Hasta La Gadget!

Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan has been dreaming about building a true PC gaming portable for years. He’s cooked up prototype clamshells, controller-toting tablets, and built two top of the line gaming laptops along the way — but now his dream is almost ready: the Razer Edge. Look familiar? It should. It’s been handled, teased and even redesigned at the behest of Razer’s social legions. It’s Project Fiona evolved. Hoping to keep pace with community feedback, Razer is kitting out the Edge with a 3rd gen Intel Core processor, a 10.1-inch 1,366 x 768 display, an NVIDIA GT640M LE GPU, 4 to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and a 64, 128 or 256GB SSD, depending on the SKU. Min translated the slate’s build into some digestible framerates: 59 fps in Dishonored, he told us, and 41 fps in DiRT Showdown. Sound intriguing? It gets better — the baseline 1.7Ghz Core i5 variant of the Edge will sell for $999 and the beefed up 1.9GHz Core i7 Pro model will run for $1299, keeping the device well below the community’s $1,300 to $1,500 price expectations. Even better, the whole shebang is going to be available in the first quarter of this year.

Razer had to change more than Project Fiona’s name to stay under budget, of course — the prototype’s handlebar controllers have migrated to an optional gamepad dock. It’s a win and a loss — fans in Razer’s social media campaign demanded detachable controllers, but their absence makes obtaining the complete “Edge experience” a bit more of a chore — one that will cost $249 on top of the price of the slate itself. Even so, the move to modular is a good thing, and allowed Razer to develop other accessories: a keyboard dock, life-giving 40Wh battery packs ($69) and a $99 docking station, replete with three USB 2.0 ports, plus stereo and HDMI output for a “home console” experience. Razer says the Edge has specific “modes” based around these accessories — the tablet alone features the obvious multi-touch tricks of Windows 8, and the keyboard dock gives PC gamers access to the familiar WASD controls they’re used to. The launcher we saw at CES 2012 is still there too, giving the docking station a pseudo-console interface befitting of your television (and Steam Big Picture Mode, of course). As we said, collecting the whole set is a tall order, but Razer is hoping to make the task a little easier for gamers after the Pro model — offering the i7 tablet and controller dock for a bundled price of $1499 ($50 less than if purchased separately). Completionists will need to wait until Q3 to pick up the keyboard dock though, as its form and price still aren’t finalized.

Continue reading Project Fiona becomes Razer Edge, starts at $999, sans controller

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets

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Intel historically swings its attention to its latest generation of processors along with a new year, very nearly leaving the old platform by the wayside. There’s hints, however, that the current Ivy Bridge architecture may have one last gasp. VR-Zone has published claimed specs for the Y level, a new tier of Ivy Bridge chips that would draw less energy than even the ultra-low voltage U roster. A range of processors from a 1.1GHz Pentium through to a 1.5GHz Core i7 would normally demand 13W or less of power, already lower than the 17W we know today, but step down further depending on the situation — to a downright miserly 7W, in some scenarios. While the semiconductor giant hasn’t confirmed the reasons for the new tier, it’s suspected that the line is destined for Windows 8 tablets that need more grunt than an Atom without steep drops in battery life. If talk of early 2013 availability proves true, there may be a few computing surprises to be had in Las Vegas.

Filed under: Tablets, Intel

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Via: Mobile Geeks

Source: VR-Zone (translated)

Look down the aisles at any Apple launch event, across the laps of dozens of journalists liveblogging or in some other way documenting the goings-on, and it’s inevitable that you’ll see MacBooks. A lot of MacBooks. And, since many of those laps are irrevocably linked to owners who spend their days jetting around the globe to other companies’ events, those laptops are quite often the travel-friendly MacBook Air. So, while we were excited to see a thinner, lighter 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display unveiled earlier this year, many of us were left asking one question: “Where’s the 13-inch version?”

Now, a little over four months later, here it is. Why the wait from one to the next? That’s for Apple to know and us to speculate about (supply chain concerns? engineering issues?), but the important thing is that it’s available now and it is, in many ways, an uncompromised, slightly smaller rendition of the 15-inch version that came before. It’s thinner and it’s lighter than the current 13-inch Pro but promises better internals and the same battery life as the 13-inch Air. Perfect portions of portability and performance? Let’s find out.

Continue reading MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, late 2012)

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, late 2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got more hands-on time with MSI’s S20 Slidebook, which we first spotted at Computex 2012. This ultra light (2.3 pounds / 1kg) and thin (0.78-inches / 19.8mm) convertible Ultrabook runs Windows 8 (naturally) and packs an Intel Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge), 4GB RAM and a 128GB mSATA SSD. In front, there’s a gorgeous 11.6-inch 1920×1080-pixel IPS display with a 10-point capacitive multitouch layer plus an HD front-facing camera. A glossy white plastic bezel surrounds the glass panel and incorporates the MSI logo and the Windows button. The back cover is made of a silver magnesium alloy with matching plastic antenna covers for the built-in WiFi b/g/n, WiDi and Bluetooth 4.0 radios. Most of the ports are on the right edge along with the power / lock key and LED indicators — this includes the power input, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini-HDMI output and a pair of USB 3.0 connectors. You’ll find a gigabit Ethernet port on the left side plus an SD card reader, orientation lock button and volume rocker in back.

Of course, what sets the S20 apart is its ability to switch instantly from a tablet into a usable laptop. The screen slides up and tilts forward to reveal a chiclet keyboard with excellent key travel and decent spacing. You’re not limited to any specific angle here — the display is fully adjustable from flat to almost perpendicular with the keyboard. The sealed 3-cell 3900mAh battery is rated for 7 hours of continuous operation. We spent several minutes using the Slidebook and came away pretty impressed — it’s incredibly light for its size, the screen is bright and crisp, and the keyboard is comfortable. Even in prototype form, performance and build-quality are top-notch. MSI plans to make its convertible Ultrabook available late November for $1,099 through major US retailers both online and in stores. The company expects to sell other configurations in other markets as well. Take a look at our gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.

Continue reading Hands-on with MSI’s S20 Slidebook, a $1,099 Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook (update: video)

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets

Hands-on with MSI’s S20 Slidebook, a $1,099 Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who said Apple’s event was all about the little things? Apple just unveiled its first redesign to its iMac desktop in three years. The new all-in-one makes the widely expected leap to Intel’s Ivy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 processors, but also represents a much leaner and meaner replacement for the 2009-era template — its edges are just 5mm thick, and it’s constructed with “friction stir welding” as well as a gapless, less reflective display that’s laminated together with the glass. Screen sizes remain the same and include both a 21.5-inch, 1080p model and a 27-inch, 2,560 x 1,400 model — sorry, no Retina displays this year. They share 720p-capable front cameras with dual mics as well as NVIDIA’s GeForce 600-era graphics, up to 32GB of RAM and a panoply of storage options that peak at 3TB of spinning storage, a 768GB SSD or what Apple calls a Fusion Drive that mixes both 128GB of flash with 1TB or 3TB of conventional storage (a hybrid drive, for those of us who’ve seen it before). There’s no optical drive unless you plug in a USB option.

The 21.5-inch model ships in November, and will set you back $1,299 for a 2.7GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive; pony up for the 27-inch model at $1,799 and you’ll get a 2.9GHz Core i5 as well as the same memory and storage. Apple’s larger iMac doesn’t ship until December, however, which will give some impulse buyers at least a brief respite.

For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!

Continue reading Apple unveils next-generation iMac with slimmer design and Ivy Bridge, starting at $1,299

Filed under: Desktops, Apple

Apple unveils next-generation iMac with slimmer design and Ivy Bridge, starting at $1,299 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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