News Bits: Toshiba 200GB Notebook HD, Alienware Superman Laptop, Acer at Computex

Toshiba announces 200GB 2.5" Hard Drive

June 5<SUP>th</SUP> - Toshiba today announced its new 2.5", 200GB hard drive which uses perpendicular magnetic recording technology to achieve an astonishing 200GB storage capacity with only two platters. The MK2035GSS features the highest areal density so far at 277.1 megabits per square millimeter. Mass production of the drive is slated for August 2006.

Toshiba's Vice president of the Storage Device Division at Toshiba, Kazuyoshi Yamaori, said:

"We are delighted to announce the addition of this new 2.5-inch HDD to our line-up of perpendicular magnetic recording HDDs. Larger data capacity in a small form factor HDD is essential for continued advances in the notebook PC market and in personal audio and video applications. As a global leader in small form factor HDD, we will continue to take technology advances to further generations and provide our customers with breakthroughs in capacity and performance."

The new drive boosts storage capacity to 1.67 times that of Toshiba's highest capacity 2.5" drive. It will be featured at Computex Taipei 2006 in Taiwan, from June 6-10.

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Asus offers S6 notebook in leather

(eyes on the leatherbound thingy, that's the Asusnotebook)

Tired of magnesium-alloy and plastic notebooks? Asustek's S6 notebook series offers an alternative to that - it's covered in hand-embossed leather, a jeweled hinge and a polished keyboard. The company claims the lead time on the machines is two months.

The S6 is based on the Intel Centrino Duo platform, using the 945GM chipset and a Core Duo L2300 or L2400 processor. It also features an 11.1" WXGA display and built-in WLAN (802.11a/b/g) and Bluetooth 2.0.

If you like leather but are concerned about the environment, there's no need to worry - Asustek says that every part of the S6 is RoHS compliant.

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Acer to introduce HD notebooks at Computex 2006; dual-core Ferrari notebooks

Acer is slated to introduce its new lineup of HD (high-definition) notebooks at Computex 2006 currently taking placein Taipei. The new Aspire series will have 15.4"-17.0" displays for the mainstream, and a 20.1" model (Aspire 9800) for those serious about entertainment.

The HD notebooks, in addition to being equipped with an HD-DVD ROM drive, will also have HDMI and HDCP support for projecting HD movies and games to LCD TVs, according to Acer.

HD-DVD technology supports thirteen types of optical media formats, along with a DVD Super-Multi drive (up to six times the image quality of standard DVD movies) and complete backward compatibility.

A list of models to be showcased:

[/TD]

Item	Aspire 9800	Aspire 9510	Aspire 5760	Aspire 9110
CPU	Intel Core Duo ==>
Chipset	Intel 945PM ==>
Display	20.1-inch WXSXGA+	17" LCD	15.4" WXGA, 16ms	15.4" WXGA
Graphics	Nvidia Go7600	Nvidia Go7900GS	ATI Mobility Radeon X1400	Nvidia Go7600
Video RAM	256MB GDDR2	512MB GDDR3	128MB GDDR2 (512MB HyperMemory)	256MB GDDR2
RAM	667MHz DDR2, 2GB Max.	667MHz DDR2, 4GB Max.	533/667MHz DDR2, 2GB Max.
HDD	One or two 80-120GB, Max 240GB 5400RPM	240GB Max. SATA	80-120GB SATA
Optical	8X Slot Load Super Multi	-	8X Slot Load Super Multi	1X HD DVD-ROM or 8X Slot Load DVD Super Multi
Dimensions	475x352x61.8mm	-	364x274.75x28/36.3mm	358x270x 33mm
Weight	7.8kg w/TV Tuner, 2nd HDD	-	3.0kg w/TV Tuner	2.98kg w/TV Tuner
Image	(view large image)	(view large image)	(view large image)	(view large image)

Acer will also showcase its Ferrari 5000 and 1000 notebooks based on the new AMD Turion X2 Mobile Technology. Read more about them here.

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AMD to have a chip fab in New York?

AMD has plans with the state of New York to build a new fabrication facility, according to several reports. In the towns of Malta and Stillwater, Luther Forest is home to a technology park with occupies 1350 acres. Plans are already in place for the preparation of a large chip manufacturing facility according to local officials. However, they did not say who the company is nor when it will happen.

AMD is expected to spend in excess of $3.5 billion for the new chip fab. It will hold over 1000 employees. Officials from AMD have said there are no plans for a new chip fab. If there is one, it would take around 2.5 years to complete.

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Alienware's Superman systems

Alienware Superman Laptop (view large image)

Alienware celebrates the June 28th release of Warner Bros. Picture's Superman Returns with limited-edition desktop and notebook systems. Each individually-numbered system comes with a certificate of authenticity, and a special desktop theme designed by the Skins Factory via Stardock's Theme Manager software.

Alienware desktop Superman systems ([I]view large image[/I])

The case design for the Area-51 desktop was created by artists at DC Comics; the artwork traces Superman's progression from child to Super Hero, and includes other characters such as Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. Notebook systems come with a blue design, with the iconic S-Shield logo on the front panel of the notebook.

Director of Licensing at Alienware, Frances T. Alvarez, stated:

"The appeal of the Superman character has resulted in numerous successful incarnations, from comic books to movies to TV shows, and now at last, has extended over to PCs so fans can celebrate their favorite Super Hero every time they use their Alienware computer. Mind-blowing power and lightning-fast speed come to mind when people think of Superman, and these same qualities embody the heart of Alienware PCs, making us a natural fit to offer these once-in-a-lifetime systems."

[URL=http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/?epi_menuItemID=989a6827590d7dda9cdf6023a0908a0c&amp;epi_menuID=c791260db682611740b28e347a808a0c&amp;epi_baseMenuID=384979e8cc48c441ef0130f5c6908a0c&amp;ndmViewId=news_view&amp;newsLang=en&amp;div=-1993463876&amp;newsId=20060606005867]Read More[/URL] [p] [p][B]Kensington introduces 20 new notebook accessories[/B] [p][img]http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/12815.jpg[/img] [p]June 5<SUP>th</SUP> - Kensington announced 20 new products for the mobile consumer today. The new lineup consists of four additions to Kensington's lineup of MicroSaver(R) line of notebook locks, new mice, presenters, video capable universal notebook docks, and the most expansive launch of notebook cases in Kensington's history. [p][URL=http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/?epi_menuItemID=989a6827590d7dda9cdf6023a0908a0c&amp;epi_menuID=c791260db682611740b28e347a808a0c&amp;epi_baseMenuID=384979e8cc48c441ef0130f5c6908a0c&amp;ndmViewId=news_view&amp;newsLang=en&amp;div=-1993463876&amp;newsId=20060605005494]Read More[/URL] [p][B]Laptop stolen from Rhode Island YMCA with 65,000 people's credit card information[/B] [p]There's seemingly a storyreportedevery hour of every day about stolen laptops and identity theft, but people just don't learn. In the latest big incident, a laptop used by a Newport Rhode Island YMCA was lifted sometimein May and the organization has now revealed that laptop contained the information of about 65,000 individuals including debit card, credit card and social security data. In other words, everything a thief would need to start drawing money and steal the identity of someone. [p][URL=http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1972653,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594]Read More[/URL] [p] [p][B]Interesting Links[/B] [p][URL=http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/06/06/ati_launches_theater_650/]ATI updates Theater TV tuner chip[/URL] [p][URL=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060605-6987.html]Intel's XScale business for sale[/URL] [p][URL=http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060605-6985.html]HD channels stretch cable's bandwidth[/URL][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p][/p]

 

The artwork on that Alienware desktop is actually pretty sweet. And I don't even care too much for Superman.

 

The Aspire 9110 a 15.4" screen laptop? Something tells me it's a typo.

 

Leather bound and jewel studded hinges, wow. Over the top.

I'm not a big Superman fan, but I still love Super Heros. The big iconic 'S' on a gaming notebook sounds like fun. Let's go fight some evil.

 

? not sure what you mean, here's the press release from Acer indicating the Aspire 9110 is a 15.4" screen laptop

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060605/sfm103.html?.v=47

 

I don't see a number pad as most larger Acers have and It looks like it has a widescreen to me and the dimension are close to the 5760's.

 

I think Acer 9800 should be equipped with HD DVD as well.

 

My thoughts exactly , the 9510 looks pretty good , I wonder how it will compare to the inspiron 9400 .

 

lol my bad. Too good to be true is all. 15.4" WXGA screen, 7600 GPU, webcam, hd dvd-rom and tv-tuner? You have no idea how long I've been waiting for something like this. Any word on pricing? I'm guessing $1999 Canadian MSRP?

 

yah i will havta give 2 thumbs up for Acer on this one, that 9110 looks amazing! Could be a real winner.

That stolen laptop story is bad, real bad! Identity theft is rampaging! it is just rediculous =\.

"You said people don't learn?" im confused by this statement, are you saying people leave their laptop for one min or get jumped or something like that and their laptop is stolen. like what do u mean?


Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/06/acer-aspire-9510-and-9110-hd-dvd-sporting-laptops/

Or for those too lazy to read the whole article:
with all but the 5670 sporting 1,920 x 1,080 resolutions

I thought the 9110 came with WXGA (1280x800) screen? Talk about contradictory news.

 

This is about the 100th time the Asus S series has been covered on this site. What's next, mink fur? Tell me more about some Asus notebooks like the U5 or the W1. No more leather semiconductors!