Hasta La Gadget!

It was a year ago at Computex that Acer unveiled the Aspire S7, a skinny sliver of a thing that turned out to be one of our favorite Ultrabooks of 2012. Now, 12 months later, the company is unveiling… the Aspire S7. A much-improved S7, to be precise. Going into the second half of the year, there’s only to be a 13-inch version (the 11-incher’s been discontinued), and it has much the same industrial design, with a lightweight chassis and Gorilla Glass lid. The difference is that it will now be offered with a 2,560 x 1,440 screen, which will be standard in certain regions, like Europe. (Elsewhere, a 1080p IPS panel will continue to be the base option.) As you’d expect, Acer’s upgraded the S7 to Haswell CPUs (Core i3, i5 and i7), but it also squeezed in a bigger battery — 47Wh, up from 35Wh. Between that bigger cell and new chipset, Acer is rating the battery life at seven hours, which, if true, would correct one of the OG model’s biggest shortcomings. Rounding out the list, Acer moved the mics to the front, and also updated the cooling system with the promise of less fan noise.

Meanwhile, Acer thoroughly revamped the mid-range S3 Ultrabook so that it looks more like the S7. The main differences are that this has no Gorilla Glass on the lid, and the entire machine is noticeably heavier (1.67kg vs. 1.3). Part of the reason for that chunkier shape is that it will be offered with beefier components, including optional NVIDIA GT735M graphics and a 1TB hard drive (you can also get it with an SSD). Additionally, the S3 steps up to Haswell CPUs, along with a 1080p IPS touchscreen — the same kind that the S7 had when it first launched. Design-wise, as we said, it looks like the S7, particularly with the lid shut, and it’s now made from one piece of aluminum, instead of several. The keyboard looks different from the S7’s, though, and is also a bit clackier, for whatever reason. In Europe, at least, the Aspire S7-392 will start at €1,450, and the S3-392 will go from €999. Both will arrive in July. No word yet on US pricing. For a closer look, check out our hands-on photos and video, both embedded after the break.

Update: US pricing for the S7 will start at $1,400 and go up to $1,700, depending on the configuration.

Filed under: Laptops, Acer

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MSI’s had a busy couple weeks: first it started selling a pair of laptops with AMD chips inside, and then it unveiled a flagship notebook with Haswell. Now, to complete the trilogy, the company’s refreshing the other models in its range. Starting with the GT series, the existing GT70 and GT60 are both getting a quad-core, 3.2GHz Core i7-4200MQ CPU with a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX780M GPU or a 3GB GTX770M. Though the chipsets are the same, however, the 17-incher makes room for more robust internals, including a max of 32GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD paired with up to three 128GB SSDs arranged in a RAID 0 setup. The 15-inch version, meanwhile, tops out at 16GB of RAM with a single 128GB SSD and 1TB hard drive. If 8.6 or even 7.7 pounds is too heavy for your tastes, you might prefer the slim GE series, where both the 15- and 17-inch models weigh in at less than six pounds. In exchange for a lighter design, of course, you get slightly inferior specs: a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX765 GPU, 750GB hard drives, 8GB to 12GB of RAM and six-cell batteries, compared with a nine-cells on the beefier GT models. For what it’s worth, though, most configurations have the same 3.2GHz Core i7 processor. Additionally, the GE notebooks have been refreshed with backlit keyboards, but you still won’t get the full rainbow effect as on the GTs. All are available now. In the US, at least, starting prices are as follows: $1,500 for the GT70 and GT60, $1,400 for the GE70 and $1,000 for the GE60.

Finally, MSI is also showing off a 14-inch model, the GE40, which has an altogether different industrial design than the other GEs, with small red lights on the lid meant to look like devil’s eyes. (Or wings. Whatever.) At 4.4 pounds and 1.14 inch thick, it’s an obvious competitor to the Alienware M14x. No word yet on pricing or availability, but MSI has preliminarily said it will boast a 2.9GHz Core i7-4702MQ CPU, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M GPU, 8GB of RAM and a battery rated for three hours. The screen will be a 1,600 x 900 non-IPS panel with an anti-glare matte finish. Storage-wise, you’re looking at a 128GB and 750GB SSD, or just the 750-gig HDD. Again, MSI hasn’t said when it’ll ship, but for now we’ve got hands on-photos of the GE40 (and those other machines, too) after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

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Taiwanese PC maker ASUS dropped this gem yesterday ahead of Computex 2013 — the PQ321, a professional-grade 31.5-inch 4K monitor. It features a 3840 x 2160-pixel (16:9, 140 ppi) 10-bit RGB (one billion colors) IGZO panel with LED backlight, 176-degree viewing angles, 350 cd/m2 brightness and 8ms GTG response time. Beyond its Ultra HD capability, the monitor comes with built-in stereo speakers (2W) plus height, tilt and swivel adjustments. It’s wall-mountable (VESA) and only 35mm thick — according to ASUS, that makes it the thinnest 4K monitor on the market today. Connectivity includes DisplayPort, 3.5mm audio, RS-232C and, for US models, dual HDMI inputs with picture-in-picture support. There’s no word on pricing yet, but the PQ321 will be available in North America at the end of June and ASUS is expected to show the monitor in Taipei next week along with a 39-inch 4K model.

Filed under: Displays, HD, ASUS

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Via: PC Perspective

Source: Asus, Hexus

ASUS has a habit of teasing products and it has done it again with a photo of this spun metal… thing. Posted on the company’s G+ page as a Computex taster, the picture is accompanied by a puzzlingly vague hint that the new device will “move you.” But unless we’re about to see an automotive or fitness accessory, we won’t get too excited — after all, it could just be another disc writer.

Filed under: Laptops

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Source: ASUS (G+)

Just like last year, ASUS is filling time before the Computex trade show by posting teaser trailers. Sporting a “We Transform” tag, its first one for 2013 features the spun metal casings, touchscreen laptops, convertibles, tablets and phones we’ve become accustomed to from the company. So what’s next? The video doesn’t appear to provide any hints — other than an oddly blacked-out tablet with stylus about 30 seconds in — however the press page linked below includes a countdown to ASUS’ press conference June 3rd, and blank spaces for four more videos to come. We’ll keep an eye out for anything else that fills in the blanks (US release info for the Transformer Book would do the trick), check the video after the break to “transform your expectations of technology.”

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, ASUS

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Source: ASUS