Monday, October 26, 2009

BMW 320i

Carros de luxo estão ficando cada vez mais acessíveis aos brasileiros. Seguindo a estratégia iniciada com a versão 118i do Série 1, a BMW agora traz o seu menor sedã em uma versão com alguns equipamentos a menos, mas com o interessante preço de 109.500 reais.

A nova versão da Série 3 vem com motor 2.0 16v de 150 cv, e câmbio Steptronic de seis marchas, ainda que sem opção de trocas no volante. Em relação às outras versões, ele perde alguns itens relativamente dispensáveis, como o teto solar elétrico e os faróis de xenônio, e outro de grande importância em um carro de seu porte: os sensores de estacionamento.

Mas as perdas acabam por aí. O 320i continua sendo um legítimo BMW no quesito segurança, ao oferecer freios ABS com EBD, airbags frontais e laterais, e controle de tração DTC, e no desempenho: 0 a 100 km/h em 10,5 segundos, e velocidade máxima de 204 km/h.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Volkswagen Fox 2010

Depois de muitas especulações sobre seu desenho, o compacto lançado em 2003 finalmente sofreu seu primeiro face-lift, certamente visando roubar os clientes dos Palio, Fiesta e Peugeot 207 mais completos, apesar de que não seria nada mal oferecer resistência também aos Punto, Agile e Citroën C3 mais básicos.

Ainda moderno em estrutura, o Fox ganhou apenas retoques em sua carroceria, cuja frente ganhou faróis e grade mais agressivos e que seguem as últimas tendências da marca, enquanto a traseira fez uma espécie de upgrade do estilo anterior, ficando mais moderna, mas ainda mantendo forte identidade com a antiga. Nas laterais, a principal novidade são os retrovisores, que mudaram de desenho e incluem os repetidores das luzes de direção.

As mudanças de seu interior são claramente respostas às reclamações feitas por donos e revistas especializadas. Ganhou painéis de porta de melhor acabamento, porta-luvas, e finalmente um novo quadro de instrumentos, agora com desenho convencional mas muito mais legível. Suas versões passaram para duas: básica, que tem direito ao pacote Trend, que adiciona muitos itens de aparência e conforto, e Prime, esta mais completa desde o pacote inicial.

Sua parte técnica não ficou esquecida. Embora mantenha os motores 1.0 e 1.6 VHT Total Flex, de 72/76 e 101/104 cv respectivamente, o Fox agora também conta com o câmbio automatizado I-Motion nas versões com motor 1.6, estreado no Polo e repassado ao Gol, e também com direito ao volante multifuncional do Passat CC, com borboletas para troca de marcha, atrás do volante.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mitsubishi L200 Triton V6 Flex

Chegando à linha 2010, a picape passa a ter a novidade estreada no Pajero Sport: o motor 3.5 V6 flex, que produz 200/205 cv, ao usar gasolina ou álcool, e dá ao modelo o preço inicial de 99.990 reais. Unicamente equipada com tração 4x4 e transmissão automática de quatro marchas, a Triton passou por várias mudanças técnicas para poder receber o novo motor, como melhor tratamento anticorrosivo para as peças que entram em contato com o combustível, como bicos injetores e pistões.

A outra mudança mascara uma desvantagem do 3.5. Seu tanque foi aumentado de 75 para 90 litros, provavelmente em uma tentativa de melhorar a autonomia do modelo, prejudicada pelo alto consumo: aproximadamente 4 km/l na cidade. De resto, ela continua a mesma picape robusta e moderna, com um ótimo pacote de equipamentos, que inclui ar-condicionado, freios ABS e airbag duplo. Para os que ainda preferem um motor a diesel, ela também oferece o 3.2, de 165 cv, este começando em 113.720 reais, com a mesma opção de câmbio.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fiat Punto ELX Creative

Depois do reajuste de preços em quase toda a linha, e do novo pacote de opcionais para a versão de entrada 1.4, agora é na ELX que o Punto passa a oferecer novidades, os interessantes kits Creative I e II, que apenas agregam itens à versão que começa em R$ 40.470, sem mudanças de motor.

Por fora, a melhoria mais importante trazida por esses pacotes são as rodas de liga leve de 16 polegadas, de desenho exclusivo. As outras novidades são discretas: ele ganha spoiler traseiro e o adesivo da versão nas colunas das portas dianteiras.

No entanto, sua cabine é a maior beneficiada, porque traz ajuste elétrico dos retrovisores, quadro de instrumentos da versão HLX, rádio com CD e MP3 player e chave-canivete. Tudo isso vem com o Creative I, que custa R$ 1.970.

O pacote Creative II agrega ao sistema de som a tecnologia Blue&Me, com o avançado sistema que integra entrada USB que aceita iPod, além do Bluetooth com interface para interação com celulares, por R$ 2.880, já vindo também com o volante revestido em couro e com comandos satélite, tanto para o som quanto para o telefone.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Toyota Hilux e SW4 2010

Se na época do lançamento foi revolucionária, a chegada das novas Nissan Frontier e Mitsubishi L200 definitivamente apagaram o brilho da Hilux, ainda que ele continue ofuscando (e muito) as veteranas Chevrolet S10 e Ford Ranger, esta renovada em parte. Para manter-se atrativa no segmento, sua linha 2010 vem com leves alterações. A picape agora conta com 16 versões, resultantes das combinações de cabine, motor, tração, versão e câmbio, já que ganhou a SR 4x2 2.7 automática.

Além da nova versão, que vem com ar-condicionado, sistema de som que lê CD e MP3, airbag duplo, rodas de 17 polegadas e freios ABS de série por R$ 84.200, todas as versões a gasolina ganharam parachoques traseiros cromados, como os das versões a diesel. A nova versão também foi repassada ao SUV SW4, com preço inicial de R$ 115.000.

Os preços da Hilux começam em R$ 73.700 e vão até R$ 122.300, enquanto a SW4 vai de R$ 110.400 até R$ 163.500. Seus motores são turbodiesel 2.5 e 3.0 além do 2.7 16v a gasolina, enquanto as opções de câmbio são automático de quatro marchas ou manual de cinco. A Hilux ainda traz opção de cabine dupla, simples ou chassi/cabine.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Spyker C8 Spyder SWB

Fundada em 1880 na Holanda, a Spyker começou como uma simples fábrica de carruagens, mas que logo passou para o mercado dos veículos à combustão. Começou envolvida com corridas, mas por causa da Primeira Guerra Mundial passou a produzir aviões de combate, vindo a falir 1925. Em 2000, investidores holandeses decidiram ressucitar a Spyker, e hoje a marca produz carros do nível de Ferrari, Lamborghini e Porsche, mas com um toque de exotismo.

É o caso do C8 SWB, que chega ao Brasil pela importadora Platinuss. Se seu desenho externo não é dos mais agradáveis, o C8 impressiona pelo comportamento. Ao unir o 4.2 V8 da Audi, nele com 400 cv e levando 1250 kg, com a transmissão manual de seis marchas e nenhum sistema de auxílio eletrônico, ele atua como um esportivo puro, tendendo ao drift em curvas, e fazendo de cada troca de marchas um deleite.

Seu interior segue a mesma proposta, podendo ser fabricado segundo as exatas especificações do cliente, como revestimento do interior em couro de qualquer cor, mas sempre apresentando alto nível de luxo, mesmo saindo de 0 a 100 km/h em 4,5 segundos, e indo até a velocidade máxima de 300 km/h.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Save Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

I have had the NB205 frost white version (the $399 price) for about a week.

Good points:
1) build quality seems high compared to other netbooks that I looked at.
2) keyboard and touchpad are very usable.
3) the NB205 looks great (my opinion).
4) screen is bright and usable outdoors. There is a glossy finish but compared to glossy notebooks that I have, the NB205 seems better.
5) Battery life seems to be good. Using full power and bright screen, the batter lasts over 6 hours. With battery saving features enabled, would last longer.

Bad points:
1) Speaker is terrible. I use earbuds which work fine.
2) Many special Toshiba programs used to control hardware and do different system tasks. This only a bad point if you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 because it may make the upgrade harder (are there Windows 7 versions available of these programs, etc.).

I upgraded the memory to 2GB. This did not seem to make a significant difference in performance. Perhaps someone who runs more demanding programs might have a different result.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the unit but one must keep in mind there are limitations when using netbooks.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Land Rover Defender Fire & Ice

Lançada na Europa em junho passado, a série Fire & Ice do veterano inglês vai chegar aqui, com a exclusividade garantida pelo fato de apenas 35 das 850 unidades do jipe serem destinadas ao Brasil. As maiores novidades estão no visual: a Fire vem em Laranja Fogo e apenas na carroceria 90, de três portas, enquanto a Ice é exclusiva da 110, de cinco e apenas em Branco Gelo. São comuns aos dois teto e capô pintados em preto metálico, para-choques, grade e estribos pretos, moldura cromada dos faróis, lanternas com LEDs e rodas de liga leve exclusivas.

A cabine segue as mudanças, com o console central na mesma cor da carroceria e bancos com combinação de preto e cinza e logotipo da marca nos encostos de cabeça. Entre os opcionais, snorkel, quebra-mato, protetores de janela e bagageiro. Equipados sempre com o mesmo 2.4 turbodiesel de 122 cv, a tração integral e o câmbio de seis marchas do restante da linha, o Defender Fire tem preço inicial de 145 mil reais, enquanto o Ice começa em 149 mil, preços cerca de 10 mil reais acima dos Defender "comuns".

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Discount Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

I ordered my Toshiba mini-computer from Amazon on Tuesday and got it on Thursday.
I have a 5 year old Toshiba laptop which works fine so I know Toshiba computers work well.
I am mobile impaired so I need a light, easy-to-use computer. This mini-computer fills that need.
This could rank as one of the best purchases I've ever made. I have had this for three days now. It is so much fun to play with, I haven't turned it off except to eat.
It has a fast boot time. The design is excellent.
I have researched all the current netbooks available right now. This one wins hand-down. The keyboard is easy to type on. The screen is clear and easy to read.
The touchpad takes some getting used to. It can be used to scroll vertically or horizontally. It tells you how to do this in the manual. What the manual doesn't tell you is that a quick finger movement at the top edge to the left brings you to the previous window. A similar movement to the right brings you to the next window you were looking at. The same is true when using the internet. Left movement take you to the previous page - right takes you to the next page. This was particularly annoying before I figured out what was going on.
The speaker is totally inadequate. Most applications don't require a good speaker. This computer has Bluetooth. There are many Bluetooth stereo headphones and speakers out there - so perhaps this will not be too much of a problem. I listened to a couple of tunes on Pandora with a set of plug-in headphones. The sound quality was great. I also watched a Netflix movie. The video quality was excellent.
Overall, this netbook is excellent choice for me. If I was going to rate this on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 9.5, but since I cannot use that rating system here, I guess I'll give it 5 stars.
Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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It is fast light and good battery life. Really enjoy it except for the touch pad and buttons. Buttons are really a little bar very stiff and have to mash it. To work around that I got a little GE mini-mouse, problem solved.Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

VW Gol e Voyage I-Motion

Seguindo a nova tendência do mercado brasileiro, depois de a VW tê-lo inaugurado com o Polo, agora estende o câmbio automatizado também ao novo Gol e Voyage, numa não muito discreta resposta à recente oferta do câmbio Dualogic à linha Palio.

Embora tenha sido lançado mais tarde que o da Fiat e o Easytronic da Chevrolet, o ASG desenvolvido pela Magneti Marelli compensa o tempo a mais com um melhor funcionamento, com aumento do conforto ao rodar, já que reduz muito os "trancos" nas trocas de marcha.

Tanto hatchback quanto sedã podem vir com o volante novo, vindo do Passat CC e também usado no Polo, que traz comandos satélite do som e do sistema Bluetooth para conexão com celular. Os pacotes de itens das versões foram mantidos

Somente vendido nos carros com motor 1.6 de 101/104 cv, o I-Motion pode vir no Gol 1.6 (R$ 34.605), Gol Power 1.6 (R$ 38.605), Voyage 1.6 (R$ 39.620) e Voyage Comfortline 1.6 (R$ 41.265).

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mitsubishi Outlander GT

Seguindo a atual tendência de traços mais limpos e modernos, com pronunciada agressividade, depois de lançar aqui as novas versões Sport, Dakar e TR4 do Pajero, chega a vez de o Outlander passar por mudanças em estilo, motores e preço. Inspirado no Lancer X, o crossover traz um desenho bem-resolvido, com linhas robustas, mas que denotam a vocação urbana ao tender para a esportividade, com itens futuristas como a lanterna de LEDs. No interior, chegaram novo grafismo do quadro de instrumentos e novo sistema multimídia de áudio, com touchscreen, MP3, entrada USB e Bluetooth.

Ainda na cabine, os equipamentos de série são vários: freios com ABS, EBD e ESP, faróis de neblina, ar-condicionado e trio elétrico. A versão V6 adiciona bancos de couro, o novo sistema de áudio, ar-condicionado digital, e sensores crepuscular e de chuva, e bancos com aquecimento. Se a versão básica (que começa em R$ 102.990) permanece com o 2.4 16v de 170 cv e 23 kgfm, a 3.0 V6 (R$ 125.650) sofreu várias alterações que lhe trouxeram maior eficiência, passando a gerar 240 cv e 31 kgfm. O câmbio é sempre automático sequencial de seis marchas, e a tração é integral, com opção de 4x2 e de bloqueio de diferencial central.

Cheapest Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

Well I have been doing research and playing with netbooks for several months now. I had to replace my aging 5 year old HP that was recently stolen. I wanted something with a long battery life and was extremely small and portable.
I rolled down to my local best buy on July 4th and I was hell bent on getting the ASUS 1000HE. I found out that the model they sold only had the Atom 270, but I wanted the Black Tie warranty so I was going to live with that. However, when I got there, they did not have any in stock. In fact, the only netbook that had the Atom 280 was the Toshiba NB 205. I never even heard of it. I found out that they were out of stock so I ran home and called until I found a best buy that had one in stock. I read some reviews but they were dismal at best.
After playing with it non stop for 3 days, here is what I like about it.
1. The Case is much better looking than any other netbook out there. It even looks nicer than the Mac Books. It is much nicer than the ASUS 1000HE.
2. The screen is very crisp and bright. It also has 8 levels of brightness.
3. The Keys are very nice to type on and are spaced out well.
4. The touchpad is responsive and the left and right keys are placed like a normal laptop.
5. Although it took some time to get the wireless working, it hooks up faster than my other 2 laptops.
6. It runs XP so with some minor tweaks, it ran just as fast as my other laptops.
7. It plays MP4 movies/videos very well.
8. It handles office applications like Excel and Access very well.
9. I was able to watch 3 full length MP4 movies and still have over half the battery life left.
10. It boots up fast and it has no problem with multiple windows.
11. Netflix live stream videos work great on it.
12. 3 USB Ports (one can charge while it is off), 1 VGA Port, 1 RJ45 Port, and a SD Port.

Now on to what I don't like.
1. The back of the battery does stick out another inch but it does seem to act like a bumper. I bought a Targus bag with a handle and it fits perfectly.
2. The speaker is very inadequate, the earphone jack works well.
3. The Wireless setup was a pain. I wish it had a dedicated switch.
4. The instruction manual is almost useless.
5. Can't really adjust the screen resolution (although the stock settings are fine).

All in all it was a pleasant surprise and I am glad I waited to buy.
Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Cheap Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

This machine exudes quality. Although it may not have all the bells a whistles of some other laptops (hence the reasonable price), the functionality is very good for all the basics. My bf and I did a LOT of online research and looked at all the online reviews and were impressed, and for good reason. Typing is very comfortable. While the screen is small (10.1 inches on the diagonal), it is very sharp and clear. It also has one of the nicest mouse pads I have ever used on a notebook --sorry Apple! I ordered my Toshiba here on Amazon and it arrived quickly (plenty in stock vs. the Toshiba Direct website currently) and in very good condition. There are three (3) USB ports, one of which can be used to charge any device. I plugged in my Sony Ericsson Z555 into it to get internet access when I am not near a wifi signal, and my phone gets charged in the process! Great little feature there. Comes equipped with Bluetooh, WiFi, a discreet web camera built into the bezel above the monitor, and a digital camera card slot in the front of the machine. It also comes with some nice and intuitive proprietary Toshiba software for customizing battery/power usage, one for detecting/connecting to WiFi internet connections, and another one for the built in web cam. As I understand, many laptops are a pain in the rumpus when it comes to upgrading memory or other components. Not the NB205. There are easily accessible compartments on the bottom for future upgrades. And with a brand like Toshiba, I'm sure you can customize this notebook to your liking quite easily and well into the future. But personally, I am quite satisfied with it right out of the box. If you are looking for portability and a loooong battery life (rated for 9 hours on a full charge), you might just want to consider this notebook. I do know that they are available at some Best Buy locations in case you would like to see one in person before you decide.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Overall: Great netbook, with great battery life. Very portable, and can become - almost - the primary computer in your life.

Pros: Size, weight, battery life, bootup speed, shutdown speed, reliability.

Cons: Touchpad a bit difficult on occasion, need more software control. If you want to upgrade memory, you have a convoluted process to get to the memory stick, and it voids the warranty. Best advice is to buy the netbook with the memory already installed. Too many people want to play with the netbook since they haven't seen one and "are thinking" about buying one (is this really a con?)Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Mercedes-Benz Classe E Coupé

Além de trazer a versão Sport do roadster SLK, a marca alemã agora traz a versão cupê da sua linha intermediária de modelos. Pelo menos por enquanto, ele virá em duas versões, básica e Plus, e com o preço inicial de 280 mil reais.

Suas linhas remetem aos outros modelos da Classe E, com os clássicos faróis duplos, nesta geração trocando as formas ovaladas por irregulares, e apresentando um desenho agressivo, mas mesmo assim sem perder a elegância e a sobriedade típicos da marca. Sob o capô, ele começa vindo apenas com o 3.5 V6, de 272 cve 35,6 kgfm de torque.

A diferença entre as versões é que a Plus adiciona ao já excelente pacote de equipamentos do modelo o sistema Keyless Go, de travamento e partida a distância, por 5 mil reais. Como é um modelo de duas portas, ele conta com sistema Easy Entry de deslocamento dos bancos dianteiros e aproximador do cinto de segurança para os ocupantes desses bancos.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Buying Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

Purchased this for our trips around the country and abroad, when lugging the larger laptops is to cumberson. Also because it has XP for the OS. Agree with the other reviewer who experienced difficulty getting connected to wireless LAN. CAT5 no problems. Remember, this Toshiba has no on/off wireless switch.

If you get "When you press the Fn+F8 'hotkey' combination to turn on Wi-Fi or another wireless device, you may see this message: "Wireless Communication is Disabled. Please Turn on The Wireless Communication Switch." This message is displayed if the Wireless Communication Switch is OFF.

This 'switch' is implemented in software on the NB205, and others, though on many other Toshiba models, the Wireless Communication Switch is a hardware switch.

You must use Fn+F8 to turn it on. Also experienced "The wireless communication was connected, the router had assigned an IP address, but the NB205 refused to get it." It sat at "acquiring IP address" until it timed out. After time on the phone with Toshiba rep :( , and Linksys Rep ;), finally had to reset password on the WRT54G and all was well. The enclosed manual is next to nothing, so go to: [...]

If you experience problems connecting wirelessly, I'd call your Router rep. Sorry, but Toshiba's rep wasn't that helpful.

Another idea, as I did, was to take the unit to Best Buy and see if the unit can access their wireless LAN. If it can then you might have a password issue at home between the NB205 and your router.

Overall very pleased with the simplicity and features. Perfect for the road if you don't need heavy MS Office features.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Audi Q7 2010

Integrante do segmento de SUVs de alto luxo, como o BMW X5, o Q7 sofre leves alterações e entra na linha 2010, que chega ao Brasil na segunda quinzena deste mês. O desenho agressivo e arrojado ganhou mudanças na dianteira, em que detalhes de alumínio foram colocados no para-choque e na grade retocada, com os faróis recebendo a tecnologia de leds, agora tradicional da Audi.

Como era de se esperar, o Q7 oferece uma imensa gama de itens de série, com ar-condicionado digital quadri-zone, piloto automático com controle de distância e sensores de estacionamento com câmera e visor no painel, entre outros. O carro chega aqui com duas opções de motor, 3.6 V6, de 284 cv, e 4.2 V8, de 355 cv, que segundo a marca têm aceleração de 0 a 100 km/h de 8,5 e 7,8 segundos, e velocidade máxima de 225 e 248 km/h, respectivamente. Seus preços começam em 278 mil reais, que passam para 349 mil com a versão de oito cilindros.

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Buy Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

Having researched netbooks since January 2009, I had narrowed down my choice to Asus 1000HE due to battery life, since most netbook features are similar. Recently Asus released the 1005HA and I was certain that was going to be my next purchase since it was improved over the 1000HE. I decided to check out Acer (blah), MSI(blah), HP/Compaq(blah), Samsung and Toshiba as well.

My main requirement was a good size keyboard, solid build, and great battery life. Toshiba NB205 excelled at all my requirements. I read every review I could find and even have google alerts set to Toshiba NB205. Office Depots have this netbook on display. Definitely visit your local store and try it out before you buy it. Then goto Best Buy to try out other selections and order it from Amazon.com.

Some key points:

1. Keyboard - great size, the keys are similar to the current gen apple laptops. I am typing this review on the NB205 so still getting used to it. The only strange thing is the ~ key sits to the left of the space bar instead of the ALT key. The ALT key is to the left of the ~ key.

2. Build - VERY solidly built netbook. Does not feel flimsy like all the other ones I have seen. I have a Dell XPS 1530 which I thought had a super solid build, this Toshiba NB205 is just as solid. Construction and design are great. I did not like the glossy covers and fingerprint magnet designs of the other netbooks. NB205 has a matte cover and texture to it that does not attact ANY fingerprints.

3. Battery life - Reviews tested well and better than the Asus 1000HE. Been using it for 1 hour and says 90% battery life after installing updates and downloading.

4. Trackpad - VERY large and controls well. Glides smoothly. No dinky trackpads like other netbooks. Has 2 separate buttons instead of just one. The pad is slightly recessed so it's easy to find it by feel.

The ONLY thing I dislike about the laptop is the 6 cell battery sticks out the back about .85 inches.

As for colors, ALL of the NB205 have the silver keyboard, the color difference is only on the screen portion. I chose the Blue because I liked the color the best. The White I saw in store looked very close to the silver keyboard color.

I thought about waiting for the ION, but the screens will be almost 12" and the battery life will be worse. Also, the cost difference. I don't need a HDMI output either.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Land Rover Freelander 2 2010

Lançado aqui em 2007, o SUV da marca inglesa acabou virando o maior sucesso da marca no país, sendo o responsável pela metade do total de vendas da Land Rover no Brasil. Para a linha 2010 traz pequenas novidades no interior. Seu painel de instrumentos agora conta com relógio digital, e os bancos ganharam novas opções de cor e textura do revestimento em couro, de acordo com a versão. A versão de topo, SE, ganhou faróis bixenon de série. Quanto a motores, o Freelander continua apenas com o 3.2 de seis cilindros e 233 cv.

Como todo legítimo Land Rover, ele vem com tração 4x4 em todas as versões, e com o sistema Terrain Response, que com um botão altera a configuração do carro para se adequar ao piso no qual se trafega - no caso dele, areia, asfalto, pedras, grama/neve e terra. Entretanto, o lado urbano se manifesta na excelente lista de equipamentos, que inclui nove airbags, sistema de som com MP3, 12 alto-falantes, subwoofer e disqueteira, ar-condiconado digital dual-zone, bancos de couro com ajustes elétricos e memória de posição, sistema de partida sem chave e sensores de estacionamento.

A segurança não ficou de fora desse farto pacote: além dos airbags, ele traz freios com ABS e sete sistemas eletrônicos: de estabilidade (DSC), controle de torque (EDC), tração (ETC) e estabilidade (EBD), assistência em declives (HDC), auxílio a frenagens emergenciais (EBA) e frenagens em curva (CBC). Seus preços começam em 132 mil reais, e vão até 169 mil, dependendo da versão.

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This is a cute little laptop with everything I needed, except for one very important feature. It doesn't come equipped with a modem! I had no idea since Amazon's description doesn't state that. This seems like something a description should most definatly include since the entire country has not converted to wireless yet!! We only have dial up available to us in our home, so this laptop was useless to me. I had to send it back. I loved that it has Window's XP but without the Modem, it would be nothing more than a typewriter. I was very dissapointed.
UPDATE! I did not realize it would be simple to add an external modem to this computer until someone left a message stating so.. I really did like this computer a lot and was very dissapointed that I needed to return it. On a bright note, Amazon paid for the return shipping and credited my account in full! Now that I have this info about the external modem, I'm going to reorder this computer along with a modem, because it really did seem to be the perfect little laptop! I wish I could rerate it at a 4+, minus one for not having a modem.. Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Purchase Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

I absolutely love this netbook! The size is perfect and the quality is terrific! After an extensive research to find the best netbook to supplement my aging laptop, I was immediately sold on this one (which I am using to type this review). After reading every review I could possibly find, I rushed to my local Office Depot to play with this beauty. For me, the best quality is the keyboard. The keys are spaced perfectly and they are also the perfect size with a smooth texture to them. The power button also encompass a light that can be used as a "lamp" when using the netbook in the dark. The light allows you to see all the keys on the keyboard. The webcam is great. I haven't actually "used" it yet, but I have activated it to see how clear the reception is. The HDD's ability to capture and protect the hard drive from destruction if it is dropped or bumped too hard, is another amazing feature. More importantly, this baby fits right into my purse. In essence, I have only had this netbook for 5 days and haven't had any problems with it thus far. I am most definitely satisfied with this netbook!Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life Buy Now

Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 10.1-Inch Netbook - Sapphire Blue This small computer (netbook) is truely big on power for its size. I have had desktops for several years, and enjoy working and playing on them. Now that I have this new Acer 10" I feel so free, and I am getting on-line more often than I thought I would. It is light-weight, and so very portable. Also the battery power really surprised me. (At least 6-7 hrs. of pc time) The price is also the best for a netbook this size. I have researched other netbooks, and found them to be more expensive, and nowhere near as powerful as this little Acer 10". I love it, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great little netbook to stay connected with the world, and friends.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Order Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

Update: 26-Aug-2009 - I have this for about 2 months now. Overall a good netbook, but the speaker problem is ridiculous. Initially, I was only using it on the road/traveling, so always used a headset. The last few weeks I've been using it more indoors, and the necessity to always use a headset is very annoying. I installed the latest audio drivers, which offered no improvement in performance. If I could change my rating, I would drop it to 3 stars based on the speaker issue alone. Really inexcusable. If you will always be using a headset, this remains a 4 star netbook.

I purchased my NB205 based on Johnny Chan's and the Laptop Mag review. I am doing a three month project in Europe, and wanted a lightweight computer to take with me. Got it a few days before I left and have been using it for the last couple weeks.

I wanted a computer for:
1. Running MS Office, including being able to run some complex MS Access databases.
2. Being able to browse the web.
3. Being able to watch movies when traveling (at least 6 hours of battery time).
4. Something small that I could carry with me without getting aggravated.
5. Being able to use MS Remote Desktop Connection to remote into client sites.

First the negative:

1. The speaker (as noted by others) is insufficient. In addition, the headphone jack is also underpowered. On a plane, with all settings turned up to max, I was still unable to achieve my desired volume level.
2. When plugged in, I run at max power settings. I find the fan to be annoying as it turns on and off - it is also quite loud for a laptop fan.
3. The screen had a pretty narrow optimal viewing angle. I find myself adjusting the tilt quite a bit to try to get it looking 'right'.
4. Would have like an option to set a larger virtual desktop and then scroll off the edges of the screen. I was actually very surprised this isn't an option. Software included with my new camera won't run because the screen resolution can't be set high enough.

The positive:

1. Watched 2 iTunes movies on the flight over and still had battery remaining. FYI - I tried renting an HD movie from iTunes, but the playback was very choppy. SD movies work pretty well. Don't forget to decrease the hard drive vibration sensitivity when traveling on a plane - light turbulence will trigger it.
2. All MS Access databases I've tried so far work without any problems.
3. Attractive and well-built. Very lightweight.
4. Fits very well in Case Logic LNEO-10 Ultraportable Neoprene Notebook Sleeve (just wish it had a shoulder strap).
5. Used it with Cisco VPN software to remote into Window's servers without a problem.

Also using a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 with no problems, and upgraded to 2 GB of memory with minimal effort (had to use a little force to pop the memory cover off, but didn't cause any damage).

Traveling by train this weekend - 10 hours each way, with a three day camping trip between. The Toshiba is going with me - if I notice anything during the trip, I'll update this review when I return.

Note: would have given it 4.5 stars, but that is not an available rating.

Update: Took my train trip last weekend. Mostly used the laptop to watch some iTunes movies. The battery seemed to run down a little faster. I got about 6.5 hours, but I probably could have tweaked the settings a little early on - kept the screen pretty bright for the initial movie. Just a reminder that if you want to get the 9+ hours of battery, you'll have to tweak settings. More problematic was the playback wasn't 100% smooth. A reboot helped, but since I'm not running many programs in general, I don't think I should be rebooting to watch a movie. I knock off the half star, and think 4 stars is a fair rating.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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This is netbook is great, as long as you understand it's shortcomings. This will do Internet, email, and the web magnificently. Anything more and the system is taxed.

My system came with 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP Home, but I upped the RAM to 2 GB and installed the Windows 7 beta on it. It works great. I use it with an external Dell 19 inch monitor, at 1280x1024 resolution. It works fine. I wouldn't try Photoshop on this thing. An overall great experience.Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Chevrolet Agile

Nossa Chevrolet não tinha tido um lançamento tão importante assim desde o Celta, no ano 2000. Primeiro fruto do projeto Viva, o Agile chega em tempos de matriz em acentuada crise econômica para iniciar a tão esperada renovação da linha brasileira. A ideia é que ele forme família nos próximos anos, mas por enquanto o hatchback já concorre no segmento dos compactos premium, onde enfrentará rivais como Fiat Punto, VW Polo e Citroën C3, principalmente.

Moderno, seu desenho segue as atuais tendências mundiais da marca, como os faróis agressivos ladeando a grande grade dividida em duas partes, e com laterais ressaltadas por dois vincos fortes na região dos paralamas. Ele tem todos os conceitos do Viva, mas seu maior problema foi recebê-los em péssimas proporções. A frente ficou com tamanho exagerado e com vincos que a deixam caída, antiquada. As laterais têm elementos demais, e acaba passando uma impressão de bagunça visual. Já a traseira parece ser a parte mais aceitável nesse projeto que tinha tudo para ter ficado muito bom.

Entretanto, é na cabine que ele procura compensar. Seu interior denuncia que ele é um dos carros projetados de dentro para fora. Seu espaço é muito bom, e apresenta pequenos destaques como o quadro de instrumentos futurista e um visor do nível de ventilação do ar-condicionado no console, perto dos controles. Pelo menos por enquanto, ele vem apenas com o motor 1.4 Econo.Flex, que desenvolve excelentes 97/102 cv e 13,2/13,5 kgfm de torque, com gasolina e álcool, respectivamente.

Mais uma vez em sintonia com o resto do mundo, as versões do Agile são a básica LT, que começa em R$ 37.708,00, e top LTZ, de R$ 39.601,00. A primeira traz de série computador de bordo, direção hidráulica e piloto automático, entre outros itens, e a outra adiciona vidros e travas elétricas e sistema de som com MP3 e Bluetooth. Como opcionais, ambas podem vir com ar-condicionado, freios ABS, airbag duplo e rodas de liga leve aro 15.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Where To Buy Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

This is one awesome netbook. Not many netbooks on the market allow for a 2 GIG RAM capacity. A big PLUS !!!

Fit, finish and build quality top notch. Battery life was excellent. Watched two movies(netflix) and still had 67% battery left.
Bought the original one as a gift, now i am tempted to get one for myself !Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165 10.1-Inch Netbook - Sapphire Blue I bought this for my wife. It has the 6 cell battery and it really does last 6+ hours. The 10.1 is just great. It has taken me a couple of weeks to get it running to my satisfaction. The lack of a cd/dvd drive hasn't bothered me. I use a HP Pavilion with a 17" screen. I HAVE taken it everywhere for years. It got to weighing 72.1 pounds with the brick (make that 91.1. This beauty, without the brick, is under 3 pounds and with the brick is just a few more. I started in, I think, December '81 or '82 with a Kaypro 1. A 27 pound LUGABLE. This is the first truly portable I ever had. I go back and forth to Arizona from New Jersey and I am looking forward to carrying it and even using it on the plane. I have a wireless USB from Verizon and the coinnection speed and usabality is just as good as the HP. The keyboard is not really noticable. Included software is, for the most part, as usual, a waste. I have installed Office 2007 and deleted the MS Works. I can't get over how well I do at meetings with everyone complaining about the weight and finding a place to plug in the brick and tripping over cords and this mighty mouse device just keeps on running. I have McAfee, registry mechanic and Spyware Doctor running in the background. I run Malwarebytes and Adaware from an icon. NO SLOWDOWN!! Not like the HP that dies when the stuff is running. My main printer is a Cannon MLF 620 and the wireless stuff works. I deleted Adobe and use Foxit. It is QUICKER then quick. I don't bother with the pad and use a Logitech V550 Nano (small usb plug) Google earth is okay even with the lowered res. My pictures and videos are good too. Sure they look good on my BB 8330 too but nothing is as good as the 21" desktop. But then nothing weighs in under 3 pounds either (exept the BB, of course). I just "google earth flew" from New Jersey to arizona and it was just fine. I have loaded up the hard drive with years worth of work (I am calling it my backup).

Would I get another? Sure and I am ordering it tonight when I turn it overlet to my wife and she starts to use it. I have looked at the reviews of other netbooks and I note that they brag about one thing or another. I am only sure that the major difference is the price. This one can be picked up for under $[...] at Amazon and the rest (especially the newest) run from 499 and up. This one walks the walk: I started at it at 2pm and it is now 7:30 pm and I still got over an hour left. NO BS. Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Shop For Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

I'm on my 2nd unit, the first one had a bad power switch. I thought maybe I was missing something but when I went to Best Buy and played with their demo unit I realized my unit's power switch couldn't be depressed so I sent it back and now I'm playing with the replacement unit.

First, you MUST turn the wireless function ON if you want to use it. It arrives with it turned off. This wasn't obvious to me and the quick start guide does not mention it at all. And, of course, there is no printed user's manual, so you have to find the pdf and search it for wireless. You have to press Fn+F8 to change the wireless mode (on/off and I think something else). Not sure why they do this but hopefully this will save someone else some time. Also it doesn't support WPA2 only WPA so I had to change my settings on my router. Otherwise it was simple to set up.

The screen is very glossy. IMO this is a bad trend that Apple started and now they are getting some bad feedback about this also. So be forewarned. The touchpad is ok but I would get a small mouse to use. The keyboard is kind of similar to my Apple Macbook Pro, not exactly great but functional.

Overall, so far it seems fine for my use. Obviously something larger is better for lots of work but we are buying a netbook for its small size and weight (otherwise I'd be carrying my MacBook Pro) and be able to do basic things when on the go.

It comes with some extra programs, like Norton, which I have to go around and uninstall. I have to admit that while I've been using PCs for a long time and only bought/used my first Apple in 2007 I forgot how annoying PCs can be (at home I have the MacBook Pro and a desktop that is dual bootable with Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP that I seldom use). I'll have to browse the net and download the various free virus/firewall programs.

My main reason for getting a netbook was to be able to travel and still do classwork for graduate classes I'm taking and this unit should be able to do that (i.e., connect to the internet, email, and basic Word/Excel/Powerpoint functions).
Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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This toy is getting glowing reviews from most people posting on Amazon. I suspect most are actually genuine and not a sales pitch. I buy from AMAZON every week, but have only posted back once when I got ripped off on a toothbrush. I am doing this now as I figure I can post here, then put it up on my Blog at "YardCrap". You can find it if you google.

I am a poor guy with way too much tied up in computer junk. I really had no legitimate reason to buy this. I have been looking at netbooks for months as they are interesting. I really like the MSI WIND, especially because it has a wonderful web forum that just makes one want to get involved.

Acer came out with this bigger screen and I bought it, even though I might like the smaller one better.

Like any computer, you have to be willing to play with it for a time to get the best out of it. Most people will not understand that. They just use their computer believing it to be as good as it can be.

If you do that with this ACER, you will be happy. If you adjust it some, you will be amazed.

I have 3 excellent desktops scattered around my place and a laptop that cost a lot. Compared to them, this ACER is junk. Comparing this to those just makes me an idiot.

Like I said, I had no legitimate excuse to buy this, but I am glad I did!

I have 80 gigs of music on it now. No ipod sounds as good as this ACER on head phones or hooked into my boat or deck speakers. No music player has a screen like this or supports WINAMP. It is bigger than an ipod type player, but the rare times I need to walk down the street with music in my pocket -> I can revert to those. I always hook players to powered speakers on my boat, car, deck and dock as I put a premium on good sound. For that you need a good player going through the best system you can assemble.

GPS works on this better than my car unit. I guess the computing power puts most GPS units to shame. It is incredible on my fishing boat.

If you kinda understand what this is, and kinda have a use for it, this is a great toy !! I am impressed, and will not give it back.

Here are some tips and observations.
I had good quality memory on hand and upgraded to 2gig. I doubt you need that if you keep XP Home on it. Still, memory is cheap, so why not? Windows 7 will be out soon, but it might cost more than this computer. XP Home is very capable. I have a LINUX dual boot on because it is free and fun, but unless you are already into that, this ACER would be a poor place to learn.

I think one guy put up an issue with the touch pad and everyone thinks it is cool to add to that. I suspect these are people who have little experience with touch pads. This one is OK. It is not like my $2000 laptop, but not that different. The best feature of touch pads is the tap. Just tap it. TAP IT !! It works great. I stuck in that tiny dongle with the logiteck mouse, and I like that as it fits really close.

Like any laptop, if you hook it into your large monitor and plug in a mouse, you can set it up with less pain, just up the monitor resolution.
I have not tried the wireless, but some others say it is good. For less money, I ran cable through the floor and up into places where I might want to hook in, like out here on the deck where I am now.
I suspect some incredible net books are just months off. Still, I don't see anyway you could wrong with this one if you actually do want a tiny computer that refuses to act tiny, and looks great.
Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Fiat Stilo Attractive

Além da elegante versão esportiva Blackmotion, o Stilo agora ganha uma versão de entrada, que aposta no ótimo pacote de equipamentos de série e no preço inicial de R$ 46.290 para fazer concorrência a Ford Focus de geração antiga e Chevrolet Astra.

Voltado totalmente ao custo/benefício, ele traz ar-condicionado, direção elétrica, computador de bordo com My Car, trio elétrico, regulagem de altura no banco do motorista e volante (este também em profundidade) e faróis de neblina, além de rodas de 15 polegadas com calotas.

Como opcionais, ele segue o excelente padrão Fiat e traz sistema de som com MP3, Bluetooth e entrada para iPod, airbag duplo, freios ABS, piloto automático e volante em couro com comandos satélite. Alguns deles estão reunidos em kits, como o interessante Comfort 1, com rodas de liga leve aro 15 mais o sistema de som por 1160 reais, e o Comfort 2, que adiciona um conjunto de 16 por apenas mais 500 reais.

Equipado com o 1.8 de 112/114 cv e 17,8/18,5 kgfm do restante da linha (gasolina/álcool), o Stilo Attractive ainda pode vir com o câmbio automatizado Dualogic de cinco marchas, o que lhe dá o opcional das borboletas de troca de marcha atrás do volante, este com preços começando em R$ 48.770.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

After researching for months I finally purchased my first netbook. I ended up going with the NB205-N210. Main models considered where the Asus100he / Samsung NC-10.

I must say I'm very impressed with this product. The market for 10" netbooks is crammed full of very similar offerings. I ended up going with the Toshiba for the following reasons.

1) Its one of the latest on the market. I did not want to purchase a netbook that has been out for months as the technology changes so rapidly. This is one of the few Netbooks that is using Intel's Atom N280 processor over the more commonplace N270. I'm sure the difference isn't too different, but I wanted the latest offering as far as processing power.

2) 9 Hour battery life for under $400!!! This is insane! I have just used it after its first charge out of the box and it lasted for right about 8:30 hours before I finally decided to charge it up again. This claim is for real. I'm on the road a lot and am going to love not having to run a power chord after one hour on this netbook vs my Dell laptop. Most other netbooks that I was comparing to did not have the 9 hour life. Most were in the 3-6 hour range.

3)Brand name/Style. I have really been a fan of Toshiba laptops over the past decade. I feel they offer a real solid product and the NB205 definitely has not let me down so far. As for the style..I think it really outclasses the other offerings out there. I was in a store and compared it to the Asus/ HP/ Gateway/ Dell etc and they all felt chintzy and cheap feeling compared to the Toshiba. Again being late to offer a Toshiba , they had time to really see what consumers want.

4) Full size keyboard. I can actually type just as well on NB205 as I can on my home computers. The keyboard size is perfect. I'm also very glad that the Trackpad and associated buttons are large in size! I actually have to type long emails for business and was very frustrated that other Netbooks had small keyboards and track pads. Rest assured that this keyboard is almost as large as my normal laptop and makes typing a breeze.

Cons:

1) The only thing that I do not like about the NB205 is how the battery sticks out the back. The computer is compact overall, but I was nervous about finding a 10" case to fit it. Rest assured the Case Logic LNE0-10 fits this computer perfect! I wrote a review as well about that case on here that you can look up. With the handles it makes carrying a breeze and it fits very snug. Overall, Ill deal with the batter sticking out because the battery life far outweighs the look.

2) Others have complained about loose batteries. Mine isn't loose, but you can feel it move every once in awhile when you place the computer in your lap or pull it in and out of its case. I guess time will tell how sturdy it is. I wish they would have made this more sturdy but honestly I'm nitpicking. It will stay in place and not fall out for those of you on the fence over this one particular subject. Again,Ill gladly deal with this due to the fact that I get a 9 hour battery life!

3) Speaker is not adequate at all. However, I knew this ahead of time. With netbooks there are compromises and this is one I didn't mind. I use my headset and find that adequate if I need to listen to something. Ill have to test if I can hear the headset on an airplane flight. Hopefully I can.

4) Little con but the battery life is displayed as percentage and I can't seem to find it expressed anywhere in time. So far I've just had to guess based off my watch on usage rate. Its a little bit annoying but I'm getting used to it.

Reasons why I got the lower model 210 over the 310:

Even though its only 50 dollars, I feel that having the fancy colors (which I didn't prefer), bluetooth and a slightly nicer keyboard didn't warrant the extra money. I was on a budget for under $400 dollars which I easily did and still feel that I got the best netbook out there. I'm sure some of you out there will use bluetooth a lot, but frankly I don't need this computer to have that luxury. I need a computer to access the web and be able to send emails with bottom line.

I will probably end up getting an external DVD drive in the future so I can watch movies. In the short term I plan to upgrade to 2GB ram as others have mentioned. With the price being so cheap, who can refuse?!

Overall if you get this Netbook you will be very pleased. I truly feel after heavy research that the reasons above set it apart from the others for the time being. I'm sure in under a year there will be a newer, greater model, but for now this reins King.

Side note, I ordered 1 day express delivery at 5pm eastern time and got my computer the next morning at 1230 Easter time all for under 22 dollars shipping. Total bill was $370.95. Gotta love Amazon..incredible service and the best bang for the buck. Had to wait one night..thats it! Unreal!Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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It's amazing and I love it. The battery life is four times any laptop I've ever owned. Just to cycle the battery a couple times I had to run my virus scanner for 5 hours, after changing the power settings to "always on." That's five hours of the hard drive spinning almost constantly.

I recommend you spend an extra $25 for a 2GB memory stick. I've regretted not max-ing out memory on laptops in the past. But I've never regretted spending a few extra bucks to max them out up-front.

Obviously, this is the perfect airplane companion. Even if it's your second laptop, for the airplane only, it's well worth the $350 if you travel a lot. You don't even have to worry if the person in front of you puts the seat back--it still fits. And you certainly don't have to worry about the battery life.

The keyboard is NOT a problem. I'm 6 feet tall with large hands. After reading these reviews I thought it would be an issue. I just plunked down my hands and started typing, and it was fine! That leaves only the tiny screen size as the only thing less-than-ideal, but you know what you are getting -- it's a netbook, not a laptop.

Performance is snappy -- It seems to be better than my 2.4Ghz Celeron laptop. The thing preventing lots of multi-tasking is the screen, not the CPU. If you are at home, you might consider an external monitor.

Here's a tip for would-be buyers. If you don't want to spend money for a USB CD drive, just download "Alcohol 52 Free Edition". It allows you to rip installation CDs and DVDs to image files, and to mount those files into a "virtual" drive. Just transfer the image files onto this baby using a thumb drive or over the network. Of course, some installations are not particular about running from a CD, and you can just install by copying all the files to a thumb drive. I use my thumb drives for other things, though, and it's more convenient to move 2 files across to get the whole CD, and then be able to easily clean it up after.

The first thing you'll want to do when you get this machine is uninstall all the trial software. That's pretty quick -- maybe 20 minutes. The second thing is adjust the touchpad sensitivity and speed in the control panel under "mouse".

If I can figure out how to get it to boot up with the WiFi disabled, I'll be 100% happy about it (instead of 99.9). I checked the BIOS, and didn't see anything there. Of course, flicking the button once is not much of a big deal.
Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life Review

I didn't see anyone else complaining about wireless network setup so hopefully my unit was the exception. When I tried to set up my network with a new d-link wireless router the NB205 could not detect my network or any of my friends networks. The symptom was as if there was a wireless network on/off switch like many laptops have but not the NB205. After beating my head against the wall trying to use either Windows network Wizard or the on board modem client and every other network configuration trick I could think of I gave up and called in my neighbor Vince a professional network consultant. After another hour of futility Vince finally found the problem. For some hair brained reason Toshiba has installed it's own network utility that supersedes any other network utilities called Connectivity Doctor. There was zero documentation with the NB205 on this (feature?). After playing with it for a while we found (surprise, surprise) a software wireless on/off switch. After more fiddling we got our secure network connection.
I am tempted to to give the laptop a 3 star rating but since it is so nice now that it is working I'll give it 4

I have already had one comment requesting help with this so I am pasting my reply below for anyone else who may need it.

Pressing the FN and F8 key together should toggle the switch. you may have to do it twice. If it works the orange wireless indicator on the front right edge of the keyboard should light up. This is vaguely documented on page 164 of the on board Toshiba Users Guide. ALL PROGRAMS -> TOSHIBA -> DOCUMENTATION. Good luck. I will monitor this to see how it goes.
JT
This actually brings up a little GUI box that you then use the FN and F8 keys to toggle it.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Cheap Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life

My Acer Aspire One 10.1 netbook arrived this afternoon after ordering it on Friday past. Was most impressed with the packaging as the manufacturer took great care to ensure that even Amazon couldn't screw up the product. I say this only because so many times it seems that Amazon's crew simply 'dumps' products into their boxes, with little or no protection and off they go. Mine arrived in excellent condition without the bumps and abrasions on the box many times seen from UPS. But I digress . . .

The Acer quick guide nearly made me laugh out loud with this quote from page 6 "Ensure that the battery is probably locked in place as illustrated in 2-2." If that escapes anyone - perhaps you know more than I do about the English language!

Anyway, I found the instructions a bit light on specifics, specifically with regard to the wireless communications capability. Took me awhile to figure out how to use the communications switch and that the unit was equipped with everything needed to almost instantly make connection with my router. Amazing.

From there on, everything was tremendously gratifying. I love this little MoSheen and am looking forward to many hours of fun doing the things I like to do while on the net.

I rated it with 5 stars because it really has met all of my expectations in terms of ease of use, portability, appearance 'n functionality.

Only critism I can come up with is I wish the cover wasn't glossy - makes for easy smudging. But that can be easily remedied with a wipe now and then.

I'm happy with my Acer.

AND mine came with the 5800 mAh battery, a pleasant suprise as well!Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Fiat 500 Sport

Recém-chegado ao Brasil, o compacto vem sendo vendido na Europa desde 2007 com êxito, graças às suas formas carismáticas e uma imensa lista de itens de personalização, que incluem desde acessórios externos a adesivos em variados temas. Por aqui, a maioria deve se render aos requintes da versão Lounge, mas a Sport também tem seus encantos, que com certeza vão agradar aos que querem aliar um pouco de modernidade a todo este estilo retrô.

A simpática carroceria, inspirada no homônimo lançado em 1958, atrai olhares e sorrios por onde passa. Como o nome sugere, a Sport não é uma versão básica, por ser a mais barata das duas, e sim traz adereços condizentes com a proposta, como os detalhes na cor do veículo, em vez de cromados, e o spoiler traseiro, além das rodas de liga leve aro 15.

Seu interior é ainda mais original, mantendo os detalhes como o quadro de instrumentos unificado e a faixa do painel na cor do veículo, mas com decoração mais discreta, com bancos em couro preto e detalhes pretos do painel, o que deve agradar aos mais conservadores.

Desenvolvendo 100 cv e 13,4 kgfm de torque, o motor 1.4 16v Fire deve desagradar aos que esperavam um desempenho condizente com o estilo do carro. Entretanto, o Cinquecento traz o bom câmbio manual de seis marchas, ou o conhecido Dualogic de cinco, que com sua função Sport ativada, confere ao compacto um comportamento empolgante.

Os 62.870 reais que ele pede (66.930 com câmbio Dualogic) de início parecem absurdos, mas além de todas as características citadas, ele traz um pacote de equipamentos surpreendente, com sistema de som com MP3, Blue&Me, ar-condicionado digital, sete airbags e direção hidráulica, entre vários outros, e podendo vir também com teto solar SkyDome, rodas de 16 polegadas e revestimento total dos bancos em couro do pacote Sport s.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life Top Quality

I've really grown to appreciate this little netbook since I bought it a few days ago. I think it's just the right size for a mini-laptop who's primary purpose is word processing, internet browsing, and an occasional movie watching (maybe even the occasional video game).

I went out and bought a 2gb stick of memory because I knew I was going to be upgrading to windows 7 and figured I needed it. I originally installed Win 7 with only the 1 gb of memory that it came with, but the thing that surprised me was that it ran flawlessly with only 1 gb of RAM. I then installed the 2nd of ram and I noticed no difference in performance. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about upgrading to 2 GB of ram unless you plan on installing Vista (because Vista definitely benefits from 2 GB's).

I am a writer and college student and I already have a 15.4" HP DV5. So why did I buy this netbook if I already had a notebook? Because I wanted to have something light and small that I could carry around with me everywhere I went (you never know when you're going to feel the spark to write!), plus I wanted to have something lighter that I could take to class and take notes on. This laptop fits the bill perfectly, especially with its long battery life.

I still use my Dv5 for virtually all of my non-writing needs such as playing video games, watching HD movies, and most of my internet surfing. I use this netbook for all my writing needs. It has all of my most up to date documents on it. It can be kind of tricky having two computers because sometimes you're not sure which file you put the most up to date file on... etc. I solved this problem by making the netbook the only computer I keep my writing up to date on. Otherwise it'll be a pain trying to figure out which file is most up to date and suffering the chance that you could lose some of your work.

The speaker really is the worst I've ever seen on any laptop. Period. Okay. It's not THAT bad. You can hear it in a quiet room, but realistically, you have to expect to use headphones or external speakers when you're dealing with a netbook anyway. The keyboard on this netbook is the best one on the market in my opinion, which was the reason I decided to go with the Toshiba - otherwise I would have gone with a netbook with a higher resolution. The trackpad is okay. I find that when the computer is working hard the pointer gets laggy and skips. I noticed that the pointer works a lot smoother in Win7 than in XP. One thing I miss having in Win 7 is the side scroll feature. Apparently there isn't a driver for Win 7 yet, or at least I haven't found it yet.

I also tried gaming on this little guy. It can play the original Counter-Strike 1.6 well with around 25 FPS. It also played Max Payne really well 30+ FPS constant. I tried Guild Wars, but it was too choppy to be playable even at the lowest resolution and lowest settings. It got maybe 10 FPS in GW. It might even be able to play KOTOR or some other great classics from a few years ago. :)

As far as Windows 7, everything runs outstanding. Programs load just about the same speed. When I close the lid, it goes to sleep flawlessly and wakes up instantly when I go turn it back on. Aero is smooth, even Flip 3D. I'm pretty sure I can still get the 9 hours of battery life if I turned the brightness down to the lowest possible and turn off Wifi and bluetooth. I get closer to 6.5-7 hours with the brightness up and wifi on.

I've been able to play all of the youtube videos without a problem, even HQ vids. You can't play HD videos though. Netflix videos play smooth when ran in Mozilla but not in I.E. 8. Some hulu videos play smoooth some don't. I believe Mozilla is also the best browser for Hulu as well. I also managed to get Amazon videos to play perfectly smooth. If a video isn't playing smooth, I noticed it helped if you made the video window a little smaller so the video taxed the processor less since it is rendered over less pixels.

Anyway... here's how I rate the NB205:

Design - 9/10 - Nice looking, barely more than 1" thick, just the right size for the ultimate travel netbook
Features - 8/10 - Pretty average internal components
Performance - 7/10 - I appreciated the 1000HE's ability to overclock the cpu
Ease of use 10/10 - Best keyboard, great battery life, decent track pad

Overall 9/10 - Great value, highly recommended as secondary laptop or primary laptop if you don't have high end multimedia needs.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Buying Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life

I was hoping for a wonderful netbook. Ordered it on Sunday and received it on Wednesday. Shipping was good..no damaged box. Packed well. Looks nice. 5800 battery instead of smaller one that is supposed to be with it. Problem is I cannot use it. The mouse does not work. I installed the battery and turned it on. I installed my 3-G air card. It needed to re-boot and that was the end of the mouse/trackpad. It no longer works. Instruction booklet was no help. I tried Fn + F7, but it still will not work. I hope I don't have to send it back. If I get it working, I will redo this review, but in the meantime......POOR rating from me.Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life This instant

I was unable to connect to the internet because the internet cable jack on the 1st computer I received was defective. Amazon rushed me I no-hassle replacement, received today, and it works fine.

This Windows XP mini is way more user friendly than my $3,000 dual-core piece of frustrating VISTA trash.

I also bot the 2 gig memory upgrade. I shut down, removed the one screw and opened the small bottom panel. The 1 Gig card easily popped out and the 2 Gig in. Computer immediately registered 2 Gig memory.

I also ordered a USB DVD player and immediately downloaded VLC because the windows media player failed to play my movie (about as useful as VISTA). VLC played it perfectly.

I uninstalled Norton (it immediately makes it's annoying presence known). I installed my anti-virus software. Then downloaded Malwarebytes Antimalware. It immediately found and destroyed 7 viruses.

It takes a Norton-Removal-Tool (probably available on google search) to pry all the Norton pieces off (or they conflict with other virus programs, allowing the bad stuff on).

I downloaded Open Office for the first time rather than try to hassle getting my old Word for Windows installed and then have it not handle all the new DOCX and other new Microtrash file formats. I WAS UP AND RUNNING WITH OPEN OFFICE IN MINUTES. IT READS IN ALL MY OLD DOC, EXE, AND POWERPOINT FILES AND SEEMS TO HANDLE THE NEW FORMATS, TOO. I think I'm done with Microsoft Word. And as soon as Google gets the new Chrome operating system up and running I'm very much looking forward to leaving Microsoft Windows and the piece of Vista trash far behind. Surely the world is waiting for an answer to Vista (other than Apple)!

I have noticed the screen is small for reading my news sites, but the computer seems as fast as my big Vista and as fast as my top of the line Fujitsu laptop.

So, I can leave the important stuff at home and travel with this little beauty and a 1.5 Terabyte USB drive. If it just had a GForce graphics card, I think it might replace my high end machines.

I'm looking forward to the day we get a transparent operating system that will simply let me run my applications. Google Chrome may be it.

This Toshiba seems like a real value for my buck.

Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Buy Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life

Recd this AAO 10.1 a few weeks. Also, like another post, I cannot hear/feel the fan running. Some other people said their fan is too loud, etc. So, I don't know what is going on with the fan. I sent many emails to Acer and they were no help and told me to telephone Acer, which I did. Very unfriendly people there, who didn't seem to want to help at all. Several calls, long time on hold, several cut-offs, and finally spoke to someone who said "yes," the fan was working "all the time" even though I couldn't hear it. So, at this moment I don't know what the heck is going on with the fan.
Some programs were supposed to be installed on the computer, which were not installed. Aver kept telling to get the programs from the Recovery disks. There were no Recovery disks enclosed? Plus, there is no DVD/CD drive. No way to play DVDs if you do have external drive, because the MS Media Player installed does not play DVD movies. Acer said to load some other programs to play the DVDs.
All in all, I would not purchase an Acer product again, especially because of their 'out-sourced' service/tech support. Not worth it!Get more detail about Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch Ruby Red Netbook - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

Fiat 500 Lounge

O segmento dos compactos de imagem vem se firmando cada vez no país, e o lançamento do 500 comprova isso mais uma vez. Porque chega a vez de a Fiat trazer sua releitura do charmoso Cinquecento italiano, cuja primeira versão era caracterizada por ser espartana para oferecer um carro acessível no pós-guerra, mas ainda assim seu desenho único foi adorado por 10 entre 10 italianos desde os anos 1950, mesmo depois de ter sido sucedido pelo Seicento.

Também chamado de Cinquecento, ele chega ao Brasil em duas versões: a Sport, que começa em R$ 62.880,00, e a requintada Lounge, ambas sempre vindo com o motor 1.4 16v de 100 cv e 13,4 kgfm de torque, mas com câmbio manual de seis marchas ou Dualogic de cinco, este com modo esportivo que melhora muito o comportamento do carro.

Além do desenho que chama a atenção e os sorrisos de todos por onde passa, o 500 atrai pelo interior muito caprichado, com faixa do painel na cor do veículo, quadro de instrumentos reunido em um instrumento só, e bancos de couro, que podem ter desde a cor preta até o chamativo vermelho.

No caso do Lounge, a decoração mais elegante fica por conta dos cromados nos frisos da dianteira e laterais e nos retrovisores, e pelo teto de vidro fixo. Falando em itens de série, sua lista de equipamentos impressiona: ar-condicionado digital, interior diferenciado, sistema de som com MP3 e Blue&Me, trio elétrico e sete airbags, entre outros.

Com todos esses atributos, os R$ 64.910,00 pedidos por ele não ficam tão assustadores, especialmente para quem aprecia seu desenho e não se importa com seu espaço um pouco reduzido. A Fiat pretende vender seu retrô em 150 das 520 concessionárias do Brasil, e integrar o cliente ao clube L'Unico lançado com o Linea, que oferece vantagens exclusivas aos compradores dos carros mais luxuosos da linha.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

SsangYong Kyron 2.0 Turbodiesel

Além dos estranhos Actyon e Actyon Sports, a linha da marca coreana no Brasil também tinha o utilitário Kyron, este um pouco maior e até então apenas com o motor Mercedes-Benz 2.7 Turbodiesel, de 165 cv e custando salgados R$ 129.900,00. Agora, a marca criou uma versão mais acessível do modelo, agora com o motor 2.0, também turbodiesel e fabricado pela marca alemã, mas produzindo 141 cv e 31,6 kgfm de torque, com transmissão automática de 5 marchas e tração integral, e com preço bem menor: R$ 79.900,00.

Por fora o desenho do carro agrada muito mais que o dos seus irmãos menores, apresentando linhas harmoniosas e até elegantes. Sua cabine responde com um bom pacote de equipamentos, o mesmo da versão de motor maior: airbags frontais e laterais, bancos de couro, tendo o do motorista regulagem elétrica de altura, ar-condicionado digital, e freios com ABS e EBD, entre outros.

Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life Immediately

I've been fooling with microcomputers for 25 years, and I am astounded by the value and power packed into these little Netbooks for $400 or less. These are real computers for the price of a gadget. The Toshiba NB 205 I bought will do everything I want -- including word processing, spreadsheets, Web Browsing, e-mail, even decent photo editing. And I've been getting 6 hours of battery life without tweaking any "low power" settings. These are really breakthrough machines in terms of usability and luggability.

I won't bother you with details you can find in other reviews. I bought the Toshiba for two reasons. The first was a keyboard I could actually use (I'm an editor and touch typist, so a keyboard that isn't big enough for my clumsy fingers is a non-starter). I'm not normally a fan of chiclet keyboards, but after trying this one, I realized that that it makes the most of the limited space with a design that encourages precision without cramping your fingers. It's hard to explain this precisely, but the bottom line is that after a few minutes with it, I found myself making fewer errors than I did with other machines in the class. Still, I realize that keyboards and screens are largely matters of personal preference.

Also, having spent some years supporting reporters on the road, I concluded that the laptops least likely to fail were IBMs (the original) and Toshibas.

That said, there are a couple of design and execution problems that keep me from awarding the NB 205 very top marks. One is that I use a mouse with a portable computer everywhere but on a plane (where I rarely use them anyway because there isn't much room for them in the back where I fly). The Toshiba's power supply cord plugs directly into a port on the right side of the computer at 2/3 of the way back. It sticks out a couple of inches, making it very difficult to use the mouse normally. From a design standpoint, there are two solutions to this. One is to have the power supply cord plug into the left side of the machine, elminating the problem for 90 percent of the world. Unfortunately, Toshiba couldn't plug the pwoer cord it into the back of the unit because it has an extra-large, heavy-duty hinge back there, a useful feature. The other possiblity is a power cord with an 90-degree adapter on the end, which I've seen on other PCs. That would free up a path for the mouse.

Another issue (and I was obviously unable to test all the competitiors) is the visibility of the screen outside. Even with the brightness turned up all the way, the image fades considerably outdoors, even in open shade.

Still, my wife and I love the little machine and keep it upstairs next to the TV, where until now we've been reading e-mail and settling arguments by Web browsing with an iPod Touch. The Netbook really ups the ante here.

Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.