Tomorrow, Toshiba will announce to the world it’s new Mini NB205 netbook. A first for Toshiba, it looks like they’ve planned ahead to do it right the first time, offering extra long battery life, a full, sleek keyboard, and a variety of colors to choose from. Looking at the picture below, you can see why those of us who got a sneak peek are buzzing about it.
Features available on the Toshiba mini NB205 include:
– 10.1-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite™ backlit LED display (WSVGA)
– Windows® XP Home operating system
– Intel Atom N280 processor[iii] (1.66GHz)
– 1GB DDR2 800MHz RAM[iv], upgradeable to 2GB
– Spacious storage with a 160GB HDD2
– 802.11 b/g wireless[v] and 10/100 Ethernet
– Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR (only available in mini NB205-N310)
– TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor
– Lightweight and very portable at only 2.9 lbs.
– Long-life 6-cell battery delivering up to 9 hours of productivity
– One USB port with Sleep-and-Charge and two USB 2.0 ports
– Built-in Webcam, speaker and microphone
– Toshiba PC Health Monitor
– RGB port for connecting to external displays
– Memory Card Reader Slot
– Security Lock Slot
– One-year international limited warranty and award-winning Toshiba service and support
One of the cooler features that I like is the USB port with Sleep-and-Charge that enables users to charge various consumer electronics devices even when the unit is turned off. I currently have to leave my laptop open and “awake” to charge my iPhone, which is a terrible waste of energy.
The Toshiba mini NB205-N310 ($399.00) and mini NB205-N210 ($349.00) will both be available on June 23, 2009 at major retailers, online and direct from Toshiba.
It looks great and I’m already hearing on other sites that it’s more comfortable to use than other netbooks, too. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.
One of the worst things that can happen to your laptop is ending up with a cracked screen. Be it as a result of dropping it, stepping on it, or other means, nobody likes to find out that the screen now makes better fractal art than it does a monitor. Luckily, it’s also one of the easier hardware fixes to do yourself. If you’re afraid of replacing your broken screen, don’t be. With a couple safety precautions, you can replace most modern laptop screens using steps like the ones below. If you have an eMachines M5414 or similar model, you can follow the exact steps below to replace your screen.
Ugly, isn’t it. Luckily, it’s not mine, but my brother-in-law knows how much I like to pull apart electronics, so I picked it up and ordered a new screen from ebay. Fixing something like this yourself is a lot cheaper than taking it to a professional for repair, but remember, I can’t guarantee you won’t ruin your laptop and you may void your warranty. That said, it really is an easy fix, so let’s get started.
What you’ll need
Before you begin, you’ll want to keep a couple things in mind and have a few things handy. For this project, it’s good to have a smaller screwdriver with a slotted end and a Phillips end. I have a pen-sized pocket screwdriver that worked nicely. Scotch tape (or generic) and scissors will also be helpful. Make sure you’re close to a power source and have a flat, static-free surface to work on. If you have a grounding strap, use it, and most importantly, remove the power plug and battery before you do anything. Finally, this whole process is a lot easier if you can purchase a new screen before you begin. Usually, you can just find the right screen by searching for your model number on ebay. Just be sure you buy the right one and get it from a reputable seller. Mine was about $100 from laptop_geniuses and was in my hands only a couple days after I paid.
Step 1: Remove the Bezel screw covers and screws
The way to the screen in most laptops is found by first removing the bezel, the plastic covering on the screen side of the laptop. You never want to force anything too much when removing or replacing parts, so be sure you find and remove all of the screws. In the first picture below, you can see an example of one of the screws with the rubber cover still on it and one with it removed. This laptop had six, but if you’re working on a different make or model, there may be more.
As you remove smaller parts like screws, make sure you keep them handy and know what’s what. I like to label a piece of paper and stick the screws to a piece of tape on the paper right below the label. This way, I know exactly where everything goes when I put it back together and I don’t have to worry about any rolling off because of the tape.
Step 2: Remove the bezel from the laptop body
Now that you’ve removed all the screws, you usually can’t just pull the bezel off. Usually, the two sides of the plastic will be snapped together. It will be pretty easy to pry apart, but you should be gentle with it and use the small slotted end of your screwdriver to carefully pry the two sides apart. Start from the top middle and work your way out and then down each side. To get a better angle on the bottom of the bezel, close the laptop most of the way and work on it from the back. When you’re done, you can mostly just pull away the bezel. At the bottom, near the middle, you may need to angle it a little to get the plastic out from around the hinge. On this machine, it was easier to get the left side of the hinge and then the right. When you’re done, it should look a little like the picture on the right, below.
Step 3: Remove the broken screen
Before you can install the new screen, you’ll need to remove the broken one, of course. With the bezel now out of the way, there’s just a little more work to be done before the screen can come out. On the front (on this machine, anyway), there’s a metal bar that protects the inverter board and cables. Just remove the two screws and set that aside. I set it down in the same direction I removed it just to make it easier to figure out later. Around the edges of the screen are a bunch of tiny screws. You’ll want to remove all of the ones that keep the screen from coming out of the casing.
With all the screw removed, the screen may just fall right out of the casing, but it will often have a little glue to keep it secured. Just pry the screen away and gently let it rest on the keyboard. You’ll notice a couple cables connecting the screen to the laptop. Gently unplug both and remove the broken screen.
Step 4: Install the new screen
Remove your new screen from any packaging it came in and plug the cables into it, being careful to not touch anything that has DO NOT TOUCH warnings on it. The video cable can sometimes come loose after time, so it doesn’t hurt to tape it down after it’s plugged in. Be aware of where your cables need to run. If you have a cable in the wrong place, you could pierce it when putting everything back together. As an example, in the right photo below, you can see the power cable wrapped around the screw post, but if it’s not tucked back a little farther than that, it will be in the way.
Get your inverter board and anything else that has been displaced back to where it is supposed to go. You may need to hold it in place while you screw things back together if it wont stay on its own. Then replace all the screws you removed from the old screen so they’ll now hold the new one firmly in place. While putting things back together, remember not to force things. If it feels wrong, it may be. Be patient and take your time to make sure it’s right. If your new screen comes with a protective cover taped to the front like mine did, you can untape it before installation, but I chose to install mine and then used the sharp edge of my scissors to cut the tape at the edge of the screen after it was all screwed in. This way, it’s still protected from my screwdriver while I work.
Step 5: Test
You don’t want to get the whole thing put back together only to find out that it doesn’t work. Get it back together enough to protect yourself from shock and then plug it in and turn it on. If you get no video at all or it doesn’t look right, shut it down, unplug, and re-check all your connections and cable placements. Hopefully, though, it’ll look something like below:
Step 6: Put it back together and clean up
As long as it’s all working properly, shut the laptop down and unplug it again. Then put the bezel back on, snapping it back together around the edges in the reverse of how you removed it. Put all the screws back in and replace the rubber covers.
When you’re all done, you should have a great-looking screen that reminds you of when you first brought it home. If you have extra pieces when you’re done (other than the broken screen), you did it wrong. If you used this guide and found it useful, I’d love to hear about it and if you have questions, just ask.
When I travel, I always make sure to bring along all my cameras, phone, laptop, chargers, etc. It’s a lot to carry around, but I’d rather lug it all around with me than forget something and find myself disconnected from my technology. Still, there have been times where I’ve been stuck in an airport with no laptop or no way to charge my phone. The future looks slightly less bleak with something I noticed at the Dallas Fort Worth airport on my way home last night.
It’s called PowerPort and it handles all your charging problems in one spot, prints, gets you online, and offers up laptops to rent.
Charge anything
OK… Probably not anything, but they claim it can charge up to 1,200 makes and models of devices, which pretty much means that they’re including the 7 or 8 most popular connectors. If your device has some crazy proprietary connector and isn’t an iPod, you may be out of luck. Even so, In Philadelphia, I charged my iPhone in a laptop workstation area at the terminal and kept looking up from my more comfortable seat 10 feet away to make sure someone didn’t walk off with it. $4.50 might just be worth it to not have to worry about that if you have an expensive device in need of charging. Ultimately, I’d suggest having something like the Mophie Juice Pack or the Ecosol Powerstick with you, but in a pinch, $4.50 is an OK rescue price for a dead battery.
Rent a laptop
If I didn’t feel compelled to take my laptop everywhere, I would be all over this, and that may be its only flaw. I think people who really need to be online that much will generally have a laptop next to them at the terminal already. That’s not to say it’s a bad idea. When I saw it, I thought it was a great idea and a great price. For $6.95 an hour, you can have an internet-connected laptop to use while you wait for your flight. I see some possible problem areas. First, it’s an unmanned kiosk, so there’s nobody to check the laptops when they are returned after rental. The reason this gives me concern is that it’s like lending your laptop to someone right before and right after you use it. How can you be assured that your data is secure and that the laptop will be free of viruses or even be functioning properly when you get it? I’m sure that 99.5% of the time a laptop rental will go flawlessly, but it’s the last .5% I’m worried about.
Print documents
There’s not much to say about this except that you can print documents with the laptop rental at no additional fee. Of course, it’s a shared printer out in the open, so if it’s confidential, you should go grab it right away.
Surf the web
We’ve seen this in airports and hotels for a while. I’ve never been a big fan of using a public computer that is easily viewable by anyone to get online. If I’m looking up directions on Google Maps or just checking some sports scores, that’s fine, but if I’m logging into something, checking email, etc., I want a little more privacy.
Additional thoughts
This isn’t a paid post, nor did I actually try any of the services offered and the website seems to be lacking in detailed specifics, so if you want more information, go to powerports.com and poke around or contact the company directly with questions. I wanted to write about it because, as a tech consumer, I was excited about the concept and would have forked over a few bucks to use it if I didn’t already have everything I needed with me. If you’ve used it, I’d love to hear your opinions and experiences.
