Sony LJ Laptop Ready for Small Spaces

The latest laptop in Sony Korea’s LJ series, VGC-LJ25L, comes equipped with a tiny, fold-in keyboard that should make tight fits a breeze.

Overall, the laptop has an unconventional appearance; it looks more like an LCD screen with a panel attached (that panel being the keyboard). In reality, that’s just about correct.

Stats include a 15.4-inch LCD wide screen, built-in camera, microphone, speakers and woofers, Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, and 200GB HD space. Not too shabby. Still, one wouldn’t buy this machine for the components, but rather, for the design.

I do have some immediate concerns, however, just judging by what visual information I have. One,wouldn’t this be sort of difficult, or at least uncomfortable, to hold in your lap? And two, the screen; if I’m not mistaken, this design leaves half of the pc uncovered and unprotected. We all know what that means, and what a shame it would be with such an aesthetically-pleasing device. [Aving USA]

Uber Cheap Laptop, Meet Uber Cheap XP

So you’re familiar with the ultra-cheap laptop that looks like Shrek; OLPC’s XO. Soon, the crew in that line of work may be getting a break, courtesy of the desperate Microsoft.

“I’m prettier than Linux!” frantically screams Microsoft. For ultra-low cost computer manufacturers, Windows XP Home Edition will be offered at a big, fat discount. Think $26-$32.

Of course, there are limitations. Microsoft has to be careful not to tamper with the mainstream PC market, which is running Vista. To benefit from Microsoft’s attempt to beat out Linux, firms must be producing super cheap PC’s with 10.2 inch screens, HD capacities at 80GB or under, a max of 1GB RAM, 1.0GHz single-core processors, and no touch-screens.

However, it would seem that taking the bait on this hurts the overall cause– to create ultra-cheap computers. Adding something like Windows XP would jack up the price. After all, Microsoft’s competitor is…free. [ComputerworldUK]