From the ‘too simple for most of us to come up with’ file, we learn about the home project of turning your laptop lid into a whiteboard with a DrawTop vinyl adhesive. Your DrawTop sticks to the lid of your laptop and lets you draw or write on it. You can use it as a small whiteboard at a meeting or to advertise something while out and about. I could imagine people at trade shows with their laptop using it for messages or information they want to present. You wouldn’t want to try to put something permanent on it since the markings will likely smear off when you handle your computer or put it in your bag.

To get one go to DrawTop and order it – 1 for $12 or 2 for $16. Both come with a pack of Expo fine tip marker and accessories, which includes some velcro stickers to attach a marker, a microfiber eraser cloth, and a guide on how to keep the whiteboard clean.

Setup looks simple enough. Just remove any stickers you might have on your lid now and clean it off with rubbing alcohol and let it fully dry. Remove the paper back on the DrawTop and carefully start to stick the DrawTop down starting with the long edge. Smooth out any bubbles with your hand. If a bubble sneaks in, just lift from the closest corner and reapply the adhesive sticker. Run your hands over the surface again to be sure you have it laid flat.

Now start drawing!

via TUAW

Add a Whiteboard to Your Laptop Lid with DrawTop is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

I lost my MacBook Air this week. Fortunately, I got it back when someone turned it into the manager of the restaurant where I left it.

I was fortunate, but what if the finder decided to be a keeper? What if she also found a way to crack my system password, access my email, bank site, and other personal details that I have on the system? I’d be screwed because I did not do some very simple things. I did a few things right, but should have done more.

Make sure you learn from my failure and don’t fall prey to the dishonest people out there. I got lucky, but you might not.

Here are a few ways you can keep your MacBook, or Windows notebook, protected, and even track it down if it goes missing. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a dime to do this.

Prey Tacking Software

This summer our editor Josh Smith posted about his use of LoJack for Laptops, a laptop tracking application that helps you recover your laptop if stolen or lost. That solution will secure your computer for a price. A free alternative he mentioned comes from the folks at the Prey Project. I chose it because I’m cheap, but it also will let me add features for a decent price.

Like LoJack, Prey keeps you protected from unscrupulous people who get access to your system. Sign up for an account and install the software on your Mac, Windows, Unbuntu or other Linux system and it runs quietly in the background. In fact, you won’t even know its running. That’s a good thing since the bad guys won’t know it either. On my Mac it doesn’t have a menu bar icon or an app icon in the Applications folder.

You can watch the company’s video demo for the Pro plans which do cost anywhere from $5/month for a personal account up to $399/month for enterprise users with a slew of PCs to protect. You can use the service for free if all you want is very basic tracking. Added features include installation on more computers, an active mode that keeps track of your computer all the time, not just what you report it, and a few more features which you can see on their plans page. They also have apps that work for iPhone (in beta and will be released soon) and Android.

Prey Project introduction from Carlos Yaconi on Vimeo.

iCloud Find My Mac

For Mac users, the forthcoming iCloud will offer a new service very much like the Find My Phone for iOS. It will track your computer and let you know where it was last used based on where the bad guys log onto the Internet. The feature will be ready to go for all users on October 12 when iCloud launches and offers a free version with up to 5GB of file storage and other paid versions with added storage. Use the storage to backup and sync files between Macs and iOS devices.

The key security feature finds your Mac on a map (see image above). It will also let you send a message to the computer so that you can tell the person who “found” your computer that you want it back and how they can do the right thing and turn it into you. If you need to you can lock the system down and remote wipe the user data in your Home folder.

These solutions may work great, but what if you lose it and no one finds it or what if it you, someone else or mother nature destroys it? What if the bad guys know what she’s doing and wipes the system before any of these security apps can kick in? You need to do a few things to protect your data. You should be following these best practices anyway.

Back Up Your Data

Have a regular backup plan. If I hadn’t recovered my MacBook, at least I’d still have all of my documents and files. That’s because I use SugarSync to synchronize my important files between my three computers and their cloud storage service. I also regularly keep a backup copy of all of my music, videos, and pictures. I backup the media files manually since they take up too much space for SugarSync to handle (over 200GB). Every time I download new music, create a new video or load new photos onto my computer, I back them up to my 2TB Firewire drive hooked up to my other computer.

iCloud will come in handy for Mac users because it also handles file backup/syncing. Windows users can take advantage of SugarSync, DropBox, or Windows Live Skydrive, just to name a few. Whatever you choose to use, use it! For unlimited data backup in real time, get a Carbonite account.

Password Protection

Passwords protect you only if you do the following:

• Make good passwords including random numbers, letters (both caps and lowercase) and if possible punctuation marks
• Don’t use common words, names, well known personal data like birthdays
• Use different passwords for all of your sites – don’t have one password to rule them all
• Use a password database application like Lastpass

The last suggestion can really help if you password protect your Lastpass account with a really good password. Then, you only have to remember one password. Lastpass stores your password database online in encrypted form so that not even they know what the passwords are. They also don’t know your password, so you make sure you make a good one but also remember it. View the Lastpass instruction video below:

Finally, don’t keep your passwords written down near your computer. If you have little notebook with all of your passwords in your computer bag, then you are just asking to have your bank account emptied by a criminal.

Lock It Down

Finally, remember that your computer can be taken even if you just go across the room for a refill or to the restroom for a pitstop. A good lock can help, like a Kensington lock or Griffin’s TechSafe Calbe Lock that I recently reviewed.This system doesn’t work with the MacBook Air, but if you don’t have a Kensington lock slot on your computer, this is a good solution.

With these you lock your computer to the table or some heavy object and the grab-and-go criminal will be thwarted from stealing your computer.

How to Protect Your Notebook in Case You Lose It is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

The Samsung 9 Series captivated us at CES 2011, earning a Best of CES award, and now it has arrived for sale in the U.S. in a smaller 11.6″ version which comes with a smaller price tag, but not a cheap one. The 11.6″ notebook is available at retailers like Amazon for $1,159 which, like the larger 9 Series, is priced quite a bit higher than the MacBook Air.

The 11.6″ Samsung 9 Series NP900X1A-A01US has an Intel Core i3 ULV processor clocked at 1.33GHz rather than a new Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor like we have seen in the larger Samsung 9 series. The slim notebook includes a 64GB solid state drive, 2GB RAM and uses Intel integrated graphics.

The slim Samsung 9 Series 11.6″ notebook has a resolution of 1366 x 768 on the 340 Nit display and has no optical drive which helps it come in at .662″ to .65″ in thickness and a weight of 2.31 pounds. The Samsung 9 Series has Intel Wireless Display, a 1.3MP webcam, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and SRS 3D Sound. The 11.6″ Samsung 9 series has a 4 cell battery which is rated for 7 hours.

The Samsung 9 Series is an attractive looking notebook, but the smaller version isn’t as tempting as the 13.3″ Samsung 9 Series in terms of power. Unfortunately, the Samsung 9 Series notebooks’ price will continue to be a major factor in the notebook’s success. With the MacBook Air starting at $999, we’ll have to wait and see if consumers are willing to pay a $160 premium for the extra features.

Samsung 9 Series Hands On Video

Samsung 9 Series Gallery

Via Electronista

Samsung 9 Series 11″ Notebook Hits U.S. with Core i3 and High Pricetag is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Even if you don’t like the music produced by Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, you are probably familiar with his fair use stretching and catchy music that has been mix and mashing beats, vocals and more since he took off in 2006. Rolling Stone caught up with Gillis in their New York office to see how he uses his notebook to make music for his live shows.

Some NSFW language in the music

Girl Talk uses a Panasonic Toughbook CF-74 semi rugged notebook with daylight readable display to pull together loop after loop  for live performances. You can see the process in the video embedded above. While much of the music is prepped in advance, it’s cool to see him working loops on the fly.

The Toughbook is a good fit for a DJ who’s live performances are described by Rolling Stone as, “a sweaty, intense, often half-naked vortex of energy.” As we showed you yesterday, the Toughbook line can survive a lot of torture, like being pulled behind a snowmobile. With the ability to handle a high energy and on the go environment the Toughbook CF-79 is portable enough to go with Gillis, but also durable enough to survive Girl Talk.

We have to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to see Girl Talk run a live show off a collection of iPads or a Microsoft Surface table which could allow him to hit multiple loops at the same time thanks to multi-touch technology.

How Girl Talk Uses His Notebook To Make Music (Video) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The 15-inch Toshiba Tecra R850 is the third of Toshiba’s new series of business-class notebooks that consists of the 13-inch Portege R830 and the 14-inch Tecra R840. As the largest model of the series, the Tecra R850 follows the design stylings of the smaller R830 and R840 models while maintaining a strengthened fiber glass body of the Tecra R840.

The Tecra R850 is a worthy upgrade to last year’s Tecra A11 model. In fact, this year’s R850 is lighter, stronger, and more performance-rich than last year’s models. The R850 is both lighter and slimmer than last year’s 14-inch model, despite being a larger 15-inch notebook!

The new R850 utilizes Intel’s second-generation Core i Series CPU, also known as Sandy Bridge, which delivers the Intel HD 3000 graphics option for integrated graphics. Additionally, Tecra R850 owners can also configure discrete graphics from AMD as well.

Toshiba Tecra R850 Hands On Video:

Weighing in at 5.3 pounds, this 15.6-inch model is about 19 percent slimmer and 6 percent lighter than last year’s model. Pricing starts at $879.

Configuration options for the Tecra R850 include:

Here are some of the connectivity options:

Toshiba Unveils Tecra R850 Notebook is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

In addition to the 13-inch Portege R830, Toshiba has also introduced the Tecra R840 14-inch business class notebook which follows the industrial design cues from the smaller Portege R830 mode. The Tecra R840 branding is new to this year’s lineup as last year’s 14-inch Tecra was called the Toshiba Tecra M11.

The change in branding to an R series will help users associate this year’s larger and power-packed Tecra with the ultraportable Portege R830, while the second digit, the 4, will help users quickly identify that this model has a 14-inch baclit HD LED display; the Portege R830 similarly designates that the 3 stands for 13-inch. The Tecra R840 also has a larger 15-inch model called the Tecra R850, so look out for that one if you’re interested in even more screen real estate.

As we’ve mentioned before, this year’s Tecra R840 will take design cues from the Portege R830. Unlike the magnesium alloy R830, the Tecra R840 has a plastic with reinforced fiber glass case, which helps to keep the laptop slim and light while giving it strength. Internal honeycomb-shaped ribs, like on the Portege model helps to add strength to the the Tecra R840, as you’ll see in the video below covering all three models–the Portege R830, the Tecra R840, and the Tecra R850. The Tecra R840 measures just 1-inch and weighs 4.2 pounds. Pricing starts at just under $900 for the base configurations, and like the Portege R830, the Tecra R840 will come standard with a 3-year warranty from Toshiba.

Toshiba Tecra R840 Hands On Video:

Numerous configuration options from HDDs and SSDs to GPUs and RAM selection are available with this year’s Tecra R840. All models come standard with Intel’s second-generation Core i Series processors, known as Sandy Bridge, that combine Intel’s HD 3000 graphics; with the Tecra R840 and R850, users can also add in discrete graphics as well.

Configuration options:

Here are the connectivity options for the Tecra R840:

As with the Portege R830, a second-generation dock will also augment the ports and connectivity options for the Tecra R840. Toshiba says that users can use the dock with a Portege R830, a Tecra R840, or a Tecra R850. Additionally, the charging port has been standardized between Toshiba’s consumer-grade and business class notebooks, meaning that if you forget your Tecra R840′s power charger at home, you can walk into the nearest big box retailer and pick up a consumer charger that will fit and work with your businness class machine.

Toshiba Introduces Tecra R840 Notebook is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

With the coming of Intel’s second-generation Sandy Bridge Core i Series mobile processors combining a revamped intel Intel HD 3000 graphics solution, Toshiba is also updating its ultra-portable business class Portege R830 to bring the latest improvements to its slim and light notebook.

Design-wise, the Portege R830 will set the tone for this year’s re-design of the Tecra A11 and M11 models as well–which also get re-branded as we’ll discuss later. The Portege R830, the second digit, 3, indicates a 13-inch display, has a 13.3-inch backlit LED display with numerous configuration options and an entry price point of $1,049.

The Portege R830 will come in either an Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 configurations, all with integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. No discrete graphics option will be available on this thin and light.

Toshiba Tecra R830 Hands On Video:

Unlike other ultra-slim models like the Apple MacBook Air, the R830 actually comes with an optical drive. Toshiba says users can swap out the optical drive with a space-saver to reduce weight while traveling if they don’t need access to CDs or DVDs, or users can add a second hard drive or SSD where the optical drive is to augment storage capacity.

Various HDD or SSD options can be configured and the base model has 4 GB DDR3 RAM. The following connectivity options come standard on the R830:

A 6-cell battery will give the R830 about 11 hours of computing power between charges, according to Toshiba. There is also an extended 9-cell battery. The nice thing about the Portege R830 is that it comes with a new second-generation docking station that will be compatible between the R830 and the Tecra R840 and R850. Additionally, the Portege R830 will work with the first-generation Toshiba Portege R700 docking station and last year’s Portege R700 will also work with the new second-generation dock for maximum compatibility.

The R830 utilizes a magnesium allow material with a honeycomb rib structure on the inside for maximum strength while delivering a light laptop. Weighing at 3.1 pounds and measuring 1-inch thick, Toshiba’s Portege R830 also includes a spill-resistant island-style keys keyboard layour along with a multi-touch TouchPad.

Another new thing with this year’s models is Toshiba’s standardization with the charging port. Now, if you forget your wall charger, for example, Toshiba’s business and consumer laptops will now share the same power charge port so you can head out to your nearest big box retail store to purchase a consumer Toshiba power charger for use with the business class R830.

Along with the Portege R830, an improvement over last year’s Portege R700 model, Toshiba has also made changes to naming–and redesigning–its larger Tecra-branded notebooks. Last year’s Tecra branded A11 and M11 models are getting new naming conventions, according to Toshiba, to make it easy for customers to differentiate between the 13-, 14-, and 15-inch series by looking at the 3, 4, or 5 in the middle digit to designate 13, 14, or 15. The Tecra A11, the 15-inch model, gets re-named to Tecra R850 while the smaller 14-inch Tecra M11 from last year will be called the Tecra R840 with this year’s designs, closely mimicking the industrial design of the Portege R830.

Toshiba Launches Portege R830 Ultraportable is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

MSI has just announced its latest challenger to Apple’s popular ultra-portable MacBook Air in the form of the X370. The MSI X370, part of the X-Series, would belong in the slim and light class that Samsung’s new 9 Series is part of. The X370 is less than an inch thick and can run for up to ten hours with an extended battery according to the MSI.

The notebook is powered by a dual-core AMD E-350 processor along with integrated Radeon graphics. It features a 13.4-inch display capable of 1,366 X 768 resolution and features a 320 GB HDD for storage. The laptop has a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

Pricing and availability information were not announced.

Via: Electronista

MSI X370 to Challenge 9 Series, MacBook Air is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

The Samsung 9 Series laptop, which we previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year and awarded a Notebooks.com Best of CES 2011 award to, is now priced by Samsung and will go on sale today, March 17th. What’s dubbed as a MacBook Air-killer, the thing that may kill the 13-inch 9 Series may be its price tag, which comes in at $1,649 for the second-generation Core i5 Intel Sandy Bridge ultra-portable notebook and Windows 7 Home Premium; Windows 7 Professional costs an extra $50.

By comparison, the base 128 GB SSD model of the 13-inch MacBook Air from Apple costs just $1,300 and the 256 GB SSD premium option comes in at $1,600; the 9-Series costs more than both models. To be fair, though, the MacBook Air currently runs on the older Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, but does have an integrated GPU made by NVIDIA to handle the graphics load whereas the 9-Series relies on Intel’s comparable graphics solution. Additionally, while the 9 Series may have half the storage of the most expensive Air, it does offer twice the RAM at 4 GB of RAM.

The 11-inch 9 Series model will ship in April and will rival the 11-inch MacBook Air. The smaller model will instead come with an Intel Core i3 dual-core CPU rather than the i5 chip.

Via: PC Mag

Samsung’s 9 Series Ultra-Thin Priced and Ready to Buy, But Is It Too Expensive? is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

The iPad and iPad 2 won’t replace your notebook, but the small tablets can do beat notebooks in many settings, including when you need to work quietly or on the go.

Notebooks are getting thinner and lighter every month, but they still require something to rest the notebook on. And while notebook keyboards have improved over the years, it’s still impossible to find a completely silent keyboard, especially if you want to type with any semblance of speed.

The iPad 2's Virtual Keyboard Makes it Great for Mobile and Quiet Use

We ran into both of these settings over the past few days and, while we had a MacBook Air with us, we chose to use our iPad to type thousands of words.

First, we spent most of Friday standing in line for the iPad 2 at our local Apple store. Without a chair or a podium, it was difficult to use the MacBook Air, but easy to hold the iPad in portrait mode and type up our iMovie Trailer Tutorial while standing outside the Apple store. We did need to use the MacBook Air to put finishing touches on the post that either can’t be done or take too much time on the WordPress iPad app, but for the bulk of our work the iPad was better than the notebook.

Next up, we were helping deliver a standardized test on Saturday morning. While the test takers spent 2 hours answering questions about Art and Phys Ed, I was able to type up a portion of our iPad 2 Review on the iPad. While the MacBook Air has a relatively quiet keyboard, the click and clack of each key resounded like a snare drum from GarageBand. Rather than slow our typing to a quiet speed, we switched over to the iPad 2 and Pages to type.

The virtual keyboard on the iPad is perfect for settings like these. Because there are no keys to push you can type almost silently, without slowing down your typing. Many people would prefer a Bluetooth keyboard for typing as much as we did on the iPad 2, but we’ve found that like with any keyboard the iPad 2′s virtual keyboard can be mastered the same way a new notebook’s might be.

In both of these settings we also appreciated the limited multitasking capabilities. While we could switch over to any of our other apps, the deliberate need to stop, double tap and tap again, kept us focused and on task. If needed, we could jump over to one fo the 7 apps that turns the iPad into a notebook, but we didn’t run into that need in either setting.

The lesson learned, isn’t that the iPad 2 can replace a notebook or that the tablet is inherently superior to notebooks and laptops, but that every device has strengths and weaknesses. If we recognize what those are, we can more easily pick the best tech tool for the task at hand and in turn be more productive.

The iPad and iPad 2 Beat Notebooks in Quiet and Mobile Settings is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.