Combing revolutionary design, the power of a notebook PC and the convenience of a tablet PC – the 11.6” Samsung ATIV Smart PC and ATIV Smart PC Pro are Samsung’s next set of smart devices. These provide computing power, with Windows 8 functionality as well as full Windows 7 compatability. Each device features a detachable keyboard-docking system that allows users to easily switch between a clamshell notebook PC and a tablet PC form factor. These devices allow for great mobility with maximum …
Sony just threw itself fully into the touchscreen Windows 8 arena — it’s introducing the VAIO Duo 11 slider tablet and the Tap 20 combination desktop and tablet design at its IFA 2012 press conference. The Duo 11 is a noticeably amped-up realization of the Hybrid concept we saw at CES. Its 11.6-inch, 1080p touchscreen is joined by a proper digitizer stylus for low-lag handwriting as well as some seriously powerful innards for a convertible PC its size: we’re talking an Ultrabook-level Core i3, i5 or i7 as well as a 128GB or 256GB SSD, NFC wireless, GPS, and HD-capable cameras at the front and back. Sony is hoping for a late October release for this beast of a slate, although we haven’t been given that all-important price.
The VAIO Tap 20, meanwhile, is more than just a tilting all-in-one desktop in the vein of Lenovo’s IdeaCentre A720. Despite carrying a 20-inch, 1,600 x 900 touchscreen, it’s still very much battery-powered — you can lug the 11.4-pound PC into the living room and treat it like a tiny multi-touch table, if that’s your inclination. It’s sharing the same processor picks as the Duo 11, but it turns to more conventional 750GB or 1TB hard drives and puts the emphasis on shareable apps like Family Paint and the Fingertapps Organizer calendar. Not surprisingly, there’s only one, front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera here, although NFC does make the cut. The Tap 20 is due to arrive at about the same time as its smaller Duo 11 sibling, although we’re once again without details of how much it will cost.
ASUS is expanding its Zenbook lineup to include a larger 15-inch model. The company just announced the Zenbook U500, an Ultrabook packing some pretty robust internals. There’s an Ivy Bridge Core i7 processor under the hood, along with an optional NVIDIA GT650M graphics chip and up to 512GB of storage. No word on weight yet, but the package measures 0.78 inches at its widest. The U500 also keeps in line with other Zenbooks’ aluminum design, complete with the famous spun-metal lid.
The 15-inch form factor gives the U500 room for a separate numpad on the keyboard (there’s backlighting here, too). For storage options, you get either dual SSDs with up to 512GB capacity or the combination of a 128GB solid-state drive and a 500GB hard drive. And, like ASUS’ other latest Zenbooks, this machine will sport a full HD, anti-glare display with IPS technology. The company has yet to announce pricing and availability — that info will come at the company’s Windows 8 press event.
We saw a leaked hint of what was coming for Intel’s Valleyview system-on-a-chip (SoC), but now the full plan appears to have been outed by Chinese blog Expreview. The lineup will feature four models of the 22nm chips, with the D- and M-series looking to replace the Cedar Trail 32nm SoC chips used in current netbook and low-end desktop devices. The I-series is for embedded and industrial use, while the T-series would appear in tablets and other small form-factor devices, according to the leaked slides. That model would supersede the Clover Trail SoCs, which are only just arriving themselves in upcoming Windows 8 slates like the Acer W510 or Asus Tablet 810.
The chips should offer a burly horsepower bump over their predecessors, with up to four cores and clock speeds topping out at 2.4Ghz. The icing on the cake will be the integrated Gen 7 graphics engines of Ivy Bridge fame, featuring the same HD 4000 and HD 2500 GPU‘s as the grownup chips, but with only four “execution units” instead of the 16 you’d find there. That would offload functions like video decoding and 3D rendering from the CPU and allow simultaneous display to a TV or monitor. Bay Trail would also support 8GB of DDR3 RAM, double that of the “last” gen, as well as USB 3.0, SATA 2.0 and a host of other connection options. If the leak is accurate, the processors would arrive sometime next year, we’ll just have to wait and see if that’s soon enough for Intel to take a run at its formidable competition.
AMD’s Bulldozer CPUs remind us of Betamax (or MiniDisc), in that its superlativedesign hasn’t been embraced thanks to one or two humblinglimitations. However, Mark Papermaster, Sunnyvale’s new CTO, took to the stage at Hot Chips to show how he’s changing the situation with the third-generation Steamroller architecture. It’s rowing back on the more experimental elements of the design, scrapping the single shared fetch-and-decode hardware in favor of dual-cores that should double the amount of instructions it can handle. It’s hoping to make performance gains of 15 percent, clawing back some of Intel’s lead, and is considering roping in the GPU to help with the heavy-hitting in future versions. The chips will be built at Globalfoundries 28-nanometer line and are hoped to be out at some point next year.
Acer first detailed their new Aspire V5 series earlier this year back in March, claiming to offer better laptops over previous generations all while managing to be around 30% thinner than previous models and other laptops in the price range. Now that Acer’s rolled out the lineup to retail stores we’re taking a look at the budget family member in their 11.6-inch Aspire V5. It might come at a budget friendly price but it doesn’t compromise on performance. Take a peek below.
Chassis
To be specific today we’re taking a look at the Acer Aspire V5 171-6867 with an 11.6-inch display. This well rounded little ultra-portable might look like the average netbook, but they’ve managed to pack in a pretty decent punch with the Ivy Bridge Core-i5 under the hood. As far as the chassis you’ll be greeted with a lightweight and rather cheap feeling plastic but the clear coat keeps it feeling smooth, and scratch resistant. That plastic pays off however as the laptop comes in at just 3.09 lbs. Making it rather fun to hold and wander to your nearest Starbucks with. It is 0.8″ thick at the thinnest point, and stretches to barely over 1-inch at the widest thanks to the 4-cell battery.
There certainly isn’t anything new in terms of specs or styling here, but for just over $500 we can’t be expecting anything revolutionary. The price however brings a pretty great laptop considering many in the price range feel flimsy and rather cheap. The Aspire V5 does have a lightweight plastic I’m not too fond of, but it doesn’t ooze of cheapness like some in the past. It looks fancy, but you’ll quickly recognize it’s plastic once you open her up. The rounded edges are nice and smooth, and the slightly textured feeling once opened is rather comfortable during daily use.
Ports
As you wrap around the curved plastic edges you’ll come to the left side full of useful ports. First you’ll notice the large venting system to cool that Core i5 dual-core processor. On the left we also have Ethernet, VGA out, HDMI, and a USB 3.0 port for added speed. Around front you’ll be greeted with the 2-in-1 SD card reader, and some LED notification lights for activity. Then to the right side is the rather bland female charging port, the other two USB 2.0 ports, followed by the micrphone/headphone jack.
Keyboard & Trackpad
Here with the Acer V5 we’ve been quite impressed by both the trackpad, as well as the keyboard. For being a compact 11.6-inch device the keyboard is one of the most impressive ones we’ve used as of late. The island style chicklet keys are comfortable, have a good texture, and the response is decent although a bit mushy. I instantly felt comfortable and was able to type with ease here when other 14-15 laptops have given me trouble. It’s safe to say this is one of the better 11-inch keyboards available to date.
The trackpad along with multiple newer laptops has a texture that I’d absolutely be fine without. It makes sliding your finger around for navigation irritating and doesn’t give you that smooth easy-going feeling. Considering the size of the laptop you get a decently sized trackpad, and usage was fairly acceptable. If you tried to click too high it wouldn’t register, as the lower end had the best response.
Overall the keyboard and trackpad can’t be considered great since we only have 11.6-inches to work with, but considering the circumstances this will do just fine and is certainly among the better options available. My only other main area of concern is the tiny arrow keys that double as volume controls or brightness, and wish they’d be larger. In all other regards this was smooth sailing.
Display & Sound
Here Acer has outfitted the V5 with their 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 display surrounded by an extremely glossy and fingerprint prone bezel — but what’s new. You do get a 1.3 megapixel webcam, but it wasn’t too great. The Acer CineCrystal LED display was decently crisp although we’ve certainly seen much better in this size range. Again considering the price, the screen is crisp and decent although a bit lacking in the brightness department. We’d love to have a bit more brightness as well as better colors as they felt a bit dull and lifeless at times.
The same could also be said about the sound — dull and lifeless. A good way to explain it would be that usual tin can sound we get in basically every laptop available, but with a bit of a distance and fade to it. Sadly even at max volume the sound was nothing special, although it did get plenty loud for those wanting to blast away. Aiming down the sound was also muffled when using anywhere aside from a computer desk.
Performance and Benchmark
This laptop is running on Windows 7 x64 and as we mentioned above is rather sneaky in the fact that this small size still rocks a 1.7 GHz dual-core Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor. To be specific we have the Core i5 3317U on board. Along with 6GB of slow DDR3 RAM and a 500GB hard drive. I’m used to SSD’s and always enjoy the good ol sound of spinning hard drives these days. Obviously the Intel HD Graphics 4000 won’t be getting you any extreme game performance but as I mentioned in my video above it was enough for some quality video output through HDMI for some Pre-season NFL gametime.
As usual it all comes down to the benchmark performance and we’ve ran a quick Geekbench to take it through the paces, as well as posted up the Windows scores too. While it didn’t perform as good as the recent Aspire S5 we reviewed, it handles its own extremely well. Especially when considering the $500 price segment.
Benchmark Score – Acer V5-171
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Integer
Processor integer performance
5331
7274
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
9655
Memory
Memory performance
6850
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
6598
System – Acer V5-171
Manufacturer
Acer
Product Type
Notebook
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Motherboard
Acer Mimic
Processor
Intel Core i5-3317U
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Frequency
1.70 GHz
Processors
1
Threads
4
Cores
2
L1 Instruction Cache
32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache
32.0 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB
L3 Cache
3.00 MB
Memory
6.00 GB DDR3 SDRAM 666MHz
FSB
99.8 MHz
BIOS
Acer V1.02
Wrap-Up
All things aside if you are in the market for a quality 11-inch notebook this is certainly one of the better options available. Given the impressive price/performance ratio and specs you’d expect to see in a larger notebook you’ll love the Aspire V5. Of course all that in a tiny package gets quite hot, and if you’re going for an Ivy Bridge and 500GB hard drive you might as well pick up something with a 14 or 15-inch display.
For those that want some top of the line performance while not suffering in the portability and ease of use department — you could certainly do worse. The battery life barely managing 5 hours no matter the task was a problem with the small battery however. For a few more dollars you could get a bigger screen and better battery life with similar performance. Do you need the lightweight and small size? If so this is the notebook for you.
The folks at Maingear have revealed their next generation all-in-one PC design with the MAINGEAR Solo 21, a beast that truly appears to be ready to take on the most beautifully designed exterior casing designs on the market. While the innards of a Maingear custom-built PC are certainly bound to be well put together, it’s their exterior look that sets them aside from the competition – when you buy a Maingear computer, you buy an amazing looking machine just as much as you buy a powerful machine.
Here with the MAINGEAR Solo 21, you’ve got an all-in-one machine that comes with the components you want inside, is able to be upgraded, and brings on the power of a full-size desktop computer with next to nothing in the way of ugly masses of cords and space-stealing components. You’ll be able to build this beast with Intel’s 3rd Generation Core technology (that’s Ivy Bridge), and the whole thing is able to either sit on the mount it comes with OR work with a standard VESA mount up against your wall.
You’ve got the choice of Intel Core i3 2125 3.3GHz or upgradeable to Intel Core i7 3770S inside. You’ve got Intel DH61AG motherboard supporting USB 3.0, SATA 6G, 32nm and 22nm processors as well as optional Intel DQ77KB motherboard support with USB 3.0, SATA 6G, Intel SRT and vPro. Right out of the box this machine has a 500 GB HDD and the ability to upgrade to 1TB SATA HDD. You’ll get a DVD burner built-in with the option to upgrade to a Blu-ray drive, the standard build has 4GB DDR3-1333 and upgradeable to 16GB DDR3-1600 memory, and you’ve got the Intel 802.11n as well as a Bluetooth wireless adapter.
This machine comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and has up to four USB 3.0 ports so you can move forward with top speed. This machine is able to work with enterprise users with an optional Intel Q77 chipset – with said architecture you’ll have he latest AMT 8.0 as well as Intel Identity Protection Technology and Intel Anti-Theft Technology to keep you safe.
The MAINGEAR Solo 21 will be popping up immediately if not soon direct from the company’s online shop. The standard build will cost you just $899, and you’ll be able to rack up one whole heck of a lot more of a bill depending on what you want to add on or change out. This machine take the previous all-in-one model from Maingear and amps up the build to a whole new level.
Back in March, Maingear entered the world of the all-in-one PC with the utilitarian Solo 21. Even though the unit is now only five months old, it’s being replaced with a model that’s more attractive, more functional and that carries a lower price. We’re most excited that the redesigned Solo 21 is now fully upgradable — and yes, this includes the Mini-ITX motherboard itself. Available from $899 on up, the baseline configuration includes a 3.3GHz Intel Core i3 2125 CPU (Ivy Bridge), 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, a DVD burner, Bluetooth, WiFi and Windows 7 Home Premium. The Solo 21 also supports mSATA SSD storage and can also be outfitted with Blu-ray in place of the standard DVD configuration. You’ll also find it supports the VESA mount, should you decide to throw the PC on your wall. If you’d like to become a bit better acquainted with Maingear’s latest refresh, you’ll find the full PR after the break.
Two brand new all-in-one PCs have been revealed by Samsung for the masses of users looking to get in on Windows 8 with all-in-one power and 10-point multi-touch display action. There are two new models, the first of which has a 23.6-inch display, the other having a massive 27-inch display. Both devices have the same amount of pixels in their touchscreen display, Windows 8, and 10-point touch, but the architecture that backs them up is custom-fit to make sure each machine is its own beast.
The Samsung Series 7 all-in-one 23-inch PC brings Genuine Windows 8 64-bit software with it right out of the box. It’s also got a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution display and a lovely Ivy Bridge processor under the hood. The 23-inch model’s processor is an Intel Core i5 – 3470T and is paired with 6GB DDR3 system memory at 1600MHz. The hard disk drive on this model is 1TB large, and the machine will be popping up on 10/26/2012 for MSRP $1099 USD.
Another model, the Samsung Series 7 all-in-one 27-inch PC will be popping up on the same date for $1699 USD (MSRP). This machine will have 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution as well, and it’ll be sporting Genuine Windows 8 64-bit too. Under the hood you’ll be getting a high-powered Ivy Bridge processor to keep you strong as well – this time it’s the Intel Core i7 – 3770T and is paired with a larger 8GB DDR3 bit of system memory at 1600MHz. You also get a 1TB hard disk drive here, and both models look rather fashionable, too – have a peek above and below to see the 27-inch machine in all its glory.
Both of these machines also work with five simple hand gesture recognition features. Working with each of the devices’ 1.3 megapixel front-facing cameras you can be up to three feet away from the machine and make gestures with your wrist (in a variety of ways) that flip a page, start a video, and generally allow you to move around your media with ease. Rotate your palm clockwise or counter-clockwise to change the volume on a video, close your hand to click, or wave your hands to stop a movie altogether. Both machines also come with a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse, and a lovely remote control.
We’ll be bringing you all kinds of Samsung action as well as Windows 8 touchscreen-loving devices all through the week as we continue to cover IFA 2012. Head to our IFA 2012 tag to see all of our on-site and event-related content, and stay close to the Samsung tag for everything from the manufacturer that’s tying it all together with their own Samsung-branded set of apps galore (think Galaxy devices) – more on that later this week!
While we managed to get our hands on Gigabyte’s latest graphics card-toting Ultrabook back at CeBIT, we’ve just finished handling the P2542G (its high-end gaming sibling) at the laptop and motherboard maker’s UK launch event. Packing a 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, it runs on an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM, with a 2GB NVIDIA GTX 660M card to power PC gaming’s latest and greatest. Add in a Blu-ray player and THX-certified dual-woofer sound system and you have the makings of pretty capable beast — not to mention looking the part with a yellow paint job and dual exhaust vents along the back edge. Read up on our impressions and check out our video hands-on after the break.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
