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News: Bye-Bye to Batteries?

Sometime in the near future, the notebook battery could become a thing of the past. That's the plan Toshiba has in mind, at any rate. The electronics giant recently announced it has developed a prototype direct methanol fuel cell that's capable of powering portable computers for up to 10 hours. Another fuel cell Toshiba developed provides up to 5 hours of operation. The fuel cells don't need to be recharged as traditional batteries do, running instead on replaceable methanol cartridges. The fuel cells should be for sale sometime next year, the company says.

News: Dell Desktop Replacements

Dell Computer recently debuted three new Inspiron desktop replacement notebooks.

Inspiron 1100: Built around a 2-GHz Intel Celeron desktop CPU, the 1100 is the most affordable of the new Inspirons. A basic configuration is $899, and includes a 14-inch display, 128MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and two USB 2.0 ports. The Inspiron 1100 replaces the Inspiron 2600.

Inspiron 5100: This model offers a choice between four Intel Pentium 4 desktop processors, with clock speeds up to 2.8 GHz. A bottom-line Inspiron 5100 costs $1199 and is configured with a 2.4-GHz Pentium 4, a 14-inch LCD, 256MB of memory, a 30GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, two USB 2.0 ports, and an IEEE 1394 port. For another $49, you get integrated 802.11b wireless Internet access, too. The Inspiron 5100 replaces the Inspiron 2650.

For more information about the Inspiron 1100 and 5100, read "Dell Updates Inspirons."

Inspiron 8500: Dell's new multimedia powerhouse is designed for digital entertainment as well as well as work. The 8500 is loaded with high-performance features such as graphics chips from either NVidia or ATI Technologies and a 15.4-inch wide-aspect screen. A $2299 base configuration includes a 2.0-GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 30GB hard drive, and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. For more info on the Inspiron 8500, see "Dell Launches Inspiron 8500 Notebook."