Originally published November 29 2005
Silent mode for Area-51 laptop prolongs battery life
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The battery life of the Area-51 laptop is prolonged by reducing performance for less demanding uses like word processing or surfing the internet. The computer then runs cooler and the fan slows down or shuts off.
Laptops with big screens can be power-hungry, especially if they're used for games and other programs that push a computer to its limits.
So the Area-51m Model 5700 from Alienware, a thin machine with a screen measuring 17 inches, or 43 centimeters, has an energy-saving "silent mode" that prolongs battery life by throttling back performance for less demanding uses like word processing or Web surfing.
The 5700, which has two internal hard drives, is available from Alienware.com starting at $1,499, depending on total drive capacity (40 to 240 gigabytes) and other options.
Like most dual-drive computers, the 5700 can use each drive independently.
But they can also be configured as a RAID 1 array, which duplicates the data on both drives so no data will be lost if either fails, or as a RAID 0 array, which interleaves data on both disks for faster operation.
To the art of wine collecting, the IntelliScanner Wine Collector adds a decidedly 21st-century twist.
The IntelliScanner is a hand-held device that catalogs wine collections by scanning standard UPC bar codes and storing the information for later viewing on a PC or Mac.
While an amateur with a few bottles stashed away probably would not need this system, anyone with an extensive cellar is sure to enjoy the device.
A $199 version of the scanner plugs into your computer's USB port; a $299 version has Bluetooth wireless ability, which means you can beam data about your collection to a distant computer.
To add a bottle, scan the UPC code.
Any eBay veteran can tell you about the unusual relationship that collectors have with Pez dispensers.
Pat Misterovich, a stay-at-home dad in Missouri, created the player, which can also be used as a stand-alone USB drive.
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