Notebooks from CES coming soon to Australia's shores

Lenovo U110: Ultraportable Sees Red

Lenovo's beautiful red U110 – with a tendril-style graphic on the outside lid and on the touch-sensitive controls above the keyboard – is a lightweight (1.04kg), compact laptop with a webcam built into the 11.1-inch screen. Hard-drive options include a 64GB solid-state drive or a 120GB hard disk. It lacks a built-in optical drive, so you'll have to get a USB external alternative. Pricing for the U110 hasn't been announced, but expect to see it in late March.
Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV690: HD-DVD Reads and Writes

Toshiba has taken its flagship Qosmio range to the next level with the release of the Qosmio G45. The new G45 will feature Intel’s new Penryn CPU and at last a HD-DVD writer, a feature we were teased with during the later stages of 2007, but were never delivered. Included in the deal is an HDMI port for easy connectivity with HDTVs and a digital TV tuner for watching HD-TV channels. This will be the first model released with support for Toshiba's Regza Link, a technology that allows the notebook to be controlled by other Regza enabled devices like TVs and remote controls.
Lenovo IdeaPad Y701: ThinkPad Maker Goes Gaming

Lenovo's IdeaPad Y710 breaks the company out of its traditional ThinkPad business market and into the consumer space. With a glossy 17-inch widescreen, this gaming-friendly desktop replacement has a 4.1 speaker system, a row of touch-sensitive media controls, an ATI Radeon HD graphics card, an HDMI port, and an option for a Blu-ray Disc drive. It also sports an integrated webcam that can be used with the built-in facial recognition software to log you into your laptop. The model will be available by mid-2008 with a starting price of $2499. A 15-inch Y510, also available, starts at $1499.
HP Pavilion tx2000: Tablet Gets Fun

If a tablet PC makes you think of employees taking inventory or doing fieldwork, then HP is hoping to change your mind with its entertainment-focused Pavilion tx2000, which is currently available for $2199. Its 12.1-inch widescreen display rotates 180 degrees and lies flat on the keyboard so you can work and watch movies on a slate-like setup. For entertainment, this AMD Turion-driven model comes with HP's QuickPlay one-touch media-playing software and a remote control that tucks into the ExpressCard slot. For work, it comes with a fingerprint reader and a rechargeable pen that both writes and erases.
Fujitsu's LifeBook T2010: Fast Cellular Broadband

According to the company, this convertible tablet with a 12.1-inch backlit LED display will be one of the first laptops to have integrated support for AT&T's BroadbandConnect High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) network, however, this feature will not be available in Australia. Currently the Australian model has no mobile networking options, but is expected to be re-released late in March 2008 with support for 3G or HSDPA. This model is light at 1.58kg, and Fujitsu says that battery life – with an extended battery – is a whopping 11 hours. Built-in security includes a fingerprint reader, a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip, and a smart-card slot. The currently available model starts at $3199; expect pricing for the 3G model to land in late March.
Fujitsu LifeBook U1010: UMPC With a Kick

Fujitsu's 600g LifeBook U1010 is an uber-small convertible tablet with a 5.9in backlit LED touch screen display and integrated 3.5G. While versions outside Australia will support High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), the local release of this ultra mobile PC will support High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), including Telstra’s Next G mobile network speeds up to 7.2Mbps. That translates to fast mobile broadband for when you're not near a Wi-Fi hotspot. The U1010 comes with a fingerprint reader and is available now starting at $1899.
HP HDX 9000: A Redesigned Dragon

HP recently refreshed its 20-inch behemoth of a laptop, which it calls Dragon, with new processors, support for 1080p video, and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS graphics card that supports Microsoft's DirectX 10 for the latest in gaming.
ASUS M50: One Terabyte of Storage

If this laptop doesn't have enough storage for you, then we just can't help you. ASUS's M series of laptops – which includes the M50 (shown here), the M50S (with a TV tuner), and the M70 – comes with two Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 drives for a total of 1 terabyte of storage. The M50 also has a 15.4-inch screen with a light sensor that automatically adjusts for brightness, an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card, an HDMI port, and a 240-degree swivelling webcam.