PTCL Starts Offering 50 Mbps Internet to Beta Testers

PTCL Starts Offering 50 Mbps Internet to Beta Testers

Soon after PTCL’s press release regarding 50MB broadband connections for home users, people started tagging this thing as something from the far far future.
But the news is that PTCL has once again banged the industry by launching 50MB broadband connection for beta testers, with the name “UltraNet”.
For now, network deployment is under way, and during this company is offering test account (as part of network testing) to limited home and business users in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
Moreover PTCL is conducting, kind of, survey on what people really think about this new launch and is collecting their feedback before the official launch of this plan.
During a joint press conference of PTCL and Alcatel-Lucent, held today, PTCL said that home users will be offered 50 Mbps for Rs. 10,000 per month, while corporate users will be charged Rs. 20,000 per month. PTCL announced that service will be commercially launched with-in 3 months from now.
PTCL says that this high speed network in Pakistan will be first commercial use of VDSL2 technology in the telecom industry globally.
PTCL said that it will be using VDSL2 Bonding technology to provide existing digital subscriber line (DSL) customers with speeds up to 50 Mbps. The project leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding expertise and will be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
During the conference, while commenting on this achievement Walid Irshaid – President and CEO PTCL stated

“PTCL is the first service provider worldwide to deploy a commercial VDSL2 Bonding solution that aims at doubling the bandwidths provided to its existing customers.
We are thus setting the trend in international telecoms, and are taking the broadband experience in Pakistan to the next level. Alcatel-Lucent’s VDSL2 Bonding technology and comprehensive services and network integration expertise is helping us to keep pace with the increasing bandwidth requirements of our customers, while capitalizing on the existing copper infrastructure. This will enable us to quickly deliver high-quality, high-speed and high-availability business and residential services – even in areas where it was not possible before.”

Alcatel-Lucent is providing PTCL with its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform – which is the first platform to commercially support VDSL2 Bonding. Alcatel-Lucent will also supply Bonding-ready customer premises equipment (CPE). Alcatel-Lucent serves as the project’s master network integrator, and is providing a range of professional services – including project management, installation and commissioning, integration and technical support.
“We understand that service providers need the right tools to bridge the gap until fiber deployments have become ubiquitous. VDSL2 Bonding is an ideal approach: service providers like PTCL can almost double the speeds supported by their DSL infrastructure or expand their network’s reach. This makes it a fast and cost-effective approach to bridging the digital divide,” said Aadil Rauf CEO Alcatel-Lucent. Pakistan Ltd,. “This commercial VDSL2 Bonding project with PTCL marks the beginning of VDSL2 Bonding deployments outside of the US – where the technology is typically used to expand the reach of the copper network.”
Alcatel-Lucent is the driving force behind the world’s most advanced VDSL2 roll-outs, with customers such as Belgacom, STC, Swisscom and Telekom Austria. Our VDSL2 solution has also been deployed by competitive operators, including M-net (Germany) and South Yorkshire Digital Region (UK).

King of Comedy Babu Baral Died!

Facebook Founder Allegedly Sold Half of his Company for Just 1,000 Dollars

Facebook Founder Allegedly Sold Half of his Company for Just 1,000 Dollars

We usually don’t cover global tech stories, but this is huge, so we thought our readers might get interested in reading this.
Well, the headline might look crazy to you, but the fact is that Paul Ceglia, initial partner of Mark Zuckerberg (the founder and CEO of facebook), is claiming to have 50 percent financial rights over Facebook, based on his initial investment of USD 1,000 – that he made back in 2003.
This way, Paul Ceglia is potentially the luckiest investor in the history of tech world. He, may get as many shares in Facebook as Zuckerbeg has – based on his 1,000 dollars investment that he made in facebook in early days.
Paul says that he has the copy of contract with at least one dozen emails, which facebook says are fake, to prove that his initial investment is legit and he is rightful owner of facebook shares (exactly equal to Zuckerberg’s) valuing around 10 billion dollars.
It all started back in 2003 when Zuckerberg shared his idea of year book (later called as facebook) with Paul and asked him for fund injection, which Paul agreed and paid 1,000 dollars to Zuckerberg against 50 percent stakes in the project.
After several months of this initial investment by Paul, Zuckerberg was able to launch facebook in early 2004, which turned out to be a successful project (though the access to website was limited to Harvard University students only).
Later on, in summer 2004, Zuckerberg seemingly lied to Paul and said that project didn’t go through well and he’s thinking of taking the website off-air. He offered Paul the the refund of his investment, which Paul claims Zuckerberg never made.
Currently the case is in court, and may turn out to be one of the biggest tech stories of history.
And just don’t consider it another ordinary lawsuit, as the tech analysts are taking this incident very seriously, plus a fact that the law firm behind Paul Ceglia, DLA Piper, is a major international law firm that primarily represents technology companies. It is said that DLA Piper takes only those cases which it believes have some value and credibility in them.
Just to add here, in past, facebook had to pay 65 million dollars to Winklevoss brothers (who were without any document proof) in a settlement case when both the brothers had accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea of launching facebook.
You can read complete emails (between Zuckerberg and Paul) and more details on Business Insider and a webcast discussion on TechCrunch.

A Pakistani Student Develops a Foot Mouse

A Pakistani Student Develops a Foot Mouse



The foot mouse, as name suggests is an innovative computer mouse that users can control with their feet.

It is being developed by Mohammad Ahsan, a computer information system engineering student at NED University of engineering and technology.

This hands free mouse is a true reflection of Pakistan youth hunger and desire for innovation.

The foot mouse currently is in its development phase. Ahsan has designed three prototypes using different materials. Firstly using wood for the sandal’s structure, then rubber and finally with current composite material product, wooden base with rubber upper. The product is being further improved.

This innovation will significantly help disabled persons to work on computer effectively.

According to an Express tribune report, the association of the physically handicapped Adults (APHA) says that 10 percent of the people in Pakistan are disabled in one way or another.

Initially foot mouse was exclusively designed for people with disabilities, but later Ahsan found it suitable for every one. It can help users increase typing speed and can also be used as a pointing device for gamers.

Ahsan is planning to develop more products like a Braille keyboard which is currently not available in Pakistan. He is working towards the idea of ‘E can do IT’ which stands for “Every one can do Information Technology”. Main objective behind ’E can do IT’ is to make computer education easy for physically disable people in Pakistan.

Ahsan is seeking a manufacturer and investor who can help produce the item in large quantity and also market it.

No doubt Ahsan is a distinguished young genius of Pakistan and government should support his venture both financially and morally to uplift the image of Pakistan as a technology friendly country and thus bring more investment in the country.

Pakistan vs India match was fixed?

 Pakistan vs India match was fixed?

The cricket world cup 2007  failed financially because india was knocked out in the first stage so this time the ICC atleast wants india to make it to the final because large amounts of money are at stake for ICC. Even Haroon lorgat has already mentioned that mumbai venue for final was chosen because of tendulkar.

The decision to stage the World Cup final in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, saying it would provide the perfect setting for the city’s favourite son Sachin Tendulkar to script a “fairytale” ending.

Pakistan vs India World Cup 2011 Semi-Final Was Fixed. See screen shot below.

This screen Shot shared with us by one of our reader and our Facebook Fan Page member in UK. Click on the image to Zoom In.  You can find status update of one of the indian citizen on his facebook profile via blackberry at 2:51 pm Indian time and 10:51 am GMT or BST (British Standard Time) on 30th march 2011. Please note time on screen shot is 10:51 am that is British standard time and semi final match was started on 30th March 2011 at 10:00 am BST. 

This indian citizen stating that he got update from one of his close bookie friend who said “India will bat first score over 260, 3 wickets fall within the first 15 overs, pak will cruise to 100, then lose 2 quick wickets, at 150 they will be 5 down and crumble and lose by a margin of over 20 runs.” 

Also watch Luqman Mubbashis on Match fixing in world cup 2011

Top 10 Most Expensive Laptops in the World 2011

Top 10 Most Expensive Laptops in the World 2011

10. Acer Ferrari 1100: $3000

Laptop is one of the most important part of modern life. Buying laptop is becoming a symbol of your wealthy. You may consider to buy most expensive laptop in the world to show your level of wealthy. These most expensive laptops are very rich because of their specification, prestige or the material used to produce the laptop. Let’s take a look at the most expensive laptop in the world.

Acer Ferrari laptop is built just like the Ferrari car. It’s built with ultralight design that wear resistant carbon fiber chassis. The laptop is built using AMD Turion X2 Dual Core CPU, 4 GB of RAM and of course all other features like Wifi. With the good specification of hardware, it’s hoped that it will get the maximal speed like Ferrari car. It’s a worthed buying with $ 3000. The reason to buy this most expensive laptop usually for the performance and of course for appearance.

Acer Ferrari 1100

9. Dell M6400: $3000

This notebook that coming from Dell is very powerful. It’s featured with Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Edition Processors. The reason of using this laptop is for ripping complex analysis that need large data and graphics memory as the laptop have 16 GB of 1066 MHZ DDR 3 Memory for data as well as 1 GB of graphics memory. You won’t think that this laptop is the same as the low priced dell in all aspect. The price of this notebook reaches $3,000. Just provide that amount of money to buy this laptop.

Dell M6400

8. Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV660: $3500
The special thing about this laptop is can handle HD DVD. The laptop is powered by 2.0 GHZ Core 2 Duo, 240 GB RAID 0 HDD and Nvidia GeForce Go 7600. This is the first laptop computer that utilize with HD DVD player with 17 inch screen in 1920 x 1200 resolution. The price is quite expensive but you will think it’s worth of money because of the good design and the entertainment. Just provide $3,500 and you can take this laptop home.

Toshiba Qosmio G35 AV660

7. Lenovo ThinkPad W700DS: $4500

The special thing about this laptop is the secondary pull out display that can be drawn from the main dispaly. It makes this laptop different from normal 17 inch laptop. The additional dispaly is very useful for excel and CAD programs. The display itself is also very high in quality. This laptop is equipped with 2.53 Ghz Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9000, 4 GB RAM, Dual 250 GB 5200 RPM Hard drives. The price is $4,500.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700DS

6. Alienware Area 51: $5000

This laptop is dedicated for the game lovers. This laptop is sophiticated in hardware design with stylish and sleek casing design. The laptop is using Intel Core 2 Extreme Packs with Nvidia Geforce 9800M GT in dual SLI Configuration with 1 GB in graphic performance. This laptop has 1 TB of storage in high speed RAID 0 configuration. The storage is equipped with a smart bay system that can record HD TV and film with the built in TV tuner. For $5,000 this laptop is very reasonable in price.

Alienware Area 51

5. Rock Extreme SL8: $5000

This laptop is claimed to be the world’s fastest laptop computer with specs of Intel Core 2 Quad Processor, NVIDIA 9800 GPUs in SLI and 8GB of RAM. Equipped with blue ray that can display in high definition. You must be proud to own this prestige laptop. The price is $5,000 and I think it’s very reasonable price compared to its feature.

Rock Extreme SL8

4. Voodoo Envy H:171: $8500

If You want a high performance laptop that already optimized you should consider this laptop. The laptop is already optimized so will be maximal in performance. The specifications of the laptop are Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor, 4 GB of RAM, twin Nvidia Quadro FX Go 2500M graphics chipset, 1.3 Megapixel webcam, dual 250 GB hard diskk, 7 in 1 memory card reader, dual layer DVD RW drive and high resolution 17 inch 1920 x 1200 display. The special thing about this laptop is the casing that can be chosen from 14 tattoos options available. The price of this laptop is $ 8,500.

Voodoo Envy H171

3. Ego for Bentley: $20,000

From the image of this laptop, you will surely think that this is not a laptop for men. The authenticity of bentley logo make this laptop very stylish and worhty to carry match with the bentley car that also driven by the owner. The laptop can match the color of the Bentley car. This laptop usually bring by rich women that can spend $20.000 just for fashion purpose. For your intention this laptop just use 64 bit for vista and 160 GB Hard Disk.

Ego for Bentley

2. Tulip E-Go Diamond: $355,000

The laptop has an image as “most luxurious laptop in the world”. And I guess it’s true. The reason is because the laptop is designed with a touch of chrome in unique women bag shapre. The grip of the laptop can be replaced with white gold and diamonds. The price of this laptop can reach $355,000. Don’t ask about performace as this is the same as usual laptop. It’s just 12 antiglare screen display, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB Hard disk, integrated webcam, bluetooth 2.0 and DVD burner. You should be rich enough to spend $355,000 for just a laptop.

Tulip E-Go Diamond

1. Luvaglio One Million Dollar Laptop: $1,000,000

The title says it all. You should own $1 million to own this laptop. This laptop is made to order and you will get your own design and specification. You can also order from what kind of material your laptop will be made. You can choose from wood, metal or iron. This laptop is also designed so the owner can upgrade the hardware themself. This laptop is equipped with 128 solid State drive, MP3 player, built in USB stick and equipped with “integrated screen cleaning feature”.

Luvaglio One Million Dollar Laptop

Do You want to own one of those most expensive laptops in the world?

Acer Ferrari One Laptop

Acer Ferrari One Laptop

I think the Acer Ferrari One notebook certainly stands out from the crowd with its personalized racing red cover and zippy performance. Inspired by Scuderia Ferrari elements, the Ferrari One definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the notebook field with its scarlet red lid and famous prancing horse badge.

While many not realize, to complete its sporty look, the notebook also features a carbon fiber-design for the palm-rest, Ferrari-engraved touchpad with multi-gesture functionalities and. If you get this, four rubber feet that look like tires. With all of the car-related design ideas, it’s not hard to wonder whether they’re “speeding up” their design in the same way we’re all speeding up with broadband packages and more RAM slotted into the back of our machines. That’s not all; the Ferrari experience even extends to exclusive Ferrari calendars and themes for the desktop.

UNDER THE HOOD

This notebook is not just banking on just its sporty looks to entice customers. With a dual-core 1.2GHz Athlon X2 L310 CPU and 1MB L2 cache in the driver’s seat, it feels snappier and more powerful than a notebook with an Intel Atom processor. Of course, having 4GB of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics comes in handy, especially when running high definition (HD) movies. It also has a 320GB hard drive so there’s plenty of storage space for all your documents and multimedia files. The notebook also has a built-in Crystal Eye VGA webcam with a low-light enhanced feature that allows it to be used even in a dim environment.

TOUCH HERE

The Ferrari-engraved touchpad supports multi-gesture functionalities. Also available are a myriad of wireless connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and even a HSDPA slot. The latter means users can insert their SIM card directly for connecting to a 3G broadband service. It takes about one minute for the Ferrari One to boot up to the pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.

The notebook has a 11.6in WXGA LED-backlight screen, which produces sharp and clear images at a native 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution. The keyboard offers comfortable typing with good tactile feedback and is also quite responsive. The multi-gesture touchpad supports two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate and flip features for faster access to the notebook’s functions. All worked quite well, we might add.

STYLISH STOPS

Even the Ferrari One’s rubber feet look like car tires. I had no problems playing my current favorite test game Spore on this machine. Viewing YouTube videos and movie trailers were also not a problem. I installed the KMplayer app to play a 720p version of the Transformers movie and am happy to report that the playback went smoothly with no dropped frames although there was some minimal jitter on some of the frames.

The Ferrari One also has an ATI XGP port, which allows users to hook up an external graphics solution directly to the machine to boost the existing graphics performance. Unfortunately, this feature couldn’t be tested because there was no compatible graphics card available in the office at the time of this review.

Moving on, this model does not offer any HDMI port, which is a shame because now users need to connect two different types of cables — a VGA and an audio — when they want to view movies on a bigger HDTV screen.

It ships with the Dolby Home Theater v3-certified sound system but the problem is that the speaker doesn’t seem loud enough to let users really enjoy the experience. Even at the highest setting, you need to be really close to the notebook to clearly hear the audio details. I also noticed that the fan seemed to be constantly running to cool down the processor.

It is a well-known fact that AMD laptops tend to run warmer than their Intel counterparts but the noise was really quite loud at certain times. When it comes to the test of endurance, the Ferrari One passed withflying colors as it managed to clock up to five hours of battery life on a single charge, which is in line with Acer’s claims.

The notebook was mainly used for word-processing and heavy photo-editing during this time. But when Wi-Fi was switched on, the operational time was reduced by an hour or so. Still, this is not too bad in our book.

THE FINISH LINE

If you can look past the missing HDMI port, noisy cooling fan and a price tag that’s not too wallet-friendly, the Ferrari One is really one good-looking and well-designed machine. It also has enough firepower to run HD movies and regular office productivity applications smoothly. A brain and the looks; both are in one package. What more can you ask for?

Pros

Impressive Ferrari themed design; dual-core processor on a notebook; smooth HD movie playback; good battery life.

Cons

Noisy cooling fan; no HDMI port; slightly pricey.

FERRARI ONE SPECIFICATION

(Acer) Notebook

Processor: AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor L310 with AMD Hyper Transport 3.0 technology
Chipset: AMD M780G chipset
Memory: 4GB DDR2
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (up to 2,047MB of Hyper Memory)
Display: 11.6in WXGA Acer CineCrystal LED-backlit TFT LCD
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 56K modem, 10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth
I/O ports: Three USB 2.0 ports, VGA, ATI XGP socket
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Other features: Memory card reader, built-in webcam
Dimensions (W x D x H): 285 x 204 x 30mm
Weight: 1.44kg
Price: USD800

Review unit courtesy of Acer Sales And Services Sdn Bhd, 1800-88-1288 Source

best laptop/notebook for student lowest prices

College Laptops

New Dell Inspiron 13 Laptop

Just in time for back-to-school or back-to-work season, Dell will be releasing its new Dell Inspiron 13 laptop. The Inspiron 13 laptop weighs just under five pounds and boasts a 13-inch high-definition display that makes it easily mobile. The new laptop comes equipped with capacitive touch media buttons, an 8-in-1 media card reader and slot-loading DVD drive, and optional integrated wireless networking, a built-in webcam and Bluetooth. The Inspiron 13 laptop will be available on August 3 at Wal-Mart with a select configuration and retailing $699, while fully configurable systems will be up for grabs at www.dell.com for under $800 in late August. Dell.

Gateway T-6836 Laptop, Great for Back-To-School and Everyday

Looking for a little understated elegance, something not too flashy, but set to impress? TheGateway T-8638 laptop is a great choice. This reasonably priced laptop is a mid-sized machine with a wealth of cool features for the everyday laptopper. The 5.5-pound T-6836 laptop offers portability without compromising on performance. The durable, glossy and colorful case holds a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 processor, Intel GMA X3100 graphics, 4GB at 667MHz RAM, 250GB HDD and the laptop runs on Windows Vista Home Premium OS. The laptop’s 14.1-inch display offers 1,280-by-800-pixel native resolution, perfect for viewing pictures, movies or gaming in your down time. The laptop’s extras are kept on the simple side – VGA out/webcam; three USB 2.0 ports and a multiformat memory card reader; ExpressCard/54 slot; stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks; modem, ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi for connectivity; and a DVD burner with Labelflash. At a price of just $799, the T-8638 laptop makes a great laptop for back-to-school, or any day of the year. Gateway.

Gateway Updates Laptop Lines – P-Series, M-Series and T-Series Laptops

The Gateway P-series laptop, the M-series laptop and the T-series laptop have been updated and upgraded for students who do their homework on the go. Laptop lovers can now pick up the popular laptops with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, allowing for smooth multi-tasking. The 17-inch P-series laptop, the 15.4-inch M-series laptop and the 14.1-inch T-series laptop are now also equipped with more spacious hard drives, a dual-layer DVD burner and a built-in webcam. And because hard work is rewarded with hard play, the laptops also boast advanced multimedia features that let the user enjoy movies, music and gaming. All three laptops are clad in a sleek and slim exterior available in Garnet Red, Pacific Blue, Silver and Grey. The new laptops are priced from $799. Gateway
via PR-Inside

Cost-Conscious, Functional Toshiba Satellite A305D Laptop

The Toshiba Satellite A300D laptop is a great laptop for the cost-conscious user who isn’t looking for all the bells and whistles - students, this one is worth a look! Offering the necessities for work, play and multimedia applications, the Satellite A300D laptop features a 15.4-inch 1,280-by-800 display that supports 720p content and offers TruBrite Technology. The Satellite A300D laptop sports an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64 dual core processor, ATI Radeon HD X1250 integrated graphics, up to 4GB RAM and up to 320GB SATA HDD at 5400 rpm. Stay connected with WLAN 802.11 a/g/Pre-n. The Satellite A300D laptop runs on Windows Vista Home Premium operating system, and also comes equipped with a 1.3-megapixel webcam and microphone built right into the LCD bezel, Harman/Kardon stereo speakers, and a DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash drive. The Satellite A300D laptop starts at a price of $949.99. Toshiba.

Full On Features, Inside Out – Toshiba Satellite U405-S2830 Laptop

We’re no stranger to all of Toshiba’s new releases recently, and the latest and greatest variation of its Satellite U400 series is the Toshiba Satellite U405-S2830 laptop. The laptop’s subtle yet stylish Fusion finish spills from its 13.3-inch lid under the hood onto the palm rest and glossy full-sized keyboard, which is accented with bright white LEDs. Aside from its classy encasement, the 4.7-pound Satellite U405-S2830 laptop is full on features, like a 2.1-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, integrated graphics chipset, 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD, a built-in dual-layer DVD burner, FireWire and three USB ports that charge your gadgets even when your laptop is turned off, a 4-in-1 card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, booming stereo speakers and a fingerprint reader. And because good things come in threes, you know that aside from looks and works, the Satellite U405-S2830 laptop has another high point – the price, making it ideal for college kids. The laptop retails for $1,149. Toshiba.

Posted on May 21, 2008 7:52 PM | Permalink

Zepto Znote 6024W Laptop for Students, Pros on the Go

The new Zepto Znote 6024W laptop is a great option for the mobile professionals and students who want great features without the hefty price tag. The Znote 6024W laptop sports a 14.1-inch display with 1,440-by-900 pixels and UltraCrisp technology. An integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics delivers a sharp image, brilliant color, and supports a variety of operating systems and DualView for connecting external monitors or projectors. The 7.1 digital surround sound brings the images to life. Starting at a price of $1,140, the Znote 6024W laptop comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor T8100 with 2GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB S-ATA HDD at 7200 rpm, a Samsung DVD-RW Dual Layer burner, Zepto Zpro2 wifi 300MBit and built-in Bluetooth.Zepto.

Best Student Laptop - HP Pavilion tx2000 Convertible Tablet Laptop

HP has unveiled a new little mobile machine at CES 2008. Here’s a sneak-peek at the HP Pavilion tx2000 convertible tablet/laptop. Best as a student laptop, the Pavilion tx2000 laptop features handwriting recognition technology, and combines the latest and greatest tablet trends with laptop luxuries. The Pavilion tx2000 laptop will be powered by an AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core processor with built-in NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics card, 128MB RAM and 120GB to 321GB HDD. The laptop will boast a 12.1-inch convertible WXGA HD touch-sensitive display with BrightView technology and a resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels. Connectivity options include 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11b/g WLAN or 802.11b/g with BluetoothTM or 802.11a/b/g WLAN with Bluetooth TM or 802.11a/b/g/n (draft 802.11n) WLAN with BluetoothTM, ExpressCard slot, USB, VGA and TV-OUT. As the best student laptop, the tx2000 also comes with extras like a Super Multi Double-Layer 8X DVD burner or a LightScribe Super Multi Double Layer 8X DVD burner, Altec Lansing audio system, security software and optional webcam or fingerprint technology. HP
via Laptops Arena

Cheap Student Laptop Sony Vaio NR - new Smart, Pretty laptop

The Sony Vaio NR laptop is the lowest-priced Vaio yet. As if that wasn’t enough to tempt you, this new laptop is also fashion forward, and bi-lingual, with an English-French keyboard. With the sleek and slim exterior of the Vaio NR laptop, featuring rounded corners and beveled edges, consumers expect nothing less when looking under the hood, so to speak. The Vaio NR laptop brings buyers “personalized computing options with advanced features, unique designs and innovative technologies,” says Sony. The 15.4-inch widescreen display offers XBRITE LCD technology with crisp images and bold colors. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor delivers fast operating speeds, more efficient battery life and more reliable wireless capabilities with a built-in 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN. Entertainment junkies rejoice – the Vaio NR lets you conveniently access and enjoy music and movies with the integrated A/V mode, or make them with the DVD and CD burner. The Vaio NR also offers connectivity options like four USB ports, ExpressCard or SD card, and Memory Stick PRO slot. The Vaio NR laptops start from $829. Sony.

Budget Laptop - Toshiba Satellite M205-S7452 Laptop

A budget laptop, the new Toshiba Satellite M205-S7452 laptop is great for school. This laptop has it all – it’s thin, it’s light, and it offers high-level mobile function. The Satellite M205-S7452 budget laptop is equipped with a 14.1-inch high-definition WXGA widescreen display offering TruBrite technology and supporting 1,280-by-800 resolution combined with Intel-integrated graphics, delivering awesome picture quality. Add to this a DVD burner drive, web camera, microphone and stereo speakers and all your multi-media bases are covered. Hardware-wise, the Satellite M205-S7452 laptop is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 central processing unit operating at 1.5GHz with 2MB of L2 cache memory and a 667MHz front side bus, and backed by a 1GB DDR2 random access memory. Keeping you connected, this laptop comes with the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG wireless adapter card compatible with the 802.11a/b/g standards. For a starting price of $899.99, M205-S7452 laptop won't break your budget. Toshiba.

College student laptop survival guide (for on-campus living)

Now that you've picked your best college laptop ... see what accessories you m u s t bring to campus with you to actually use your laptop to its fullest potential.

MUST HAVE LAPTOP ACCESSORIES FOR COLLEGE - The absolute minimum laptop survival guide for on-campus living

What else every student needs besides the laptop itself ...

1. Means to connect to wired campus network or to Internet:
- RJ45 cable (known as 10/100 Ethernet cable). Uses the RJ45 port on your laptop. Belkin RJ45M/RJ45M 10/100BT Cat5e Snagless Patch Cable 14 FT would be quite enough.
$9.93

2. Means to exchange files between laptops:
- USB flash drive. Today, you can buy a very large size (2GB) flash drive for cheap. One example is this SanDisk 2GB Cruzer Titanium USB drive.
$24.64

3. Means to protect your laptop from power surge and to plug-in peripherals:
- multi-outlet Power Strip & Surge Protector. This Philips GP610F 6-Outlet Household Surge Protector with 10-Foot Cordwill do just fine.
$12.99

4. Means to print/copy/scan:
- All-In-One printer that is also a copy machine and a scanner will be your best friend when doing your English essays or any other projects on college campus. This USB connected Dell All-In-One 926 Printer would do just fine.
$49.99

5. Means to protect your laptop hard drive from viruses:
- any brand anti-virus software will do. Today, the 30- to 90-days free trial option for anti-virus software is included with most laptop models. You can extend it later for a price averaging to $59.99
$59.99

Your total laptop accessories budget:
$9.93 + $24.64 + $12.99 + $49.99 + $59.99 = $157.54

Best college laptop under $1000 - the 4 top buys for July 2007

The best college laptop is not about how big the hard drive and memory are - most new laptops today have large hard drive and lots of memory by default, more than enough for a college student. For the best college laptop, it's the 'other' options that you need to choose carefully: cache memory size/speed, graphics memory, external connectivity options (ports and slots) and media read/write drives. Most important, you want to get the best value for your money: more features for less price ... but only features you really need as a college student. Based on your budget, buy one of these 4 top college laptop models we've identified for July 2007, and we believe, you'll get the best value for the price!

BEST COLLEGE LAPTOP CHOICES, July 2007

Budget
$449

Dell Vostro 1000

Highlights: very cheap but fast enough and loaded enough, business laptop setup (4 USB, ExpressCard slot, 3-in-1 Card Reader, no useless extras), 1-year Dell DataSafe Online Backup account, best laptop value for the price, the most popular brand. See recommended Vostro 1000 configuration ...

Regular
$599

Dell Vostro 1500

Highlights: loaded, faster but still very inexpensive, business laptop setup (no useless extras), large & fast 2MB cache memory - great for heavy word processing, DVD burner w/ double-layer, dedicated graphic memory/card, multimedia controls, 1-year DataSafe Online Backup account, best laptop value for the price, the most popular brand. (Price includes $50 upgrade to Intel Core 2 Duo T5470 w/2MB cache.)

Luxury
$899

Sony Vaio N

Highlights: long-lasting Sony quality, fast, loaded, extensive connectivity / media reader options, good looks, best laptop value for the price (see the comparison), the most desirable brand. More on Sony Viao N ...

Portable and Cool
$1099

Apple MacBook

Highlights: super-loaded - remote control, built-in camera, built-in mobil broadband Bluetooth card, dual-display support, most extensive connectivity options; fast, portable - 5.1 lbs, smaller size - 13.3" display. Free iPod Nano. Best laptop value for the price, the coolest brand.