Computers

Toshiba has added two new laptops to its Satellite line, both with touch screens and loaded with Windows 7.

The new Satellite M505 Touch and Satellite U505 Touch models let you tap, drag-and-drop and scroll through files, Web pages and images and include Toshiba's new touch-ready productivity software called LifeSpace.

The Toshiba Satellite M505 Touch laptop features a 14.0-inch HD LED Backlit display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD SuperMulti drive, Webcam and microphone, and 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader. It will be available on October 22, 2009 for $949.99. Read more

Acer has been full of announcements this week. Not only have they added a new multi-touch notebook and expanded their Timeline Series, they also just introduced the Aspire Z5610 All-in-One PC.

This all-in-one desktop PC features multi-touch technology, Windows 7 Home Premium, a 23-inch HD display, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM (upgradeable to 8GB), 320GB SATA hard drive, ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, Intel Pentium Dual Core processors, built-in webcam and much more.

It will be available in time for the holiday season for $899.99. Read more

Nokia announced this week that Best Buy will be the only retailer selling the Booklet 3G netbook through the holiday season. It will be available for $299 to customers that sign up for a $60/mo. mobile service plan with AT&T. Don't want to sign up for the mobile plan? It will cost you $599.

The Booklet 3G features a 10.1 inch HD display, 120GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, Intel Atom processor, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, Ovi Maps, Ovi Suite, webcam, Bluetooth, built-in SD card reader, and an HDMI port. Nokia also says that the netbook will have a 12-hour battery life when fully charged.

The Booklet 3G will be available to order on October 22, 2009…the same date as the launch of Windows 7, which is the operating system the Booklet runs on. It will be available in Best Buy stores around November 15th.

Acer has some big announcements today! They have expanded their Timeline Series with a new, smaller 11.6-inch model. Also, other new models in the Timeline Series now include dual-core processors for better performance and a longer battery life. But the news that really got my attention is their new Aspire AS5738PG. It is the company's first multi-touch screen notebook computer.

The multi-touch Aspire AS5738PG features an LED-backlit 16:9 widescreen HD display, 320GB hard drive, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 Graphics with 512MB Dedicated DDR3 VRAM graphics, Dolby Home Theater Audio Enhancement with built-in speakers and 5.1-channel surround sound. It also includes an integrated multi-in-one media reader, HDMI port, four USB 2.0 ports, integrated 802.11a/g/b/Draft-N wireless technology, Gigabit Ethernet and the Acer Crystal Eye webcam. The notebook comes loaded with Windows 7. It will be available on October 22, 2009 for $799.99. Read more

The PictureMate Charm is the newest portable 4"x6" photo printer in Epson's PictureMate line. Featuring a 2.5-inch LCD for one-touch printing with or without a computer, built-in memory card slots, and the ability to print wirelessly from camera cell phones via optional Bluetooth adapter, the Charm is …well…a charm of a portable printer! It also delivers smudge, scratch and water resistant photos that last up to four times longer than film-processed photos.

Tools are also included to crop photos, remove red eye, and change the photo color to black and white, sepia or color - right from the printer, with no computer needed. Pictures are then printed using Epson's PictureMate Print Packs, which include ink and either 150 sheets of 4"x6" glossy paper or 100 sheets of 4"x6" matte paper.

The Epson PictureMate Charm will be available on October 20, 2009 for $149.99. Read more

We have always been big fans of Nero's digital media software. In fact, earlier this month we told you about BackItUp & Burn, a software solution for backing up and syncing your computer data. Now, Nero has released Nero 9 Reloaded, an update to the world's best selling software suite for your digital media and home entertainment.

Compatible with Windows 7, with Nero 9 Reloaded you can now archive HD videos without the need of a burner. AVCHD content is simply imported into Nero Vision and archived to any hard disk drive, USB flash drive, or flash memory card. Then, just plug it into a Blu-ray Disc player and enjoy! PowerPoint presentations can also be imported to DVD-Video or Blu-ray disc and then played back on your TV. And, the optional Blu-ray Disc Authoring Plug-in lets you burn discs in the highest quality formats for HD playback. Read more

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine, Beats Electronics co-founder, have teamed up with HP on a new limited edition notebook, the HP ENVY 15.

Starting at 5.19 pounds and just 1-inch thick, the HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition notebook PC features the Intel Core i7 mobile processor and a choice of two 15.6-inch HP BrightView LED backlit displays, including the full high-definition LED HP Ultra BrightView Widescreen Display. A Nightvision VGA webcam is optimized for low-light conditions and is standard. The notebook also includes Beats by Dr. Dre Studio High-Definition Headphones and an external optical drive. An optional Slim Fit Extended-Life Notebook Battery is available. Read more

If there is one thing you can count on for the holiday season, it's that at least one tech gadget will be on everyone's wish list. With that in mind, Best Buy has launched a new Gadgets and eReaders section. Starting today (October 11), you can visit your local Best Buy store to play with these devices hands-on.

The new Gadgets and eReaders collection will include products from Sony, Sharper Image, Leapfrog, Rubik's Cube and more…totaling more than 120 products, with prices starting at just $5.Read more

Samsung has added a new LED monitor to its SyncMaster line. The SyncMaster XL2370 will be available at Best Buy starting October 12th for $299. It will hit other retail stores in late November.

The XL2370 features an LED edge-lit backlight, 1080 HD resolution, a contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 and 2 millisecond response time. Movies can be seen in 16:9 widescreen formats without any distortion or stretching. And, not to take up too much space, the XL2370 measures just 3/4" at the top and weighs less than eight pounds.

The XL2370 is ENERGY STAR compliant, and is (partially) constructed out of post consumer materials. Read more

Sony just unveiled the new touch-enabled, multimedia VAIO L Series Touch HD PC/TV.

The PC has a 24-inch WUXGA (1920x1080) Full HD widescreen display, Intel Core 2 Quad processor (select models), 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, tons of RAM, dedicated NVIDIA GeForce series graphics, and it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional 64-bit operating system. A wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control (select models) are included. Select models have a Blu-ray Disc optical drive. A rewritable BD drive is also available.

Also, some models feature a built-in tuner so you can connect to your digital cable TV service and Over-The-Air (ATSC) HD TV signals (antenna required) to watch TV on your PC. An optional HDMI input is available. It has built-in DVR capabilities and up to a terabyte of storage. Read more