We’re all in favor of advancing the state of the art, but there are times when we suspect that research is more about “what if” explorations than anything else. Exhibit A: Apple’s new patent application for a wireless display. The concept would let a touchscreen detach from its laptop base through a 60GHz ultrawideband format (such as WiGig) and keep its battery powered up through at least some form of wireless charging located in the laptop’s hinge. It sounds viable when others have experimented with wireless displays before, but we’d note that both technical realities and corporate philosophies might stand in its way. Along with the usual challenges of battery life and wireless range, Apple has so far argued that touchscreen laptops are unwieldy and isn’t exactly in a rush to supplement booming iPad sales — even if granted, the patent may just be a matter of covering the bases rather than any kind of roadmap for a two-piece MacBook Pro. Still, we won’t completely rule it out when many also thought Apple wouldn’t make a phone.
With the release of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan GPU this year, we knew NVIDIA wasn’t going to pull any punches when it came to offering the highest-powered hardware to the public at any cost. Here with the reveal of the GeForce 700M family, the battle continues with notebook warriors galore. You’ll be seeing the NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, 745M, 740M, 735M, and 720M coming your way soon – get pumped up about laptop graphics monstrousness!
Inside each of these bits of architecture you’ve got the graphics power to take your notebook to the next level. With the GeForce GT 750M, 745M, and 740M, NVIDIA will be aiming for a higher performance segment – not your everyday laptop machine, that is. The two smaller bits, the GeForce GT 735M, and 720M, will be heading to high-powered gaming notebooks this year.
Each of these GPUs is based on Kepler and works with NVIDIA Optimus technology so if you’re all about both next-generation power and long life in batteries, you’ll be set. You’ll have GPU Boost 2.0 technology and all the most fabulous NVIDIA innovations to roll with as well. Have a peek at the GeForce Experience to see what you’ll be working with in the near future on a GeForce-packing notebook near you.
“Every leading notebook manufacturer will be introducing notebooks with GPU Boost 2.0 technology, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.” – NVIDIA
Also meanwhile have a peek at our NVIDIA GeForce tag portal and our Tegra hub to see how the desktop and mobile gaming universes will be converging more and more as the year goes on. We’ll be rolling out with high powered hand-held adventures sooner than you think!
It was at this year’s CES when VIZIO decided to announce its new line of laptops and desktops and today, the company is announcing pricing and availability for their previously announced PCs.
VIZIO’s 14-inch Touch Thin + Light notebook (CT14T-B0) will soon ship with an AMD A10 APU at the base price of $1,089.99, while the Intel Core i7-equpped CT14T-B1 will start at $1,419.99. If 14 inches isn’t your cup of tea, then you can grab the 15.6-inch version of this notebook starting at $1,189.99 for the AMD A10 version and $1,469.99 for the Intel Core i7 version.
If you’re looking for more of a desktop experience, VIZIO’s 24-inch Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B0) will begin shipping soon for $1,279.99 for the AMD A10 APU equipped version, while those looking for the Intel Core i7 version (CA24T-B1) will be looking at a starting price of $1,439.99. The 27-inch Touch All-In-One (CA27T-B1) will start at $1,549.99.
No exact date was revealed for VIZIO’s upcoming laptops and desktops, but considering they’ve just been priced, we’re sure the wait won’t be too long until you can get your hands on any one of these PCs.
Samsung has announced the ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T with AT&T 4G LTE support, providing users with mobile broadband connectivity on-the-go. In addition, the Korean company has also added to its Series 9 Premium Ultrabook line with a tablet/laptop hybrid running Windows 8, with a higher-resolution, sharper display that other models. Both devices are available now, priced at $1599 and $1899, respectively.
The ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T hybrid features a 10-point tablet component with a detachable keyboard. There’s S Pen to make taking notes and sketching on the 11.6-inch display enjoyable, and it is joined by an Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. Battery life is touted as lasting up to 8 hours, and the entire unit weighs in at just under 2-pounds.
The Series 9 Premium Ultrabook, meanwhile, is model NP900X3E-A03US and offers a 13.3-inch full HD LED display, its biggest claim to fame. Inside users with find an Intel Core i7 and Intel HD Graphics 4000, as well as 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The entire laptop weighs a tad over 2.5-pounds, and is available in black.
Samsung’s Senior Vice President of its Enterprise Business Division Tod Pike said, “With the introduction of the new professional ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T and the full HD resolution Series 9 Premium Ultrabook, Samsung is continuing its focus on innovation while delivering on the needs of a growing number of mobile professionals. Samsung is providing business professionals on-the-go with the necessary tools for increased connectivity, productivity and ultimately success.”
For those that can swing a Chromebook Pixel in the first place, the LTE model may be the wisest choice when it promises always-on data for a constantly connected machine. Anyone who can justify the $1,449 outlay will be happy to know that Google has quietly narrowed down the launch window: early orders should now ship by April 8th. Shoppers will still have to be Americans willing to latch on to Verizon’s network for LTE, but the date leaves a mere two weeks before the release of what’s unquestionably the highest-end (and priciest) Chrome OS system yet. Any takers?
With the Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch you’ve got one of the companies most solid deliveries of an Ultrabook-level computer upgraded with Windows 8 and a full 10-point touch display. With this notebook you’re going to be working with 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 processor power under the hood, a lovely 13.3 LED HD screen, and a market cost well under a thousand bucks. Sound like a value proposition you’ll want to add to your already burgeoning Samsung device collection?
Hardware
This notebook, also known as model NP540U3C-A01US, is not the thinnest beast on the block, nor is it the lightest. But it’s no monster, either. Instead what you’re getting is a 12.4 x 8.6 x 0.6-inch notebook made from a mix of aluminum and plastic parts, certainly sturdy enough – and aesthetically pleasing enough on the outside – to be your daily driver in a public place. As an Ultrabook such as this will likely be used by you for doing work first and foremost, it’s important to take a peek at the keyboard right out of the box.
What you’ve got here is a top-class keyboard that’s not unlike what we’ve seen from the generation of Samsung notebooks that’ve come out over the past year. If you’re used to working with a MacBook, not a PC, you’ll still feel rather at home with this layout and pressure sensitivity. The keyboard features a real no-nonsense set of keys as well, so no worries pecking away at the bits you’re not wanting to hit.
The display is certainly nice looking, and if you’re not used to the ultra-high-definition eye-shattering screens that are also out there on the market today, you’ll have a great time with the 1366 x 768 resolution here with LED HD technology and 10-finger touch. That means that if you’ve got an app that needs every single one of your fingers at once, you’ll be able to do it here. Covering this display you’ve got Corning Gorilla Glass – resistant against scratches and damage like a pro. This display is also 300 nits bright, working with SuperBright Technology so you know you’re backed up by a brand that means business.
Inside you’ll be working with 8GB of system memory, a hard drive of 128GB (SSD), and a find little web camera peeking up at you above the screen. You’ve also got Intel HD Graphics 4000, perfectly generous for your everyday movie watching, and you’ll be connecting to the web either wirelessly with Intel WiDi and Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 802.11 a/b/g/n or wired with this machine’s built-in ethernet port.
Next to your ethernet port (which pops open or closes down for a more compact experience, mind you), you’ll see one USB 3.0 port, HDMI out, and your very own headphone/microphone jack. Lucky you! On the right you’ve got another two USB 2.0 ports and a multi-card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC). Altogether you’ve got a really solid package, certainly one you can bring home to mother.
Hands-on
This device is only surprisingly heavy because I’m so very used to handling computers now that are lighter than they have any business being. When you’re working with Ultrabooks and MacBook Airs and the like every single day of the week, having one like this UltraTouch will seem like a slight change. But as it is with most notebooks and such, the weight and the shape of this machine feels natural rather quickly.
The location of each of the ports feels quite natural, and though it does still feel a bit odd to be pulling open the ethernet port on the left hand side whenever it’s needed, it’s not been a burdon in any way. Toss this and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the GALAXY S 4 in your pockets and backpack and you’re set!
Software
Samsung is particularly proud of its collection of apps made specifically for Windows 8, including such winners as Quick Starter. With Quick Starter, you’re able to grab your own toolbar and start button (otherwise willfully yanked from your life by Windows 8) so you’ll have a more familiar user interface if you’ve never used Windows 8 before. You’ll also have all kinds of awesome AllShare Play action going on – particularly awesome if you’re a Samsung Galaxy S III or GALAXY S 4 or Galaxy Note user.
System – SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. 530U3C/530U4C/532U3C
Manufacturer
Samsung Electronics
Product Type
Notebook
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
Motherboard
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. NP540U3C-A01UB
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
3.71 GB DDR3 SDRAM 799MHz
FSB
99.8 MHz
BIOS
Phoenix Technologies Ltd. P06ABH
With AllShare Play you’ll be connecting with your mobile devices with ease, sharing your media from device to device in a personal mobile network instantly. This interface also works with Samsung Smart TVs and tablets as well as smartphones.
Benchmark Score – Acer Aspire M5-481PT
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
Integer
Processor integer performance
5173
7046
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
9610
Memory
Memory performance
6351
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
6026
Above and you’ll also find some read-outs we’ve taken of the notebook. You’ll see some additional details about what this Ultrabook is packing as well as some benchmark results from our standard test: Geekbench. Feel free to head back to our archive of reviewed devices to compare and contrast as well!
Battery Time
Off the wall connection we’ve found the Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch to be getting a little over 5 hours of battery life. That’s without streaming video – if you’re going to be doing heavy processing tasks, this may not be the workhorse for you. Instead you’ll find this device best for daily work on-the-go without demanding a full 8-hour workday spread without power.
That said, battery life on this device isn’t all that different from the rest of the Ultrabooks out there right now. You’ll find a machine like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 working with essentially the same amount of battery time where the newest era of MacBook Air units are some of the only mobile notebooks we’ve worked with that last longer in the field. Choose wisely!
Wrap-up
With the Samsung Series 5 UltraTouch you’ve got an Ultrabook that’s ready to be your best buddy in college, your friendly office companion, or your coffee shop cohort. While the Samsung notebook line doesn’t hold quite the “cool” factor their smartphones and tablets have earned over the past few years, they still connect in more ways than any other machine – particularly if you want to work with the oddity that is AllShare.
The model we’ve reviewed here will cost you a cool $859.99 USD and is available everywhere fine Ultrabooks are sold. We’d recommend, as always, heading out to your local notebook dealer to see how this unit feels before picking one up for yourself. Samsung has made a fabulous notebook here, and you’re going to want to take it out for a test drive before you make the big jump.
Samsung’s ATIV Smart PC has been giving Americans a blend of LTE data and Windows 8 for some time, but we’re sure that some would like a little more oomph. The company agrees — it just released a version of the ATIV Smart PC Pro equipped with AT&T-capable LTE. If you’ve got a not-insubstantial $1,600 to commit to a tablet, you can stay online beyond WiFi while wielding a laptop-grade 1.7GHz Core i5, 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and as much as eight hours of runtime.
Ultrabook fans aren’t left out from Samsung’s upgrades. A newer Premium trim level for the 13-inch Series 9 swaps out the regular 1,600 x 900 LCD for a full 1080p screen. The higher resolution bumps the price to a slightly intimidating $1,900, although Samsung does outfit the PC with a 1.9GHz Core i7, 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Between this and the Smart PC Pro, it’s safe to say that the company can accommodate the highest of the high end.
A new analysis performed by The NPD Group shows that the United States has hit an impressive milestone. There are currently over 500 million internet-connected devices all across the nation. These devices include smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, video-game consoles, HDTVs, Blu-Ray players, and more. The NPD Group says that the main driver for this number is the increase in smartphone and tablet ownership.
The analysis shows that since 3 months ago, over 9 million more people made the change from regular cell phones to smartphones. It also showed that 18 million more consumers have purchased a tablet device. The number of connected devices per U.S. Internet household has grown from 5.3 internet devices per home to 5.7 internet devices. The study also shows that unsurprisingly, most of those devices are Apple or Samsung branded devices.
Smartphone adoption rose up 5% since 3 months ago, and tablet adoption rose up about 18%. The PC still remains the most commonly used internet-connected device in households, with over 93% of households owning at least one PC, a number that hasn’t changed in the past 3 months. John Buffone, director of devices at NPD Connected Intelligence, stated, “It’s hard to believe that tablets and smartphones are still somewhat in their infancy. But as we have seen in just the past few months, there is significant potential for this market to develop further.”
Consumers are adapting to mobile devices at a rapid pace, especially with the help of Android and its low-budget tablets. Android tablet sales are forecasted to dominate the tablet market this year thanks to the cheap options offered, such as Amazon’s line-up of Kindle Fires, Google’s high-end, yet affordable Nexus 7, and HP’s upcoming Slate 7. The IDC predicts that over 190 million tablets will be shipped worldwide this year.
Lenovo’s surprise reveal of the ThinkPad T431s, complete with the first major shift in design for some time, has been followed up with the more mundane stuff: when you can get it, and for how much. The ThinkPad T431s will drop in the US and Europe come April, Lenovo has confirmed today, with prices kicking off at $949 for the 14-inch notebook.
In the UK, meanwhile, the T431s will start at £1,119; it’s unclear why there’s such a significant price disparity between US and UK pricing, but one possibility is that Lenovo won’t offer the more entry-level spec variants in every country. Either way, the core specs are the same: up to 12GB of memory, a choice of HDD or SSD storage, and a 1600 x 900 display with useful anti-glare finish.
Connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports and a docking port, for dropping the ThinkPad into one of Lenovo’s desktop hubs. There’s also a 720p HD webcam, optional integrated WWAN with mobile hotspot feature, and Bluetooth 4.0, together with up to 9hrs of battery life.
However, it’s in the general design that the notebook has seen the most departure from ThinkPads of before. Lenovo says the refreshed aesthetic – which features a “streamlined” keyboard, thinner display bezel, and larger, smoother trackpad – are the result of thousands of hours of customer research spread over nine months.
“When you talk to end users about ports, they’ll tell you how much they need them. They’ll talk about the vast number of USB devices that they have. It’s easy to hear that and determine that you need five or more ports based on what these people report. When you watch these people work, however, and you’re more overt in your methods — you rarely see that happening.
Sometimes, there’s a conflict between what someone reports they need and what they require.”
So begins the backstory of the latest ThinkPad overhaul as told by Corinna Proctor, the senior research manager at Lenovo’s User Research Center. Clearly versed in the art of separating whimsical wishes from bona fide requirements, she spoke to me in a phone interview alongside two of her colleagues in the run-up to today’s unveiling of the redesigned ThinkPad T431s Ultrabook. The machine itself is still very much a ThinkPad — it’s black, it’s understated and it’s tough as nails — but those who appreciate the evolution of technology will no doubt recognize some changes. Changes that began as mere notions some 18 months ago.
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.
