After going through several laptop backpacks I have finally settled on one that has not only met my needs but has succeeded my expectations.  Through the years I have collected and discarded my share of laptop bags. Some bags I just got bored with and others I liked a lot but did not withstand my neglect.  I was surprised on how some of my laptop bags appeared to very well-built but started falling apart after a few months.

Not so with the Mobile Edge Premium Backpack.  I picked this bag up for the sole purpose of having a carry on bag that can also hold other items such as a change of clothes or food. When I purchased it I did not realize it had so many pockets as well as a well padded area for my laptop.  The shoulder straps are padded which makes it pretty comfortable when carrying it for long periods of time.   There are zippered pockets on each side that fit items such as I-phone or blackberry.  The front of the bag has a couple of more zippered pockets that I use for the power cord and miscellaneous pens and pencils.  You can really load this thing up with stuff and because of padding on the base of the bag and arm straps it is easy on your shoulders and back.
Because it is so comfortable to carry I ended up using this bag not only for trips but transporting my laptop to work and back, its just easier to grab and throw in the trunk then my smaller bags believe it or not.  There is a handle on the top of the bag with about an inch thick rubber reinforced handle but I only use the handle when pulling my bag out of the trunk.
I waited 2 years to write about this bag because I wanted to see how it would react over time any laptop back can last a few months without a zipper breaking usually. So far this bag has not shown any wear at all. The zippers on the bag all still work great and bag over all does not have any tears or rips after over 2 years of abuse. When I purchased this bag it was around 95 dollars it is probably a lot cheaper now.

E-Readers and Ebook readers have been gaining a great deal of recognition lately. Publishing and the way we obtain and absorb media is changing all the time. One of the most outstanding areas this is beginning to become obvious is the rise of e- readers and electronic books. With many papers and mags around the planet shutting down and many others moving to more internet content there had been a massive demand for digital books and mags that can simply be read on a hand-held device such as an iPod touch, a Sony E-reader, the Amazon Kindle, the innovative Apple iPad or any of the other gadgets that’ve been coming onto the market recently.

Digital books arenot a new concept however. E-books have been around a good long while now, and while conventional publishing is still the major driving force in the industry, there’s anotable and consistent rise in interest in reading on handheld devices. Numerous globally respected newspapers, magazines and sites are syndicated to hand held products every day, offering the identical content as in their print editions lacking the harm to the ecosystem that printing material copies is able to have.

In addition, e-book readers are capable of storing a great deal more content than you may well normally be able to carry in its tangible form. Buying ebook readers has also never been simpler as you will discover them from all the foremost outlets such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and naturally the Apple iTunes app store.

Some classes and universities are also looking to E-books to resolve the difficulty of continually updating textbooks for students. This is something that’s proving to be extremely valuable to teaching, as it compacts the enormous quantities of wording a learner desires to take in, onto one handy device instead of large reams of paper.

Ebook readers are also superb for travelling, as you can have a variety of stories, books, magazines, newspapers, blog posts and more in the middle of your hand. In addition, devices such as the iPod touch and the Amazon Kindle present wireless connectivity all around the planet, meaning you are able to revise your publications and download more to enjoy.

The digital publishing industry is something that may grow in seriousness over the approaching years, as paper stocks dwindle and assembly costs go up, a lot of publishers and readers are turning to digital hand-held devices over the traditional paper publications to maintain distinguished output without needing to skimp on excellence. Irrespective of what you need to read, there areEbook readers for you, and there’s also a choice of wonderful contraptions existing to help do just that. Take a look at the best Ebook readers that are to be had online and check out which one will most tightly match your needs.

Hewlett-Packard is looking to undersell its upcoming iPad rival slate device, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Little is known about the device other than what was presented at CES in Las Vegas. However, it looks to appeal to those who think the iPad should work like a PC and not an iPhone.

The iPad with 3G capabilities is expected to sell for $629 so HP is looking to sell for less than that. Perhaps $499?

We are definitely looking forward to this!

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA is  a top selling netbook computer that I purchased recently for my wife. The key requirement for netbook was that the color had to be pink so I was really left with Asus Eee PC Seashell 1005HA.  The price I paid from Amazon was around $330 bucks. My wife seems to like it a lot but I wanted to check it out myself perhaps purchase one in a different color.  The stats you find online but in short the one we pruchased has 1GB memory and a 160 GB hard drive. The hard drive space is nice considering I paid 3 times this much money 3 years ago for a laptop with a 60 GB hard drive.

Anyways whats most striking about this netbook is its appearence. The white keyboard with the polished pink exterior makes the netbook look a pink mini Macbook. The screen is just around 10 inches. What sold me on this personally is that I can actually type on this thing. My hands are not small as I am 6 ‘ 4″.  Asus makes use of every centimeter of space on the keyboard and typing is relatively easy and there are plenty of short cut keys for this netbook.  The screen is pretty clear though not as crystal clear as my HP laptop but good enough. The battery life is supposed to be 8.5 hours and there are models that  are upgraded models that get over 11 hours.  In testing our netbook , we got about 7.2 hours in that time we watched a couple of AVI movies ( about 3 hours). Now of course with netbooks you do not get a cd or dvd drive.

There are 3 USB ports and of course a media card reader. Watching movies  and cruising the net has been pretty seamless  no lock ups so far. The  Wifi has worked without incident (802.11n) .What surprised me about this netbook is the lack of bundled software or junk you usually have to get rid of when you purchase a new computer. The only software this thing came with was Skype which we actualy needed because this netbook comes with a built in camera.  The touch pad is great, once I found it. The touch pad is the same color of the netbook with veryh suttle bumps and a large chrome colored button. Navigating is a real breeze compared to my other laptops.  If I have any concerns at this point it would be the adapter and pin that it plugs into. The pin is very small and looks like it can break easily . I owned an laptop a couple years ago with a similar pin and my 2 year old daughter pulled on the cord and broke it resulting in the mother board being replaced.  In addition I have heard some reviewers who have had problems with the adapter burning out or or not working after a couple of weeks.  Overall I think this netbook does the job well assuming the job you want it to do is not to strenuous like Adobe Photoshop, or games with intense graphics. Its a great second computer you can use to fire off emails or search the net.

BNET’s Brent Schlender chatted  with Microsoft founder Bill Gates about Apple’s new iPad. Bill Gates is basically unimpressed with the iPad, especially compared to how he felt about the iPhone when it was first announced in 2007.

“You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that,” he said. “So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’”

It remains to be seen how well the iPad when it comes out in a few months. Netbooks have established themselves as a nice and affordable in-between of smartphone and desktop/laptop PC’s.

As for the tablet PC’s, Bill Gates predicted in 2001 that everyone will be using one in five years. Obviously, it hasn’t happened but who knows, with the iPad and advancements in netbooks, it might finally come true.