Computer Center

The Asus N82Jv-X1 ($999 street) mainstream laptop has a little bit of everything for everyone in your family. Dad can use it to edit high definition videos and raw images from his D-SLR camera . Mom can catch up on the latest TV episodes from Hulu and iTunes, in HD, and the kids can play games to their heart's content. The N82Jv-X1 is based on the same core principles as the HP Envy 14 ($1,286 direct, ) and Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 ($1,049 direct, ), delivering a top-tier processor and powerful switchable graphics. It's not as battery efficient as the other two, but Asus is also selling it for less.

Design
The N82Jv-X1's lid has a brownish, textured look that's reminiscent of a designer handbag, except Asus uses plastic (instead of fabric) to pull it off. In contrast, the HP Envy 14, Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) ($1,199 direct, ), and Asus U30Jc-A1 ($899 street, ), which use aluminum in their chassis design. And unlike the Dell Inspiron 14R ($820 direct, ), the N82Jv-X1 won't let you customize the lid with other designs. At 5.1 pounds, the N82Jv-X1 is as heavy and as thick as the HP Envy 14 (5.2 lbs), Dell 14R (5 lbs), and Lenovo Y460 (4.9 lbs), and this isn't a coincidence; thicker frames provide proper cooling and ventilation for their toasty components.

The 14-inch widescreen is neither the brightest nor the sharpest in its category; those distinctions belong to the screen on the HP Envy 14, which has a 1,600 by 900 resolution and a 350-nit brightness rating. The N82Jv-X1's resolution maxes out at 1,366 by 768, which is a common limitation in most 14-inch laptops. Asus has shown that it prefers the chiclet style keyboard over the traditional ones, as evidenced by many of its laptops, including the N82Jv-X1. It's pleasant to type on and the keys are adequately spaced apart. The mouse buttons are more resistant and noisier than those of the Dell 14R and Lenovo Y460, and are detached from the wide touchpad, as opposed to the all-in-one clickpads found in the MacBook Pro 13-inch and HP Pavilion dm4-1060us ($849.98 list, ). Overall, I have no complaints about the user experience.

Features
The N82Jv-X1's price limits it to a dual-layer DVD burner, although I don't know of many 14-inch laptops that bundle a Blu-ray drive. It has an HDMI port, which comes in handy for presentations or streaming content to an external flat panel. The 3 USB ports are spread out on both sides, two of which are on the bleeding edge of technology: The one coated in blue reaps the benefits of USB 3.0, which is roughly ten times the speed of USB 2.0, while the other doubles as an eSATA. Both of these will require a compatible drive or peripheral that supports these technologies (though a USB 2.0 devices can work on the USB 3.0 port; the transfer speed just will be that of USB 2.0). All the essential ports and slots are there, too, like a multimedia card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, and two audio jacks (mic and headphones).

Performance
Components are a reminder of why you had considered this laptop in the first place. It runs an 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-450M CPU, the same plow-through-everything processor found in the Envy 14, and similar to the one found in the dm4-1060us and Lenovo Y460. It finished at the top in video encoding tests (46 seconds), beating the Asus U30Jc-1A (54 seconds) and Dell 14R (54 seconds), with their Core i3 processors. Its Cinebench R10 scores (8,112) placed second behind the HP dm4-1060us (8,156). PCMark Vantage results (5,882) didn't quite live up to a Core i5's potential, but scored well nonetheless.

For the gamer in your family, the N82Jv-X1 bundles a premier Nvidia graphics card—the Nvidia GeForce GT 335M (1GB VRAM). This graphics chip is the same one found in the Alienware M11x (Core i7) ($1,175 direct, ), except it's paired with a more powerful Core i5 processor. In addition, the system can also utilize the integrated graphics chipset found on the CPU's motherboard. The system bundles in Nividia's Optimus technology, which allows the laptop to automatically switch between the integrated chipset and the GeForce GT 335M, depending on what application is running. The Lenovo Y460, HP dm4-1060us, and HP Envy 14 use ATI chips that also leverage a switching graphics mechanism, except the switch has to be done manually. In 3DMark06 (8,166), the N82Jv-X1 had the clear advantage in this test. But in actual gaming demos, like Crysis and World in Conflict, scores leaned heavily toward its ATI GPU-equipped counterparts. If I had to pick the better gaming chip, I'd say the one found in the HP Envy 14 and Lenovo Y460 can rack up better frame rates.

Paul Shin Devine is one bad apple.

The midlevel Apple manager was arrested Friday for allegedly accepting $1 million in kickbacks from Asian suppliers, the San Jose Mercury News.

In return for the cash, Devine, a 37-year-old Sunnyvale, Calif. resident, is accused of providing top-secret information, which allowed the suppliers to bargain for more favorable contracts with Apple.

Devine and his alleged partner-in-crime, Andrew Ang of Singapore, were indicted Friday a federal grand jury on 23 counts including wire fraud and money laundering.

"We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement.

The companies involved in the scheme were not named in the federal indictment, but they were suppliers of both iPhone and iPod accessories and were based in China, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, the Mercury News reported.

According to the indictment, Devine opened several foreign bank accounts, including ones in his wife's name to cover up the payments. It is unclear who alerted the FBI and IRS to the scheme and exactly how much Apple knew.

The Sony Vaio VPC-J116FX/B ($1,099.99 list) is an attractive, mid-priced all-in-one desktop PC with a 21.5-inch multitouch screen. It's Sony's entry into the growing all-in-one desktop category. The system's pricing and features pits it against the entry-level, $1,199 iMac. The VPC-J116FX/B (part of Sony's Vaio J Touch line) has a lot going for it—including great design, two-year Costco warranty, and Blu-ray—but some stumbling points in features keep it from contention. Take a look at it if you're in the market for a reasonably priced, space saving PC, but there are other, better choices out there for a bit more money.

Design
The new Vaio J Touch desktop PCs look very similar to the Vaio L Touch systems (of which we reviewed the Sony Vaio VPC-L117FX/B ($2,000 list, )). Essentially, the 21.5-inch J series is the little brother to the 24-inch L series. It has the same high-quality black plastic construction, so it looks like a HDTV you would put on the dresser in your bedroom. The VPC-J116FX/B has the same 16:9 screen aspect ratio as the L series, and the same open wide slot below the screen for stowing your keyboard. There aren't any buttons on the front of the unit, only on the top and sides. The 21.5-inch screen is two-finger touch-sensitive, so you can perform gestures like pinch to zoom.

The system comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and both fit the minimal theme of the desktop. The VPC-J116FX/B has an external power brick, which somewhat mars the system's slick design. In comparison, the Editors' Choice Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Core i3) ($1,199 direct, ), has an internal power supply that keeps its sleek lines intact.

The VPC-J116FX/B has 4 USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire/i.Link port (i.Link is Sony's trademarked term for FireWire), and a digital media card reader. Otherwise, there's not much else: No eSATA, TV tuner, HDMI, or IR dongle to connect a set top box. Out of all the ports it lacks, the HDMI connection is a glaring omission, especially if you want the option to connect an external monitor or HDTV to the system and use the Blu-ray drive. Likewise, this system could use an HDMI-in port, so you can connect a faster PC to the display once the internal components become too slow, or connect a set top box so you can get cable TV on your PC. Both options let you stretch out the life of the integrated monitor. The lack of a TV tuner is less of a deal breaker, since broadcast TV is on the decline, while Internet TV (Hulu) is on the rise.

The 21.5-inch form factor lends itself to replacing a TV in your den, kitchen, or bedroom. Like most all-in-one PCs, the VPC-J116FX/B doesn't have internal expansion space. The memory slots are user accessible, but both are filled. You'll have to pull one or both memory DIMMs if you want more than the included 4GB of memory. Thankfully, that's enough for most home users.

Features
The VPC-J116FX has an Intel Core i3-350M processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 310M discrete graphics, Blu-ray reader/DVD burning combo drive, and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. These features are good for the multimedia enthusiast, but, once again, the omission of an eSATA port is important for faster transfer speeds in hard drives, especially for those who tote around large media files. The system also lacks a remote control, but the omission of a TV tuner may also explain its exclusion. However, the system comes with a Blu-ray player, so the dorm-bound student or the young adult will still want to watch 1080p HD movies on the system, making the addition of a remote sensible for navigating menus. By themselves these drawbacks wouldn't take the score down too much, but together, they drop the VPC-J116FX's overall score by at least a full point.

The system is mostly free of bloatware. The only unwanted things include a desktop shortcut ad for Shutterfly and a short 30-day trial subscription to Norton Internet Security. Microsoft and Sony have moved on from the formerly ubiquitous Office 2007 60-day trial to the new Office 2010 Starter Edition, which gives you ad-supported limited versions of Word and Excel. In these versions, you won't get high-level functions like macros in Excel or document review tools in Word, but it will keep all of these features and formatting intact if you bring the files over to another computer. It's a tool for those who need to occasionally check files from work or open files that people send them.

One notable software addition is the default browser is Google Chrome, instead of Internet Explorer. IE is still available in case you want to use it instead, but it's interesting that the faster Chrome is the default. The system includes Sony's Media Gallery software, which can help organize your music, photos, and videos. What's notable about the Media Gallery program in comparison to HP's MediaSmart is Sony's Media Gallery has some intelligence built into it, so it automatically groups music and photos together to make instant slideshows you can share online. That way, you won't hear death metal automatically shuffled from your music library while you're trying to look at your recent wedding photos.

Like other Costco retail PCs, the VPC-J116FX/B has a two-year warranty. In this case, it's more useful than the warranty's for desktop PC/monitor bundles, like the HP Pavilion HPE-367c-b ($1,499.99 list, ), because they only have 2-year warranties on the desktop, but only one year on the monitor. Since the VPC-J116FX/B is an all-in-one, the screen is covered along with the rest of the system for the full two years.

Performance
Sony Vaio VPC-J116FX/BWith the exception of 3D gaming, the Sony Vaio VPC-J116FX/B is a good performer, thanks to the system's Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of DDR3 memory. It's an adequate performer at our multimedia tests, with a 55-second run on our Windows Media Encoder test, and a decent 2 minutes 7 seconds on Photoshop CS4. These scores put it squarely in our mainstream performance range, not too bad for the occasional photo retouch, but not suitable for the media enthusiast who spends a lot of time in Photoshop or video editing programs. Our Editors' Choice iMac 21.5-inch (Core i3) and former EC Lenovo IdeaCentre B500 ($1,399 direct, ) are better choices for the multimedia maven.

Whoever came up with this is a real whiz!

A Japanese gadget company has created an oven that can help drunken dialers save that cell phone they dropped in the toilet.

Called the Dryer Box, the minicookers have turned up in certain Japanese camera stores where for 1,000 yen (about $12), they can help unsoak a soggy phone.

If they fail to rescue the device after 30 minutes, there's no charge.

The dryers have yet to hit the United States. But if they do, they are bound to meet a welcome reception in a country where phone warranties are often voided by water damage.

"Me and phones don't get along too well," said Paolo Glaude, a 21-year-old student from Harlem, whose BlackBerry was once saved after a dousing but was never the same again.

"If it's water damage, you have to pay for a whole new phone sometimes - but sometimes you have to lie," he said.

Intel Corp. agreed to a series of restrictions as part of an antitrust settlement with U.S. regulators to resolve charges the Silicon Valley giant engaged in a decade-long campaign to stifle competition and strengthen its dominant position in the market for computer chips.

Intel has agreed to a series of restrictions as part of an antitrust settlement with regulators to resolve charges the chip giant engaged in a decade-long campaign to stifle competition. Don Clark and Eric Savitz have details.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said the settlement prohibits Intel from using threats, bundled prices, discounts or other tactics to deter computer makers from buying chips from competitors. Besides targeting microprocessors—the electronic brains of computers—the settlement also covers products called graphics processing units and chip sets that also play key roles in personal computers.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has been battling antitrust cases on three continents that have mainly focused on its actions against rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in the microprocessor market. FTC officials said the settlement it negotiated with Intel won't just help AMD—which settled its own antitrust case against Intel in November—but will also aid Taiwan-based microprocessor maker Via Technologies Inc. and Nvidia Corp., which specializes in graphics chips.

Jon Leibowitz, the FTC's chairman, stressed restrictions that go beyond those in prior settlements or judgments affecting Intel. Some of those provisions require Intel to modify agreements with AMD, Via and Nvidia so they have more freedom to use other companies to manufacture their chips and consider mergers or joint ventures without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement.

The settlement also prohibits Intel from modifying its chips or manipulating benchmark tests or programs called compilers in ways that hurt the performance of competing products, or from deceiving computer manufacturers about the performance of non-Intel products.

Some analysts tracking Intel said the settlement doesn't appear to restrict the company's actions in a significant way. "As with most governmental measures, today's announced FTC settlement redresses the business environment of years past and leaves Intel's future thoroughly unimpeded," said Rick Whittington, an analyst at the research firm TechIndicators.

Mr. Leibowitz said the commission had been "deeply troubled" by Intel's actions, arguing the company hobbled competition in technology fields that are vital to consumers. Though the agency was prepared to litigate the case, the settlement remedies Intel's conduct more quickly than would have been possible with a trial and likely appeals. "This helps consumers now," he said.

Intel, which has denied wrongdoing, on Wednesday noted the settlement expressly states that Intel doesn't admit any violation of law. The company added that it agreed to the settlement to put an end to the "expense and distraction" of the FTC litigation.
[INTEL]

"We are free to continue to compete," said Doug Melamed, Intel senior vice president and general counsel, in an interview. "We would not have agreed to a settlement that would have crippled us in any way."

Among other things, the agreement prohibits what AMD calls "all-or-nothing" discounts and retroactive rebates that made it difficult for the company to match Intel when bidding for minority portions of a computer maker's business. AMD applauded the settlement.

"The FTC has acted firmly in the interest of American consumers to safeguard the competitive process in the critically important microprocessor and graphics markets," AMD said in a statement.

The settlement ensures that Intel continue to offer open specifications to a connection scheme called PCI Express that graphics chip makers use in designing their products. But it stopped short of addressing another proprietary Intel technology used by makers of chip sets, at issue in private litigation between Intel and Nvidia in federal court in Delaware.