Unveiled during this year CES, LG’s new sexy Windows tablet, the Tab-Book Ultra Z160 is finally set to arrive in Korea’s store this month. Powered by a Core i3 or i5 the Z160 comes with a 11.6″ IPS touch panel, HDMI out, USB 3.0, a SSD in just 1.25kg and for a thickness of 19.4mm and with a 6.4h battery life. Pretty short on Specs LG did not comment as well on the Z160 exact launch date or price. Still if you are interested in something more powerful than the average Android …
Here’s a fun fact: in the three months since Windows 8 went on sale, Engadget has reviewed 16 laptops, including a few hybrid form factors. Yep, that’s right: more than one a week for the past 12 weeks, and that’s not even counting a couple tablets running Windows RT. So, now that we’ve given over our collective social lives to writing about Win 8, we finally feel qualified to make a few recommendations. Here, in our first-ever laptop buyer’s guide, we’ll walk you through the most promising of the bunch — everything from convertibles to laptop / tablet mashups. Indeed, we’ve got lots of touch-enabled systems ahead (including nods to models that didn’t make the cut), but if you’re simply in the market for a good, old-fashioned notebook, we have a few of those to recommend, too. So without further ado, join us.
Note: With regard to the Windows PCs we highlight here, we’ll be focusing on machines that run full Windows 8, specifically. For recommendations of ARM-based tablets running Windows RT you can look to our tablet buyer’s guide.
Filed under: Laptops, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, ASUS, Dell, Acer, Lenovo
This week the Dell XPS 13 has been re-introduced with a Full HD iteration, this version prompting the manufacturer to suggest that it’s not just the MacBook Pro they’re gunning for, it’s the MacBook Air. This device has already been revealed and released in a 720p edition – we reviewed it right here on SlashGear, in fact – and here in 2013 the Dell team is showing off not just the Full HD version, but an XPS 13 Developer Edition as well, this time with the same display as the original (now called “standard display”) but here based on Project Sputnik. And it’s all about definition from here on in.
The Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook with Full HD display option takes on a massive 1920 x 1080 resolution across its 13-inch display, this containing almost twice the amount of pixels compared to what Dell calls a “typical 720p display”. The image you’re seeing below comes from Dell and shows the XPS 13 in both of its non-developer editions. It’s made clear instantly how much more you’re going to be able to see in the same physical display size – hot stuff!
Also note above that yes, the physical machine sizes are the same, it’s no optical illusion. The amount of pixels inside the display allows for more to be shown from a standard app like Excel from Office 2013 (see our review of Office 365 for more info on that iteration of Excel). Dell also lets it be known that this version of the Dell XPS 13 offers a 72% color gamut vs the 45% color gamut on the “standard” panel.
Viewing angles have been bumped to 178 degrees up from 80 degrees on the standard panel – and it’s worth noting that each of these measures comes from Dell comparing the standard and the Full HD panels on the Dell XPS in a general way. They’re all just a little bit subjective when it comes down to it since it’s really up to your own eyes to decide how much more excellent one panel is compared to its predecessor. The display has also been amped up to 350 nits in its Full HD iteration, this “up to 75% brighter than a typical 200-nit display.”
Dell notes in their press materials for the Full HD XPS 13 that the unit is “often judged against the MacBook Pro 13, but in terms of size and weight, the MacBook Air 13 is a more realistic comparison.” The folks at Dell note that the XPS 13 is smaller than the MacBook Air 13 “as it fits a 13-inch screen into something barely bigger than an 11-inch footprint.” This machine is getting ready to be unleashed upon the public this Spring, aka “in the next few weeks” – stay tuned for more details, pricing, and hands-on action.
Bonus! This device is also offered from Dell starting at $1,449 USD working with Ubuntu – fun stuff for all!
Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Full HD edition guns for MacBook Air is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Lenovo‘s Thinkpad Helix, a convertible tablet, was originally slated to release this month, but a comment from the company on its Facebook page states that the date has changed. The Helix is now delayed “until March or April.” No other information is available concerning the delay, with the comment stating that more details will be coming soon.
The Helix was shown off at CES 2013 last month, where we got a hands-on look at the device, which you can check out here. The convertible laptop is a mix between tablet and laptop, with it easily switching from one to the other and back again. Not surprisingly, it runs Windows 8, and has an attractive, distinctly Lenovo design.
Inside the Helix, users will find an Intel 3rd generation Core i7 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The IPS display is 11.6-inches offering full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080 with pen input support. One of the hybrid’s best features is its battery, which is reported to last up to 10 hours, depending on the user’s activities.
The Helix features a digitizer pen, which can be used like any other stylus on a tablet – to swipe, write, and everything in between. Depending on which model you’re looking at, it will feature either 3G connectivity, or 4G and NFC, with 4G LTE being available for North America only. We’ll be keeping an eye out for those coming details, so stay tuned.
[via Facebook]
Lenovo says Thinkpad Helix is delayed until March or April is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sony just revealed its new models for spring for VAIO’s 5 series with a total of 18 models. All are due to be released in Japan on February 9th. Laptop and desktop computers include 3 touch panel compatible models. All of these new models have Windows 8 “Office Home and Business 2013″ pre-installed.
I previously wrote about the convertible laptop/tablet “VAIO Duo11″ with Windows 8 64 bit on Intel Core i5, 11.6 inch display, 4GB RAM and SSD 128GB hard drive, but …
Lenovo saw notebook sales rise but desktop PC struggled in Q4 2012, the company has revealed today, with the shipments of portables up 9.5-percent year-on-year while sales of their desk-bound brethren managed a mere 1-percent rise. The Chinese PC company saw sales of $9.4bn over the three month period, shipping 14.1m PCs for pre-tax revenue of $246m. It also saw a profit from its Chinese smartphone division, the first time that’s been recorded.
Lenovo ended the quarter – as of December 31 2012 – with 15.9-percent of the PC market share worldwide, and was the fastest growing “major PC company.” Profit was up 15-percent year-on-year, to $1.1bn, while the contribution from smartphones, tablets, and smart TV rose 77-percent year-on-year.
However, it’s not all good news. Lenovo’s desktop PC business showed signs of the malaise across the industry, sales only climbing 1-percent, though shipments were up 5.8-percent worldwide. Lenovo is keen to point out that the PC industry as a whole saw a 6.8-percent decrease in shipments overall.
Lenovo now claims 12.3-percent of the Chinese smartphone market, while its smartphone, tablet, and smart TV group made $998m – 11-percent of the total quarterly sales. But it’s notebooks which are the real winners, with 15.8-percent market share and contributing over half of Lenovo’s total sales revenue. Sales in fact rose 8-percent year-on-year, to $4.8bn.
Lenovo notebooks put in Q3 2012 star showing as desktops struggle is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sony was mum on most of the details of the VAIO T15 and a touch-upgraded T14 when they appeared at CES. We won’t have to wait until the spring launch in the US to know what some editions of the Ultrabook will carry, though. At least for Japan’s February 9th release, the T15 won’t be running any Haswell-based parts — the top-spec system carries a 2GHz Core i7 from the current generation, a BDXL drive and a 1TB hybrid hard disk. The touch-ready T14 will be just as modest with a 1.8GHz Core i5, a DVD burner and up to 750GB of hybrid storage. We wouldn’t be shocked to see performance boosts to either PC before they cross the Pacific, but we at least know what to expect as a baseline.
Source: Sony (translated)
Acer expects Chrome OS to play an increasing role in its fortunes moving forward, as “Windows 8 itself is still not successful” according to the Taiwanese company’s president. 5- to 10-percent of Acer’s US shipments were Chromebooks such as the C7 ultraportable, Jim Wong told Bloomberg, and the company is confident that Chrome OS can sustain consumer interest in the face of what it sees as waning Windows 8 demand.
Acer saw a 28-percent drop in Q4 2012 shipments, year on year, and blames Microsoft’s new platform for its PC shortfall. “The whole market didn’t come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch,” Wong argues, “that’s a simple way to judge if it is successful or not.”
What particularly impressed the Acer chief was how well Chrome OS has done despite Google’s relatively low-key marketing of the platform. Unlike the Windows 8 gush in advance of Microsoft’s launch late last year, Google’s promotional work was “not as broad” Wong points out, describing it as “encouraging” how much consumer attention Chromebooks nonetheless garnered.
Likely to be helpful is the average price of a Chrome OS device, which – in part because Google gives away Chrome OS licenses free, rather than charging for them as Microsoft does for OEMs using Windows 8 – undercuts most regular notebook models. The C7, for instance – which we reviewed last year – is priced at just $199, though Wong says Acer spent some of the money it saved on licensing fees on marketing and promotions instead.
Acer now intends to launch Chrome OS devices more broadly, with particular hopes for the potential of the low-cost machines in developing markets. Unfortunately for Microsoft, that’s not the strategy Acer will be taking with Windows RT, the version of Windows intended for use on ARM-based tablets and notebooks. The company is still evaluating the platform, Wong says.
Meanwhile, Acer hopes to triple its smartphone sales in 2013, aiming for 1.5m sales globally and targeting individual carriers with specific devices, rather than blanketing the market. It’s likely that will involve Android, Google’s better-known OS.
Acer: Chromebooks good, Windows 8 bad is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Sony has unveiled its new 2013 Spring VAIO models. A featured new part of the line-up is an exciting model like nothing we’ve seen before – It is a hybrid PC / tablet. Literally, a PC that transforms from a PC to a tablet.
You don’t close this product the same way you do your regular laptop. Just slide the screen with Sony’s innovative “Surf Slider” and then it becomes a tablet. It slides smoothly and smartly and looks very sleek.
It’s a high-spec …
LG introduced today in Korea a new Ultrabook with the U560 that comes with a gorgeous IPS 15.6″ screen! With an ultra thin body of 20.9mm and a weight of 1.95kg, the U560 comes with a 1.8GHz Core i5-3337U CPU, 16GB of RAM (Max), the choice between a DVD Burner or Blu-Ray Driver as well as the choice between an SSD or HDD. Set for an Korea launch only the U560 will hopefully be later available in other countries as well.
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