Mobile Computing News, Reviews, & Tips

Notebook Tips: Wide-Screen Notebook Gotchas

Wide-screen portables let you see more spreadsheet cells and other data than traditionally sized screens allow.

So what's the catch? PC World's Carla Thornton notes that wide-screen notebooks don't make great gaming machines because of their wide aspect ratio. You can probably avoid the "stretched picture" syndrome by switching the aspect ratio to 16:10. Also, presentations created on a wide-screen notebook may not display properly when shown via a projector. For the best results, create the presentation in a standard resolution or set the correct aspect ratio on the projector.

For more tips and buying advice on wide-screen notebooks, read Carla's article, "A Walk on the Wide Side."

Notebook Review: The Near-Perfect Wide-Screen Portable

The lightweight Compaq Presario V2000, with its long battery life and easy-to-read screen, comes the closest to being "the perfect wide-screen laptop," says PC World's Carla Thornton. In her evaluation of seven wide-screen portables, the Presario earned top marks for its optional 12-cell battery (just $25 more than the standard 6-cell battery), which lasted 5.8 hours in our tests. The bright, 14-inch WXGA screen, with a native resolution of 1280 by 768 pixels, displays icons big enough to see easily--and yet you still get an extra inch of width.

Get the manufacturer's latest pricing at its Web site.

Notebook News: Dell's Lightest Notebook

At 2.5 pounds, Dell's new Latitude X1 is the company's lightest portable yet. The business notebook features a battery life of up to 6 hours (according to Dell), reinforced casing, a sealed keyboard that helps prevent damage from spills, a smaller and lighter power adapter and battery, and more.

Business Travel News: Hiltons Feature MP3 Player Hookups

The Hilton Hotels chain is rolling out a new clock radio in guest rooms this spring. The news hook? You can connect your MP3 or CD player via a supplied cable and listen to your tunes through the radio's built-in stereo speakers. The alarm clock is also easy to set and automatically updates alarm times daily--so you won't be rudely awakened by a previous guest's 5 a.m. curtain call.

Smart Phone News: T-Mobile Puts the IPaq H6315 on Hold

With so many users complaining of software glitches, T-Mobile USA temporarily suspended sales of Hewlett-Packard's IPaq H6315 hybrid PDA/phone as of this writing. The H6315, released last July, combines a Windows Mobile PDA with a GSM/GPRS phone, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity. HP was expected to release a free software update that fixes the glitches by early April.

Note: Since this column was written, HP has released the expected software update. T-Mobile has resumed sales of the IPaq H6315, but is allowing dissatisfied users of that PDA to exchange it for other models. Read "HP Releases Fix for H6315 PDA Phone" for details. --Editor

PDA Rumor: Windows Mobile 2005 to Include Push E-Mail

The upcoming Windows Mobile 2005, Microsoft's update to its Pocket PC and smart phone operating system, is expected to offer BlackBerry-style "push" e-mail, The Economist reports. Along with upcoming push e-mail support in the Microsoft Exchange e-mail server, mobile users will soon be able to have their e-mail automatically forwarded to their portable Pocket PC devices, rather than having to check messages manually. Windows Mobile 2005 is expected this spring.

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