In June 2006 two Intel engineers forced the IEEE to pull work on the 802.20 standard until October 2006. June 15, 2006 IEEE letter.
The 802.20 mission and scope as described.
The 802.16 and the 802.20 are targeted towards mobile users of PDA and laptops. These standards may have an impace on the developing 3G networks. It is not clear the impact they will have due to the recent infighting by Intel and Qualcomm.
Dell is now selling the Laditude D420 for around $1200 (special on their website). At 3 pounds it has a 12.1" display and the battery lasts seven hours. It includes: 1.06 GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, a 30GB Hard Drive, CD-ROM Drive, Wi-Fi, 56, NIC, XPH with 3 year mail-in warranty.
MIT has developed a battery that will allow consumers to power up their laptop and it will stay powered up. The call it the ultracapacitor-a next generation super-battery. No comment was made when these will be commerically available or how much they would cost.
If you have a MAC portable computer and want to run Microsoft Windows a good choice for $50 would be Parallels Workstation 2.1 for Win&Lin. You should check out the Minimum System Requirements before taking the plunge. You could also go with the free solution provide by Apple, which is cumbersome to use and requires you to switch from one to the other. Parallels desktop let's you switch back and forth.
If you have lost or forgotten the password set on your Hard Drive you are in serious trouble. There is no easy way to resolve this situation. You need to be a laptop hard drive expert and may even need a clean rooom. You could contact the manufacturer of the laptop and they might or might not be able to help you. There is one company I found that can do this for $85 Nortek Computers Ltd. of Canada. Sound like an expensive repair, as this does not include the shipping costs. These days it might be cheaper to purchase a larger replacement drive, unless the data on the laptop is critical and you have to have it.
