laptop

A new stylus in the works from Microsoft could allow for input even on non-touch screens.

Rather than relying on a touch screen, the stylus would use a mounted camera to track both movement and angle across the screen, as described by MIT's Technology Review. By using the camera to capture images from the screen, the stylus could actually count the number of pixels being tracked to determine its position.

The current prototype has received kudos within Microsoft, noted Technology Review, and the company is currently deciding whether to push its development forward with the goal of creating a … Read more

Advanced Micro Devices, the world's second largest PC processor supplier, had some sobering things to say about the PC market when the company reported earnings Thursday.

"For the first time since 2001, client PC shipments have declined sequentially for three consecutive quarters-and have been below historical averages for the last seven quarters," AMD CEO Rory Read said during the chip supplier's second quarter earnings conference call.

"We also believe the PC industry may be resetting to a new [lower] baseline," he said.

Revenue declined 10 percent to $1.41 billion for the the Sunnyvale, … Read more

Crucial announced today a bevy of solid-state drives for skinny gadgets ranging up to 256GB.

Sold under the Crucial brand name (the flash memory used in the SSDs is manufactured by parent company Micron Technology), the m4 drives deliver the performance of mainstream SSDs but in a much smaller 1.2 x 2.0 inch (3cm x 5cm) mSATA size -- the package typically used in ultrabooks and tablets.

SSDs are faster than standard spinning hard disk drives found in many laptops.

The m4 can be used as an upgrade to a device with an mSATA-compatible SSD or act as a cache to boost the performance of an existing magnetic hard disk drive. … Read more

Online game retailer Steam is running a big summer sale right now, which makes it a great time to build out your Mac OS X game library, thanks to heavy discounts on some recent and not-so-recent games.

As we've noted previously, the Steam sale "offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours)." While most of the games on sale are Windows-only, there is a healthy selection of Mac games. But more importantly, those Mac games are significantly less expensive than they are on Apple's own Mac App Store. … Read more

Not happy with the audio coming from your laptop? No surprise there -- it's fairly miraculous that manufacturers manage to squeeze in speakers at all.

And yet many folks use their laptops as media centers in dens and bedrooms. So how can you get more aural enjoyment from your games, movies, and music?

Simple: add a sound bar. Even an inexpensive one should offer a huge improvement over the tiny, tinny speakers built into your system. If nothing else, it projects the sound forward instead of down, out, or up (depending on where the internal speakers are mounted).

Today … Read more

For many years, the laptop served as the de facto anchor for techies on the go. Then the tablet came along.

These days, it's possible to use a tablet as the main portable squeeze, since it (usually) delivers incredible battery life and apps that can do just about anything (within reason). In a column today, CNET's Marguerite Reardon addresses the question, "Could I really ditch my laptop for an iPad?" And that got us thinking more about the subject.

Does the ever-increasing functionality of the tablet make you second-guess bringing a laptop along? It did for … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Are 4D movies the next big step for motion pictures?

- Warehouse worker jailed for stealing $160,000 from Amazon.

- In the future, your drug dealer will be a printer.

- Apple bows out of program for environment-minded products.

- Louis C.K. and the effort to kill scalpers.

Bathroom break video: Omnicorp Product Line 2013

Video voice mail: Jersey from Mike unintentionally stalks Jeff.… Read more

I pride myself on being a pretty smart shopper, especially when it comes to tech, but sometimes even I make mistakes. (I know. Hard to believe!)

For example, a few months back I purchased a new laptop. The make and model aren't important; I'll simply say that I was looking for something slim and lightweight that offered above-average battery life. And, of course, me being the Cheapskate, something wallet-friendly.

After reading some reviews (professional and user alike), I found a system that seemed perfect. But it wasn't long before I discovered a few usability quirks that really … Read more

Solid-state drives (or SSDs) are finally getting affordable.

Here's proof: today only, and while supplies last, 1SaleADay has the 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 2.5-inch SSD for $69.99, plus $4.99 for shipping. That's the lowest price I've seen on an SSD with these specs.

And it can get lower still: there's a $10 mail-in rebate (PDF), which comes in the form of an American Express prepaid card (which is more or less as good as cash).

I know many of you object to rebates, in which case I say forget about this … Read more