Dell XPS 14z Slim Notebook with Internal Optical Drive

Dell announced the new XPS 14z, which is the thinnest fully featured 14-inch laptop featuring an internal optical drive. The 14z is a ultraportable notebook that measures less than an inch thin and Dell fits a 14-inch 1366×768 HD display into a 13-inch laptop form factor with a unique design.

The XPS 14z is powered by 2nd gen Intel Core i5/i7 Sandy Bridge processor, 6GB of DDR3 RAM (max 8GB), integrated Intel HD graphics or optional NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M with 1GB graphics memory video card. The notebook comes with up to 750GB 7200RPM hard drive or optional 256GB SSD and built-in slot-load DVD SuperMulti burner. The 14z supports WiFi 802.11b/g/n with Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230, Bluetooth 3.0. It also has built-in 1.3 Megapixel HD webcam, USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, backlit, spill-resistant chiclet keyboard. The 8-cell battery provides up to 6 hours, 42 minutes of use.

Coming on 1 November, the Dell XPS 14z starts at $999.

10:01 PM | 0 komentar | Read More

Samsung RF711 Gaming Laptop Review

You might remember last month I reviewed the very sexy little Samsung Series 9 Ultraportable, their “Macbook Air killer” and absolutely loved it. The latest box to arrive at my door from the company contained something very far removed from the Series 9. This time they’d sent their top of the line RF711 gaming laptop.

This machine sports a 17.3 super-bright inch screen, a 2GHz core-i7 SandyBridge processor, a huge 6Gb of DDR3 RAM and no less than two 500Gb hard disks. It’s all topped off with switchable graphics which include an nVidia GT540M card with 1Gb of dedicated DDR3 RAM.

Rather than being a sexy little thing for the jet-set, this is a hulking great 2.6kg of desktop replacement entertainment laptop, complete with Blu-Ray drive, USB 3 and all the trimmings.

So what is it like to use and is it any good as a gaming machine? I’ve written a full review on our sister website Windows7News, but I was certainly impressed with the machine. It handled Call of Duty Black Ops at medium-high settings without breaking a sweat, though it did complain when I turned everything up to maximum. It’s a very powerful and very pretty machine, with an all plastic case (very high quality plastic I might add) contrasting a dark grey case and black lid with high-impact silver surrounding the keyboard.

It’s a good keyboard too with generously proportioned scrabble-tile keys and good travel. It has a large easy to use trackpad too, which you can switch off for gaming and a screen that, while not full HD at 1600 x 900, is very usable in direct sunlight.

It’s easy to see where compromises have been made with the RF711 but this keeps the price affordable and it comes in around $1,000 cheaper than equivalent specification laptops from Dell, Lenovo and Sony. You can read my full in-depth review here where I talk about the important things like battery life and what it’s really like to live with.

10:13 PM | 1 komentar | Read More

Acer Aspire One Happy 2 Color-Inspired Netbooks

Following the original Aspire One Happy, Acer introduces for the US market its new Aspire One Happy 2 color-inspired stylish netbook, which comes in four colors with unique names – Banana Cream, Blueberry Shake, Papaya Milk, and Strawberry Yogurt. The 10.1-inch netbook is boosted by Intel’s Atom N570 dual core processor, integrated graphics and 1GB of DDR3 memory.

The Aspire One Happy 2 has a 10.1-inch CrystalBrite LED-backlit display. It comes with a 250GB hard drive. The netbook supports WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity and features built-in 0.3 Megapixel webcam, digital microphone, stylish white keyboard that is 93 percent of a standard size keyboard for convenient typing on the go.

Acer’s Aspire One Happy 2 is available for $269.99.

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Acer Aspire TimelineX Series gets a reboot

Better performance and battery life promised - The busy bees at Acer have announced yet another batch of laptops to add to its burgeoning line-up – the all-new Aspire TimelineX Series.

Equipped with second-gen Intel Core I chips, the updated Aspire TimelineX Series offers a massive boost in battery life (Acer is quoting 10 hours), up to 750 GB of hard disk space and an ultra-thin design.

Underneath the chassis is a dedicated Nvidia GeForce graphics card, while connectivity comes in the form of HDMI, Bluetooth and optional USB 3.0 ports

Screen wipe

Acer is offering up a number of screen sizes, with the smallest model, the 3830T, housing a 13.3-inch screen. The 4830T has a 14-inch screen and the 5830T has a 15.6-inch screen.

If you don't want a hard drive, then Acer can swap this out for SSD and sound comes courtesy of Dolby Home Theater v4.

Also on board is a 1.3 MB high-definition webcam, which allows you to shoot and record 720p footage for playback. We're not sure what kind of footage you would want to record in front of a webcam, but the option is there.

The Aspire TimelineX series UK release date is 1 August, with pricing and final specs to the announced.

11:43 PM | 0 komentar | Read More