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Meet Matt, a senior technician here at Laptop Broker. Like all our technicians, Matt knows his way around a laptop and has upgraded and rebuilt thousands of computers over the years.
We asked Matt to review a few laptops he is familiar with and have posted them for our customers to review. We hope you find this information helpful and welcome your feedback.
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New Apple Ultraportable Laptop
There are confirmed reports from the Apple Company that it plans to unveil its ultraportable notebook at Macworld Expo and Conference in January 2008 in San Francisco. The striking attraction of this ultraportable laptop is that it has no hard drive. It instead has a solid-state drive or flash drive. This is in furtherance of similar reports from various Asian partners of Apple.
There have been huge speculations in blogs and at other Internet platforms about such a laptop from Apple for quite some time. However, it is now confirmed news and from Apple Company itself. You are now just weeks away from viewing the world’s smallest computer.
Many shoppers are reportedly putting away their purchase plans for few more months. They would look into the newer versions and decide about their purchases later. Apple is gaining immense popularity in recent months. This new laptop is generating huge interest and people are now more interested in gathering information about working of the Apple.
Apple should receive extensive credit for all its innovations in the field of laptops and iPhone. This has instilled a great level of healthy competition among other contenders marketing similar products.
Features
The new Apple ultraportable laptop will use NAND memory in place of the currently existing Mac Book Pro. This laptop will use NAND flash memory. This will promote faster launching of all available applications. There will be no hard disk or any internal optical disk drive. Because of this, the laptop would be fifty percent thinner and would weigh comparatively less than current versions of the Mac Book Pro.
The display screen of Apple ultraportable laptop would be of twelve inches. This laptop would have a built-in iSight webcam and enabled AirPort Extreme 802.11n. It would house a MagSafe power adapter. There would be an LED-backlit display in the front. All these features together would increase power efficiency of Apple ultraportable computer. This new laptop would weigh only 3.4 pounds with battery.
Insiders reveal that the design for New Apple Ultraportable Laptop started in February. Apple has been particular about adopting the minimalist attitude. This has resulted in doing away with the optical disc drive, which has always been an inherent component of any laptop.
Thickness of components comes across as another major impediment while designing computers and laptops. Manufacturers have always been on the lookout for ways and means of reducing the thickness. Apple Company has also made many sincere attempts in the past to overcome these shortcomings. However, various obstacles made Apple shelve the plans.
There are no further details available about the other features of Apple Ultraportable Laptop. The operating system software would most probably be Leopard while the Intel architecture could be the Santa-Rosa platform. Similarly, there is no information about the input and output ports, RAM and HDD storage capacity and expandability.
This sleek laptop would have black and aluminum finishes. As the screen bezel would be much thinner, LED backlit screen would almost reach the end of the enclosure. Overall, this laptop would be much lighter and thinner.
Rating: 5/5
Benefits
New Apple Ultraportable Laptop would be offering some special features that are not present in any of its earlier portables. The NAND flash is such an example. This laptop is full of benefits. Booting times would be almost nil. You can boot your laptop almost instantly. Power efficiency records huge increase. Rather, this laptop would be the first of its kind to utilize solid-state memory for bettering power efficiency.
The twelve-inch LCD display panels would be a boon over the 15-inch Mac Book Pro. There would be LED backlights in place of the cold cathode fluorescent backlights. Although LED lights are costlier than cathode fluorescent backlights, color saturation levels are higher and distribution of light is more even across the entire display surface. Power consumption is less. Further LED lights are cooler and last longer.
Combination of the NAND flash drives and LED lights transforms into better battery performances. NAND does not have any moving parts and so power consumption is low. Therefore, battery performance in the new laptop would be much higher than its counterparts are.
Apple will have to include a good typing interface, preferably with a full-size keyboard. This will enable users to enjoy all features and gain through increased productivity and performance.
Rating: 5/5
Cost
New Apple Ultraportable Laptop would cost approximately $1,500. This is almost the same price as that of a 13.3-inch black Mac Book presently available at Apple’s web site. Apple is eyeing the Japanese market with its ultra portable laptop. These slick and sleek designs have a huge market in Japan.
The cost invokes a major discussion regarding the different parts Apple would be using in the new Apple Ultra Portable Laptop. Contemporaries like Dell charge $950 premium for a 64GB flash memory drive in place of a 160GB hard drive on one of its XPS notebooks. This indicates that probably Apple would be using a smaller drive and lesser memory to offset the cost. Further, processor would be a less expensive one. Another important fact is that flash memories do not remain practical for a very long time. The major question is whether Apple would be able to offer so much at this price. Only time can answer.
Rating: 4/5
Overall Conclusions
There has been a long anticipation for an innovative product from Apple. Rumors that Apple would be coming out with an ultra portable laptop started long back in March 2006. Although initial speculation was that this laptop would be available in 2007, it was not to be so. Macworld San Francisco 2008 would be the launching ground for Apple's superb and long-awaited ultraportable laptop.
There were reports that Apple was researching into the use of NAND flash in portables for better battery life and easy booting capabilities. However, at that time, it was thought that 12 Inch Mac Book Pro from Apple would have a dual core processor and retain an optical drive. This would be available for $1700-$1800. However, there was nothing sensational from Apple at Macworld San Francisco 2007.
You would definitely want a stylish and efficient laptop to attend to your requirements anywhere across the world.
Apple has adopted many minimalist cues in its design to come out with such a sleek and bold ultraportable laptop. It has tried to set aside the traditional designs and computer setups for something different and interesting. Apple has had bad experiences in the past while trying to slim down the size of the notebook. Apple would surely not try to risk doing it once again.
However, another facet of the discussion is that Apple Company would not risk coming out with such a laptop. There is competition from Intel, as Intel is also supposed to unveil a similar laptop around January 2008. Although ultraportable laptops do not constitute a major part of the computer market, yet they have a large following and demand because of their design. Further, Apple has always been a party to introducing such interesting designs in its computers.
Apple will be taking various economic factors in consideration while opting for its ultraportable laptop with NAND flash primary storage. Although Apple would like to open further avenues with its strong Mac Book growth, yet the timing would surely consider NAND vendors’ abilities to push down prices much further. The flash memory will replace HDD in the video-enabled iPods.
Another factor is that the customers desire for higher storage options. The ultraportable design and absence of hard disk does not facilitate this. Hence, Apple is trying to find an easy solution to satisfy all requirements and keep the features of its ultraportable laptop intact.
Pros:
• Extreme Portability
• Lightweight
• Low costs
• Superb Battery Performance
• No hard disk or in-built optical drive
• Sleek Design
• Less booting time
• Faster launching of applications
Cons:
• Flash memories do not remain practical after few years
• Lesser memory
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Dell D810
You Save: $750.00 (58%)
Sale Price: $549.99 |
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Dell Latitude D800
Expert Review Summary: The Dell Latitude D800 perfectly fits the bill of a laptop with almost desktop-like features but with increased portability than a desktop. There is no compromise on performance and the huge 15.4 inch wide-screen display is amazing. Want more? Read full review. |
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