New laptops: function and fashion

For people whose friends are not impressed with mere numbers indicating more memory and faster processors, laptop makers have a solution for conspicuous consumers this season: the Lamborghini computer. Available in yellow and black, the racing laptop is one of several lighter, slicker and more portable computers hitting the market this spring/summer. The Italian sports car maker commissioned the Taiwanese laptop maker ASUS to build the VX1, Lamborghini’s very first laptop computer. Each is handmade, and a limited quantity will be available in Korea this summer. But even for the practical-minded, the buzzword for computer marketing for this spring/summer laptop collection is “mobility.” No more sore shoulders from hauling around oversized notebooks. Thanks to advances in technology, laptop computers debuting this season are extremely lightweight without losing any of the functions seen in earlier, heavier models. Last week, Hewlett-Packard debuted several new corporate and consumer laptop models, including the Compaq nc2400, an ultra-slim laptop with a 12.1-inch monitor. This particular model weighs 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds). If that sounds light, try Samsung Electronics Co.’s Sens Q1. Half the size of an A4 sheet of paper, this laptop weights 0.77 kilograms. It goes on sale this week. Dubbed the “ultra mobile PC,” it has a wide liquid crystal display monitor and runs on a Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system, incorporating both touch-screen functions and “inking” functions, in which one can directly write on the monitor like a notepad. Sens Q1 comes with a digital multimedia broadcasting receiver, Bluetooth functionality and a wireless LAN card for a base price of 1.2 million won ($1,270). Customized functions such as GPS car navigation can be added at additional cost. “PDAs were small and easy to carry around, but they weren’t good enough in terms of usability. On the other hand, laptops had similar functions as desktop computers, but were too difficult to carry around. These new models guarantee mobility and overcome the limits of former PDAs and laptops,” said Lee Seung-han, a Samsung spokesman. Also, in the context of mobility, Sony Korea’s VAIO TX series, a slim “sub laptop” model, comes in Sony’s staple colors of metallic sapphire black and platinum white, with a battery life of nine hours. Supporting Bluetooth and hard disk space of 60 gigabytes, one of the laptop’s special characteristics is a white 11.1-inch light-emitting diode (LED) monitor. The laptop ranges from 2.1 to 2.7 million won. As for Lamborghini’s VX1, it comes with a 15-inch glare-type color shine display and liquid crystal display monitor. It is run by Intel’s latest mobile dual core processor, the Core Duo T2500, and has hard disk space of 120 gigabytes. And in case it crashes? Free after service will be available through the ASUS Royal Club in Korea (1566-6868) for two years. by Wohn Dong-hee