Laptop Thoughts: News & Reviews on Laptops, Netbooks, Slates, and More.

"German software vendor SoftMaker today announced the immediate launch of the public beta test of its new mobile office suite SoftMaker Office Mobile 2012 for Android. Boasting impeccable compatibility with Microsoft Office, it is poised to become an excellent choice for demanding users of Android phones and tablets."

A (free-to-try) beta has been announced by SoftMaker, and includes TextMaker word processor, PlanMaker spreadsheet, and SoftMaker Presentations. The suite promises Office 2010 compatibility (docx, pptx and xlsx formats) and will be sold and priced individually, at about 10 Euros (or equivalent dollars) per app. Highlights include: direct PDF export/save; syncing with Dropbox, Evernote and eventually Google Docs; multi-language spell checking that underlines errors in red; supports track changes in a format familiar to MSO users; plays presentations with full transitions and animations; and supports adding TrueType and/or OpenType typefaces. Sounds promising!

"With features like LTE connectivity, ultra-high-resolution displays, and laptop-like processing power, tablets have made their way into tens of millions of homes, and they’ve done it seemingly overnight. But despite popularity that borders on ubiquity and specs that edge them ever closer to desktops, it’s a rare house where a tablet has replaced a full-fledged computer. Why is that? Why haven’t more people scrapped their PCs for the sleeker, cheaper tablets?"

Interesting opinions on what it'll take for tablets to (someday) replace laptops. Three basic requirements: more feedback from the tablet for tasks; quicker reflexes - tablet response on touch actions are about 8-10x slower than mouse and keyboard actions; split personality, or a watered-down experience - tablets need to run the processes that laptops run. An additional requirement is that tablets need to be seen as more than luxury devices. When I can pull out my iPad and truly edit an Excel spreadsheet, I'll consider that tablets have arrived.

"Windows 8 is now available for anyone to download, and it already shows a ton of potential. In fact, Microsoft’s bold new OS, which reminds us a lot of Windows Phone, outshines the iPad in some key areas. Granted, there were things we didn’t like in our Windows 8 Consumer Preview– — and the iPad 3 or iPad HD is just around the corner– — but there’s no question that Apple will soon have a real fight on its hands. Here are the top 10 ways Windows 8 is better than the iPad right now."

A bit of an apples vs oranges comparison here: how about hardware vs hardware, and/or software vs software? Anyway, many of the touted features of Windows 8 will be solid, and will appeal to users looking for more tablet-like behavior from their mainstream computing devices. Whether there will be push-back from users on the major changes is yet to be determined. Much of the criticism that I've heard and read over the last few years regarding Windows vs iOS is that "traditional" users don't want tablet features, so it'll be interesting to follow the next iteration of Windows and its acceptance. I've already heard major griping on the removal (or displacement) of the start button ...

"Despite the Mac's recent gains in market share, Windows is still the dominant operating system, especially in businesses. That means there may be times when you need to run the Microsoft OS: perhaps there's an application your company uses that's only available for Windows, or you're a web developer and you need to test your sites in a true native Windows web browser."

Well, whatever your reasons for running Windows on your Mac, you have many choices. Probably more than you realized, at least that was the feeling I got when I read this article on how to set up your Mac to run Windows. Especially helpful were the comparisons on performance based on which option, which helps immensely when trying to decide which road to travel. What are your thoughts on running Windows on a Mac, and which option(s) do you use?

"Nexus Image (no relation to Google or the Nexus line of phones) is a free, sharp-looking image viewer that loads images quickly, displays EXIF information in a transparent overlay, lets you browse images via keyboard shortcuts, and can even dim your desktop to provide a lightbox effect while you browse."

I've tended to use Picasa as my image viewer, or ACDSee's Quick Viewer if I've got it installed on the computer I'm working on, but this looks like a fast, lightweight solution. I took it for a quick spin, and it's indeed fast and has some decent features. On the plus side, you can use a scroll-wheel or track pack to move through images in a folder. Weirdly though, the keyboard arrow keys won't work if the image window is in focus (you need to click on the column of thumbnails for them to work). Minor gripe though - this looks like a winner to me!

"During its CES 2012 press conference today, Intel took us on a tour of what might just be the future of the Ultrabook. That future is something the company calls ‘Nikiski’ and it’s a concept that replaces your normal trackpad, with a transparent touchpad, that can double as a gorgeous touchscreen when the Ultrabook is closed."

Pretty cool stuff maybe on the horizon! Operates as a standard notebook (ultrabook class) computer, but the transparent "full-width" touchpad functions as a mini-tablet when the computer is closed and flipped on its back. Email, calendar entries, alerts, etc; can all be handled in the tablet mode, and, when the notebook is opened, whatever is being worked on in "tiles" will be (quickly) active in notebook mode. Of course, this does require Windows 8 and Metro, and the video mentions to audience members to not even think about copying the technology, 'cause it's patented. Seems like an ideal melding of notebook and tablet to me.

"When Intel initially put out the idea of the ultrabook as a new type of laptop, I admit harboring plenty of skepticism—isn’t the ultrabook just a gussied up rebranding of an ultraportable? Unfortunately, being a skeptic/cynic has served me well over the years, and so now here I sit in front of two ultrabooks trying to determine a couple of things: which ultrabook is the “best” right now, and are any of them actually worth buying."

A well-done review, that hints that buying a first-generation ultrabook means that some compromises are necessary. For example, both the S3 and the UX31E have decidedly mediocre LCDs, with the ASUS system being brighter, and with better contrast. The SSDs differ greatly in performance. Both have keyboards that are okay, but are not backlit. Performance is best with the ASUS, and it also has better battery life (but also a larger battery). The bottom line is that both of these system are trying to unseat the MacBook Air from the top of the heap, and while neither one really succeeds, the ASUS UX31E comes close. Samsung's S9 also is getting some good reviews, so if it has to be Windows, you'll probably want to look at (and try in-person) all three of these ultrabooks.

"DENVER, CO – (December 20, 2011) – ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, announced today the upcoming availability of the first android 3.2 ‘’Honeycomb’’ tablet under $200, the ARCHOS 70b internet tablet. The new ARCHOS 70b IT is an enhanced version of the ARCHOS 70 IT Gen 8 that features an upgraded capacitive touch screen and a powerful processor at 1.2 GHz."

With Android 3.2 (Honeycomb), 8GB storage, full access to the Android Market, 1024x600 capacitive LCD, and a fair complement of ports, this may be a good buy for those that don't like (or want) the Kindle Fire's training wheels (UI). With "only" 512MB RAM, I don't expect lightning performance, and the lack of details as to the nature of their "powerful processor" is a bit puzzling. I've seen ARCHOS products in retail stores, but haven't had the desire to test one, but the 70b may change my mind. I had a Kindle Fire, but wasn't impressed, and sold it, maybe this will be a better (or real) introduction to Android. Anyone have experience with ARCHOS products?

"HP finally revealed the fate of webOS last week, announcing plans to open source the orphaned mobile OS rather than sell it to someone else or simply abandon it. As a fan of the open source model I was pleased to hear this -- it would have been a shame to let webOS die -- but I'm also realistic that opening it up isn't going to suddenly resurrect the OS and put it right back into contention alongside iOS, Android, and Windows Phone."

HP has made some waves with its announcement that it intends on open sourcing webOS. Will is save the beleaguered operating system from death? Possibly. Will it bring it to the forefront? Unlikely. Without strong and major backing, the OS is likely to stay small, and see interest mostly from niche groups. Yes, there are thousands of webOS users out there thanks to the firesale that HP had with its TouchPads, but I have doubts that most consumers really know what they got into, and are just as likely to pick up an Android or iOS device next. That is not a knock against webOS, but that with any product, it needs some backing and marketing in order to get into the minds of consumers, and with HP pushing it, I do not see that happening.

"Great news if you’re an HTC Flyer user: the Taiwanese smartphone giant has released the Android 3.2 update for its 7-inch tablet. The update weighs in at 210MB and bumps the version of Android from 2.3 Gingerbread up to the proper 3.2 Honeycomb for tablets."

This has been long-awaited, but it's finally here! The Flyer has been a good performer with Android Gingerbread, and should be quite impressive with a true tablet OS. Aside from the enhanced dedicated stylus button, the other buttons become inactive. It'll be interesting to see if the 7-inch form factor catches on after the success of the Kindle Fire.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus retains its seven-inch display from the first generation Galaxy Tab. Now, upgraded with a dual-core Exynos processor, Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, and a number of enhancements thanks to the TouchWiz user interface and some preloaded apps, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus refines on the experience that the Galaxy Tab 7 had promised."

Samsung has taken good 7-inch tablet and made it even better: Light; improved but sometimes laggy performance; excellent 1024x600 display that works indoors and outdoors; expandable storage (up to an additional 32GB SDHC); reasonably good cameras that record VGA or 720p HD video; updated Android OS that is actually designed for tablets; and enhanced TouchWiz. Negatives reported are less than stellar battery life, some performance lags in some apps, and slightly confusing design decisions by Samsung. Some bundled apps and some enhancements made by Samsung make for a better user experience. No pricing or availability information was provided, with T-Mobile expected to offer a Wifi + 4G version.

"The Kindle Fire can bring the heat. But the Toughpad can handle flamethrowers. Panasonic is extending its line of weather-resistant, hard-shelled mobile devices to include Android tablets. Announced today, the Toughpad A1 will sport a 10.1-inch XGA capacative screen and a 1.2-GHz Marvell dual-core processor running Android 2.3 Honeycomb, and will be released in Spring 2012."

I've always been intrigued by Panasonic's series of hardened devices, and the Toughpad A1 is no exception. MIL-STD-810G compliance means that this tablet will be able to withstand drops, water, dust, and extreme temperatures. While very rugged, these devices seem to be always somewhat behind the technology curve, maybe due to the intensive and time-consuming hardening requirements.

The A1 tablet will run Android Honeycomb (not Ice Cream Sandwich), but will have a bundle of high-end features, like a daylight-viewable anti-glare, anti-reflective screen, battery life rated at 10-hours, and additional layers of security. Definitely a niche product, the Toughpad A1 will weigh 2.3-pounds and will be .67-inches thick, twice as heavy and twice as thick as the iPad 2. Not cheap at $1299, but if you need ruggedness, security and durability, this is your tablet.

"Sitting down? Good. Come November 16th, Amazon's Kindle Fire will have company. We've wrapped our paws around a stash of documents confirming the impending launch of the first bona fide tablet in the Nook line, and lo and behold, the Nook Tablet will end up being a dead-ringer for the Nook Color that already exists."

Interesting news, and pretty inevitable that B&N would take the training wheels off their Color Nook e-reader, with some bumps and boosts in capacity and performance, and voila, the Nook Tablet. Some advantages over its expected competitor, the Kindle Fire: double the RAM; double the memory, 16GB vs. 8GB; and lighter. But, $50 more right now. Are we seeing the birth of a new class of Android tablet, with a highly customized (and mostly hidden) UI?

"In addition to the new $249 Nook Tablet revealed this morning at a press event in New York City, Barnes & Noble announced a new price drop to $99 and a software update for the Nook Simple Touch eReader."

Part of the Nook Tablet announcement this morning was the release of the Nook Simple Touch E-ink reader. The Simple Touch is an updated version of the Nook Touch. It comes with an improved screen touted by Barnes and Noble as the "most advanced E-ink display" and updated software.

The Simple Touch is now available at bn.com for $99, down $40 from $139. This price drop brings the Barnes and Noble's offering in line with the ad supported Kindle Touch E-ink reader. The update is available to older Touch owners and can be found at www.nook.com/update.

"The Transformer Prime, with its quad-core silicon and tasty OS, has rightfully garnered much attention lately. A PowerPoint deck detailing ASUS' Q3 earnings now gives us a peek at its Eee Pad strategy -- confirming the aforementioned Prime's November 9th release date, while also promising two more bot-powered slates in the first quarter of 2012."

Looking at the accompanying information from ASUS, translated into English (somewhere), and then extracted from a German-language site, the news is about an ASUS Transformer Prime, followed by an ASUS PadFone and a variant on the Eee Pad Slider. Two (2) Windows 8 tablets (Eee Slate E121 and the Eee Slate Business B121) are scheduled to be available in the autumn of 2012, giving ASUS two tablet technologies (consumer *and* business) in the marketplace.

The Transformer Prime looks to have NVIDIA's new Tegra 3 quad-core processor, a 10-inch display, 14.5-hour battery run time, and should run Android's newest OS. The current Transformer is a very solid tablet, and these updates should be welcomed by its fans.

ASUS estimates that it will sell roughly 1.8-million tablets in 2011, with an additional estimate of 600K still to be sold/delivered in Q4 2011 in addition to the 1.2-million sold to date. While the news is (and dates are) a bit contradictory in translation, we can expect some new competitors to the iPad from ASUS.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus tablet with Android 3.2 Honeycomb is available for pre-order on Amazon.Eager customers can now place their pre-orders for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus on Amazon. The device cost $399 for the 16GB model, and $499 for the 32GB version. Shipping dates have not yet been announced."

I think that Samsung will find it tough going competing against the Kindle Fire, especially for twice the price, even though this Wifi-only tablet sports Android 3.2, a 1024x600 touchscreen, front and rear-facing cameras, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. I travel a lot, and regularly perform (admittedly very unscientific) tallies of the types of devices that I see at airports, on airplanes, in coffee shops and restaurants, etc; and I really haven't seen many 7-inch tablets (Kindle readers, yes), so this market segment has room to grow.

"Windows 8 tablets are just around the corner but and tablet maker Kupa is showing off the X11 running the upcoming operating systems. It was great to play around with a tablet that has Windows 8 navigation up and running."

Interesting to see Windows 8 and the new Metro UI running (and running pretty well for a prototype) on a tablet. Retailing starting at $699, the 900 gram, 10.1-inch X11 sports an Intel Atom processor, a 1366x768 semi-gloss high-res screen, 2GB RAM, front and rear cameras, a nice collection of ports, and a 64GB SSD. For $999 (or $799 per the video) the X11 adds 3G service, and ups the SSD to 128GB. No details were provided on availability, or on a critical component, battery life. To me, the X11 looked a bit bulky (thick), and a bit unwieldy, but again, it's a prototype, not a finished product. Thoughts?

"While most Android tablets make due with a touch keyboard, for many typists a set of virtual keys just doesn't cut it. It's for these users that ASUS has designed the Eee Pad Slider SL101, the first 10-inch Android tablet with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The $479 Eee Pad Slider also features a bright IPS screen, a full-size USB port (for attaching a storage drive or mouse), and a sleek soft-touch chassis. But do these goodies justify the 2.1-pound weight? And just how good is the typing experience?"

For those that prefer physical keyboards, ASUS has heard you! The Eee Pad Slider is larger and heavier than both the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (without the keyboard), but add a keyboard and the Slider is lighter. The wide bezel around the glossy IPS screen allows for a larger (but still smaller than a netbook) keyboard, and includes dedicated numeric keys. It is also possible to attach a mouse to better approximate a laptop. One point to note is that there is no palmrest, so support for the wrists is lacking, and no built-in pointing device.

If you do a lot of text entry, this is a good tablet choice, but if not, there are better (lighter, and less expensive) options.

"The computer industry is in a constant state of tension between local and distributed computing. On one extreme is the desktop computer with terabytes of storage, a powerful CPU and GPU, and huge tracts of RAM-but which mostly restricts users to direct local access. On the other end are smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and other thin-client devices that rely on cloud storage and constant data access to make up for their lack of oomph, but which allow users to access their data from anywhere. Both types of computing have their advantages, and both can benefit hugely from a home server or other network-attached storage (NAS) device."

MaximumPC reviewed and rated four (4) NAS configurations, and rated them as follows (barebones cost and rating in parenthesis): Promise SmartStor NS4700 ($850, 7); Synology DS411+II ($700, 8); Buffalo TeraStation Pro Quad ($1200, but with four 1TB drives pre-installed, 5); QNAP TS-459 Pro II ($950, 9).

The QNAP TS-459 Pro II wins easily, followed by the Synology DS411+II. If you need vast amounts of storage, you really can't go wrong with any of the four, although the Buffalo TeraStation Pro Quad suffers from wonky software and bad write performance. An alternative for Windows users is Windows Home Server. I've got a couple portable USB-powered backup drives at 1GB each, and alternate backups between them, so I guess that I've got my own cheap guy equivalent (RAID -1 ?) for a lot less money, but, if you need serious, reliable backup horsepower, then these are some fine options!

There are those in life who would, by their own will, take a bullet for you. And while they may be called by different names - Secret Service, Best Friend, Idiot, Early Adopter - they are by all accounts, heroes. My friends, we here at Thoughts Media - we are those people. As early adopters of new technology, we take bullets for you on a daily basis; and we do this with pride. Though we may not wear capes (well some of us anyway - let's not get Jason into this) we take on new devices and software products with the knowledge that our actions may result in a smaller bank account, bricked phone, inoperable computer, and many other horrible, horrible possibilities.

And with that, I present to you Apple's latest operating system, OS X Lion. Lion's are hunters. They have been known to stalk humans; later known as dinner. Their claws are sharp, their teeth pointy, and their attacks deadly. So what does this have to do with Apples latest OS? In one word: plenty. This review, or anti-review, is not meant to compliment the hundreds of Lion reviews already posted. Instead, it is a real account of experiences with the operating system that we here at Thoughts Media felt you could benefit from; it is a map around a minefield - set in the Serengeti. Read more...