ACN rounds up the latest and greatest executive gadgets, from Eurocom’s server-replacement laptop to the latest in bone technology.
Eurocom D901C Phantom-X
Forget ultra-portables and iPhones – this is a notebook for a real IT professional. Harking back to the days when a portable computer was a regular tower with a carry handle on it, the Eurocom Phantom-X is a server-replacement laptop, complete with a 64-bit Xeon processor, up to 8Gbytes of DDR2 RAM, a total 1.5Tbytes of Raid-enabled storage across three hard drives, and a Blu-ray rewriter. Gosh.
This beast of a machine (it weighs in at 5.4kg) is designed to be deployed as an emergency or stop-gap server – which, once the improbability of a server in a laptop has receded, actually makes a lot of sense, especially for IT managers flitting between multiple sites.
The idea is the Phantom-X can be plugged straight into a corporate network using its Gigabit Ethernet port to cope with a variety of situations: loss of server, unexpected demand, a full-on six-way game of Crysis – the possibilities are nearly endless.
Eurocom also makes much of its “UPS” feature – known to the rest of the world as the battery – which will last an hour, according to the vendor.
It comes complete with Red Hat Linux, or Windows Server 2003 or 2008, but it might still struggle with Vista Ultimate. Toshiba Satellite laptops
Moving from server wannabes, to have-a-go style heroes, Toshiba has unleashed its latest range of Satellite laptops on the Middle East market. The new portables come in a range of sizes from 13.3 to 17 inches, and feature the usual compliment of Wi-Fi, screen, processor and hard drive.
Where these bad boys stand out is their styling – Toshiba’s designers have clearly been watching Pimp My Ride in recent months, if the touches on these three models are anything to go by.
Individual areas of the keyboard area are picked out in variable-colour LED strips, which can be controlled in software to produce the desired effect. All of this is certainly an improvement over the normal “box” styling the vendor has favoured.
Otherwise these laptops offer pretty standard fare – although their multimedia capabilities are a cut above. But if you’re looking for something that little bit different to highlight your individuality at the next board meeting, Toshiba may have the ride for you. Jawbone Bluetooth headset
Fortunately, this is not – as the name might suggest – some uber-trendy fashion accessory made from a real jawbone. No, the Jawbone is an uber-trendy fashion accessory that picks up your speech through vibrations, substantially cutting out background noise – or so claims its maker, Aliph.
This is actually an updated version of the Jawbone headset, and is now 50% smaller, as well as being better at picking out speech.
The striking styling combined with the small size certainly makes it eye-catching – but the technology under the (very small) hood should also stop traffic – at least among the geek fraternity.
Sure, the styling might suggest you just left your Gucci handbag at your desk – but what better way for an IT professional to cut a dash and take calls in a noisy datacentre?
Follow us on
