Tag Archives | Notebooks

Lenovo Launches Intel vPro ThinkPad Tablet PC and Ultraportable Models

Posted by Jacqueline Emigh on March 7, 2011 at 11:24 pm

Lenovo has rolled out new ThinkPad Tablet PC and ultraportable laptop PC models based on Intel’s new second generation vPro Core processor, hot on the heels of Intel’s announcement on Monday of the speedier and more secure new chipset.

The new 12.5-inch X220T convertible tablet and X220 laptop will be available with second generation Intel Core and vPro Core chips. All i7 models will also offer USB 3.0 for faster data transfer, but the i5 and i3 models will be limited to USB 2.0, said Ross Compton, a Lenovo product manager, in an interview.

Aside from new processors, the new ThinkPads will also feature a revamped design revolving around changes to the display, touchpad, and latch.

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HP's New Notebooks: Businesslike. But I Like Them Too

Posted by Harry McCracken on February 23, 2011 at 11:06 pm

HP's new EliteBook p-Series

If you’re as old and wizened as I am, you remember the Irish Spring TV commercials based around the idea that it was a manly soap that was equally beloved by women:

Strangely enough, I thought about those ads when I learned about HP’s latest round of updates to its business notebooks, the EliteBook and ProBook series. HP says it designs these machines to serve the needs of businessfolk, not consumers: They’ve got relatively conservative designs rather than the splashy ones on HP’s consumer lines, aiming for timeless good looks rather than trendiness. The EliteBooks use materials such as aluminum and titanium alloys for strength, and have Duracase enclosures that meet military-grade specifications for sturdiness. The ProBooks have spill-resistant keyboards. There are USB 3.0 ports. You can get these systems in a variety of sizes with a range of Intel second-generation Core processors. One version, the EliteBook 8460p, offers an optional extended battery that claims up to 32 hours on a charge. Prices, which start at $579 for the most basic ProBook s-series, seem reasonable.

The EliteBooks are aimed at corporate types; the ProBooks skew more to medium-sized and small businesses. But they strike me as Irish Spring computers: They may be businesslike, but their feature sets and emphasis on substance over style makes them laptops with plenty of appeal for a certain discerning type of consumer (read: anyone with tastes similar to mine). They ship on March 15th; PCMag.com has more details and photos.

 

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Dell XPS Laptops Add Premium Audio, 3D Video, Sandy Bridge Processors

Posted by Jacqueline Emigh on February 23, 2011 at 12:23 am

Dell's new XPS 15

Release dates for Dell’s refreshed XPS laptops have turned into a moving target, and all the specs haven’t been quite clear. Yet Dell on Tuesday suddenly announced immediate US availability for both the 15- and 17-inch models, along with a finalized feature set that now officially includes 3D video.

In a Dell press briefing session I attended during CES in January, Alison Gardner, a Dell product manager, sketched out new features for “AV enthusiasts”–such as JBL speakers and MAXXAudio 3–and for “immersive multimedia.”

Dell asked reporters to hold off on publishing stories about the new notebooks pending a formal announcement then slated for February 20. Yet Dell’s Lionel Menchaca detailed some preliminary specs–for the XPS 17 only–in a blog posted on Dell’s Web site, also during the week of CES.

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Last Gadget Standing: The Video

Posted by Harry McCracken on February 11, 2011 at 10:34 pm

If you weren’t at our Last Gadget Standing event at CES last month, here’s a chance to see the demo that won it all in the applause-o-meter audience voting: the company was Acer and its gadget was the Iconia two-screen laptop. The theme? Watch for yourself!

(The Acer folks shot this video record of their win.) Also seen in the clip: LGS creator Robin Raskin, celebrity cohosts Jon Hein and Gary Dell’Abate, Laptop Magazine’s Avram Piltch, and…me.

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Enter the Notbook

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 31, 2011 at 10:14 am

Here’s a nice piece from Engadget’s Joanna Stern on a class of portable PC–roomier and more powerful than a netbook, but compact and minimalist compared to traditional notebooks–which she calls notbooks. I like ’em myself–and despite the “not” in her nickname, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them become the dominant form of laptop over the next couple of years.

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CES 2011: Toshiba's Glasses-Free 3D

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 4, 2011 at 10:56 pm


When it comes to 3D, I’m pretty much a worst-case scenario. I bristle at the fact that I’m expected to wear ill-fitting glasses over my regular glasses. I’ve sampled multiple 3D technologies and found all of them wanting. It all seems like a lot of expense and effort for very little benefit.

But I am sort of intrigued by 3D that doesn’t require glasses. And at a pre-CES party tonight here in Las Vegas, Toshiba was showing a l56-inch flat-screen TV and a laptop which do 3D, no funny goggles required. The two devices use lenticular displays, just like the little picture of Pinocchio I owned when I was three. (Lenticular video screens are also nothing new, though all the ones I’ve seen until now have been blurry and unappealing.)

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CES 2011: Lenovo Intros Consumer Laptops and Desktops by the Dozen

Posted by Jacqueline Emigh on January 3, 2011 at 11:42 pm

Desktop PCs are standing flat where they are, as some pundits see it, but Lenovo plans to give them a leg up on lots of levels in 2011.  Beyond literally dozens of new multimedia-intensive IdeaPad notebooks for consumers and ThinkPads for businesses, Lenovo’s product rollouts at CES 2011 will also include new IdeaCentre PCs that could help to reimagine the all-in-one category by adding fresh features for TV watching, gaming, and 3D entertainment.

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CES 2011: New ThinkPads for Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses

Posted by Jacqueline Emigh on January 2, 2011 at 9:49 pm

At CES in Las Vegas this week, Lenovo will try to up the ante on rivals like Acer, Dell and HP with a veritable full house of new PCs, including new ThinkPad Edge models for small- and medium-sized business users incorporating new rapid boot-up technology, videoconferencing, and “crossover” home entertainment.

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The Dell Adamo Gets Cheaper

Posted by Harry McCracken on December 25, 2010 at 5:10 am

Dell’s super-thin Adamo may be the closest thing to a MacBook Air-like machine in the Windows world. And now it starts at $899, $100 less than the cheapest Air.

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