[CES 2013] For those shopping about for a new Ultrabook, Toshiba has unveiled the Satellite U845T, a 14” Ultrabook with a touchscreen display which is starting to become commonplace with computers running Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 8. The display will be a TruBrite display and will feature a resolution of 1366×768 and will be powered by a 3rd gen Intel processor. Customers will be able to choose between either an i3 or i5 configuration depending on their needs, but we expect that the i5 model will cost a bit more than the i3.
[CES 2013] We have seen our share of new touch notebooks for Windows 8 and today, Vizio is coming to CES with its Thin+Light Touch lineup. The 14-inch model runs the AMD A10 4657M Quad Core 2.3GHz processor with 8GB RAM and features a HD+ (1600×800) touch display.
From the product photo we have, the aluminum unibody chassis looks thin and elegant, at 0.66-inch it is slimmer than the 13-inch Macbook air, however, it is one pound heavier than the Apple notebook (4.1 lbs vs. 2.96 lbs). I am eager to see it on the show floor at CES to be able to compare the built quality.
[CES 2013] VIZIO is coming to CES with a number of Windows 8 including thin laptops and one 11. 6” tablet. A hair thicker than the iPad (0.4” vs. 0.37” – 9.4 mm / 10.16 mm) for a significantly larger display (11.6” vs. 9.5”), the VIZIO tablet runs an AMD Z60 dual-core 1 GHz processor with 2GB RAM. That processor should deliver higher performance than the Microsoft Surface which runs on nVidia’s Tegra 3. The downside of the AMD solution would probably come from the shorter battery life.
The Full HD display (1920 x 1080) supports ten-fingers touch to comfortably operates the new Microsoft OS. There is only one front facing 2 MP camera however, the 64GB SSD offers good storage capacity. On the connectivity side, you will get the standard Micro HDMI out, micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. At 1.66 lbs, the device weighs a little more than the iPad (1.44 lbs) and the Surface RT (less than 1.5 lbs) with a larger body.
This seems to be an excellent Windows 8 tablet on the paper, but with no information regarding the pricing we cannot tell if this is a good product or not. In addition, we need to see it with our own eyes to check the build quality and actual battery life.
HP isn’t wasting any time here at CES and have already announced a slew of new monitors, desktop PCs, as well as a few notebooks. Today they’ve also added two awesome new Sleekbooks to their growing lineup. HP has just announced the all new HP Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook geared for Windows 8, as well as a non-touch Sleekbook to round out their offering. More details below.
The brand new HP TouchSmart Sleekbook is their best, most affordable touch notebook to date according to Kevin Wentzel, Technical Marketing Manager at HP. With the new Touchsmart they look to easily expand beyond the traditional keyboard and mouse for a truly emmersive touch experience provided by Windows 8.
Both new Pavilion Sleekbooks offer a full HD 15.6-inch display, and the TouchSmart is fully touch sensitive from edge-to-edge. It will feature full multi-touch gesturing, easy navigation, and much much more. Being 15.6-inches HP’s managed to still equip these new notebooks with numeric keyboards, user replaceable batteries, and excellent portability.
HP’s goal was to offer a friendly priced full touch notebook for Windows 8 users that delivers affordable reliability, outstanding durability and performance in a thin and light form factor. The all new HP Pavilion Sleekbook and TouchSmart Sleekbook provide exactly that. We’ll learn more of the full specs, details, pricing, and release date soon so stay tuned for hands-on pictures while we’re here live at CES 2013.
This week we’ve gotten both our first introduction to the newest in Lenovo’s Windows 8 wares and a first hands-on experience with gems such as the ThinkPad Helix. This machine is one of the new breed of transformable tablet PCs running full Windows 8 with a touchscreen monitor and full keyboard, but it’s got a bonus: you can flip it around backward and plug it back in the other way around.
What we’ve seen on this strange beast is a surprisingly thin machine overall (believe it or not) combined with a full notebook ride. While we’ve not had an extended time to see the way it’ll be working in the wild – in our laps, of course – but here at CES 2013 it seems like a rather realistically styled offering. The “Rip and Flip” experience isn’t half bad, either.
What you do is push down the button on the lower left of the display, pull it out, use it as a tablet, and replace it backwards in its keyboard dock home. With this ability you’re able to treat the machine as not just a notebook and a tablet, but as a stand-up touch PC as well. This is the newest of several ways you can work with a touch-capable Lenovo machine these days, folks, what will they bring on next?
Have a peek at the full Lenovo ThinkPad Helix details as they appeared earlier today here on SlashGear and let us know what you think – and get pumped for the full release later this year, too! Also hit up our full CES portal for more hands-on and up to the second updates all week long!
The Lenovo notebook lineup is vast here at the start of 2013 at the Consumer Electronics Show, and what with the ThinkPad Helix offering a whole new way to work with a convertible PC, the Windows 8 era appears to be in full swing. With the ThinkPad Helix you’ve got not just a new tablet, not just a new Ultrabook, but a machine that acts as both with a third way to utilize the Windows 8 touch universe in a whole new way. Then there’s the IdeaPad Yoga 11S, an upgrade of the Yoga lineup from 2012, here bringing tiny lightning claps in a whole new set of colors, too, including Cotton Candy Pink.
ThinkPad Helix
With the ThinkPad Helix you’ll be working with a high performance Ultrabook with a detachable 11.6-inch tablet creating what Lenovo assures is “the thinnest full-function Intel 3rd generation Core tablet with vPro” on the market today. This machine weighs in at just 835 grams and works with “Stand Mode” unique to any sort of device in this class – in this case it means that you’ve got the device connected to its keyboard dock like normal, looking like a laptop, then you “Rip and Flip”. This means you detach the tablet from the base, turn it around, and attach it with the keyboard facing its back, standing it up like a pro, still able to use the ports along the keyboard dock’s sides.
This machine also has a five button clickpad – 20 percent more than any ThinkPad that’s come before it – as well as the brightest display in ThinkPad brand history. The ThinkPad Helix has a 1080p IPS display and works with optional 4G LTE connectivity, meaning your favorite mobile brands COULD be carrying it soon – we shall see! This unit also works with NFC – tap in! The ThinkPad Helix will be starting at $1,499 USD and will be available starting in late February 2013.
IdeaPad Yoga 11S
The IdeaPad Yoga 11S works with an 11.6-inch HD IPS display with 10-finger multi-touch capabilities as well as many abilities that’ve previously been available only on the larger Yoga 13. This machine has Motion Control abilities like a hand-swipe in front of its webcam to move through photos, videos, and documents. Using Lenovo Transition you can automatically open applications in full-screen mode when the device is in one of its three non-notebook modes.
These three modes outside the standard notebook mode are called tent, stand, or tablet – that’s flat with the touchscreen out, folded up like a tent with the touchscreen out, and backward with the touchscreen out as well. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S comes with the same exterior build (casing-wise) as the Yoga 13, but now pushing forth with fabulous new color combinations including Cotton Candy Pink, Silver Grey, and Clementine Orange. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S will be available starting at $799 USD beginning in June 2013.
Starting things off fresh for CES 2013, Lenovo has just announced a new lineup of touch-based devices running Windows 8. The company unveiled new additions to the IdeaPad U series of Ultrabooks and the Mainstream Z Series, as well as the new ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531 business-minded laptops.
Lenovo’s new IdeaPad U310 and U410 Ultrabooks are just 18mm thin and boast a wake-up time of just one second, thanks to Lenovo’s own Instant Resume technology. The new Ultrabooks come packing with up to a 3rd-generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce graphics with DirectX 11. The U310 will be available in March starting at $779, while the U410 will release in April starting at $850.
Lenovo also has shown off the new IdeaPad Z400 and Z500 laptops and are the latest additions to the company’s Z series. These machines are optimized for Windows 8’s touch-based UI, supporting 10-finger touch at any given point. Both laptops come with a 3rd -generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce graphics. The Z400 will come with a 14-inch display and will be available starting in March at $699, while the Z500 will feature a 15.6-inch display and will be released in April starting at $699 as well.
Lastly, Lenovo announced the ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531 (also pictured at the top of this article). They’re the first ThinkPad laptops to include the company’s all-new OneLink technology, which allows users to connect to various external devices through a single cable connection, thus eliminating cable clutter without compromising performance. The ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531 laptops also feature improved graphics and higher-resolution displays, as well as a five-button ClickPad that will let users control various Windows 8 features from the keyboard. Both models will be available in May starting at $499.
What we’ve got here is the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook, a business-oriented notebook made to work in the Windows 8 environment with an amalgamation of hardware that’s precision-tuned to suit your in- and out-of-office needs. At first glance, this machine doesn’t strike one as the most unique piece of machinery on the planet – it’s a silver laptop, after all. But what it lacks in unique aesthetics, it more than makes up for in details that we’d consider suggesting this device to friends for on their own.
Hardware
This machine measures in at 13.3 x 9.09 x 0.75 in (33.8 x 23.1 x 1.89 cm) and works with a lovely 14-inch LED-backlit HD anti-glare 1366 x 768 pixel resolution display and is cased in mostly hard and soft plastic. While the bulk of this machine is metal, its ever-so-slightly soft along the top and the bottom while a ridge of almost rubbery soft plastic runs along the head – above the display, the area that you’ll use to pull the notebook open – very well placed. This notebook is 3.6 pounds – not the lightest Ultrabook in the universe – and is 0.74-inches thick.
Along the sides you’ve got more ports than you’re going to know what to do with, including 2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 (charging), DisplayPort 1.1a, VGA, AC power, headphone/mic jack, RJ-45, and a single SD/MMC card slot. You’ve also got an ethernet port so you can hard-wire to the web if you’re not all about wi-fi connectivity. You’ve also got a Kensington lock slot so you can keep the machine secure if you’re at a trade show or in a particularly nefarious office setting.
Note also that HP has made a point of assuring the public that their Elite line of products is hardcore – have a peek at our HP Making of Elite Tour Roundup to see our adventures all those months ago – smashing inside!
Also important if you want to keep your machine secure is the built-in HP Fingerprint Sensor which appears on the right side of your palm rest – make sure you’re not eating too much cake before you try to get read. Up to the right above your keyboard you’ve got dedicated on/off switches for both wi-fi and sound (muting, basically), and up and to the left you’ve got your power button – heavy metal!
The model we’ve got here works with a 3rd Gen (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core i5-3427U (2.80/1.80 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 2 cores) and has a Mobile Intel QM77 Express chipset. You’ll be able to see some standard performance results in the benchmark listing we’ve got below, but know this: this machine is performing at a 2013 level. It’s swift and powerful, more than ready to take on your standard business needs.
Software
The security and business-friendly options you’ve got on this machine are just what your manager’s been looking for, including HP’s ProtecTools suite with so many tools to keep people out of your computer that you’ll forget why they wanted to get in in the first place – pre-boot authentication and a password vault included! You’ve also got SpareKey for when you forget your own password. And of course, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) built-in.
You also get a tossing of apps that HP’s decided to add-in above what Microsoft’s Windows 7 or 8 gives you, including such gems as PowerDVD and PDF Complete. You do get Evernote right out of the box though, a good incentive to keep taking notes on your smartphone as well as your laptop. You get the option of working with Windows 7 Pro, Windows 7 Home Premium, or the version of Microsoft’s OS that we’re working with here, Windows 8.
If you do choose Windows 8, you’ll need some time to get used to the gestures you’ll be needing to make your own in order to get friendly with your everyday average apps. If you’ve got no touchscreen (this device does not have one, mind you), you’ll be dragging two fingers to the right or the left to navigate your Live Tiles. If you don’t know what that means, we suggest you pick this machine up with Windows 7, without a doubt.
The display on this machine is decent, but not spectacular. The same can be said about the speaker system. HP didn’t put as much effort into this machine’s entertainment abilities as it has with some of its more eye and ear-pleasing machines like the HP ENVY Spectre XT Ultrabook. This Folio machine is, on the other hand, one of the more well-put-together business-minded machines we’ve seen through the past 12 months.
System – LENOVO 344422U
Manufacturer
Lenovo
Product Type
Notebook
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
Motherboard
LENOVO 344422U
Processor
Intel Core i7-3667U
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Frequency
2.00 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
4.00 MB
Memory
3.73 GB DDR3 SDRAM 666MHz
FSB
99.8 MHz
BIOS
LENOVO G6ET22WW (1.01 )
Have a peek below at our standard benchmark test results for this machine and remember that it’s not an entertainment machine, and certainly isn’t made for gaming. Instead you’ve got a bit of a worker her made for a worker, inside and out.
Benchmark Score – Hewlett-Packard HP EliteBook Folio 9470m
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 Pro (64-bit)
Integer
Processor integer performance
3538
5029
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
6639
Memory
Memory performance
4933
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
4812
Battery Life / Options
On the bottom of this machine you’ve got both a docking connector and a secondary battery connector. HP doesn’t mess around when it comes to a strong accessories ecosystem and will certainly have your back when you look to expand with extra long-life-loving batteries and/or if you want to dock this beast up at your house when you get home from the cube. That said, the battery life on this machine is rated by HP for “up to 9 hours and 30 minutes” with its HP Long Life 4-cell (52 WHr) Li-Ion unit, and we’ve seen it bringing on easily 5-6 hours of up-time while using it for medium-to-heavy lifting on an average day.
Lifting, in this case, consists of editing enough video and photos for a full day of work on SlashGear, browsing massive amounts of content on the web, and items as simple as editing text documents (plus lots, lots more, of course). If you’re all about document editing and basic reading, you’ll have no trouble reaching up further for the beastly time HP suggests.
Wrap-up
With the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook you’re getting one of the nicest business-minded computers on the market today. Priced at $1,349.00 USD straight from HP, you’re going to get what you paid for. This is a machine you’re going to be able to use for years to come, and with the hardware this Ultrabook comes with right out of the box, it’s unlikely you’ll need to update your innards any time soon.
Just in time for CES 2013, Samsung has updated its Series 7 Chronos notebook with a few welcomed upgrades — the most notable upgrade being AMD’s Radeon HD 8870M graphics chip. There’s not too much information on the new laptop to go around, but it does have a RAMaccelerator, which promises 50 percent faster app loading, a full HD display, and JBL speakers.
Samsung posted up a video today showing off the refreshed laptop, and aside from the animal robots that take up most of the video, the company gives us a quick peek as to what the new Series 7 Chronos can do graphics-wise. We also get a glimpse at the keyboard and the outer shell, which both feature a brushed aluminum look.
While the full spec sheet is still a mystery at this point, the most notable bump in performance is the improved graphics. Since the company’s 17-inch model already has a full HD 1920×1080 display and JBL speakers, these improvements could be coming to the 15-inch model, and other features like the RAMaccelerator and upgraded graphics are also coming to the 17-inch version.
In the end, we don’t know what Samsung has up its sleeve, but you can bet big that the company will unveil more during CES next week. We certainly wouldn’t mind an Ultrabook with HD 8870M graphics, but we’re curious as to what other hardware will lie underneath those keys.
Samsung added a 17-inch model to its Series 7 Chronos laptop range last year, and updated the wholefamily with IvyBridge processors, to boot. Barely a breath into 2013, the company is at it again, teasing better hardware in the “new” Series 7. There isn’t much information in between the scenes of advanced robotic predators (video embed below), but those snippets mention RAMaccelerator (which promises 50 percent faster app loading), a full HD display, JBL speakers and most importantly, a beefy new AMD Radeon HD 8870M GPU. Since the 17-inch model already has a 1,920 x 1,080 panel and JBL speakers, these could be improvements coming to the 15-inch model, or maybe it’s a hint that RAMaccelerator and upgraded graphics are destined for the larger sibling — we just don’t know. As we’re merely days away from CES, it’s likely we’ll get a clearer picture of what’s what at the show, but we’ve also contacted Sammy for clarification in case beans are willing to be spilled beforehand.
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[CES 2013] We have seen our share of new touch notebooks for Windows 8 and today, Vizio is coming to CES with its Thin+Light Touch lineup. The 14-inch model runs the AMD A10 4657M Quad Core 2.3GHz processor with 8GB RAM and features a HD+ (1600×800) touch display.
[CES 2013] VIZIO is coming to CES with a number of Windows 8 including thin laptops and one 11. 6” tablet. A hair thicker than the iPad (0.4” vs. 0.37” – 9.4 mm / 10.16 mm) for a significantly larger display (11.6” vs. 9.5”), the VIZIO tablet runs an AMD Z60 dual-core 1 GHz processor with 2GB RAM. That processor should deliver higher performance than the Microsoft Surface which runs on nVidia’s Tegra 3. The downside of the AMD solution would probably come from the shorter battery life.
