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Dec. 3, 2008
Steven Emerson: Yes, the terrorists are winning
Don Terry: Lifetime, no see
Dec. 2, 2008
Melanie Phillips: The Mumbai atrocity is a wake-up call for a frighteningly unprepared world
Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attack
Dec. 1, 2008
Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings
Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?
Nov. 28, 2008
Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be
Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?
Nov. 26, 2008
Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership
Andrea Simantov:
Shades of life
Nov. 25, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence
The Kosher Gourmet
by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!
Nov. 24, 2008
Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'
Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends
Nov. 21, 2008
Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?
Caroline B. Glick:
Civilization walks the plank
Nov. 20, 2008
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness
The Kosher Gourmet
By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto
Nov, 19, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality
Elliot B. Gertel:
'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?
Nov, 18, 2008
Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason
Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?
Nov, 17, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason
Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?
Nov, 14, 2008
Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia
Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead
Nov, 13, 2008
Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic
The Kosher Gourmet
by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla
Nov, 12, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers
Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks
Nov, 11, 2008
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?
Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate
Nov, 10, 2008
Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?
Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist
Nov, 7, 2008
Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality
Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy
Nov, 6, 2008
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism
The Kosher Gourmet
By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes
Nov, 5, 2008
The Jewish Ethicist
By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors
Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie
Nov, 4, 2008
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law
Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East
Nov, 3, 2008
Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?
Jonathan Tobin:
Was He Wrong About Everything?
March 22, 2007
J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)
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Jewish World Review
April 27, 2007
/ 9 Iyar, 5767
$999 Vista Laptop? Why not?
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Google "Vista laptops" and among the top 'sponsored' (i.e., bought and
paid for) links is an one to a mail-order firm offering a Sony Vaio
portable with the Windows Vista operating system installed for just under
$1,800. Fair enough, but what if you could get a $800.01 discount off that
price?
While the two models aren't exactly equivalent - the advertised Sony Vaio
has double the RAM and slightly more than four times the hard drive
storage - the Systemax Pursuit 4155, list price $999.99, is a good value
for the money.
Indeed, some users could benefit from the dollar savings associated with
the lower-priced model.
Here's the Systemax skinny: the Fletcher, Ohio-based firm markets mostly
via its TigerDirect.com subsidiary. The Pursuit isn't "thin and light,"
given the 15.4-inch diagonal LCD display it sports, a built-in
CD-RW/DVD-ROM optical drive, and a generously sized keyboard which lacks
for little but a separate numeric keypad. There's a nice sized "touchpad,"
which advertises a scrolling feature that is somehow unimplemented.
That deficiency, however, is the only visible one I could find in the
Pursuit. Yes, a built-in Web camera would be nice, but the
bargain-inclined can add that separately. I'd like a larger hard disk
drive, but 60 Gigabytes isn't too shabby; doubling that capacity would add
$120 to the price.
Less visible is the slim, but usable, 1 Gigabyte of RAM in the machine.
Increasing that to 2GB would add $200 to the price if ordered from
Systemax; those unafraid of installing their own memory modules can find
equivalent ones for about one-fourth the Systemax price. Personally, I'd
rather see 2 Gigabytes of RAM as an official "minimum" requirement for all
new computers.
My review unit was shipped as advertised: the 1 Gig of RAM and 60 Gig hard
drive, as well as a built-in WiFi radio for easy Internet connections, and
a "matte" finish 15.4 inch screen, the only one available. Turn the
brightness up, however, and it's certainly acceptable for computer-ish
tasks; whether you'd want to watch DVD movie after DVD movie on it is
another story.
Battery life seems more than decent, and the Systemax folks offer both a
larger battery and extra power adapters as options. One pleasant surprise
was seeing a European-style power cord along with one for domestic use;
that's a nice touch, and suggests the actual power supply itself can
automatically select and switch among different voltages.
Purists will bemoan the lack of this or that feature on the Systemax
Pursuit, but if you look at this for what it is - a basic, functional
computer for basic, functional work - you won't be too far disappointed.
The computer's performance is agile enough for word processing and simple
graphics tasks. More complicated work would, as noted, require more memory
for optimal results and speed.
Having received the Systemax in the middle of last week, I can't judge the
quality of the firm's support, other than to note that they've been around
for more than a few years, and - unlike a certain larger firm whose
portable arrived a few days earlier - the Pursuit actually worked out of
the box. Worse still, the "brand X" PC arrived without an optical drive,
making the "system restore" disc utterly useless. Systemax does, it should
be noted, include a restore disc with the Pursuit, along with the
aforementioned optical drive.
I like this computer and wouldn't hesitate to suggest it to those looking
for a low-cost, solidly performing laptop.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
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© 2007, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com
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