GIGABYTE EXPOSES U60 � 1ST UMPC

Gigabyte will release the U60 this month at CeBit. U60 is Gigabyte�s 1st UMPC. This freaky gadget features a practical built-in QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard slides out of the main body.A 6.5-inch (800�600) display dons the role of a screen. The screen looks crisp and clear. It sounds more practical for a UMPC. Connectivity wire free through Wi-Fi is a good feature. It boasts a 30GB hard drive,

PORTABLE UX PACK � SLIM AND TRIM

Portable One UX packs a punch in a tiny frame. Portable One rechristens notebooks from various ODMs. In this case, the UX is a Clevo M520N in a different tag. However, little deviation from the previous model was done.UX defines simple and sleek design. It is all silver, with black bottom and on the trim around the LCD. I like the fact that the edges tend to be rounded so that the boxy features

"EXTREME" RUGGED LAPTOP BY DELL

Dell has launched their fully ruggedized Latitude XFR D630. The first such laptop made by Dell, the Latitude XFR D630 offers "extreme durability with performance." Aiming at government and commercial customers, the laptop is available in the U.S. and starts at $3,899.This rugged performer meets MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense for products that are used in extreme

ASUS NEW 8.9" EEE PC

Launch time with ASUS. The 9" version of the much-loved Eee PC was launched at the CeBit in Germany. Rumors have speculated over and above this very same model in the past, but it seems Asus finally took their stance and rolled out this larger screened UMPC to the market. Not many changes have been carried out from its smaller 7" brother, with an optional larger 12GB SSD.Asus finally broke the

V7 NAV740

Tested two V7 models, the NAV740, which is for budget GPS devices, and its smaller screen sibling, the NAV730, both of which boast generous feature sets and low prices. The primary differences between the two devices are screen size and price.

The NAV740 ($299.95 list) has a 4.3 inch wide screen, while the NAV730 ($199.95 list) has a 3.5 inch screen. For this review, I'll focus on the NAV740 model, but will highlight some differences with the NAV730.

The hardware platform is similar to many other navigation devices we've reviewed.

It's based on the Samsung S3C2440 400-MHz processor with 64MB of flash memory and 64MB of SDRAM. The software runs on top of Windows CE .NET 5.0.

The receiver is a 20 channels SiRFstarIII with a built in antenna. As with virtually all portable

GPS devices, there's an antenna jack for an external antenna, but with the sensitivity of the SiRFstarIII, you rarely need one.

The NAV740 measures 3.3 by 4.9 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.1 ounces. At about three quarters of an inch thick, it's not the thinnest unit on the market, but it does come close. The 4.3 inch WQVGA display is 480 by 272 pixels. V7 rates the built in 1,600 mAh lithium polymer battery at 3.5 hours in GPS navigation mode.

Both devices come with the standard suction cup windshield mount, as well as a car power adapter. The NAV740 also includes an AC power adapter. Neither unit comes with an adhesive disk to allow dashboard mounting in states where windshield mounted devices might get you a traffic ticket.

Each device features a standby power switch, a reset button, a 3.5mm audio out jack, and a mini USB connector on the right hand side. At the left, you'll find the slot for the SD card as well as a volume up or down switch.

It's nice to have a dedicated volume switch, that founded a hardware volume control is easier, and safer, to use while driving than navigating through menus. Both devices also support dynamic volume adjustment, meaning that you can set them to increase volume automatically based on your driving speed.

Cobra Nav One 5000

The first thing that will strike you when you see the Nav One 5000 is its huge screen. What's most important about the display, however, is its 4:3 format, as opposed to the 16:9 format found on wide screen models.

Those of you who remember your algebra know that calculating the dimensions for a 5 inch screen with a 4:3 format yields a total screen area of 12 square inches. A 4.3 inch screen with a WQVGA resolution measures 3.9 by 2.3 inches, resulting in a surface area of 8.7 square inches.

Thus, a 5 inch display in a 4:3 format has almost 50 percent more screen area than a 4.3 inch screen. This translates into a map that can show 20 percent more of the road ahead and text rendered in large fonts that are easy to read from a distance.

In addition, with a bigger screen, the Nav One 5000's on screen keyboard, configurable in either an alphabetic or QWERTY layout, has larger, easier to hit keys.

Though the Nav One 5000 has a built in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, it definitely falls outside of the shirt-pocket GPS category.

It measures a large 5.3 by 4.3 by 1.3 inches and weighs a hefty 9.5 ounces without its mounting bracket. The 5000 slides into a groove on the suction cup equipped bracket.

Because of the size and weight of the 5000, it had to mount it fairly low on my car's windshield where it could rest on the dashboard and not obstruct my view. The arm on the bracket is fairly short as well, so it took a little extra effort to get the suction cup attached.

And although it was easy to slide the device out of its bracket, I found it tricky to remount. In addition, you have to connect all of your cables directly to the Nav One 5000 since there are no pass through connections on the bracket.

The bottom of the device has connections for an external speaker, microphone, power, external GPS antenna, a USB port, and the optional RDS traffic receiver. Unlike the 4500, the 5000 has no buttons adjacent to the screen. Two hardware buttons, one for power and one for the main menu, are on the top of the device.

The menu system has a comfortable feel, and you can choose either the map view or the main menu as your opening screen. New users will appreciate the voice help, enabled by default, which walks you through the steps you need to create or customize a route. It also provides brief descriptions for each menu screen.

The main menu contains icons for Location, Address Book, Interest Points, and Go Home. Smaller icons either return you to the map view or open the Settings configuration menu.

ASUS G2K REVIEW

ASUS G2K ,the latest in the G2 series of Asus which is about ATI graphics and AMD cores, this laptop is a cousin of G1S. We test if it can beat the G1S at its own game.DesignIt is a combination of red and black, red for ATI, and has a rugged look because of the brushed metal all over the machine. The overall layout and arrangement is awesome, truly for a gamer. All the ports line up the left or