Acer South Africa has announced the release of the 15.6″ Aspire 5334, an affordable notebook that is equally good at productivity tasks and multimedia entertainment.

Powered by one of the latest Intel Celeron Dual Core processors, built on the Mobile Intel GL40 Express Chipset, and boasting 2 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory, this notebook is an essential partner for a mobile lifestyle on the road and an entertainment hub and excellent multitasker at home .

With a 320 GB hard drive, the Aspire 5334 allows users to download and store a wealth of content. This data can be easily shared using a multi-in-one card reader.

The Aspire 5334 also shines as a multimedia notebook, thanks to the HD screen that brings photos and movies to vivid life. The Mobile Intel GL40 Express Chipset with integrated 3D graphics features an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M  and supports Microsoft DirectX 10, providing great performance for video and 3D graphics.

The notebook is all about connectivity – it makes it easy for users to interact face to face with their favourite people wherever they go. They can connect to any wireless hotspot via built-in Wi-Fi or go the wired route using Fast Ethernet, and then use the Acer Crystal Eye webcam for video chats for a fun, personal way to stay in touch.

The full-size keyboard features large keys for enhanced typing, while media keys give users total control over their digital entertainment. A touchpad lock prevents accidental cursor movement, and a WLAN key instantly connects to available Wi-Fi hotspots.

Says John Geypen, product manager at Acer South Africa: “The Acer Aspire 5334 is an affordable notebook for anyone who needs a machine that offers great media performance, multitasking and easy connectivity on the road. With its combination of elegant design and the latest components, the Aspire 5334 is a versatile notebook for people with busy lives.”

Tarsus Technologies has announced a renewed thrust into the government sector with Samsung’s X360 and X460 notebook range, since it believes that these units’ high technical specifications, lightweight designs and superior build quality are just what public sector departments require.

“Government is one of the most demanding technology buyers in existence,” says Levina de Matos, Samsung product manager at Tarsus, “and as such is constantly on the lookout for infrastructural elements that are capable of lasting well in excess of three years, both by virtue of their high-performance components and their overall build-quality,” she explains.

“Samsung’s X series notebooks are therefore the perfect choice for the public sector,” she adds.

Starting with the 13.3” X360, de Matos says this compact notebook packs all the punch of a far larger unit into an extremely portable mobile companion that workers on the move can rely on for a full day’s productivity.

“The X360 boasts with an ultra-powerful and removable 6-cell battery, a power-efficient Intel Centrino 2 processor, a bright and power-saving 13.3” LED screen, and an option for a 128GB Solid State Drive.

“All of these components significantly enhance the unit’s performance, yet weigh less and use far less power, and in doing so enable up to 10 hours of continuous use on battery power,” she says.

“These features are rounded out with a powerful and secure biometric fingerprint authentication system and a trusted platform module (TPM), so public sector workers’ valuable information will remain safe from prying eyes, without the need for them to remember any passwords,” she explains.

“In total, the X360 configured with all of these high performing, power-conscious components weighs in at 1.29 kilograms – nothing short of remarkable,” she adds.

Looking at the slightly larger unit in the range, de Matos says the X460 shares most of the X360 design features, but is differentiated by its larger screen, a dedicated graphics card and a built-in optical drive – features that make this unit more suited to the graphics professionals, researchers and other power users within public sector.

“All of this culminates in a veritable mobile powerhouse that weighs a mere 1.9kg and gives users in excess of five hours’ unplugged productivity,” de Matos says.

Thus far, de Matos says that Tarsus has received good interest from a number of government departments and is looking forward to seeing how these units perform at proof of concept stage.

“We’re convinced that Samsung’s X series notebooks have the right stuff for the government market and are certain public sector buyers will agree with this sentiment over the coming year,” she concludes.