Boy Pees $36,000 MacBooks---$36,000 worth of MacBook computers at his school, pees that costs his school $36,000: His school hallway, destroying a stack of MacBooks worth more than $36,000. It is not known what possessed the Upper Allen Elementary School kid to let loose last week, or how much Gatorade a boy has to guzzle in order to destroy so many computers in that way.
In any case, the unattended school-owned Apple laptops are beyond repair. The boy was not arrested, though his case has been forwarded to the Cumberland County Juvenile Probation Department.
The concept is the same as the Air: A super-thin, super-portable device with incredible battery life and a solid state drive instead of a traditional hard drive.When comparing specs head-to-head, the Series 9 looks better on paper than the MacBook Air. It has a more advanced processor (Intel Core i5 versus what feels like an ancient Core 2 Duo in the Air) and comes with 4 GB of RAM, standard.
But I noticed little difference between the two machines as far as performance went. Both are super fast thanks to the solid state drive. The Series 9 is a bit slower booting up and shutting down, but that's hardly noticeable.
Solid state drives are still expensive, but its worth the investment for the speed. The Series 9 had no problem launching apps in a jiffy, and didn't choke when I had a bunch running at the same time.
Video looks incredible on the S9's HD display. I downloaded a few HD trailers to test it out, and got some great results. Everything is bright and clear. It's a blast to watch.
Battery life is excellent too. I could get several hours on one charge, and it barely uses any power at all when it's closed or asleep.
My biggest problem was with the touchpad. Samsung borrowed Apple's idea for a singular touchpad that acts as both a button and a multitouch input device. It's nowhere near as smooth as the Air's touchpad. Gestures were difficult to figure out, and I found myself opening links and apps when I didn't mean to.
My suggestion: adjust the touchpad's sensitivity settings so it doesn't flip out on you.The Series 9 ships with Windows 7, and thankfully Samsung didn't add too much crapware on top of that. As long as you immediately remove Norton Antivirus, you should be able to avoid all those ridiculous popups begging you for money.
Samsung did add some nice tweaks though for volume controls and Wi-Fi connection that are much better than Windows 7's standard settings.
Other than that, the experience is exactly what you'd expect from a Windows machine. Nothing special to report here.At the end of the day, I still enjoy my MacBook Air more than the Series 9. But that's mostly due to my love of OS X and hatred of all things Windows. If you prefer windows and want an ultra-portable laptop, the Series 9 is a winner.
The only thing that may hold you back. It starts at $1,649.99, which is pretty insane for a Windows laptop. or once, the usually-pricier Mac wins here; the 13-inch Air starts at $1,300
'll start this review off with one big caveat: I'm pretty old-school when it comes to reading.
As much as I love gadgets, I still prefer to read books on dead-tree matter instead of a screen. I've never owned an e-reader, and I couldn't get used to reading books on my iPad's bright LCD screen.
So using the Nook Simple Touch is actually the only extended period I've ever spent with an e-reader.It didn't completely sell me on e-reading, but I certainly see the appeal: The Nook is light, displays text that's almost indiscernible from print, and can store about 1,000 books.
Keep on reading for my full reviewThe Nook got a lot of "Oohs" and "Ahs" when Barnes & Noble CEO unveiled the Nook to the press in New York a few weeks ago. It was a lot smaller than we had expected.
While it has the same 6-inch screen you're probably used to on e-readers, the Nook chopped off the physical keyboard in favor of one controlled by touch. The result is a device that looks more square than it should.
I know this sounds superficial, but the Nook's design is really my only major problem with the device. It feels too square, and would be a lot better if it had a more "book-y" size ratio. The newest Kobo pulls that off pretty well.Aesthetics aside, the Nook's killer feature is supposed to be touch. I was glad to see Barnes & Noble finally ditch the keyboard in favor of a touch-based E-Ink display.
The controls work pretty well, but those of you used to the nearly instant response of iOS and Android touchscreen devices will notice a bit of a lag. From the home screen I could easily get to "Two Mississippi" before a new book loaded. There's also a slight delay when typing on the on-screen keyboard.
In any case, the unattended school-owned Apple laptops are beyond repair. The boy was not arrested, though his case has been forwarded to the Cumberland County Juvenile Probation Department.
The concept is the same as the Air: A super-thin, super-portable device with incredible battery life and a solid state drive instead of a traditional hard drive.When comparing specs head-to-head, the Series 9 looks better on paper than the MacBook Air. It has a more advanced processor (Intel Core i5 versus what feels like an ancient Core 2 Duo in the Air) and comes with 4 GB of RAM, standard.
But I noticed little difference between the two machines as far as performance went. Both are super fast thanks to the solid state drive. The Series 9 is a bit slower booting up and shutting down, but that's hardly noticeable.
Solid state drives are still expensive, but its worth the investment for the speed. The Series 9 had no problem launching apps in a jiffy, and didn't choke when I had a bunch running at the same time.
Video looks incredible on the S9's HD display. I downloaded a few HD trailers to test it out, and got some great results. Everything is bright and clear. It's a blast to watch.
Battery life is excellent too. I could get several hours on one charge, and it barely uses any power at all when it's closed or asleep.
My biggest problem was with the touchpad. Samsung borrowed Apple's idea for a singular touchpad that acts as both a button and a multitouch input device. It's nowhere near as smooth as the Air's touchpad. Gestures were difficult to figure out, and I found myself opening links and apps when I didn't mean to.
My suggestion: adjust the touchpad's sensitivity settings so it doesn't flip out on you.The Series 9 ships with Windows 7, and thankfully Samsung didn't add too much crapware on top of that. As long as you immediately remove Norton Antivirus, you should be able to avoid all those ridiculous popups begging you for money.
Samsung did add some nice tweaks though for volume controls and Wi-Fi connection that are much better than Windows 7's standard settings.
Other than that, the experience is exactly what you'd expect from a Windows machine. Nothing special to report here.At the end of the day, I still enjoy my MacBook Air more than the Series 9. But that's mostly due to my love of OS X and hatred of all things Windows. If you prefer windows and want an ultra-portable laptop, the Series 9 is a winner.
The only thing that may hold you back. It starts at $1,649.99, which is pretty insane for a Windows laptop. or once, the usually-pricier Mac wins here; the 13-inch Air starts at $1,300
'll start this review off with one big caveat: I'm pretty old-school when it comes to reading.
As much as I love gadgets, I still prefer to read books on dead-tree matter instead of a screen. I've never owned an e-reader, and I couldn't get used to reading books on my iPad's bright LCD screen.
So using the Nook Simple Touch is actually the only extended period I've ever spent with an e-reader.It didn't completely sell me on e-reading, but I certainly see the appeal: The Nook is light, displays text that's almost indiscernible from print, and can store about 1,000 books.
Keep on reading for my full reviewThe Nook got a lot of "Oohs" and "Ahs" when Barnes & Noble CEO unveiled the Nook to the press in New York a few weeks ago. It was a lot smaller than we had expected.
While it has the same 6-inch screen you're probably used to on e-readers, the Nook chopped off the physical keyboard in favor of one controlled by touch. The result is a device that looks more square than it should.
I know this sounds superficial, but the Nook's design is really my only major problem with the device. It feels too square, and would be a lot better if it had a more "book-y" size ratio. The newest Kobo pulls that off pretty well.Aesthetics aside, the Nook's killer feature is supposed to be touch. I was glad to see Barnes & Noble finally ditch the keyboard in favor of a touch-based E-Ink display.
The controls work pretty well, but those of you used to the nearly instant response of iOS and Android touchscreen devices will notice a bit of a lag. From the home screen I could easily get to "Two Mississippi" before a new book loaded. There's also a slight delay when typing on the on-screen keyboard.
