Code Retard » Laptops

Good news, bad news: WD ships first 1 TB mobile drive, doesn’t fit in Mac laptops

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Yes, it’s a lot of storage — but the drive’s form factor won’t fit into any currently available Mac laptop. (Note the update at the end of this post)I was pretty excited when the Western Digital news release hit my inbox. The new drives, the industry’s first in that size for portables, have pretty good specs and capacious storage space. The problem really is the size. With Apple in the business of providing slim notebooks, the drive is just too tall (12.5mm) to make it into any Apple portable, which maxes out at a drive size of 9.5mm. The drive will be available in a USB enclosure, and WD is also offering a 750 GB version of the drive as well. The 1 TB drive lists for US$250, while the 750 GB drive is $189. Those prices are for the drive alone. Mounted in a USB enclosure the 1 TB drive sells for $300.Currently the largest 3rd party drives you can get in current Mac laptops max out at 500 GB.The Mac Mini may be able to house the new drive, but it would be a pretty tight fit, and according to our Steven Sande, may require the removal of the SuperDrive.Update: We’ve had a variety of responses to this post, with different ideas about which, if any laptops could take this new high capacity drive. I thought the quickest and best approach would be to try the experts at Other World Computing, who make a living selling replacement hard drives for Mac Desktops and portables. The tech there told me that the last generation 17″ MacBook Pro can take the 12.5mm drive, but that the 15″ model can’t. He also said none of the unibody MacBook Pro models can take a drive of that size. I’m sure some won’t accept this information either, but these were the most expert opinions we could find since Western Digital wasn’t sure and Apple doesn’t generally comment on such things. Since the drives are just shipping, we’ll wait for some real world experience and report back. Thanks to all who commented.

Dell Adamo. When?

Son Riku — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:10:17 +0000

Dell Pulls a wanna be Apple Air with Latitude E4200

Latest MacBook Laptop Specs Just Released

adm_snackbar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:07:53 +0000

Apple’s in the middle of its spotlight event of the latest specs and prices of their notebook line: the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. Each line has two trims, with some room for upgrades.

$1299 MacBook

13.3" LED-backlit display
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 3 MB L2 Cache
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
160 GB hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive

$1599 MacBook

13.3" LED-backlit display
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 3 MB L2 Cache
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
250 GB hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive
Backlit keyboard

$1799 MacBook Air

13.3" LED-backlit display
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 6 MB L2 Cache
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
120 GB SATA hard drive

$2499 MacBook Air

13.3" LED-backlit display
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 6 MB L2 Cache
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
128 GB solid state drive

$1999 MacBook Pro

15.4" LED-backlit display
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 3 MB L2 Cache
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT / 256 MB
250 GB hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive

$2499 MacBook Pro

15.4" LED-backlit display
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo / 6 MB L2 Cache
4 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory
Nvidia GeForce 9400M
Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT / 512 MB
320 GB hard drive
Slot-loading SuperDrive

And the current generation MacBook, Apple’s best selling Mac ever, will get a $100 price drop to just under $1,000 at $999.

Image/Apple

Leaked MacBook Pro Photos

adm_snackbar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:29:29 +0000

Engadget managed to snag two photos of the newest MacBook Pro, rumored to have two NVIDIA GPUs, using the 9600M GT chipset, in a dual-SLI setup just like on desktops. The MacBook Pro will come with an aluminum finish and the trackpad is actually made of glass. If you look closely at the picture, there’s no button either. Apparently, the trackpad itself is the button. Nice work Steve Jobs, way to lose another unnecessary button (he hate buttons, FYI, notice how he never wears button-up shirts, just button-less turtlenecks). Hit up the link to get another side view shot and some more detailed info on the specs.

Of course right now Apple is in the middle of its "spotlight turns to notebooks" so expect to see some photos and confirmations within the next couple hours.

Image/Engadget

How to get your Sony Vaio laptop to view games Full Screen

Son Riku — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:40:20 +0000

Sony Vaio Biaos Full Screen

How to get your Sony Vaio laptop to view games Full Screen

We at Code Retard love StarCraft even though it was written 10 years ago. One problem that I have always had with my Sony TX was that it would reduce the screen when that game would load. I never bothered to figure out why that would happen until I got my Sony UX.

If your screen isn’t resizing, I found out it was a BIOS setting on the motherboard. Easy Fix:

1. Hit F2 when you see the VAIO load screen
2. Go into the “Advanced” Tab
3. Change “LCD Screen Expansion” to “YES”
4. Save out and exit, and all your problems will be solved.

This not only will solve the Star Craft issue, but any other program that tried to load a lower resolution than the max on your Sony LCD.

wait for it…….BOO YAH! Done.

Dell Pulls a wanna be Apple Air with Latitude E4200

Son Riku — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:06:42 +0000

Thanks for bringing us back to 2007 guys!

Sony Vaio TZ laptop better than Mac Air?

Son Riku — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:57:04 +0000

In light of the new recall, we just felt like reliving the good times before it started to burn people. Other than the recall, we still love the Sony TZ, and think its way better than the Mac Air.

Sony Recalls Vaio Notebooks For Overheating Problem

Son Riku — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:03:04 +0000

Just when I was about to open my pocket book and buy a new Sony Vaio TZ notebook, I hear this craptacular news: “The company’s Vaio TZ-series may have irregularly positioned wires and/or a dislodged screw near the computer’s hinge that can cause a short circuit.” Great….Sony now has to recall almost 500,000 laptops. The recall effects 19 Vaio TZ models manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008. In the U.S. the flawed models include the Vaio VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series, and VGN-TZ2000 series.

Details after the break:

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has recalled 440,000 Vaio notebooks worldwide because of an overheating problem that has caused more than a half dozen minor injuries.
The recall of Vaio TZ-series PCs was due to “irregularly positioned wires” and/or a dislodged screw near the computer’s hinge that can cause a short circuit, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement. The commission said Sony has recalled about 73,000 notebooks in the U.S. and worldwide, however, the recall covers a total of 440,000 units, The Associated Press reported.

ithin the U.S., Sony has received 15 reports of overheating, including from one person who suffered a minor burn, the commission said. Worldwide, Sony has received 209 reports, including a total of seven reports of minor burns, the AP said.
Globally, the recall covers 19 Vaio TZ models manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008. In the U.S. the flawed models include the Vaio VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series, and VGN-TZ2000 series. The PCs have 11-inch screen sizes and cost between $1,700 and $4,000. They were built in Japan and the United States.

Not all Vaio TZ notebooks have the wiring problem, so U.S. owners are asked to call Sony toll free at 888-526-6219 or visit the company’s support site to arrange to have the computers inspected and repaired, if needed.

Until consumers check the safety of the notebooks, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has advised them to stop using the PCs immediately.

This Sony recall comes two years after the consumer electronics maker issued a massive recall of batteries that caused some notebooks to overheat and even burst into flames. That recall affected notebooks built by Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and Sony.

TOKYO – Sony Corp. said Thursday that overheating notebook computers slightly injured seven people and urged customers to bring in some 440,000 units for repairs.

More than 200 laptop computers of Sony’s Vaio TZ series, manufactured from May 2007 to July 2008, overheated, the company said. Of the cases, 83 were reported in Japan and the rest overseas.

Seven people suffered light burns which were not serious, it said.

Sony urged the owners of 440,000 laptop computers, which span 280 models, to come to the manufacturer for free repairs.

“The laptop computers overheat in the section connecting the display and the keyboard, as the joint section bites into a bunch of wires inside the computer,” a Sony spokesman said.

But the company will not recall the products because there is no risk of fires or serious injuries, the spokesman said.

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210300559

‘World’s Cheapest Laptop’ Now Available

Agravar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:49:45 +0000

The average cost of a laptop is about $700, so who would think that someone can purchase a laptop for $130! Yes that’s right $130.

The Impulse NPX-9000 has a 7-inch screen, a 400MHz processor, 128M bytes of RAM, 1G byte of flash storage and an optional wireless networking dongle, and also comes with the Linux OS. The laptop also comes with office productivity software, a Web browser and multimedia software.

There is one catch to this super cheap laptop though, you have to purchase it in bulk, in fact, you have to purchase it at least 100 units at a time

Asus Eee PC 900 Gets $100 Price Drop

adm_snackbar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:24:10 +0000

In an effort to push out the remaining 900 Eee PC stock to make room for the new Intel Atom-based 901 Eee PC’s, Asus is offering a $100 rebate to help the sales of the original 9″ model, even though it wasn’t even that long ago that it was introduced into the marketplace. With the price drop, the Eee PC 900 20G Surf goes for $449 on amazon, the only major retailer that is currently offering discount. Hopefully other retailers will follow suit soon.

At this point I’m really really debating whether or not I want to pick this up. I had held out on the 700 because I knew the bigger 900’s 9″ screen would be more useful. The Eee PC 900 sports a 900 MHz Intel mobile CPU, 1GB RAM, and a 20GB SSD which was a big improvement over the 700’s 4GB. It also comes with a built in camera. The Atom-based 901 will come with a 6-cell battery (over the 900’s 4-cell) and a 1GHz processor as its biggest improvements over the 900 but at $600 a pop, it seems to be a big price to pay for a small set of improvements. Now that the Eee PC 900 is $150 cheaper than the yet-to-be released 901, I may have to pull the trigger today.