In Ear Bluetooth

HP Pavilion dv7-6143cl

The 17.3-inch home entertainment laptop seems to be HP's forte as the PC manufacturer has released yet another Editors' Choice-worthy device in this category. The HP Pavilion dv7-6143cl's ($999.99 list at Costco) inclusion of such future-proofing features as USB 3.0 will provide users with a faster connection speed when transferring data to and from your external hard drives, and Bluetooth and Wireless Display 2 (WiDi 2.0) will open up a wider range of wireless peripherals for your use. The fact that it comes with a discrete chipset and an Intel Core i7 processor that can bang out 72fps on games like Lost Planet 2 only adds to its value. That combined with the kind of long battery life usually seen in ultraportables, and you'd be hard-pressed to pass it up.

Design
The aluminum chassis of the dv7-6143cl forgoes the laser-etched design of past models like the HP Pavilion dv7-4283cl ($999.99 list, 4 stars) in favor of a brushed texture. Normally, when manufacturers configure a laptop with an oversized battery, it juts out horizontally; HP decided to utilize the battery as a mini-stand, elevating the back of the laptop slightly, angling it. The dv7-6143 weighs 7.04 pounds, which compared with the 8.1-pound Dell XPS 17 ($1,670 direct, 3.5 stars), seems like a lightweight. It's likely that the dv7-6143cl will stay house-bound, but the option to bring it on the road is always comforting.

The17.3-inch widescreen has a 1,600-by-900 resolution, which doesn't translate to true 1080p HD but 720p. Other 17-inch laptops, like the Acer Aspire AS8950G-9839 ($1,499.99 street, 4 stars) displays in "true HD," but it's only the video enthusiasts that will notice the difference. Above the screen is an HD webcam for video conferencing and chatting with your friends. The full-size keyboard is chiclet-style, with each key to its own little square island. There's also a numeric keypad, a welcome addition for number crunchers. HP has redone its touchpads, getting rid of the clickpad that was notorious for causing on screen cursor jumps, and replacing it with two separate mouse buttons and a touchpad. The mousepad is framed by a glowing LED light—a nice addition for late-night workers and players. Off to the right side, beneath the keyboard is a fingerprint reader that will add some extra security for the more cautious users.

Features
Connection options come in physical and wireless form, such as Bluetooth, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, SD/MMC card slot, Audio jacks, VGA, HDMI, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Ethernet. There's also WiDi 2.0, which allows you to stream the contents of your computer's multimedia (in 1080p HD) to your HDTV—provided you have the Netgear Push2TV receiver. Your HD content, however, will be limited to digital downloads and streaming, as the dv7-6143cl only comes with a DVD R/W optical drive (A Blu-ray drive is not included).

Apple Rumors » JayBird launches JF3 Freedom Bluetooth In Ear Sport ...

If you’re looking for the ultimate set of running headphones, your search may be at an end. JayBird, makers of bluetooth headphones, has just launched the brand new JF3 Freedom Bluetooth Headphones. In addition to being tiny and wireless, these guys have secure-fit ear cushions to ensure they don’t fall out while your head is banging around doing all sorts of sports. And they’re even sweat proof, making them theoretically the perfect set of sport headphones.

What makes JayBird headphones so cool is that they are completely wireless. I know what you’re thinking, “But what about the wire between the headphones?” Okay, when I say completely wireless, I mean there are no wires between the source audio and the headphones themselves. This is advantageous since you don’t have to worry about a cord flapping around while you’re sprinting around town. To make this even easier, the JF3s have secure fit ear cushions to keep these guys in your ears along with the 3 ear tip sizes.

The JF3s are an in-ear style headphone. They use Bluetooth, so they’ll work with all of your iOS devices and pretty much anything that supports A2DP. Audio playback can be controlled via the buttons embedded into the earphones themselves. They also function as a handsfree headset, along with the buttons necessary for this function as well. They’ll provide about six hours of wireless audio before needing to be recharged. So, unless you’re a super-ultra-ridiculous marathon runner, they’ll probably keep your juiced for about a week’s worth of workouts.

The real secret here is that the JF3s have been available via JayBird for about a month already. They just didn’t tell anyone! Nevertheless, you can order them now for $99, which includes free delivery.

Ebony

HWM

HWM

Guide to Bluetooth Security, Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

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