Items tagged with Laptops
When it comes to technology, most things get better with time as new iterations are introduced. Consider the first smartphone you ever owned, and how it compares to the one you have now, for example. The same is true in the land of laptops, and Dell in particular has been relentless in pushing forward its thin and light XPS 13. We had a chance to spend some hands-on time with one in the run up to the Consumer Electronics Show, where Dell has now unveiled its 2019 model (or more precisely, the XPS 13 9380). Dell is billing its latest model as "the most powerful 13-inch in its class," and thanks...
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Acer announced that its upcoming Predator Triton 500 and Predator Triton 900 gaming laptops will come equipped with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX graphics processors. In addition to the high-end hardware, these systems both have special features that help them to stand out from the competition. We got our first look at the Acer Predator Triton 900 last year, which features a unique convertible design. The notebook's 17.3" 4K IPS display uses a specialized CNC-machined Ezel Aero hinge that connects to the center of the display on its left and right sides. The display can be set just like a normal PC, or...
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In an attempt to get the jump on the competition, Acer today announced two new lightweight consumer oriented laptops. The more interesting of these two systems is Acer's new Chromebook 315, which the company said is the first to feature an A-Series AMD processor with Radeon graphics. Acer's Chromebook 315 will be available with either an AMD A4-9120C or a more powerful AMD A6-9220C. These new CPUs are both based on AMD's 8th generation Excavator microarchitecture. These processors are largely similar to their A4-9120 and A6-9220 counterparts, but feature a TDP of 6 watts instead of 15 watts along...
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ASUS is adding a pair of new TUF Gaming models to its extensive laptop line. The new models include the 15.6-inch FX505DY and 17.3-inch FX705DY, both powered by AMD's Ryzen 5 3550H processor with Vega graphics, and up to 32GB of RAM. Never heard of the Ryzen 5 3550H? That's because until now, it did not exist. The Ryzen 5 3550H is one of several new Ryzen 3000 H-series mobile APUs from AMD. This particular model is a 4-core/8-thread chip with a 2.1GHz base clock and 3.7GHz boost clock, with 6MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. On the graphics side, it is powered by eight Vega GPU cores clocked at 1,200MHz....
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Everything in HP's EliteBook series falls into the company's business class lineup and today we are looking at their latest convertible; the HP EliteBook x360 1030. While its name might not roll off the tongue, this laptop's design, features, specifications and optional accessories could potentially have some folks salivating. Like other laptops in the Elitebook series, the x360 1030 sports an all aluminum chassis, giving it an elegant and distinct look. The configuration we're testing comes equipped with all the latest processor platform technology, including Intel's 8th Gen Kaby Lake R processor,...
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Samsung has updated its premium convertible line with a new 2-in-1 laptop, the Notebook 9 Pen. As the name suggests, it comes with the company's revamped S Pen stylus, and of course there is a keyboard attached, the latter of which is not always a given in the 2-in-1 space (we're looking at you, Microsoft Surface Pro). As with the 2018 model, the S Pen conveniently slides into the base of the 2019 version so that it's easier to keep track of. However, it's not the same S Pen as before—Samsung said it reduced the latency on the gold-colored S Pen by up to 2x from the previous model, and that...
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Qualcomm is making a hard push into traditional laptop territory through the Windows on ARM initiative that it and Microsoft kicked off a couple of years ago. The company's latest effort on the hardware side is its new Snapdragon 8cx Compute Platform. We were able to see the new platform in action at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii on a couple of pre-production laptops. You may recall that the first Windows on ARM devices ran on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 processor, followed by its Snapdragon 850 SoC. The Snapdragon 8cx represents a new naming convention to help differentiate Qualcomm's...
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It's a connected world—except when it isn't. Sure, there are a zillion (well, 280 million, according to Statista) free Wi-Fi hotspots around the world, and we're all almost always tethered to some device or another. But what about those times when you need to be connected, but aren't? Perhaps when you're on the road in a remote location, when you can't find a Wi-Fi hotspot, or when it's simply inconvenient to do so. Well, that's the problem always-connected PCs aim to solve. They're machines that use the practically ubiquitous cellular network to ensure that you don't need to worry about...
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Just when laptop design had seemed to reach a point of stagnation, the market responded with 2-in-1 and convertible form factors, which are now commonly found. So, what comes next? That is difficult to predict, though Samsung is apparently fooling around with new form factors that we have not seen before, one of which is a laptop with a foldable display. It's not clear exactly what kind of use case scenarios Samsung envisions, though it's not surprising to find out the company is focused on new display technology. Samsung is a major player in the display category. To that end, its Super AMOLED...
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NVIDIA recently announced a new generation of desktop graphics cards for consumers based on its Turing GPU architecture, and with specialized real-time ray tracing hardware underneath the hood. These new cards have the potential to usher in a new era in gaming. But what about mobile? It stands to reason that mobile GPU launch will follow, and that seems to be the case. Playing games with parts of scenes displaying real-time ray tracing effects is certainly exciting. It's also a demanding ask of the hardware. The desktop is the logical place to start, though it's not the only place gamers play PC...
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It typically follows that once Intel or AMD roll out new processors, whether for desktop or mobile (or the server environment), systems builders are quick to announce new systems built around the chips in question. Such is the case today with Intel launching a new wave of 8th generation Core processors for thin and light notebooks and 2-in-1 convertibles. Seizing on the opportunity, Dell today refreshed its Inspiron 2-in-1 lineup with Intel's new 8th gen Core CPUs. There are two categories of Inspiron convertibles that are seeing updates, including the Inspiron 7000 and Inspiron 5000. Starting...
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NVIDIA is flying high on its recent announcement of new GeForce RTX 2000 series graphics cards based on its Turing architecture, with advanced features such as ray tracing capabilities. If performance lives up to the claims, gamers are in for a treat. On the mobile side, nothing was announced, though one laptop vendor may have tipped what NVIDIA has in store. Eurocom apparently referenced a handful of unannounced mobile GPUs that will purportedly find their way into the company's Sky C series of gaming laptops. They include the GeForce RTX 1080 and 1070, and GeForce GTX 1180 and 1170. What's interesting...
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Lenovo has trotted out a pair of new mobile workstations including the ThinkPad P1 and the ThinkPad P72 that are thinner and more portable than you might expect. Of these two workstations, the thinnest of them is the P1 and this workstation class machine is only 0.7-inches thick. The beefier ThinkPad P72 is still only an inch thick. Lenovo manages to cram serious workstation hardware inside the rigs and keep it cool with choices of 8th gen Intel Core processors and Xeon hardware inside the rigs. Workstations need lots of graphics muscle for some types of workloads and Lenovo accommodates this type...
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We are still a few days away from Amazon's annual Prime Day sales event, which kicks off Monday and runs for 36 hours. However, if you're itching for a deal ahead of the big the event and happen to be in the market for a laptop, good news—Amazon has partnered with Acer to bundle a free Echo Dot with the purchase of an Alexa-enabled Nitro, Spin, or Aspire laptop. There are half a dozen laptops to choose from. As an added bonus, each one is currently marked down $50 from their respective MSRPs, so you are saving a chunk of change right off the bat and getting an Echo Dot. On top of all that,...
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