Filed under: Laptops

Is Samsung’s Air competitor, the X360, a little too delicate for your tastes? Perhaps you’d be in for its slightly heavier cousin, the newly announced X460. It weighs in at 4.1 pounds and offers a larger 14.1-inch (though still 1280 x 800) screen, yet still manages to come in at just 1.2-inches thick. An Intel Centrino 2 handles the number crunching paired with up to 4GB of RAM, while up to a 320GB HDD (alas, no SSD) and a Super Multi Drive DVD burner with LightScribe handle storage. An nVIDIA GeForce Go 9200M GS chipset will cover (lightweight) gaming duties, while connectivity is offered via 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a 7-in-1 card reader, and HDMI output to boot. A 6-cell battery will keep it juiced for up to 5 hours (7.5 if you opt for the 9-cell), and the ever-trendy anti-bacterial keyboard will keep you healthy. No price or availability yet, but just look at that lovely shade of rose.

Update: TrustedReviews already has a quick preview of the X460, looking a little less hot in black. [Thanks Howard]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Storage

Not even a week after LaCie trumpeted its latest 4x external Blu-ray writer, along comes LG to re-up the ante. Its latest trifecta — the BE06 (pictured), GBC-H20L and GBW-H20L — all offer SecurDisc capabilities and LightScribe technology, not to mention the ability to toast BD-Rs at 6x (and BD-REs at 2x). As for the external USB 2.0 BE06, you’ll be looking at $379.95; for the GBC-H20L and GBW-H20L, however, you can expect to pay $199.95 / $279.97 respectively. The trio is available as we speak.

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Filed under: HDTV, Storage

Blu-ray duplication systems have been on the block for a good while now, but apparently, Aleratec’s flavor does something that none of the other cool kids can even dream of: it supports LightScribe. The 1:3 Copy Cruiser Blu LS houses a trio of LightScribe-enabled SATA Blu-ray burners that can toast BD-Rs at 6x as well as vanilla DVDs and CDs at much higher speeds. You’ll even find a built-in eSATA connector and a dual channel eSATA host adapter bundled in for those who need one. Here’s the rough part — this critter will set you back a staggering $3,199, so you best be making some serious coin on whatever you’re duplicating for this to be even close to a sound investment.

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Filed under: CES, Desktops

Feeling a touch overwhelmed by HP’s outpouring of media center PCs? If so, the Pavilion a6330f should calm those nerves quite a bit, as this humble rig is designed for those not quite ready to drop a grand (or more) on a new desktop. Check the innards below:

• 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 5600+ processor
• NVIDIA’s nForce 430 chipset
• 3GB of DDR2 RAM
• 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drive
• HP Pocket Media Drive Bay
• SuperMulti DVD burner (LightScribe-enabled)
• NVIDIA 128MB GeForce 6150 SE graphics set
• Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader

As for the port assortment, you can count on six USB 2.0 sockets, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out and VGA. Additionally, you’ll find an HP mouse and multimedia keyboard tossed in for good measure, and you can spec yours out later this month starting at $649.

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Filed under: CES, Desktops, HDTV, Media PCs

Not pleased with any of HP’s other offerings? Fret not, as we’ve got yet another one coming your way. The Pavilion Elite m9150f PC comes ready to handle those HD DVD / PVR duties, and it may even withstand a e-mail or two. Here’s the dirt:

• 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor
• Intel’s G33 Express chipset
• 3GB of DDR2 RAM
• Dual 360GB (720GB total) 7,200 SATA hard drives
• HP’s Personal / Pocket Media Drive Bays
• HD DVD (read-only) drive
• LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner
• Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11b/g WiFi
• NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners
• HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver
• Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader

If you couldn’t already guess, this one also packs six USB 2.0 ports, twin FireWire sockets, audio in / out, a wireless keyboard / mouse combo and HDMI / DVI outputs. As with HP’s other newly announced media PCs, the m9100 series is set to ship this month and start at $1,159.

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Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Media PCs

Remember those tasty Phenom chips AMD loosed back on November? We sure hope so, because that’s the CPU HP’s relying on in its forthcoming Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC. Here’s the specifics:

• 2.2GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core CPU
• NVIDIA’s nForce 430 chipset
• 3GB of DDR2 RAM
• Twin 320GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drives
• HP’s Personal Media Drive Bay
• LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner
• NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners
• HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver
• Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader

Beyond that, you can expect six USB 2.0 ports, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out, HDMI and DVI sockets and an HP mouse / keyboard combo. Like the s3330f PC already mentioned, this too will be landing real soon with a price tag starting at $959.

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Filed under: CES, Desktops, HDTV, Media PCs

A slim PC destined to handle both of the major high-definition movie formats? Say it ain’t so! Turns out, HP is indeed doling out such a machine, and it’s so eloquently dubbed the Pavilion Slimline s3330f PC. Here’s a look at what this mighty mini-tower will be packin’:

• 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor
• 2GB of DDR2 RAM
• 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA drive
• HP Pocket Media Drive Bay
• Single LightScribe-enabled optical drive that reads Blu-ray / HD DVD and writes to dual-layer DVDs
• NVIDIA’s 256MB GeForce 8500 GT
• 802.11b/g WiFi
• Built-in NTSC / ATSC TV tuners
• Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader

Furthermore, you’ll find 6 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, audio in / out, DVI / HDMI ports and a wireless keyboard / mouse bundled in along with a whole suite of software. Intrigued? Be on the lookout for this one to land later this month starting at $949.

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Filed under: Storage

We’re beginning to think that this is some type of holiday tradition for Verbatim, as nearly a year after the firm waved color-background CD-Rs in our faces, now we’ve got vivid DVD±Rs to tempt us, too. As expected, these new 4.7GB discs are fully compatible with all LightScribe-enabled drives, and they’re currently shipping in packs of 25 for around $25. Yeah, it’s costly, but it’s hard to put a price on the joy you’ll receive when finding yellow, blue, red, orange and green discs within your next spindle.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Desktops

Samsung has rolled out its fastest DVD burner yet, with the Super-WriteMaster (ha!) SH-S203N running at 20x for DVD±R discs, 16x for dual layer DVD+R variants, 12x for DVD-RAM, and progressively slower for other disc standards. It’s all kitted up with a SATA connection standard, and supports LightScribe burning so you know what the hell’s on that disc you just burnt. Samsung says this is the fastest dual layer DVD burner out there: we don’t know if that’s true, but we do know it’s faster than our crappy 8x DL burner. Pick it up anywhere from now for $79.99.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!