COMPUTERS N LAPTOPS

Intel will soon release new low-power processors for a class of thin and light laptops that bridge the gap between netbooks and mainstream laptops. The new processors will reach laptops in the second half of the year, said Stephen Smith, vice president and director of PC client operations and enabling at Intel, during a webcast speech.

The new processors will be available under Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 brands and will power laptops that are as portable as netbooks but have larger screens and greater functionality. Called ultrathin laptops, these PCs are usually priced between US$400 and $800 and provide performance that is adequate to run standard applications and high-definition multimedia.

The road map also showed that the chips are due for release this quarter. The Intel spokeswoman declined comment on further chip details such as release date, performance and pricing. However, ultrathin processors are generally cheaper than mainstream laptop chips.

The chips will be made using the latest 32-nanometer manufacturing process, Smith said. The processors could provide a significant performance and power-savings boost over the first ultrathin chips introduced last year by Intel under the Core and Pentium brands. Intel's Core i3 and Core i5 processors integrate the CPU and graphics processor inside a single chip package, which could improve graphics performance while drawing less power. The chips are also capable of running two threads per one core, which could improve application performance.

The ultrathin laptop category first emerged when AMD introduced its Athlon Neo processors in January last year. Intel followed suit, releasing new ultrathin chips a few months later. The laptops were expected to fill a power and performance gap between netbooks and mainstream laptops, but adoption rates were slow.

An Intel road map presented during a webcast on Thursday showed that the chips will be less powerful than the standard-voltage Core i3 and Core i5 laptop processors, which are priced between $133 and $294, according to an Intel pricelist. However, the new processors will be faster than Intel's Atom chips, which go into netbooks.

However, research firm iSuppli said in a statement on Thursday that shipments of ultrathin laptops will pick up this year. iSuppli estimated that ultrathin shipments to total 14.5 million, a 93 percent increase from the 7.5 million ultrathin laptops that shipped last year. iSuppli estimated total laptop shipments to be 209.5 million units this year, a 25.5 percent year-over-year growth.

Acer was the top ultrathin laptop maker last year, shipping 5 million units, followed by Asustek, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Sony. Apple hasn't yet adopted ultrathin processors for its laptops.

Microsoft’s Life Cam Cinema is a compact HD webcam. It shoots at 720p HD and has a built-in microphone, making it a simple all-in-one solution that can be put on the top of any laptop screen. Microsoft's Life Cam Cinema brings cinematic video into the home as the first consumer webcam to offer widescreen video with a native 720p sensor. This is a real breakthrough for webcams and for communications in general. The doctor can even check ears, nose, and throat through the webcam. How much more accurate could the diagnosis be with the relatively cheap availability of High Definition video over webcam.

The Life Cam Cinema’s video is smooth and clear with Auto Focus, a high-precision glass element lens, and Microsoft’s new Clear Frame Technology, which helps ensure clear video quality in virtually any lighting condition and at any resolution. With 16:9 widescreen video captures, Life Cam Cinema is a great option for recording widescreen videos to upload to social networking sites such as Face book and YouTube videos will look more professional. Overall, it’s a very nice webcam with a complete feature set and solid hardware. The Life Cam Cinema brings users high-quality HD recording, quick and accurate autofocus, and acceptable sound quality.

In addition to the higher quality lens the webcam also features a larger microphone that is mounted in a small bubble on top of the camera. Larger microphones tend to have better sound but until a reviewer actually takes the lid off of the enclosure it can only be assumed that the pinhead size microphones that are used on most webcams. Overall, it is a very nice webcam with a complete feature set and solid hardware. The Life Cam Cinema brings users high-quality HD recording, quick and accurate autofocus, and acceptable sound quality.

The G73 is the latest gaming notebook in ASUS’ successful G-series product line and it is 17.3-inch monster has a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and the most powerful mobile video card available, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870.

It is built with many of the latest specifications in it, like 8-cell battery pack,8X DVD Super Multi drive, Atheros AR9285 802.11n Wireless LAN adapter, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 graphics card , 8GB DDR3-1066 RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit,Two-year limited warranty (one year on battery pack) with one year of accidental damage protection, Built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR,Two 500GB 7200RPM hard drives, Intel Core i7-720QM processor,17.3-inch 1080p display with LED backlighting etc.

The G73 has strong build quality and it feels very solid when being held. This notebook is constructed entirely of thick and good quality plastic and the chassis is very resistant to twisting and surfaces like the palm rests barely flex under pressure. Its lid has excellent support from two large and strong display hinges and the panel itself has ample support and twists less than most 17-inch notebooks.

The extra-large touchpad sits slightly off-center to the left of the chassis to line up with the keyboard and has a much-appreciated matte surface, which is easy to track on regardless of whether fingers are moist or dry. They are harder to push down than expected, and we don’t like that they are contained under a single piece of plastic.

The right side of the touchpad is a dedicated scroll zone however it required an unusual amount of pressure to use but unfortunately, the touchpad buttons are subpar.