Hasta La Gadget!

Good things come in pairs, right? Earlier this year Samsung revamped its high-end Series 9 line with two new Ultrabooks: an impressively thin 15-inch model, along with a more portable 13-inch machine. So far this year, we’ve gotten a chance to review the larger version which remains one of our favorite ultraportables ever, thanks to its minimal design, fast performance, lovely display and long battery life.

“So what?” you’re thinking. “Why bother revisiting the miniature version?” For one, friends, Samsung only recently refreshed the Series 9 with third-generation Intel Core processors, and we were eager to make note of any performance gains. More importantly, though, the 13-inch Series 9 faces stiffer competition than its big brother. There truly isn’t another big-screen notebook quite as thin or as light as the 15-inch Series 9; if those are the attributes that matter most, that’s the laptop you’re best off getting. But the smaller Series 9 finds itself fighting for space on retail shelves amidst high-end ultraportables like the MacBook Air, ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A, the HP Envy Spectre XT and, well, you get the idea. So how does this $1,300 system fare against such worthy opponents? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Samsung Series 9 review (13-inch, mid-2012)

Samsung Series 9 review (13-inch, mid-2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big PC companies are often seen as being at odds with the concept of custom-built computers: apart from letting us tick a few checkboxes before we order, they’d rather we not fiddle with the internals. Fujitsu is breaking the mold and embracing some of that DIY culture with its upcoming Hands-on Custom PC Assembly Service. The Japanese can take classes that teach them how to install their picks (from a limited range) of processors, hard drives and RAM. While the program doesn’t start completely from scratch — the motherboard is already installed — it takes would-be assemblers through many of the experiences of building their own PCs from the ground up. Builders can choose how many components, if they’re not quite so ambitious, and learn smart practices like wearing anti-static wristbands. While there won’t be as many unintentional jolts of electricity as the real deal, the courses should help PC owners feel comfortable working inside a computer — not to mention save Fujitsu a few technical support calls. The variable-price courses start in Japan on August 9th for multiple Esprimo desktops and a LifeBook portable. We can only hope that American PC vendors take a few hints and encourage everyone’s inner technician.

Fujitsu starts build-it-yourself PC service, lets you go homebrew without the electrical shocks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This certainly doesn’t come as a huge surprise given where Acer has been focusing its attention as of late, but it looks like the company is truly intent on shedding its image as a low-cost brand — at least in Europe. Speaking with TechRadar, an Acer spokesperson said that “it can be a slightly conflicting message,” referring to it also offering computers under its Packard Bell brand, and that “Acer is moving away from the lower end.” In this case, Acer is defining low-end as under £400, or roughly $600, although it says there will be some crossover. The spokesperson further added that “Acer will become more premium,” also noting that “we try to separate the two brands as far as possible, so the average consumer has no idea that the two brands are associated.” What that means for Acer in North America (where the Packard Bell brand is long gone) remains to be seen, but we’ve reached out to the company for comment.

Acer says it’s ‘moving away from the lower end’ in Europe, leaving cheaper laptops to Packard Bell originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tablet shipments will eclipse those of notebooks in just four years time, according to new research, as Apple’s iPad leads a slate storm that will overshadow traditional mobile computing. While the mobile market as a whole is expected to more than double by 2017, NPD DisplaySearch claims, that growth will be disproportionately driven by tablet sales, shipments of which are tipped to more than triple.

The research team suggests that notebook shipments will grow from 208m units this year to an estimated 393m units in 2017. Meanwhile, tablet shipments will grow from 121m this year to 416m units in the same period, with particular interest from the so-called “mature markets” of North America, Japan and Western Europe which are already showing traditional computing saturation.

“While the lines between tablet and notebook PCs are blurring, we expect mature markets to be the primary regions for tablet PC adoption” NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim says. “New entrants are tending to launch their initial products in mature markets. Services and infrastructure needed to create compelling new usage models are often better established in mature markets.”

Overall, the mobile PC market will grow from 347m units this year to in excess of 809m units by 2017. Tablet shipments will overtake those of notebooks sometime in 2016, it’s predicted.

Tablets to overtake notebooks in 2016 researchers predict is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Announced early May, then officialized early June, Today (Early July) NEC finally gave its LaVie Z its definitive launch date and price line-up. So technically speaker nothing much has changed here, the LaVie Z is still an ultrabook and still comes with a Core-i7-3517U or Core i5-3317U, SSD, a 13.3″ screen with a 1600×900 resolution and lithium-magnesium alloy but comes now in an even lighter package and now weight just 875g instead of the 999g previously announced!
Anyway the first …