voodoo launches the ENVY M:152 Core 2 Extreme laptop

Love to be beaten to a bloody pulp by your overpowered laptop? Looking for performance that would make even the strongest bodybuilder collapse in fear? Have you been feeling let down by game speeds which don’t actually rip open a hole in the space-time continuum? Well, luckily for you, Voodoo exists… and its made a new laptop. Check into the ENVY M:152, the company’s latest entry into the gamer-centric laptop world, which showcases a Core 2 Extreme X7800 CPU, Intel’s murderous Santa Rosa chipset, a 15.4-inch, WSXGA+, 1680 x 1050 display, the NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT video card, up to 4GB of RAM, a wide array of hard drive options, plus Bluetooth, a built-in webcam, and style to spare (or so we hear). No word on pricing or street date, but you can expect the sys

HTC Shift Delayed

The so called baap (Father) of all UMPC was Officially supposed to be launched this November will now be available around Jan 11th (in Britain) Its said to run Vista but as it is with most UMPCs the battery life and performance are still pretty low. Newer Chips from Intel and Via might just help the UMPC market to increase performance and decrease power consumption at the same time !

Toshiba’s Santarosa based two new laptops U300/305 and P205

Toshiba again hit out two new notebooks today. The new SantaRosa based models U300/U305, intended for home users where revealed along with P205.

The cheapest model U300-ST3091 comes with 1.86GHz Intel Pentium dual core T2130 processor, 1280×800 resolution, up to 1GB RAM, Intel 950 graphics, 80GB hard drive, DVD super multi drive, fingerprint reader, and Vista. The mid-ranged U305-S5107 features 1.73GHz Core 2 Duo T5300 chip, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 802.11a/g/n, Bluetooth, and same other specs. The high-end model U305-S5127 provides 1.8GHz C2D T7100 processor, 1GB Intel Turbo Memory, Intel X3100 graphics, 200GB hard drive, and same other config.

The 17″ Satellite P205-S6347 comes with 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 chip, 1440×900 resolution, HD DVD, 1GB Ram, Intel X3100 graphics, 200GB hard drive.

Prices are
U300-ST3091: $854
U305-S5107 : $1100
U305-S5127 : $1350
P205-S6347 : $1450

Lenovo 3000 Y410

The laptop market has grown and matured over the last several years, and demand has built up steadily. Manufacturers have taken every measure to ensure they offer the largest possible range for virtually any kind of consumer. Now while consumer choice is always a good thing, it’s a different matter when the choice becomes just too bewildering and confusing for the average human being.

Permit me to explain. I feel there’s just too much choice available now and not enough clear differentiation in products based on actual performance. For example, take Sony’s VAIO range of laptops. This year alone the company introduced over 50 new models with near identical specs and different covers – from ‘nature themes’ to dedications to obscure artists that no one has heard of.

The same trend can be observed in products from Lenovo, Dell and HP – Dell with its Inspiron range, Lenovo with the 3000 range, and HP with its 6x/9x range of machines.

With that rant out of the way, let’s examine the product in hand – the Lenovo 3000 Y410 (quite a mouthful, eh?) The company says this is a multimedia powerhouse. Is this true or does the 3000 Y410 fall into the same quagmire as others with tall claims and no show? Let’s find out.