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MSI's Turbo Drive-equipped GX723 gaming laptop unveiled
Looking for another option in MSI's oft-ballyhoed Turbo Drive laptop series? The company's announced the GX723, its gaming hat trick for the month. Under the hood, the 17-inch, WSXGA+ portable's packing an Intel Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M, Windows Vista Home Premium, up to 4GB of RAM, and your choice of 320GB or 500GB HDD and six / nine cell batteries. It's also got the ECO quick launch touch sensor for cycling through five performance settings, and colorful W/A/S/D buttons for gamers who are interested in picking this up but somehow don't have the popular FPS directional keys ingrained into their memory bank. Mum's the word on pricing or availability.
Alienware prepping "Allpowerful" laptop for next month
When it's not busy perpetrating negative stereotypes about alien cranium sizes, Dell's Alienware has been known to throw together a product teaser now and then. This latest one points to 20 days in the future, when Alienware will presumably unveil a "new gaming laptop & computer" (according to the header) dubbed "Allpowerful." Seems a little pretentious, sure, but we wouldn't expect anything less. We'll see y'all in June.
MSI details Wind U123 variants, introduces GX403 gaming laptop
Earlier this month, MSI let loose details on its slimmest ultraportable yet and its oh-so-promising Wind U123 netbook. Today, it's fully detailing the U123 lineup and formally introducing its newest gaming / multimedia laptop. As for the former, users can soon expect to see a U123, U123H and U123T; the first is the standard fare model, while the second gets equipped with a 3.5G (HSDPA) WWAN module. The U123T gets gifted with an integrated TV tuner, but sadly, there doesn't seem to be a way to get both extras bundled into one mega-U123. Moving on, there's the 14.1-inch (1,280 x 800) GX403, which sports a Core 2 Duo CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce GT 130M (512MB) graphics card, Turbo Drive overclocking, 4GB of system RAM, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI output, 4-in-1 card reader, USB / eSATA sockets and an optional Blu-ray drive to boot. Mum's the word on pricing or availability, but you can catch a glimpse of it just beyond the break.Read - Wind U123 versionsRead - MSI GX403
MSI launches AMD-powered GX733 gaming laptop
Not down with MSI's GT725? Just an AMD purist? Either way, you'll be thrilled to feast your retinas on the company's latest gaming behemoth, the GT733. This 17-inch beast gets powered by a AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a WUXGA display, ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 4670 (512MB GDDR3), up to 500GB of SATA hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray optical drive, 2.0 megapixel webcam, and a 4-in-1 multicard reader. There's also gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, three USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI / VGA outputs and your choice of a six- or nine-cell battery. Per usual, MSI's keeping quiet on the pricing / availability front, but we reckon it'll be filtering out here soon.
ASUS W90 gaming laptop gets put through its paces, 'raises the bar'
Suffice it to say that Computer Shopper was really really into that ASUS W90Vp-X1 gaming notebook that popped up on Newegg recently. This nearly 12 pound behemoth, the reviewer exclaims, not only sets "new 3D-graphics and productivity-speed records," but its 18.4-inch (1,920 x 1,080) LCD is "gorgeous," sporting "incredible color quality and wide viewing angles." Also singled out for praise was the Turbo Gear app that lets you overclock the machine by as much as 17 percent (for speeds up to 3.28GHz) and a "robust" 4.1 speaker sound system. Of course, any machine will have a few quibbles, although in this case they seem to be relatively minor: no Blu-ray (though it's supposed to become available at some point in the future) and a 2 megapixel webcam with "grainy" image quality (although "it's more than adequate for Skyping and chatting"). But that ain't all -- hit the read link for all the lurid details, including the hair-raising results of the Company of Heroes DirectX 9 test (spoiler: the word "blistering" was used).
ASUS G71Gx boats of GeForce GTX 260M graphics, other extravagances
A followup to last year's G71, the G71Gx has ASUS at its extravagant best. The 17-inch laptop packs a WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution, backed up by a brand-new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M graphics card with 1GB of VRAM. There's also room for 12GB of RAM and dual 500GB hard drives inside, along with Blu-ray and Altec Lansing speakers to wrap it up with a bow. No word on price, but we're guessing ASUS isn't stuffing these things in cereal boxes.[Via iTech News Net]
Clevo's beastly 18.4-inch M980NU gaming laptop eyes-on
Ready for the duel of the 18.4-inchers at CeBIT? Just yesterday we took a look at Acer's ginormous Aspire 8930, and today we popped in at Clevo's booth to snap a few shots of its mammoth M980NU. While the girth was impossible to not notice, the palm rest, keyboard and top control panel were downright ritzy. Yeah, the all-gloss finish was a fingerprint magnet, but we can't say it wasn't drop-dead sexy when wiped clean. Regrettably, we couldn't figure out how to get that incredibly annoying plastic lock thing off of the keys, so we can't personally verify whether this thing can handle the stresses of Quake I. Sorry, we tried.
Acer Aspire 8930 gaming laptop eyes-on
Acer's mammoth Aspire 8930 was on hand at CeBIT, and all 18.4-inches of it demanded an entire end of a pedestal. This one's been rolling out to homes for a month or two now, but given just how ginormous this thing was, we couldn't resist snapping a few shots and sharing 'em with the masses. So, is this thing actually too big? Depends on the square footage of your domicile.%Gallery-46979%
Core i7-packin' Clevo D900F gaming laptop hands-off
We're not sure if Clevo has had to deal with trade show thievery in the past, but its Core i7-equipped D900F was locked down tight at CeBIT. Nevertheless, we stopped by -- camera in hand -- to have a look, and what we saw was something we'd never, ever want on our laps for more than 120 seconds. We also saw a ridiculously potent LAN party rig, so we suppose there's some truth to that "eye of the beholder" thing our parents keep mentioning. All the big pics are just below, but you already knew that, didn't you? %Gallery-46471%
MSI X-Slim X320, X340 and GT725 hands-on
We knew MSI's newest X-Slim laptops were ultrathin, but it wasn't until we saw 'em in person here at CeBIT that we truly appreciated the design. These are definitely amongst the sexiest laptops we've seen in some time, though it only took a moment for fingerprints to begin marring the previously flawless glossy top. Both were appropriately sturdy and remarkably lightweight, and if these are any sign of where MSI is going with its styling, we can't wait for the future. On that note, we should also mention that we stumbled upon the absolutely gigantic GT725. Granted, that machine is aimed squarely at the gaming crowd, but it just looked unnatural after toying with its fitness-minded siblings just seconds earlier. We went a little crazy with the camera, but feel free to only peek the thumbnails you like.%Gallery-46388%
MSI details well-specced GT725 17-inch gaming laptop
Remember that GT725? You know, that behemoth of a gaming laptop announced alongside 43.8 other MSI machines at CES. Anywho, MSI has just come clean with the actual specifications, and gamers in the crowd looking for a portable rig should be pleased. The machine is claiming to be the first ever gaming lappie to include ATI's 512MB Radeon HD4850 GPU, and that's complemented by a 17-inch WUXGA (anti-glare) display, a 320GB SATA hard drive, Blu-ray optical drive, 4-in-1 multicard reader, up to 4GB of RAM, a plethora of ports, nine-cell battery, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, gigabit Ethernet and a 2 megapixel webcam. There's also an ExpressCard slot, four standard speakers plus a "subwoofer" and a Turbo Drive Engine to make overclocking a lesson in simplicity. The 7-pound unit is being billed as MSI's new flagship laptop, and with a list of internals like that, we can fully understand why. Full release is after the break.
HP quietly updates Pavilion dv7t gaming laptop
While HP's dv7t provides a much more subtle way to game on-the-go compared to say, the HDX crew, we don't see the necessity in keeping these updates all hush-hush. For whatever reason, it seems that said laptop has been updated overnight from 17- to 17.3-inches (we're talking LCD size, by the way), and the NVIDIA graphics option has been replaced with a pair of ATI selections: the 512MB Mobility Radeon HD 4530 and 1GB HD 4650. The newfangled 17.3-inch panel sports a somewhat deflating 1,600 x 900 native resolution, though there is good news to be shared. The previous $1,229 starting point has dropped to a decidedly more manageable $799.99, though it'll cost you extra to equip this beast with the 2GHz Core 2 Quad CPU that it really deserves.[Thanks, Johnny and Coal]
ASUS W90 gaming laptop now listed on Newegg
ASUS' heavy-hitting W90Vp-X1 gaming-friendly laptop has shown up on Newegg. The 18.4-inch behemoth's sporting a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2, WUXGA resolution, 6GB DDR2 RAM, 320GB HDD at 7200RPM. Of course, with specs like that, you weren't expecting it to come cheap, were you? The retailer's demanding a $2,200 ransom to take it home. Admit it, you're just happy it's an ASUS machine with no "Eee" in sight. [Via Electronista]
Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 reviewed: a nice performer, but it's still ugly
Toshiba's Qosmio X305-Q725, which was unveiled amidst a flurry of other gizmos at CES, boasts the same incredibly controversial motif as the higher-end X305-Q708, but with an MSRP of $2,700 (versus $4,200 on the Q708), it's at least a wee bit more affordable. The benchmarking crew over at HotHardware decided to put this newer, marginally more affordable iteration to the test in order to see if it still performed under pressure, and by and large, it did. While it couldn't go toe-to-toe with higher-end desktops, the GeForce 9800M GTX GPU, quad-core processor and SSD helped it to blaze through everyday tasks and hold its own in the gaming arena. Our biggest issue is the omission of a 1,920 x 1,200 display, but we suppose that's why there's the more expensive alternative. Hit up the read link for pages upon pages of test results and impressions.
Video: ASUS G50Vt gaming laptop gets benchmarked, reviewed
The original G50V reared its somewhat unsightly head way back in June of last year, but the torture-testing crew over at HotHardware managed to get its paws around the slightly refined G50Vt. The 7.5 pound machine (dubbed a partial boat anchor, for the record) sat through a nice video recording session, and afterwards, it smiled real pretty while it was benchmarked and given a critique. For just $949, it actually fared pretty well under medium-to-serious gaming pressures, and it proved capable enough to warrant a recommendation for anyone scouting a "powerful desktop replacement or semi-portable laptop." For a closer look, head on past the break for the video and down to the read link for everything else.
ASUS N81Vg: first laptop with NVIDIA's GeForce GT 120M
Not quite an ultraportable, but not quite a behemoth -- the 14-inch ASUS N81Vg fits nicely between the two laptop extremes, and given that it's the first to house NVIDIA's GeForce GT 120M graphics card, even gamers can feel free to sneak a deathmatch or two in between conference calls. The rig itself can be ordered with one of many Core 2 Duo processors, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, upwards of 500GB of hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray burner, 1.3 megapixel webcam and a battery good for three to four hours. The newfangled 120M GPU features NVIDIA CUDA technology, 32 processing cores, DirecX 10 support, 1080p video playback and 110 gigaflops of computing power. Per usual, ASUS is keeping quiet when it comes to pricing and release details, but it ought not be long now, tiger.
Ask Engadget: Best totally awesome $500 to $1,000 laptop?
We've had ample discussion on laptops catering to this and that, but what about the hordes of individuals who just need a perfectly capable, perfectly average machine to get work done with? We'll let Karl spell it out:"I need a new laptop, mainly for browsing, programming, AutoCad, and a bit of low-stress gaming. I've been checking out options from HP and ASUS, but everything just starts to run together after awhile. I'm looking to spend between $500 and $1,000, and it just simply needs to work. Any opinions?"Oh yes Karl, we're sure there will be opinions. And after you've dropped your own, feel free to send over a question that's been nagging you to ask at engadget dawt com.
MSI gets official with GT627 gaming laptop
MSI briefly mentioned its GT627 gaming laptop amongst hordes of other machines at CES, but now the outfit is playing favorites by officially unveiling its latest 15.4-incher. Said rig features a pixel-packed 1,680 x 1,050 resolution display, a six-cell battery, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, an optional Blu-ray drive and a Core 2 Duo CPU. It's also the first MSI laptop to feature the 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS GPU, and there's even a 320GB HDD, 4-in-1 multicard reader, twin USB 2.0 ports, HDMI / VGA outputs, gigabit Ethernet, a two megapixel webcam and an ExpressCard slot to round things out. All told, the machine weighs in at 5.8 pounds, but it's your best guess as to how much it'll retail for. Full release is after the break.%Gallery-43163%
ASUS spices things up with 16-inch F50 / 17.3-inch F70 laptops
At first glance, there's nothing exceptionally, um, exceptional about the new F50 and F70 lines from ASUS, but upon further investigation, each family does actually do a decent job of differentiating. Both crews sport the "new generation Infusion styling," which is reportedly exactly like looking at the Aurora Borealis (really, ASUS?), and they also boast Full HD (1080p) panels, an HDMI port and a fresh "Chocolate keyboard" which melts in your mouth, not in your hand. The whole lot also features the Express Gate instant-on OS, and hardware geeks will appreciate the upwards of 1TB of HDD space and optional Blu-ray drive. Per usual, ASUS isn't dealing prices or ship dates, but you can have a look at all possible configurations down in the read link. One more shot is after the break.
ASUS debuts 18.4-inch W90 gaming laptop at CES 2009
Got an itch for a gaming laptop that's big enough to span the laps of both you and your lover? ASUS has you covered. Here in the desert, the outfit has introduced a potent 18.4-inch gaming rig with a 1080p panel, twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 GPUs, three RAM slots (a world's first, mind you) stuffed with 6GB of DDR2 memory, a Core 2 Duo processor, a half dozen (seriously) Altec Lansing speakers and a Turbo Gear function that will enable users to overclock the system and boost performance by as much as 25%. A few more configurations are available, including one with a 17-inch panel, an NVIDIA graphics option, dual HDDs, an optional Blu-ray drive and enough ports to put your average desktop to shame.
