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Fujitsu busts out the 17-inch LifeBook N6420 and friends
Not a whole lot to make this N6420, Fujitsu's new 17-inch flagship, stand out from the rest of the jumbo-sized WMCE laptops out there these days, but with a base configuration at $1,500, it doesn't look like the pricing will be too painful. The new laptop features options for an HD DVD drive in the high end, and when teamed with the fancy new Fujitsu Visual Optimizer, you should be getting some fairly sharp HD imagery -- even if it's a bit hard to tell at that screen size. There's also room for dual 200GB hard drives, but that's nothing too special these days, and the rest of the spec sheet looks pretty standard for a 17-incher. The laptop runs a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, 512MB (256MB dedicated, 256MB shared) ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics, 1GB of RAM, fingerprint reader / scroll button, a/b/g WiFi, PC and ExpressCard slots and a Media Center Edition remote. Of course, that specced out HD DVD version will cost you $2,770, while the base model has a mere DVD burner, 1.66GHz processor, 256MB X1400 graphics and single 160GB HDD. As for company, the N6420 is being released in the US alongside the A3110 and A6010 we've already spotted in Asia, which will start at $1,400 and $1,150 respectively. All three laptops are available now.[Via LAPTOP]
Sotec goes Merom with Winbook DN7010 and DN8010
Like HP, Sotec's also got a pair of Merom-powered notebooks for us to drool over check out today, spec-bumped members of its Winbook DN7000 and DN8000 series. The 15.4-inch DN7010 features a 1,280 x 800 resolution, between 512MB and 2GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM, anywhere from 40GB to 120GB of HDD capacity (all running at 5,400RPM), DVD Super Multi Drive, and most importantly, Core 2 Duo CPUs in either T5500, T7200, or T7400 flavors.You're getting almost the exact same configuration options on the DN8010, expect this model sports a larger 17-inch display with 1,440 x 900 pixels to play around with. The 8010 also throws in FireWire, an eSATA port and an SD / MMC / MS card reader, while both machines sport 802.11a/b/g, an ExpressCard slot, Ethernet (Gigabit on the 8010), four USB 2.0 jacks, and S/PDIF, D-sub, and S-Video outs. Both notebooks will be available for purchase on September 11th, with the DN7010 rocking a ¥109,800 ($938) pricetag and the DN8010 starting at ¥119,800 ($1,024).Read- DN7010 Read- DN8010[Via Impress]
Philips shows off new 17DC 17-inch LCD
We're a bit short on specs here, but it looks like Philips is prepping a new 17-inch LCD to be released for an undetermined price at an undetermined time. The 17DC display features 1280 x 1024 SXGA resolution, along with a decent 8ms response time. We can't say the design is anything fancy, but we're sure it'll get along fine.
Rock launches Xtreme CTX T2700 gaming laptop
UK rebadger PC manufacturer Rock has a blazing new 17-inch laptop in store for British gamers, the Core Duo-powered Xtreme CTX T2700. As its name suggests, this model sports a T2700 CPU running at 2.33GHz, along with 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, a zippy 7,200RPM 100GB hard drive, 8x dual-layer DVD burner, and on the connectivity tip, the always-popular Bluetooth and three flavor WiFi. Graphics on this model also promise to impress, with a 512MB-equipped GeForce Go 7900 GTX card from nVIDIA handling the heavy lifting for the 1920 x 1200 WUXGA display. As you'd expect, a configuration like this doesn't come cheap, and will cost around $3,200 when it drops in the next few days.
Eurocom's D900K "F-bomb" gaming notebook reviewed
Okay, so right off the bat: do they even know what it means to drop the f-bomb in Canada? We've seen a lot of ridiculously-named products around here -- Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PooS come immediately to mind -- but this Eurocom model, with its allusion to the most hardcore cuss word in the English language, is by far one of the worst. Besides the unfortunate branding, however, the company's 17-inch D900K gaming notebook sounds like a pretty good performer; according to MobilityGuru the dual core AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 processor and nVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX graphics card help it to achieve pretty impressive benchmark results. You're also getting a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display, DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g, DVI out, and 4-in-1 card reader for the $3,500 pricetag, though the 5,200 RPM hard drive and 1GB of pokey 200MHz DDR RAM keep this rig from delivering the outstanding results you'd get from a machine like Dell's XPS M1710. Still, if you can't afford a Dell (we never thought we'd actually say that) and don't mind lugging around 15 pounds of gear to get your mobile computing on, you may not find this particular F-bomb to be all that offensive.
Sotec's WinBook DN8000: 17-inches of Core Duo
Sotec of Japan hopes you'll get your knickers in a twist over their new top-end WinBook, the DN8000. Like the DN7000, the DN8000 loves on the Intel Core Duo family of processors offering the 2.16GHz T2600 in that 8.2-pound slab. The DN8k maxes out with a 17-inch, 1440 x 900 pixel capable LCD, 2GB RAM, 120GB disk, WiFi, dual-layer DVD burner, slots for ExpressCard/54 and External SATA, four speakers, and suite of interfaces for Firewire, USB, S/PDIF and memory cards. Sound good so far right? But are you sure you want to bet your budget on a laptop sportin' Intel's 945GM integrated graphics with Vista's memory hungry UI on deck? Yeah, thought not. Prices start right around ¥119,800 (or about $1,035) for a lot less oomph than listed above. [Via Impress]
Apple Introduces $899 Education Configuration for 17-inch iMac
Apple has decided to show the EDU market even more love and has unveiled a slimmed-down 17-inch iMac for all y'all eating reheated Ramen noodles for breakfast in your dorm room right now. This model sells for a mere $899 (down from $1199 for the next model up) and includes a 1.83 Intel Core Duo CPU, as well as the typica 1440 x 900 resolution. However, the main specs that took a step down from the base retail version are a Combo drive, an 80GB Serial ATA hard drive and an Intel GMA 950 graphics with 64MB of shared memory, instead of the Radeon X1600 in the other retail versions.Students and EDU sys admins who have been pinching pennies can rejoice, for this model is shipping within 1-3 business days.
Toshiba adds new M105, A105, and P105 notebook configurations
Toshiba's got more notebooks in store for us today than just the R25 convertible and U205 ultra-portable we spotted earlier; nine more in fact, as the 14.1-inch M105, 15.4-inch A105, and 17-inch P105 Satellites have all been upgraded with three new configurations each. Focused on multimedia and gaming, the new P105 configs (pictured) -- the $1,199 S6024, $1,499 S6084, and $1,999 S9312 -- offer several compelling features, highlighted by Core Duo processors throughout the line, a nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS graphics chip in the S6084, and an external USB tuner in the Windows Media Center Edition-powered S9312. The A105 also gets three fancy new looks, all featuring 5,400RPM hard drives, 533MHz DDR2 RAM, and integrated graphics: the $700 S2141 (1.46GHz Celeron M, 512MB of RAM, 80GB HDD), $999 S4074 (1.6GHz Core Duo T2050, 512MB RAM, 120GB storage, dual-layer DVD burner, Media Center Edition 2005), and $1,349 S4134 (same as the S4074 except for a 1.66GHz T2400 and 2GB of RAM). Rounding out the upgrades are S1021, S3041, and S3064 versions of the M105, which sport either Celeron M, Core Solo, or Core Duo processors, between 512MB and 1GB of RAM, 80GB or 120GB hard drives, and either a combo drive or DVD burner -- and are priced between $650 and $1,199. All nine new models are available immediately either directly from Toshiba or from your friendly neighborhood PC retailer.Read- P105Read- A105Read- M105
Asus W2JB media-centric laptop reviewed
It seems like we've been hearing a lot of good things about Asus laptops lately, and the praise doesn't stop at their 17-inch media monger, the W2JB. PCMag put the put the Core Duo (T2600)-based machine through its paces, stopping to take notice of its built-in TV tuner, VGA and DVI-I (via a dongle) connections, dual-layer DVD burner, 2GB of RAM, 120GB of storage and a slightly less impressive ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card. Weighing in just a hair under 8-pounds, the W2JB is only 1.2-inches thick and sits on little rubber legs, much like those you'll find on your DVD player., which allow for excellent ventilation. The only real gripes the review mentions are the somewhat disappointing 1,440 x 900 screen and the difficulty involved with actually finding one of these for sale -- Asus doesn't sell computers directly, so you'll need to do a little searching around the web. Once you do find it though, the $2099 price tag won't kill your bank account, like some other media-centric machines we know of, mostly thanks to the exclusion of a next gen DVD drive.
Evesham releases SLI-enabled Quest Nemesis notebook
If Evesham's 19-inch Quest A630 gaming rig was just a little too much laptop for you, now the company has introduced another dual-core model that maintains the A630's SLI goodness but drops two inches off the screen -- and a full $1,300 off the pricetag. The new 17-inch Quest Nemesis features a Turion 64 processor from AMD, dual nVidia GeForce Go 7900 video cards, 1,680 x 1,050 WSXGA resolution, 160GB worth of 5400RPM SATA drives, and 1GB of rather pokey 333MHz DDR RAM, along with a DVD burner, 3-in-1 card reader, and Bluetooth and 802.11g radios. There's also a full suite of connectivity options, including FireWire, DVI, VGA, S-Video, S/PDIF, and 4 USB 2.0 ports, as well as an ExpressCard slot for eventually adding a wireless 3G modem. You can order the 8.8-pound Nemesis right away starting at $2,775, or wait around for the inevitable flood of identical rebadges that will probably drive the price down a bit.[Via Pocket-Lint]
Acer Aspire 9510 and 9110 HD-DVD-sporting laptops
Along with the 15.4-inch 5670 and 20.1-inch 9800 notebooks that we'd already known about, Acer formally unveiled at Computex two other HD-DVD- and Centrino Duo-toting models from the Aspire line that we hadn't seen before: the 17-inch 9510 and 15.4-inch 9110 (pictured). All four models are being billed as all-in-one multimedia centers, and with all but the 5670 sporting 1,920 x 1,080 resolutions, S/PDIF and HDCP-capable HDMI outputs, optional analog and DVB-T tuners, and of course those high-def, backwards-compatible optical drives (still waiting on those Blu-ray models, though), it sure sounds like Acer knows what it's talking about. Both of the new-new notebooks also offer up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM and nVidia graphics cards, but the 9510 rocks the GeForce Go 7900 GS with 512MB of RAM and up to 240GB of hard drive space, while the 9110 has to settle for the GeForce Go 7600 with 256MB of RAM and a HDD that maxes out at 120GB. Unfortunately, Acer was so busy selling us on the benefits of all these new machines that they forgot a few important details, so both pricing and release dates for each and every one remain a big fat mystery for now.[Via Notebook Review]
VoodooPC's 17-inch, dual-core Envy u:734 notebook
If VoodooPC's $5,000 Envy u:909 gaming laptop is a bit too rich for your blood, the company has come out with a more reasonably-priced 17-inch model that still manages to pack in a dual-core processor and top-of-the-line graphics card. The new Envy u:734 starts at "just" $3,800 and features a T2400 Core Duo processor (upgradable to the T2500 or T2600), nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX video card, 1,900 x 1,200 pixel widescreen display,1GB of RAM (2GB max), an 80GB HDD (160GB possible), 8x DVD burner, and the usual suite of ports, card readers, and wireless radios (three flavor WiFi and Bluetooth). You can place your order for this 8.1-pound desktop replacement starting today, and as usual, you can choose from about a million different color schemes along with numerous tattoo options for shlocking up personalizing your rig.[Via DailyCE]
Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro reviewed
You know, for all the talk about those greasy-hot, overclockin' MacBook Pros and their mysterious firmware updates, only now has PCMag completed a full review of the 17-inch flavor MBP. Alas, you won't find any real surprises in the review of this "astounding" 6.8-pound, easy toting 17-incher. Yeah, it does indeed get "too hot" by the reviewers standards, though apparently not as hot as the 15-inch model due to larger surface area to dissipate heat. And since this is PCMag, they installed Boot Camp, as you'd expect, "without a hitch" giving them the same "impressive" (for a Mac) gaming results in XP seen on the 15-inch sib. The reviewer calls the move to the 17-inch MacBook Pro a "no brainer" if you're a creative professional working heavily in graphic design or movie editing. However, if you're just looking for a "cool multimedia laptop" with plenty of screen then there are plenty of Windows-only systems available giving more bang, for that $3,099 as-tested, buck. Yeah, Mac fanboy enthusiasts, they're calling you out with that one. Still, PCMag slaps on a 4/5 editors rating which ain't too shabby, right?
Apple unveils 17-inch MacBook Pro
As expected, Apple has unveiled the new flagship of the MacBook Pro line, a 17-inch, 1680x1050, 2.16GHz Core Duo model. The new model comes standard with 1GB of RAM, an 8X dual-layer burner and a 120GB 5400 RPM hard drive, along with a FireWire 800 port, for $2,799. Maximum RAM is 2GB, and Apple also offers a 100GB 7200 RPM drive as an option. At the same time, Apple has removed the 17-inch PowerBook G4 from its lineup, leaving the 12-incher as the sole remaining option for customers willing to settle for last year's model (or who want a smaller-footprint portable). The pricing on the 17-incher actually matches that of the 2.16GHz 15-inch model, which makes this one a relative bargain -- especially given its larger hard drive, FireWire 800 and dual-layer burner. As previously noted, the launch was timed to coincide with the opening of the National Association of Broadcasters conference, which begins today. More pictures on the flip side.
Dell's XPS M1710 gaming laptop
Today Dell dropped a new XPS gaming laptop in the form of the M1710. This rig hauls up to a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo T2600, 17-inch widescreen display, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB SATA disk, dual-layer DVD combo drive, and an array of ports including Firewire, 6 x USB 2.0, DVI and component video, S/PDIF digital audio out, hi-def sound with integrated sub, and 5-in-1 memory card reader. But this type of performance ain't cheap. A fully specced slab in Special Edition Formula Red "armor" will set you back right around $5,000. Look out Velocity, game's on cuz.[Thanks, Micum M]
Velocity's Micro NoteMagix M57 Ultra gaming notebook reviewed
Although the hardest-of-hardcore gamers will likely scoff at any laptop that isn't SLI-enabled these days, PC Mag's review of Velocity's 17-inch Micro NoteMagix M57 Ultra shows us that even a solo graphics card combined with a zippy single core processor and a generous helping of RAM can deliver excellent 1,920 x 1,200 fragging performance. The M57 is powered by a 2.26GHz Pentium M 780 -- which gives it only decent productivity benchmark scores compared to a dual core machine -- but the fact that Velocity throws in 2GB of RAM along with the high-end mobile nVidia GeForce Go 7800GTX card and a 7,200 RPM hard drive allowed the rig to best PC Mag's previous champ, the Dell XPS M170, in all-important 3-D and framerate testing. Even better, the faults here are few and far between -- a rather-hefty 9.3-pound weight, lack of software for the built-in TV tuner, and separation between mouse buttons are the only knocks in this review -- so non-SLI snobs should feel safe in dropping their $3000 on what is judged to be a "Very Good" laptop.
New Core Duo iMac: First Impressions
So, yesterday, I decided to be conservative, save some money, and purchase the 17-inch Dual Core iMac, which was in stock at the Palisades Apple Store, rather than wait for the more expensive 20-inch to arrive. After all, I've already ordered a fully-loaded, top of the line MacBook Pro, so I may as well be conservative with the iMac. Also, someone at the Apple Store screwed up, because when I got the iMac home and unpacked it, I had a free upgrade to a wireless keyboard and mouse. Nice! I need to order more RAM and the monitor adapter (wish they'd included it...), so I can plug in another monitor and try the monitor spanning trick.As soon as I opened the box, I lost the iMac remote. It turned back up about 25 minutes later, and now I am keeping it stuck to the side of the iMac.So far, I have to say, this machine is very fast. Even with only the default 512MBs of RAM, this baby launches programs fast. Safari and iTunes are instantaneous in nearly everything (with only a slight load screen when visiting the iTMS). Universal binary programs are all super fast, and most of the programs running in Rosetta still function very well, as long as they aren't graphics intensive. Unfortunately, World of Warcraft is quite laggy with frame-rates fluctuating from 7-20 per second. I hope the universal binary version comes out soon. iPhoto is fast and cool, but would seem to need some more RAM to really zip through my 12K photos. I'll report more details later today, and hopefully have a nice video podcast of the new machine for you sometime today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.I was disappointed to find that GraphicConverter is no longer bundled with the new Macs, but there is a universal binary version of the application already available. For a full list of apps included with the new iMac, check after the break.
