Finally, a 13-inch laptop that stunningly blends luxury, portability, and power. Move over Macbook (Air), Levono X300, Dell M1330, and even the new Voodoo Envy, because Sony has just released specs for their new Z-series notebooks.

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The HP Mini-Note 2133 has arrived, exciting the UMPC world with its healthy mix of features and style. What the HP Mini manages to pull off is impressive, but not entirely surprising. With new UMPC’s entering the market at such a steady pace, it’s only a matter of time before manufacturers cover more price points, performance levels, and feature sets to better satisfy consumer needs. But how long will it take for UMPC’s to go mainstream? HP thinks that time is now. With their first UMPC attempt, HP has boldly gone all in, and judging by first reports, their gamble just might be the smartest thing they’ve done in ages. Read the rest of this entry »

Tired of Youtube robbing your videos of their original image and sound quality? Here are some easy steps to get stereo sound and crisp video back into your Youtube uploads! Read the rest of this entry »

The Korg Kaossilator, the hot new gadget that generates a symphony of sound with a few swipes of the finger, has generated a ton of interest, and not just among musicians, but of people with no prior music composing experience.

In the age of iPod’s, PSP’s and portable computing, the Kaossilator has a real chance of enticing the casual market. Its gadget-like appeal, ease of use, and well thought out features enables anyone to pick one up and explore their creative potential. Who says you need piano lessons and music theory? In just minutes, a novice beat-maker can have something that even Timbaland might try to steal from!

But what if you’re looking for something a bit deeper than what the Kaossilator offers? The relative brevity of the unit’s two-bar looper is a noticeable bottleneck. Some users, I imagine, will eventually wish for a tool that can sequence a full music track, rather than just a 5-second loop. Fortunately, Korg, among other manufacturers, make an exciting class of products known as grooveboxes that do just that. Read the rest of this entry »

Peddling movies and TV shows on optical media is making less and less sense. Video discs are cumbersome, costly, inflexible, and fragile, to list just a few of their shortcomings. In consequence, physical formats have had their days numbered since the popularization of file-sharing. Despite great advances in file compression, content distribution and broadband Internet, consumers are being sold yet another optical disc format. Blu-ray may have won over HD-DVD, but consumers are the ones who ultimately lose by being fed this new spin on old technology. Read the rest of this entry »

The Macbook Air is arguably the sleekest and sexiest laptop the world has ever seen, but already it has drawn a largely mixed - if not negative - reaction from Apple critics and loyalists alike. Many are stunned with Apple’s decision to nix various laptop essentials, like multiple USB ports and a removable battery. For comparison’s sake, few people complained (at least in such a damning tone) of the Asus Eee’s long list of shortcomings when it debuted last fall. Read the rest of this entry »

I just finished beating Halo 3 in legendary mode, and yes, I know, I am probably the last person on Earth to write about it! I found Halo 3 to be an enjoyable experience, but one suffering from simple and overly repetitive gameplay. The sequel just seemed a tad stale. As the game progressed, the lack of innovation put into the title became obvious. In the end, I couldn’t help but feel a little let down by all the stellar Halo 3 reviews I had read prior to playing it. Read the rest of this entry »

Dell has just released their much anticipated 15.4-inch XPS notebook, the M1530. After receiving stellar reviews for their 13.3-inch M1330, many have been waiting for an XPS laptop that would give the MacBook Pro 15.4-inch a run for its money.

Well, the day has come, and the M1530 is now for sale. But, gleaning specs from Dell’s website, it is obvious that this laptop will not please everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I’m focusing on nVidia’s practice of (mis)labeling their line of mobile graphics chips to make them seem more equivalent to their famed desktop products.

Earlier, I was reading Trusted Reviews’ excellent coverage of the first laptop to integrate a 8800m GTX. Having used many nVidia mobile and desktop graphics chips in the past, instinctively, the first thing that entered my mind was to what extent has nVidia limited this mobile chip’s performance compared to that of its desktop equivalent.

It seems that every time nVidia releases a new mobile chip, they lend it a title that closely matches a desktop product, which, if you ask me, implies that it also closely matches it in performance. As we all know, this is hardly the case. Over the years, lowered expectations for mobile graphics performance has been something we’ve all come to live with. Read the rest of this entry »

This sweet little unit will allow you to create catchy beats in no time. The Korg Kaossilator’s touch pad is wired to rattle off a hundred stored samples, including classical instruments and drums. The deceptively simple controls can layer multiple two-bar loops, of your own composition, in realtime. The pocket-sized synthesizer attempts to satisfy experienced musicians, yet also allows for your neighborhood no-talent-DJ to bust out some sick sounding beats, all without killing his (or her) high. Read the rest of this entry »