Just days after the announcement of this Hello Kitty laptop, Epson Japan has rolled out their own Hello kitty netbook. You’ll only be able to get them in Japan, where they will be exclusively sold online starting December 10.

This HK notebook is based on Epson’s Endeavor NJ2150. Buyers can choose between a combo model at $1,200 and a “super-multi version” at $1,500. Both versions are available in two different designs. Those who for some reason don’t have enough Hello Kitty in their life will want to move to Japan immediately no doubt, just to get their hands on one.

Brando has a new cool gadget available. This time, they’re offering up a unique laptop cooler with USB Hub and HDD Slot built in. It measures 300mm x 252mm x 32mm and weighs 504grams. The device is equipped with three USB hubs, a 2.5-inch SATA HDD slot, and two fans to keep your laptop nice and cool.

You can plug in any 2.5 inch SATA hard drive to extend your storage when needed and it supports up to 250GB SATA HDD. Brando’s latest USB Notebook Cooling Pad retails for $33 and is a convenient gift to put under the tree this year.

Even if you aren’t crazy enough to brave the stores on Black Friday, you can still save some money online with special deals for the biggest shopping day of the year. Many of the big computer makers and retailers are offering some of their deals online as well as in stores.

Dell is offering some nice savings on its Mini 9 netbook. The Inspiron Mini 9 running Ubuntu Linux is selling for $299 today. The price includes 512MB of RAM, 8.9-inch LED backlit LCD, 4GB SSD, and more. That price is a $50 discount from normal.

Just in time for Christmas, you can get this latest HK branded piece of gear to go with all of your other HK purchases. It’s nice to know that aside from ushering in the apocalypse, the kitty is also weathering the economy nicely and still enticing young girls.

The Hello Kitty C1 is equipped with Windows XP Home Edition SP3, a 120 gigabyte hard drive, 1 gigabyte of RAM, a 10inch display, and comes with pre-installed software including Open Office, Firefox, Skype. The Hello Kitty C1 is available now for $890.95.

HP has announced the TouchSmart tx2. The laptop will be able to distinguish between voluntary pinching with two fingers and any accidental input. You can also use the bundled stylus to enter data. The tx2’s 12.1-inch screen is fully multi-touched up, but not in the iPhone/iPod touch way. It uses capacitive touch, which enables more accurate input, also brushes and swipes and two-handed gestures. You can use two hands to crop photos for instance.

Some other features are: integrated digital TV tuner, dual core AMD Turion X2 processor and ATI Radeon 3200 graphics. The screen can be twisted and folded all the way around; converting the standard notebook into a tablet PC. With a digital pen you can make notes and your writing will be converted to editable text. The HP TouchSmart tx2 will be available in January 2009 for about $1,150.

Now here’s a claim that you don’t hear everyday. Fujitsu’s new 500 GB, 5400 RPM Hard Drive has a 2.5-inch spinner that can erase the whole of its bad self in under 1 second. It took you longer then that just to read this.

The MJA2 CH uses 256-bit advanced encryption that encodes data on the fly and it’s the first 500 GB HDD with the technology. It also gets points for being a bit more eco-friendly as the MJA2 CH drive only uses 1.4 watts of power while writing data and is considered to have eco-friendly components. The MJA2 CH HDD will surface early next year, at which point it will have permanent amnesia as it gathers data and erases itself to your heart’s content.

If you’re looking for an environmentally-friendly laptop that will match your wood floors, the ASUS U6V-B1-Bamboo laptop is for you. It’s actually fairly nice looking and this 12.1-inch ultraportable laptop is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It features a Moso bamboo cover and a palm rest that is “artisan grade,” ooo la la.

Even the touch pad has bamboo fiber patterns on it, making it feel as though you’re scrolling and pointing on a real bamboo surface. Specs include a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, a 320GB hard drive, a NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS 256MB graphics card and more. The display is LED backlit and features a 1280 x 800 resolution. An optical drive is included as well as Windows Vista Business. Go ahead and pre-order it on Amazon now for $1,999.

It looks like ASUS fans have another model to consider from the company, the new N20A model. At around 4 pounds, this one has a 12.1-inch WXGA display, described as “glare-type”, and it gets a boost in the performance as well. You can choose from four different Core 2 Duo processors, though it sports an integrated Intel GMA X4500HD graphics chipset. You’ll get up to 4GB of RAM, a max 320GB hard drive, and a DVD burner, built-in webcam, memory card reader. There are also HDMI and VGA outputs, three USB ports, an ExpressCard slot, eSATA port, 8-in-1 media card reader, and the Trusted Platform Module 1.2 in select models. No word on price yet.

LG’s new laptop may look like the XNOTE P300 on the outside, but the P310 model has a decent upgrade under the hood. It now runs on the Centrino 2 platform. Includes a speedier 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, 3GB of DDR3 memory, 2GB of Intel Turbo Memory a 320GB hard drive, and decent NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics, and the same LED-backlit 13.3-inch display as before. No word on a price yet, but it will likely be just over $2,000. It’s available in a lovely black rose detailed aluminum finish.

Back when I had a real job I worked in the health care field. I can tell you from experience that the hospital is one of the roughest places on the planet for a computer. Machines are dropped, stepped on, bled on, pooped on, and crushed between walls and heavy gear very frequently.

The trick is to have computers rugged enough to withstand frequent cleanings and the perils of hard use. Panasonic has announced its latest fully rugged computer system called the Toughbook H1 that is designed specifically for the medical setting. The machine uses the Intel Atom Z540 CPU and runs Windows Vista Business.

ASUS’s new Eee PC S101 will be landing in the States on November 1st. Landing with a thud thanks to it’s hefty $699 price tag, not due to it’s weight. You’ll get a new super-slim enclosure that’s just 0.75-inches thick, but the specs are pretty standard.

It sports an Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, matte 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 LED-backlit display, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, multi-card reader, multi-touch touchpad, VGA webcam, 5.4 hours of quoted battery life that you can believe when you see it and Windows XP. No Linux option in the States. It all weighs only 2.3 pounds. This expensive laptop comes in copper brown and graphite varieties. Are you impressed?

Toshiba is laying the smack down on Alienware, revamping its flame emblazoned Qosmio X305 by introducing the Qosmio X305-Q708, which features a Core 2 Extreme QX9300 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 128GB SSD, 320GB 7,200 RPM SATA drive, dual-layer DVD writer, twin NVIDIA 512MB GeForce 9800M GTS graphics cards, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and Windows Vista Ultimate. It’s also got a full-sized keyboard with a ten-key number pad, four Harman Kardon speakers, HDMI / DisplayPort connectors, 1.3-megapixel webcam, Wireless USB / USB Sleep-and-Charge technologies and a 17-inch TruBrite LCD (Unknown resolution).

It should be available by the time you read this for around $4,199.99. But if I were you I’d pay extra to get rid of the whole fire motif. With those specs, it’s a damn shame Toshiba is so set on making you look like a flaming dork.

And thank god, cuz that one is fugly. Makes me queasy just looking at it. Fujitsu recently intro’d the new LifeBook A1110 15.4-inch consumer- oriented notebook with a swappable lid. That way you can show your style with a green mod labyrinth, bright pink with butterflies, or a cool blue Victorian print. The green mod labyrinth pis making me dizzy.

Fujitsu’s LifeBook A1110 is powered by an Intel Centrino 2 and comes with the Core 2 Duo P7350 or T5800 processor, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, up to 320GB of hard drive space, and a DVD burner. Some other features are a 1.3MP webcam, 802.11n wireless module, Ethernet LAN port, 56K modem, Bluetooth, three USB ports, ExpressCard and SD Card slots, and a VGA output. It only weighs 6.3 pounds and runs on Windows Vista Home Premium OS. The LifeBook A1110 retails for $799.

Best Buy, besides doing exclusive tie ins with Toshiba and Klipsch, also is showcasing today a new HP laptop, the dv3510nr. This offering, plus the Toshiba one, are part of the company’s new customer-feedback driven, exclusive Blue Label series of consumer electronics products.

The Blue Label line has Best Buy working with manufacturers to design products which “address the needs” of consumers. The CE retailer learned from its customers about laptops that they want “longer battery life, a thin and lightweight design, an illuminated keyboard, more optimal screen size and superior warranty support.”

Folks in the territories covered by Sony Europe have a new VAIO laptop to crow about. It is the rather stylish CS11 and looks to be available in five rather vivid colors.

The Sony VAIO CS11 is described by Sony as being a “companion, not a tool.” While you can be the judge of that for yourself, it is nice to see this 14.1-inch laptop with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics comes with an integrated Blu-ray player and “original VAIO software” to help organize your digital media stored on it.