Want to stretch your 17 inch MacBook to the storage max? If so, MCE have the answer for you with their 1TB Internal Hard Drive Solution. This package consists of the OptiBay SATA 500GB Optical Bay Hard Drive and the MobileStor 500GB Internal SATA Hard Drive which respectively replace the internal SuperDrive and internal hard drive of your MacBook Pro. Conveniently there’s also two USB 2.0 external enclosures for the displaced hardware. Here’s a run down on the bits and pieces on offer

* 500GB standard internal hard drive, 500GB OptiBay hard drive
* Both spin at 5,400 rpm
* single volume, partitioned, or RAID array set up options
* USB 2.0 external enclosure for the original internal hard drive
* USB 2.0 external enclosure for the extracted SuperDrive compatible with iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, iTunes, iPhoto, and Finder Burning

The downside on this handy little MCE offer is the price tag rocking in at US$800. MCE also offer installation if you can send your MacBook to them starting at US$100. So this is only really an option if you are desperate for a 1TB’s worth of zeroes and ones on your MacBook.

Source: MCE

Featured tags: hdd laptop macbook mce

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Asus have just launched an awesome gaming laptop, the G70. This puppy sports a fantastic range of specs from dual HDDs through to a full HD 17 inch display, ideal for all you mobile gaming fans out there. Check out the full spec list

* two independent Nvidia 8700M GT graphics engines using SLI technology and 1024MB GDDR3 of dedicated physical memory
* two drive bays for up to 640 GB of storage
* choice of Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors
* 17 inch WUXGA 1920×1200 res HD display
* DDRII 533/667MHz, up to 4GB
* 4 built in speakers
* DVD Super-Multi Light Scribe/ Blu-Ray Reader/ Blu-Ray RW (optional)
* Built-in 2.0 Mega-pixel camera
* 10/100/1000, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth connectivity (optional)
* 433 x 314 x 49mm
* 4.8 kg
* 8 cell battery pack

Stopped drooling yet? Yeah, this little sucker looks like the business, unfortunately there’s no indication of price that we can find, but it ain’t gonna be cheap. But then gamers tend not to worry about that too much if the machine meets their requirements and we would imagine that the G70 does just that for most of the gamers out there.

Source: Asus

Featured tags: asus g70 laptop

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Today’s the day you can get your mits on a brand new Lenovo IdeaPad U110 ultraportable laptop. This little puppy will set you back around US$1900 and for that you’ll get a unit sporting the following specs

* Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 CPU (1.6GHz)
* Windows Vista Home Premium
* 11.1 inch 1366 x 768 res WXGA display
* 120GB HDD spinning at 4,200 RPM
* 2 GB memory
* External dual-layer DVD burner
* 1.3 MP camera
* WiFi and optional Bluetooth connectivity
* 3 USB 2.0 ports

On the downside is a mere 2 hours of battery life with the standard 4 cell battery, however you can squeeze 8 hours of use out of the 7 cell expansion battery. For an extra US$100 you can also get an extra GB of memory, boosting the unit up to 3 GB of RAM. And for the more fashion conscious amongst us, the Ideapad is available in black and red.

I must admit that the Ideapad doesn’t appeal - I think it’s just a bit too overpriced and with a sad 2 hour battery life as well, Lenovo have missed the target with this one. Let me know if you think different.

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Whilst I’m not too convinced about the moniker Joybook, a laptop in leather certainly looks the part. BenQ’s latest Joybook, the R45 whilst sporting leather binding also boasts a nice list of specs too

Specs

* Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T8100
* Windows Vista Home Basic/Home Premium/Business
* nVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M G graphics
* DDR2-667 512MB memory (up to 4GB)
* 120 GB HDD (up to 250 GB)
* 8x DVD Burner
* 14.1 inch 1280 x 800 res WXGA display
* 4 x USB 2.0 ports
* RJ-45 ethernet port
* HDMI output port
* Built-in 2 MP web cam
* 6 cell lithium-ion battery giving 53 Whrs for an approx 2.5 hrs duration
* 802.11 b/g wireless connectivity
* Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
* 340 x 246 x 33.4 mm

Unfortunately the key spec, the price tag, is conspicuous by its absence so we will reserve judgment until we find that out. Not only that but this sucker is likely to be unavailable in the US whilst most of Asia and Russia will be able to enjoy it’s leather bound qualities in April this year. Despite these limitations the BenQ R45 certainly has all the bells and whistles and of course that luxuriant leather covering!

Source: Benq JoyBook R45

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Looks like HP have jumped on the mini laptop bandwagon with the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC aimed fairly and squarely at students

“HP listened to our needs and now is delivering a product designed by education for education,” said Chris Sieger, director of information technology for Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia. “Teachers and technology are the two most important assets in education. HP’s announcement demonstrates that it understands what schools need from industry.”

So would your average non-student be interested in their latest offering? Check out the specs on the educationally minded 2133

* sturdy and lightweight aluminium casing
* full-sized qwerty keyboard
* 8.9 inch 1280 x 768 res display
* 1.18 kg
* 1.0 GHz cpu
* 4 GB of flash
* 512 MB of RAM

All that will set you back US$500, whilst an extra US$250 will get you a 1.6 GHz processor, 120 GB HDD and Vista Business. We checked out a few reviews and all seemed generally favourable with jkontherun and notebooks.com giving it a thumbs up and notebookreview.com whilst being positive were not exactly gushing either. So HP could have a hit on their hands with the 2133 Mini-Note laptop.

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Yeah, we don’t know who Van der Led are either - they seem to be into outdoor led (!!!) lights more than gadget hardware, but they’ve just announced that their Jisus laptop will be out in Europe in May for 300 Euros (US$470). Here’s the low down on the little unit

* 8.9 inch LCD screen with LED backlight of course
* 1 GHz 64 bit Loongson processor
* 512 MB DDR2 memory
* 4 GB Nand flash memory
* 802.11b/g connectivity
* two USB 2.0 ports
* 10/100 Mbps RJ45 port
* battery life of 4.5 hours
* Unbuntu OS

I must admit I was intrigued by the Loongson processor so I dug a bit deeper and unearthed this on Wikipedia. Literally translated Loongson means ‘Dragon Core’ which sounds like a pretty cool name for a processor, however this statement concerned me

The primary purpose of the chip is to run localized Chinese versions of Linux, with emphasis on Chinese character support.

Hopefully they’ve extended this to other languages otherwise there may be only be a very small demand upon its launch in Europe!

Source: Engadget

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It wasn’t long ago that we were drooling over Rock’s Xtreme XL8 gaming notebook, and now they’ve produced a notebook at the other end of the scale certainly in terms of size, the Pegasus 210. The 210 is a nifty ultra portable notebook that boasts a six hour battery, weighs in at 1.2 kg and has a magnesium alloy chassis just in case you drop the sucker. Here are a few other bits and pieces to make you go oooh and aaah.

* Intel A110 Processor 800MHz
* 12 inch 1280 x 800 res display
* 1GB DDR2 memory
* 80GB HDD spinning at 4200rpm
* 3.6Mbps 3G/GPRS Integrated modem*
* Wireless LAN 802.11 a/g/n
* Bluetooth connectivity
* Windows XP Professional or Vista Business Edition

Firmly aimed at the business person on the move, the Pegasus 210 sports the kind of specs that really do underwhelm, however it’s the portability that counts on this baby and on that point it scores highly. All that for just a snip under 1000 pounds sterling (US$1850) too.

Source: Rock

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