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.

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.

There are still many gamers who have yet to upgrade to Windows Vista. Part of Windows Vista that was most appealing to gamers was DirectX 10 compatibility. DirectX 10 is something you can’t get on Windows XP.

According to AMD when Windows 7 hits market, widely believed to be mid-2009, DirectX 10.1 will be fully supported. According to AMD DirectX 10.1 will be used in the API for the Windows Desktop Manager in Windows 7.

I am a big fan of online games like Call of Duty and I particularly like Deathmatches. The problem is when you get fragged early you end up sitting there while the good players fight it out leaving you with nothing to do.

A company called GotGame has introduced a new web browser that runs in game. The browser is called Rogue and allows players to surf the Internet without minimizing their game window. The browser supports game overlay in Windows XP and Vista.

Kingston’s DataTraveler DT150 USB flash drive has reached the 64GB storage mark, making it the top dog of DataTraveler USB drives. Chances are you won’t run out of space unless you really really love video. The size makes it a great portable backup drive. The Kingston DataTraveler 150 works with Windows Vista, XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS X 10.3 and Linux 2.6 and above. Your $177 purchase will get you a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support too.

This just may be the smallest mouse ever, just like they are claiming. You may even look silly using it. It measures just 38×68×28mm and weighs 35 grams. The e-blue PEQUENO from OTAS not only claims to be the smallest, but also the lightest wireless mouse available on the Japanese market today. The 2.4GHz mouse features three different resolutions (400dpi,800dpi and 1600dp) and a battery life of 21 hours. It’s compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0 and runs on Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista or Mac OS X 10.2 and higher. It will cost you $63.

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 is now available in the US as of today. The sleek notebook will aim for it’s market share against the Asus Eee PC S101, in a two notebook’s enter one notebook leaves kind of Thunderdome fight. Both feature 12″ screens and have that same sleek look. You can choose from two versions: A $549 model powered by an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, with 1GB RAM, a 40GB hard drive and Windows Vista Home Basic. If you need more power, the faster 1.6GHz processor with a 60GB hard drive and 6-cell battery is your other option.

The economy may be down, but the computer industry is still doing OK. One of the clear winners in growth is Apple with its Mac line of notebooks and computers making some of the industry’s biggest gains. That means that many users are going to Mac computers for the first time.

Belkin has introduced a new product called the Switch-to-Mac cable that promises to make moving important files from a Windows computer to a Mac easy to do. The cable connects to the Windows PC and the Mac via USB and automatically moves default files and folders from the Windows system to the default locations on the Mac.

SanDisk is releasing the latest upgrade the Sansa Clip MP3 player this week, doubling its capacity to 8GB. Aside from the storage change the features are staying pretty much the same, but this is an MP3 player you would definitely want to take a look at.

The Sansa Clip is small, weighing just 0.9 ounces and has a clip to hook onto clothing or whatever similar to the tiny iPod Shuffle. Even though it’s slightly larger (by less than a half an ounce), it really does has some advantages over the shuffle for not much more money. For starts the Clip of course now has an 8GB capacity and is retailing for just under $100 compared to $70 for the 2GB shuffle which is 4 times the storage for $30 more.

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.

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.

Dell just officially announced a new member of the Inspiron Mini family, the Inspiron Mini 12. This is either a 1.3GHz Atom Z520 or 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, up to an 80GB drive, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth / WiFi, Windows Vista Home Basic, Webcam and a 12-inch, 1280 x 800 display. The whole deal weighs just 2.72-pounds and is less than one inch thick. Don’t get too excited just yet. It’s Japan-only for the moment, but late next month it will land in the States with a starting price under $600. At that price with it’s performance, it may just be able to snag sales from the Envy 133 and MacBook Air.

Notebooks are still one of the most hoped for items on many holiday wish lists despite the poor economy. Many who hope to get a notebook as a gift want a small and portable system like the one Toshiba has introduced to the US.

The Toshiba Portege A605 Laptop is a 12.1-inch ultraportable that weighs 3.3 pounds and measures 1.18-inches thick. Battery life is promised to be 6.9 hours and the system carries a retail price of $1399.99. A nice feature on the machine is the Sleep-and-Charge USB port that makes charging your USB devices easier to do.

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.