Mobile Computing News, Reviews, & Tips

Notebook Review: Flip the Switch on ABS Gaming Notebook

The ABS Mayhem G4 Revolution ($2149) has something you don't see on other notebooks: a switch that toggles between two graphics processing units. Flip the switch on the notebook's front to turn on the nVidia GeForce Go 6600 graphics card with 256MB of dedicated memory. Hitting the switch again ignites the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, which is slower but uses less battery power. Too bad the notebook's battery lasted only 2.5 hours even using the slower graphics.

Portable Video News: Put TiVo Programs on Your iPod

TiVo recently announced an extension of its TiVoToGo service that will allow subscribers to transfer TV programs from their TiVos to their Apple iPods and Sony PlayStation Portable gaming devices. While this sounds cool, you'll need to buy PC software to enable the content transfer; TiVo hasn't disclosed a price for the software yet but says it will be "low-cost."

Disaster Prep Tip: Keep Insurance and Other Records on a PDA

Rich McGuirt of Lake Charles, Louisiana, went without electricity for two weeks after Hurricane Rita struck. Though he came through the storm fine, Rick had prepared by loading his insurance policy numbers, vehicle insurance information, vaccination records, and other data, onto his Palm PDA. Rich also took close-up digital photos of the serial and model numbers on computer equipment and appliances. Having all that information in one place makes dealing with insurance companies after a disaster a whole lot easier, Rich points out. For more advice on using your gadgets in an emergency, read "Emergency Gadgets."

Suggestion Box

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.

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