BenQ upgraddes Joybook portables for Vista

BenQ on Thursday reworked its Joybook line in anticipation of Windows Vista's launch at the end of the month. Beginning the updates is the pictured S31V, the company's smallest and most media-friendly system. The 13.3-inch widescreen centers around video and is one of the few notebooks to have the option of an internal DVB-T tuner, letting it tune Europe's digital over-the-air broadcasts without the trouble of an external card. A 1.3-megapixel webcam is built into the lid, and a special QShot button will take still photos of video chats or the PC's desktop -- including TV broadcasts, BenQ adds. The S31V ships in either black or white with a minimum 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 512MB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive.

Further updates include the S73V, a performance model that fits a 256MB Mobility Radeon X1600 with true DVI output into a 14-inch widescreen design, and the R55V, which the company claims has the world's fastest notebook LCD with 16ms response time. The latter is built around a 15.4-inch widescreen and is driven by GeForce Go 7400 graphics. No release dates or prices were given for the new Joybooks, though they should be available near the Vista launch.