News Bits: Toshiba R15 Review, Dell Latitude D510, New BlueTooth Mouse, 64-bit Windows

Toshiba Satellite R15 Review from TabletPCReviewSpot.com

The Toshiba Satellite R15 (also sold as the Satellite R10 from Toshiba.com) is Toshiba's first Satellite branded Tablet PC convertible notebook. The Satellite line of notebooksare targeted at consumers, which means the price is kept down in order to make it within the budget of more people, and in this case the $1,599 price tag gives you a lot of features for the $. We've posted a review of this feature loaded device over at our sister site TabletPCReviewSpot.com:

"It's a notebook when you need it to be, and a tablet when you want the comfort of paper and pen." These words come straight from the manufacturer. Toshiba is marketing their first consumer-oriented Tablet PC as the best of both arenas, a "full-featured notebook that doubles as a tablet". Toshiba states that the R15 "enables a more intuitive, more personal way of computing". We have worked with the R15 daily for a month. Does this machine chalk up to Toshiba's claims? Is it worth it to go for Tablet functionality over the standard Satellite notebook? Is the R15 worth the $1,599 price tag? In this review we offer our no-holds-barred opinion, so please read on!

More: Full Review of Toshiba Satellite R15 (pics, specs)

Toshiba Satellite R15 Notebook / Tablet PC Convertible

Dell Latitude D510 Released

Dell is looking toplace its Latitude line of notebooks within better reach of the budgets of small to medium sized businesses by releasing the new Latitude D510 and starting it at a price below $1,000. Dell is pitching the D510 as a "cost-effective product that transforms a desk-bound workforce into a flexible, mobile workforce."

Priced starting at $929, the Latitude D510 extends the computing resources of small- and medium-sized businesses by providing mobility with reliability, flexibility and performance. What it really boils down to is that the D510 is a step below the Latitude D610 in terms of performance available, mobility (the D610 weighs less, it starts at 4.67 pounds) and alittle less built-in security (the D610 has a built-in Smart Card reader, the D510 does not),but you'll save money with the D510 option and still be pretty close in feature set and performance to the D610.

Latitude D510 Specs:

• Processors: Pentium M 740 (1.73GHz), Pentium M 730 (1.60GHz), Intel Celeron M 350 (1.30GHz)
• OS: Windows XP Home / XP Professional
• Memory: 256MB to 2048MB using 400/533Mhz DDR2 SDRAM, two user accessible memory sockets
• Graphics: Intel 915GM or 910GML Express Chipset with Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (up to 128MB shared)
• Screen: 14.1" or 15.0" XGA
• Hard Drive: 30GB - 80GB option
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD/CD-RW, CD-ROM
• Ports: Seriao, Parallel, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), Video and S-Video out, Infrared, microphone-in, headphone out, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 240-pic docking connector for port replicator, modem RJ-11 port, ethernet RJ-45 port
• Battery: 6-cell 53WHr LiIon battery standard
• Slots: one type II PCMCIA card slot
• Weight: 5.2lbs and up
• Dimensions: 1.4" (h) x 13.3" (w) x 10.75" (d)

D510 Side views:

More: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/brand/latit_d510?c=us&l=en&s=gen

RadTech BT-510 Mid-size Form Factor BlueTooth Mouse, Good for both Rigthies and Lefties

RadTech are the makers of various mobile computing accessories. Today they announced availability of the BT-510 Bluetooth Mouse.
with electronically reversible left/right buttons. The BT-510 touts a comfortable mid-sized form factor -- perfect for the desktop or on the road. 3 button control, plus scroll wheel makes navigatingworkspace easy. 800 dpi optical resolution and ultra-precise tracking will make this mouseespecially attractive to engineering and design professionals. In addition to this, connecting the BT-510 to your PC or Mac is simple
-- no drivers needed for Mac OS X.

RadTech BT-510 Bluetooth mouse (white color version)

64-Bit Microsoft Windows Versions Launch

Microsoft yesterday announced that 64-bit versions of its Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Pro are now ready for sale. But don't think that there will be some big product launch or that you can run out to the local store and pick up a copy. No sir. Instead, it will be an option for configuring with your server or PC purchase. AMD is happy with this news as they're ahead of the curve in the 64-bit processor battle relative to Intel. But it's not all good news regarding this 64-bit version of Windows. There's no indication as to how much faster programs can actually run and drivers for all your favorite devices such as scanners and printers are not all available -- approximately 16,000 drivers have been rewritten for 64-bit OS compatibility but there's still more to do. So unless you really have to be the earliest of early adoptors then it might be wise to hold off for a bit before considering a 64-bit version of Windows.

More: http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5681639.html?tag=cd.top

 

Nice Tablet. It just looks nice. Cant really say that about too many convertables.

BT mouse. From the site it seems the BT antenna is inside, and with theheft of the battery could make for a nice mouse. I may have to get my hands on this one.

Dell Inspiron 600m + PalmOne Tungsten T5 + Sony-Ericsson T616 = Mobile Computer Consultant and Website Designer