Leopard O.S.

This is true art, friend. The amazing “brotato” (rhymes with potato, in a perfect world) has hacked together netbook components, an ancient keyboard and a 14.2-inch LCD into this classy case, dubbing the project “The Poor Man’s Netbook.” The box is running Windows XP, but he tested it out with Windows 7 and Mac OS X and it performed beautifully, except for the Bluetooth 2.1 module. The box is based on a Mini-ITX Intel D945GCLF2 Dual Core 1.6Ghz Atom motherboard, with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and 802.11n WiFi — though you’ll have to hunt down an outlet, there’s no battery power here. The best news is that he’s selling the whole conglomeration on eBay, perfect for completing that piece of horrible cyberpunk fiction you’ve been slaving over on your boringtop.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Desktops

Netbook in a suitcase: all the shortcomings of a subnote in a large, inconvenient package originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you live anywhere but Japan and you’re looking to put yourself through that seasonal ritual of torture by getting a good, hard look at everything Japanese carriers have that you can’t, look no further. Engadget Mobile has assembled complete galleries and details on every one of KDDI au’s new models presented as part of its Spring 2009 collection — and yeah, needless to say, there are some whoppers in here. So have a look, read through, and cry softly to yourself for a while; don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

Filed under: Cellphones

A frighteningly close look at KDDI au’s Spring 2009 phone lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those obsessives over at Laptop Mag wrangled up a new MSI Wind U120 and did the review thing, and while there’s plenty of good here, the wide availability of similarly specced, strongly designed netbooks throws the Wind’s flaws into sharper relief. With the same internals and battery of the original, and yet oddly less battery life, the main improvement here is the more “professional” chassis design. Not a ton to get excited about, but at least the $379 pricetag has a decent edge on other higher-end (in looks, anyways) laptops of this ilk.

Filed under: Laptops

MSI Wind U120 hits the review bench, short on thrills originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nearly a year to the day after we heard that WiFi trials were beginning on some of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, WiFi Rail has announced a deal that’ll last a score and provide high-speed WiFi “throughout the BART transit system and on all BART commuter trains.” Reportedly, the network has successfully been tested to handle loads and provide speeds in excess of 15Mbps on trains moving 81 miles-per-hour. As it stands, four downtown San Francisco stations and some segments of the tunnels are already fully functional, but it’ll take until the end of 2010 before the entire network is complete. There’s no mention of what the price table will end up looking like, though we are told that subscriptions will be available by day, month or year. Now, if only this would filter out to every other mass transit entity in America, we’d be just jolly.

Filed under: Transportation, Wireless

WiFi Rail finalizes 20 year deal to bring internet to BART trains originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew the name, but when it comes to phones, it’s not really the name we care about, now is it? (Is it?) Looks like we now have the first totally unofficial shot of Motorola’s upcoming ZN300 slider, said to feature a QVGA display and 3 megapixel cam around back. Unless this puppy runs Android through some comical error in communication between Moto’s executive and engineering teams, the glossy front, generous bezel, and rockin’ offset “M” logo aren’t enough to do it for us — but we’re sure they’ll manage to sell a few for a song on contract when it’s finally announced. Go, sk8r boi, go!

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola ZN300 looks possibly okay, sort of originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, bollocks! If one particular spokesman who opened up to ZDnet today is accurate, Philips’ totally sweet 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV won’t ever be sold on American soil. Quite frankly, we’re wondering what’s up with Philips and its apparent disdain for the US market. It farmed out its Blu-ray / DVD and TV operations in North America to Funai, it didn’t even bother showing up in Vegas for CES, and anything even remotely swank that it produces seems to be reserved for those overseas. What happened to the worldwide love, Philips? Did someone give you the impression that Yanks wouldn’t buy one of these completely mesmerizing new panels? Sigh.

[Thanks, Sean]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Philips’ 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV: not for Americans originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Danger’s going to switch up its Hiptop platform strategy in the era of Microsoft ownership, you think that it might be to… oh, we don’t know, something even remotely Microsoft-related. Granted, shoehorning Windows Mobile 6.1 onto a Sidekick LX sounds like a match made in hell, but at the very least, they could start with a Windows CE base and attach a bunch of Danger-specific stuff with wood glue until the end result looked familiar to users. Alas, Hiptop3 is reporting its own sources in combination with some telling open job positions and notes from Danger employees to suggest that the upcoming Sidekick LX 2009 — possibly to be known as the Sidekick Blade — will actually feature an entirely new kernel based on NetBSD. Our only guess is that this fancy little project started well before the acquisition completed, and in the interest of getting a thoroughly modern, 3G- and GPS-equipped Sidekick into the market as quickly as possible, maybe Redmond begrudgingly greenlighted the remainder of the project. Good on you, Microsoft.

Filed under: Cellphones

Sidekick LX 2009 running Wind… er, NetBSD? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not be quite the all purpose OS that Windows XP has become, but Windows 7 is certainly proving to at least be a good deal more versatile than its immediate predecessor, and folks just can’t seem to stop testing its limits. One of the latest to be put through the wringer is the Amtek U560 UMPC, which is based on a pre-Atom A100 processor that clocks in at a mere 600MHz. Despite that, however, and the system’s paltry 512MB RAM, the UMPC seems to have been more than up to the task, with it snagging a passable Windows 7 Experience Index rating of 1.2. Head on past the break to check it out in action.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Windows 7 gets installed on Amtek U560 UMPC, what’s next?

Filed under: Handhelds

Windows 7 gets installed on Amtek U560 UMPC, what’s next? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s 15.4-inch IdeaPad Y530 has been around the block a time or two, but if you’ve been putting off a buy as you wait for someone to test this puppy out good-fashion, your day has arrived. The benchmarking fiends over at HotHardware have abused (in a good way, of course) the Y530 in pretty much every way possible, even straining the Core 2 Duo CPU and the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M to see how they fared in gaming scenarios. Critics were particularly wowed by the display’s crispness and overall stability of the machine — not once during the gauntlet of tests did this bugger crash or weep under pressure. Of course, serious gamers should probably look elsewhere, but those scouting a do-it-all laptop at a sub-$1,000 price point should definitely dive into the read link below.

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 tested in every way imaginable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that Moblin is out in all of its alpha release glory, we’ve been preparing ourselves mentally and physically for the flood of videos we’re sure to receive as folks start installing the OS all over the place. For our inaugural Moblin Movie, the kids over at Laptop Magazine have got it happily running on a Samsung NC10 and — despite booting off a USB thumb drive — the speed of the thing is pretty impressive. WiFi and ethernet did their thing with minimal effort, the mouse and trackpad worked like a charm, and all in all things look swingin’. But don’t take our word for it — catch the video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Moblin finds a home with the Samsung NC10

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Video: Moblin finds a home with the Samsung NC10 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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