Laptops News - Page 51

The latest and most important Laptops news - Page 51.

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Acer implement touchscreen technology into their Chromebook 13 line

Chris Smith | Jan 4, 2015 10:02 PM CST

CES 2015 - Having crept under the recent release of their new Chromebook 15, Acer have also announced they are adding touchscreen technology to their Chromebook 13 line - described as "the industry's first Chromebook powered by an NVIDIA Tegra K1 mobile processor" in their recently issued press release.

Featuring an Intel core i3-processor, a vibrant 13.3-inch display and a battery life of up to 13 hours when displaying at 1366x768 resolution or 11.5 hours at 1920x1080, this offering will be available with touch technology as soon as January 2015.

The touchscreen models will be launched to Europe and the Middle East this month for a price of €329 ($394 US), unfortunately there isn't any mention of release in other countries as of yet, but I would expect it to not be too far off.

Continue reading: Acer implement touchscreen technology into their Chromebook 13 line (full post)

Acer announce their bigger and faster Chromebook 15

Chris Smith | Jan 3, 2015 5:39 PM CST

Known for being rather small and light, Chromebooks generally contain screen sizes of 11.6 or 13.3 inches, however Acer have just announced their super-size Chromebook addition - featuring Intel's new Broadwell chip and NVIDIA's Tegra K1 to help boost performance. With the price starting at $249.99, it's not too much of a burden on the bank either.

Weighing only 4.8 pounds, this Acer Chromebook offering comes fully loaded with support for up to 4GB of DRAM and 32GB of SSD storage, an inbuilt webcam, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. As for further storage and connection, expect it to feature USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, an SD card reader and a single HDMI output.

As with all Chromebooks, this laptop will feature Chrome OS. Chrome OS requires an internet connection for many of its applications to function and will also update its in-built security measures regularly. Said to be paired well with Intel's new Broadwell chips - you can expect Chromebooks in general to become faster and with a longer battery-life.

Continue reading: Acer announce their bigger and faster Chromebook 15 (full post)

Apple rumored to launch an even thinner 12-inch MacBook Air next year

Anthony Garreffa | Dec 23, 2014 5:34 AM CST

Back in March we heard about a fanless, thinner MacBook Air and then again in September we heard about a new Retina MacBook Air that would be fanless, and thinner.

Now, we're hearing about a new 12-inch MacBook Air that is expected to shift into mass production in 2015, and should launch toward the middle of the year. According to DigiTimes' supply chain sources, the new 12-inch MBA will feature Intel's new Broadwell processor, with units of the new MacBook Air to be in extremely limited supply with yield issues being a problem.

Apple has been rumored to adopt a new form factor that would sport a buttonless trackpad, and passively cooled internals. Intel's new Core M processor will help that along, as they just launched last month. We should see Apple launch a new Silver, Gold and Space Gray MacBook Air in the New Year.

Continue reading: Apple rumored to launch an even thinner 12-inch MacBook Air next year (full post)

Panasonic expands their Toughbook H2 battery recall in America

Chris Smith | Dec 14, 2014 2:10 AM CST

Panasonic has just announced that they're "expanding the scope of the U.S. recall Panasonic voluntarily previously put in place of battery packs included with the Toughbook H2 rugged tablet PC and those sold separately or as a result of servicing" according to a press release.

This recall is for all Toughbook H2 battery packs manufactured between June 2011 and September 2012, following the original recall announced in May 2014 which covered battery packs manufactured between June 2011 and May 2012. The reason these batteries are being asked for return is due to a possibility of them overheating and catching on fire due to manufacturer issues.

If you're unsure about your battery packs qualification for this recall, you can check your model number and manufacturing lot number on the battery pack itself. There are two battery slots on your device, located on the left and right of the PC, only battery packs showing both numbers will qualify for this warranty claim.

Continue reading: Panasonic expands their Toughbook H2 battery recall in America (full post)

HP's new business laptop is thinner, lighter than the MacBook Air

Anthony Garreffa | Dec 2, 2014 6:49 AM CST

The last time I remember hearing "HP" and "MacBook Air" in a sentence, was back in 2008 when the then CTO of HP's Global Gaming Business and founder of VoodooPC, Rahul Sood, used a MacBook Air to cut his birthday cake. Sood in that time moved onto Microsoft, and recently left the Redmond-based giant to form his own business Unikrn. Well, HP is taking another swipe at Apple's MacBook Air, this time with a new business-focused notebook.

The EliteBook Folio 1020 is a Windows 8-based notebook that features a proprietary enterprise port and a fingerprint scanner for added security, with the company touting it can pass military-grade drop and shock tests. Inside of the EliteBook Folio 1020 we have 8GB of RAM, an SSD between 128GB and 512GB, and around 9 hours of battery life. Intel's new fanless Core M processor makes the cut, with HP offering up two models of its new notebook.

The first model is lighter than Apple's MacBook Air, with the Standard Edition being slightly heavier than the MBA, packing a 12.5-inch 1080p display, which is also upgradeable to a touchscreen. The lighter model, the Folio 1020 Special Edition, features a 12.5-inch QHD display, without a touchscreen option. There's a nice red accent on the hinge, which sweetens the deal. The Standard Edition will be made available next February, while the Special Edition will be made available in April 2015.

Continue reading: HP's new business laptop is thinner, lighter than the MacBook Air (full post)

Reports claim touchscreen laptops are to be phased out

Chris Smith | Dec 1, 2014 11:53 PM CST

Do you remember the beginning of the Tablet craze? Even schools have adopted tablets and it seems that almost everyone owns or previous owned one of these devices - however we're now seeing them on the decline. Alongside this information, we've just seen reports that touchscreen PC's are also on their way out.

At Computex in Taiwan in 2013, Intel announced that it would use its Ultrabook fund to boost their production of large touchscreens, claiming a projected 3-5 times increase in consumer demand in the coming years. Alongside this, they stated that their Haswell platform laptops with touchscreens have tripled the sales of their previous generation, the Ivy Bridge.

Reading ZDNET's findings, it seems that touchscreen laptops are still in abundance in the North American brick-and-mortar retail market.

Continue reading: Reports claim touchscreen laptops are to be phased out (full post)

AU retailer Kogan unveils $329 AUD Windows 8.1-based laptop

Chris Smith | Nov 25, 2014 11:04 PM CST

Self proclaimed as "Australia's Largest Retailer", Kogan is well known amongst tech savvy Aussie locals as providing a cheaper alternative for devices such as TV's, monitors and camera hardware. However, in latest news they've just released a Windows 8.1 operational laptop for just $329 AUD with decent specifications.

Named the Kogan Atlas X1510 Laptop, this $329 bargain will be released to the public on December the 15th - said to be just in time for Christmas. Based around an Intel N3540 quad-core processor running at 2.16GHz, it comes coupled with 4GB or DDR3L RAM and a 500GB HDD. The display comes in the form of a 15.6-inch screen displaying at 1366 x 768 pixels and sees the device measure at a total of 274mm long, 259mm deep and 2.1kg in weight. Although well-priced, it's not a particularly small object, but it does offer the user a reported 9.5 hours of battery life.

Connectivity is fairly standard on this device, offering up a HDMI port, VGA capabilities, one Gigabit Ethernet port, one USB 3.0 port, three USB 2.0 ports, a headphone and separate microphone port, full-sized SD card reader and provides you with the ability to connect through 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. Reportedly being released with a $15 discount for Office 365, this laptop looks good so far - we're interested to see what the build quality, feel and actual operation are like however.

Continue reading: AU retailer Kogan unveils $329 AUD Windows 8.1-based laptop (full post)

Chromebook sales only tally 1% of total PC sales, Acer in the lead

Michael Hatamoto | Oct 22, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Chromebook devices are seeing strong growth, with sales increasing 67 percent quarter over quarter, but still have a long way to go, according to ABI Research. Acer leads the current Chromebook market, ahead of Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and Dell - but each company hopes to see the low-cost laptops continue to see increased interest from consumers and vertical industries in 2015.

"Consumers are hungry for a product that is cost effective but also provides the versatility and functionality of a laptop," said Stephanie Van Vactor, ABI Research Analyst, in a statement. "The growth of the Chromebook market demonstrates a niche that is gaining traction among consumers."

The price of mobile hardware is dropping in price, and Chromebooks are often significantly cheaper than other laptops, so it will take time for the market to develop. Total Chromebook-powered device shipments are expected to tally 4.1 million in 2014, a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 300 million shipments of traditional PCs.

Continue reading: Chromebook sales only tally 1% of total PC sales, Acer in the lead (full post)

ASUS ROG G751 gaming laptop features GeForce GTX 980M, external 4K out

Anthony Garreffa | Oct 14, 2014 2:27 AM CDT

ASUS has unveiled its new Republic of Gamers G751 series gaming laptop, which can be configured up to be a serious gaming powerhouse. This includes the option of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900M series GPU, the second-generation Maxwell chip that is doing wonders for gamers, as well as the exclusive ASUS TurboMaster GPU overclocking technology from ASUS.

First up, the G751 has a "stealthy F-22 Raptor-inspired" design, which definitely looks like a mean gaming machine. On top of that, we have a 17.3-inch Full HD display, with touch support being included on the G751JM model. The configurable specs start with multiple options of Intel's Core range of processors. We have the i7-4860HQ and i7-4710HQ for the G751JT model, the i7-4710HQ for the G751JT, and finally, the Core i7-4710HQ or i5-4200H for the G751JM.

The ASUS ROG G751 can house up to 32GB of DDR3L 1600MHz RAM, a slew of storage options with up to a 512GB NGFF PCIe-based SSD, but when it comes to GPUs, this is where it gets fun. The new gaming notebook from ASUS can be configured with up to the new Maxwell-based, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M with 4GB of GDDR5 RAM, on the G751JY at least. The G751JT features the GeForce GTX 970M with 3GB of RAM, while the G751JM includes the GTX 860M with 2GB of RAM.

Continue reading: ASUS ROG G751 gaming laptop features GeForce GTX 980M, external 4K out (full post)

Alienware 18 laptop has its Core i7-4940MX chip clocked at 4.4GHz

Anthony Garreffa | Oct 13, 2014 11:31 PM CDT

Alienware has a very powerful gaming laptop in its new Alienware 18, but now news is coming out that the gaming laptop can be configured with its Core i7-4940MX processor overclocked to an incredible 4.4GHz. While this clock speed might not be all that impressive on the desktop, for a notebook with limited cooling abilities, and a very limited space to dissipate heat, this is damn impressive.

The smaller, and cheaper Alienware 17 can be configured with an overclocked Core i7 processor, with its i7-4910MQ capable of being configured to hit 4.1GHz. Intel's latest Core i7-4940MX has a stock clock speed of 3.1GHz, and boost clock of 4.1GHz. Alienware's laptop system designers decided to crank it up a bit with some factory overclocking, with Intel writing through its 'Chip Shot' blog that the overclocked i7-4940MX to "enable some of the highest-performance laptop PCs on the market". The company is aware of the thermal issues with an overclocked processor in a gaming notebook, where it added "Alienware engineers really got creative and developed a new thermal solution to ensure reliable and cool operation in such a small system".

The Alienware 18 gaming notebook is quite a beast, with an 18.4-inch 1920x1080 display, configurable with up to two, yes two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880Ms in SLI, or two AMD Radeon R9 M290X GPUs in Crossfire. Up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR3 1600MHz RAM, a slew of storage and ODD options, as well as an 8-cell 86wHr battery. The Alienware 18 starts at $2099, but if you build it up as serious as those aforementioned specs, you're looking at closer to $5000.

Continue reading: Alienware 18 laptop has its Core i7-4940MX chip clocked at 4.4GHz (full post)