Can’t decide if you want to get a Windows tablet or even a Tablet PC versus one of those sleek new Android tablets that are on or about to hit the market? Well, with BlueStacks, hopefully, you can get a power-performing Windows tablet–with all the bells and whistles for your productivity needs–while still being able to enjoy your favorite Android games. BlueStacks hopes to meld the world of play and productivity together, combining Android games and titles to your Windows machine, whether it’s a tablet, laptop, or desktop.

Essentially, BlueStacks allows users to virtualize Android and run Android titles in a Windows system. There is no dual-booting so you can run Windows and Android side by side. The neat thing, according to SlashGear, is that in the virtualized mode, Android 2.2 and the apps would use Windows drivers to handle things like printing or audio calls via Skype on Android.

The downside, though, may be how well Android works without a touchscreen for those who are hoping to run this on a non-touchscreen desktop or laptop Windows machine. When I was using the Motorola Atrix with the Laptop Dock, I find that some actions were awkward without a touchscreen in laptop mode, such as unlocking the smartphone, which forced me to hold down the mouse and drag the slider bar across. Other actions on Android that require the same gesture include accessing the top notification bars, and select games, such as Fruit Ninja, which requires lots of swiping.

BlueStacks Aims to Bring Android Titles to Windows Machines is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

The Motorola Atrix 4G Android smart phone caught our attention at CES 2011 thanks to the ability to connect it to a dock, like the Motorola Webtop laptop accessory and use the phone as the brains of a laptop. This laptop mode allows you to work in a Firefox browser and to use your apps at the same time. The Webtop is a handy accessory, but at $499, you’d be better off purchasing a HP dm1z or a Lenovo X120e netbook to use when you need a “desktop” experience.

Thankfully, if you want to use the laptop mode on your Motorola Atrix 4G without spending a fortune on the Webtop or the official dock you’re in luck. Fenny, a developer at the xda-developers forum, posted a set of files you can install to turn on the laptop mode on your Atrix 4G without the Webtop. This means that you can plug in any display to the HDMI connection on the Atrix 4G and use the smartphone as you would a notebook.

Once you install the files, which can be done without rooting your phone, you only need a HDMI cable to get started. This may not be as handy as a Webtop, but if you want to connect to a monitor or HDTV in a hotel, you can now use the desktop like experience without paying for an expensive dock.

If you want to make the most of this setup, we suggest getting a Bluetooth keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse to connect to your Atrix 4G so that you don’t need to rely on the on screen keyboard.

Here is a Hands On Video of the Motorola Atrix 4G which gives you a closer look at the device:

Here is a closer look at the Webtop experience:

One more look at Webtop applications:

How To Use the Motorola Atrix as a Laptop without the Dock [hack] is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Given HP’s recent announcement that webOS would soon be coming to the company’s laptops and desktops, there were speculations that HP may be eyeing Microsoft as a competitor in the software OS market, but HP clarified things in an interview with the Seattle Times. HP’s Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney says that webOS doesn’t change anything with PCs, and that the company will continue to use Microsoft’s Windows operating system inside its systems.

According to McKinney, webOS will be used to integrate the various different systems that a consumer or user may own–tablets, smartphones, desktops, printers, and laptops together.

No, there’s a huge user base that still wants the PC. The key is that even on their PCs, people want to have it integrated with their devices. We have our PCs, you have your pads, you’ve got your phones. How do they work together? In today’s world they all act as individual information islands. What WebOS does is bring all that together.

It’s still too early to know how HP will achieve its task of integrating Windows and webOS, but according to the PC-maker, it won’t be through the process of virtualization, but through integration. The company was a bit discrete with its plans, but from the tone of the interview, it seems like HP will be taking the app approach. By unifying the webOS experience from smartphone to tablet to desktop, consumers can start an app on one device and continue working with that app on a different device: “With WebOS on a PC, you won’t have to make that choice. You can develop your WebOS app that’ll run on your phone, your slate and your PC.”

Though webOS on a PC is coming, HP isn’t giving a timeframe yet. However, the possibility for HP as a software company is exciting in that if scaled aggressively, webOS PC Edition can give HP a software platform that can competitively pursue Apple’s Mac OS X much like how webOS on a smartphone and tablet is a strong competitor against Apple’s iOS mobile platform.

Via: PreCentral

HP: webOS to Complement Windows, Not Replace is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

One of the great things about using Windows 7 is how easy it is to customize it to your liking. Microsoft has made making Windows your own a fun activity, whether it’s using the built in tools to customize the appearance of the desktop or even using third party tools to create a unique log in background.

Today we’ll show you how to create and share a Windows 7 wallpaper theme that you can use and share. This is a great way to customize your own Windows experience or to share a collection of pictures with a friend or family member.

For this article, I am going to be using a set of photos I took at home, feel to use yours if you wish. Our tools of choice today is Microsoft Paint and the Control Panel Screen Resolution item.

The first thing we need to find out is the maximum resolution supported by our Display Monitor. The purpose of this is to ensure the wallpaper does not look stretched or squeezed on screen. To find out your maximum Resolution supported, right click your desktop, click Screen Resolution.

This will open the Screen Resolution Control Panel Item.

Click in the Resolution list box and take note of the maximum resolution supported by your display. You might need to write this down.

Next we will proceed to resize the image using Microsoft Paint. Browse to where the image is located, or you can open it from within Microsoft Paint. Just to be safe, create a backup copy of the image just in case you make a mistake when editing it.

Microsoft Paint

Once you are in Paint, all you have to do is click the Resize button (located under Home (tab) > Image (group) or press CTRL + W on your keyboard.

This will present the Resize and Skew window on screen. We will be using the Resize tools.

• Select Pixels radio box
• Uncheck Maintain aspect ration
• Enter the desired resolutions in the Horizontal and Vertical boxes. This is the resolution we had written down earlier from the Screen Resolution Control Panel item.

So for example, my screen resolution is 1680 by 1050, so I would enter 1680 in to the Horizontal box and 1050 in the Vertical box. Once this is done, click OK.

Resized image

Apply the same steps for additional images you would like to have added to your Wallpaper Theme. Remember to save the changes.

Once the images have been properly resized, it’s time to create the wallpaper theme. Right click your desktop, then click Personalize

This will open the Personalize Control Panel item.

At the bottom of the window, click the Desktop Background link:

Click the Browse button and point to where you have the image or images stored. In my case, I had all my images I wanted for my wallpaper theme stored in a folder called Cloud – copy for easy access.

Once you have selected the location where the images are stored, click OK. The images will now be populated with the option to pick and choose which images you would like to be a part of the wallpaper theme and slide show.

You can set specific settings such as how long a picture should be displayed on screen, in addition to shuffling them around. You can also click in the Picture position list box and set a desired appearance on screen.

Once you are satisfied and made your adjustments, click the Save changes button.

Our Wallpaper theme will now appear in the Gallery of themes.

Now, you don’t want to lose the theme, and you might want to share it with family and friends. Here is how you do it. Right click the Unsaved Theme as it is called,  click ‘Save theme for sharing’

Give the File a name, this will save it as a Theme Pack you can easily email or share on your blog.

Other tips:

Before saving, you can change the Glass Color, add a Unique Sound and even a Screen saver, then save it to provide a truly unique experience that defines you.

How to Create and Share a Windows 7 Wallpaper Theme Pack is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

One of the major improvements in Windows 7 is the Taskbar. It introduces a new approach to using it with more flexibility and power built in while remaining familiar and easy to use. In this article, we take a look at one of the unique benefits of using the improved Taskbar.

What is Jump List?

A Jump List is a contextual menu built into applications pinned on to the Start menu or the Taskbar when you right click on a program or folder or hover a recent item on the Start menu. Jump List functionality varies across programs, some might include standard functionality while others might include unique functionality specific to that application. Common functionality includes recently accessed files, some Jump Lists will include a Task you can actually ‘Jump into’ when you start the program.

How to access a Jump List for a program on the Taskbar?

For this example, I am going to be using Microsoft Word pinned to the Taskbar. Say I have a document I would like to access that I was recently working on? All I need to do is right click the Microsoft Word shortcut and it will display a list of the most recently accessed documents, see below:

Another lovely feature of Jump list items with a program such as Microsoft Word is that when you hover over the item itself, it provides a description of its location.

Windows 7 Quick Tip: How to Show More Recent Documents on a Jump List

How to access a Jump List for a program on the Start Menu?

Again we are going to be using Microsoft Word. In this case, I have Microsoft Word as a recent program item on the Start menu, if I want to access a document, all I have to do is hover its icon and the menu will expand to reveal the most recently accessed documents. See below:

Jump List Unique Functionality

Programs such as Internet Explorer 8 offers unique Jump List capabilities, in addition to accessing my recently visited websites, I can even Start a private mode session which will provide a secure browsing site that does not leave any cached information behind when you end your web browsing session.

Unique Jump List benefits in Internet Explorer

With the recent release of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft is introducing greater synergy between the desktop and web. One of the great ways of doing that is by building app centric functionality into Internet Explorer 9 ready websites. When You pin a shortcut to one of your favorite websites on the Windows 7 Taskbar, you will be able to access Jump List functionality too. Take a look at just a couple websites that support it:

Windows Live Hotmail and Twitter Jump Lists

How to Pin Hotmail To Your Windows 7 Taskbar

Windows Media Player

Media Player also provides some basic Jump List functionality for accessing recent media such as videos or audio. You can even access your recent Play Lists or your last Play Lists you listened to.

How to Pin an item to your Jump List

You will notice that the Jump List share similar functionality with the ‘Recent Items’ menu. They do, but it’s the personalized experience you are able to have with each application to gain better and quicker access to capabilities built into the program. Another highlight is pinning items to your Jump List. For instance, I work on a lot of drafts in Windows Live Writer that I do not immediately publish. Often times, there is a file in that Jump List I would like to have immediate access to, but the more documents I create, this will push the older documents off the Jump List. A quick work around for that is to Pin the documents I consider my favorites I can always have access to.

To pin a file, just right click the application, hover over the item, and click the thumb tack next to the file name. You will now notice a new category called Pinned with your file listed.

If you would like to remove an unwanted Item on one of your Jump List, just right click it and click ‘Remove from this list’

Power User tips:

You can keep the contents of your Jump List private if you often work with sensitive information, especially on shared or public computers.

To clear lists

1. Click to open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. (Or right click on your Taskbar and select properties.)
2. Click the Start Menu tab.
   • To prevent recently opened programs from appearing in the Start menu, clear the Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu check box.
   • To clear recently opened files in the Jump Lists on the taskbar and Start menu, clear the Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar check box.
3. Click OK.

You can also drag files from a Jump List into another program. For example, suppose I am authoring an email message and I would like to attach a document I have listed on my Microsoft Word Jump List?

To do this, right click the Jump List, select the Item on the Jump List, hold down your left mouse button, then drag and release into the body of the email message.

The document will be automatically attached.

These are some of the powerful ways you can start using Windows 7 efficiently and take advantage of its productive capabilities.

How to use Windows 7 Jump Lists is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

By default, the Windows 7 Taskbar is situated at the bottom of the screen, but if you would prefer to have it at the side or the top of the screen, you can do that too.

Click Start, type: Taskbar

The hit Enter on your Keyboard

This will open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window.

Click in the Taskbar location on screen: list box

Select the position you want, the click Apply and OK

An even quicker way to reposition the Taskbar is by using the mouse and a drag and drop action. To do this, first you must make sure the Taskbar is unlocked.

Right click the Taskbar, click the ‘Lock the taskbar’ menu if its checked. Then using the mouse hold down on an empty point and use the left mouse button the drag to the desired location on screen then release.

How to Change Taskbar Size or Position is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Where is the best place to buy a notebook? In short, someplace with a well trained and specialized sales staff.

For most consumers buying a new computer is a bit confusing. Manufacturers like AMD are attempting to make buying a new notebook easier with their AMD VISION program, but overall most consumers still want someone’s help to buy a new computer. This couldn’t be clearer to the Notebooks.com staff who regularly answers emails and phone calls from readers, family and friends about what computer they should buy. Since not everyone has access to a friendly computer expert, many shoppers are instead relying on the salesperson at their local store.

PC World has put the plethora of notebook and desktop retailers to the test and found the best place to buy a laptop is Amazon; followed closely by Best Buy which received a good rating both online and in store. Retailer were rated on In-Store section, Online Selection, Return policies, Quality of staff responses to phone inquiries and Quality of overall shopping experience.  These all combined to reveal which store is best prepared to sell you a notebook.

I wasn’t surprised to see Best Buy come out as the top in-store place to buy a notebook or laptop as the retailing giant has steadily been expanding the number and variety of notebooks and netbooks in its stores. And despite the few bad apples who have given the sales staff and Geek Squad a bad name, most of the employees do know what they are talking about.

PC World also ran down the best places to buy all kinds of electronics including;

• Best Place to buy an HDTV
• Best Place to buy a Digital camera
• Best Place to buy a Desktop
• Best Place to buy a Hard drive
• Best Place to buy a Printer

PC World also shared the “Best and Worst” of their consumer research calls which offer a revealing look into the front line individuals offering consumers advice on computer purchases. Unsurprisingly the worst experiences for computers occurred at department stores like Walmart and Target.

PC World reporters appeared genuinely upset when the lady working the electronics counter at Target couldn’t tell them if a hard drive worked on both PCs and Macs, and just as perturbed when Walmart employees working in electronics were clueless about LED technology and what you need to do to watch videos online.

Personally I don’t understand the frustration. In many stores the specialized sections don’t signify specialized employees, just a specific cash register. You wouldn’t expect the guy working the hardware counter to be an expert in HVAC repair, so why would you expect the lady working in electronics to be a computer specialist? I spent 3 years working in the garden center at KMart and I couldn’t tell you the difference between an annual and a perennial without double checking Wikipedia. Interestingly enough, I could help you find the exact electronic device you needed and the lady working the electronics counter at the time had enough garden knowledge to fill a book.

Lesson: If you want specialized computer assistance, go to a store that specializes in selling computers.

Best Place to Buy a Notebook is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Until the new iPhone OS comes to the iPad this fall, we will have to wait for the limited version of multitasking Apple is still adding to their new OS. Until then, a simple app called Desktop tries to overcome this weakness. It actually does a decent job of allowing you to have two “apps” on the screen at the same time, but it’s not quite what you think.

What Desktop does not do ,is open other apps and show them two at a time on the iPad screen. What it does do, is give simple versions of some of the iPad apps and displays them. As you can see above, there is a simple web browser and email writing utility in the app. When you are finished composing your email and hit send, it opens the built in Mail app and creates a new email message with the default account selected.

On the toolbar of Desktop, there are two buttons in the upper left corner. Tap the left button and a list of available utilities drops down (see picture below). Select one of the utilities and it populates the left pane. Do the same for the right pane. You can also open an app full screen by using the buttons on the upper right.

If you rotate the iPad, the buttons change form left/right pane to upper/lower pane (see below).

Unfortunately, the one tool I would use most, a word processor or text editor, is not yet available. The app’s page in the App Store says that one is coming soon along with a compass and “more!” As you can see from the screenshot above, it has the following:

• Browser
• Calculator
• Currency Converter
• Dictionary
• Email Composer
• Maps
• Statistics (Memory/Disk)
• Translator
• Unit Converter
• Weather (US)

My chief complaint, besides no text editor, is that I would never use most of the tools that are present. I mainly want a browser and text editor to allow me to compose stories like this. Until the app is updated, I used the email composer to write stories and other things. I email it to myself and copy them into my posting software from my PC or to Word to create a document. Another option would be to copy and paste to Pages or Notes on the iPad.

The app is only $.99 so you can check it out without losing much.

Desktop App: Very Limited Multitasking on iPad is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

The Apple MacBook Pro just upgraded their line of notebooks to the new Intel Core i5 and i7 processors.  Apple users their own A4 processor for the iPad.   It doesnt seem like they would be looking into yet another processor to power some of their devices, but then again, maybe they are.

There is a semi-credible rumor floating around that Apple may be in discussions with AMD.  You remember AMD right?  They “lost” the processor war with Intel a while back, but are trying to come back strong with their AMD VISION and being included in new netbooks like the Acer Aspire One 521.

So, according to articles on both Ars Technica and Apple Insider, it looks like Apple may be chatting with AMD about using their processors in some of Apple’s devices, possibly the iMac.

From Apple Insider:

Representatives for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD have recently been seen on Apple’s Commuter Coach buses, and executives for the chipmaker have been spotted on their way out of meetings with members of Apple’s top brass, according to people familiar with the matter.

The meetings have reportedly included briefings by AMD that have since enabled Apple to begin working with AMD processors in its labs as part of an initiative to position the chips inside some of the company’s forthcoming products. While AMD offers a variety of embedded processors, Apple is believed to be investigating the chipmaker’s workstation and notebook class CPUs.

From Ars Technica:

Given that Intel has the performance crown for servers and the performance/watt crown in mobile, the most likely place for Apple to use AMD is in the iMac.

Right now, the iMac is still on the 45nm Core 2 Duo. The obvious Intel replacement for the iMac’s C2D is Intel’s dual-core, 32nm Clarkdale family, either the Core i5 or the Core i3, both of which have been out since the start of the year. But the new Core i5 Clarkdales don’t really improve on the older, quad-core, 45nm “Lynnfield” part that’s are currently in the 27″ iMac, because the Clarkdale i5 is kind of a dog.

Again, this is all speculation and rumor, but if Apple does wind up using AMD in some of its product line, how will it bode with their relationships with Intel as well as the makers of the A4 (Samsung I believe)?  Will it drive a wedge?  Or, is this all a plan to get Intel to cave in on some other demand of Apple’s?   Or, is it all just a fun rumor to drive the Apple fanboys crazy?  You decide.

Is Apple considering a chip transplant to AMD? is a post by Amy from Notebooks.com.

If you use the internet much you likely have a folder full of files that you’ve downloaded. Sound clips, images, a few PDFs, installation files for the last 3 versions of AIM; the list goes on and on.

Even those of us who take pride in a clean desktop can slip up and end up with a desktop full of old files that aren’t important. Cleaning up your desktop and your downloads won’t make your computer run faster, but it will help you find things quicker and with Belvedere you can automate your file and folder cleanup!

Belvedere is an open source program created by the geniuses behind Lifehacker.com and is a completely free file organization tool. If you’re running OSX you should check out Belvedere’s female companion Hazel, who will perform a similar computer cleaning feats for $22. There is a 14 day free trial if you want to get to know Hazel before hiring her full time.

Belvedere and Hazel make it easy to keep your computer clean and organized based on a set of rules; much like those you use to organize your email.  The thing I really like about Belvedere is that the software is easy to learn and once you set it up; there’s little interaction required to keep things humming along — just like hiring a good butler.

Here are some common tasks that Belvedere can perform to keep your computer clean and organized:

• Move common file types to a specific folder ( Move all .mp3 files from ‘My Downloads’ to ‘My Music )
• Get rid of unnecessary desktop shortcuts ( Removes all the random shortcuts that are installed with new programs )
• Automatically clean out old, unused files ( Remove files not used in a specific time frame to a specific folder or the Recycle Bin )
• Empty your Recycle Bin automatically
• Add downloaded music to iTunes

Lifehacker has a complete walk-through for setting up each of these tasks and once you’ve added a few, it’s easy to add variations that fit your computer use and commonly downloaded file types. You can test each rule to ensure that you don’t end up deleting important files and, if you desire, make Belvedere confirm an action every time it wants to run a specific rule.

This is my first experience with Belvedere, but it already looks like I have found a new program to add to my must install list.

Automatically Clean Your Computing Clutter with Belvedere is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.