Handy Portable Computing

PC World has a good deal on the Asus EEEPC 1005 netbook. It runs Windows XP and has 1GB RAM and a huge 160GB hard drive considering the diminutive stature of the product. Also impressive is the 8.5 hour battery life, which will last you the duration of most flights and other long journeys. At £279.99 with free delivery, it's well worth considering as the PC you can take on holiday.

Limited stock of cheap Windows 7 available

The prelaunch special prices for Windows 7 Home Premuim E (£45) and Professional E (£90) have caused many vendors to have a run on stock. Amazon now has none at the promotional price and has rverted to selling copies at the full launch price, as has Play.com. Yet if you shop araound you can still find some copies at promotional prices. Currys has sold out of Windows 7 Home Premium, but is still offerring Professional E at the promotional price. Click here to buy. PC World
has both versions in stock at the time of writing. Click here to buy.

Free iPhone 3GS on contract

For many the iPhone is the ultimate portable computing device, enabling you to play music and video, take photos and connect to the mobile web from anywhere. The latest version, launched in June also records video, includes copy and paste, supports multimedia messaging and boasts voice control. iPhones come into their own when using services like Twitter and relatedoptions like TwitPic, Twitvid and AudioBoo, which enable you to share photos, videos and audio recordings in real time with anyone who's following you on Twitter. If you're happy to sign up to a 24 month £44.05 tariff you can get the 16 GB iPhone 3GS for free and get considerable discounts on 32GB Models. You can get this and many other iPhone deals from Mobiles, winner of the Best online retailer 2008. Click here for more details.

22 inch widescreen LCD monitor

Have you ever felt that your monitor simply isn't big enough? It's a common enough peeve, yet bigger monitors have tumbled in price lately and this one from Novatech recently caught our eyes. It's a 22" widescreen LCD screen with black trimming and costs just £117.99 inc VAT. At this price you could easily get a multi screen set up and build your own fantasy sci-fi cockpit. Well, maybe that's just our fantasy then.

Technical details include a 16:9 Widescreen, 1680x1050 Resolution , 5MS Response Time, 10000:1 Contrast Ratio, DVI-D and VGA Inputs and 3yr On-site Warranty. Click here for more details.

Windows 7 pre-release stock selling out fast

If you plan on picking up Windows 7 for a ‘”steal” - £45 for the HE and £90 for the Pro edition, you’d better move fast. Many retailers – including Amazon and Ebuyer – appeared to have sold out already. At time of writing, Currys, PC World and Play.com appeared to have some stock left. Try checking some of these out if you get no joy at Amazon.

Pre-order Windows 7 for as little as £44.97

Microsoft has opened up pre-orders for retail copies of Windows 7. From today(15th July) until 9th August you’ll be able to pre-order a copy of Windows 7 E for significantly less than it will go on sale in October – under £45 if you order through Amazon.

It’s worth noting that the European release of Windows 7 (Windows 7 E) won’t come with Internet Explorer installed. As a result you’ll need to make sure you have an installation copy of your favourite browser stored somewhere safe – on CD or flash drive for example – so you can browse the web after installing Windows 7. The lack of Internet Explorer in Windows 7 also means you won’t be able to upgrade to Windows 7 over the top of your existing Windows XP or Vista installation – you’ll need to perform a fresh install.

A number of PC retailers are offering this deal on behalf of Microsoft, including Amazon. Click here to pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium E for £44.97, or click here to pre-order Windows 7 Professional E for £89.97.

Laptop Coolers

 

Notebook’s tend to run hotter than desktop PCs because there’s less room inside them for cooling apparatus. If you run your laptop for extended periods of time, you might notice it getting uncomfortably warm. Mobile processors can run hotter than their desktop counterparts, but you’ll extend their lifespan by cooling them. Laptop coolers come in various shapes and sizes like this Akasa Widescreen Notebook Cooler, which is £33.28 from Novatech. It’s designed for the increasingly common widescreen notebooks. If you have a smaller laptop, you can get a more modest dimensioned cooler like  this one from Belkin in PC World, which is going at a web exclusive price of £13.69.  Avoid scorched knees and increase your laptop’s lifespan into the bargain.