No, the laptop industry hasn’t bypassed the idea of quad-core laptops in favor of octo-core machines, since NextComputing’s 8-core flextops are machines you wouldn’t want anywhere near your lap. Based as they are around the Intel Xeon 5300 processor, the NextDimension Pro and Evo can take advantage of the relatively low power requirements of 100W for two quad-core CPUs (down from 160 Watts for its power hungrier desktop equivalent). For a sense of just how expandable the NextDimension machines are, consider that they can hold up to twelve 160GB 2.5-inch 7200RPM hard disk drives. They also manage to pack in four PCI / PCI-e slots in the Evo model, and Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet, and support for 24GB of memory through four DMA channels on both models. These 20-pound desktop machines with a handle will be shown off at Interop Las Vegas later this month, but beyond that we’re not sure when or for how much you’ll be able to lug one away.

Joining Epson and a growing host of others in the miniscule PC arena, enano is throwing its own offerings in the hat while boasting about greenness all the while. The generation e2 lineup sports "book sized" enclosures, a sleek black paint job, and four different models to suit your fancy (and budget). All four units rely on one of Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors, but apparently, none are sporting the Santa Rosa love just yet. The machines can be configured with up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 160GB of SATA hard drive space, an integrated TV tuner, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g, 7.1 surround sound audio, and feature Intel’s GMA950 integrated graphics set, an SD / MS / MMC card reader, a total of four USB 2.0 ports, one 4-pin FireWire connector, DVI or VGA out via adapter, S-Video out, and audio in / out ports to finish things off. The box itself weighs in at just three pounds and measures 8.8- x 6.8- x 1.65-inches around, and while the company claims that you’ll save a bundle on energy costs with this power sipper, the up front charges ranging from around $1,200 to near $2,000 probably makes up for it.