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All posts tagged "notebooks"


Wednesday, May 12, 2010

10 Things To Know About AMD's New Mobile Chips

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 02:30 PM

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,281...,2363660,00.asp

"It's no secret that AMD has fallen well behind Intel in the mobile CPU space, but the company intends to make up major ground by launching its first Phenom triple-core and quad-core processors for laptops. There will be new dual-core and single-core CPUs as well, continuing the Turion and Athlon brands, only they're followed by the number "II." Here are ten facts that you'll need to know about the new chips..."

I used to be a big fan of AMD CPUs, but over the past couple of years I've found myself scratching my head at their CPUs in the mobile space - it's like they don't quite get that power consumption is a critical component of mobile computing. Take the HP dv2 from early 2009 for example: a nice notebook by all accounts, but the dual-core AMD Neo CPU at 1.6 Ghz in it slurped down 18 watts of power. Read more...


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

HP Envy 15 Walkthrough Video from Notebooks.com

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.notebooks.com

Curious about the new HP Envy 15? Xavier got some hands-on time with the Envy 15, and this video is a walkthrough with HP's Kevin Wentzel. Am I the only one who's feeling very "iffy" about the design on the lid? I thought it was originally going to be a design-free lid, which I thought was a great idea...but looking at the unit in this video, I see a very busy design that frankly really detracts from the overall aesthetic of the very clean design. What do you think?


Thursday, September 17, 2009

Netbooks and Notebooks, Say Hello to the NetNote

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 06:30 AM

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/09/1...tnote-platform/

"These NetNote systems are “turnkey” in the sense that manufacturers can choose between ultra low-voltage VIA C7-M processors or VIA’s newer Nano processors, then add up to 2GB of RAM, mobile broadband chips, and Windows or Linux operating systems."

Just when you thought that netbooks were becoming notebooks, Via has decided to make the market simple and easy to understand by introducing the NetNote platform! Via isn't actually selling any NetNotes themselves, but providing a new platform that other manufacturers or brands can sell. The specifications are hardly earth-shaking, though Via claims the ability to offer 1080p output and idling at 2.3 watts of power. The NetNote can also supposedly work as an mp3 player without booting the system (as if someone would love to cart around a netbook sized mp3 player) and an fm transmitter. What it comes down to though is that Via just wants a piece of the netbook pie. With ION and Pine Trail imminent, it looks like we will all at least have a choice we can gladly look over.


Friday, December 19, 2008

NVIDIA Now Providing Notebook Graphics Drivers On NVIDIA.COM

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Software" @ 02:40 PM

http://www.nvidia.com/object/io_1229602132882.html

"Users with notebooks equipped with NVIDIA® graphics processing units (GPUs) now have the added flexibility of downloading upgradeable graphics drivers directly from NVIDIA.com so they can immediately take advantage of new features, improved application compatibility, and performance optimizations. The first graphics driver release from NVIDIA will extend the NVIDIA CUDATM architecture to notebook GPUs, enabling the growing number of consumers moving to a notebook-only lifestyle to immediately experience the wide range of CUDA-based applications-from heart-stopping GPU-accelerated game physics to GPU-accelerated video conversion."

Three words: about freaking time! It's always driven me nuts when I buy a notebook and the lazy OEM never bothers to give me updated video drivers - that's exactly what happened when I bought a 17" Fujitsu notebook a few years back. It was the closest thing to a gaming laptop they made, and they never updated the graphics drivers. But that's all over not!

Oh, wait, it's not quite freakin' time yet - I just tried to download updated drivers for my XPS M1330, and got the same 176.44 drivers that I currently have, along with a message saying that I have to get drivers from Dell. I poked around a bit more, and found some beta drivrers - it turns out that they won't have WHQL-certified drivers available until early next year. Gee, thanks Nvidia. This is why PR gets a bad name sometimes - they omit part of the truth, making the headline deceptive. I'm not keen on trying beta drivers on my laptop - I value stability too much for that - but if you're up for some beta driver action, you can download the 179.28 beta drivers now for your 8000M and 9000M series notebook GPUs.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Samsung Notebooks Come to North American Shores

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 10:00 PM

http://www.dailytech.com/Samsung+No...rticle13198.htm

"The X360 will feature 128GB of SSD storage in a system sized much like the MacBook Air at $2,499. The MacBook Air with the 64GB SSD option retails for $2,598. Samsung's X360 weighs 2.8 pounds and achieves the lightweight by using a magnesium chassis and aluminum. To compete with the cheaper MacBook Air with an 80GB HDD at $1,799, Samsung will be releasing the 160GB X460. The X460 will retail for $1,899 providing twice the storage for $100 more. Samsung is also going to be launching a line of larger desktop replacement notebooks for business users. In addition to full notebooks, Samsung will also be unveiling its NC10 netbook in America. The NC10 will retail for $499 and features a 10.2-inch LCD and 160GB of storage. Samsung's NC10 will slot right between the higher-end Asus Eee netbooks and smaller full-scale notebook computers."

I know there are quite a few fans of Samsung products out there, so I'm sure you will be happy to know you can now get them in the US without having to resort to import companies. I'll be especially interested in the specs and design/build of their netbook.


Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dell Launches New Line of Latitude Business Notebooks, Claims 19 Hours of Battery Life

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 05:27 PM

http://www.electronista.com/article....latitude.2008/

"Dell today launched the new Latitude line, ushering in a significant refresh of its business systems. The new models have a new streamlined design with the choice of multiple shell colors and take cues both from recent PC designs like the Studio as well as the MacBook Pro; the new systems now have backlit keyboards, a magnesium shell designed to be strong, and an extra-thin design. The mainstream models are the thinnest ever in the mid-size class, the Texas-based company claims, while its ultraportable E4200 model weighs as little as 2.2 pounds. The company also claims to have set a record for battery performance using a combination of proprietary software as well as Intel's Centrino 2 platform. The mid-grade Latitude E6400 with an extended 12-cell battery can last up to 19 hours on a single charge, according to Dell. A standard nine-cell battery also manages 10 hours. The company also promises a revamped power brick that can recover as much as 80 percent of the charge in one hour, and USB ports that will charge phones and other devices even when the system is completely turned off."

I tend not to pay that much attention to Dell's Latitude notebooks because they're usually as ugly as sin, but this new generation looks pretty good. The battery life claims of 19 hours really caught my eye - it seems that Dell is doing this with battery slice technology. Meaning these new notebooks have a power port on the bottom that a thin battery snaps into. This is similar to what HP has done with some of their business-class notebooks, but this technology has yet to make it into any consumer-grade notebook that I can think of. That's a real shame, because as a consumer I really care about battery life - and giving me a big-ass hump battery isn't much of a solution. After the break, there's a video with some Dell staffers talking about the new notebooks and how they compete against the Macbook Air and other ultra-portable laptops. Read more...


Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Dell Introduces "Studio" Line of Notebooks

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 09:44 AM

http://www.notebooks.com/2008/06/26...ebook-overview/

"Dell’s all new Studio 15 is a consumer grade notebook that fits somewhere between the Dell Inspiron and Dell XPS series. The Dell Studio 15 borrows design elements from the XPS series, but is much more affordable than the XPS M1530. The Dell Studio 15 is available now from Dell.com for $799 and up, and will be available at Staples and Best Buy by the first week of July. The Dell Studio is available with a choice of 11 colors and designs. One premium feature that stands out on the Dell Studio 15 is its backlit keyboard. Backlit keyboards are usually found on much more expensive notebooks, such as the Alienware m15x, Envy 133 and MacBook Pro."



I built a ruby red Studio 15 with Core 2 Duo CPU at 2 Ghz, Windows Vista SP1, a 1440 x 900 resolution display, a 256 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 graphics card, 3 GB of RAM, a 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, an 8x DVD burner, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.0, a 2.0 megapixel Webcam, a 6-cell battery, fingerprint reader, and a back-lit keyboard...all for $1344 USD. Not bad at all - especially when I consider I paid nearly double that for my XPS M1330 about a year ago and the specs are very similar to what I have. I noticed Dell finally added the actual resolution of the screens, not simply tossing out "WXGA" and expecting people to know what that means. They still don't have photos of what each battery option looks like on the laptop - my suggestion of doing so seems to have gathered decent support over at Dell IdeaStorm. It's too bad they don't have a 14" option - the Studio 15 is north of six pounds, which is pretty hefty.

I wish HP would get on the colour bandwagon, because they make some excellent laptops but don't go the extra mile when it comes to adding colour - I really enjoy my red XPS laptop, and I think colour really is a differentiating feature that matters for some people (I'm one of them).


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

AMD Unveils Turion X2 Ultra and AMD Turion X2 Mobile Processor Platform

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 09:12 PM



AMD has officially unveiled their new mobile computing platform, formerly known as the codename Puma, and it looks like an impressive step forward for mobile technology. Unfortunately I missed a conference call earlier this week that had some pertinent details, but I was send a slide deck to glean some facts from. I'll do my best to present the facts about this new platform, but expect to see me linking to someone else that knows more about this than I do (which isn't hard to do) by tomorrow.

To begin with, we know that notebooks are increasingly being used for entertainment - and China leads the way with 97% of users indicating they use their notebooks for that purpose. Europe comes next with 83%, and North Americans trail with 76%. Not surprisingly, you see people living in cultures which higher population density using their computers more for entertainment - the laptop likely replacing the TV in many homes as the primary source of entertainment. AMD has created a platform they believe will serve the needs of this market (oh yeah, and those business/enterprise types as well).

The AMD Turion X2 Ultra processor is at the centre of this platform, featuring independent dynamic core technology, AMD CoolCore technology, Power Optimized HyperTransprt 3.0, and a mobile optimized memory controller. All are technologies optimized for long battery life - that's what the slide tells me at least. The AMD 7-series chipsets (780G and SB700) bring other powerful offerings to the table: DirectX 10 support, PCIe 2nd generation speeds, enhanced ATI Avivo HD Block (MPEG2, H.264, and VC1 playback), ATI Hybrid Graphics, lower power/lower noise levels, HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort support. The ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU, which I assume is at the core of those chipsets (don't quote me on that!) offer 2.9 times the performance of the GPU used by Intel in their Santa Rosa platform. Intel's well-known for their underpowered integrated GPU performance, so I don't find that difference hard to believe. Read more...


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