Laptops Arena

Consumers can now find high-performing docking stations for their laptops with Belkin’s new Notebook Expansion Dock.

As the first available in the consumer market, the Dock connects through your notebook’s ExpressCard port, quadrupling your available bandwidth so you can run high-quality video—from DVDs, for example—without affecting bandwidth to your other USB 2.0 devices.

The Notebook Expansion Dock will be shipping in North America in late November, with launches in Asia, Europe, and Australia to follow shortly.

The Dock’s unique vertical design minimizes the amount of space taken up on your desk. At the same time, the design uses convection to minimize heat buildup from the Dock’s GPU and provides additional safety by preventing people from putting their laptop battery on top of the docking station.

The Notebook Expansion Dock is the first docking station to feature ExpressCard technology, which connects at 2.0Gbps to provide unparalleled graphics quality and flawless video reproduction at a superior 1600x1200 resolution in 32-bit color. The Dock provides an additional built-in USB lane as well.

The Notebook Expansion Dock also gives you the convenience of a one-plug connection between your laptop and your accessories.

The Notebook Expansion Dock will be available for $199.99.

Via belkin.

CompAmerica unveiled its new Snow Leopard Laptop, the SL2 6220, a light-weight model featuring a 12" WXGA screen.

Powered by an Intel Core Solo Processor U1400 running at 1.2GHz, the SL2 6220 Snow Leopard is equipped with 512MB DDR2 RAM, with an option to expand it to 1.5GB.

The SL2 6220 Snow Leopard is made of durable material, and weighs just 2.8 pounds including the battery. Security features on this laptop include a fingerprint reader and TPM 1.2. CompAmerica has managed to include a 4-in-1 memory card reader as well. Measuring 11" x 9.3" x 1.2", it's just a tad bigger than a pad of paper.

Prices start at US $1,399, and the CompAmerica SL2 6220 is now available.

CompAmerica SL2 6220 product page

Via mobilewhack.

A jet powered laptop may sound like the sort of gadget Q would give James Bond for his next adventure, but Professor Alan Epstein at MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics has been working to make the concept a reality.

According to Epstein, a tiny gas turbine no larger than a quarter along with a fuel supply could replace the traditional battery in small power hungry portable devices like laptops, delivering five to ten times the endurance of a similarly sized battery pack.

Espstein and his team are building the first engine using a sandwich of six silicon wafers that are bonded together at an atomic level, and plan to power it with liquid butane, the same stuff used in cigarette lighters, to avoid having the thing smell like an airport runway.

As you might expect, the US military has expressed plenty of interest, providing funding for the project, but don't expect to be able to go full throttle on your laptop for about another five years.

Via scifi.

The Classmate PC looked like a very interesting technology concept, so I asked Intel if I could have a closer look at one. You know what they say, if you don’t ask you don’t get.Opening the lid reveals a small TFT screen – approximately 7in diagonal. The screen has a widescreen aspect ratio with a native resolution of 800 x 480, very similar to what you’d expect to see in an ultra mobile PC in fact.

TrustedReview made a review of this notebook and here are some of their impressions: Despite its small dimensions, the display is bright, vivid and just as usable as anything I’ve seen in a conventional notebook.The Classmate PC runs Microsoft Windows XP Embedded Version 2002, with Service Pack 2. There’s very little installed other than drivers for the hardware and the basic Windows Accessories applications. Interestingly, the full suite of Windows desktop games were present – it seems that Intel is keen for children in the developing world to play solitaire when they’re bored, just like the rest of us.

In the classroom, the Classmate PC will connect to the teacher’s machine and allow him/her to transmit directly to the desktop of every student. It also means that the teacher can monitor each student’s progress in real time. There are no text books, exercise books, pens or pencils to worry about – all the teacher has to do is place a Classmate PC on each desk before class starts and everyone’s set.

Coupled with Intel’s commitment to WiMAX, the Classmate PC has the potential to make a monumental difference to the lives of children in the developing world. With more children getting a better education, there’s every chance that these developing nations will be able to progress, with each generation managing to achieve more than the last.

OK, I know it sounds idealistic to think that a basic notebook PC can change the world, but if the Classmate PC can change the life of just a single child in the developing world, it’s done its job.

Read the full exclusive review on trustedreviews.

Parents might find the Slim Pad (also called small-version-of-a- laptop) a perfect gadget for their mischievous kids as it would help the children to learn new and exciting things with the pre-configured 125 educational and arcade-style activities. You detach the screen and it becomes a touchpad instead of a typical monitor.

The Slim Pad is efficient to teach the kids mathematics, , logic science, geography and history through games in two languages i.e. English and French. The Slim Pad features a “light-up” mouse, 4 game cartridges, money manager, word processor, music mixer and a typing tutor to teach your kids how to type.

The Slim Pad also boasts a voice recorder and playback for use with music mixer. Priced at £90 (around $170) and proposed for kids over eight (I think that’s bit much).

Via laptopblog.