Notebooks, Tablets, Smartphones, Wearables And Gadgets
In-depth product reviews and news of notebooks, tablets, smartphones, wearable technologies and gadgets. We're now living in a contextually-aware computing world and mobile devices can not only help us enjoy the ride but create and capture new experiences as well.
Gaming enthusiasts can certainly remember a time when the thought of fragging on a Dell system was somewhat comical. Granted, Dell built systems were solid and reliable and often came at an exceptionally good price. However, these systems lacked the aesthetics, upgradeability, and high-end hardware the gaming community craves. As...
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In terms of sheer numbers, Sony is not considered one of the major notebook players in North America. Though, they do remain a staple of what most people consider quality built notebooks worldwide, despite their competitively lower sale figures. Most VAIO machines through the years have been built surprisingly well and more to the point, have...
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With the advent of NVIDIA's SLI technology in 2004, gaming performance on the desktop was dramatically increased which allowed users to run games at higher resolutions with more image quality enhancements. Unfortunately for mobile users, the notebook platform was left behind with no immediate solution made available beyond...
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As one of the pioneers of the gaming notebook, it comes as no surprise to see Alienware coming to the table with yet another innovation. In 2002, the original Area-51m represented the world's first gaming-specific notebook. In typical Alienware fashion, the notebook carried a pricetag that was equally as breathtaking as its performance....
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This weekend Intel sponsored an event for the Global Gaming League, the TransAtlantic Showdown, that pitted some of the best gamers from North America against rivals from across the Atlantic. The TransAltantic Showdown was more than just a gaming tournament though. There were a couple of interesting twists that made the TransAtlantic Showdown...
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Without question, there is seemingly an endless number of music fans with a massive collection of songs and albums. Unfortunately, managing these impressive collections can be tedious at the very least, to downright appalling for larger compilations of music. Traditionally, music fans were forced to stockpile their collection of CD's in racks...
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With the holidays looming around the corner, and a bit of money burning a hole in your pocket, we here at HotHardware.com thought we'd do what we could to ensure that you spent your hard-earned cash in the most appropriate manner. Before we begin, it makes sense to outline our approach and...
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ATI has been on tear the past few months, releasing a number of new and interesting products. Since late September / early October of this year, we've been presented with Radeon X850 CrossFire and requisite CrossFire capable dual-PEG slot motherboards to go along with it, a whole series of products based on the new X1K family of GPUs, and...
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Unlike a traditional desktop, a notebook is a very specialized system which typically excels in one particular area. However, there are usually design constraints that impede the system's performance in other areas. For example, at one extreme we have the ultraportable notebooks that are extremely light and easy to handle. In exchange for...
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In the past, notebooks and gaming were two mutually exclusive things. Granted, you could get away with some Solitaire or Pinball though that was just about the extent of any gaming for mobile users. Over the course of the last few years, we've witnessed the notebook industry go through some dramatic changes. Gaming-specific notebooks were...
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Budget priced notebooks make a lot of sense for a multitude of people. The simple fact is, we all don't need to game. And not all of us need the most powerful computer on the planet. Plus, parting with a handful of greenbacks isn't the easiest thing to do when there are bills to be paid. So, it's no wonder that budget notebooks from Dell and...
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Although Dell, IBM, and HP/Compaq get a lion's share of the press, there are several other major notebook brands vying for your hard earned dollar as well. Recently, Winbook's marketing machine has been in full swing emphasizing their new notebooks in the North American market. This means two things for potential notebook consumers. One, you...
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Off to school we go! Yes, it's that time of year again for many. But fear not! All is not lost, for it's also notebook hunting season. Of course, even if you enjoy going back to school, it's still a rare treat. After all, you are choosing a companion to help you stave off hours of boredom, and at the same time choosing an hombre to make your...
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Now that we've got the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC review under our belts, we are going to backtrack a bit to take a look at the HP/Compaq TC4200. Although the IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC hit the HotHardware lab first, the HP/Compaq TC4200 was actually introduced before the X41. These two Tablet PCs are targeted at slightly...
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Our previous coverage of the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 was mainly intended for prospective gaming and performance sensitive buyers. However, this perspective doesn't completely explore the multimedia possibilities of the XPS Gen 2, which can be configured with Microsoft's MCE 2005. So of course, we...
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Asus made an interesting statement earlier in the year with their S5N notebook. Its flair wasn't necessarily original, but it was, and still remains, one of the smaller ultra-portable designs available. And it's for this reason, that the S5N remains one of the ultra-portable notebooks in our...
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It has taken quite sometime for ultra-portables to be fully accepted by the notebook community. This really has more to do with their price tags, than any specific design or aesthetic issue. Considering that ultra-portables are usually more expensive than traditional notebooks, it isn't hard to see why most people would choose the cheaper...
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Over the past year, it has been interesting to see the emphasis that the big names are willing to put on the "enthusiast" crowd, in regards to notebooks. In the past, notebooks have been targeted towards businessmen and the like. These days, however, the variety is so wide that there...
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The Notebook Lab here at Hothardware.com is currently full of business and professional class notebooks, but don't fret, we will get to some interesting consumer class designs soon. In the meantime though, there is still plenty to keep us busy, including our latest arrival, Dell's new business powerhouse - the Latitude D810. The Dell...
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Now that we've got some Dell, IBM, and HP notebook reviews under our belt, we are going to depart from the business oriented line of machines we've already looked at, and take some time to go over Compaq's new Presario V4000. After the acquisition by Hewlett Packard, Compaq fully devoted its Presario notebook designs towards the consumer...
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A few short years back, the T series notebook from IBM was exactly what most of us thought of whenever someone uttered the word "notebook". Through the years, it has been the friend of many students, business men, and serious travelers, with broad market brand-name recognition. Lately, it has undergone its latest refresh,...
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IBM's products are the time tested gold standard when it comes to the computing needs of business professionals or corporations as a whole. "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM," many say. There is a reason for this reputation; most of it relating specifically to quality and technological features that have been incorporated cleverly...
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