Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/W 14.1-Inch Laptop - White Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a white Vaio CS320J. I have had it for 3 months and have had issues with the loud fan noise as well as a rumbling soung in the fan. The computer has overheated and shut off. Took the computer back to the store I bought it and they tried to charge me to have it diagnosed under warranty. I bought an extended warranty on this laptop to prevent issuse like this. I have had problems with Sony products in the past and decided to give them another try. Big mistake. Sony product are poorly manufactured and fall apart within months. I would never buy another Sony product. Do not buy this laptop unless you are okay with wasting hundreds of dollars. I would buy anything else over Sony. ANYTHING.

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Step out and be seen with the VAIO CS notebook, a gorgeous 14.1” notebook. This thin-and-light PC slips easily in and out of hand bags and features an array of entertainment extras, including light effects. Add to these, the performance and efficiency of Intel Core 2 Duo processor technology and you have an eye-catching notebook that will complement your life on all levels, from its personalized design to its ability to handle all your entertainment and computing needs.

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Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Combo Drive) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this mini to replace a 1.42 GHz G4 mini that just couldn't handle my 6,000+ pictures in iPhoto anymore. It took 1-2 minutes before I could do anything in iPhoto after I opened it.
When I got this machine, I immediately replaced the two 512 MB sticks with two 1 GB sticks that I bought online for about $35 each (much cheaper than Apple). I also had an existing 200GB external drive which is the same form factor as the mini and sits underneath it in addition to a Belkin USB hub (same form factor as well), since you can never have enough USB 2.0 ports.
The machine is great and much faster than my old Power PC mini. iPhoto opens very quickly and I can immediately browse through all my film rolls, even with other programs, such as Safari and Eudora, running. I am glad I waited until Apple changed from the Core Duo to the Core 2 Duo, although I am not sure how much difference there is between the newer and older Intel mini.
I also love the included remote for iLife. It's nice to be able to browse through iTunes, iPhoto, etc. without the keyboard/mouse.
There are rumors that Apple will discontinue this little machine soon, but I hope they don't as it is a great buy for anyone who already has a nice monitor/LCD. I would like to get a 24" iMac but they are too expensive and I would much rather just buy a Mac mini and hook it up to a 20" or 24" external LCD since I don't like all-in-one devices (printers or computers).

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A great choice for home computing tasks and creating a digital media hub, Apple's Mac mini desktop PC combines design simplicity with powerful computing resources. Nicely compact at just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches high, the Mac mini offers an affordable avenue to dual-core processing power via the 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and Apple's latest suite of digital media applications--iLife '08. It also comes with the Apple Remote and Front Row media display software, which enables you to easily play your music, enjoy photo slideshows, and watch DVDs, iMovies, music videos and television shows from across the room.
This Mac mini also features 1 GB of installed RAM (with a 2 GB maximum capacity), 80 GB hard drive, a combo DVD-RAM/CD-RW drive for watching DVD movie discs and burning your own mixes to CD, Gigabit Ethernet wired networking and 802.11b/g wireless LAN, and the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard operating system. You'll have to supply your own keyboard, mouse, and display.
Preinstalled with iLife '08 Every Mac mini includes iLife '08, the latest version of Apple's award-winning suite of digital media applications, with major upgrades to iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto '08 now automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let you more easily manage your growing photo collections, and iMovie '08 can import video from the latest AVCHD, HDV and DV camcorders, as well as from digital cameras, and displays your entire video library whether it's stored on internal or external drives. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple's new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host websites for their photos and videos.
iLife '08 also features iWeb '08, with live web widgets such as Google Maps that let you create even more dynamic websites, and GarageBand '08, with its new Magic GarageBand feature that makes it fun and easy for both musicians and non-musicians to create great sounding songs.
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor The Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 processor has a 1.83 GHz processor speed, fast 667 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and large 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
The Intel Core 2 Duo's 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts.
Wired and Wireless ConnectivityThe Mac mini gives you plenty of room to grow with four USB 2.0 ports on the back--for connecting devices such as cameras, iPod, printer, camcorder, or keyboard--as well as a FireWire 400 port, which enables super-fast connectivity to hard drives as well as digital video camcorders. Share files around your house with built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet as well as 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g). The integrated Bluetooth wireless connectivity--version 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)--allows you to use a wireless keyboard or mouse, and synchronize peripherals such as cell phones and PDAs. Enjoy high-quality sound on almost any speaker system with double-duty analog/digital audio. Record digital and analog sources through audio line in, perfect for your latest podcast in GarageBand.
Graphics and Video The Mac mini has a DVI video output that supports digital resolutions up to 1920 by 1200 pixels and is compatible with the 20-inch Apple Cinema Display and 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. It also supports coherent digital displays up to 154 MHz, and non-coherent digital displays up to 135 MHz. Using the included VGA video adapter, you can connect to analog displays at a resolution up to 1920 by 1080 pixels. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) and provides up to 64 MB of shared video memory.
Other Features
1 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) on two SO-DIMM with a 2 GB maximum capacity
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, and reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Built-in speaker
Meets ENERGY STAR requirements with maximum continuous power of 110 watts

Included Software Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard operating system (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools); iLife '08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand); Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive; iWork (30-day trial); and Front Row
What's in the Box Mac mini, Apple Remote, power cord, install/restore DVDs, printed and electronic documentation

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Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the second Bluetooth mouse I've owned. The first Bluetooth mouse (from a different manufacturer) was so bad, I took it back after 2 days because:
- The 2 AAA batteries went flat after 2 days.
- After letting the mouse sit for a minute, moving the mouse gave no cursor movement until it came out of some sort of deep sleep.
- It performed badly on timber surfaces.
The Microsoft Laser 8000 has none of these faults. I've been using it for almost 3 weeks with min 12hr days and it has taken this long for the battery to go flat. Actually, it's not flat, but the red light says it's time for a charge. Amazing.
The mouse performs very well on timber surfaces, although it can do a minor mistrack sometimes, but not enough to cause frustration. It shows zero delay after leaving the mouse sit for any length of time - the cursor responds instantly.
The power switch is great, making it easy to throw the mouse in the backpack when travelling from home to the office or further. Initially I was sceptical about the smooth spin scroll wheel, but now I'm a convert.
Good Points:
-Battery life from a single charge lasts easily over 2 weeks.
-Single AA battery (cheap to buy & carry an emergency replacement if necessary).
-Power switch, great for switching the mouse off before travelling.
-Perform well on timber surfaces and every other surface I've tried.
-Cursor responds instantly, even if the mouse has been untouched for hours.
Bad points:
-The mouse requires the charging base to get recharged. The charger won't plug directly into the mouse and the mouse can't be plugged into a USB port to charge. This is bad for travellers, but at least the charging base is flat so it packs easily.
-The scroll wheel is stiff to press (ie middle mouse button).
Another review said the Instant View feature only works with the dongle. This wasn't the case for me. I have an IBM T42 and all the features work with the laptop's built in Bluetooth transceiver. I must confess I didn't like this feature as I use the middle button for other things.
In summary, I'm very happy with it. The pros easily outweigh the cons, so I have no qualms recommending it.

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The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 combines cutting edge features with sophisticated design. Microsoft's first rechargeable mouse, the 8000 delivers 2.4GHz Bluetooth wireless performance, high definition laser and more, all in a sleek and stylish brushed-aluminum package.
Fully rechargeable so you save money on batteries, this mouse has a battery-status LED indicator that indicates when batteries need recharging so you won't be caught without power to run your mouse in a critical moment. This Microsoft wireless mouse is designed to be symmetrical for right- or left-handed users, with an authentic brushed-aluminum casing that feels as good as it looks, and has a four-way scrolling button with Tilt Wheel technology for greater efficiency and comfort when ripping through long documents or web pages. This mouse utilizes Microsoft's High Definition laser technology for more precise, more responsive, and smoother tracking, as well as 2.4GHz Bluetooth with First Connect Technology so you can connect wirelessly right out of the box. For convenience features, Microsoft's 8000 mouse has an Instant Viewer function that lets you click the scroll button to display all your open windows so you can click to select the one you need, a Magnifier function that lets you point-and-click to enlarge and edit sections of detail, and customizable buttons that provide you with quick access to media, programs, and the files or functions you use the most.
The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 requires a PC running Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista, 100 MB free space for installation and 45 MB free space for ongoing usage, an open USB port, and a CD drive for installation software. This unit comes with a mini-Bluetooth transceiver, one AA NiMH battery, an installation CD, and a user manual.

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