Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’ve got laptops and netbooks in our sights — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month.

Continue reading Engadget’s Back to School guide: Netbooks and laptops

Engadget’s Back to School guide: Netbooks and laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearly dissatisfied with what it sees in the mirror, Panasonic has today announced its decision to bulk up. A new share issue expected to raise ¥500 billion ($5.7 billion) will be enacted soon as part of raising the cash to complete the buyout of Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works. Don’t ask us why a company named Panasonic has to buy another company with Panasonic in its name, but them’s the facts. The total outlay is expected to come in at around $9.4 billion and is justified by Panasonic as fundamental to its future strategy of expanding into environmentally friendly tech and developing a three-pronged operating paradigm by 2012. The Osaka-based company is also reporting a ¥43.7b ($498 million) profit for the last quarter — a major upswing from a ¥53b loss in the same period last year — though that’s information the market seems to have ignored. Panasonic shares have plunged down 7.7% in the immediate aftermath of the acquisitions being announced, while Sanyo’s have shot up. Click past the break for the novella-sized press release explaining the details of the deal.

Continue reading Panasonic to spend $9.4b on buying out Sanyo and PEW shares, posts robust quarterly profits

Panasonic to spend $9.4b on buying out Sanyo and PEW shares, posts robust quarterly profits originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although foreshadowed, it’s hard to believe that the once mighty Ninty, a company with unshakable profits even during last year’s global economic downturn, just recorded a Q1 net loss of ¥25.22 billion ($288 million) compared to a net profit of ¥42.32 billion during the same 3-month period a year earlier. Revenues dropped from ¥253.50 billion to ¥188.65 billion. Lower DS portable gaming machine prices coupled with a strong Yen (86.5 percent of its sales were outside of Japan) helped pull Nintendo into the red. Regardless, Nintendo continues to forecast a full year net profit of ¥200 billion on revenue of ¥1.4 trillion. We’ll see.

Nintendo posts Q1 loss on strong Yen and lower DS prices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not as if we haven’t heard the rumors building over the last few months, but Apple’s long-standing iMac line is seeing its first real update since the Fall of last year on this fine morning. As predicted, the refreshed family now contains Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processor options, not to mention discrete ATI Radeon HD GPU options, IPS panels, an SD slot that understands the complexities of SDXC and an SSD option on the 27-inch machine. For whatever reason, Apple’s not throwing in its new Magic Trackpad with any iMac; instead, it’ll be a $69 accessory. One swank addition to this line, however, is the ability to order your new all-in-one with both an HDD and an SSD on the 27-inch model. Of course, it’ll cost you dearly (a 1TB HDD plus a 256GB SSD is a $750 CTO option, while the 2TB HDD in that combo makes it a $900 option), but at least there’s room inside for DIY adds. Here’s a look at the available configurations, with last Fall’s lineup saved here for reference:

• The low-end $1,199 unit boasts a 21.5-inch display (1,920 x 1,080), a 3.06GHz Core i3 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI’s Radeon HD 4670 GPU (256MB) and a 500GB hard drive. There’s also an 8x slot-loading SuperDrive with dual-layer support, Mini DisplayPort, AirPort Extreme 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, iSight webcam, gigabit Ethernet, a foursome of USB 2.0 sockets, a single FireWire 800 port and a bundled wireless Apple Keyboard and Magic Mouse.
• There’s a new $1,499 21.5-inch model that includes a 3.20GHz Core i3, ATI Radeon HD 5670 GPU (512MB), a 1TB hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 memory (along with the usual suspects mentioned above).
• The $1,699 model is a 27-incher with a 2,560 x 1,440 LED-backlit display, 3.20GHz Core i3 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, ATI’s Radeon HD 5670 (512MB), a 1TB hard drive and available CTO options that include a 3.6GHz Core i5, 2TB HDD, 256GB SSD and up to 16GB of RAM.
• The flagship $1,999 flavor (27-inch) packs a 2.8GHz quad-core Core i5 with 8MB of shared L3 cache, 4GB of DDR3 memory, ATI’s Radeon HD 5750 GPU (1GB), a 1TB hard drive and available CTO options that include a 2.93GHz Core i7 CPU, 2TB hard drive, 256GB SSD and up to 16GB of memory.

Continue reading Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3

Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So shall it be written, so shall it be done. The Mac Pro has at long last proven rumors of its impending refresh accurate, as Apple has just updated its most powerful hardware with even more grunt. As we’d heard previously, that means you can now get dual-CPU rigs that offer a full dozen cores to play with, courtesy of Intel’s Xeon server-class chips, though in order to get in on that game you’ll have to splash a cool $4,999 entry fee. The quad-core starting price is still $2,499, though the eight-core machines have jumped up to $3,499, with both variants getting mild speed bumps to 2.8GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively.

Perhaps the most welcome upgrade is on the graphical front, where the Radeon HD 5770 takes up the mantle of default GPU, with additional options for a pair of such cards or a step up to a 1GB HD 5870 alternative if you’re keen on maxing out those frame rates. Memory isn’t neglected either, with choices ranging all the way up to 32GB of RAM, 4TB of conventional HDD storage, or an array of four 512GB SSDs — though you’re probably better off not asking how much that last one will set you back. The comprehensive specs can be found in the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999

Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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