Samsung to Introduce Two New CULV Laptops

Samsung is expected to announce two new CULV based laptops soon, the X420 and X520. The laptops will be based on an ultra-thin design with high battery life.

The Samsung X420 is based on Intel's Pentium Dual Core SU2700 1.30 GHz processor, with a 250GB 5400RPM hard drive and 3GB DDR3 RAM. However, an optical drive is not included.


It's equipped with a 14-inch screen and weighs 3.7 pounds. The Samsung X520 will be equipped with a similar SU2700 CPU which consumes ultra low power along with a 320GB hard drive and 4GB DDR3 memory. The X520 comes with a 15.6-inch display and weighs around 4.6 pounds. Both laptops include integrated Intel GMA X4500M cards. All the standard ports, including HDMI, are in place.

The laptops come with a standard 6-cell battery which delivers around nine hours of battery time. The laptops are expected to be introduced by the end of October after the official release of Windows 7. They will be available in Europe with a retail price of around €700 or $1000.

Jesper Berg | laptoplogic

Sony Extends Vaio Warranty for Nvidia Flub

Remember that whole fiasco with Nvidia graphics-based notebooks giving up the ghost because of a "weak die/packaging material set?" That manufacturing defect ended up costing Nvidia millions of dollars in warranty repairs. It also led to extended warranties by some OEMs, the latest of which is Sony.


"Sony, in cooperation with Nvidia, has been looking into any possible effect to Vaio notebooks with Nvidia graphic processors. Until recently we had not identified any Vaio models that were affected by this issue," Sony said in an eSupport USA notice.

The statement went on to disclose that a "very small percentage" of Nvidia-based Vaio PCs may exhibit "distorted video, duplicate images, or a blank screen" because of the faulty GPU.

According to Sony, affected models include the Vaio VGN-AR1xx, VGN-AR2xx, VGN-AR3xx, VGN-FZ1xx, VGN-FZ2xx, VGN-FZ3xx, VGN-FZ4xx, VGC-LT1xx, and and VGC-LT2xx series. For those who need repair service because of a failing GPU, Sony said it will provide a three year warranty extension.

source

Potential First Retail Android Netbook is a Cheap-o Tablet

Earlier this month, a pair of bigwigs over at Acer said during a press event that the company plans on using Google's open-source Android OS in its upcoming smartphones, but doesn't feel the OS is ready for netbooks. Just don't tell that latter part to Chinese company SkyTone, the first company (we're aware of) to release an Android netbook.

SkyTone, who's best known for its Skype headsets and kiddie PCs, lists on their website the Alpha-680 Google Android netbook. Available in pink, red, yellow, white, or black, the low cost netbook comes equipped with a 7-inch LCD screen, ARM11 533MHz processor, 128MB of DDR2 (upgradeable to 256MB), a 1GB SSD (upgradeable to 4GB), WiFi, memory card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, and of course Google's Android OS.

ComputerWorld describes the rig as a "glorified cellphone...without the glory," and we'd have to agree. It's unclear when it will be available for purchase and for how much, but even if it checks in somewhere between $100 and $200, Dell's $199 Vostro A90 would make the Alpha-680 a tough buy.

Looks like Acer might have been right.

source : Paul Lilly-maximumpc.com