Five different lawsuits, from owners of Apple, Dell and HP laptops have combined their lawsuits against NVIDIA over defective GPUs that were shipped in possibly millions of computers.

In some cases, OEMs have modified the BIOS in an attempt to keep the GPUs from overheating, but the change reduces battery life and performance.

The internet is a pretty scary place, or it can be if you don't have the right protection. Viruses, spam, pop ups, phishers, scammers, intruders, spywarethe list goes on and on. So, one thing is for sure - don't surf without the right amount of protection. You want something that gives you peace of mind and works. It's these things that the Yoggie Pico Security Appliance claims to provide. In this review, we'll discuss how well this unit actually provided protection.

The ASUS K50IJ series is one of the latest budget notebooks designed to provide better performance than a netbook and a larger screen for only a modest price increase. Every laptop manufacturer on the market offers a multimedia family PC with a 15-inch screen because these laptops make excellent desktop replacements. The real question is, does the ASUS K50IJ offer enough performance and features at its bargain price of $699? Keep reading to find out.

As promised, MSI has kicked off the new year with some hot new releases, and among them, the MSi Wind U115 hybird laptop Touted as the "world's first hybrid storage netbook" the Wind U115 laptop is capable of operating both SSD and HDD drives simultaneously, delivering the best of both worlds in one cool, compact laptop. The Wind U115 laptop is powered by the new Intel Menlow Platform with an Atom Processor, and comes with up to 2GB DDR2 memory, and a 120 or 160GB HDD complemented by an 8 or 16GB SSD. The advantages of SSD include low power consumption, shock resistance and faster speeds, while the HDD comes in handy for mass storage. The Wind U115 hybrid laptop sports a 10-inch 1,024-by-600-pixel LCD display, and a large keyboard and touchpad for easy use. Added features include a 1.3- or 2-megapixel webcam, built-in high-performance two-channel stereo speakers and microphone, and 802.11b / g / n Wireless LAN with Bluetooth. MSI

Good things come in three’s, and such is the case with Lenovo's latest release, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y650, Y550 and Y450 laptops. Starting with the IdeaPad Y650 laptop (pictured), this desktop replacement laptop measures in at 16 inches and sports an Intel Core Duo processor (6MB cache), a N1M-GE1/256MB graphics chip from Nvidia, 4GB DDR3, up to 500GB of storage, and optional Blu-ray. The IdeaPad Y650 laptop starts from $1,199.

The IdeaPad Y550 laptop and IdeaPad Y450 laptop are the mini equivalent to the Y650, measuring in at 15.4 and 14 inches respectively. Under the hood these laptops sport Nvidia NB10P-GE1 GPU, and taking a cue from their Y650 big brother, they sport many of the same design features including 4GB DDR3 and up to 500GB storage. The IdeaPad Y550 and Y450 laptops start from $829. Lenovo

Well, it looks like Apple has done it again, expanding its success with the latest and greatest Apple MacBook pro laptop. The 17-inch MacBook Pro is being called the thinnest and lightest 17-incher, and though light, it’s certainly heavy on cool features. The new MacBook Pro laptop sports a powerful 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (6MB L2 cache), Nvidia GeForce 9400M, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT / 512MB, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 memory, a 320GB HDD, and a slot-loading Super-Drive. All this and more comes wrapped in a durable and beautiful precision aluminum unibody chassis, with an innovative new built-in battery for up to eight hours of operation and up to 1,000 recharges – which is more than thrice the lifespan of the standard laptop battery, for those who are counting. The 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop will start at a price of $2,799. Apple.

DELL

Dell is kicking 2009 off right by wrapping smart style, solid performance and value-packed pricing into its latest release, the new Dell inspiron 1.5 laptop . Currently available in select configurations at Best Buy, and set to hit Dell online later this month, the Inspiron 15 laptop is replete with customizable features and options aplenty, so the laptop truly is made for you. “Building on the Inspiron platform of mainstream solutions, Inspiron 15 expands laptop personalization through attractive design, an array of optional features and an affordable price,” says Glen Robson, General Manager of consumer notebooks. “By listening to customers we’ve created an ideal multi-purpose system with a range of choices that help them create a custom match for their specific needs and deeds.” The Inspiron 15 laptop features a 15.6-inch LCD display with 16:9 aspect ratio, up to 4GB memory and up to 320GB storage. Options include a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a built-in webcam, Blu-ray, Bluetooth and facial recognition software. The Inspiron 15 laptop starts from $600. Dell

layer f the thought of a Nissan X-Trail sets your heart aflutter, the NEC lavie G type JX-Trail laptop is the one for you. Inspired by the popular rugged Japanese SUV, the Lavie G Type J X-Trail laptop features an exterior clad in the same fire-engine-red colored panels that grace the vehicle, a waterproof nylon case fashioned from the same material as the Nissan X-Trail’s seats, and it’s dotted with X-Trail logos. The 12.1-inch laptop features a U7500 Core 2 Duo, Vista Home Premium, and a dual-burner. This limited-edition laptop retails for approximately $2,115. NEC

In my continuous effort to educate you in buying only as much laptop as you really need, I'd like to start with the cheap laptop buy series. Dell cheap laptops would be my first choice. Consider the low-end one of Dell's most recent additions... Inspiron 1300 would be an ideal laptop choice for basic computing needs. Let me explain why...

First, please note that I suggest you buy 1300's version with the Intel Pentium M Processor 745 that starts from $649, as of May 2006. The intention is to stay within $649 as this standard setup has everything you need to perform your every day basic computing tasks like sending emails, Internet browsing, may be doing some Excel spreadsheets or Word processing, some amateur photo editing or website developing. Here's how you should choose your options...

Windows XP Home Edition or Professional?
It comes with Genuine Windows XP Home Edition, perfect for the home office laptop. You would only need Genuine Windows XP Professional if you're planning to use your PC as a Web server or a Database server. But you most certainly won't use your laptop as server. You'll definitely need the Operating System Re-Installation CD, so order that one for $10.

Selecting laptop processor
Intel Pentium M Processor 745 (1.80GHz/2MB Cache/400MHz FSB) comes standard for the price above. This gives you plenty of speed, more that you ever need. The speed of 1.80GHz on Pentium M Processor is equivalent to about 2.7GHz on just Pentium Processor. The 2MB Cache is a huge cache size to perform all your Word processing with ease.

Display Size
The 15.4in WXGA Display is included in Price. Perfect. The most common screen size these days. The 17" screen would have added some unnecessary weight to your laptop, and the 14" is too small.

How much Memory do you need in laptop?
256MB DDR2 SDRAM 1 Dimm is included in price. Plenty. Are you tempted to upgrade to 512MB for an additional $50? Why? Just because it's offered? Are you planning to play games or do some video editing? No... Then no need more than 256MB memory. When you fill like your laptop is locking performance then you'll upgrade your memory. 1 Dimm means that there's a second memory slot empty so you can purchase an additional 256MB or two 512MB to upgrade up to 1GB.

Choosing hard drive size
40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive is included in price. Again, if you aren't going to store games or MP3 music file on your laptop, 40GB is already way too much. With games and MP3, you'll fill it quickly though. And by the way, you're not supposed to store backup files on your main laptop hard drive. So stick with 40GB. I only use mine to 30%.

CD/DVD Burner
Here's one case where upgrading to 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability would be a good idea. If you'd like to create multiple copies of the wedding you'll be able to. So, now we get it up to $719. Still very inexpensive for a great basic laptop.

Video Graphics Card
With this setup you don't get one. Instead you get the standard graphics chip for Pentium M laptop - Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 900 Graphics chip. And it's all you want for your basic laptop computer that you aren't buying for heavy-duty graphics or video editing or gaming. You can still play some not graphics intense video games on this chip.

Laptop battery
The standard option is 4-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (29 WHr). This will provide you with up to 2 hours of battery life. This is enough to watch one movie. Not as great but is good enough for many people.

Wireless Networking Card
Intel PRO 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps) miniPCI Card is included in price. This card is just fine. 54Mbps is the most common transfer speed on wireless networks today, and the 802.11 b/g are the two most common wireless protocols supported today. You'll be able to connect at any WiFi spot or to your home wireless router.

That's it. We're done with buying Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop for $719. Go with the standard setup for the rest of the options and with the standard 1-year warranty plan. I tend not to buy laptop warranty in access of 1 year. From my experience with laptops, most hardware problems show up within one year from purchase.

With Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop, you'll be online and browsing the Web within minutes. It'll connect to your wireless router automatically. I recommend that you purchase it along with laptop, for best hardware comparability.