Notebook Trends

For under $1000, the thin-and-light 14-inch widescreen Fujitsu LifeBook S7211 is one real sweet deal of a notebook that you would love to get your hands on. In the notebook/laptop field, Japanese computer maker Fujitsu has been coming out with some nifty products that exude quality, and the beautiful LifeBook S7211 is no exception.

For a product with some great features, the price is reasonable. If you have a close eye on budget, the LifeBook S7211 offers cost-conscious small and medium size businesses an easy way to stay on budget without compromising on performance or reliability.

Pricing starts at $899 and ranges up to around $1100 depending on options, according to Fujitsu.

There’s a 120GB hard drive, support for up to 4 GB of RAM (base configs have 1 GB), combo drives or dual-layer DVD writers, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, gigabit Ethernet, a 1.3 megapixel Webcam, three USB 2,.0 ports, an ExpressCard slot, and a media card slot.

What’s more, the dual-layer burner sits in a modular expansion bay, which allows it to be removed and replaced with either an additional battery or an empty shell to reduce weight.

An integrated webcam centered above the display and stereo microphones provide quality videoconferencing for distance learning or training. Connectivity is superior with the Atheros Super AG(R) 802.11a/b/g WLAN offering up to 108 Mbps transfer rate when connected with Super AG-routers or gateways.

The notebook’s 14-inch display offers a 1,280 by 800 -pixel resolution, and the system supports simultaneous display on an external monitor at resolutions up to 1,600 by 1,200 pixels.

The LifeBook S7211 notebook can be configured with either a 1.6 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2330 or a 1.5 GHz Intel Core 2 T5250 processors, and offers Intel’s GMA X3100 graphics.

(Special note: If you’re residing in Malaysia, the LifeBook S7211 has a version that comes with the cheaper Intel Pentium dual-core processor T2330. It costs RM2,999 but is now on special offer at RM2,599. The upper end version which costs RM3,499 is now selling for RM3,199).

The systems are available with either Windows Vista Business or XP Professional.

Fujitsu has established itself as the clear Wintel laptop leader for reliability and customer satisfaction, according to PC Magazine’s 20th annual Reader Satisfaction Survey.

photo credit: terraplanner

Laptop travelling is becoming an essential activity for most business people, but with unexpected reclining of chairs on airlines and strange power outputs, planning is just as essential.

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By Celeste Yates

For business trips, travelling with a laptop is probably the most convenient idea. Whether you are going to another branch of your company or meeting up with clients, notebooks have made taking documents, e-mailing and carrying all your information easier, plus you don’t have to worry about being set up with a new computer on the other side.

With new models of laptops being made smaller, slimmer and more efficient, days of carrying around what feels like a small elephant are a thing of the past. However, travelling with them across borders unfortunately is still not easy even without the weight.

Most laptop travelling problems can generally be avoided in advance with a little planning. Batteries will have a nasty habit of dying right in the middle of the flight if there isn’t some planning involved.

Trying putting your laptop in a less obvious laptop bag. While the laptop bag is specifically made with padding for bumpy trips, adding your own padding and putting it in a backpack will make it less likely to be picked up. Choosing the right airline is just as important as picking the right seat.

There is nothing worse then just starting your work when half way through, the person in front of you decides they want to sleep and start reclining their chair. Before you know it, your delicately balanced coffee is now spilt all over your keyboard with the excess fluid being poured off the tray, straight into your lap. By this stage, it’s not so much the boiling liquid on your lap that you are concerned with, but the laptop itself that is now, with a fair amount of speed from the reclining, is just about to have a head-on collision with your ribs and there is nothing you can do about it.

Of course the person who is causing all this chaos can’t hear your yelping in horror as the chances are, they are probably listening to soothing ocean noises coming from their ipod. The good news is that business class doesn’t have this problem and for smaller airplanes, the seats by the emergency exist don’t recline.

Generally though it is a good idea when booking with an airline to also check what their requirements are for carry-on items. Certain airlines even have power inputs for laptops while in flight which might be a better option for laptop owners who forget to recharge before flying long distances.

One of the most important things is, of course, to keep an eye at all times on your laptop. Especially when going through checks at the airport. A lot of laptops get picked up when you are on one side of the metal detector, your laptop is on the other and there is armed security people busy searching random people who have set the detector off with their bling bling.

There are various programs that can be loaded about data being exploited in the chance that laptop does get stolen. These programs will encrypt your data and will also require a password to start the laptop.

Once you have arrived in another country it is a completely different ball game. Just because your country uses one type of power plug, doesn’t mean all countries do. Check beforehand when booking your accommodation, what type of power plugs do they have as well as what is available as far as Internet is concerned.

Overall when traveling, you are going to have to plan your entire journey from flights to accommodation for yourself, so you might as well do it for your laptop as well.

About the author: Celeste Yates has been writing content and has recently joined an online marketing group for My New Laptop which specializes in selling professional laptops.

Article Source: EzineArticles