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Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch Ultrabook arrives October 26th, starting at $799
Remember that touchscreen Series 5 Ultrabook that Samsung showed off at Computex last June? Well, it's definitely coming to the US and will be available October 26th, the same day Windows 8 formally launches. As we noted in our hands-on, this is basically the same Series 5 we reviewed earlier this year, except the touchscreen adds some heft (it now weighs 3.83 pounds, versus 3.24 for the non-touch version). As for specs, you're looking at just two configurations, both of which have 4GB of RAM, a 13-inch (1,366 x 768) display and a 500GB hard drive with 24GB of ExpressCache. The only difference is that the entry-level $799 model has a Core i3 processor, while the $899 version steps up to i5. If that all sounds rather humdrum, Samsung is attempting to spice up Windows 8 by bundling custom apps, some of which you might remember from its various Android products. Sammy's various "Hubs" (Music, Video, Media and Social) are all present and accounted for, as is the AllShare app, which uses DLNA to share content across different devices. Additionally, Samsung is including a handful of desktop applications designed to soften the learning curve for people new to Windows 8. For instance, S-Launcher is a desktop widget that replicates the now-extinct Start Menu, live search and all. eSettings, meanwhile, is a centralized options menu for folks who might not know where to find power management or display settings in Win 8. If you follow on below, you'll find a short video walk-through of some of these apps (Sammy didn't demo AllShare or the Hubs for us, sadly), and we've also got fresh hands-on shots to complement the ones we took back in June.%Gallery-163016%
Samsung Series 7 Gamer laptop goes on sale in the US for $1,900
Who could forget that marigold yellow gaming laptop sitting around Samsung's booth at CES? Though the Series 7 Gamer has been available in Europe since last fall, the company decided to wait until Intel made its big Ivy Bridge reveal before introducing its first gaming laptop here in the states. Now that those chips are starting to ship, the Series 7 Gamer is at last on sale here in the US, available in a single configuration that'll set you back $1,900. (Sorry, folks, it will only be sold in black.) Though that price is slightly higher than the estimate we heard four months ago, the specs are also beefier than we were expecting. For the money, you'll get a 2.3GHz i7-3610QM Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GTX675M GPU, a 1.5TB 7,200RPM hard drive and a 400-nit, 17.3-inch, 1080p display. Like that other Series 7 laptop we reviewed recently, that HDD is paired with 8GB of flash memory to help cut start-up and application launch times. At its best, the battery is rated to last 3.7 hours -- not bad for a 13.34 8.39-pound system -- and you can exert some control over the runtime by selecting from one of four power modes using an analog dial. All the major e-tailers like Amazon and NewEgg will carry it, and feel free to revisit our hands-on from CES if you need a few close-up shots to jog your memory. Update: Though the press material Samsung sent to reporters listed the weight as 13.34 pounds, the product page below says it weighs 8.39 pounds, which sounds far more likely, if you ask us.
