News Bits: New Samsung M70 19", Apple 1st in PCMag Survey Results, Extended Warranty?

New Samsung M70 19" Screen Laptop and 14" Screen Laptop

That's not a typo, the first 19" screen laptop will be hitting the market soon it appears. This is thanks to Samsung, who has always been somewhat of an innovator in the various consumer electronics markets it produces goods in.

Samsung M70 19" screen notebook with detacheable screen (larger image)

Known M70 specs:

• 19" widescreen
• 9,7 lbs (4,4kg)
• 1680 x 1050 screen, 280 nits, 600:1 contrast, 10 ms

Samsung X1 14" widescreen notebook (larger image)

In addition, Samsung should be announcing a new X1 14-inch widescreen laptop with the following specs:

• 14" widescreen
• 3,7 lbs (1,7kg)
• 13,5 hours battery life (I guess this means two batteries 4 cell / 8 cell)
• Dual layer-dvd-drive opens on top
• SRSsound
• DVD andCD without booting
• IR-remote (PC-card size)
• At least 3xUSB 2.0 ports
• Optical 5.1ch S/PDIF audio output

PC Mag Service and Reliability Survey

Once again Apple tops the list of the consumer satisfaction survey conducted by PC Mag, moving up its score from last year. Dell fell off slightly while Fujitsu and IBM actually improved their scores. HP and Gateway actually fell in customer satisfaction for the 2nd year in a row. Below is the main results chart and follow the URL for the complete article from PC Mag:

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,1626131,00.asp

NY Times Extended Warranty Article

More and more these days you're getting harassed by salesman in electronics stores to buy an extended warranty from either the store you're buying from or a 3rd party extended warranty firm (not the actual manufacturer). Notebook computers are one item in which these warranties are particularly prevalent and strongly pushed on the sales floor. So are they worth it? Well, it depends. If the warranty covers accidental damage and you're a clumsy person, then quite possibly so. But if you're buying a computer from a company that makes quality products that rarely break, then spending an extra $300 might not be worth it. The New York Times has a nice rundown on the business of extended warranty programs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/27/business/27warranty.html?pagewanted=1

 

OK now somebody tell me what is the point of having a 19" 'laptop'? Isn't a laptop supposed to be portable?

It's really cool, and the detachable LCD is a good idea, but, good luck finding a bag, and finding a place to put it!

 

Yay for Fujitsu! Glad I bought one. However, I am surprised that nearly 1 in 4 need repairs. Even more surprised that fewer averatecs needed repair. Never would have guessed.

 

the only reason i would get a 19" laptop would be for a DTR like my dell 17" notebook is

 

As crazy as it may sound to you, there are a lot of people including me who desire such a product. Anybody who has bought or has considered buying a laptop like an XPS2 knows that we use our laptops as portable desktops rather than machines we lug around everywhere. It's for the occasional (i.e. once or twice a week) transportation that still makes these far easier to move around than even the lightest desktops. This particular design is a godsend because of that detachable display. I hope that Dell offers that detachable display on top of the high end components in their 19" model.

 

Dell probably will, because Samsung provides most of the LCDs that Dell uses.

 

Including Apple in the PCMag survey is not very fair in my opinion since it is not just a laptop maker, it is the only option for OS X (which is a great OS).

 

The word "laptop" is simply out of date in this respect. "Luggable", however the connotations, or just plain portable are better words for this. I need a computer which I can move around from desk to desk. Today I have to resort to my stationary desktop for tasks requiring lots of screen real estate but half the time I need stuff from my shop as well for the same tasks and occassionally end up working on a small screen from there or simply just don't get the job done. For me a 21" widescreen portable with a built in color laser printer would be cool if not exactly a laptop. Well, perhaps not even portable. The Samsung would do, I think. At least it would keep my shop from being cluttered by computers not needed for my everyday business.

 

Any think the new X1 is awesome? 13.5 Hours of battery life and a weight of only 3.7lbs in a 14.1" formfactor with a built in optical drive? This definitely will top Fujitsu as the lightest 14.1" laptop. Now how is their service in general? I am guessing, not nearly as good as Fujitsu's