Computers

WD announced today, two new mobile hard drives with extreme capacities. The highlight is a one terabyte model -- the industry's highest-capacity 2.5-inch drive. It features a 333 GB-per-platter technology that enables the new WD Scorpio Blue SATA 2.5-inch hard drives to offer mobile storage device and notebook users an enormous 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model will also be available.

The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with 3 gigabits per second transfer rate.

The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB are available now for $189.99 and $249.99 respectively.

Synology has just announced its new 2.5-inch 4-bay Disk Station DS409slim. It brings lower power consumption, virtually quiet operations and an extremely small footprint both physically and financially. The 2.5-inch hard drives increase shock tolerance and reduce power consumption, while the DS409slim only consumes 19 watts of power when running 4 2.5-inch HDDS under normal operations.

Specs:

• 4 hot-swappable hard drives
• A 1.2 GHz CPU
• 128MB DDRII RAM
• One Gigabit LAN port
• Two USB2.0 ports
• One eSATA port

The DS409slim supports up to 2 TB with the combination of four 2.5" SATA or SSD hard drives of 500GB each. The physical footprint of the DS409slim remains stylish and compact with the total size being just larger than a 12 oz coffee cup (120 x 105 x 142 mm). The DS409slim is shipping in the U.S. right now.

Dell has announced the Vostro All In One, Dell's first all-in-one desktop computer designed exclusively for small businesses. Using the optional VESA mount, customers can save as much as 79 percent of their desk space. When combined with optional integrated Wi-Fi and a wireless mouse and keyboard, the result is a wire-free desk. The new Vostro also offers Intel Core 2 Duo processors and an integrated webcam.

Other features:

• Standard gigabit Ethernet or optional integrated Wi-Fi 802.11
• Equipped with optional Dell Backup and Recovery Manager for simplified data protection
• Supports use of older peripherals that require serial or parallel ports
• Optional video conferencing solution with integrated camera and included software

The new Next Class personal laptops were created specifically to meet the everyday needs of college students. The four-unit line was manufactured in partnership with HP, Toshiba, Sony, & Dell, and is available exclusively at Best Buy stores nationwide and online at www.bestbuy.com now through fall.

Through Best Buy's research, they came up with what most students want out of a laptop and Best Buy created that: Extended battery life; low weight and portable design for easy transport; personalized design, yet professional; full virus protection; preloaded with necessary software (specifically a full version of Office Home and Student); and an affordable price point.Read more

The flagship 256GB Crucial M225 SSD screams at an impressive 250MB/sec read speed and a 200MB/sec write speed. The new Crucial SSDs enhance system performance by improving operating system boot and application load times. They also utilize a SATA 2.0 (3Gb/s) interface and feature MLC NAND flash components housed in an industry standard 2.5-inch drive enclosure, making a Crucial M225 SSD easy to install.

Available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models, the trio is also fully compatible with the Crucial SK01 external drive storage kit. Basically, this is an enclosure for your SSD.

Crucial SSDs are available in 64GB (currently $169.99/£104.99/€120.99), 128GB (currently $329.99/£201.99/€143.99), and 256GB (currently $599.99/£367.99/€424.99) capacities online at www.crucial.com/ssd, www.crucial.com/uk/ssd, or www.crucial.com/eu/ssd, and through select channel partners.

By Jeff Zbar;
www.homeofficehighway.com

Years ago, surfing in public meant first paying $15 an hour for a user ID and password hand-written on a scrap of paper so you could log on to some cyber cafe's network.

Now, it's as easy as hitting the MiFi, powering up the netbook — and in less than a minute, you're up.

This year's home office highway is shaping up as an exercise in simplified surfing. Last year, setting up a network meant powering up and wiring in a router the size of a cigar box. This year's "access point" is a business card-sized device that enables five Internet devices — netbooks, laptops, MP3 players, an iTouch — to log on simultaneously.Read more

The InterView system features two rotatable super-thin high resolution 17-inch TFT LCD displays supported by one desktop stand. It features a 1440 x 900 screen resolution and the screens can rotate 180 degrees on a horizontal axis, inverting the onscreen image to be right-side up to viewers on either side of the desk. The screens can also fold 90 degrees from completely closed to full width apart.

The InterView comes with a built-in webcam and microphone allowing users to add and view more participants through video conferencing. The base features three USB ports and convenient controls for monitor settings, mic, power and DMS connections.

Not sure when this will be released but it does have a MSRP of $649.99. Read more