WordPress is a powerful content management system, and its popularity as a portfolio solution is enticing to many. There are a lot of themes out there that claim to do the job, but if you're as picky as me you'll find some pretty annoying flaws in many of them.

In my search for the best of the bunch, I installed about 30 offerings (out of the hundreds I looked at) and after trying them out and changing my mind a couple of times I finally settled down with a theme. This took me months, so I'm going to save you the bother and present the five free Wordpress portfolio themes that made my own particular shortlist.

SimpleFolio The Best All-Rounder

Despite being a tricky free WordPress theme to set-up, SimpleFolio by Omar Corrales is worth the hassle. For your troubles you'll get a clean and easy-to-navigate theme with a separate portfolio section (with the option to exclude portfolio posts from your blog) and a home screen to die for.

The home screen includes a JavaScript front-page slider to exhibit portfolio entries, which does a great job of making your work look awesome with its smooth transitions. There are a further three widgetized areas on the home page, so adding a contact form or Twitter plug-in is as easy as pie.

If you like the look of this theme and fancy giving it a go, then you're going to need a little help. There's a fantastic little guide over at WordPress Handyman which guides you through the ins and outs of setting up and maintaining your new portfolio. As always with WordPress, you can edit the style.css file to suit your personal tastes.

Vikiworks Infinity For Social Media Types

For an aesthetically pleasing, majorly customizable portfolio that's plugged in to Flickr, Twitter and Delicious, look no further than Infinity by Vikiworks. The free WordPress theme follows a three-fixed column style, and whilst not being widget ready could probably be modified with some serious Notepad'ing.

There are two PSD files to download as well as the theme, which makes customization in Photoshop that little bit easier. Blog posts themselves are presented in two thumbnail cover-style columns to the left of the page, so if you're not bothered about separating your work and your blog then this one's for you.

For the more courageous there's a sister theme called Mashup based on Infinity, only with widgets and a style switcher. The developer has appealed for help in completing it, and needs guinea pigs willing to give it a go. If you're not averse to beta testing, you can download Mashup here.

FolioGrid For Speed-Freaks, Designers, Photographers & Artists

This sharp looking offering from FrogsThemes has a little something for everyone. Utilising the tried-and-tested grid layout, the theme comes in a variety of colours and is easily altered with some handy CSS. All the styling is done through the theme's stylesheet, meaning you really can open up and customize this one.

The menu lives at the top of the page, and is always accessible from anywhere on the site, making it a cinch to navigate. There's some lovely use of jQuery for slick transitions, and the theme is widget-ready. For a fast and lightweight WordPress portfolio, FolioGrid does the job.

Fullscreen For Style-Conscious Photographers & Videographers

If photos are the order of the day then you may want to pay close attention. Fullscreen is a portfolio package developed by Graph Paper Press that delivers nothing but a menu and blog posts (represented by just images). It all makes for a very sexy looking clean interface, with some fancy JavaScript image rollover effects for added garnish.

One thing to look out for is some issues with the menu not displaying correctly in older versions of Internet Explorer, though some of you won't really care (and those that do can customize, of course).

Images can be implemented into posts using the WordPress media gallery, which makes for easy posting. If you want your photo or video work to be the main focus of your site, then this theme will honour your wishes.

Contrast The Black Sheep

SmashingMagazine once hosted a typographic layout competition for WordPress and Tumblr themes, and Paul Linder's Contrast didn't win. But that doesn't matter, because it's awesome all the same.

Using nothing but XHTML and CSS, it's lightning quick and beautiful to look at. Presenting you with a straight-up black and white home screen, Contrast is designed to be left as a portfolio rather than a blog as well.

As the focus is on text, many writers, copy-editors or web designers may find this appealing, though the minimalist design could suit anyone. It's bold, unique and quick.

Have you used any of these free WordPress themes? Got another favourite we've not featured here? Spread the word in the comments! Are you a photographer? Check out our very own photography PDF manual by Bakari The Essential Guide To Digital Photography.

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Submitted by: ScreenOrigami via Submission Page

Here's a quick trick for any iOS 4-running iPhone 3G owners who want to speed up their phone without restoring back to iOS 3.1.3.

According to lifehacker, users may notably increase the speed of their old-and-reliable iPhone 3G handsets simply by refining what Spotlight searches for, when you swipe your Homescreen to the left.

Go to Settings- General -Home Search Results, and shut off everything you don't need (I disabled Music, Podcasts, Video and Audiobooks; leaving Contacts, apps, Notes, Mail and Calendar checked). Made my phone a lot quicker, more like it was with v2 (I'm still running v3.1.2, jailbroken).

I'm currently in the process of attempting to speed up an iPhone 3G. After installing iOS 4 (and then promptly downgrading back to iOS 3.1.3), this fix was next on the list. And, I have to admit it worked for me, too.

So, if you're starting to lose patience with your iOS 4-running iPhone 3G, be sure to give this a try. And, if you're still not pleased with the speed of your handset, you could always revert back to iOS 3.1.3. If you're not sure how, be sure to check out our step-by-step guide! And, don't forget to let us know how this quick trick works for you in the comments box below.

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Our continually updated list of all the best laptops available today.

Choosing the best laptop computer for you can be a tricky business, and the level of choice can be overwhelming.

There's no shortage of cheap laptops out there to choose from, but with new models bring released and almost immediately replaced by manufacturers, the choice is no easy task.

The lure of netbooks and the rise of the mini laptop are also huge factors for those looking for a new notebook, but each has their downsides.

• 15 best netbooks in the world today

That's why we've proured over our huge database of laptop reviews and picked out the best notebooks money can buy. We've picked out five of the best cheap laptop computers in each of four categories - the sub 400 and sub 600 price ranges as well gaming laptops and lightweight notebooks.

We've also picked out the most important information from each laptop review to help you choose at a glance - just click through to the main review to read more.

Think about your needs and your most important factor, be it laptop battery life, and the features which aren't worth spending money on. The most important part is to be honest about what you need, and you could save a fortune on getting the best laptop for you.

Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n - 299

Acer's Aspire laptops represent the company's consumer range, and the Aspire 1410-74G25n is a CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) laptop that offers fantastic value for money.

Performance isn't this laptop's strong point, but it isn't meant to be the laptop offers superb portability instead. At only 1.4kg, it's a pleasure to carry around. The small form factor makes it very easy to fit into almost any bag, but if you're after th slimmest machine possible, go for the Elonex Sliver instead.

The Aspire 1410-74G25n is put together well, and will provide good durability on the road. The shiny screen lid does quickly attract fingerprints and grime, but the mock brushed-aluminium palmrest inside doesn't, and looks and feels great.

The keyboard is very firm, but is also flat and therefore easy to get lost on when typing at speed. Unfortunately, the proximity of the touchpad to the keyboard makes it all too easy to brush against it while typing, causing irritating and erratic cursor behaviour.

The Aspire 1410-74G25n has the latest 802.11n high-speed wireless networking technology making it well suited to connecting to a router or hotspot at home or in a cafe and it's also the only laptop here to boast both VGA and HDMI out ports, offering good flexibility when connecting to external analogue and digital monitors.

The Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n sets a very high bar for the other laptops on test, and the excellent battery life will be a clincher for many buyers.

Read our full Acer Aspire 1410 review

Advent Modena - 339

Advent is PC World's in-house brand and comprises a range of affordable entry-level machines and the Advent Modena is a usable option for the first-time buyer and includes a bright and vibrant screen, but performance is poor.

The slim chassis carries the same basic design scheme we've come to expect from the Advent range, but its patterned glossy lid and matt-plastic interior create a nice contrast.

The plain black design is a little uninspiring, but doesn't detract too much from the sleek consumer styling.

At 2.5kg, the Advent Modena is easy to use around the home or on shorter journeys. With a depth of just 33mm, it slips easily into a carry case, so it's disappointing that the battery runs for just over two hours .

Surprisingly at such a low-price, high-speed wireless connectivity is provided by 802.11n Wi-Fi. An integrated camera is also in place, fitted above the screen, and lets you capture snapshots and even record video for easy online video messaging use.

Offering good usability, a great screen and ample storage at such a low price, the Advent Modena is sure to please first time buyers looking for an affordable and portable bargain.

Read our full Advent Modena review

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e - 355

Lenovo's ThinkPad range is known for offering arguably the best business laptops you can buy, but prices have traditionally been quite high. The ThinkPad X100e remedies this and brings effortlessly high-class corporate usability to the entry-level market.

The first thing you notice is how small the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is. Weighing just 1.5kg, it easily fits into even the smallest luggage for regular travel use. The 226-minute battery life is bettered by the eMachines G525-902G16Mi but provides basic mobility.

Despite the low price, none of Lenovo's famed build quality has been lost. The matt plastics and rigid chassis provide ample resilience and will easily withstand the knocks of life on the move, while the plain black design is sleek and stylish.

ThinkPad keyboards are rarely bettered and the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is no exception. Unusually for Lenovo it uses the isolated-key style with each key cut through a hole in the chassis. The board is also spill-resistant and is both spacious and responsive, making it by far one of the best at this price point.

While its mixed levels of power and small size make it more akin to a netbook than a laptop, there's no denying the sheer quality of the ThinkPad X100e. By offering the key strengths of more expensive machines at a cheaper price, this is a truly great ultraportable for the price.

Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X100e review

eMachines G525-902G16Mi - 397

While eMachines is not the best-known brand, it provides a good range of entry-level laptops ideal for those on a budget.The eMachines G525-902G16Miis a highly likeable big screen laptop, but is unfortunately flawed by limited power and features.

With its striking 17.3-inch screen, this is a great choice for viewing movies and photos. As well as its size, the screen on the eMachines G525-902G16Mi is far brighter and more vibrant than its rivals, making it comfortable to view in all conditions. We found the Super-TFT coating inevitably reflective, however.

Disappointingly, graphics performance is very low, with only the most basic multimedia use possible. The integrated Intel graphics card quickly struggles with demanding video editing tasks, but basic photo editing is possible.

Where the eMachines G525-902G16Mi truly stands out is its solid build quality and great usability. While the matt-black chassis and textured lid provide a conservative appearance, they also make the laptop very resilient, ensuring you can let the family loose on it without too much fear of damage.

In short, the eMachines G525-902G16Miis very much a mixed bag. While its stunning screen and great usability are easy to like, the limited power and features mean many users may quickly outgrow this machine as their skills develop, so be sure to consider your future needs before buying.

Read our full eMachines G525-902G16Mi review

Acer Aspire 5542-304G32Bn - 399

The Aspire 5542-304G32Bn is a budget machine that packs in some unexpected features at a low price point. One of the stand-out features is the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, a rarity for laptops at this price.

While the 1366 x 768-pixel screen resolution is not enough to take full advantage of the high-definition visuals, images are still crisp and the 15.6-inch LED backlit Super-TFT display provides rich and vibrant colours.

Other features also impress, including the 5-in-1 memory card reader and four USB ports, letting you easily connect external storage and peripherals.

The 320GB hard drive is enough for storing a large number of songs and videos, while leaving space for essential applications.

The only downside is the gaps between each key, which lets in dirt and other debris. The touchpad is one of the largest in this group, although easy to brush while typing. Thankfully there's a button for disabling the pad when not needed.

Overall, the Aspire 5542-304G32Bn is a feature-packed and highly usable laptop that is only let down by limited power and portability.

Read our full Acer Aspire 5542 review

Samsung R530 - 389

Not only is the Samsung R530 a great looking laptop, it also boasts great usability, performance and portability - and all at a very competitive price.We very rarely see laptops that have exciting designs at this price point, but the Samsung took us by surprise with its moody red and black lid and mock brushed-aluminium palmrest this is the sort of styling we would expect to see on a laptop costing significantly more.

Build quality is also decent and, although the chassis doesn't feel as substantial as the Acer Aspire 5732Z-443G32Mn, it's quite a bit lighter, making it a better travel companion.

Its battery life is also decent - at 244 minutes - and will keep you productive on the road for quite a while.

The keyboard is excellent, with the typing action proving surprisingly firm and the travel smooth. The touchpad is fast and responsive, and also features Samsung's now trademark lighting effects round the edge, which make it easy to use in low light conditions, such as the cabin on a plane.

The more we used the Samsung R530, the more we liked it. Performance is above average and the design and usability of the machine really endeared it to us.

If that wasn't enough, there's also decent portability chucked in for good measure, making this machine a good choice indeed.

Read our full Samsung R530 review

Dell Vostro V13 - 409

The Dell Vostro V13 us arguably the most handsome Dell has ever produced and what's more, you can buy it for under 500.

The Dell Vostro V13 feels great. It's eminently portable at 1.6kg, but the low weight, which edges it towards ultraportable territory, doesn't equate to a flimsy-feeling laptop. The back of the screen feels solid and shock-resistant, and the aluminium casing gives the Dell Vostro V13 a truly premium feel. We're also fans of the all-in-one case design, which looks both lovely and tidy.

The V13's portability isn't all encompassing, though. The battery is a clear weak point for anyone who spends a lot of time away from the mains, or would rather leave the charger behind. With the V13 loaded down by applications, it survived barely two hours on battery power alone; left with the screen on and nothing happening it managed four hours. Fairly respectable, but far short of what's frequently being achieved by cheaper netbooks.

But, performance issues aside, it's stunning to see such a good looking, well-made, cleverly designed laptop available for under 500. Indeed, if you have only the most basic computing needs, you could bag the lowest-end Dell Vostro V13 for a mere 359. Just don't forget to lie about how much it cost.

Read our full Dell Vostro V13 review

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge - 499

Lenovo's ThinkPad range has traditionally been aimed at the highend business market, but with a lower price and more accessible style, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge now opens the brand to a wider market of consumers.

A choice of Intel and AMD processors are available, with the unit we tested being powered by a dual-core AMD chip. Performance of the LenovoThinkPad Edge is in line with the majority of CULV laptops on the market, suiting basic home and office use, but struggling with more demanding multi-tasking.

Graphics performance fares slightly better. The integrated ATI GPU delivers enough power for running complex multimedia presentations, as well as basic photo and video editing. Both VGA and HDMI ports are in place for connecting to larger screens at home or in the office.

The use of a glossy Super-TFT screen shows the consumer leanings of this laptop, as business machines traditionally use less reflective matt-finish panels. The 13.3-inch screen is suitably vibrant, with strong brightness levels, but is not quite as sharp as we would have liked.

By combining the quality and usability of more expensive models with the style and features of a consumer machine, the LenovoThinkPad Edge is another strong addition to the Lenovo range. The low-performance won't suit all needs, but this is a great machine for frequent travel use.

Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad Edge review

Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T - 560

Although the Acer 5810T boasts a large 15.6 inch screen, its light and thin build means that you won't be bogged down by this laptop when you're taking it out and about. The 5810T's body is an attractive metallic grey made out of plastic that while sturdy, is light enough to keep the weight of the laptop to around 2.4 kg.

The big feature of the 5810T is the large battery life. Acer is keen for this laptop to be used for 'all day computing'. Whilst it won't manage a whole day of heavy use away from a power supply, the 5810T can manage around seven hours which is still a fantastic length for a laptop's battery life.

Video playback, both standard and high-definition was very good, with the images reproduced clearly on the decent screen. The 5810T comes with a HDMI output, so if you have a high-definition TV you can play your video files though that. Although this is hardly an essential feature, it's certainly a nice one to have, and adds to the overall value of the laptop.

Overall this is a nice, reasonably powerful laptop, whose light weight and large battery life means it is a great companion for working on in the great outdoors.

Read our full Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T review

Dell Inspiron 1564 - 587

Dell has had an impressive track record over the past year, delivering one stunning consumer laptop after another. The Dell Inspiron 1564 continues this run of success by implementing cutting-edge technology in this powerful and well-rounded machine.

Built around a processor from Intel's Core i3 range, the Dell Inspiron 1564 among the most powerful entry-level laptops we've seen to date. Effortlessly outperforming all but the similarly specified Samsung R580, multi-tasking with even more demanding software is possible.

Despite using an integrated GPU a graphics technology traditionally associated with limited power Intel's latest onboard chip provides surprisingly powerful 3D performance, allowing high-definition (HD) video and even less demanding games to run with little effort.

The stunning 15.6-inch screen adds to the multimedia usability on offer. It is a very bright panel, and delivers fantastic colour reproduction and sharp images, ensuring movies, photos and games are shown with impressive clarity and vibrancy. While some rivals provide high-speed wireless and fixed access, an older and slower technology is used here. Speeds will suit basic home use, but it is worth bearing in mind before buying.

More pleasingly, storage is excellent. The 500GB hard drive will hold all your family's data with ease. Comprehensive support for flash storage cards is also provided. Continuing Dell's recent run of success, the Dell Inspiron 1564 is an impressively powerful and portable machine. While its limited network connectivity is disappointing, it excels in all other areas, making it one of the best entry-level laptops we've seen this year.

Read our full Dell Inspiron 1564 review

MSI GX740 - 999

We're big fans of the MSI GX740. By making sensible and realistic cuts think Core i5 instead of i7 processor, no Blu-ray drive, lack of full HD screen MSI has managed to deliver a laptop that boasts serious graphical prowess at a very competitive price.

The GX740 also looks great, and we're told by MSI this is the last model to feature the famous style, with the inbound GT660 demonstrating the way of things to come, so if you like the design we'd suggest you get stuck in before it's too late.

The graphical power here is formidable, and the latest games run as smooth as you'd like with settings up high.MSI has been using this design to great effect for quite a few years, it's neither garish nor boring, and we'll be sad to see it go.The relatively low weight and form factor of the GX740 make it very easy to carry around, not something often said about gaming rigs.

The lack of a Full HD screen may bother some, and images may not be sharp enough for the hardcore. The laptop maybe easy to carry, but realistically you'll be sprinting between power points thanks to a truly shocking battery life.

However, the MSI GX740 is one of the best priced, best looking gaming notebooks around. There's plenty of power under the hood for the avid gamer, while the Intel Core i5 processor provides plenty of performance for your average consumer.

Read our full MSIGX740 review

Alienware M11x - 1,184

TheAlienware M11x was launched as the world's smallest gaming laptop,offering a unique blend of graphical power and portability. A dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 335M graphics card has been used featuring 1024MB of video memory and proved stunningly powerful in our benchmark tests.

A 256GB Solid State Drive provides ample space for your content, as well as very fast access to your data. 802.11n Wi-Fi is included and connectivity is comprehensive with VGA, HDMI and a DisplayPort connection all in evidence.

Processing power is courtesy of a Consumer Ultra Low Voltage Intel chip, which is especially resource light on the machine's battery resulting in an impressive 414 minutes of mobile use. The downside is that everyday performance isn't particularly fast.

However, we found the laptop a pleasure to use and certainly fast enough, and we had no issues multi-tasking with various applications.

We are seriously impressed by the Alienware M11x. Not only is it the first of its type, but it succeeds in combining great 3D performance with everyday portability and usability at a competitive price.

Read our full review of the Alienware M11x

Alienware M15x - 1,422

The Alienware M15x is another fantastic gaming system which boasts very strong graphics power, excellent styling and fast everyday performance - and offers it all at an affordable price.

This isn't a laptop you'll want to travel regularly with, however. It weighs a hefty 4.3kg and offers just 164 minutes of battery power with a 9-cell battery on board, and so is much better suited for use as a desktop replacement system.

The 15.6-inch screen features a 1600 x 900-pixel resolution. It is very sharp and provides vivid colours. It isn't the brightest panel we've seen, however, and a shiny Super-TFT coating has been used, creating noticeable reflections in bright light.

The M15x is one of the best gaming laptops we've seen. Its great design is perfectly complemented by decent performance and it's also very reasonably priced not something we can say very often about gaming systems.

Read our full Alienware M15x review

Asus G73JH - 1,780

The Asus G73JH is an aggressively and uniquely styled machine that looks fantastic and boasts great performance for gamers. The laptop's striking design with angular lines and tactile matt finish is inspired by the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Bomber, but there's more purpose to the design than looks alone

Where this machine justifies its price is in gaming performance. The DirectX 11-compatible ATi graphics card provides stunning 3D power for running the latest games and multimedia applications.

The 17.3-inch screen adds to its abilities. It's not the brightest panel around, but colour reproduction is excellent, with contrast especially impressing. Blu-ray movies using the integrated Blu-ray drive and games look great in particular.

We like the G73JH a lot. It's a great looking and uniquely designed machine that provides stunning performance, but for those who are watching the pennies at the moment a lot of us a similar experience albeit with not quite as much style can currently be found for cheaper elsewhere

Read our full Asus G73JH review

Rock Xtreme 790 - 1,990

UK-based Rock is well known for its high-performance gaming laptops and offers the latest components housed within generic chassis designs. The Rock Xtreme 790 brings Intel's Core i7 technology to the range and provides truly stunning levels of quad-core power.

Powered by an Intel Core i7 920 processor, performance goes beyond what you would expect from a laptop. Running at 2.66GHz, the CPU is backed by a staggering 6144MB of high-speed DDR3 memory and vastly outperforms every laptop that we've ever tested.

Graphics are provided by a top-of-the range Nvidia GPU for impressive gaming power. In a chassis this large, it is a shame that Rock hasn't used two cards in an SLI configuration, as the extra performance would have perfectly complimented the high-powered quad-core CPU.

The 17-inch Super-TFT screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, rather than a 16:9 true widescreen design. Quality is excellent nevertheless, with sharp and vibrant images on offer. The panel is not as bright as we'd have liked, but it is still ideal for gaming and home entertainment use.

Overall, the Rock Xtreme 790 is a mixed bag. While performance is outstanding and is backed by strong usability and features, the lack of SLI-graphics is an odd omission considering the machine's size and price.

Read our full Rock Xtreme 790 review

Acer Aspire 1825 - 585

2010 is already proving to be the year of the tablet PC, with Apple's iPad leading the charge. The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ-413G25n is the latest such convertible, and while the bright and responsive touchscreen adds a fresh layer of usability, this hybrid is unlikely to tempt any iPad fans to convert.

With the screen in a normal upright position, the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is a typical compact laptop. With a weight of just 1.7kg and a thickness of 35mm, this is an ultraportable laptop that can easily be slipped into a bag.

The chassis itself is firm in all areas, which gives the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ a semi-rugged feel. This laptop likely wouldn't survive a tumble from a desktop, but it can bounce around inside a rucksack all day with little complaint.

3D performance is provided by an integrated Intel graphics card, which lacks its own dedicated video memory and so leeches from the main system memory instead.

As a result, graphical performance is very basic. Watching video and simple photo editing is no problem, but more complex multimedia jobs such as video editing and gaming are beyond the Acer Aspire 1825.

Read our full Acer Aspire 1825 review

MSI X600 - 594

The MSI X600-055UK is the second machine we've seen from MSI's ultra-slim X-series range, following on from the smaller X340.

With a 15.6-inch screen, this machine is a more rounded package, while still providing excellent mobility. The 15.6-inch screen features a glossy Super-TFT coating, which is reflective in direct sunlight.

You'll find a mid-range ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card supporting the display. It provides the MSI X600-055UK with enough performance to handle basic graphics tasks with ease and you'll even be able to play older games.

As with the smaller X340, this machine uses an Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processor, but this is the first system we've seen to feature a CULV Core 2 Duo chip.

Running at 1.6GHz, and backed by 4096MB of DDR2 memory, performance is akin to regular Core 2 Duo processors, proving easily able to carry out intensive tasks and run multiple programs smoothly. Battery life is also good, letting you work for 248 minutes.

Providing excellent performance in a large yet thin and light chassis, the MSI X600 offers a great compromise between size and power. As with much more expensive systems, you'll be able to work on the move without resorting to a smaller and slower form factor

Read our full MSI X600 review

Apple MacBook Air - 1,174

The MacBook Air is an enigma. Its key strength is its lightweight, ultra-thin design making it ideal for carrying around with you. Yet it makes significant sacrifices to achieve this degree of style and portability.

Despite an inevitable speed boost, the Air is still the slowest machine in the Mac range. The entry-level model, with a 120GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM, has a processor running at only 1.86GHz. The high-end version boasts a 128GB solid-state drive instead of a hard drive and a 2.13GHz processor.

A welcome price cut brings the 1.86GHz model down to 1,149 from 1,271, and the 2.13GHz Air reviewed here is now 1,349, down from 1,761.

Although Wi-Fi is still its main means of connecting to networks or the internet, you now get a USB Ethernet adaptor in the box, should you need a wired connection. Trading power for portability and connectivity for convenience means the MacBook Air will never be a machine for everyone, but improved specs at a lower price can only be welcomed.

In short this is a refreshing update for the Apple MacBook Air that just oozes style.

Read our full Apple MacBook Air review

Fujtsu Lifebook P770 - 1,378

The Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is one of the first laptops we've seen with this new technology and we eagerly tested it out to see what difference the new low-voltage Core i7 processor would make. With a weight of just 1.5kg, the Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is an ultraportable laptop that is almost as light as a netbook. It's just as compact too, with a 12.1-inch screen and a chassis that's only 30mm thick. The Fujtsu Lifebook P770 can be slipped into a bag or case and carried around all day without weighing you down.

Intel's new ULV Core i7 processor is a hybrid of the two, which offers buckets of power, but also vastly improved battery life.The Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is powered by this Core i7 620UM processor and the results are truly stunning.

This is easily one of the most powerful low-voltage chips currently available, comparable in performance to Intel's standard Core i3 and top-end Core 2 Duo chips, and we could comfortably multi-task with a number of resource-intensive applications thanks to the dual cores and 4096MB of speedy DDR3 memory.

This is easily one of the most powerful low-voltage chips currently available, comparable in performance to Intel's standard Core i3 and top-end Core 2 Duo chips, and we could comfortably multi-task with a number of resource-intensive applications thanks to the dual cores and 4096MB of speedy DDR3 memory.

Read the full Fujtsu Lifebook P770 review

Toshiba Portege R600-149 - 1,526

Toshiba's Portg R600 range has been a favourite of ours for quite some time, thanks to its great usability and resilient, lightweight design. The Portg R600-149 is the latest model and it's hard to imagine finding a better business machine at this price.

As soon as you pick it up you're struck by just how light it is. At just 820g it feels as if there is nothing inside this machine. With slightly slimmer dimensions than the equally small Fujitsu LifeBook P770, this is a machine built for frequent and comfortable mobile use.

Performance is more pleasing. While this is the only laptop to use Intel's older Core 2 Duo technology, rather than the latest Core i5 and i7 processors, there is ample power on offer for most business use. Only more complex multitasking shows the limits of the older CPU.

The screen is driven by an integrated Intel graphics card, so performance is in line with the Fujitsu LifeBook P770 and falls far behind the Lenovo ThinkPad T410s. Image quality is strong and while colour and contrast are slightly muted, this is a very comfortable screen to work with.

Unless you need the latest cutting-edge features or the longest battery life, this is a fantastic travel partner and we like it a lot.

Read our full Toshiba Portg R600 review

Have you been considering hiring some new employees? Has it been awhile since you added staff? If so, then let us offer you a refresher course on how to manage the process. The following guide brings together tools you can use to manage the process including deciding what positions to hire, structuring job interviews, and effectively onboarding new employees.

Tools You Need For Hiring: Job Posting and Pre-Screening

Your time is extremely valuable, so when deciding to hire additional staff you want the process to be as quick, efficient, and effective as possible. Start by determining what positions you need to fill. The Position Request Form will walk you through the parameters you shoul take into account when hiring a new employee. Its purpose is to help you define the need for a new employee and what alternatives might exist for your company. You may not need to make a new hire, for example, but to reorganize responsibilities among your current staff. This document helps you to avoid wasting time and money on a hire you may not need.

If you have determined that you do need to increase your staff, it's time to write the job description. You can use this generic Job Description Template that can be customized to your needs or use one of the many job descriptions available on Inc.com.

Once the job has been posted on your website and on job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and SimplyHired you will get resumes from interested candidates. Be sure to immediately sort resumes as you get them in piles that include interested, not interested, and save for future position folders.

One way to save time on your search is to send a Pre-Interview Questionnaire to the candidates whose resumes immediately grab your attention. Based on a resume and the answers to the questionnaire, you can determine whether an applicant should be contacted for an in-person interview.

As a courtesy to those that submitted a resume and answered the questionnaire but didn't quite meet your expectations for the position, you can send them a Pre-Interview Rejection Letter. This might seem like an unnecessary step but it is polite, and has the added benefit of saving you from having to respond to follow-up e-mails and phone calls.

Dig Deeper: How to Write a Job Description

Tools You Need For Hiring: The Interview

Now that you have selected the job candidates you are interested in meeting, it's a good idea to set up the interviews. Most companies handle interviews in a casual way, but some take a more formal approach. If you would like to add structure to your interview process, either because you are hiring so many new employees that it is hard to keep track of them, you should incorporate an Interview Letter for Employment into your process. This form simply should give the details of the interview location and time, who the candidate will be meeting with as well as outlines the job description. It can be paired with an Employment Application and Job Applicant Reference Request. The interview letter Having the candidates bring a completed employment application and reference request to the interview will save you time on processing. It will also give you some insight into how meticulous a candidate is when it comes to completing a task.

It's now time for the interview and there are questions you should ask and questions you should avoid asking because they put you at risk for violating Equal Employment Opportunity Commission laws. Be sure to ask questions relevant to the position, and also to look for a good cultural fit. The person not only has to be able to do the job but they have to work well with others on the staff. Another way to safeguard against hiring someone who isn't a good fit with the staff is to include several colleagues in the interview process. Allow a few people that will work with the new hire to interview and complete a Co-Employee Applicant Appraisal Form. It also let's your employees know that their opinion matters and that each person is a highly valued part of your company.

As a courtesy to the job candidates that came in for an interview, but you know you are not interested in them for the position, send them a Post Interview Rejection Letter. Like the pre-interview rejection letter, this correspondence politely lets candidates know that although they are no longer being considered for the position, but that you will keep their resume on file for future positions.

Dig Deeper: How to Improve Your Employment Application


Tools You Need For Hiring: The Job Offer

After you have vetted several job candidates, it's time to decide who your new hire will be. If you are debating between several candidates this Pre-Employment Checklist may help you to make your final decision. The first thing you should do is a Pre-Hiring Reference Check. Use this form to make sure you know who you're hiring before you ask them to sign on.

When the references have checked out, it is time to send the Offer Letter. Here are several examples of Job Offer Letters that you can customize to your needs. Be sure to include an Employee Information Sheet, I-9 form, W-4 form, Background Check Authorization, Consent to Physical Exam Form, Reference Release Form, Employee Confidentiality Agreement and other documentation that may be necessary for employment. You can reference this Personnel File Checklist if you are not sure of what forms you need to keep your employee records straight.

It is highly recommended that you hold off on sending Rejection Letters to the other job finalists until your top choice has accepted the offer. You also want to make sure that person clears all background checks and testing before letting the other finalists know that they were not selected.

Dig Deeper: How to Improve Your Hiring Practices

Tools You Need For Hiring: Orientation and Beyond

You have gone through the hiring process and it is the first day for your new employee. Reference the New Employee Orientation Checklist to make sure your new employee learns everything they need to know about their new job and workplace.

You should make the new employee aware of any company policies such as Compensation, Pension, Vacation, Voice Mail/Email/Internet Policy and any other important policies. These should also be included in the Employee Handbook. If all company policies are included in the Employee Handbook then it is in your best interest to have your new employee sign an Employee Handbook Receipt to acknowledge that they received the Employee Handbook and that it is their responsibility to be familiar with all company policies. If there are any other documents that your new employee needs to complete like an Employment Agreement, Non-Compete Agreement or Information Release Form have them do that during orientation.

To show your new employee that you want them to succeed in the position you can include a tip sheet on How To Be an Excellent Employee in their orientation materials. Setting forth a list of desired behaviors helps you maintain communication and positive relations with your employees. The first 60 to 90 days for a new hire are extremely important. To track progress during this period, and to gain valuable insight about your company from the new hire, ask them to complete this 60-Day New Employee Survey. This form allows new hires to add immediate value to a company by sharing what remains of their outside perspective. It can also serve as a review of a new hire.

Dig Deeper: How to Build an Onboarding Plan for a New Hire

I've never been one to have commitment issues. But my decision to move from the iPhone 4 to the Nexus One just couldn't stick. Last month I wrote about what I saw as the flaws of the iOS platform and specifically the issues I had with the iPhone 4. I also wrote a glowing review of the Nexus One and I stand by (most) of that analysis. But yesterday I sold my Nexus One and will soon be buying an iPhone 4.

When I announced this news on Twitter and Facebook last night I think I stunned just about everyone of my friends and followers. I got a lot of questions like What did Android do wrong? but did get a few statements like I knew you'd be back when I left last month, I didn't intend to come back. But there were a few lingering issues that I just couldn't get past.

Subsidies

The Nexus One I purchased cost me $529 direct from Google. So I take that phone and attach it to my AT&T account and then pay AT&T the same amount of money for my voice, data and TXT messages as I would if I were on a 2-year agreement. AT&T spends nothing upfront and makes a larger profit from me than it does for someone who spends $199 for a iPhone 4. The obvious benefit for me is that I can take my phone and go to another carrier, or cancel my account anytime I want. But here's the kicker my only real choice is AT&T.

Beyond the logistical issues of having every friend and family member I know being on AT&T (free mobile to mobile) and the fact that they have one of the better networks in the Kansas City area Google for some reason designed two different Nexus Ones. One radio optimized for T-Mobile and one for AT&T. So if I decided I was fed up and wanted to move to T-Mobile, I'd basically cripple my phone by relegating it to EDGE network data speeds. And since obviously Verizon and Sprint are on different technologies, they're not even something to be considered. Google would have been wise to use a radio that would work on both types of GSM networks, if that were possible. Realistically, I'm locked into AT&T, regardless of if I have a 2-year contract or not.

So the real question for me was, in order to make the value of owning the Nexus One worth it was my experience with it more than 2.5x better than the iPhone 4?

Basically. No.

Quirks

Here's the thing about reading reviews done by people who purchased the product with their own money we tend to want to make ourselves feel good about the purchase, so things that might annoy an totally objective person are sometimes overlooked (or not mentioned.)

There were a few things about the Nexus One that annoyed me from the start, but were not enough to make me dislike it completely. If it was going head to head on price with the iPhone 4, I wouldn't give them much of a second thought and would probably still consider elements on the device and the OS to be superior. But here are a few:

1. Nothing beats iTunes for syncing music. I tried a variety of solutions for Android and was really quite impressed with a program called Double Twist. But the Windows interface was worse than using iTunes on Windows, and the process of syncing tended to take a really long time.
2. The row of home, back and search buttons on my Nexus One were very picky. You have to touch them just above where the actual indicator button is for them to work properly. It's something you get used to, but when you hand the phone to someone else, they tend to have a hard time getting it to work.
3. Battery life was less than stellar. The more I used the device, the more I saw where I was coming very close to not being able to go through the day without a recharge. Since I'm not much of a night owl (I'm usually at home or even in bed by 10PM on a Saturday) it didn't hit me too bad. I did initially purchase a second battery for the device, but I never used it.
4. I found the ear hole for the speaker to be in an old location, at least compared to the iPhone. I had to hold the edge of the phone up to my ear to hear other people clearly. It was something I had to get used to, but found to be somewhat bothersome.
5. The on-screen keyboard was just not as accurate as the iPhone version. In fact I found the touch screen to be somewhat laggy compared to the iPhone. By this I mean, the iPhone screen seems what I would describe as spring loaded snappy and ready to flip from around with ease. On the Nexus One it was common to try and flip two or even three times before the screen reacted.

Applications

Despite what I initially said, the Android Marketplace has a long way to go before it catches up with the App Store. While there were a sizable collection of applications that had been ported, many of them did not function anywhere as smoothly as the iPhone version. The Facebook for Android application was painful to use at times, forcing me to manually refresh pages to see updates or get notifications. This was common for most of the applications that I used, things that seemed to just happen naturally on the iPhone either required multiple menus or buttons to access, or the features were missing.

There is also something to be said for the investment in Apps that I'd made over the last two years as an owner of the iPhone 3G. I have hundreds of Apps in my iTunes library, and I'd paid for a sizable chunk of them. Many of them I could just not find a replacement for in Android. Really, the App Store is one of the smartest things Apple did to insure people stay with the platform.

Photography

Nowhere was this lack of Apps more obvious than in the world of photography, which is my main hobby. Apps like Photoshop Mobile, Best Camera and Camera+ were ones that I'd come to use often on my iPhone, and despite my fruitless searches, I could not find anything similar in the Android Marketplace. They were also Apps that I already owned, and couldn't use.

There is also something to be said for the iPhone 4 camera, versus well, anything in a phone or even most point and shoots.

While not really photography, something else I found ridiculous about Android compared to the iPhone was how impossible it was to easily take a screenshot on the Nexus One without doing a USB tether to the Android SDK, or rooting the phone to install custom applications. It's a simple process of clicking two buttons on the iPhone. Not that I often need to take screenshots, but I do it enough where it was bothersome.

Death Grip

I griped (a lot) about the iPhone 4 and the death grip. Why? Because it really teed me off. However, and I really hate to admit this, the Nexus One had a very similar issue.

While I could never get the signal to drop to the point where I would disconnect calls (which I can do on the iPhone 4) there was a noticeable decrease in signal strength when holding the phone, and the tighter the hold, the fewer the bars. It was not uncommon to watch my signal go from four bars (full) to one bar. Granted, the problem wasn't simply touching a specific area of the phone like Apple seems to have engineered their device for but the issue is there.

Another related issue, was I could never get my phone to remember to automatically reconnect to my home wireless. It had no issues at work, but for some reason when I came home I'd always have to enter the wireless settings and reconnect. It managed to save my SSID and WPA2 keys, so it only took a few seconds but for some reason it would never stick. Same goes for leaving the phone on standby and then waking it up. It would connect to 3G but never Wifi without a little extra encouragement.

Discontinued

It never makes you feel good when you buy something and then two weeks later learn they're not going to sell the product anymore. On the other hand, it made it a lot easier to find a buyer on eBay.

It's Not All Bad

Even with my complaints about Android and the Nexus One. It's not all bad. I still stand by my analysis of the intricacies of the operating systems from my previous review. Things like the notification system and the integration with Google services are really top notch and the notification system in iOS is something Apple really needs to address.

Synopsis

Will I miss my Nexus One? Yes.

Would I buy it again? Yes (subsidized) Would I encourage others to buy it? Yes.

Would I encourage others to look at Android? Yes

But in the end, I just couldn't make it stick. Weighing all the factors, the iPhone, with it's assorted Apps and features was the better choice for me. Forgive me Father Jobs, for I have strayed from the light. Please accept me back to the comfort of the Reality Distortion Field once again. I promise I'll (probably) buy an iPad!

Filed under: iPad

Gallery: Enhanced iBooks

TUAWiBooks Store adding increasing number of multimedia titles originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: New Kindle

Continue reading New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK

New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We got word this afternoon that the Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter is going to be sold exclusively through Brookstone and is available for pre-order right now for $299.99. Brookstone plans on shipping orders on September 3rd, and the first 300 orders get a free flight bag. (Tempting, I know.) Currently, Brookstone is only willing to ship the Parrot AR.Drone to customers inside of the USA, and optionally available is a $49.95 bundle which includes a additional hull, battery, and an iPhone 3G/3GS case. They're also selling two and three year service plans for $39.99 or $49.99, although it's unclear whether or not breaking your AR.Drone by crashing it in to something is considered "normal wear and tear."

We got our first hands-on at CES 2010 earlier this year and thought it was incredibly cool-

The device is currently controlled using an iPhone/iPod Touch app which communicates through Wi-Fi to the AR.Drone itself. Simply tap on Launch and the AR.Drone takes off and hovers over a stationary spot. On screen controls are easy and effective.

Left/right buttons allow you to rotate 360 degrees in one spot, while up/down buttons control altitude. Pressing on a special button activates tilt-control on the iPhone/iPod Touch itself. This allow you to fly the device by naturally tilting the iPhone itself. Meanwhile, the on screen controls are overlayed with live video coming from the front-facing camera of the Drone itself.

In picking it up for the first time, I found it very easy to maneuver. The main thing I had to get used to was using the drone's point of view to steer, rather than my own. Check out our video:

The Parrot AR.Drone has some serious technology built in to it with its ability to auto-level itself, and pilot itself if it loses the connection with the device you're controlling it with. Remote control helicopters (which require much more skill to fly) sell for upwards of $1,000, making the $299.99 they're asking for everything the AR.Drone is capable of doing seem surprisingly appealing. For more information on the Parrot AR.Drone check out the web site and make sure to take a peek at their gallery of augmented reality games that you can play for the device.

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

What if your phone automatically went silent when you step into the movie theater? Texted your significant other when you finished your long commute? Or automatically turned down the volume when a particularly loud friend called? It can; here's how.

Android application Tasker gives you total rules-based automation for your Android phone. It's not free, but it offers a free 14-day trial download. In the Android Market, it's 3.99 in UK moneya little over $6 U.S. If you grab the trial, or shell out the cost of a Double-Double meal at In-N-Out Burger to buy it in the Market (scan the QR code at left), you'll discover it's worth the cost, even if you only have one super-specific use for it.

Since Tasker can do nearly anything on your phone (it's mostly limited by your imagination), here's some up-front ideas about what kinds of uses seem particularly attractive:

Set preferences for each application: Give the Kindle app a longer screen time-out. Make Maps or Foursquare automatically turn on GPS, and have a file browser launch when you trade out SD cards. Have your music and other audio apps lower the volume to 50 percent when you plug in headphones, so you never get a way-too-loud moment.

Time of day automation: Make your phone go into airplane mode overnight, but re-connect for a few minutes every 30 minutes to grab messages. Set up your phone to play specific or random songs from your collection as an alarm, back up files from your SD card every day, load up an application at a certain time.

Set up contact rules: If you've got a friend who talks too loud, make your call volume go down when they ring. Create a home screen widget that sends an automatic SMS ("In the car," maybe). Set your phone to pop up a more iPhone-style message box, rather than background notifications, when you miss calls or get SMS from certain people. Have your phone always record messages from a certain caller.

: More fun, crazy-advanced stuff: Encrypt and decrypt data on the SD card based on your rules. Have speaker phone turn on when you lay your phone flat on a table. Change the home screen icons for apps, have your phone get drastically efficient when battery's below 10 percent, and change your wallpapers to reflect the time of day or the number of messages.

Those use cases barely scratch the surface, really. Take the developer's tour, and you'll see there are variables, hundreds of events and triggers, and nearly infinite setups. Want to have Reddit.com launch on your browser if your alarm clock goes off on a Tuesday while Wi-Fi is on? You got it.

We'd need to write a research-paper-length treatise to cover everything Tasker can do for you, so we'll instead offer up a few examples of app models we've found handy.

Task 1: Turn on GPS/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi for Certain Apps Automatically

I don't keep GPS positioning on all the time, both for battery efficiency and a niggling sense of privacy. At the same time, I dislike when Maps, My Tracks, Navigation, or Foursquare ask me to turn on GPS, and I'm required to click "OK," then make the toggle in Settings, then head back. For just those apps, I want my GPS to automatically click on. When I'm done with those applications, the GPS should shut off, too. You can easily pull the same trick for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or most any system function, but we'll just show how GPS works.

From Tasker's main screen, hit "New." You'll be presented with six options, or "Contexts": Application, Time, Day, Location, State, and Event. Think of "Context" as an "If""If X is happening ..."

In this case, we're going to choose Application, then pick out the app we want to apply a rule to. You can pick out apps one at a time and apply your "Tasks" to them, but you can also apply Tasks to all applications, or pick out apps you don't want your Tasks to apply to with the "Not" button at bottom. We'll just pick out one app, Maps, which I almost always want GPS to be turned on for.

After you pick your Context, now it's time to add one or more Tasks. Thinking ahead though, we're going to apply this kind of actionturn GPS on when the app launches, then turn it off when it's moved away fromto a few different apps after this. So hit the "New" button in the upper-right corner, then type in a name for your Task that you'll easily grasp later, like "Auto-Launch GPS."

Now it's time to tell Tasker what Task we want to fire when this Context is happening. As you can see at left, you basically get your whole system to play with. The thing we want, GPS, is under "Misc."

In the bar under the GPS "Set" option, you've got three options: On, Off, and Toggle, the last of which just flips the setting the other way, whichever way it is. There's also a checkbox for an "If," which, if clicked, drops down a box where you can enter in a variable and make it a condition. You could, for example, only have GPS turn on if airplane mode is set to off ("%AIR - Isn't Set"). Our needs, for now, are simplejust have GPS set "On," no matter what.

Well, that was pretty easy. Now you'll see that "GPS Auto-Launch" has just one task: "GPS - Set On." Let's say you were a little more protective of your GPS chip, though, and you wanted Tasker to ask you about GPS, Wi-Fi, or whatnot. The gear-and-screwdriver logo in the lower-right corner gives you that option. Set your "Task Type" to "Menu," and you'll get options to set how long the menu stays up, if there's a default option selected, and even set a background image, if you're feeling extra-custom. But we're just having Tasker take care of the GPS switch for us, so get back to the Tasks screen.

You could hit "Test" in the lower-right corner to see how Tasker handles launching Maps and turning on GPS automatically, but we're going to specify one more detail of our auto-launcher. Hit "Done" to get back to the main Tasker menu, then tap on the right-hand side of the process you created, the side with "GPS Auto-Launch" and a green arrow. From the menu that pops up, choose "Add Exit Task." When we told Tasker to do something when Maps launched, we created an "Enter" task. By adding an "Exit" task, we can have something else happen when Maps is closed down or put away. You can add these Exits to all kinds of conditionswhen you're no longer near a certain location, when it's no longer a certain time, etc.

Update: Not all Tasker tasks need an Exit taskin general, whatever settings you've changed while a task is running will set themselves back when you're done. In this case, though, we're getting a little more extra-cautious control over turning the GPS off.

After hitting "Add Exit Task," you'll run through the same process you used to create the GPS turn-on: create a new name template, add the task GPS from the Misc menu, then set it to Off and hit "Done." Now, back at the main screen, you can see that there's a Context (Maps launches), an Enter task (GPS Auto-Launch), and an Exit task (GPS Shutdown). Hit the "Apple" button at the very bottom, and now Tasker will be watching for Maps to launch, then do its auto-GPS thing.

This trick worked fairly well on my Nexus One, despite Tasker providing a pop-up note that application exit watching wasn't as stable on Android 2.0 and later. Worst case scenario, it doesn't launch GPS, and I do it myself.

Task 2: Create an Ultimate Morning Alarm

The next step, adding multiple tasks to a time condition, isn't all that different, but it does show off how far Tasker can go in automating your phone. So let's create Kevin's Ultimate Alarm.

Hit "New" and choose Time as the Context. I'll have this alarm go off at 6 a.m. and, if I don't respond, play for 3 minutes. You could just set 6-6 as your time to run until you take action, but I'll be nice to my morning self. We're going to add another context, the days of the week, later, but for now, you'll be moved into the Tasks section.

For my own Ultimate Alarm, I'm having a song play from my collection, make my Remember the Milk tasks load up on the screen, and have my phone say, in text-to-speech, "Good morning, Kevin. It's going to be a great day." Why? Because, why not? For these pieces, I added three Tasks:

• MediaMusic PlayMusic Play Dir. After long-clicking on the "Dir" field and choosing my Music folder, I also checked "Audio Only" and "Random." If you wanted a particular song, you could swap "Music Play" for "Music Play Dir."
• AppLoad AppRemember the Milk. Fairly simple, and I could set a different starting page in Remember the Milk's own settings, if I liked.
• MiscSay. Then just fille in the text you want, choose a language, and mess with any other fields you'd like. "Stream" sets the output you'd like the audio to go through, which helps if you've got other things, like songs, going too. You can, of course, mess with the pitch and speed of the voice, too.

When you're all done and hit "Done," tap on the left-hand side of your Ultimate Alarm entry, where the clock is. From the menu, roll down Context and hit "Add," then choose "Date." From the pop-up chooser, you can get very specific about the months, days of the month, days of the week, and other selectors for when your alarm goes off. Mine's a basic Monday-through-Friday deal.

That's all there is to that one, but it's a pretty nice package.

Task 3: Make Your Phone Quiet Down When Face-Down

Now I'm going to create a kind of "Quiet Down" mode for my phone. When I put it face down on a flat surface, like arriving at my desk for work, it should turn off GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth (and, heck, you can turn off EDGE/3G data, if you'd like), and then turn the system, ringer, and media volumes all the way down but keep vibrate on. You could add an Exit task to turn some or all of these back on, but that's giving a bit too much leeway to the phone's sensors.

For our context, choose State, then pick Orientation. You'll get the options you see at left. I like to stay away from "Face up," "Standing Up," and "Upside Down," because they're pretty common occurrences. For this example, "Face Down" is a pretty deliberate action you take with your phone.

For the tasks, I added "Bluetooth" and "WiFi" from the Net menu, set to Off, "GPS" from Misc set to Off, and set the volumes for "Media Volume" and "System Volume" to 0 from the Audio menu. "Silent Mode" with Vibrate could simplify your setup, but I like to be sure. Hit Done, and you're all set.