While netbooks are certainly garnering the majority of the notebook spotlight these days, thin-and-light machines such as Acer’s Timeline series and MSI’s X-Slim family are making a move for the forefront. Just this week, Lenovo also introduced its first significant foray into the segment, and we have to say, it should provide some solid competition in the burgeoning market. The 14″ U450p is a perfect in-between for folks not happy with a cramped ultraportable and not able (or willing, as the case may be) to

Legit Reviews has been scouring the BYOC at Quakecon 2009 and has found 15 cases that have been modded and stand out from the crowd. We saw a bunch of Dell and HP computers as well, but who cares about store bought PCs. Quakecon is all about Do-It-Yourself systems and the gamers here are the real deal.

You know, Dell’s Vostro lineup is really turning into one to watch. While it’s admittedly aimed at the business users in the crowd, a lot of the systems are perfectly suitable for everyday consumers. Take the company’s newest offerings, for instance. The Vostro 1014, 1015 and 1088 are all attractive notebooks with a decent array of specifications and an even more reasonable price tag. Oh, and did we mention that the look the part as well? While none of the three appear to be ready for selling on Dell’s website,

Information on a supposed DRAM breakthrough has been running hot across the wires, but the press release from Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) that’s sparked techie interest across the Internet is a tad misleading. There’s nothing factually incorrect regarding the group’s achievement (at least not as far as we know), but the gap between where we are today and a commercially viable FeDRAM design is much, much wider than implied. The PR states that the Semiconductor Research Corporation and Yale University

MSI Computer announced five new editions to their Classic C Series Line of Notebooks the CX600, CX700, CR600-013, CR600-017 and CR700. The 600 models are lightweight 16 inch notebooks that weigh in at just 5.4 pounds and are only 1.18 inches thick 20 percent thinner than the average 16 inch notebook. The 700 models are 17.3 inches and weighs just over 6 pounds. These trendy laptops feature a striking design with clean lines and 45 degree angled edges. All five models feature MSIs Color Film Print Technology, which creates vivid designs when the unique surface interacts with ambient light. The new C-series models start at $549.99 MSRP and all comes with a 3 year limited warranty, which includes 1 year of global service.

The newest MSI C-Series notebooks feature widescreen LCD 16:9 aspect ratio high resolution displays (600 Models – 1366768, 700 Models 1600×900). These allow users to view DVDs in full widescreen with no black lines. The CX600 and CX700 are equipped with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 3D discrete graphic card (512MB VRAM), capable of increasing display effectiveness by 49% with rich colors, sharper contrasts and better picture clarity.

Taking on RIM could be a challenge, but if Nokia and Microsoft can pull it off easier and cheaper for customers than RIM can, they just may put a dent in the Blackberry world.

Microsoft and Nokia have teamed to bring Microsoft's Office applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to Nokia eSeries handheld devices. The move is a shot across the bow of RIM Blackberry which currently dominates the business smartphone space. The partnership also enables Microsoft to extend the reach of its messaging and communications products. Both companies stressed the move to put Office apps on Nokia phones is not an attempt to compete with the popular iPhone – something considered a consumer device, not a business tool.

This should be a useful feature for group poses, but there may be a spike in MySpace style self pictures.

Was it LG that first added a tiny convex self-portrait mirror to its camera phones? Well, Samsung has taken the concept to the next level by adding 1.5-inch LCD to the front of its two newly announced compact point and shoots, the Samsung DualView TL225 and TL220. Both cameras also sport nice, big wide-aspect touchscreens on the back

BenQ is attempting to lead the way in the LED display revolution, having just launched a 24-inch LED widescreen display as well as “the world’s first” 21.5-inch LED widescreen display. Both the V2400 Eco and the V2200 Eco support full HD 1080p and offer an ultra-high dynamic contrast ratio of 5 million:1 for intense blacks and extreme whites. The monitors also promise to use less energy, boasting an Eco mode that uses 30% less power. Both new monitors will be available worldwide eventually, though China will

Legit Reviews is down in Dallas, Texas for Quakecon 209 and we got a nice little surprise when we arrived. At the Intel booth they are showing three of their four upcoming P55 Express chipset based motherboards here at the show. On display are the DP55KG, DP55WG and DP55SB motherboards.

Sure, Apple’s App Store has surpassed 1.5 billion downloads. But that’s just the beginning, according to an analysis of the smartphone market. Frost & Sullivan released the analysis today, “An Insight into the U.S. Smartphone Application Storefront Market” and predicts downloads to smartphones from all app stores will hit 6.67 billion in 2014. That includes prepaid mobile, SMS and MMS, mobile Internet, iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian. One might wonder if Frost & Sullivan’s prediction