Items tagged with Notebooks
The thing about striving for perfection is that it is not truly attainable, and you can drive yourself mad trying to get there. Be that as it may, Dell has come closer than most with its premium line of XPS 13 laptops, which in our experience are some of the finest thin and light notebooks available, both in terms of their beautiful design, as well as all-around performance. The same is certainly true of Dell's latest refresh for 2019, which attempts to refine Dell's award winning 13-inch laptop platform even further. Looking back at the 2018 model, which we bestowed a well-earned Editor's Choice...
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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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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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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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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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ASUS unveiled a barrage of new products at Computex today, including a couple of gaming laptops under its enthusiast Republic of Games (ROG) brand. The new ROG Strix Hero II (GL504) and Strix SCAR II are built around a powerful combination of six-core Intel 8th generation Core i7 (Coffee Lake) processor options and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 series (Pascal) graphics, with the former taking aim at MOBA players and latter targeting FPS players. Unlike their predecessors, these refreshed models aren't using twisted nematic (TN) panels, and instead have been upgraded with higher quality 15.6-inch in-plane...
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Pat yourself on the back if you resisted the urge to buy a gaming laptop in anticipation of Intel launching new 6-core/12-thread mobile processors. They are finally here, and we are seeing a whole bunch of new laptops pop up with these chips inside. That includes Gigabyte, which updated three of its laptop models through its Aorus gaming brand, including the 15.6-inch X5 and 17.3-inch X7 DT and X9 DT. All three laptop models feature 8th generation Intel Core processors underneath the hood. Starting at the top, the Aorus X9 DT wields the fastest of the new mobile bunch, the Core i9-8950HK, an unlocked...
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Acer has announced refreshed Aspire Nitro 5 notebook computers, and while there are no visual changes to speak of, there is plenty going on under the hood that makes this a worth upgrade. The Nitro 5 has been updated to the latest 8th generation Intel Core i5 processors, and versions of the notebook with Core i7 processor will be arriving soon. The machines are aimed at casual gamers and pro users that need power for more complex workloads. "Acer is excited to be among the first to offer the new Intel Core i7+ processors with our new Nitro 5 gaming notebook," said Jerry Hou, General Manager,...
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It appears ASUS is upgrading its Zephyrus gaming laptop with a six-core Coffee Lake-H processor while maintaining a Max-Q version of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. The upgraded model appeared briefly on an online shopping website in the UK. Though it has since been removed, a Google cache of the listing provides a bunch of information, including the laptop's specs and asking price. To start with, the new Zephyrus GX501 model (GX501GI EI005T is the full model name) boasts a Core i7-8750H processor. That is a significant upgrade over the Core i5-7300HQ and Core i7-7700HQ processor options on the...
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LG might not be a name you think of when considering a premium thin and light laptop—the company is perhaps best known for its smartphones and televisions, and has been making noise in the latter category with its 4K OLED TVs. That may change, however, once you spy the company's latest Gram laptops. Boasting full metal alloy bodies and new 8th Generation Core i7 and Core i5 processor options from Intel, the Gram looks poised to throw its weight around in the high-end laptop category. More than just a good looking laptop, LG says its Gram models are durable too, passing seven stringent US...
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System builders have been releasing new and refreshed laptop models built around Intel's recently launched 8th Generation Core processor family for mobile (Kaby Lake Refresh or Kaby Lake-R, not to be confused with Coffee Lake on the desktop). Samsung is among them, having just launched three Notebook 9 models for 2018, and a Notebook 9 Pen SKU that comes with its S Pen stylus. "At Samsung, we have long felt that technology must fit within the lives of the consumer, not the other way around. Over the past several years, the lines between our personal and professional lives have started to blur creating...
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