NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M breaks cover, frags competition in 3DMark

We told you NVIDIA’s all-new superpowered mobile GPU would only fit inside jumbo-sized cases and here’s your proof. The Clevo Style Note D900 is neither stylish nor much of a note taker, but boy it’s a big, bad gaming machine. That trifecta of fans you see above is cooling the GTX 480M chip as well as a 2.93GHz Core i7-940 — a CPU that’s designed for desktop duty from what we can gather. You won’t be shocked to discover this 17-inch desktop replacement rather burned the feathers off some similarly juiced up high fliers, but the difference is of course that laptops like the ASUS G73JH are actually available to buy, as opposed to a pipe dream demo machine like the Clevo. All the same, you might wanna check out this sneak peak before HH does a full review.

Update: Turns out Sager is already offering to furnish you with a GTX 480M-equipped rig that looks very much like this one, including a selection of desktop-class Core i7s. [Thanks, Barry]

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M breaks cover, frags competition in 3DMark originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS debuts 15.6-inch ROG G53 3D gaming laptop at Computex

Hope you’re not burned out on ASUS introductions yet, ’cause they’re far from over. During the outfit’s Computex press conference, a new multimedia monster was unveiled in the ROG G53. ASUS didn’t bother sharing too many specifications, but that didn’t stop us from hunting down a placard with the deets we were craving. Whenever the company decides to ship it, it’ll be available with Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 options, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory on the quad-core machines (8GB of DDR3 on the dual-core rigs), a LED-backlit “HD” display, NVIDIA “Enthusiast” graphics, room for a pair of hard drives (or an SSD / HDD combo system), an optional Blu-ray drive, USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI 1.4 port for piping those 3D signals to your 3D HDTV. Per usual, there’s no mention of a price tag, but hopefully we’ll be clued in sooner rather than later.

Update: Two other gaming lappies were slipped in today by ASUS: the 17.3-inch G73Jw and G51 3D, neither of which have their specs sheets in public view.

ASUS debuts 15.6-inch ROG G53 3D gaming laptop at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 May 2010 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it

Looking for the most gargantuan laptop money can buy? How’s about the biggest laptop that the least amount of money can buy? Toshiba’s Satellite P505 — a machine we spotted briefly at CES this year — has now been put on sale over at Microsoft’s own webstore, complete with an 18.4-inch LCD (1,680 x 945), a 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, 500GB SATA hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a DVD SuperMulti drive, ExpressCard slot, integrated memory card reader, NVIDIA’s GeForce 310M (512MB), four USB 2.0 sockets and a beastly 12-cell Li-ion battery. Best of all, you can pop in a coupon (see the links below for details) in order to score this behemoth for $689, or just $687.95 more than freedom. Hop on past the break if you need an explanation.

Update: Seems that code down there has expired — anyone got an alternate?

Continue reading Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it

Toshiba ships Core i7-equipped Satellite P505 gaming laptop, all 18.4-inches of it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 May 2010 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP Envy 14 and 17 officially official, Envy 13 slowly waves goodbye

The existence of the 14- and 17-inch Envys may not be a shocker, but HP has surely been able to keep some of the more juicy details to themselves — well, until today that is. Let’s start with the external updates that have been made to the all-aluminum machines: both versions now have backlit keyboards, slot-loading optical drives, and on-board DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA jacks. That’s pretty much everything we asked for in our review of the Envy 15, but here’s where we politely tell you that the beautiful systems still have the same touchpad, or ClickPad as HP calls it, though it has apparently been significantly retooled on the software end. In our few minutes playing around with the systems it did seem less finicky when we kept one thumb on the left button and used our index finger to navigate the desktop.

Oh, and we’re not done with the meaty updates. Taking the place of the Envy 13 is the $999 14.5-inch Envy 14 — oh yes, we just said it starts at under a grand — which packs a Core i5 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon discrete graphics and 7,200rpm hard drive options. Unfortunately, we don’t get any of that Optimus graphics technology here, but HP’s still claiming up to eight hours of battery life with the discrete GPU turned off. Obviously, the Envy 17 steps it up a notch in the performance arena — come May 19 the 17-incher will be available with Core i5 and i7 options, ATI graphics that support Eyefinity technology, and up to 2TB of storage. Told ya there were still some good nuggets! We promise we’ll eventually have a full review, but in the meantime check out the hands-on pics and official PR below.

Continue reading HP Envy 14 and 17 officially official, Envy 13 slowly waves goodbye

HP Envy 14 and 17 officially official, Envy 13 slowly waves goodbye originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP unleashes seven new ProBooks, cuddles up with AMD

No, we wouldn’t say we’ve been looking at AMD lately, HP — but we’ve got a strong feeling that we’re about to with the slew of not-yet-announced processors that are powering these new affordable business laptops. The HP ProBook 4325s, 4425s, and 4525 may look like their brushed-aluminum business laptop brethren, but instead of Intel inside, they can be configured with AMD’s new Phenom II quad-core, Phenom II triple-core, Turion II or Athlon II processors — all which are apparently 69 percent faster than previous generation HP AMD laptops. Add in an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 530v discrete graphics option and an $619 starting price, and the S-series may just be our new favorite HP sub-brand — though we’ll reserve final judgment until we test these puppies and check out the battery life. In addition to those three, the 14-inch 6445b and 15-inch 6555b pack the same new processor options, but for $799 they have a more durable case with a spill-resistant keyboard. Oh don’t worry Intel, the ProBook line hasn’t forgotten about you: there’s still some Core i3, i5 and i7 love in the new HP ProBook 6450b and 6550b, which now also have vPro remote management technology.

And just when you thought HP couldn’t go any lower in price with its business line up, the 14-inch HP 425 and 15.6-inch 625 emerge at $550. While these guys aren’t exactly the thinnest or lightest of the bunch, they should still provide an ample amount of performance with AMD’s new 2.3GHz Turion II dual-core, 2.1GHz Athlon II dual-core and V Series processors and ATI Radeon HD 4200 integrated graphics. Not a bad time to be in the boardroom, huh? Head down below for some glossy press shots and the full releases.

Continue reading HP unleashes seven new ProBooks, cuddles up with AMD

HP unleashes seven new ProBooks, cuddles up with AMD originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI’s GE600: nine Benjamins, now shipping from Newegg

Though we question the MSI GE600’s status as “gaming notebook” given it doesn’t hold a candle to the company’s signature red-and-black machines, those looking for a well-rounded, noble laptop — not to mention a sub-$1000 price — will now find just that on Newegg. For nine hundred clamshells, you’ll get 16 inches of low-res 1366 x 768 real estate, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive and Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics, all fed their requisite bits and bytes by a 2.26GHz Core i5-430M CPU — plus all the usual ports, Bluetooth and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi. Care to dine in the lap of semi-luxury? Now shipping.

MSI’s GE600: nine Benjamins, now shipping from Newegg originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware M17x now shipping with dual 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPUs

Tossing a pair of GPUs into a single, beastly laptop ain’t nothing new — in fact, Alienware’s own M17x has been offered in such a way since last year — but having said machine arrive at your doorstep with a pair of ATI’s world-beating Mobility Radeon HD 5870s has been downright impossible until now. The earliest of adopters are now reporting (with ear-to-ear grins, to boot) that their dual 1GB HD 5870-equipped M17x machines are finally shipping, and we suspect it’ll only be a matter of time before those CrossFire assisted benchmarks surface to make our existing lappies look patently pathetic. So, hit that inbox once more and tell us if you’ve seen a shipping notification of your own — and if you’ve already got your unit in hand, why not expound with a few opinions on how things are running?

[Thanks, Max]

Alienware M17x now shipping with dual 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maingear rolls out updated eX-L 15 gaming laptop

Maingear’s original eX-L 15 gaming laptop may have been something back in the heyday of August, 2009, but times have changed and, now, so has Maingear’s eX-L 15 gaming laptop. Supposedly the “fastest 15-inch HD gaming notebook on the market,” the updated ex-L 15 packs your choice of Core i5 or i7 processors, along with ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics, an LED-backlit 1,920 x 1,080 display, up to 8GB of RAM, and a whole range of different hard drive / SSD choices, among other standard gaming laptop options. As you might expect, however, the price can easily top $4,000 with just a couple of clicks, but those satisfied with the base-level offering can snag one for $1,599.

Continue reading Maingear rolls out updated eX-L 15 gaming laptop

Maingear rolls out updated eX-L 15 gaming laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware M11x getting NVIDIA Optimus and new Intel CPUs this summer?

Either someone at Alienware is reading our reviews or the engineers over there happen to be as smart as us. What was our top complaint about the M11x? The lack of NVIDIA Optimus to automatically switch between the IGP and the GT335M GPU to help save battery life, of course. Well, if Notebook Review forum commenter Darkhan, who apparently has some affiliation with Alienware, is to be believed the company is working on adding just that to an updated M11x. Said to be released in the June / July time frame, the refreshed 11.6-inch laptop will apparently also be getting some new Intel Core 2010 CPUs. It does seems a bit early to update a product that started shipping just a month ago, but we wouldn’t put it past those crazy gamers. Dell wouldn’t comment on the rumor, so the only thing we can promise at this time is that we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground on this one.

Updated:
Darkhan has updated the Notebook Review forum page saying that he isn’t an employee of Dell or Alienware and that he just hears rumors like everyone else. We still have a hunch that some sort of update is headed to the M11x, but to reemphasize it is all just wishful thinking at this point.

Alienware M11x getting NVIDIA Optimus and new Intel CPUs this summer? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change Alienware’s M11x?

Call it the little laptop that could, or just call it Alienware‘s most adorable machine ever. Whatever you call it, Alienware’s M11x made all sorts of waves when it splashed down into an essentially empty market segment earlier this year, offering hardcore gamers the opportunity to take their first-person shooters onto cramped buses and coach airline seats with more comfort than ever before. Of course, all that power comes at a price, and while we already expressed our own feelings on the thing, we’re interested in knowing how you feel about seeing triple-digit FPS numbers on an 11-inch display. Is the experience better or worse than you anticipated? Have you ditched your desktop replacement for good? Are you wondering why on Earth you chose this over a netbook? Let us know how you’d overhaul the M11x if you had the chance down in comments below. And make it good.

How would you change Alienware’s M11x? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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