Stories about: HotKey

Ever wish you could mute your PC's speakers an in instant, like when the phone rings and you need to silence your iTunes tunes? Granted, some keyboards have a Mute button for exactly that purpose, but not all of them do.

The original Asus Eee PC took the hardware world by storm. Small, lightweight, inexpensive, yet running a full-fledged OS, this tiny device offered laptop capabilities at near-PDA pricing. Asus has since expanded its Eee PC line with models of varying capabilities, and competing devices are now arriving from other manufacturers, including Acer, Dell, HP, and MSI, among others. Collectively, these devices have come to be called "netbooks."

You want to live in harmony with your PC, but Windows is very rigid. So step out on the road to Utopia with any of these three approaches: a clever launching dock, a folder organizer, and a far-reaching macro program.

Desktop calendar applications are great if you're always at your desk or if you're diligent about syncing with your PDA or phone. But if you like to travel light, it may be time for you to switch to a calendar that you can access from any Internet terminal. Google's free Google Calendar is one of the most robust online calendars available. And I have the goods on how to get the most from Gcal's advanced features.

Just weeks ago the Toshiba Satellite P200 (PSPB6A-0CS04M) would have been joining the ranks of high-end entertainment machines we've reviewed. Unfortunately, the recent withdrawal of Toshiba's HD-DVD technology from the high-definition format war has left a stain on the value of this otherwise excellent notebook.

MSI's TurboBook GX600 notebook injects a touch of nitro into notebook performance. This piano black offering includes all the usual perks, plus it offers a few extras, such as an HDMI port, an e-SATA port and last but not least, a turbo button.

Of the two special edition HP Pavilion notebooks, the Verve (dv2633TX) is probably the sexier of the two (see also the HP [[prodid: 4231]]). Draped in a champagne-style coating with an elaborate patterned finish, this notebook is most definitely for the style conscious. Beyond its extravagant exterior however, the Verve is little more than another HP Pavilion notebook, but that's nothing to complain about.

I tried Jing this morning and I love it. It's smart and free, and a kick to use. In less than a minute, I figured out how to highlight a portion of my screen, record what I was watching, and save it to Jing's server, ready to share.

The Acer TravelMate 5720G is one of Acer's new Centrino-based (Santa Rosa) notebooks. It's affordable, well-built and has plenty of speed and storage capacity. In performance and battery tests the TravelMate 5720G performed very well, and its sturdy, graphite-style design will appeal to business users after a notebook without too much flare, but with plenty of guts to tackle office applications, multitasking and more. It's installed with Windows Vista Business edition, and it also includes plenty of connectivity that will appeal to business users who are always on the move.

Well designed and oozing with more power than you would imagine from a 12.1in business notebook, the Acer TravelMate 6292 (302G16N) is another fine example of how Intel's latest Centrino platform can perform.