Tested to military specifications, Asus B51 supports drops from up to 75 cm height, while the hard drive has a sponge protection system. The keyboard is spill resistant featuring a specially designed drainage path.

If we talk about performance we have to mention the components that power the new notebook from Asus, and here we have an Intel Core 2 Duo T8300/T8100/T5850/T5750 processor, the Mobile Intel GM965 chipset, Intel GMA X3100 graphics chipset, Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/4965ABGN connectivity, up to 4GB DDR2 RAM memory, S-ATA hard drive with up to 320GB storage capacity, an optional built-in 1.3MP camera for videochat, optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and an 8-cell battery.
The Mobile Intel GM965 Express Chipset with the X3100 graphics chipset supports Windows Aero effects from Windows Vista operating system, and features Intel Clear Video Technology for imaging enhancement, and the 3D graphics support with more than 2X scores on 3Dmark06. It has dual-channel memory, 800/533 MHz system bus, PCI Express x16 graphics ports and PCI Express x1 I/O ports, Serial ATA, and USB 2.0 connectivity. The next generation of remote client network management for business, called Intel Active Management Technology, is also supported via the advanced chipset.

Users can choose from a few processing speeds according to their needs, and the options start with a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, and up to the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8300.

Asus B51 rugged notebook runs on Windows Vista Business operating system and measures 36.5 x 27.3 x 3.82 cm at a weight of 3.1Kg including the battery.
In the following video posted by Asus on YouTube you can see a short presentation of the new rugged notebook computer.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the price for NAND Flash memories is getting lower and the 1.6GHz model with SSD drive is available now at $2,398, which is a significant difference compared to the initial cost. This happened after Apple reduced the price for the 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor to $200, and the drop off the 64GB SSD drive price to $599 from $999.

At this moment, the other version of the MacBook Air with Intel Core 2 Duo processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 2GB memory, 80GB PATA hard drive at4 4200 rpm, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and Wi-Fi module, costs $1,799. The PATA hard drive, also known as Advanced Technology Attachment with Packet Interface, is the original ATA interface that connects hard disks, solid state disks and CD-ROM drives inside computers. PATA allows for parallel connectivity with cable lengths of up to 18 inches, but after SATA standard came out it conquered the market even if PATA was the most popular interface. Serial Advanced Technology Attachment allows for faster data transfers, supporting hot-swapping (replacing devices during operation), thinner cables for more efficient cooling, and improved data integrity checks.

It is not a disadvantage for the MacBook Air users, but the $2,598-model adds faster processing speeds, while both configurations sport a 13.3-inch glossy widescreen LED display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, optimized for best viewing in low light conditions, 2GB memory, and the Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared memory.

The world’s thinnest laptop measures 0.16 to 0.76 x 12.8 x 8.94 inches at a weight of 1.36 Kg.

Mobile workers can access it via the touch-sensitive screen, and store media on the 128MB RAM memory. It supports 3G EV-DO or EDGE connectivities, and comes with the following accessories: Single Dock USB Host/Client, Ethernet Module, Modem Module, Quad Multi-dock Ethernet, Quad External Battery Charger, Magnetic Stripe Reader Snap-on, Auto Adapter, Belt Clip and Vehicle Dock.
Other features include 256MB Flash ROM, miniSD card slot for up to 2GB storage, the Intel XScale PXA270 processor with 520 MHz speeds, and the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

The transflective TFT LCD display shows clear images even in low light conditions thanks to the LED backlight technology, and measures 3.5 inches in diagonal. It is a large 240 x 320-display with 64K color capability. The QWERTY keyboard also features backlit.
As it is ruggedized, the handheld operates in temperatures between -10°C and +50°C and should be stored in -20°C to +70°C environments. It survives side drops from 1.5 meters.

To make Intermec CN3 more useful, Trust Digital, a provider of enterprise mobility management software for government organizations, added support for its enterprise mobility management platform, featuring power-on password and automatic encryption to secure stored data. Using the integrated Remote Smartphone Assist utility, users can find solutions for device usage and application synchronization errors.

“Our customers use Intermec devices to mobilize their business applications - yet more examples of how enterprise mobility is moving beyond email,” said Dan Dearing, Trust Digital’s vice president of marketing and product management. “Ruggedized, handheld devices eliminate paper trail inefficiencies that have long been part of corporate business processes, but their small size and PC-like computing power have introduced new security and management challenges for IT. Our Enterprise Mobility Management solution gives IT a single platform to meet these challenges for a variety of mobile applications and users - all over the air and from one central location.”

Intermec CN3, world’s smallest rugged computer, is available at prices around $1,500.

“Panasonic has always been at the forefront of making mobile computing technologies work for users in all conditions,” said Rance M. Poehler, president, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company. “We were the first to deliver rugged notebooks in a standard form factor, the first to create a rugged convertible tablet and we have made incredible leaps in mission-critical business computing with our innovations in semi-rugged desktop replacement and sub-notebook technologies. The ultra mobile rugged U1 is another example of how we take advances in mobile technology and make them reliable advances–with new product categories designed for users on the frontiers of mobility where value is truly driven for organizations.”

The Intel Atom is recognized as one of the world’s smallest chip measuring almost 25 mm, with the lowest power consumption and packing 47 million transistors. It is one of the most powerful processing chips available and is designed for small devices requiring increased system responsiveness and longer battery life.

“Panasonic builds the new Toughbook CF-U1, but our customers designed it,” said Kyp Walls, director of product management, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company. “The form and functionality is a direct result of more than two years of feedback we solicited from an array of government and commercial organizations seeking to address the needs of a broad range of mobile users. We’ve responded with a highly portable and durable device that offers integrated features such as an LCD touchscreen, solid state drive as well as an optional fingerprint scanner for user authentication. Data capture is enabled using 1D and 2D barcode and RFID readers and a 2-megapixel digital camera. The Toughbook CF-U1 offers full-shift battery life, a sunlight viewable screen and seamless connectivity with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G-mobile-broadband internet connectivity, all within an extremely rugged package for maximum reliability.”

Pansonic Toughbook U1 can be used in extreme working environments such as construction sites, mining operations, oil and gas refineries, manufacturing facilities, railroad yards, city streets and storage warehouses. It is a great handheld computing unit for insurance adjusters, building inspectors, police officers and firefighters.

“The Intel Atom processor delivers high performance at dramatically low power while maintaining PC compatibility and enabling the best internet experience in small devices,” said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Ultra Mobility Group. “Intel’s low power technologies, combined with Panasonic’s longstanding leadership in rugged PCs, are making it possible for mobile field workers to be more productive while reducing TCO for the IT manager.”

The ultra-mobile PC runs on Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, which provide a friendly user interface, while being designed with an ergonomic QWERTY keyboard with backlight for easy typing in dark environments, the 5.6-inch Panasonic LCD 1024 x 600 pixel display with increased sunlight readability, LED backlight and anti-reflective coating, no fan to eliminate noise, hot-swappable batteries so the user won’t have to stop the operations when replacing the discharged battery, and a durable magnesium alloy chassis with protection against bumps and drops from 4 feet high.

“The entrance of the largest rugged notebook manufacturer onto the UMPC market is a key validation of the UMPC for enterprise applications,” said Venture Development Corporation analyst David Krebs. “VDC’s research validates that UMPCs will receive strong consideration for enterprise applications that require a balance of device portability and application richness and functionality that an x86 device with a full OS provides.”

Specifications include optional 3G mobile broadband, Wi-Fi module, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, optional GPS module, 1.33GHz processing speeds, up to 32GB removable Solid State Drive storage, 1GB memory, USB, SD card, microphone, headphone jack, expansion bus, optional built-in camera, optional fingerprint reader, optional bar code scanner, and 9 hours of battery life.
It’s a powerful handheld device measuring just 2.2 x 7.2 x 5.9 inches at 2.3 lbs with both batteries, and will be available in August. Panasonic Toughbook price starts at $2,500.

MSI PX210 is a classic-stiled laptop with a simple design and a magnesium alloy casing colored in black and silver. On the inside it features the AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor technology, an ATI RX781+SB700 chipset, ATI Radeon HD3450 graphics with 256MB DDR 3 VRAM memory, up to 4GB DDR2 RAM memory on two slots, up to 320GB S-ATA HDD storage, 2 built-in speakers, built-in high-resolution 2MP web camera, Fax/Modem, Gigabit LAN, optional Bluetooth, wireless LAN, HDMI port, a 3-in-1 card reader, 3 USB ports, Blu-ray drive, and an 8-cell battery type.

It is a laptop computer designed for business professionals and runs on Windows Vista Business operating system.
With an operating system dedicated to business-oriented users, the notebook provides an user-friendly interface, useful applications such as Remote Desktop Connection, and security features such as Encrypting File System and Windows Defender.

In addition, the Bluetooth connectivity lets you send and receive files wirelessly at short ranges, to and from other enabled devices, wherever you are. To go beyond these limits you can use the Wi-Fi wireless connectivity when you arrive in a hotspot, and enjoy your morning coffee in a pub, while finishing your projects.
Using the HDMI port you can connect different devices via one single cable, as it supports TV, high definition devices, up to 8 channels of digital audio, and transmits uncompressed digital stream at 5Gbps speeds.

The system measures 303 x 231.5 x 16 mm at a weight of 1.8Kg, and has a 12.1-inch TFT WXGA display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.
MSI PR211 runs on the same Windows Vista operating system version and is powered by an AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor, with the ATI RS780+SB700 chipset.
The 12.1-inch TFT WXGA display delivers great graphics thanks to the ATI Radeon HD3200 video card. It too supports up to 4GB RAM memory, and comes with 2 speakers, Fax/Modem, Gigabit LAN, optional Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, HDMI, card reader, 320GB HDD, optical drive , the 8-cell battery model and measures 303 x 231.5 x 16-29.5 mm at 1.8Kg.

Both models integrate also AI Array Microphones that suppress background noise and reverberation enhancing the communication over the Internet, as well as fingerprint reader technology.

First we’ll see which are the laptop screen resolutions and then two categories of display technologies used today by the most popular manufacturers.

The abbreviation letters are a shortcut for No. of Pixels on Horizontal x No. of Pixels on Vertical, and all resolutions are derived from the Extended Graphics Array standard, known as XGA, which was introduced back in 1990 by http://www.ibm.com IBM, representing 1024 x 768 pixels.

Super eXtended Graphics Array display standard, or SXGA, has either 1280 x 960 pixels or 1280 x 1024 pixels, the latter displaying a 5:4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio aspect ratio.

Ultra eXtended Graphics Array, also called UXGA, is the shortcut for 1600 x 1200 pixels. It is used in 15-inch 4:3 laptop screens and some 14-inch models.

The highest resolution for a laptop monitor is Quad eXtended Graphics Array, in short QXGA, which has 2048 x 1536 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio. It is 4 times the XGA and there exists a 15-inch panel for laptops, produced by IDTech, but it isn’t provided yet as a standard option.

Other laptop display resolutions are: WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels), WXGA+ (1440 x 900 pixels), WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 pixels), WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels), all widescreens and all the most popular.

WXGA refers at Wide XGA, 1280 × 800 pixel resolution with an aspect ratio of 16:10.
Acer introduced recently the 2 unconventional laptop displays integrated in the Acer Gemstone Blue models, featuring High Definition 1920 x 1080 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.

These days you can choose from various sizes. The first Eee PC model features a 7-inch display, the classic dimensions is of 15 inches, but if you are a professional you need a 17-inch widescreen.

As you’ve probably already noticed, all these LCD monitors are not perfect. As CRTs produce eye fatigue after an hour of working at the computer, the image on an LCD is never perfect. For this reason the top screen manufacturers and designers come up with new advanced display technologies to enhance the brightness in low light conditions, or to produce natural and vivid colors.

There are 2 display technology categories i want to tell you about: one describing what the display is made of, while the other names the technology used to enhance the image display.
Most of the laptop screens on the market are TFT LCDs, which comes from thin film transistor liquid crystal display.
This type is an active matrix liquid crystal display using thin film transistor technology. Another one is the Transreflective Liquid Crystal Display that reflects the sunlight, increasing or decreasing this way the screen’s light. This is better than the already common TFT LCDs because you won’t need to adjust brightness manually. When there is a near light source it doesn’t matter how strong it is, the backlight coming from the side or back of the display compensating for this automatically.

OLED display technology referrs at organic light-emitting diode and consists of a light-emitting diode with the emissive electroluminescent layer formed by a film of organic compounds. OLED consumes less power than the other existent displays and doesn’t need backlight. One negative aspect is the short life time, due to the fast degradation of the compounding materials.

Samsung has a laptop prototype with an AMOLED display. This active-matrix OLED uses a thin film transistor backplane for switching individual pixels on or off, leading to higher resolution and larger display sizes.
Samsung’s AMOLED has a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels and 20% better contrast ratio compared to LCDs.
Flexible displays are a cool concept and they could be implemented in laptop computers as folding displays.

The other category is larger and includes all the display technologies used by various manufacturers to enhance the viewing experience.
Just to enumerate a few we can remember Acer’s CineCrystal, Asus’ Color Shine display, Averatec AveraBrite, Benq’s UltraVivid Technology with Display Brilliance Enhancement Film, Compaq BrightView technology, Dell DirectVue display, Fujitsu-Siemens Crystal View LED wide display, Gigabyte Anti-Glare technology, HP mercury-free Illumi-Lite LED displays, Lenovo VibrantView, Sony XBRITE-HiColor technology, MSI Amazing Crystal Vision TFT LCD display, Zepto Zero Bright Dot display technology, and Zepto UltraCrisp screen technology.

A display enhancement technology such as the Acer’s CineCrystal delivers high definition imaging, 16:9 aspect ratio, and 14% larger viewing area compared to the other 15.4-inch screens.
Asus has the Color Shine, Colour Shine and Crystal Shine technologies used in notebooks with high-gloss anti-reflexive screens. A thin film layer laminated is the polarizer placed on the outermost layer of the glass, and its function is to filter light waves produced by the screen, to generate an image. Asus’ polarizer has a smooth chemically-treated surface that reduces ambient light reflection by absorbing most of the external light instead of diffusing it at different angles. Other notebooks have a matte surface polarizer with anti-glare properties, diffusing the light at different angles, reducing this way the intensity of the light reflected to the user’s eye. This causes distorted images, lower contrast ratio and less vivid colors among other things. Asus’s technology produces crisper images, brilliant colors, sharp contrast, wider viewing angles, reducing eye fatigue.

AveraBrite from Averatec is described as a glossy screen coating that should provide great imaging in any light conditions but it seems that it’is not that effective as it is not overly reflective.
Benq’s UltraVivid technology with Display Brilliance Enhancement Film enables 200 nits brightness for the screen coated with a low-reflectivity layer.
Dell’s DirectVue raises brightness level even more, reaching 500 nits, thanks to the backlight technology.
HP mercury-free Illumi-Lite LED displays are optional and feature lighter weight and energy efficiency.
The company plans to remove mercury from its displays until 2010.

Sony XBRITE-HiColor technology is characterized by deeper blacks and brighter whites. It features vivid colors, sharper images, a glare filter and anti-reflective coating.

These are some examples to give you a bigger picture of what the top companies are trying to do, and we can’t finish our story without discussing about how to take care of these LCD displays, which the more sophisticated are becoming, the more sensitive they are, requiring special attention during cleaning.
Cleaning LCD monitors is simple if you respect some basic rules. In any store you have to look for those sets containing a microfiber cloth and a gel spray specially designed for cleaning laptop computer screens.

Clean the LCD for about 1 minute, until the gel gets dry, and if the surface is larger, than remember to clean only with the dry cloth surface, never use the dirty and wet parts. You could check the user’s manual for the recommended cleaning method in case your LCD model is let’s say, more special.
One specific characteristic of these cleaning kits is that they don’t contain ammonia or alcohol while the cloth has anti static properties, so they don’t leave tiny pieces of material behind and do not attract the dust in the air while touching the surface.

(Sources ScreenTek;
Wikipedia)

This is another PC concept that was sent to the Next-Gen PC Design Competition 07-08 and comes from Qiong Huang.
Ider is meant to bring several display options so the user to have what to choose from, depending on the use.

There is a small folding screen, a sphere display, and a big model for professionals. To control this computer you’d have to touch its surface and its sensors will detect your finger movements.
Ider measures 210 x 155 x 20 mm and it features a ring mouse of 20 mm in diameter, which is also used for the input, while the third input method is the gloves keyboard.

If you take a look at the pictures representing the ider PC concept maybe you’d see that it isn’t a realistic idea and having so many different components, it wouldn’t meet a single user’s requirements. Also, it couldn’t be a good solution for small offices either as each display component is too different than the others, having no common aspect. What would you use a sphere display for?

Here is a new Greek culture-inspired notebook from Zepto, this time called Nox, like the goddess of the night.
It sports also a Danish design part, while being powered by some of the latest technologies for great performance. It is black, with a soft exterior, and shows an illuminated Zepto logo.

Zepto Nox features the Zero Bright Dot display technology to eliminate the bright pixel errors caused by white, red, green and blue colored dots. In addition it is powered by the Nvidia MXM platform which is upgradeable, with the Geforce 9600M GT graphics card featuring 512MB DDR3 memory, Nvidia PhysX and CUDA compatible. The CUDA technology allows the graphics processor to handle video encoding and similar intensive applications, boosting the speed up to 12 times compared with other notebooks.

Other functionalities include power modes, Night LED that turns off visual indicators for battery or wireless; volume, BT/Wireless, Media player, Touchpad on/off, 2MP web camera, built-in microphone, HDMI 1.3A Connection, SPDIF audio out, fingerprint reader and Linuxsupport.
Nox is available for pre-orders until later this year when it will be released in stores, and will come with docking station support with HDMI, 6 USB ports, Firewire and Digital audio out.

Zepto recommends a Value configuration at a lower cost of £656.37 and a Power system at £793.29, but of course, the Nox notebook’s final configuration is established by the user’s needs.

Zepto Nox Value brings a 15.4-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT with 512MB memory, an Intel Core 2 Duo T7350 processor, 1024MB DDR2 RAM memory, 80GB S-ATA hard drive storage capacity, DVD-RW, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, web camera and microphone.

The Power configuration replaces the processor model with an Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, adding 4096MB DDR2 RAM, a hard disk space of 320GB.

This is a nice PC concept with a simple but useful design consisting of a main panel and interface modules, all connected wirelessly. Gavin Wolchina, its designer, considers it to be a great tool that could be used with your home entertainment system.
The information provided by the designer on the Next-Gen PC Design Competition’s website is too general, without containing enough information, but let’s see the basic characteristics!

What we know is that the Personal Entertainment Module’s main component measures 350 x 250 x 30 mm at 6 Kg. The remote piece measures 60 x 180 x 25 mm at 250 grams. There is the display that measures 420 x 360 x 30 mm at 1.5Kg and an earpiece at 200 grams. This earpiece, according to Gavin Wolchina, integrates a small display at 40 x 60 mm.

The computer system features touch-sensitive display to replace the need for mouse and keyboard, and accepts voice commands.
One of the device’s uses would be the download of videos so you could watch them on the TV in the living room using the remote, with the connection made wirelessly.

With the headset you could chat on the phone while browsing the web on the touchscreen display panel.
All the secondary components would recharge when placed on the main module which integrates a battery.

It measures 150 x 84 x 14 mm and looks like a shell. You could wear it on the forearm or upper thigh, and it is capable to monitor your health condition during the trip so if something happens to you and NOMAD detects an anomaly in your system it immediately alerts the authorities. Using the GPS module it provides the right coordinates so you to reach your destination on the most secure way, as well as a digital compass featuring temperature and weather information. Another important characteristic is its ability to record your entire trip.

NOMAD sports a display that can be easily zoomed or panned at a touch of a finger and a secondary screen with scrolling for menus and for the digital compass.
This PC concept integrates copper piping coupled with a low voltage single quite high speed fan for cooling, a bendable translucent OLED touch screen, flash drive storage, USB interface, GPS, Beacon locater, a magnesium outer shell for durability, hydrogen battery cell for power, and would be made with injection molding, die-casting, and electronic board manufacturing.

You may read more about the Next-Gen PC Design Competition entries on the official website.