Reviews
Intel is readying its latest generation of NUC small form factor systems, based on the company’s recently-released Broadwell-U processors. We got our hands on a Core i5-powered version dubbed the NUC5i5RYK. To be more specific, this little machine is packing a Core i5-5250U processor with on-die Intel HD 6000 series...
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Take everything you know and expect from an Android tablet, crumple it into a ball, and throw it away. Done? Good -- none of what you just purged from your brain will do you any good when looking at the Venue 8 7000 from Dell. It's not heavily modified and tied to an online shopping experience like Amazon's Fire tablets, nor does it take a...
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At this point, if you’re an avid follower of PC and gaming tech, we’ll assume that you’ve heard about NVIDIA’s Maxwell GPU architecture and the full line-up of graphics cards it powers. We most recently took a look at the mainstream GeForce GTX 960, but Maxwell is at the heart of the entry-level GeForce GTX 750 / 750...
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Valve’s Steam Machine was all the rage at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, but as we enter 2015, the SteamOS gaming platform (and Valve’s tantalizing Steam Controller) are still works in progress. SteamOS hasn’t been written off, but Dell, which was one of the first PC makers to build a custom console-sized system for SteamOS...
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To date, NVIDIA has introduced only a couple of Maxwell-based desktop GPUs. Back in September, the company launched the powerful and potent GeForce GTX 980 (and its little brother, the GeForce GTX 970), featuring the GM204. The GM204 is currently NVIDIA’s fastest single-GPU, though a larger “big” Maxwell-based chip akin to the GK110 powering...
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Dell has been strategically setting-up their new Venue 8 7000 tablet for cameo appearances over the past few months, starting back at Intel Developer's Forum in September of last year, then again at Dell World in November, and of course at CES 2015. At each event we got some hands-on time with Dell's interesting new...
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Lenovo's Thinkpad 540 is a beast, but you didn't need us to tell you that. This professional-caliber laptop is probably more powerful than your average desktop PC. And if its price doesn't tip you off to the fact that this laptop is sporting some serious hardware—$1,600 for Lenovo's "ready to ship" iteration of the laptop; starting...
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Dell took the wraps off a fresh, new revamp of their popular XPS 13 ultrabook line, out at CES in Las Vegas last week. The new machine was widely considered best-of-show for core computing products and racked-up awards left and right from major publications, including accolades from us here. Dell seemingly hit all the...
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ASUS is a relative newcomer to the smartphone market in the US, but they have had worldwide presence for quite some time. Overseas customers have long enjoyed access to devices such as a giant 7-inch smartphone that makes American phablets look tiny by comparison. Even though most consumers are no longer put off by holding up 5 -...
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Intel's strategically timed CES 2015 launch of their new 5th Generation Core Series processors for notebooks was met with a reasonably warm reception, though it's always difficult to rise above the noise, with the sea of announcements from competitors and the like. CES is always such a zoo and that's by design...
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Dell is stepping up its game for the Consumer Electronics Show, and is launching what it deems the “best portfolio of consumer devices in company history.” The company is rolling out a number of new products including the XPS 13, new Alienware 15 and 17 gaming notebooks, and the Venue 8 7000 Series tablet.
We’re...
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The Consumer Electronics Show is about to get underway, and Intel is leading the pack with a set of CPU announcements. It has been six months since the company took the lid off its first 14nm processor, the Core M, but that CPU is designed for the ultramobile, low-power market. Consumers who wanted to tap Intel's 14nm...
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NVIDIA CEO Jen Hsun Huang hosted a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas this evening, to officially kick off the company’s Consumer Electronics Show activities. Jen Hsun began the press conference with a bit of back story on the Tegra K1 and how it took NVIDIA approximately 2 years to get...
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For the last few years, NVIDIA has used the lead-up to the Consumer Electronics Show to announce new Tegra-related products and technologies. This year is no different. Earlier today, we got together with representatives from NVIDIA to talk about the company’s upcoming Tegra X1 system on a chip (SoC) and see the reference platform in action,
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Google created Android as an open platform with the intent that software developers and hardware manufacturers would create new, useful, and innovative things for the platform. Since Android was introduced, we’ve seen a number of interesting devices from cameras to HDMI dongles that utilize the OS. But tablets and smartphones...
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One of the more interesting stops on our recent trip to Amsterdam was at The Hague Security Delta. For those of you who might not be aware, The Hague is the name of the government seat of the Netherlands (and yes, the article is capitalized). The Hague Security Delta (HSD) is the official title of a collaborative effort between Netherlands...
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The hard drive market has become a lot less sexy in the past few years thanks to SSDs. What we used to consider "fast" for a hard drive is relatively slow compared to even the cheapest of today's solid state drives. But there are two areas where hard drives still rule the roost, and that's in terms of overall capacity...
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We first caught wind on the Alienware Alpha in the lead-up to Valve’s Steam Box announcements, prior to the Consumer Electronics Show. If you’re unfamiliar with the Alienware Alpha, it is a sleek, small form factor gaming PC, designed specifically for gamers. Valve is not quite ready with Steam OS or the Steam Controller, so the whole Steam
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We applaud companies willing to push the envelope with innovative new design approaches. Sometimes their efforts aren't rewarded with complete market acceptance, but unique features and hardware that attempt to blaze new trails in existing markets, are always interesting to say the least. In a way, the Galaxy Note Edge fits...
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When you're on the path to becoming a power user, you begin to notice certain things that the average person might not. One of those is the difference between typing on a sweet mechanical keyboard with luxurious key action versus pounding away on a run-of-the-mill squishy plank that relies on mushy membranes to register your keystrokes. The...
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Over the past several years, Lenovo has been aggressively targeting PC gamers, who are known both for their willingness to drop serious cash on hardware and for their skepticism of mainstream brands. Lenovo inherited some of IBM’s corporate image when it took over the company’s laptop business, but winners like the Yoga line got...
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LG is planning to showcase a new line of smart TVs with a newer version of webOS that's supposed to increase the user experience with a boot time that's been reduced by 60 percent and several other upgrades. According to LG, webOS 2.0 sports a "long list of improvements," such as up to 70 percent faster load times...
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