• budget Windows Notebook,
• all around Windows system,
• gaming powerhouse computer,
• high-end Ultra-portable system,
• and a high-end Powerhouse Money-Doesn’t-Matter system

Because your needs are different than the next student, it’s worth spending a decent amount of time to find a good notebook. We’ve covered student needs in a variety of articles, but this list includes a wide range of notebooks in a variety of prices. Returning upper class students may be interested in a more business centric notebook like these selections.

Budget Windows Notebook – Dell Vostro V131 – $499

The new Dell Vostro V131 looks like a really nice, inexpensive system for the budget minded student or parents who want long battery life. The base price is just $499, but for the model you would actually want to use it will cost closer to $700-$800. These are thin and light, with colorful options if you are into flair, or a basic black chassis if $30 is too much to part with for a touch of color.

The chiclet style keyboards often make for easier typing. With 4GB of RAM, 500GB of hard drive space and an optional Intel Core i5 processor, it has enough power for light gaming and creative content editing.

Windows Budget All-Rounder – HP DV6T Series – $599.99

If you need a little more than a budget system because you want more entertainment options, the HP DV6T series is a good all-rounder choice. The budget level starts at a penny under $600, but with some add-ons you will have a fairly powerful system that won’t break the bank.

I have an older version of this laptop and used it for a few years before handing it down to my son, who loves it. The system has the power to run most software, other than hard-core games. If you select some key upgrade options you can put together a really nice system for not a lot of money. We added the following to the base configuration at HP:

• Intel Core i5 from an i3 for $50
•  AMD Radeon 6489M Graphics Card for $100
• 750GB 7200rpm hard drive from a 500GB 5400 rpm drive for $50
• 9-cell battery from 6-cell for $21 offering a promised 9.75 hours (6-7 likely)

The total, after the above upgrades, is $820.99. You can also bump the display resolution up to a full HD 1920×1080 and add a Blu-ray drive for a few hundred more.

This is a nice system that can serve as a jack-of-all trades computer that should be future-proof enough to last a student most of their high school or college career.

Windows Power User Gaming and Media System – Toshiba Qosmio F755 3D – $1,699

Do you like to play the latest and greatest games? Do you enjoy 3D Blu-ray movies? Toshiba put gamers and movie/music lovers in their cross hairs with the Qosmio F755 3D. The powerful laptop does glasses-free 3D movies thanks to a cool new face tracking technology making it the “first” glasses-free 3D laptop, according to Toshiba.

The built-in webcam tracks your face as you are viewing a 3D movie or game. The computer adjusts the images so that you can see both 2D and 3D content simultaneously. You can watch your favorite 3D Blu-ray movie, but the computer also transforms other movies into 3D too.

3D is cool, but the F755 offers more than that one trick. The 15.6″ entertainment computer comes with a high-end Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor, which means the processor won’t be your bottleneck for any intense tasks. The 8GB of RAM and a fast 750GB hard drive should tear through games, video encoding and converting or processing huge RAW digital photographs.

The Harmon Kardon speakers should pump out some great Dolby sound. Hook this rig up to your HDTV via the HDMI out port and share the fun with friends. Electronista says it will be ready to chew up your credit card on August 16th. See the company’s Qosmio page after that date to find the system.

High-End Ultra-Portable – Apple MacBook Air 11″ – $999

Some students only want a nice looking laptop to write papers, take notes in class and surf the web with. Throw in a few light casual games, watching fun stuff on YouTube and what you need is the new Apple MacBook Air. The graphics processor on this system isn’t that powerful, but the CPU and flash storage drive make up for that weakness nicely. You can easily throw an 11″ MacBook Air into a book bag and whip it out at a moment’s notice to take notes or work on a group project in the library. The five-hour battery life keeps you going through most of your day. You can buy cheaper systems, but you can’t get a better ultra-portable. Throw in another two hundred bucks to get the one with 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD and your student will be much happier.

The 13″ model costs more but might satisfy students who want to do more than just type documents or surf the web. I love my 13″ MacBook Air and use it for most of the tasks needed other than hardcore gaming. If you only want an 11″ model, get this one for $1,199. If you want to jump up to the 13″ model, I recommend this model for $1,299.

High-End Power Money Doesn’t Matter – Apple MacBook Pro 17″ – $2,499

For the student who wants to be able to do anything they could on a desktop on their laptop, we recommend the biggest MacBook Pro Apple makes. At 17″ it can serve as an entertainment hub in a dorm room. With the Intel Core i7 processor and 4GB of RAM it is ready for processor intensive tasks like making the next cinematic masterpiece. You can also frag bad guys with the best of them thanks to those specs plus the powerful AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB GDDR5 RAM. This screaming powerhouse ain’t cheap, but you won’t feel handcuffed by the specs your senior season if you bring this beast along your freshman year. I wouldn’t recommend this system for everyone, but for the student who wants a desktop replacement system and money is no object, you can’t beat he 17″ MacBook Pro.

A few recommendations: get 8GB of RAM for another $200. Add a $19 Apple Remote for making presentations and controlling it from across the dorm room.

5 Hot Back to School Laptops is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Sony VAIO E Series

The Sony VAIO E Series update includes new processor options, allowing users to pick between the latest Intel 2nd Gen Core i3 or Core i5 Intel processors and the AMD Fusion E-350 dual-core fusion processors which pack in a very capable AMD Mobility Radeon HD6130 GPU to handle graphics. You can pick up a VAIO C notebook in 14″, 15.5″ or 17.3″ sizes to fit your needs. The color options include midnight blue, glacier white, charcoal black and blush pink, but the 17.3″ VAIO C will only be available in black or white.

The cases of these computers have an interesting geometric pattern on the lid and wrist rest that grabs attention, which Sony says will make the notebooks fingerprint resistant.

In addition to color enhancements the E Series now have keyboards that span edge to edge, with the larger models packing a dedicated number pad. Sony describes the touchpad as dimpled,  meaning it is recessed into the wrist rest with two buttons in front of the pad.

Three hardware buttons on the E Series will engage WEB, VAIO and ASSIST functions. They three functions do the following:

• WEB – access to the Internet without having to boot into Windows
• VAIO – loads the Sony Media Gallery software which plays various kinds of media
• ASSIST – takes you to the VAIO Care support system

Sony is aiming these notebooks at the average user who wants to do basic tasks , with the ability to also deliver on the entertainment experience. The computers can be connected to an HD TV for 1080p HD movies via a HDMI cable. There will be an option for Remote Keyboard function that interfaces with Sony branded TVs, Blu-ray players to control them and there will be Remote Play for connecting to a Sony PlayStation 3 so that you can access the multimedia content on your PS3 using the notebook through the Internet while away from the gaming system.

Other features include:

• LED backlit LCD
• Built-in mic
• Web camera with face tracking

Pricing and Availability

These VAIO E Series computers will start at around $550. You can pre-order one starting on June 19 at Sony’s Website. Sony Stores and other major retailers will be carrying them in the next month.

Sony VAIO C Series

For users that want a more portable solution, with the ability to add a Blu-Ray drive, Sony offers the refreshed VAIO C notebooks which come in 14″ and 15.5″ sizes. Along with new spec options, which include Intel Core i3 and Core i5 Sandy Bridge processors, the VAIO C notebooks can now by purchased  in Neon Red and Thunder Blue.

Graphics will be powered by the AMD Radeon HD 6630M 1GB Hybrid GPU on higher end models. This graphics processor will give you pretty good performance and thanks to the hybrid system decent battery life when you don’t need the horsepower. Sony promises up to nine hours of battery life on the smaller 14 inch system, while the larger 15.5 inch C Series will give you up to eight hours. Even if we discount the battery ratings to two-thirds, the promised battery life is still quite good.

On certain “Signature Collection” models Sony will include their Imagination Studio Suite 2 VAIO Edition which is optimized to handle multimedia editing  for users who want to get creative with pictures, audio and video.

If you get the Intel WiDi adapter along with your C Series laptop, you will enjoy wireless HD video streamed to your HD TV set. The computers also sport the following:

• Backlit keyboard, with a number pad on larger models
• HD web camera with Exmore sensor technology
• The same three shortcut buttons for WEB, VAIO and ASSIST mentioned above

Pricing and Availability

Like the E Series, you can pre-order The VAIO C notebook in Thunder Blue at Sony.com on June 19 starting at $730. This Thunder Blue model will also arrive at many retail locations in June.

The Neon Red VAIO C will come out later this summer, with availability at the following stores:

• ABT Electronics
• B&H Photo
• Fry’s Electronics
• J&R Electronics
• MicroCenter
• Nebraska Furniture Mart
• Sony Stores

Sony VAIO E and VAIO C Notebooks Gain Faster Processors, Brighter Colors is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

It’s understandable that some individuals have absolutely zero self control and will waste away class time, that they are paying for, surfing the web even though it is painfully obvious to the speaker what’s happening. Yes, there’s bound to be one senator who can’t keep his solitaire or, Ahem, other addiction in check long enough to complete a meritorious debate on state law, but there’s much more to be gained by allowing technology into our classrooms and legislative bodies.

For example, students who are able to research a topic that comes up in class are often much more willing to add to a discussion and can bring concrete examples of current events or data, something that would have been unthinkable before notebooks became standard equipment for students. Speaking of the past, remember when notebooks weren’t there to stifle discussions and distract students? They still had notes, daydreaming and games that were designed to run on the TI-83 calculators, which I might add students were required to carry with them.

In the state of Missouri, notebooks are not allowed in the senate, even thought they can be found across the capital in the House and senators can absorb themselves in their BlackBerry devices. Backing the current ban on notebooks Senator Brad Lager told StlToday.com that, “There is a compelling argument to be made that a senator sitting there listening to the debate is engaged at a different level.”

Interestingly enough it is OK, and common for senators to be seen typing away on their BlackBerry devices and the rules would potentially allow for an iPad since it is not a notebook; even though you can turn it into a notebook with some accessories and apps.

Wouldn’t we, as a nation, be better served by representatives who can use 21st century tools to take notes and research matters of great importance while the debate is taking place instead of after a bill has been passed? The absurdity of denying access to technology due to the possibility of adults being unable to control their urge to check a website is astonishing.

If we are that worried about the actions of a few bad apples, let performance sort them out. Students who don’t pay attention will learn sooner or later that there are consequences to ignoring the professor. Senators who surf the day away will either be called out by a rival on the floor or caught on CSPAN looking at something they shouldn’t there’s no reason to handicap the whole for the actions of a few.

It’s about time that we accept technology’s role in our success as a nation. After students graduate they will be expected to carry a notebook or tablet to work and into meetings for the rest of their live’s, well unless they join the senate, so why do we feel they can’t handle the responsibility of paying attention until they earn a degree?

Isn’t it about time we stop blaming technology and strive to provide our students and our leaders with the best tools to accomplish their work and goals?

Image via Thunderchild7

Stop Banning Notebooks in Senates & Classrooms Because of Bad Apples is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

I’ve been using a fully-loaded 13″ MacBook Air as my primary laptop, relegating my fully-loaded 2010 15″ MacBook Pro to occasional desk duty. The 13″ MacBook Pro may prove to be an in-betweener, or it may be returned to Best Buy where it was purchased if it doesn’t live up to the hype.

In this part of our multi-part MacBook Pro Review, we’ll go over the unboxing experience, general features and first impressions. At the conclusion of this part of the MacBook Pro review, you can read our buying recommendation.

Remember, no matter how many MacBook Pro reviews you read, buying a new laptop is a very personal decision and it’s best to try out each model you’re interested in yourself if possible. It’s also important to buy a Mac from somewhere with a reasonable return policy that does not charge a restocking fee.

13″ MacBook Pro Configuration

The $1,499 configuration is the best-configured 13″ MacBook  Pro you’ll find on store shelves. You can customize a 13″ MacBook Pro with premium options, such as an SSD, through Apple.com, but this is the model countless students, artists and professionals will buy at Apple Stores, Best Buy and other retailers.

For $1,499 you get:

• 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
• 4GB of 1333MHz  DDR3 memory
• 500GB, 5400 RPM hard drive
• Intel HD Graphics
• SDXC memory card slot
• Firewire 800
• Two USB Ports
• Super Drive (DVD/CD burner)
• Thunderbolt Port
• 13.3″ 1280×800

13″ MacBook Pro Unboxed

The new 13″ MacBook Pro comes in a familiar white box, just like previous generations and other current MacBook models.

One thing that never gets old when writing MacBook Pro reviews is the out of box experience.Apple continues to maintain the best out of box experience of any laptop manufacturer. As soon as the box is opened, you get to see the MacBook Pro,without having to remove any additional packaging or shove aside any pamphlets.

Beneath the MacBook Pro is the MagSafe power adapter. It comes with the modular AC prongs, with the compact one already attached to the power adapter. A 6 ft. cord attaches if you sit further away from an outlet.

Also below the MacBook Pro are two packets. One has pamphlets with regulatory information. The other has a pair of DVDs to reinstall OSX and the bundled applications. When we reviewed the MacBook Air, we noted that Apple put these files on a thumb drive since that computer doesn’t come with a DVD drive.  Apple should ditch the discs and do the same with the MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro 13″ Exterior Features

The 13″ MacBook Pro’s glass trackpad is identical to the one found on the 13″ MacBook Air. It’s smooth and silk and offers the best multi-touch trackpad of experience I’ve experienced. Gestures, such as swipes and pinches, make it easy to navigate and control the MacBook without using shortcuts.

As with previous MacBook Pros, the new model has a backlit keyboard that automatically illuminates when the lights dim. This is a really nice feature, even for those users who can type a mile a minute. It can be incredibly frustrating hunting for a function key or trying to hit multiple keys at the same time in the dark. This is a feature that’s sorely missed from the current MacBook Air models.

The left side of the 13″ MacBook Pro looks pretty similar to the previous model. Towards the rear is the MagSafe power connector, an Ethernet port and a FireWire 800 port. Towards the front is an audio jack that can be used for audio input and output. The MacBook Pro’s audio jack is compatible with mobile headsets, such as the one that comes with the iPhone, making it easy to chat via Skype or other programs.

Between the two USB ports and the FireWire 800 port is a Thunderbolt port. This is a new port that’s multi-functional and super fast. It can support HD video and lightening fast data transfers to external drives and other peripherals. If this technology catches on, it will make life a lot easier for those that often move large files around or hate clutter. This is the first computer to feature Thunderbolt, which means there’s not much to plug into it as of now. You’ll most likely continue to plug in your backup drive and peripherals into the USB ports for the foreseeable future. This feature alone is definitely not worth ditching your old MacBook in favor of a new one, no matter how tempting other MacBook Pro reviews make Thunderbolt sound. This will be a standard feature in all future MacBooks, so bide your time until your current Mac starts falling apart or you really need a new one.

On the right edge of the 13″ MacBook Pro is a SuperDrive and Kensignton lock slot, two items that are absent from the MacBook Air. The SuperDrive can write and read a variety of DVD and CD formats, but Blu-ray is still missing in action. In the year 2011, Apple should either ditch optical drives all together, or bump the SuperDrive up to Blu-ray so users can enjoy their Blu-ray movies on the go or burn 50GB of data onto a single disk. Blu-ray is becoming very, very common in PC notebooks, even those that are far cheaper than the MacBook Pro.

As you can guess, the 13″ MacBook Pro comes with a 13.3″ display. There a couple of things that are big negatives in my book. The display has a glossy finish, making it unusable outdoors and frustrating to use with your back to a window. The 13″ MacBook Pro display has a resolution of just 1280 x 800, which simply isn’t enough for many applications and multi-tasking.

The 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros can be had with a matte display, which is far superior in most lighting conditions. The 11″ and 13″ MacBook Airs come with displays that are a little glossy, but they don’t have  the thick protective layer  of glass that makes reflects so much light.

The 13″ MacBook Air has a high-resolution display, ringing in at 1440 x 900 pixels. That might not sound like a whole lot of a difference, but it does make the MacBook Pro’s display feel a little more crowded than the MacBook Air’s. Apple should offer higher resolution and matte displays, especially for professional creatives. It would certainly be worth an extra $100 or $200.

Some 13″ MacBook Pro reviews will note that the display is gorgeous, like previous models, and in the right conditions I agree. Unfortunately, my definition of ‘right conditions’ is having the MacBook Pro’s display set to maximum brightness or using it in a dimly lit room.

MacBook Pro Hard Drive

We’ll get more into hard drive options in a future part of this MacBook Pro review series, but so far the Achilles heel of this computer so far is its slow hard drive. It spins at 5400 RPM, which is exactly the speed of drives found in low-cost netbooks and notebooks. At $1,499, Apple could at least have the courtesy to drop a 7200RPM drive in this MacBook. It’s unfortunate that Apple isn’t offering a faster hard drive option with its retail MacBook Pro models. We’d really like to see an SSD retail model as well, but the masses are still hooked to GB over I/O speed. Many notebook buyers forget about I/O (input/output) performance when shopping for notebooks, instead focusing on processor speed, RAM and other specs that we’ve been conditioned to focus on over the years.

MacBook Pro Battery Life

The 13″ MacBook Pro is rated to last for up to seven hours on a single charge. Though Apple’s notebooks often beat their advertised battery ratings, we’ll have to reserve judgement until we put the new MacBook Pro through its paces. It’s a safe bet that users will be able to actually get seven hours of web-browsing battery life out of the new MacBook Pro  as long as the display isn’t cranked up to maximum brightness and they use Apple’s Safari web browser.

Initial MacBook Pro Recommendation

After using the 13″ MacBook Pro for a few hours I’m confident in recommending it to any notebook buyer looking for a premium computer. It’s ready to rock right of the box and has the same excellent user experience as the rest of the MacBook line. If you’re a power-hungry Mac user that doesn’t want to lug around a 15″ MacBook Pro, I say go for it.

The only reasons to get a 15″ MacBook Pro would be if you absolutely need the larger display (optional high-res and matte finish) or if you need every ounce of processing or graphics power for work or play. If you’re rarely mobile, the 15″ MacBook Pro can make a better desktop replacement.

If you don’t hoard a lot of video or play the latest video games you’ll probably be better off with the 13″ MacBook Air. The 13″ MacBook Air has a slower processor, but offers a much better overall experience. It can be maddening slow to perform resource-intensive tasks such as exporting videos from iMovies on the MacBook Air compared to the 13″ MacBook Pro, but it feels snappier in every day tasks thanks to its standard SSD and NVIDIA graphics.  The biggest tradeoff with the MacBook Air is that storage space is scarce, with only 128GB in the base model.

At 2.3 lb, the 13″ MacBook Air is a hair over half the weight of the 13″ MacBook Pro, which weighs in at 4.6 pounds. That’s still a pretty light computer and you might find yourself saying ‘it’s not ‘hat bad’ when you check it out at a store, but it can really weigh on you if you’re a highly mobile user.

The MacBook Air is clearly the future of Apple’s mobile computers. The latest MacBook Pro is an evolution of an old theme, albeit a very good one.

MacBook Pro Review Part 2 Coming Soon

The 13″ MacBook Pro is rated to last for seven hours on a single charge and tear through complex applications thanks to its Core i7 processor. I’ll be writing part two of this multi-part MacBook Pro review soon and will share my experience with what’s the fastest 13″ Apple notebook to date.

If there’s anything you’d like us to focus on in a future part of this MacBook Pro review series, leave a comment with your request below in the comments section.

MacBook Pro Review Photo Gallery

New MacBook Pro Review 13″ (part 1) is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

In addition to new second-generation Core i Series (Sandy Bridge) processors that will be making their way into the MacBook Pro, Apple is said to be delivering these notebooks with trackpads that are larger than those found on the current model. Given Apple’s fondness for ‘touch’ technology, the larger trackpad may not be a stretch as it would give users more surface area for gestures inside Apple’s OS X environment. In announcing the MacBook Air, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, however, shunned the idea of a touchscreen-based laptop suggesting that it was not the right form factor as users would tire their arms reaching for the screen and moving between the keyboard and the screen would not create an optimal user experience.

Additionally, the new notebooks, according to sources to BGR, would come equipped either with full SSDs or hybrid SSD options. The solid-state drives would be used, like on the MacBook Air, to deliver instant-on capabilities and reduce boot and start up times. Basic models would have either an 8 or 16 GB SSD in addition to a regular hard drive while high-end models would migrate exclusively to the more expensive SSD options.

The new models are about 1/2 pound lighter on average than the current generation models that they will be replacing. Apple is expected to announce its refresh on Thursday, which is just in time for Steve Jobs’ birthday bash.

Hybrid SSDs, Larger Trackpads Destined for MacBook Pro Refresh? is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

Apple’s market share is helped by the iPad’s fast adoption rate as well as an annual growth rate for its notebook line that exceeds the industry average.

“While we anticipate increased competition in the tablet PC market later this year with the introduction of Android Honeycomb-based tablets, Apple’s iPad business is complementing a notebook line whose shipments widely exceed the industry average growth rate,” said Richard Shim, Senior Analyst at DisplaySearch. “Apple is currently benefiting from significant and comprehensive growth from both sectors of the mobile PC spectrum, notebooks and tablet PCs. Cannibalization seems limited at this point.”

Apple’s recently released MacBook Air ultraportable lineup may also help the company as well. At a $1,000 entry price point, the MacBook Air is more affordable than the company’s MacBook Pro lineup, but features excellent build quality, long battery life, and advanced technology like SSD built-in, which the company boasts to give instant on capabilities.

It’s unclear if Apple’s growth rate for the iPad can continue as the company will face increasing competition from HP with the webOS TouchPad tablet as well as the increased number of Android tablets that were shown at CES and are continuing to debut at Mobile World Congress.

After Apple and HP, Acer, Dell, and Toshiba round out the top five mobile PC-makers in terms of market share.

iPad Helps Apple Soar Past HP in Mobile PC Shipments is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

For the first time, Microsoft’s partner in the PC space had declared that it would try to encroach in the space that had made Microsoft a dominant player. HP has said at its TouchPad unveiling event that in addition to smartphones and tablets, webOS will be coming to the company’s Internet-connected printers, and also to desktops and laptops.

In terms of desktops and laptops, it’s unclear how HP will be leveraging its newfound software business in webOS or its hardware business with the platform. Whether the company will scale webOS upwards to become its own desktop OS to compete with the likes of Apple’s Mac OS X, Microsoft’s Windows, or Google’s Chrome OS, or if the company will use webOS as a dual-booting OS to give PC users an instant on experience is unclear. If the company really is thinking big, like its press slogan for the San Francisco, California unveiling event reads, then creating a desktop webOS operating system may be key to competing with Apple as it will give HP scale, a nicely integrated ecosystem, and leverage with developers. For this to happen, webOS really needs to scale up to fit the environment into which it will be placed. The platform will probably need to be re-tooled slightly to become more extensible and powerful so that when placed in a laptop, webOS won’t feel like a smartbook or under-powered netbook. That solution, if it is to be competitive against Windows and OS X, will need to perform and offer more than a Motorola Atrix 4G in its laptop dock.

While Apple may have started on the desktop to scale OS X down to iOS on the mobile, webOS scaled up can have a lot of implications for HP. First, it may allow the company to be a software company that no other Windows PC-maker is at this time to compete with Apple. Second, as HP is the largest PC maker, extending webOS to its PC line may boost developers’ confidence in webOS to create more apps for the company’s smartphones and tablets. And third, it will give HP the resources to compete against Palm and establish a halo product within its own ecosystem. A Pre owner may now be tempted to buy a TouchPad, thanks to the “Touch to Share” feature, and then may be enticed to purchase an HP laptop as a result thanks to tie-ins, like the Synergy engine, Touchstone capabilities, and a nice, closed, but well integrated, ecosystem.

As the world’s largest PC maker branches out into software and will be loading its own in-house software into its PCs, Microsoft may see a more credible threat in HP than from Apple or Google. Will–in terms of market share–the world’s largest software-maker lose the world’s largest PC-maker as a licensee of Windows?

webOS TouchPad: Microsoft Should Fear HP More Than Apple is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

If you are recycling your laptop or other electronics, Monday November 15th is America Recycles Day, when local organizations come together to help make recycling work in communities across the nation. How much of an impact cna this recycling have? Well, if 1 million users who are getting rid of a desktop, in order to upgrade to a Black Friday Laptop deal, recycle their old desktop it’s the equivalent of keeping 16,000 passenger cars off the road for an entire year, according to the EPA.

Before you donate or recycle your old computer there are a few things you should do.

1. Backup the data on your old computer: There are numerous ways to do this. You can plug in an external hard drive, burn it to a DVD or upload it to a service like Carbonite. If you don’t have a ton of files you can do what we did for my Father and upload his information to Dropbox for safekeeping. These tools make it easy for you to bring the data back down to your new laptop.

2. Wipe your hard drive clean: While many services will promise to erase your hard drive as part of the donation and recycling process we still feel better about taking care of this ourselves when dealing with recyclers that don’t detail how they clean the hard drive. For instance Gazelle.com claims to use a “robust inspection and data cleansing process” that removes your data from the item in a manner that meets standards set by the Dept. of Defense.

Simply deleting the data and emptying the trash doesn’t work since it leaves the data and even reformatted hard drives often leave behind data that can be recovered for nefarious purposes.

If you want to go low-tech you can take a hammer to the hard drive and if you want to go high tech there are free utilities out there to erase your hard drive. If you want an easy way to erase your hard drive without any fuss you should check out DriveScrubber from iolo, makers of System Mechanic, which for $19.95 will allow you to wipe the data off your hard drive in a manner that meets and exceeds the standards of the Department of Defense.

3. Check out the organization you are recycling with: While there are many reputable recyclers, there are some bad apples that dump old electronics on poor countries where children often break down the computer to extract valuable minerals in unsafe conditions. The recycling company should be able to provide you with a statement about how they handle your electronics similar to Gazelle’s Recycling Promise.

3 Things to Do Before Recycling or Donating Your Old Laptop (Black Friday Prep) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

I’d much rather use one of my own notebooks than a comunal one, but there have been times I could’ve used a rental.

LaptopsAnytime customers can rent computers for anywhere from five minutes to five hours. The company appears to be trying to keep things simple and does not provide a power cord. All personal info, web history and documents are removed from the computers once they’re returned to the vending machines.

LaptopsAnytime Offers Laptop Vending Machines is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

Laptop MAGAZINE got the chance to sit down with “the most important person in the PC industry you’ve probably never heard of”, Best Buy’s Vice President of Computing. Jason Bonfig gave the low down of how Best Buy chooses which laptops to sell in its stores.

Due to the large number of retail stores throughout the United States, Best Buy has a lot of influence on the laptop market. But how does Best Buy choose which laptops will be sold in its stores? This is determined using the company’s very own value equation. Vice President of Computer, Jason Bonfig summarizes how the value equation works.

“The best way to describe the value equation is it takes every single component in a notebook and it actually puts a customer value on that component. Add up those parts and it actually comes up to a customer value for that product. And that value is compared to the retail price or the cost. And that value equation score can be articulated in a percentage, and that percentage deems which products are better value for customers. And when I say better value for customers it’s always based on the previous quarter sales information, so really what we’re doing is taking customer votes. There’s millions and millions of them each quarter, and we extract them down to the component level.” – Bonfig

Surprisingly, consumers really have more of a voice than they realize. For example, many customers told Best Buy that they wanted an easier way to get their PC content to their TV. Best Buy took this into consideration when it pushed laptops with Intel’s new Wireless Display technology.

Also in the interview, Bonfig classified netbooks as “stale”, due to their limited screen size, memory, and operating system. However, he does foresee tablets as becoming increasingly popular. As more tablets, aside from the Apple iPad, are released, Best Buy will have to determine how those tablets will be perceived by consumers.

“The number one thing we want to be focused on, if you see something from us in holiday, we want to make sure it has that back-end ecosystem set up so that customers are going to be very elated to the experience rather than disappointed,” said Bonfig.

In other words, if a prospective tablet does not have a strong content and application background, it won’t be as popular and may not make it to Best Buy’s shelves.

For more information, check out Laptop MAGAZINE’s exclusive interview with Best Buy’s Jason Bonfig.

Via Laptop MAGAZINE

How Best Buy Uses Its Value Equation to Determine Which Laptops to Sell is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.