ThinAndLight
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How would you change Vizio's 14-inch Thin + Light?
Vizio (yes, that one) decided to launch itself head-first into the laptop market with the 14-inch Thin and Light, a staggeringly beautiful piece of hardware. Sadly, what it lavished on a full-metal chassis, SSD and high-res display wasn't matched in the battery and keyboard / mouse department. That's why, as much as our reviewer wanted to love the hardware, it wasn't to be. For those of you who know and love Vizio's TVs and couldn't resist trying one out -- what did you think, and what do you think the company should do better the second time out?
ADATA's got an 8.9mm thick portable USB 3.0 drive, limbos under the competition by .1 of a millimeter
When it comes to your device being the "world's thinnest" or not can be decided by a single millimeter. Just days after Toshiba unveiled its 9mm-thick 500GB external hard drive, ADATA has knocked a little more off its own enclosure and declared victory. It's releasing the DashDrive Elite HE720, a stainless steel USB 3.0 drive that measures in at 8.9mm-thick, and size is not the only department where it's making an end-run around ol' Tosh -- it's also $25 dollars cheaper, costing $90. In more mundane news, users who pick up the unit are entitled to snag a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security and it'll be available shortly.
Vizio Thin + Light review (14-inch, 2012): how do the company's first laptops measure up?
More Info Vizio officially introduces PC line Hands-on with Vizio's laptops, desktops and 10-inch tablet Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, on pre-order for $898 and up Nine months ago, Vizio didn't make laptops. Now, it's seemingly all our readers are writing in about. The company, best known for its value-priced TVs, is expanding into the PC market, with a collection of all-in-ones and thin-and-light notebooks. So why have we been getting so many emails asking when the heck we're going to publish a review? After all, it's not like shoppers have any shortage of choice when it comes to Windows computers. The answer: Vizio is taking the same approach with PCs that it does with televisions, which is to say it's offering impressive specs while undercutting its competitors. Case in point: all of Vizio's laptops have a full-metal design, solid-state drive, zero bloatware and a minimum screen resolution of 1,600 x 900. And yes, that even applies to the lowest-end notebook, which goes for $900. Can you see now where this would be a tempting deal for folks who'd like to avoid spending $1,100-plus on an Ultrabook? Well, for those of you who've been curious, we've been testing Vizio's 14-inch Thin + Light, and are now ready to unleash that review you've been waiting for. Meet us past the break to see if this rookie computer is as good as it looks on paper.%Gallery-161758%
Press pics of Gigabyte's X11 lightweight laptop reportedly pop up online
Last week, Gigabyte teased us with the promise of a new bantam laptop, the X11, that would be the "lightest notebook on earth." Today, it appears the good folks at Pocket-lint have taken a bit of the wind out of the company's sails by posting a plethora of press pics of the new machine for all the world to see. Naturally, we can't say for sure that this is the forthcoming X11, but whatever it is, it's a slim little black beauty that looks to be right at home with the MacBook Airs and Ultrabooks of the world -- it's got a wedge-shaped silhouette and a modicum of external connectivity (one USB socket and one DisplayPort). Want to see more of it's ebony exterior in advance of tomorrow's official announcement? Head on down to the source link for the full spill.
Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life?
Bandwagons, trains and Tranes. Can't say that these three have a heck of a lot in common in most regards, but one thing's for sure: trying to stop this trio would be a Herculean task. And so it goes with laptops -- once upon a time, it was good enough to have something that resembled a portable tower, but these days, the ability to even see the chassis at all feels like a negative. I exaggerate, of course, but the proverbial race in the laptop world is hardly about price; it's about thinness. Intel's unstoppable quest to plaster the Ultrabook term as far and wide as possible has led to a change in the way consumers are viewing portable machines, and Apple's devilishly thin MacBook Air certainly played a role, too. What we're left with is a very curious priority list, and I'm wondering if too many OEMs have stopped to wonder if the "obvious" is indeed the "right." I'll be the first to confess that I love the look of thin. Samsung's Series 9 and Acer's Aspire S5 might just be two of the sexiest machines to ever be built, and Dell's original Adamo was primarily of interest due to one thing: its jaw-droppingly thin frame. But there's some saying about putting form before function that seems to apply here, particularly when keying in on battery life. I've no doubt that the marketing and research teams for PC makers far and wide understand the realities of the market place, and perhaps the average consumer really doesn't need more than four to six hours of life on a single charge. Five years ago, squeezing that much life from machines under an inch thick would've required some sort of wizardry that exists only in a rarely visited corner of West Hollywood. But today, I'm a dreamer. And I'm dreaming of a laptop with "all day battery life" -- something that could be screamed from the rooftops, and honestly, something that could probably be accomplished tomorrow if our laptop options weren't on such a diet.
Dell XPS 13 review
More Info Dell's XPS 13 Ultrabook Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook shipping now, starts at $999 HP Folio 13 review You don't have to be a marketing skeptic to agree that "Ultrabook" is a somewhat hyperbolic term for a class of devices designed a little thinner, a little lighter and maybe a little quicker than those notebooks that have come before. From a pure hardware standpoint there's nothing particularly "ultra" about them when compared to a standard Wintel lappytop, but manufacturers are, thankfully, using this as an opportunity to raise their game on another front that's becoming increasingly important in the world of portable computing: aesthetics. Compared to clunky laptops of yore, many Ultrabooks mark a truly massive step forward when it comes to purity of design and Dell is showing some impressive chops with the new XPS 13. But, when you're buckled in to coach class and it's time to get to work, looks are less important than having a solid laptop that performs. Does the new XPS have the brawn to match its beauty? Let's find out. %Gallery-148959%
Compal Trinity ODM reference design eyes-on
Here at AMD's Financial Analyst day, the company had a little demo area which is where we spotted this little number -- an ODM reference unit from Compal, stuffed with the company's upcoming Trinity APU. We're told the unit above is one of several, which are proof-of-concepts used to convince and show OEMs powerful, yet thin machines the duo hopes they'll bring to market. Inside this particular prototype is one of the lower voltage variants of Trinity (read: either the 17W or 25W part), which enables that svelte 18mm profile. Seeing as it is a one-off (and one that'll never come to market in this form), our impressions are moot, yet we'd be remiss if we didn't point out we were a little dismayed by its chassis, which was flimsy enough to put the existing flex champion, Toshiba's Z830, on notice. Still, with an estimated starting price of half an Ultrabook (roughly in the $500 to $600 range), we'll leave it up to you to decide exactly how much you value torsional rigidity. Other then that, viewing angles seemed good from the brief demo reel we watched, and there's plenty of connectivity onboard, with two USB 3.0 ports, mini-DisplayPort and HDMI flanking the left, followed by audio jacks, another USB, Ethernet and power along the right. Looks like thin and lights are about to get a whole lot more interesting later in the year, which, frankly is great -- it's about time Chipzilla got some worthy competition.
How would you change ASUS' Zenbook UX31?
This week's How Would You Change stars ASUS' UX31 Zenbook, the benchmark that all of 2011's Ultrabooks should aspire to. We loved its striking design, good performance, battery life and that fantastic display. We weren't so hot on some of the frilly-script branding, annoying trackpad and a keyboard that required hammer-typing to register our presses. It's a shame to think that so many companies are producing great thin'n'light designs that are always hamstrung by one jarring error -- which is where you guys and gals come in. Now that it's been around the block, we're asking you: what improvements you'd like to see? -- but because this is an Ultrabook, for every addition, we want you to suggest something you'd be happy to lose. The floor is yours in the river of comments below.
Lenovo IdeaPad U400 review
If you need evidence that the Ultrabook fad isn't impressing everybody, look no further than our inboxes. More than a few of you have been inquiring about the Lenovo IdeaPad U400, the 14-inch big brother to the IdeaPad U300s. And we think we understand why. Starting at a more palatable price of $800, it offers the same understated design as the U300s, except it brings an extra inch of screen real estate, along with an optical drive and discrete graphics. The best of both worlds, right? Beauty and a little more brawn? Not exactly. Though it looks the same, the U400 trades various components, starting with the storage disk and continuing on to the touchpad drivers. (Specs, schmecs, are we right?) So how much of a difference does this new set of innards make? Meet us past the break to find out. %Gallery-141608%
Samsung's mSATA PM830 is eight grams of pure SSD
The newest member of Samsung's 6Gb/s PM830 family of SSDs is designed to sit inside the Ultrabooks of 2012, which means it's had go through some slimming down. The mSATA drive uses 20 nanometer NAND for face-melting speed, but is crammed into a 50.95 x 30 x 3.8mm package, weighing only eight grams. The drive will comfortably read 500MB/s and write 260MB/s on a clear day, six times faster than a comparable HDD. It'll allow Windows to boot in under ten seconds and transfer "five DVD files" (roughly 45GB) in around a minute. The drives also come with 256-bit AES for those moments when your Ultrabook gets stolen, or more likely, floats away in the wind. 64GB, 128GB and 256GB variants will roll out to OEMs shortly but we expect a consumer version to be announced shortly for everyone with some courage and a screwdriver.
HP Folio Ultrabook shows up early Down Under
What's this? Looks like another Ultrabook is coming our way. An upcoming ultraportable from HP has apparently made its way into the hands of an Australian blogger, courtesy of the company's wing in that country. The 13.3-inch Folio crams in a 1.4GHz Core i3 or 1.6GHz Core i5 processor, 128GB of solid-state storage and 4GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB), according to the site. HP's also tossing in a backlit keyboard and some ruggedized construction. Those in-the-wild shots also show a 1366 x 768 display, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet. All in all, this thing is looking mighty solid -- after all, the ASUS Zenbook UX31 and Lenovo IdeaPad U300s don't have backlit keyboards, nor that robust a selection of ports. Look for it before the end of the year -- in Australia, at least. More information and some glamor shots in the source below.
Ask Engadget: best 'real' 11- to 13-inch laptop, with a focus on thin?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Raymond, who seems to have the ultraportable itch. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "Hey, what's the best thin 11- to 13-inch laptop for portability? I need to bring it everywhere but it has to be light!" Light. Light like that question. The world of ultrabooks is about to crack itself wide open, but if you're not looking to wait, what's the best non-netbook in the 11- to 13-inch category? Anyone have a particular rig that they've fallen for? Chime in below!
Ultrabooks invade IDF 2011, Toshiba Portege Z830 makes cameo (video)
While we've already seen Ultrabooks from a bevy of brand name manufacturers -- Toshiba (which we caught on video below), Lenovo, ASUS and Acer -- ODMs are now joining the thin and light party here at IDF. There's one catch, however: this row of Ultrabooks from the likes of Pegatron, LG, Invetec and Foxconn aren't nearly as svelte as their branded counterparts, leading us to believe that Intel's specs aren't quite as rigorous as we'd originally thought. Video proof after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-133549%
MSI X370 with AMD E-450 upgrade arrives stateside
Strip out the old E-350 Zacate APU from MSI's thin-and-light X370, replace it with a brand new 1.65GHz E-450 Llano engine with around 20 percent higher CPU and graphics benchmarks, and what do you get? The X370-205US, that's what, or equally the 206US white variant. The 13-incher just popped up at Amazon and Newegg with exactly the same $579 price tag as its vanquished predecessor, the same 1366x768 resolution, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, up to ten hours' stamina and an easy-going 3.11 pound weight that will only hurt your chiropractor.
Dell teases XPS 14z, says it will be available 'later this year'
If you liked the look of Dell's inch-thin XPS 15z but are of the mind that a 15-incher isn't quite portable enough, listen up: here at its IFA press conference, the company just teased a 14-inch version -- the XPS 14z, natch -- which will be available "later this year." From the looks of it, it has the same industrial design as its big brother (and, some might say, a generations-old MacBook Pro), which, depending on your point of view, is either a good or a bad thing. %Gallery-132444%
Lenovo announces U300s Ultrabook, U300 and U400 IdeaPads, we go hands-on (video)
The unchallenged reign of the MacBook Air on the thin-and-light domain is nearing an end -- the Ultrabooks are coming, and the Lenovo U300s looks to be one of the strongest competitors we've yet seen. It's a new entry to the IdeaPad lineup, the thinnest and lightest of a redesigned and reborn U Series that will also include the slightly stockier 13.3-inch U300 and the even bigger but even more serious 14-inch U400. All three are shipping in October, and we recently got a chance to try out the tiny trio. Read on for full details and our full impressions. %Gallery-132309%
Toshiba's Portege Z830 is an ultraslim, ultrasexy Ultrabook
Ready for your first helping of Ultrabook? Because it's here. Behold: Toshiba's Portege Z830. Checking in at 2.5 pounds and 0.63 inches thick, the 13.3-inch magnesium-clad beaut that lies before you is 20 percent lighter and 40 percent thinner than its (relatively) svelte sibling, the R380. But don't be fooled by that diminutive profile, as Toshiba still managed to cram some serious silicon (an optional Core i7 CPU), up to 6GB of RAM and an eight-cell 47Wh battery inside. On top of those guts resides a keyboard that's both backlit and spill-resistant (!), a 1366 x 768 display and a 1.3 megapixel webcam in the lid. Also onboard are three USB ports -- one 3.0 and two 2.0, one of which does sleep and charge -- an Ethernet jack, HDMI and VGA output and an SD card slot. There's also the obligatory 802.11b/g/n WiFi radio, along with optional Intel Wireless Display. We're still waiting for a full rundown of the various configurations and specs, but Toshiba did tell us that the Z830 line will start at under $1,000 when it goes on sale come November. Until then, hop past the break for some brief impressions of a prototype unit. %Gallery-132225% %Gallery-132253%
Intel Ultrabooks get $300 million investment fund, prep for low-carb diet
Intel Capital has stumped up $300 million to "drive innovation" in the burgeoning Ultrabook market. The cash will go to projects that refine user interaction (hint: more touchscreens), reduce power consumption and create devices no thicker than 21mm (0.8-inches). Intel is clearly hoping to lure back all those customers who have ditched laptops for tablets by undercutting the popular Samsung Series 9 and Macbook Air. The company's new mantra? "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".
Dell intros slimmed-down Inspiron 13z and 14z laptops with aluminum lids, USB 3.0
Can you blame Dell for deciding its laptops needed a makeover? After suffering some serious market share losses and earning a reputation for bland designs and questionable customer service, we can see why the company would be keen on revamping its lineup as a way of distancing itself from its not-so-sunny rap. That seems to be precisely what the outfit's doing with the Inspiron 13z and 14z, which Dell unveiled today. Both laptops move to aluminum lids and palm rests, available in a small (and fairly toned-down) color selection, with black and red being your only choices. The two have also whittled to under an inch thick, with the beefier 14z leaving enough room for an optical drive. Not surprisingly, the resolution's 1366 x 768 -- precisely what you'd expect in a $600 laptop. Also predictable: this generation of Inspirons offers USB 3.0 and Sandy Bridge, with a choice of Core i3 and Core i5 processors. Both models start at $599.99, with the 14z available in the states today, and the 13z launching in "select" Asian countries. Curious? We've got a handful of hands-on shots below and the full PR after the break. %Gallery-130429%
Sony VAIO SB Series review
We hate to break it to you, dear readers, but we're in the throes of back to school season. In a few short weeks, lots of wide-eyed freshmen will be setting up their dorm rooms and begging off name games during orientation, which means they (and their generous parents) are stocking up on gear now. We've been testing a bunch of budget and mid-range laptops aimed at young folk and pretty much any other mainstream consumer who'd happily forgo some bells and whistles in exchange for a lower price. So why not start with a review of one of the best? Sony's VAIO SB series is the 13-inch laptop for the kindele who can't afford the VAIO Z, or even the slimmed-down SA series. It offers good specs for the money, a bright, matte display, a solid keyboard, long battery life and a (mostly) well-built design. And while we try not to spoil our reviews, we'll say this: it's one of our favorite mid-range Windows laptops, period. How much do we like the SB? Join us as we count the ways. %Gallery-130246%
