The industry is all a buzz with the latest entry in the “I’m the thinnest laptop” competition. The latest Dell Adamo is definitely a strong contender, at 9.99 mm at some points. Of course, that’s just the official figure. I would have tested it myself but I forgot my calipers.

We just got a BFG Deimos in today, and it is big, shiny, and competing against Alienware’s M17x. So far, I can tell you that it’s a bit lighter then the Alienware, but (unscientifically speaking) about equal as far as speed. We’ll be doing a full review in the upcoming weeks, but I wanted to share some pictures and first impressions with you today.

More details today on the Dell Adamo XPS. Nothing official of course, but leaks happen and we’re finally getting to see exactly what’s hiding under that very flashy exterior.

Toshiba announced a number of laptops [JP] for the Japanese market today, with a high-spec Qosmio and two powerful netbooks among them. But the company is also ready to roll out two new models in the Dynabook TV and three models in the TX series, with (almost) all of them coming with a Blu-ray drive.

Toshiba Japan has announced a slew of new and updated notebooks today, and one of them [JP] is a monster of a notebook (more will be posted later). The Qosmio G60/97J is basically a high-end computer, digital TV and Blu-ray player rolled into one.

Well, it looks like we won’t have the infamous “Laptop Burka” to kick around anymore. The owner of the company contacted us to let us know that they are pulling the plug, due to being “murdered” in the press. Their website is down as of this posting.

Love the Earth? Love plastic bags? Why not melt them together and add an old t-shirt for the lining in order to create a laptop case? Using an iron and a bunch of crinkly bags you can create sheets of plastic that you can then sew together to create a bag, jacket, or pants, thereby save the Earth and showing the world how much you like bags in one fell swoop.

HP announced the Mini 5101 back in late June and we just got one into the ‘Gear office for review. As John noted back when it was announced, the 5101 isn’t a netbook and it’s fallen into the relatively new category of ultralights. I really liked the Mini 1000 and 2140, but the 5101 might be my new favorite.

Here’s a quick rundown of the specs for the review unit we were sent:

Are rugged notebooks becoming a trend? Can anyone stand up to Panasonic and their Toughbook line? Getac thinks it can. Well, they’ve been doing this ‘rugged’ thing since 1989, so there’s that.

Announced earlier today is the 9213, which Getac claim is the smallest and lightest business-rugged notebook. Encased in a full magnesium alloy chassis and case, the 9213 comes with a shock mounted HDD and LCD. Other ‘rugged’ essentials include a spill-resistant keyboard, touchpad and “surrounding surface.” Under the hood, a 45nm Intel C2D Penryn runs the show and 9213 boasts up to eight hours of battery life. Up to 12 hours without the optical drive, says Getac.

Fujitsu Laboratories, the company’s R&D subsidiary, has announced the development [press release in English] of a transistor for the power supply units of servers that can help reduce electricity consumption of computer hardware and home electronics significantly.

I’ve been rounding up a lot of ultralights(more about that next week) – I wouldn’t call this a netbook – and this looks to be one of the purdiest of the bunch. The 5101 will cost about $449 and runs an Atom processor. It has a 10-inch screen and full keyboard.

Look for more of these “ultralights” to pop up this year. Notebook manufacturers have realized that selling a tiny laptop for $5 and a few bottle caps was not a very good strategy and so they’re rethinking this whole “netbook” moniker. You’ll see ultralights – smaller notebooks with more powerful hardware – and MIDs like the iPod Touch or whatever Nokia is planning.

SSDs are picking up steam in the computer market (although there were some bad news), and so it comes as no surprise that today Toshiba announced the world’s first laptop featuring their self-developed 512GB SSD [JP]. The Dynabook SS RX2/WAJ went on sale in Japan today already and costs $4,000.

You’ve seen the second commercial from Microsoft’s Laptop Hunters series, right? You know, the one where G-diddy picks up the HP HDX 16 over a MacBook Pro. I won’t get into the PC vs Mac argument, but Giampaolo chose poorly because he didn’t know what he actually wanted.

Boston-Power announced earlier today that their line of Sonata Li-ion batteries for 18 HP notebooks (about 70 percent of HP’s lineup) are now available directly from HP. The Sonata batteries were the first to be Nordic Ecolabeled, which essentially means they pollute less by being high capacity, longer lasting and having the “smallest amounts of detrimental heavy metals.” They boast a three lifespan and HP is backing that up by providing a three-year warranty, which is the only one in the market to do so. It’s available now for the following models for $150.

Panasonic has upgraded their Toughbook 52 series of semi-rugged notebooks. And like you may know, these aren’t much competition for the usual crop of 15.4 inch laptops. But when it comes to surviving in hospitals or braving the battlefield, they are unparalleled.