notebook

Acer's Upgraded C7 Chromebook Revs Into Retail, Available at Walmart for $199

Paul Lilly — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:30:03 +0000

Faster and more widely available.

Acer clearly got the memo indicating that the best way to sell a Chromebook is to undercut the competition with the lowest price, and then hammer out a deal with Walmart to carry the cloud-based laptop. Enter Acer's C710-2856, the latest version of the company's C7 Chromebook line that's available at 2,800 Walmart stores for just $199. Not only is it cheaper than other Chromebooks and widely available, it's also faster than Acer's previous SKU.

That's because Acer dumped the 320GB mechanical hard drive in favor of a 16GB solid state drive (SSD). Obviously there's a huge storage discrepancy there, but since Google's Chrome OS -- the heart and soul of any Chromebook -- is largely based on cloud computing, Acer figured users would prefer to have faster boot times and quick access to apps versus more local storage.

"The expansion of our Acer C7 Chromebook line to Walmart is a clear indication of its growing popularity for anyone who wants a new or second mobile PC for web-based computing," said Sumit Agnihotry, vice president of product marketing, Acer America. "The new configuration with a speedy and responsive SSD at only $199 is an especially notable value."

According to Acer, the upgraded C7 boots in just 8 seconds and resumes from sleep almost instantly. Other features include an 11.6-inch HD display, Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, and a 1.3MP webcam.

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E3 2013: Alienware 18-inch, 17-inch, and 14-inch Gaming Laptops

Paul Lilly — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:36:03 +0000

Alienware invades E3 in style.

There's no need to fear an alien invasion, not when they come from the planet Dell. Alienware comes in peace and is interested in one thing and one thing only: high-performance gaming. Maximum PC Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang probed Alienware's booth at E3 to take a look at three new gaming laptops, including a 14-inch model, 17-inch model, and a giant 18-inch SKU.

Alienware claims its 14-inch model is the "most powerful 14-inch notebook in the universe." It's also uniquely designed and looks different from previous generation Alienware systems. There's an anodized aluminum cover, magnesium alloy body, and an overall industrial design. There's also a lot of metal on the inside to help keep components cool.

Lighting has been changed, too. There are now 10 customizable lighting zones, though if you're not into that sort of thing, you can turn them off. Alternately, game developers can tap into the lighting zones and, say, make them blink red if you get shot by an enemy. Cool stuff.

The 17-inch model kicks things up a notch and comes standard with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU (you can upgrade to a 770M or 780M), and of course Haswell is inside.

Choosing the 17-inch SKU over the 14-inch model obviously sacrificies portability, though it also increases the level of immersion since you're working with a larger display. If you really want to go big, however, check out Alienware's 18-inch beast.

Described as the "big kahuna," Alienware says this is the most powerful gaming notebook in the world, period. Unlike past versions of Alienware's 18-inch model, you don't start off with a single graphics card anymore -- it now comes with two GPUs by default. It's essentially a portable gaming desktop.

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Dell Credits Stealth Bombers for Inspiring Redesigned Alienware Laptops

Paul Lilly — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:19:01 +0000

New looks, better performance.

Dell was on hand at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to, among other things, introduce planet Earth to its line of redesigned Alienware laptops that it hopes will abduct gamers into the fold. The OEM unveiled three models, including the Alienware 14, Alienware 17, and Alienware 18, each one rocking Intel's Haswell architecture and Nvidia 700M Series discrete graphics.

Alienware has always been known for other-worldly designs, and this latest batch of laptops feature a new angular motif apparently inspired by "jet engines and stealth bombers," according to Dell. Each model is constructed with an anodized aluminum shell and magnesium alloy body, with over 60 percent of the main mechanical components made from various metals.

Let's talk specs. The Alienware 14 starts at $1,199 and includes a 14-inch LED display (1366x768), Intel Core i7 4700MQ processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics, 8GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, 750GB hard drive, slot-loading DVD burner, Killer NIC, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

The 17.3-inch Alienware 17 starts at $1,499 and features a 1600x900 resolution, GeForce GTX 765M GPU, and 5G Wi-Fi Broadcom 4352 802.11n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0 combo card. Other features are the same as the Alienware 14.

Finally, the massive Alienware 18 steps things up with an 18.4-inch IPS display with a Full HD 1080 resolution. It starts at $2,099 and has the same specs as the Alienware 17.

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AVADirect is First U.S. System Builder to Nab Clevo's P375SM Gaming Laptop

Paul Lilly — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:59:03 +0000

Hello again, Haswell.

The braggadocios system builders at AVADirect are hooting and hollering about being the first vendor in the U.S. of A. to offer Clevo's P375SM gaming laptop, a powerhouse machine built around Intel's new HM87 chipset for Haswell. Pricing starts at just shy of two grand for the 17.3-inch notebook equipped with an Intel Core i7 4700MQ processor, though there are plenty of upgrade options at your disposable if you have too much cash in your pockets weighing you down.

A baseline configuration comes with the above mentioned CPU along with 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory, AMD Radeon HD 8970M graphics, Seagate 750GB Momentus hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, Thunderbolt support, eSATA, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and a few other odds and ends typical of a laptop system.

"Since the release of Clevo's P570WM, end-users have become accustomed to receiving desktop-grade performance in a mobile platform. A downside to a desktop replacement solution is mainly attributed to the power consumption and battery life," AVADirect explains. "AVADirect's Clevo P375SM Gaming Notebook is designed to not only alleviate the concerns of power consumption, but set an industry-wide standard for performance and comfort in a new mobile platform. The AVADirect P375SM Gaming Notebook is uniquely high-end for its exceptional capabilities and AVADirect is the first to unleash it within the U.S."

Indeed, one of the upsides to Haswell is better power management, though if you intend to mostly play games on this thing, you'll want to make sure there's a wall socket nearby, especially if you go with a dual-graphics option such as two Nvidia GeForce GTX 780M GPUs in SLI.

The Clevo P375SM laptop is available from AVADirect now.

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Gigabyte Injects Discrete Graphics Into New U-Series Ultrabooks

Paul Lilly — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:59:00 +0000

Gigabyte and Nvidia tag team the Ultrabook scene.

In terms of portability, an Ultrabook is a great solution for taking work with you, but what about when you want to unwind with a bit of gaming? Integrated graphics hardly cut it, so Gigabyte went and tapped Nvidia to power its U-Series of Ultrabooks. These new notebooks pack a potent one-two combo consisting of 4th Generation Intel Core processor options (Haswell) and Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics with 4GB of dedicated video memory.

The largest and most expensive of the three new Ultrabooks is the U35. It's a 15.6-inch notebook with a Full HD 1080p display, Core i5 4200U / i7 4500U processor options, 8GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, support for two 512GB mSATA SSDs and two 1TB HDDs, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, and various other tidbits. Pricing ranges from $1,099 to $1,699.

Below that is the U24F, a 14.1-inch Ultrabook with a 1600x900 resolution. It boasts most of the same features but only comes with a Core i5 4200U processor option and can hold a single 256GB SSD or 1TB HDD. Depending on the exact configuration, it will run anywhere from $1,099 to $1,599.

Finally, there's the U24T. It too is a 14.1-inch Ultrabook but with a touchscreen display and 1366x768 resolution. Pricing will range from $999 to $1,499.

All three models have the same GPU, and all three will be available in late July or early August.

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Acer to Auction Off Rare Star Trek Themed Aspire R7 Ultrabook

Paul Lilly — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:25:05 +0000

The ultimate Ultrabook for Star Trek fans.

One lucky (and presumably wealthy) Star Trek fan is going to win an eBay auction for a limited edition Acer Aspire R7 Ultrabook. Acer and Paramount Pictures partnered to create the Star Trek-themed Aspire R7, of which there are only 25 models in the wild. One of those, and only one, will be up for bidding on eBay, with the proceeds going to two charitable organizations: The Mission Continues and Save the Children.

The Ultrabook celebrates the theatrical release of Star Trek Into Darkness. It's a touch-enabled notebook dressed with a stainless steel Star Trek logo with sand-blast finish and polished surface. In addition to the notebook, whoever wins the auction will also receive a flim poster signed by the movie's cast, special Star Trek Into Darkness content (wallpapers and videos), movie soundtrack, video game download, and a certificate of authenticity.

"Acer is giving one lucky person in the world the opportunity to become the sole owner of the Acer Aspire R7 ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Limited Edition Package," said Hugues Gontier, senior director of marketing, Acer America. "We know this extremely rare Limited Edition will be a treasured prize for the winner, and it will also help two worthy charities further their missions of empowering military veterans and helping children in need."

The notebook itself rocks a 15.6-inch Full HD 1080p touchscreen display, Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge), 500GB hard drive + 24GB SSD, and Windows 8.

The bidding begins June 14 and runs through June 24.

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Razer Announces 14-inch Razer Blade Laptop

Jimmy Thang — Fri, 31 May 2013 02:40:21 +0000

The gaming laptop that’s thinner than a dime

Today Razer announced a 14-inch version of the Razer Blade. Known simply as the Razer Blade (yea, we don’t get these new-age naming conventions either), the small gaming laptop is incredibly svelte being thinner than a standing dime. Measuring .66 inches tall, Razer boasts that it is the world’s thinnest gaming laptop and that it is actually skinnier than the fattest part of a MacBook Air.

Though the notebook is extremely slim, Razer says that it will have beefy components and will come with either a Core i5 or i7 Haswell CPU and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU. In terms of storage, the laptop will come with either a 128, 256, or 512GB SSD (this means no mechanical hard drive).

Other features of the notebook include a 1600x900-resolution matte screen, a battery life capable of six hours, and Dolby speakers outfitted with the sound company’s Home Theater Version 4 software. In terms of ports, the laptop is pretty barebones and comes with three USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port. To ensure its portability, the new Razer Blade will also come with a small 150-watt power supply which Razer claims is one-third the weight of similar competiting solutions.

Razer Blade Specs

• Future 4th gen Intel® Core™ processor (formerly codename ‘Haswell’)

• 8 GB Onboard Memory (DDR3L – 1600 MHz)

• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M (2 GB GDDR5) & Intel HD4600

• Windows® 8 64 Bit

• 128 GB SSD, with optional 256/512 GB SSD (mSATA)

• Qualcomm® Killer™ NIC N1202 (802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth® 4.0)

• 14.0 in. HD+ 16:9 Ratio, 1600 x 900, with LED backlight

• Built-in stereo speakers

• 3.5 mm audio microphone/headphone combo jack

• Array microphone

• (3x) USB 3.0 port (SuperSpeed)

• HDMI 1.4a audio and video output

• Dolby® Home Theater® v4

• 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)

• Built-in full HD webcam (1.3 MP)

• Compact 150 W Power Adapter

• Built-in 70 Wh Rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery

• Razer™ Anti-Ghosting Keyboard (with adjustable backlight)

• Razer™ Synapse 2.0 Enabled

• Kensington Lock

• 13.6 in. / 345 mm (Width) x 0.66 in. / 16.8 mm (Height) x 9.3 in. / 235 mm (Depth)

• 4.135 lbs. / 1.876 kg

Pricing for the unit will start at $1,799 and you’ll be able to pre-order it beginning June 3.

17-inch Razer Blade Pro

In addition to the 14-inch form factor, Razer also announced a refresh model for its 17.3-inch Razer Blade unit. Now dubbed the “Razer Blade Pro,” the larger laptop will also come with the same GeForce GTX 765M GPU and Haswell CPUs in either Core i5 or i7 configurations. Performance-wise, the company asserts the owners will be able to see up to two times the speed boost in certain games compared to its predecessor. Furthermore, the Razer Blade Pro will now have a 74-watt hour battery as compared to it's predecessor's 60-watt hour equivalent.

The laptop will use the same industrial design (ID) chassis as its 17.3-inch predecessor which means it will retain its relatively thin .88-inch thickness and 6.5-pound weight along with the same matte TN panel.

Razer Blade Pro Specs

• Future 4th gen Intel® Core™ processor (formerly codename ‘Haswell’)

• 8 GB DDR3L (2 x 4 GB 1600MHz)

• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M (2 GB GDDR5) & Intel HD4600

• Windows 8 64 Bit

• 128 GB SSD, with optional 256/512 GB SSD (mSATA)

• Qualcomm® Killer™ NIC N1202 (802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth® 4.0)

• 17.3-in. Full HD 16:9 Ratio, 1920 x 1080, with LED backlight

• Stereo 2.0 speakers

• 3.5 mm audio microphone/headphone combo jack

• HD Webcam (front-facing, 2.0 MP)

• Array microphones

• (3x) USB 3.0 port (SuperSpeed)

• Codec supports 7.1 (via HDMI 1.4)

• Dolby® Home Theater® v4

• Razer™ Anti-Ghosting Keyboard (with adjustable backlight)

• Razer™ Switchblade User Interface

• Razer™ Synapse 2.0 Enabled

• Built-in 74 Wh Rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery

• Kensington Lock

• 16.8 in. / 427 mm (Width) x 0.88 in. / 22.4 mm (Height) x 10.9 in. / 277 mm (Depth)

• 6.58 lbs. / 2.98 kg

The refreshed Razer Blade Pro unit will be available for $2,299 which is $200 less than what its predecessor debuted at. Pre-orders for it will also open beginning June 3. The company also announced that indie developers will be able to purchase the Razer Blade Pro for the discounted rate of $999, although the company vaguely had a foot note on a slide that read, “terms and conditions apply.”

For images of the 14-inch Razer Blade, check out our gallery below!

Acer Upgrades $199 Chromebook Model with Faster Storage

Paul Lilly — Thu, 30 May 2013 16:29:19 +0000

Be on the lookout for new Chromebook models.

Psst! Hey, you there. Yes, you, the one browsing Acer's C7 Chromebook. Which would you rather have, capacity or speed? Speed, you say? Well in that case, go ahead and take that Chromebook out of your shopping cart and head over to Best Buy. It's there that you'll find the first of several planned new models in Acer's C7 Chromebook line, including an upgraded version of the $199 model you were holding.

Acer swapped out the 320GB mechanical hard disk drive (HDD) for a 16GB solid state drive (SSD). You don't need to be a math major to figure out that there's a pretty big discrepancy in storage space there, but keep in mind that Chromebooks are all about living in the cloud. What you lose in capacity, Acer says you make up in performance.

The new Acer C710-2833 follows in Samsung's footsteps by switching to an SSD, only the price remains unchanged, so Acer's model is still $50 cheaper and the least the expensive Chromebook model around. In case you need a refresher on the other specs, it boasts:

11.6-inch display (1366x768 resolution)
Intel Celeron 847 processor clocked at 1.1GHz
2GB RAM
16GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics
2-in-1 memory card reader
Three USB 2.0 ports
HDMI
802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi; 10/100 Ethernet LAN
4-cell battery
Google Chrome OS

It's not a bad buy for the money if you're looking for a secondary PC to surf the web with, or need a machine for the kids. You can't run Windows software on it, obviously, but there are tons of apps available, plus you can access Google's various services like Docs, Gmail, and so forth. It's basically today's take on the netbook.

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Eurocom Scorpius Review

Jimmy Thang — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:52:27 +0000

3D notebook offers hefty power for a hefty cost

The Eurocom Scorpius lives a dual life. On one hand, it’s a dull-looking workstation; on the other, this highly configurable laptop can also be outfitted with a 3D monitor and killer gaming specs. We opted for the latter.

The Scorpius has a backlit keyboard that can change to seven different colors.

Along with a 120Hz refresh rate, the 17.3-inch monitor features a built-in 3D emitter that syncs up to a pair of bundled Nvidia 3D Vision 2 glasses. To test the 3D experience, we played the 3D Vision Ready–title Batman: Arkham City and sampled some 3D movie trailers from 3DVisionLive.com. Nvidia’s stereoscopic technology rivals the best that movie theaters have to offer in terms of depth, and never bothered our eyes, but the experience wasn’t perfect. Even though Nvidia purports to have solved the dimming issue with its Vision 2 glasses, you’re still essentially wearing sunglasses, so the experience is going to be darker than viewing content in 2D without glasses. We also feel that wearing glasses in and of itself is cumbersome.

The most vexing problem is that when 3D is enabled, performance suffers greatly. Our frame rate dropped by half, from 50s to mid-20s, when playing Batman in 3D as opposed to 2D. In our opinion, these various issues detract too much from the experience; we’d rather play in 2D mode. As for the TN panel in 2D mode, while some sing the praises of 120Hz’s ability to improve even 2D image quality, we didn’t see any noticeable improvement over 60Hz performance when surfing the web, watching videos, or playing games.

We had little complaint with our system’s internal specs, however, which included a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-3840QM CPU, 16GB of RAM, and not one, but two GeForce GTX 680Ms in SLI. In our more CPU-intensive tests, the Scorpius scored modest wins of 6–13 percent. However, when it came to the more GPU-intensive applications, our zero-point’s comparatively humble Fermi-based GeForce GTX 670M GPU got severely stung by the Scorpius’s two Kepler beasts. In our STALKER: CoP benchmark, the Scorpius performed an amazing 112.5 percent better than the ZP; the performance gap only widened in our 3DMark 11 test, where it performed an astonishing 248.1 percent better. Because these benchmark stats were so amazing, we loaded up Far Cry 3 to give it a real workout. While the Scorpius wasn’t able to run the super-graphically intensive game on “Ultra” (the game’s highest settings), it ran at “Very High” with frame rates in the mid-40s to low-50s range, and often outperformed a 2.8GHz AMD quad-core gaming desktop armed with a GTX 590. It seems unfair to bring up the fact that the far less expensive ($1,500) GT60 zero-point laptop wasn’t even able to muster a solid 30fps on FC3’s “High” settings. The only performance test where the GT60 bested the Scorpius was in battery life, where Eurocom’s laptop lasted a poor 103 minutes. Something’s got to give when you’re powering two 680Ms.

In terms of storage, the laptop comes with two drives: a 128GB mSATA Micron and 512GB SSD. While the two speedy drives are appreciated, the lack of a hefty HDD really limits the overall package. Luckily, the laptop takes up to three 2.5-inch storage drives and installing an additional HDD requires the removal of just one screw from the bottom of the laptop. Users can also access the motherboard from underneath and swap out the RAM. Eurocom has made the main compartment easily removable, with only four screws holding it in place.

While the laptop certainly performs well, it still has issues. Its trackpad is unresponsive and can be an exercise in frustration to use. Perhaps a bigger problem is that this thing is heavy. With a carry weight of more than 13 pounds, the Scorpius is in backbreaker territory. Finally, at almost $4,000, it’s very expensive.

Fortunately, most of these issues can be mitigated. You can save money by skipping out on the 3D monitor and second SSD. And you can overlook its battery, weight, and trackpad issues by understanding that the Scorpius is best used as a desktop replacement. Its performance is simply off the charts, and complaining about its other problems is like complaining about how a Ferrari is expensive, bad with fuel economy, and doesn’t have enough cup holders. If those issues are enough to bother you, you’re looking at the wrong machine. This laptop is all about performance and here the Scorpius is a stinger.

$3,915, www.eurocom.com

HGST Expands Notebook Drive Capacity to 1.5TB

Paul Lilly — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:52:58 +0000

Big storage, little drive.

HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital, announced on Tuesday what it claims is the highest storage density of any hard drive and highest capacity HDD for the mainstream mobile market, the Travelstar 5K1500. The new Travelstar 5K1500 is purportedly the industry's first 9.5mm to offer 1.5TB of storage capacity, though that's not all it brings to the table. High shock protection and low power performance are also traits of HGST's newest HDD.

That's all fine and dandy, but isn't the market shifting towards solid state drives?

"Contrary to popular belief, the mobile hard drive market is not being replaced by SSDs. We continue to invest in and serve both the traditional 9.5mm and 7mm thin and light HDD mobile markets as they offer the best cost-per-GB, performance and proven product reliability for high-capacity, mainstream, Ultrabook and A/V content creation notebook markets," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at HGST. "HGST continues to have a strong share in the 2.5-inch market and the new Travelstar 5K1500 hard drive is the latest addition to our broad line of 5,400 and 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch drives, giving OEMs, ODMs and integrators an opportunity to grow and differentiate their product lines."

The Travelstar 5K1500 serves up its storage capacity on three platters. It has 32MB of cache, a 5400 RPM spindle speed, and a SATA 6Gbps interface. According to HGST, it benches better in PCMark Vantage and PCMark 7 than its currently shipping two-platter 5400 RPM models.

HGST sees a broad market for its new drive, including notebooks, external HDD applications, gaming consoles, and all-in-one (AIO) desktop PCs. Initial drives will be available in June, followed by an optional self-encrypting version in the third quarter of this year. Pricing has not yet been announced.

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Retina Smetina, Samsung Showcases 13.3-inch Notebook with 3200x1800 Resolution

Paul Lilly — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:03:46 +0000

More pixels than you can shake a MacBook Pro at.

Samsung is taking high resolution displays seriously these days. How serious? Enough to launch a 13.3-inch WQXGA+ laptop at the Society for Information Display's (SID) Display Week 2013 convention in Vancouver. That works out to a 3200x1800 display resolution, packing more pixels per inch (276 PPI) than Google's Chromebook Pixel (239 PPI) or Apple's MacBook Pro 13 (227 PPI).

According to Samsung, the high-resolution notebook can deliver 30 percent greater power savings than that of existing LCD tablet displays, a feat it accomplishes by decreasing the number of driver circuits, thereby increasing the efficiency of the LED BLU.

Beyond that tidbit, Samsung refrained from revealing any other details about its upcoming laptop model. The company did say, however, that it also plans to show off a 10.1-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) LCD for tablets, a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) mobile AMOLED display with the world's broadest color gamut, and an 85-inch Ultra HD (2840x2160) LCD TV panel with "extremely vivid color and low power consumption."

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Lenovo, Best Buy Now Accepting Pre-orders for IdeaPad Yoga 11s Convertible

Paul Lilly — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:56:57 +0000

Is Yoga in your summer plans?

Lenovo first began showing off its IdeaPad Yoga 11S at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this past January, and now four months later, you can place your pre-order on Lenovo's website or through Best Buy, the latter of which will carry the hybrid laptop in stores starting June 23. Why is it called Yoga? Simply put, Lenovo's convertible bends in ways that makes our back ache just looking at it.

The Yoga 11S is an 11.6-inch Ultrabook convertible that flips and folds all the way around to function as a tablet when desired. It has a touchscreen IPS display and is of course wielding Windows 8.

"Consumers around the world loved our first Yoga for its unique flip and fold and multi-mode design," said Jay Parker, president, Lenovo, North America. "We’re continuing to develop the Yoga franchise with the new Yoga 11S, and due to Yoga’s popularity already, we’ve created a pre-sale program so customers can get their hands on one before it even hits the shelves."

It's available in "Clementine Orange" and "Silver Gray," both of which start out at $800. For that, you get an Intel Core i3 3229Y processor (1.4GHz), 4GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, 128GB solid state drive, 4-cell battery, and Windows 8. Upgrades are available, including faster processor options, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of solid state storage.

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HP Taps Android for SlateBook x2 and Windows 8 for Split x2 Hybrids

Paul Lilly — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:45:34 +0000

Why play favorites?

Microsoft is trying to make a play in mobile with its touch-tastic Windows 8 platform, while Android remains the popular choice among those who don't want an iPad. Rather than choose which one to roll with, Hewlett-Packard (HP) went and launched a pair of detachable PCs built around both platforms, essentially passing the buck onto you, Joe and Jane Consumer, as to which platform to invest in.

Starting with Android, HP's new SlateBook x2 is a surprise entry with plenty of promise. It boasts a 10.1-inch Full HD 1080p (1920x1200) touchscreen IPS display and is powered by Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 4 SoC (System-on-Chip) clocked at 1.8GHz, making it the the first Android detachable device with Tegra 4 inside, HP claims. It also has 2GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in storage, DTS sound, 720p front-facing camera, 1080p rear-facing camera, a USB 2.0 port, SD card slot, HDMI output, combo audio jack, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Over on the Windows side of the fence, HP introduced the Split x2 with a 13.3-inch HD (1366x768) IPS display. It's powered by 3rd Generation Intel Core i3 and i5 processor options and 2GB of RAM. Other specs include a 128GB mSATA SSD + 500GB HDD storage setup, Beats Audio, 1080p front-facing camera, 8MP rear-facing camera, microSD card reader, combo audio jack, one each USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, HDMI output, SD card slot, 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and Windows 8.

"Customers want to access and share content anywhere, anytime, on any internet connected device—and they expect those connections to be seamless," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer PCs, HP. "The HP SlateBook x2 and the HP Split x2 are next-generation devices and the latest examples of our continued commitment to evolving the computing experience by providing the flexibility necessary for customers to be productive at home, at the office or on the go."

The HP SlateBook x2 and Split x2 are expected to be available in August starting at $480 and $800, respectively. Both also come with a full-size keyboard with clickpad.

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Haswell Notebooks to Hit Retail by End of the Month

Paul Lilly — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:57:50 +0000

A new generation of notebooks is right around the corner.

Generally speaking, there's always something newer, faster, and shinier in the pipeline, and if you keep waiting for the next best thing, you'll never upgrade. That said, when the stars align just right, every once in awhile it's worth waiting for something that's just around the corner, and this happens to be one of those times. Haswell is about to launch, and you may even see laptops based on Intel's next generation architecture by the end of May, which is when you'll want to start shopping if you can hold off until then.

If you're in the market for a new laptop and can survive with what you've got for few more weeks, you might as well hang tight and see what Haswell brings to the table. According to Digitimes, Haswell-based products have mostly shipped and should show up in retail in the coming weeks, though new models are likely to carry higher price tags that what's currently available. Whether or not the pricing premium will be worth the additional performance is something that will become clearer once Haswell actually ships, but even if you decide Haswell isn't for you, Haswell's launch could lead to price drops on current hardware and notebook models as vendors look to clear out inventory.

Despite Haswell making a debut, notebook ODMs aren't expecting a huge increase in shipments, at least not right away. Vendors are also looking at the situation conservatively and are refraining from ordering scores of units until they see how the market reacts.

One of the things we're looking forward to is seeing how well Haswell's integrated graphics perform. Intel says select SKUs of its Haswell line will sport Iris graphics, which promises up to twice the performance of today's fastest mobile Intel HD Graphics solutions.

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Origin PC Starts Shipping Beastly EON17-SLX SLI Laptops, Bundles Gaming Peripherals

Paul Lilly — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:20:30 +0000

Desktop power in a laptop form factor.

When you fire up Origin PC's EON17-SLX SLI laptop, it should play George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone," lest anyone can think of a more appropriate song to describe the hardware inside. As the name suggests, this badass notebook has been fed not one, but TWO Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M graphics cards, both of which Origin PC takes the time to overclock before shipping out.

The ready-to-ship configuration includes an Intel Core i7 3840QM processor, a quad-core chip clocked at 2.8GHz (3.8GHz via Turbo) with 8MB of cache. You're not going to want for power with this thing, which also wields 16GB of Corsair Vengeance 1600MHZ RAM, 240GB solid state drive, 1TB hard drive for storage duties, a DVD burner, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

This particular model isn't customizable, hence the ready-to-ship status, though you can opt to increase the standard 45-day zero dead pixel guarantee to 90 days and/or increase the 1-year warranty up to 3 years, both for a fee. You can also add software and accessories to the package.

In addition to the above parts, Origin PC is bundling a few gaming peripherals, including a Razer Lachesis mouse, Corsair HS1A headset, and an Origin brand messenger bag.

Ready for the price? Take a deep breath -- it checks in at $3,399, a hefty sum for a laptop these days, albeit representative of a $500 savings, Origin PC says. Should you take the plunge, your system will ship out the next business day after payment is processed.

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