http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/articles Latest articles, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/23724/ The Sprint HTC Touch Diamond is almost here!!! Here are the facts! - Coming to Sprint in September - SRP $549.99 - Net Cost $299.99 Re-defining the perception of advanced mobile phones… the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond signals a giant leap forward in combining hi-tech prowess with intuitive usability and exhilarating design. Featuring a sharp 2.8-inch touch screen housed within a stunning formation of brushed metal and flawless faceted edges, the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond is as beautiful to behold as it is to use. With HTC’s vibrant touch-responsive user interface, TouchFLO 3D, and ultra-fast HSDPA internet connectivity… the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond offers a rich online experience to rival a notebook computer, allowing you to interact with Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia as freely as you would with a broadband connection. Your contacts, favourite music, videos and photos are no longer an uninspired line of text. With TouchFLO 3D, album artwork, video stills and snapshots of your friends’ and family’s faces are brought to life for you to interact, play and launch at your fingertips. A 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera will help you capture the perfect moment in style and with a massive 4GB of internal storage you can keep... Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:00:07 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/148945 Your notebook may be old, but that doesn't mean its days are numbered. We'll show you how to breathe new life into your portable by opening the hood and upgrading some basic components. Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/147718 Here's how to find the best places to buy a laptop, plus how much to pay and how to finance the purchase. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/128 ThinkPad R61e $487.69 Although ThinkPads have a reputation for being pricier premium notebooks intended for business travelers, a little smart shopping can land you this budget model on a shoestring. It’s not as fast as the flagship T-series, or as light as the X-series, but the R61 has been reviewed favorably in its price range and includes many of the same features Lenovo rolls into those pricier ThinkPads. When ordering, make sure to choose the second-from-cheapest model to get an Intel Dual Core processor rather than a Cel... Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/147216 A guide to finding the best laptops, and when to buy them. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/147215 Before buying a new laptop, it pays to consider who, which, when, where, how much, and how. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:45:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/146427 New airline baggage fees require new packing strategies for gear-toting travelers. Here are three ways to travel light. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/145253 Don't let hooligans handle your hardware. Here are eight ways to keep your notebook from being pinched--or to get it back if it is stolen. Fri, 02 May 2008 01:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/241 I’m at Intel’s Developer Forum (IDF) in Shanghai China this week and I’m getting a lot of Tech envy. To give you an idea how bad this is, on the drive in from the airport we were passed by a Maglev train traveling at around 300 miles per hour and as I’m writing this piece there is a boat going by my window with a flat panel display that is about 20 feet high and 40 feet wide - darned thing is bigger than the whole front of my house.What makes this IDF special though is that this is the official launch of MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) and Netbooks as full on product categories. These two new classes of products should transform, over time, the notebook market, the cell phone market, and the portable media... Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/143937 A guide to Web sites offering deep discounts on laptops, smart phones, and other gear. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:00:00 -0400 http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/463466.html Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:09:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/239 I was at the Acer launch of their Aspire Gemstone laptop line in New York and was very impressed with their new showing. Of course the fact they started with one of my favorite driving tunes (eiffle 55s Blue  - which my wife hates) helped a lot.Acer, now chasing HP for the number one spot in the notebook market, appears to be taking inspiration from Apple in terms of user experience and quality of design with this unique Acer offering. Let’s talk about what makes this line interesting and weave the Apple influence into it.Multimedia First Acer made... Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/238 A few weeks back I wrote about the World of Warcraft Dell XPS laptop which is incredibly impressive but since it’s a portable desktop, the AC adapter is basically its’ lifeline. The XPS is a monster and while it would be fun to take it into the office, the reality is you’d only do it once because it’s so heavy.The new Alienware Area-51 M15x laptop is actually much more practical and, in some ways, more powerful. It sets a new bar for notebooks which have a dual use, kind of like a superhero. Mild-mannered during the work day, and fighting video game crime... Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/237 The looming arrival of solid-state hard drives (SSD) for notebooks seems like a rather exciting development at first blush. Unlike their mechanical counterparts, which have spindle motors, rotating platters and read/write heads, solid-state drives typically consist of flash memory chips and have no moving parts whatsoever. The benefits that these drivers offer compared to a mechanical drive are numerous, and include lower power consumption, improved performance, increased durability, less chance of data loss (no heads to crash into the platters), no noise and no heat output.That all sounds remarkable, and it seems quite clear that solid-state drives represent the future of data storage - at least in notebooks. Since hard drives... Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/guide/120 Purchasing a notebook computer can be a difficult experience since it requires you to not only accurately assess your current needs, but also what your needs will be a few years down the road. In our opinion, your current needs trump those of your future self, and by knowing the ins-and-outs of today’s technology you’re more likely to be satisfied with your purchase, and better off in the future. Let’s run down the important aspects of today’s laptop. Screen SizeIn our opinion thi... Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/236 I’ve had a chance to take a hard look at both the MacBook Air and the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and as amazing as these products are; I think you can draw a line to what likely will be the next hot notebook computer. Having said that, let’s start by talking about what makes these two products different and how they are likely to appeal to different kinds of people. I’ll leave the whole OS discussion for others, but it should be mentioned that this OS choice probably has a great deal to do with who ends up using either of these very different products. ... Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/141945 Why you should be wary of inconsistent addresses--and other advice for securely selling your laptop on eBay. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/20615/ The tech community has gone crazy over Apple's announcements at Macworld 2008 - the quintessential Mac conference of the year. The highlight is Steve Jobs' keynote address , which is always highly anticipated by tech aficionados. In the address, Mr. Jobs discusses the newest products and upgrades by Apple. This year, of course, was no exception. However, the announcements are branching out to a larger and larger audience - they're not just for Apple geeks anymore. We'd like to give a highlight of the most significant announcements made at Macworld 2008. MacBook Air - The World's Thinnest Notebook To much fervor, the MacBook Air was announced - and it is the thinnest notebook computer in the world, according to Apple. It's so thin, Jobs removed the device from a standard office envelope - impressive. At its thickest point, it measures only .76 inches, and at its thinnest, only .16 inches. This delicate marvel weighs in at only 3 pounds. It is truly built to appeal to the mobile user who demands ease of use and flexibility - the full-size keyboard is backlit, and the trackpad utilizes the Multi-Touch feature that is also used in the iPhone. It comes in a... Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:54:13 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/141118 A cautionary tale for anyone trying to unload a laptop in an online auction. Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/140796 Monitoring the power that my gadgets suck up, and making a few changes, helped me to be greener--and cut my bills. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/tl/20219/ Twenty years ago giving someone a notebook as a gift would have been considered ultra-lame. If you give one today, you have a friend for life. The difference between the two is the difference between microchips and paper - silicon and ink. There's a lot there. Today's notebooks allow us to watch movies, play intense and real time games, balance checkbooks, write printable term papers and surf the World Wide Web. Big difference indeed. So, now that you know you'll be considered one of the greatest gift-givers if you give a laptop, what are you going to do about it? Where do you start? There are hundreds and even thousands of different notebook computers out there - enough to even make a seasoned notebooker's head swim. Well, if you are in the mood to give a laptop this year, but aren't quite sure what to pick, allow me to tour you through some of your choices. For the Game Maven Video games have become quite demanding on PCs - desktops and laptops alike. But think of a laptop - a mini-computer in a sense. How does it fit all that gaming power into one, tiny, skinny, miniscule notebook? I mean... Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:01:46 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/140615 Retailers have great sales during the holidays--but that's not the only time to get a good laptop deal. Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/140283 How to make the switch back and deal with the gnarly problem of transferring your Vista e-mail, contacts, and user data back to the old standby operating system. Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/talk/223 OK, I had the chance to see this puppy in action a couple of weeks ago, and I have to admit it made me weak in the knees. This is no lightweight box, and lugging it around will likely do more for your biceps than almost any other kind of weight training I can think of.  But in terms of sheer, blood-curdling fun, the system is also so incredibly hot and wonderful that I can’t help but drool a little bit as I write about it. Words don’t do it justice – the graphic treatments on the back are pure Warcraft, and this thing looks like it was born in the game and exported thoug... Wed, 05 Dec 2007 03:00:00 -0500 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/howto/139609 Drop USB for eSATA, swap your notebook hard drive for flash, and try a super recovery utility. Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:00:00 -0500