Ultrabooks are all the rage right now, with Macbook Air competitors coming from almost every PC manufacturer. The favourite right now for those with unlimited budget is the Samsung Series 9, if your boss is paying, get this one. The next tier down is a more reasonably priced Asus UX21 (Zenbook) is a great the middle class. But what about those on a budget ?

Good news today for those looking for an ‘affordable’ Ultrabook. The Acer S3 Ultrabook now starts at a brand new price of A$999. Just under that magical $1,000 mark. Yes to reach that price point there are compromises above and beyond the regular Ultrabook limitations.

The Acer S3 family starts at A$999 but only houses an Intel Core i3 chip, rather than the i5, or even i7 chips found in other Ultrabooks. There’s also a 320GB SATA drive, rather than the power-saving and speedy SSDs. If thin and light is your requirement, not speed and grunt, then this may still satisfy your check boxes. It still weighs in at just under 1.4kg and is just 13mm thin, wrapping up a 13.3” display.

It’s always been a promise of Wintel Ultrabooks to hit the sub $1000 mark, but until now that had been unachievable. Most like the Asus retail for between $1200-$1500, with the Samsung over $2k. Price pressure down is always great for consumers and while you can pick up a standard laptop for less than an Ultrabook, you should definitely consider the benefits.

More @ Acer via ARN.

The MacBook Air’s closest rival is the Samsung Series 9. While the best Ultrabook on the Windows-side, it’s biggest downside has always been it’s exorbitant price. The sexy black brushed aluminium laptop went on sale in Australia exclusively at Harvey Norman for A$2,499. It’s RRP has now dropped to A$2,299 according to Samsung’s own Aussie site.

User asa79 over OzBargain.com.au pointed to a sale of $1,000 off the regular price at Harvey Norman. This looks to have been a run out deal as all references to the Samsung Series 9 has now been removed from Harvey’s site.

I saw this at Harvey’s today, they are selling out all their stock of Samsung (Apple air clones) at $1000 off retail price for $1498. Looks like a good deal much better then the old $2499 price tag.

The NP900X3A-B02AU model was opened up to other retailers like JB Hi-Fi but searches on their site also yields no results. This is quite strange, given JB HiFi is listen on Samsung’s own site when you use the ‘Where to buy’ link.

It may be Halloween, but it seems the Samsung Series 9 is pulling a disappearing act.

Fellow Top Geek contestant Liza Shulyayeva has just posted a ‘damn you Jason’ article because my ‘bad influence’ resulted in her picking up a shiny new MacBook Air. Sorry Liza, but you were warned to stay away from the Perth Apple Store. Since picking up the MacBook Air, I really haven’t looked back.

There is no doubt in my mind, the 13” 128GB, 2011 MacBook Air is the best laptop I have ever owned. Weighing in at just over 1kg, it’s thin and lighter than pretty much every other laptop on the market. Forget OSX, it’s awesome hardware, even for a Windows lover.

I currently boot between Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer preview, while working the SD card slot for photo uploads from the 500D. The 2011 version of the MacBook Air does see a maturation of the ultra-thin platform. It still amazes me that Apple were able to approach Intel and tell them there chip was too big to fit in their design and Intel then redeveloped it specifically for the MBA.

Prior to this year’s Tech.Ed conference, I knew I was going to need the extra horsepower of a Core i5 and battery life available in the latest model, so A$1399 I got the latest ultrabook. The Samsung Series 9 is about the only other Ultrabook on the market, but at nearly $1000 more, it’s a no brainer to pick up a MacBook Air, even if you’re a Windows user.

I seriously need to work out a way of collecting commission from Apple for the MacBook Air’s I’m selling.

More info @ Liza.id.au

Well Razer is aiming to redefine what PC gaming actually means with the announcement of the Razer Blade, the worlds first true gaming laptop. "Gaming laptops do not exist today," commented Min-Liang Tan, Razer’s CEO, "Instead there are desktop replacements that perform well for gaming but are over three inches thick and weigh up to ten pounds."

Cue the "Razer Blade", Razer’s built from the ground gaming laptop. Packing a whopping 17" screen, the Blade comes in at under 7 lb’s (3.1kg) and under an inch in thickness.

The Razer Blade not only packs some impressive design specifications, but carries some impressive hardware too. The i7-2640M processor is backed up by 8GB of DDR3, a 320GB hard drive and a 2Gb NVIDIA GT 555M.

Although there’s no official word of price, yet, many people seem to be throwing a figure between $2,500 and $3,000.

Check out the trailer for the Razer Blade below.

Overnight Apple made a number of new releases, one of the more interesting is the release of a new MacBook Air. The new faster MacBook Air now features Core i5 processors, solid state drives and Thunderbolt connectors. The 11-inch model starts at a new low price of A$1,099 with a 64GB drive. This now replaces the entry-level white MacBook.

If your after absolutely small and portable (something the Air is designed for) then 11-inch is great, but if you want screen resolution, then 13-inch is likely your real option. One massive draw card for the new 13-inch has 1440×900 resolution, higher than the 13-inch Macbook Pro with 1280×800. Sure, there’s a price premium for the thin and light form factor of the Air, but the higher res probably justifies the extra $100. The new 13-inch Macbook Air starts at A$1,449.

The new MacBook Air ships with OSX Lion.

More @ Apple.com.au

Having had a Motorola Atrix since its release earlier this year I can wholeheartedly say, that while it has its issues, it is as close to a perfect phone as I have ever had. It is certainly the best Android device I have used. But it isn’t just a phone.

Being an early adopter I have also got the Atrix’s Standard dock and the HD Entertainment dock with keyboard and mouse. So it was only a matter of time until I had to get the accessory that Wow’d everyone including myself at CES this year, the laptop dock or lapdock as Motorola calls it. I remember holding it at the Motorola stand at CES and just being blown away that something so seemingly simple and obvious was finally built and that Apple didn’t build it.

When I finally received the lapdock recently I immediately was thrilled to see that it’s size and aluminium body were just as I remembered from CES.

The Atrix in the lapdock

What is noticeable immediately is a solidly built, razor thin product that dare I say it, resembles a Macbook Air in build. It certainly has an exceptional build quality that sadly the phone lacks.

The phone slots into the dock easily and solidly and when the lid is opened you are face to face with the sharp 11.6″ WXGA (1366 x 768) screen which compliments the frame’s quality build. It is a real shame that Motorola chose to wrap the Motorola cheap case rather then a slick casing similar to the lapdock.

Atrix Lapdock

It has a chiclet style keyboard that is pretty well spaced and has good tactile feedback. In fact it is better then some netbook keyboards I have used.  It’s oversized trackpad is solid and easy to use and responsive. However due to it’s size it can get in the way if you rest your wrists while typing.

There are two USB ports at the back which is another positive as they enable thumbdrives, external hard drives and other peripherals which immediately has the lapdock encroaching into laptop territory.

Atrix Lapdock next to MSI Wind U100+

It’s weight of around 1kg and its form factor put it ahead of many netbooks in its category. I say category but it doesn’t really have one. it is currently in a unique category of its own but it is clearly aiming to be a replacement for a netbook.

Atrix Lapdock vs MSI Wind U100+

So what is it good for?

The first thing that it has in its favour is that as long as it is charged and you have your Atrix with a data connection you are able to do almost every basic daily activity on it, from sending emails and updating Facebook to surfing the web using Firefox (odd that it isn’t Chrome you may think).

Webtop OS

It will take about 30 – 40 seconds to boot up once you have put your unlocked phone in the dock and opened the screen. If you are a Windows user you will take a bit of getting used to its user interface. With its OSX style icon dock at the bottom with a number of icon shortcuts to Facebook, Firefox it is pretty straight forward. There is a status bar at the top with Wifi, Bluetooth and battery displays.

Once you get the hang of using the phone’s software for certain tasks such as email and tweetdeck it is really quite straight forward. I used Quickoffice to do basic word-processing documents but you can also use Google docs.

The dock is all about the “Cloud” and this is where there are limitations. Without the Atrix in the dock it is a beautifully crafted industrial metal paperweight and with an Atrix without a data connection it is a music and video player.

Entertainment Centre

The Entertainment Centre allows you to watch videos play music or view pictures that are stored on the phone. I’d advise you to listen to music through headphones attached to the phones 3.5mm jack as the lapdock’s speakers are as expected just functional.

With the phone in the dock if a call comes in you can answer it using the lapdock and the phone becomes a speaker phone. However you can remove the phone and take the call and then replace the phone into the dock and it will start where it left off.

It isn’t a fast laptop it is certainly no threat to an Atom powered netbook as far as performance goes but it doesn’t try to be. It is there as an extension of your phone and is perfect for a commute to work to clear emails or update Facebook. It is also perfect for keeping in touch while on business or even vacation. But it is limited. You wouldn’t try an put huge pitch presentations on it or heavy graphics.

What is needed for version 2.0?

I hope that this isn’t a one off. I would like to see Motorola develop a new phones to fit this dock so that it isn’t obsolete in a matter of months.

However I would also like to see version 2.0 have the following, be cheaper, a webcam, a touchscreen, more webtop apps and a longer battery life, (although mine has lasted 8 hours in one sitting and that was also charging the phone’s battery), and be backwardly compatible with current Atrix.

The only thing that comes close right now is the Asus Eee Transformer but that is a tablet with a keyboard dock which means still having to carry a tablet around as well as your phone. This allows you to have just your normal pocket sized phone when that is all you need or change into a basic but useful laptop.

Well done Motorola you came out with a game changer so let’s see if the game really changes in the market or whether it is just one of those great ideas that will sadly be obsolete in a year or so. Either way it is everything I need for commuting to work, showing products to clients or watching videos while travelling on a plane and all that using the power of my phone.

The Toshiba R850 laptop is marketed as a thin, light desktop replacement, so how does it stack up in reality. The R850 weighs in at 2.40kg, impressive for a 15” laptop, while the chassis feels strong and high build quality. Performance wise, the 2.5 Ghz Core i5 feels snappy, but one can’t help but think an SSD would have tipped it over the edge.

While most review units go back after 2 weeks, I asked Toshiba to keep it longer, to seriously test battery life in the real world. They say you can get up to 10 hours battery life, impressive.. if only it was true. I took the R850 on the road to CeBit and Remix conferences, emulating what a business laptop may be used for. In my experience, the R850 averaged 5-6 hours between charges.

Toshiba provide a customised Windows 7 power mode called ‘Eco’ which turns off area glass effects and no doubt restricts hard drive and processor performance to save power. Don’t get me wrong, 5-6 hours is actually pretty decent for a laptop this size and powerful, much better than the 1-2 hours most of us are used to, but just understand you won’t get 10 hours with real use. 

Being part of the Toshiba R800 range means the R850 comes with Intel’s AMT 7.0 technology which enable your IT departments to manage, diagnose, isolate and repair a notebook remotely, regardless of the power state. It also comes with a dock underneath so you can work during the day, then take it home at night and keep working. With Display Port and USB3.0 connectivity, you can connect multiple external displays, so yes, this could replace some desktop systems.

Security is catered for with a fingerprint reader positioned between the left and right trackpad buttons, as well as facial recognition using the in-built webcam. Using the fingerprint reader to logon to Windows works well and in crowded environments rather not type out my passwords in front of peering eyes. The facial recognition wasn’t anywhere near successful and I ended up turning it off.

Specs / Features

Processor: Intel® Core i5 Processor 2520M (2.5 GHz boost up to 3.2 GHz)
RAM: 4GB DDR3 (1333MHz)
Display: 15.6” widescreen, LED backlit (1366×768 res)
HDD: 320GB (5400rpm)
Ports: 1 x USB 2.0, + 1 x USB 3.0, eSATA, VGA, Display Port
Slots: 1x PCI Express Card, SD card reader
Networking: Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11 a/g/n, 1GB Ethernet.
Weight: 2.40kg

Gallery

Price

RRP $1,485-$3,300 inc GST

Overall

There’s no doubt the Toshiba R850 is a solid laptop that I’d have no trouble recommending. With great built quality, impressive lightness, good performance and reasonable pricing, it’s certainly worth considering for you next work/play/combination laptop. Personally travelling in planes semi-regular means that 15” is just too big and the relatively low resolution is certainly an issue. If your Dell or HP person, take a second to think before buying next time and consider the Toshiba R850.

More information @ Toshiba

Wow. According to Engadget, SID 2011 is gonna be interesting next week, people – it may just feature one kick-arse display from Samsung. Said tablet is a 10.1-inch LCD panel which has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, and a PPI of 330, slightly higher than the iPhone’s LG-manufactured Retina Display which sits at 326ppi. It’s been a while coming for larger screens and hopefully we’ll finally see some very cool looking tablets, and if Samsung can release a tablet with this sort of screen before Apple they’ll be in a good spot to gain some market share (providing they don’t just let Apple source these displays!). The display will also be easy on batteries, as it uses the RGBW matrix – something as simple as the display may revolutionise the tablet game already.

LG is also set to make an appearance at SID 2011, however details are scarce – LG has told Engadget that there’ll be a multitude of sizes coming, between 3.5- and 84-inch and all using (presumably) some awesome resolutions, with LG stating that they’ll be using ‘ultra-high resolutions’ and Advanced High Performance IPS technology.

So what does this mean? We should be seeing some impressive tablets in the next year or so as Samsung in particular appear to be trying to get these to market quickly and LG hopefully not far behind. It could also spark Apple into using a Retina Display on the iPad 3, which could be sourced from LG seeing as they already use LG screens on the iPhone 4. Either way, we should expect some pretty big steps forward in consumer tablet screens in the not too distant future. Cool!

More @ Engadget.com & SID.org

It’s nice, but a little underwhelming, after the Adamo lifted our standards a great deal. Check out the link below for more pics – what’s up with the keyboard/speaker combo?

As previously mentioned, there are more models to come (pictured above is the 15.6-inch model), with 14- and 17-inch models on the way. As noted in the previous article, Dell’s PR have confirmed that the thin and light laptop is headed for Australia, on the same day as the American release!

Let us know what you think!

Pics and more @ mobile-review.com

Dell are tipped to release an ultra-thin 15.6" laptop which is…affordable? According to CNET’s sources, the new laptop will pack Intel’s ‘Sandy Bridge’ Core i5 and i7 processors, making the laptop not sluggish, which has been a complaint with previous ultra-thin laptops (such as the Macbook Air). Dell is aiming the product at the ‘prosumer’ market – a segment which involves professional-grade performance, mixed with style for the consumer side. Also rumoured is the sub-$1000USD pricetag, which is a good sign that we are finally heading towards a more affordable ultra-thin laptop market. Exciting!

Unlike the Adamo, which was discontinued after barely making a real splash in the market, Dell has promised that ‘this is not a one-time product. This is a full commitment to a product category that is focused on thin and powerful.’ Engadget noted that Dell blogger Lionel Mencacha confirmed that Dell are working on the 15.6" laptop, and that there are ‘more models to come.’ Here’s hoping that Dell finally release a solid, sleek looking performer in the ultra-thin market as they have promised, and one that’ll stick around for a while. Hopefully Dell’s machine will come to Australia, but don’t get your hopes up just yet.

Update
Dell PR have confirmed this laptop will arrive in Australia and New Zealand on launch day ! That’s fantastic news.. now we just need to know local pricing.

More at CNET, Engadget