Asus partners with designer Karim Rashid on the Eee PC Seashell Karim Rashid Collection unveiled at the CES 2010. The Asus Eee PC Seashell Karim Rashid Collection is the realization of Karim’s vision of computing—one that is more sensual, more human, and ultimately more hip.

Karim’s inspired touch is evident in every inch of these ultra slim and light netbooks, from the fluid waves of the exterior design to the advanced soft-to-the-touch materials that will redefine how people perceive netbooks.

The Eee PC Seashell Karim Rashid Collection features a breathtaking design that includes a 10.1″ frameless LED backlit display and an ergonomic chiclet keyboard. This beauty is matched by its computing prowess. It features the new power-saving Intel Atom N450 CPU, which works in tandem with ASUS’ exclusive Super Hybrid Engine energy management technology to deliver 6 hours of battery life on a single charge.

The Karim Rashid runs on a Windows 7 OS, and it’s a little sluggish. We gave it the ultimate test (ahem, Facebook games), and even then, it’s noticeably slow, but tolerable nonetheless. Its 1GB RAM and 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor tell us it can be much speedier with earlier-released operating systems, which is a good thing. Now if official distributors actually give customers an option to upgrade the RAM to 2GB (and they usually do, sometimes even for free), then we’re talking.

When everything is said and done, this Eee PC still is a design-centric netbook and should not be expected to crunch numbers like other similarly priced computers.

Key Specifications

Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Optical Drive: None
Screen: 10.1 inches (1,024×600 native resolution)
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 3150
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1×10.3×7 inches
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)

The VAIO F VPCF116FG is huge. It measures in at 387.2 x 263 x 31mm, and easily dwarfs most notebooks. The size isn’t wasted, though—it packs a 16.4-inch wide (Full HD 1920 x 1080) TFT color display and a whole array of ports and slots you could possibly ask for. There are no signs of pretentiousness in the lid design—simple, matte black with the requisite VAIO lettering is what you get. Sony has opted to go with island-style keys this time around, and since there’s plenty of real estate, a full-sized keyboard complete with a number pad came built in. The wrist rest looks vaguely covered with leather, with the trackpad embedded slightly off center.

And while the VAIO F VPCF116FG isn’t eye candy, it’s equipped with impressive hardware. Most of the number crunching is handled by an Intel Core i7-720QM Processor running at 1.60 GHz (with turbo boost up to 2.80 GHz). An NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU with CUDA technology handles any graphic rendering tasks that you might want to throw at it. To cap it all off, the VAIO F VPCF116FG has a 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB of hard disk space and a Blu-ray optical disk drive.

This laptop is large enough that the keyboard even has a numeric keypad, as well as space for a generously-size trackpad. The keys are well-spaced, and are very easy to type with. The satisfying click each press produces made typing this review a very pleasurable experience. Sony’s design cleverly integrates the power button on the right side of the hinge, and the port for the power cord on the opposite side.

With a high-capacity 6-cell battery, the F Series can last for around two-and-a-half hours without external power, even with everything on, and with the screen at full brightness. That’s long enough to play at least one HD movie that takes full advantage of the laptop’s 1920 x 1080 (full HD) 16.4? display.

Equipped with the latest Quad Core CPU, the Intel®  Core™ i7 Processor plus the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU. The Full HD display lets you enjoy viewing of HD video and photos. The classy top panel of Premium Black features a two-layer finish with pearl black covered by a clear layer.

• Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor 1.60 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.80 GHz
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• 16.4″ wide (Full HD: 1920 x 1080) VAIO Display + Full HD 1080
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with CUDA™ Technology
• Blu-ray Disk™ Combo Drive
• Advanced Connectivity:eSATA/USB port, HDMI output connect

For the last few years we have heard the term “desktop replacement” used to describe notebooks 15.4-inches and larger. Recently, most especially this year, we are finally starting to see notebooks that can be described as workstation replacements. These aren’t renamed gaming computers either–when companies like Lenovo and HP release portable workstations, they really mean it. In this article we’ll be checking out Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700, which is not only the largest ThinkPad ever (it’s their first 17-inch model ever) it is also the first ThinkPad to come with a quad-core processor. Those two features are just a start because the W700 significantly changes what we expect from a notebook, as well as a ThinkPad.

Build quality with the W700 is everything Lenovo is known for, with tight fitment all around and an impressively small measure of panel flex for a laptop this large. A bit of time hauling the W700 has confirmed initial impressions: while large notebooks rarely rival their smaller counterparts in terms of ruggedness, this is one heavily built, robust laptop in spite of its size.

Under the lid sits an eye-popping 17-inch display with 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution. Color reproduction and viewing angles on this screen are excellent, thanks to the use of wide gamut technology, which allows the panel to display 72 percent of the NTSC color gamut (most notebook screens display around 45 percent of the NTSC gamut). Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam which uses Roxio’s Media Import application (included) to display and capture video and photos. The camera is adequate for video chats and e-mailing photos but its image quality was fairly grainy.

For users who require a consistent and reliable degree of color accuracy, the W700 contains a built-in color-calibration device. Using a small sensor embedded in the keyboard deck and Pantone’s huey Pro color-control software, the device scans the screen while the lid is closed and sounds three tones when the calibration process is complete. We calibrated the screen in just under a minute and immediately noticed a marked improvement. Colors appeared much bolder and the panel displayed much deeper black levels than before the calibration

It has a brilliant keyboard; its keys are full-sized, sturdy and produce crisp bounce-back. The only inconveniences are the Delete and Control keys, which aren’t positioned in the far corners of the keyboard but three and two keys further in, respectively.

The touchpad is Teflon-like in its slipperiness, offering no resistance to your finger as it pushes the pointer across the screen; its accuracy is impeccable. It doesn’t mistake single-clicks for double-clicks, for example. Its left and right buttons are also very soft and easy to press while navigating.

From the outside, the Lenovo Ideapad Y430 we right now have looks exactly like the Y510. It has the same weave-textured cover, sloping hinge design, edgy corners, and matte black color. Yet once you open the cover, you will immediately see the difference between the two. The most apparent is the location of the Dolbyenhanced built-in speakers as these are now located in front. In addition, the Y430 has no external battery level bar unlike on the Y510, which leaves you with the on-screen battery indicator and the power LED in front to know when it is time to charge.

The bezel on the Y430 that contains the thermal keys has a duller look compared to the one on the Y510. Monotonous looking or not, I still find this set of buttons handy for allowing immediate access to and playback of multimedia files. The volume control located on the right saves one from using the function button or dragging the cursor in order to control the sound levels, while the small button nearby switches the thermal keys between playback functions and preset audio enhancements.

It has 2GB of DDR2 RAM, which is enough to handle Windows Vista Home Premium and also facilitate multitasking, and you also get an NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics adapter. Its score of 1823 in 3DMark06 means it’s not good for playing many current games, but it will run a lot of older games.

After prolonged use, the bottom-left of he unit, where the CPU, chipset and memory reside, get warm, but not enough to be uncomfortable when using the unit on your lap. Nor is the laptop loud, thanks to its dynamic fan, which isn’t an annoyance even while it’s at its fastest setting.

While cheap netbooks are all the rage these days, just a few months ago the attention was being lavished on expensive, high-end thin and light notebooks.  Namely the 13.3″ screen Apple MacBook Air and Lenovo ThinkPad X300.  Fast forward several months and several hundred stock market points lower and expensive laptops don’t seem quite as appealing, which might be why the recent release of the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 was mostly a silent entrance on stage left.  Still, if you’re a CEO that happens to still have a job these days and you like to have the latest and greatest in ultra-mobile computing technology, cost not being a concern, the ThinkPad X301 could be a fit.

Design of Lenovo ThinkPad X301 follows the same business philosophy that was established by IBM, although we would like to see some advances in that department. Chassis is made of magnesium alloy and in combination with roll-cage made of carbon-fiber results in notebooks rigidity and low weight. Unusual for this class, there is optical device and along with DisplayPort connector and later one is only external difference compared to ThinkPad X300 . There are not many monitors with DisplayPort connector but they will appear in the near future in larger numbers. There are also 3 USB ports (two on the left side and one on the back side). VGA and Ethernet connectors are placed at the back side along with WiFi/Bluetooth switch. On the front side are only speakers that produce clear and quality sound and they are much better than speakers on X200 model. For navigation you can use TouchPad or TrackPoint – combination that is common for Lenovo. Full sized keyboard is exceptional so typing is real pleasure with no noticeable bending.

Additional button that stands out is blue ThinkPad Vantage button and it calls preinstalled applications with lot of options from which most useful to us was option of connecting to Lenovo site and downloading and updating of drivers and software. One more very useful preinstalled application is Power Manager 2 that allows very fine power consumption tuning that has option for screen power off if “Windows Is Shutting Down” message is recognized.

The keyboard deck and outer shell utilize a new rubberized soft touch paint which helps provide a more secure grip and a more comfortable feel. The X301 has all the regular connectors and ports with three USB 2.0, Ethernet, microphone and headphone jacks, DisplayPort, and a VGA connector. Unfortunately, no memory card slot is included with this laptop, which means you’ll have to use a USB card reader device or adapter to read from memory cards.