The Ultrabooks are coming, and it looks like ASUS’ first foray into thin and light computing will officially arrive on October 11th in New York. According to a UX series landing page, we need only wait 15 more days before getting our hands the ASUS UX21 and its larger, but still svelte sibling, the UX31, once again. So, are you excited for the arrival of these ultrabooks? One thing for sure, they won’t be launching together with Windows 8.

SOURCE via Asus

PC vendors and manufacturers are reportedly expressing their concerns about Intel’s ultrabook concept and the supposed sub-$1000 price range. The problem, it seems, is that Intel is asking too much for its processors, forcing them to either choose “underpowered” chips or reduce the component specifications to meet the price goal.

According to several reports from DigiTimes, Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin and Compal Electronics president Ray Chen are both asking Intel to provide a subsidy over its CPU prices. If the vendors are forced to choose slower processors or change the system specs, the resulting ultrabook performance will be significantly reduced. Vendors may not be willing to push these sub-par devices thus missing Intel’s 40-percent market prediction.

As it stands now, the biggest cost for ultrabook manufacturers is the CPU and the operating system. Next in line are the ultra-thin components like the LCD screen and the solid state drive (SSD). Sources claim that brand vendors are cutting their quotes to notebook ODMs by more than 50-percent to maintain their own profitability because they are unable to reduce component cost.

Read more…

Dell is tweaking some of the options offered on its Precision M6600 and M4600 mobile workstations. You can now choose to add 512GB SATA3 SSD drives and (in the case of the M6600) a 4GB NVIDIA Quadro 5010M card. The interesting thing though, is that the 6600 has space for three drives: two full size and one mini-card slot. That means you could outfit this 17.3-inch beast with a pair of 512GB SSDs and one 128GB SSD, for a grand total of 1.1TB of solid state storage. Of course, with each half-terabyte drive adding a whopping $1,120 to the price of this professional lappy it’s not exactly for those on a budget. But, we wouldn’t be shocked to see this trickle down to high-end, portable gaming rigs relatively soon.

SOURCE via Dell

Wednesday MSI launched two new models in its G Series of gaming laptops which feature Nvidia’s new GeForce GTX 570M GPUs: the GT780DXR and the GT683DXR. According to the company, the new units are designed for “the serious gamer seeking unmatched power with an unprecedented immersive experience,” packed with loads of memory, loads of storage, Intel Core i7 processors and an optional Blu-ray optical drive. That said, be prepared to pay a “serious” price.

“MSI G Series notebooks have the power to max out game settings, and do it on the go,” said Rene Haas, General Manager of Notebook Products at NVIDIA.  “As the first company to offer GeForce GTX 570M GPUs, MSI is arming the G Series notebooks with killer gaming performance and advanced gaming technologies like NVIDIA PhysX and DirectX 11.”

The GT780DXR is MSI’s flagship gaming laptop sporting a brushed aluminum chassis, a 17.3-inch Full HD Non Reflection display (1920 x 1080) and a SteelSeries programmable backlit keyboard. Additional hardware specs include Intel’s Core i7-2630QM CPU (2.0 ~ 2.9 GHz, 6 MB of cache), Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 570M GPU (1.5 GB of DDR5 VRAM), 12 GB of DDR3 memory and 1 TB of HDD storage (Raid 0 or no redundancy, 500 GB x 2 @ 7200RPM), but the unit can be bumped up to 1.5 TB of storage (750 GB x2), 16 GB of DDR3 memory and a Blu-ray optical drive.

Read more…

The 1982 Lockheed Sea Shadow may be rusting away in Suisun Bay, but its Commie-spooking contours haven’t been forgotten. They apparently inspired the design of the Asus G74SX-A1, which just won a HotHardware recommendation for its cheese-eschewing looks as well as its performance, efficient cooling and realistic $1749 price tag.

For once, the Core i7-2360QM CPU coupled with a GeForce GTX 560M and generous 12GB dollop of DDR-1333 RAM actually conspired to surpass the manufacturer’s 3DMark benchmark claims. It wasn’t flawless though: overall computing performance was middling compared to rivals; the speakers were shoddy when it came to producing music rather than explosions; and the 17.3-inch Full HD display was slightly wasted on some games that only ran smoothly with high quality settings at 1280×720. Still, all this naval talk makes us fancy some Silent Hunter 4 — and that should play just fine. Check out source link lurking below for the full review.

SOURCE via Hot Hardware

Friday during the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Acer finally revealed its Aspire S3 ultrabook to the public. As previously noted, it will sport a 13.3-inch ultra-thin HD LED display and a super-lightweight, high-density battery delivering up to 7 hours of juice. More importantly, it will measure just 0.507-inches thin and weigh less than 3 lbs.

“The Aspire S3 is truly designed to meet notebook users’ needs, combining essential features of the smartphone and tablet PC, such as fast startup and Internet connectivity, with long battery life,” said Campbell Kan, president of Personal Computer Global Operations, Acer Inc. “Matched with its slim form, the Aspire S3 will provide a fresh experience and set a major milestone in the history of Acer’s notebook development.”

Outside the ultrabook design, Acer is heavily pushing the Aspire S3′s Acer Green Instant On and Acer Instant Connect features. On the Green Instant On front, the device will resume in 1.5 seconds if it’s been in Sleep mode for less than 30 minutes. If the ultrabook has been in Deep Sleep, then it will resume in 6 seconds. Acer said the unit enters a deep sleep state after 30 minutes of no activity, and is part of the battery-saving measures that allows Acer to provide up to 50 days battery life. As for the Acer Instant Connect feature, the company claims the ultrabook can access the Internet in just 2.5 seconds.

With all that out of the way, here are some juicy specs to nibble on, broken down into an easy-to-read list:

• Choice of 2nd-generation Core i3, i5, i7 ultra-low voltage CPUs
• 13.3-inch glossy coated HD LED display with a native resolution of 1366 x 768
• Two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI-out port, all three full-sized and located on the back
• Choice of a 240 GB SSD model, or a hybrid 320/500 GB HDD + 20 GB SSD (cache config)
• Up to 7 hours of battery life for the SSD-only model, and up to 6 hours for the HDD + SSD versions
• A 2-in-1 card reader that supports SD Cards and MultiMediaCards
• Integrated Acer Crystal Eye 1.3MP camera and microphone
• Acer InviLink Nplify 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
• Bluetooth 4.0 + HSR
• Dolby Home Theater v4, combo audio jack
• Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional
• Magnesium-Aluminum alloy chassis and a lid with a fingerprint-free metal finish
• Full-size Acer FineTip chiclet keyboard

“The Aspire S3 features a vent-free bottom so the notebook rests comfortably on the user’s lap,” the company said Friday. “Warm components are smartly placed away from the palmrest and touchpad area, so users won’t feel any heat discomfort. Further innovation is offered via a new airflow design that dissipates warm air from the rear of the notebook, preventing air from blowing towards the user’s hands. Finally, the fan motor is optimized to enhance efficiency and lower power consumption to help increase system battery life.”

The Aspire S3 ultrabook will start to roll out in select regions in September and ramp-up in October, priced between €799 and €1199. Acer does have plans to introduce the product to the U.S. market, but Acer isn’t announcing pricing, specs or availability until later on at an unspecified date.

SOURCE via Acer

Asustek Computer is slated to host a product launch conference for Ultrabooks in New York City this October. According to company chairman Jonney Shih, Asus will reveal five to six different Ultrabook models it plans to launch this year. These will range in price from $899 USD to $1,999 USD, and will also feature screens measuring 11.6-inches and 13.3-inches.

Shih also stated that Asus has been able to lower the overall cost of its Ultrabooks thanks to the recent price drop of several key components such as panels and DRAM. He also expects both Asus and Acer to rule the Ultrabook market for a while given that Dell and Toshiba are supposedly taking a cautious approach, and because HP is “abandoning” its PC business (something HP denies).

Sources from upstream component players claim that Intel still isn’t listening to requests from downstream partners to lower Ultrabook CPU prices. However, the CPU giant is offering “extra assistance” to allow partners to launch models under the $1000 USD pricetag.

Asus expects 20-percent of its laptops shipments for 2012 to consist of Intel’s Ultrabook design, whereas 2013 will likely provide a larger percentage. Previously Asus chief executive Jerry Shin indicated that Intel’s projected 40-percent target was “aggressive,” and would likely not be achieved before 2013.

“The CPU for Ultrabooks is very powerful, so there is a heat problem that is very difficult to resolve,” Shin said. He also added that the supply chain producing specialized components for the Ultrabook design is currently limited — Asus alone will only be able to manufacture 200,000 units maximum per month. To push past this limit, additional investments will need to be made in order to boost capacity.

We already know that the Asus UX21 will likely be the first Asus Ultrabook out the door in October, measuring 7-mm at the back and thinning out to a mere 3-mm at the front. It will be powered by Intel’s 1.7 GHz Core i5-2557M processor (up to Core i7) and feature metal chiclet keys, a glass touchpad, 64 GB or 128 GB of storage, a mini-DisplayPort, a mini-HDMI port, USB 3.0 ports and more.

Step aside Alienware, there is someone encroaching on your gaming laptop turf. Up till today, Razer has been known for its top-notch gaming peripherals but after showing off the Switchblade concept earlier this year at CES, we couldn’t help thinking that there was something on the horizon.

Check out the Razer Blade, 0.88inches thick, it houses a 2.8GHz Core i7-2640M CPU, GeForce GT 555M graphics card with 2GB GDDR5 Memory as well as a 17.3inch LED 1920×1080 full HD display. The Blade also features 8GB or RAM, 3 USB ports and HDMI-out. While the specs are nothing out of the ordinary, where the Razer Blade turns heads is with the 480×800 LCD trackpad beside the backlit keyboard, designed to work as either a multitouch-enabled input device or as an additional display for in-game info. On top of the screen are 10 programmable keys courtesy of a separate LCD reminiscent of the optimus keyboard and more recently, yup, the Razer Switchblade.

Looking at the incredible aesthetics of the Blade, I can see myself wanting one to satiate my geek lust, but is the price tag of US$2,799 really worth it for essentially the mini display and keys? The new laptop from Razer is indeed thin and powerful, somewhat of like the MacBook Pro, or even the MacBook Air, but by using the GT555M graphic is a very huge let-down to me. Who is Razer trying to attract? Old Warcraft 3 players? DotA players? CS 1.6 players? We’ll just have to wait until Q4 when it’s set to be released. Check out the source link for more images.

Read more…

There’s a new segment of portable PCs coming soon, and they’re called Ultrabooks. Intel took the wraps off of the design direction at Computex 2011 for exceptionally thin-and-light notebooks that take many design cues from Apple’s MacBook Air.

Asus and Acer have already announced Ultrabook products, and there will be plenty more on the way because Intel is pushing hard for the growth of this new segment that the chip giant believes will be 40 percent of the consumer laptop market segment by the end of 2012.

There was a concern that Ultrabooks won’t be able to come in under the $1000 mark with compelling performance and features, but such worries will soon be put to rest. Intel today announced a $300 million “Ultrabook Fund” to help drive innovation in this new category of devices.

The Intel Capital Ultrabook Fund aims to invest in companies building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks such as through sensors and touch, achieving all-day usage through longer battery life, enabling innovative physical designs and improved storage capacity. The overall goal of the fund, which will be invested over the next 3-4 years, is to create a “cycle of innovation and system capabilities.”

Read more…

Dell has just announced a new addition to the lineup, the 13.3-inch V131, and while it doesn’t look that different from the last-gen V130, it offers all the spec bumps you’d expect from a laptop announced in mid-2011.

With this generation, you get Sandy Bridge Core i3 and i5 processor options, two USB 3.0 ports and a user-replaceable six-cell battery that promises up to 9.5 hours of juice. If you wanted, you could add up to a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, which we suspect might not be enough storage space for some folks at these days. The resolution, meanwhile, is 1366 x 768 — typical for budget notebooks.

Like we said, the design isn’t anything ground-breaking, but Dell did move to a chiclet layout for the keyboard, which you can configure with backlighting if you’re into such things.

SOURCE via Dell