Computex2019
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Dell’s new Inspiron laptops focus on better thermal performance
It wouldn't be a trade show unless Dell opened a small shipping container's worth of new PCs and dumped them across all of our tables. Computex 2019 has seen the company offering up a number of updates to its machines, including its mid-range of Inspiron laptops and all-in-one PCs. In the former category, the company wants to talk about the elegant new additions to its 13-inch 5000 and 15-inch 7000-series models.
Alienware's slim gaming laptops are getting a bold new look
If you've been drooling over the Alienware Area 51m's sci-fi aesthetic, but wanted something a bit more compact, Dell has got you covered. The slim Alienware m15 and m17 are finally getting the company's new "Legend" industrial design, giving them the same light and dark case options as the 51m. Those new frames also include plenty of visual flourishes, like the rounded LED lighting around their rear ports and cleaner lines across the board. On the whole, they look a lot more modern than the last batch of slim Alienware laptops.
Dell's new XPS 13 2-in-1 is its most stylish laptop yet
I don't throw the word "perfect" around a lot, but that was honestly the best way to describe the latest XPS 13. But what if you wanted something more than a traditional laptop? That's where the new XPS 13 2-in-1 comes in. Like other convertibles, you can flip the screen all the way around to turn it into a large tablet. But while it brings over many of the hardware improvements from this year's XPS 13 -- a webcam above the screen and HDR displays -- it also takes Dell's XPS design to a whole new level.
Intel's 10th-gen Core CPUs will let you game on ultraportables
It was just about a month ago that Intel showed off its powerful new ninth-gen laptop CPUs, but now it's finally ready to talk about its upcoming Ice Lake 10nm chips. For one, they're officially known as 10th-gen Core. And they won't be taking much limelight away from those beefier laptop chips, as Intel is focusing on ultraportables first with U-series processors. 10th-gen CPUs will be available in Core i3, i5 and i7 variants, as you'd expect. And, just like Intel already teased, they'll feature its powerful new 11th-gen Iris Plus integrated graphics, which are fast enough to run games decently in 1080p.
HP adds a wood option to its Envy laptops
Following on from the stylish business casual, leather-clad Spectre Folio, HP is showcasing its first convertible PCs with authentic wood paneling. In fact, it's sharing the alternate material option across Envy 13, Envy x360 13, Envy x360 15 and the bigger Envy 17. Naturally, these will all come with options for either the latest Intel processors or second-gen Ryzen mobile chips.
Watch AMD's Computex 2019 event in nine minutes!
Computex has kicked off in Taipei today, so probably before you were even awake, AMD revealed its ambitious new CPU and GPU hardware additions. It's going after NVIDIA's middle-weight RTX 2070 graphics with the Radeon RX 5700. Not only will it be the first 7nm consumer video cards out there, the series will also tout PCIe 4.0 and GDDR6 memory support, ensuring the cards won't be irrelevant a year or two down the road. Meanwhile, AMD's third-gen Ryzen 9 CPU is a 12-core beast that's priced to shake up Intel's dominance, striking a strong balance between power efficiency, performance, and sheer bang for your buck. Want specific numbers? We've got them for you.
ASUS' latest WiFi 6 router looks appallingly normal
When you look up WiFi 6 routers, you tend to get a bunch of nightmare-inducing designs that resemble gigantic dead spiders. Luckily, brands like Netgear and TP-Link have shown that such products can don a more humble outfit, and ASUS is finally following suit for this year's Computex. The company's freshly announced AiMesh AX6600 kit consists of two RT-AX95Q routers that, to our surprise, look very much like standard networking hubs (remember the Blue Cave?). Most notably, all six antennas are hidden inside each device, with two of them placed diagonally in the middle to boost reception.
ASUS’ redesigned touchscreen trackpad is bigger and more intuitive
It's only been about a year since ASUS introduced the ZenBook Pro with a touchscreen trackpad called a ScreenPad, and the company is already back with an updated version. To celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, ASUS unveiled a slew of intriguing laptops at Computex this year, as well as the ScreenPad 2.0, which will launch on an array of its notebooks as well.
ASUS made the world's first 240Hz portable monitor for gamers
Portable USB monitors are no stranger to Computex, but this year, ASUS brought us something a little more ambitious: the world's first 240Hz portable gaming monitor. The ROG Strix XG17 features a 17.3-inch 1,920 x 1,080 IPS LCD, and it's a high-end affair that offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 240Hz, along with a 3ms response time. In fact, this is apparently the same speedy matte panel made available on ASUS' Strix Scar III and Hero III laptops. The monitor also comes with built-in stereo speakers, a magnetic kickstand flip cover plus an internal battery. The latter is good for three hours when maxed out at 240Hz, and it supports Quick Charge 3.0 plus USB Power Delivery.
ASUS releases a 30th anniversary edition ZenFone 6 and ZenBook
ASUS turned 30 last month, so it's no surprise that the company saved some special edition products for Computex. What we have here are the ZenFone 6 Edition 30, ZenBook Edition 30 and Prime X299 Edition 30 motherboard -- a fitting trio to reflect the company's expanded portfolio over the decades (though a new Zenbo would have been nice, too). While the hardware isn't brand new, they all feature ASUS' 30th anniversary "A" logo, along with some exclusive looks and specs.
ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo hands-on: A bizarre yet useful dual-screen laptop
Every once in awhile, a briefing pleasantly surprises me. And that's what happened when ASUS brought the new ZenBook Pro Duo to our office in New York last week to give us a preview prior to its Computex debut, today. It's hard to describe this bizarre-looking machine, but think of it as an almost dual-screen laptop. We're not talking about the fully dual-screen Project Precog notebook that ASUS unveiled last Computex, but the Pro Duo feels like the middle stage of an evolutionary process towards that dubiously glorious end.
AMD isn't ruling out ray tracing for its new Radeon RX 5000 GPUs
AMD finally unveiled its first Navi-based "RDNA" video cards this morning, the Radeon RX 5000-series. But, curiously, it's still keeping plenty of details under wraps. In particular, the company hasn't said anything definitive on real-time ray tracing, the technology that NVIDIA banked on with its RTX GPUs. It allows for more realistic lighting, reflections and shadows -- you can think of it as the next major visual upgrade after HDR.
Acer brings NVIDIA’s Quadro RTX 5000 to its ConceptD 7 laptop
Earlier this year, Acer announced its ConceptD range of high-end notebooks designed to woo away folks who had gone sour on the MacBook Pro. The company touted the range's sharp looks and sharp specs paired with a commitment to color accuracy on the display. Now, with the advent of NVIDIA's new Quadro RTX graphics for laptops, Acer will now offer the RTX 5000 inside its ConceptD 7.
NVIDIA is bringing pro-level Quadro RTX GPUs to laptops
NVIDIA has succeeded in shrinking its beefy Quadro RTX 5000 graphics hardware to bring it to laptops. The silicon offers 3,072 CUDA cores and 48 RT cores, paired with 384 Tensor cores and 16GB GDDR6 RAM, same as the version available for desktops. And, much like the previous version of the RTX 5000, the mobile edition is designed for professionals who do a lot of heavy graphics or video work.
Razer updates the Blade with NVIDIA’s new Quadro RTX 5000
Hot on the heels of NVIDIA announcing the arrival of its Quadro RTX 5000 for laptops, comes the parade of companies who have signed up to offer the new silicon. First off, is Razer, which is upgrading its line of Blade 15 and Blade Pro 17 professional laptops to support the new gear. Both machines will pack the RTX 5000, pack 32GB RAM, 1TB NVMe storage and come in an eye-catching Mercury White finish.
NVIDIA is giving away the 'Quake II' ray tracing demo on June 6th
Earlier this year, a team inside NVIDIA took Quake II and ran it through its ray tracing system to see if the 1997 title could be gussied up. The resulting tech demo, shown off at GDC, received more than half a million YouTube views and more than a little hype. From June 6th, the company will allow people to play a limited version of the game — Quake II RTX — for free.
Lenovo's Project Limitless 5G laptop makes a lot of promises
When you name a product Project Limitless, it better truly have no limits. But the 5G laptop that Lenovo so boldly named and teased here at Computex 2019 was precisely the opposite: limited. Granted, this was a prototype device that isn't entirely ready, but we still wanted to get an early preview of what it's promising when it launches. Lenovo and Qualcomm don't have many details to share, other than the fact that Limitless will use a Snapdragon 8cx chipset and support 5G connectivity.
ARM's latest chip designs promise 60 percent faster AI on phones
ARM isn't boasting about PC-crushing performance like it did in 2018, but it still has plenty of swagger going into Computex 2019. The designer has unveiled two new chip architectures that promise giant strides in performance, especially for AI. The Mali-G77 GPU touts 40 percent faster overall graphics than the G76, and a whopping 60 percent increase in machine learning speed. Your phone could handle computer vision, device optimization and similar tasks far more gracefully. The G77 might also avoid killing your battery when it's 30 percent more energy-efficient and uses 40 percent less bandwidth.
AMD's third-gen Ryzen 9 CPU is a 12-core powerhouse for $499
AMD just dropped the mic when it comes to ultra-fast consumer CPUs. At Computex today, AMD CEO Lisa Su introduced the company's third-generation Ryzen CPUs, which are also the world's first 7-nanometer desktop chips. Its crown jewel is the 12-core/24-thread Ryzen 9 3900X for $499. And if you're wondering why that's such a big deal, it's because it's going up against Intel's 12-core i9-9920X, which sells for around $1,189. Even better, AMD says the thermal design power (TDP) of its chip is 105W, compared to Intel's far less efficient 165W TDP. The Ryzen 9 3900X speaks to AMD's broader philosophy: It wants to beat Intel when it comes to performance, value and efficiency.
AMD's first Navi GPUs are the Radeon RX 5000-series
Just as we expected, AMD took the wraps off of its first 7nm Navi consumer GPU's today at Computex, though the company is still playing coy with details. The Radeon RX 5000 series is the name of the new lineup, and the first featured card is the RX 5700, a mid-range offering that will go toe-to-toe with NVIDIA's RTX 2070 GPU. At this point, the Radeon VII keeps top billing for the company. You won't see Navi on the box, though -- AMD is officially calling its new architecture RDNA, or Radeon DNA.
