts about the m11x as a…


Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

Since I have already expressed my love for the original Star Wars Jedi Knight and the Mysteries of the Sith expansion, it is only fitting that I move on to the sequel! Don’t worry, I will return to Dark Forces soon enough and have also recently completed Jedi Academy … so soon I’ll have reviewed the entire Kyle Katarn saga on the netbook for you! But for now, let’s look at Jedi Knight II.


Neverwinter Nights (2002, RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Neverwinter Nights is a RPG based on the Dungeons and Dragons rules developed and published by Bioware in 2002. Since then it has been patched, expanded, enhanced, gotten loads of community extensions, and patched some more, and remains a favorite game for module developers and multiplayer gamers alike. But is it something for the netbook gamer? Read on for my review of this RPG classic with a special look at how the original game and all of the commercial expansions play on a netbook.


The Netbook Gamer: Torchlight (2009, RPG)

One comment I received when I started the Netbook Gamer series was that it was as much a ‘Retroscpectives of My Favorite Games’ series as anything else … and to an extent that is true (though the next entry will be a game I never played before). The problem is that Netbooks are not designed pumping out pixels in a way that is needed for modern games. However, every once in a while something comes along that works – and when I started playing Torchlight and saw a ‘Netbook Mode’ under visual options I was thrilled. So is the game…


ThermaPAK HeatShift Laptop Cooler Review

If you have a desktop replacement laptop, you will know that they definitely get very hot.  So hot that they have even been known to induce burns when they come in contact with skin.  So hot that even Apple recommends not to use your MacBook on your lap. Laptop coolers have been on the market for quite a while to  help with this, however most of them want you to use a USB port for power and reducing your battery life.  The new ThermaPAK HeatShift Laptop Cooler is designed to take the heat away from your laptop and keep it away…


Kensington K33926US Universal Notebook Docking Station with VGA/DVI and Ethernet Review

A lot of people are going to a laptop only computing experience.  There are even some that are going to a netbook only experience as a netbook is all they need.  Sometimes, however, it is nice to have a screen that is bigger than what a netbook can provide.  The same can be said about the touchpad and the keyboard.  Wouldn’t it be nice to plop your laptop or netbook down and have it attached to a 24 inch LCD?  That’s where this dock comes in.


The Netbook Gamer: Unreal (1998, FPS)

Given that my first love of gaming is first-person shooters (FPS) based on my love of the original Castle Wolfenstein back on my Apple ][+, it is somewhat surprising that I was ‘late to the party’ on Unreal by nearly a year. But hey, gimme a break – I had a three-month old colicky baby when it was released in late May of 1998. Yes, that is right: Unreal is well past the celebration of its tenth birthday … but in terms of my ownership it has just passed the decade mark, so I guess that counts for something! You…


Review: CaseCrown Slim Pocket Case for 10″ Netbooks

Buying a laptop case has always been a challenge for a very simple reason: very few laptops share the same external dimensions. This is a problem that goes back to my first two portables – the Compaq LTE and Mac Portable, which were vastly different in size and configuration. As a result, many of us who have depended on laptops for years have an odd collection of ill-fitting bags scattered in our storage areas. Some were included with laptops, others we bought to fit whatever laptop seemed like it would be the center of our lives for years to some….


Tekkeon myPower ALL MP3700 Battery Review

Looking for a way to extend the run time on that Eee PC or Acer Aspire One that you got for Christmas?  If so, then the Tekkeon MP3700 may be just the ticket for your power hungry ultra mobile device. Weighing in at 15.4 oz, the Tekkeon MP3700 is light enough that it won’t weigh you and your netbook down too much; the combination weighs less than the Lenovo T60 I use.


SuperTalent Mini PCIe SSD Drives Review

I am a huge fan of netbooks.  The very first netbook, the Eee PC 701 started a frenzy of designs that even brought Dell and Lenovo into the netbook fold. One minor problem with the SSD based netbooks like the original Eee PC 701/702 and the 900/901 is that you may not have as much on-board storage as you might like.  The 702 tops out at 8 GB, and that’s the model I have.  While I didn’t necessarily want a lot more space, it did change how I used the little netbook; I basically dedicated the on-board storage only for…


Visiontac VGPS-900 Multifunction GPS Data Logger Review

Have you ever wanted to see the exact route you had taken when driving to your relatives for the Holidays?  Or have you ever had your speed demon of a teenager get a ticket?  During a vacation have you ever wanted to Geotag your pictures?  Well if so, then the Visiontac VGPS-900 may be just the device for you. The VGPS-900 is about the size of a zippo lighter, but thinner.  The front of the device is dominated by the Point of Interest button followed by three light-up LED indicators.  There’s a indicator for the log, one for GPS status…


Skooba Checkthrough Bag Review

Ever since 9/11, air travelers have been forced to take their shoes off, take their laptops out of bags, and…well you know the drill.  Now the TSA has worked on developing a standard for letting us keep our laptop in its bag as we go through through the checkpoint.  I got to take a look at Skooba Design‘s version, called the Skooba Checkthrough. The bag is actually a lot smaller than it looks and a lot larger than it looks.  I know; how can it be both?  Well when all zipped up, it’s a little thinner than the backpack I…