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ASUS looks set to release five Sandy Bridge laptops, all with serious horsepower
ASUS is already down with Sandy Bridge on the desktop side, but you had to know the company would be finding room for Intel's latest in it's mobile offerings, too. Notebook Italia has what looks to be solid confirmation of four separate models, starting with a big honkin' gaming rig, the G73SW. It has an Intel Core i7-2630QM processor, 8GB of DDR3, Geforce GTX 460M graphics, USB 3.0, dual storage bays (enabling mixing and matching of SSD and platter), and a 17.3-inch LCD that manages the full 1920 x 1080 resolution. Price looks set to start around $2,500. Also unveiled are four somewhat less gamer-oriented but still might fast models, grouped in the N53SV and N73SV series. All feature the same 2GHz processor and all have the new GeForce GT 540M processor that was recently seen rocking Acer's 5742G, which will drive either a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display or the larger 17.3-inch, 1080p display depending on which model you go for. Prices on this series are said to start at just $1,200 and go way up from there when they ship in January.
Acer Aspire 5742G laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics reviewed, es ist schnell
When first announced, we had fears that the new NVIDIA GeForce GT 500M-series graphics would be little more than a tweak of a clock speed here and a new sticker there, as the specs of the 540M (96 CUDA cores, 128-bit memory interface) match the 435M series bit-for-bit. But, a Notebook Journal review of the first laptop to bear NVIDIA's latest, the Acer Aspire 5742G, finds that the performance boost is tangible. "Much stronger," even, scoring 8315 points in 3DMark 06 -- a good bit higher than the 435M scores we've seen. The laptop otherwise is said to be quite a powerhouse, with a massive 8GB of DDR3 memory onboard, but it's a gentle machine too, Optimus letting the thing run cool and long (up to five hours on a charge) when you're not getting your frag on. Indeed it's deemed the most powerful notebook you can buy for €700, and while that translates to roughly $920, we'll have to see what Acer decides to charge when it comes Stateside. [Thanks, Markus]
NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M refreshes mobile graphics midrange (update: hands-on pics)
Uh oh, just as we thought NVIDIA had moved beyond its penchant for rebadging hardware, here comes the vanguard of its 500M mobile GPU series -- which happens to be specced nearly identically to what's already on offer in the 400M family. The GT 540M chip maintains the same 96 CUDA cores and 128-bit memory interface as the GT 435M, but earns its new livery by cranking up graphics and processor clock speeds to 672MHz and 1344MHz, respectively, while also taking the onboard memory to a max speed of 900MHz. Power requirements have been kept unchanged, mind you, and NVIDIA itself admits it's exploiting the maturation of the production process to just throw out some speedier parts. China gets the GT 540M immediately, courtesy of Acer, while the rest of the world should be able to buy in at some point next month. Jump past the break for the full press release. Update: We've managed to track down the particular Acer model that'll mark the GT 540M's debut, it's called the Aspire 4741G. The option we saw came equipped with a 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB HDD, a Blu-ray disc drive, and a 14-inch screen up top. There's not much, aside from the new top cover design, to really distinguish this from the rest of Acer's Aspire line, with the keyboard in particular being the very same one that we've witnessed on Timeline series machines for over a year now -- comfortable, well spaced, but exhibiting quite a bit of flex around the Enter key. See more of it in the gallery below. %Gallery-109305%
MapQuest iPhone gets free voice navigation; TomTom lifetime map and traffic PNDs now available (update: Navigon MobileNavigator 1.5 too)
Chalk up another two wins for cheap consumer GPS. Like Google Maps Navigation before it, the MapQuest 4 Mobile iPhone app has just now added gratis turn-by-turn voice directions... and ahead of schedule, TomTom has begun bundling its new 2010 Personal Navigation Devices, including the XL 340S and the XXL 540S -- with lifetime traffic and maps subscriptions. The latter are now available on Amazon for a $30-per-lifetime-subscription premium in a variety of increasingly feature-filled flavors, with helpful T (traffic), M (maps) and TM (traffic and maps) suffixes so you know which TomTom is which. If you prefer buying from brick and mortar, TomTom expects retail availability beginning in April. Full list of supported TomTom models and expected MSRP after the break. Update: The 1.5.0 iPhone update to MobileNavigator from Navigon that includes MyRoutes, Facebook and Twitter integration, and Panorama View 3D is finally up on iTunes as well.
