TECHNOLOGY
Gadgets
Mobility – more productivity, less baggage.
By Charles Boffard.
APPLE MACBOOK PRO WITH
RETINA DISPLAY
FROM R24 000
apple.com/za
This is not just last year’s MacBook Pro with an
eyeball-slicing Retina Display added, though we
wouldn’t have said no to that. Apple has turbocharged what was already one of the best laptops
on the market. With new quad-core Ivy Bridge i7
processor, solid-state drives starting at 256GB and
upgraded graphics, it’s a steroid-pumped version of
its former self, though still only 18mm thick.
And that display! Images and even text give the
sensual delight of a week in the Caribbean with the
Victoria’s Secret models. Which might be cheaper,
but if ever a laptop could tempt you to spend
R24 000, this would be it.
MICROSOFT SURFACE PC’S
Charles Boffard is Deputy Editor of Stuff magazine.
RUMOURED FROM R2 000
microsoft.co.za
Someone in a room full of grey-suited VPs in Seattle
said, in a bitter voice, ‘Fine. If Google can launch its
own tablet, we can launch two.’ And here they are:
the Surface runs Windows RT, similar to iOS, and
the bigger Surface Pro, which runs full-fat Windows
8 Pro on an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor and can
handle any Windows applications.
They’re beautifully put together, with 10.6inch/
27cm widescreens and sleek magnesium coating,
but the features that will get your attention are the
integrated kickstands and magnetically-attached
keyboards: the Surface RT’s 3mm-thin Touch Cover
with flat, pressure-sensitive keys, and the Pro’s
Type Cover with mechanical keys and a multi-touch
clickpad. Pricing? Nothing but wild rumours so far.
52
ASUS TRANSFORMER PAD INFINITY
R8 000
za.asus.com
If you prefer Android phones, you may want to
stick with an Android tablet. Like this one: it’s
basically last year’s very impressive Transformer
with next year’s 1920x1200 HiDef wide-viewingangle screen on the front and a more powerful
quad-core 1.6GHz processor inside. Battery life
with the dock is 14 hours, and the keyboard
/ dock offers the USB2.0 and microSD
slots that would make iPad owners’
lives so much easier. Available with
64/32GB onboard storage and 8GB
free cloud storage.
SA BANKER
Edition 3
MICRO
LUGGAGE
R3 500
micro.co.za
Every traveller who needs to get
somewhere on time has a pair of
wheels on their luggage. If yours
has four wheels and you can push
it through arrivals with one figure,
instead of dragging it, consider that
an upgrade. And now… three wheels,
on a bag that can
carry you. Micro
and Samsonite
have designed this
cabin-sized bag
with a kickplate that folds
away out of sight when
not in use.
Somewhere there’s a
business person who’ll
be able to get away with
being seen on this. Is it
you? Who dares, wins.