GadgetReview

In an interesting move, now retailer Orange is getting into the cash for old gadgets game with its Recycle and Reward program. While they don’t have the awesome automated kiosks of other vendors, Orange will give you a quote and a check within a week when you take whatever it is you’d like to get rid of–old mobile phones, laptops, and music players (bigger stuff that the automated kiosks can’t handle) and offers up cash for them.

It IS somewhat limited–no bringing in your old furnace, water heater or what have you; it’s pretty much exclusively a consumer electronics setup–but hey, free cash for stuff you weren’t using anyway?  That’s no small treat.

Also, Orange is also launching its Copy and Keep program, where they’ll charge you a whopping twelve bucks or so to transfer all your media, addresses and contacts from your old mobile phone to your new one.  Pretty useful if you’ve forgotten how or just plain old can’t be bothered.

So if you’re needing a new phone, and want to get rid of the old one, then it’s a great time to think Orange.

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When ever I work remotely (aka Coffee Bean) I carry my laptop in a Booq sleeve.  While I can wax poetic about this sweet hard case, one thing it’s lacking is a design built for working directly from the case without removing it.

Enter the Viper rush.  Available in a M (15-inch) and L (17-inch) sizes, the Viper rush zips open 120 degree and features special bumpers to dissipate heat, a neoprene non-scratch pocket and what should prove to be a tear free seat belt style shoulder strap.  The only thing I don’t like about this case is the price tag: $129.95. …Continue reading: Booq Viper rush Notebook Case

Dell officially unveiled their newest rugged latptop today, the Latitude XT2 XFR.  They’re laying claim to the “smallest 12.1-inch rugged convertible tablet PC available”, with a multitouch display.

Under the hood you’ll find a Intel Core Duo ULV SU9600 processor, up to 5GB of DDR3 RAM, your choice of 64/128GB SSD or a 160GB hard drive, Intel GMA 4500MHD, WiFi, optional broadband support, Bluetooth, 3x USB ports, Firewire, your choice of expansion options which includes GPS or a 2MP camera, 3 different sized batteries and a variety of Windows 7 installs to choose from (as well as Vista Business).

The Dell Latitude XT2 XFR is available now and starts at $3,599.

Torture test video after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: Dell’s Latitude XT2 XFR Tablet Gets Official, Slimmest Rugged Tablet PC (video)

I’ve long loathed the white Macbook.  I owned one and although it was mostly issue free – that is after I replaced everything but the hard drive and processor 11 months in – the white facade attracts dirt with a magnetic force.  So I’m kind of surprised to see that Apple has updated the laptop with a new set of specs and a completely new build process.

Using the same Unibody technique found in the Macbook Pros, the new white Macbook also has the same sealed, non-removable 7 hour battery.  They’ve also tossed in 13.3-inch LED backlit screen, a glass multitouch touchpad, 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradeable to 4GB), WiFi N, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM, 250GB hard drive (320GB available) and a DVD burner. …Continue reading: Apple Serves Up New White Macbook With Unibody And Bumped Specs

I have seen some THIN laptops in my day, but the Dell Adamo XPS is so thin that it would make supermodels take a look at it and say, damn, eat a SANDWICH or something.  Thin is great and all but there are limits, and the Dell Adamo XPS butts up against all of them.

It’s still a concept at this stage–after all, care to name a battery that’ll fit into a case just under ten millimeters thick? And even if you could find a battery to fit in that tiny a space, how much charge could it possibly hold?  And if you’re on the road, battery life is life.  Who’d buy this if its battery life can’t hold up?  And look at the back–see how it’s raised up a bit?  That’s where you’d normally plug in your cables.  This thing’s keyboard is thinner than an ethernet cable head.

I think this might be stretching a point just a little too…thin…for my tastes.  Considering that it may never launch, we may be concerend for nothing.  But you know we’ll keep our eyes open out here just to seee what we can spot.

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Having just bought a new laptop I was excited to be able to work outside of my basement but wanted to find a nice accessory to keep my computer elevated properly and comfortable at the same time.  I found one at Ikea that I like to call a laptop pillow.

This one pictured above is called the E-Pod Laptop Desk and it is designed to make any sitting situation more enjoyable when using a laptop.  The E-Pod comes in three color choices and looks as if it sort of folds up for easier travel.  It also has a carrying handle.  The one I got from Ikea was only $15 and it has a small pocket in the pillow for your cell phone or whatever.  This E-Pod from BrookStone looks to be of a bit better quality and costs $40.

I must say that I really love my laptop pillow and use it constantly.  If you need something like this definitely don’t hesitate.

[via TheGreenHead]

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Well, now I’m just plain old amazed.  We’ve all been here at one time or another and spilled something hot and flavorful–or maybe cold and flavorful–on our laptop keyboard.  And chances are, your laptop never behaved quite the same after that, even if you DID manage to keep it from complete laptop death.  Well, I just saw the new HP ProBook 6545b take incredible amounts of fluid damage and keep on ticking.

Everything about the HP ProBook is a fairly normal, plain vanilla sort of system (it’s an AMD system, even!) but what they’ve done is rejiggered the keyboard tray around so that liquid, rather than getting into the guts of the machine, merely spills out through the bottom without hitting any vital areas.

It’s not bulletproof, so don’t upend a can of Coke on this just to test it, but by all reports it handles small, occasional spills easily enough.  And since it costs just $798, about what a normal new laptop might cost, it’s definitely not out of line in terms of prices.

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Gateway has become a pretty small gang member in the laptop turf wars, but that doesn’t mean the company is devoid of leaks and what I dare say is anticipation.  There’s no official word as of yet, but according to a tipster this is their soon to be announced tablet PC, called the EC18T.  Specs wise were looking at an 11.6-inch LCD, Intel Core2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, Mobile Intel GS45 Express graphics chipset, and either Windows 7 Basic or Premium.  …Continue reading: Gadget Leak: Gateway’s EC18T Tablet PC

Sometimes you want nothing more out of life than to be able to step through your computer monitor and go live on that magnificent stretch of beach pictured on your desktop.  Google has sensed your plight, o cubicle dwellers, and offered up something to make it worse: a Google gadget called My Daily Hawaii.

My Daily Hawaii not only shows incredible beaches, but also offers up Hawaii trivia, history, travel tips and more.  If you actually answer the Hawaii trivia right, though, you win a “super cute puppy picture prize”, which actually makes some sense.

Admittedly, if you live in, say, a cold Northern climate, you may well consider My Daily Hawaii to be a huge dose of masochistic glee, but for those of us who just like to look at a sunny beach as a quick pick-me-up in the cold black depths of winter, then this is a great piece for us.

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Hewlett Packard’s just recently introduced a new software gadget designed to help you get a little more green with your daily computing and offers the Power To Change gadget, part of a whole lineup of said energy saving widgets from HP, Google and Microsoft, among others.

This gadget syncs up with various Windows power management features to shut down monitors and turn off unused computers completely throughout the day.  HP will let you download that gadget for free, as well a host of other companies offering a similar gadget.

This is actually a really good idea.  There’s more than a little potential for waste involved with computers, so helping users find a fast and easy way to save a little extra juice.  Once you save a little extra juice one day, saving it every day can really add up to stomething big, which just might be the way to help everybody go a little greener.

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