Hasta La Gadget!

The Acer C7 Chromebook is the most recent addition to the Chromebook universe and one of Google’s chosen few to be featured on their very own Chomebook portal. This device sits aside the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook as one of three (the other being a slightly higher-powered Samsung Chromebook 550.) This device reduces the baseline price of a Chromebook in general down to $199 and brings with it a slightly thicker and less MacBook Air-looking solution than Samsung’s Series 3 – but where does that extra $50 USD go?

Hardware

Like each of the three hero Chromebooks being shown by Google right this minute, you get 100GB of Google Drive storage for free for 2 years – once it runs out, you simply cannot add any more files to that extra space, but if you want, you can certainly keep your files up there forever (so they say.) Other than this, it’s a whole different ballgame. This machine has an 11.6-inch display that has generally OK viewing angles, but don’t expect to sit anywhere other than directly in front of or to the left or right of it, or you’ll start to see the light.

You’ve got a boot time that’s “under 20 seconds”, so Google says and quotes correctly, leading us to note that yes, indeed, it is a fast machine. It’s quickness should be assumed, of course, due to the very lightweight nature of Chrome OS. It’s essentially a small storage space on your device tied with the Google Chrome web browser – that’s what Chrome OS is, and that’s what it remains here with the Acer solution.

The 4 hours of battery life you’re quoted exists when you’re actively using the device for 4 hours straight, on the web. If you leave the device open and asleep, you’ll easily get several days of uptime. The processor inside this beast is extremely good at battery conservation, that’s for certain. We’ve literally had the device on for three days at a time with no more than 20 percent battery drain – fully asleep, mind you, with no power cord, either.

You can connect this device to a larger monitor via VGA or HDMI if you like, with the second monitor offering you a mirror of what your Chromebook is showing off. This is good for showing webpages to your colleagues as well as YouTube videos – or your Google Play movie collection. You can also connect to other devices with the three USB ports on this device quite easily, and the whole machine works with a dual wi-fi chip that’s able to connect anywhere in your house – with plastic being the main material used here, this machine has no trouble sending or receiving signals of any kind.

You can connect with the Ethernet port on the left side of this device as well if you’re going for ultra-quick web connectivity. This works great to upload or download media to and from your 320 GB of build-in hard drive disk space as well as your full-sized SD/MMC card port that sits just under your keyboard down and to the left. The camera that sits above the monitor on this device is called “HD” but delivers just a generally acceptable web chat experience for Google+ Hangouts – and/or wherever else you plan on chatting via video.

User Experience

This device, much like the Samsung Series 3 solution, is made for web browsing and web browsing alone. If you want the most full-featured computing experience you’ve ever laid your hands on, look elsewhere. What we’ve got here is $199 worth of hardware from top to bottom. It’s not aiming to be the most fantastically simple notebook on the planet, and as its made of primarily plastic, you wont be winning any “wow this notebook feels amazing” awards.

What you will get is a perfectly legitimate web browsing device – and if your primary reasoning behind purchasing a notebook is to browse the web, you’ve got yourself a winner right here. Google has successfully created a user experience here with Chrome OS in its current state that cuts down on everything not necessary to browse the web and have a good time doing it.

The only deterrent you should have here as far as usability goes is the touchpad. It’s not a MacBook, that’s for certain, but it’s just as high quality as the Samsung model. If you’re used to a standard netbook or a low-end notebook running Windows or Linux (with some exceptions), you’ll be perfectly satisfied with this experience tapping and scrolling.

Wrap-up

Acer has succeeded in boiling out all the high-end features that make a notebook cost more than $400 and took Google’s Chrome OS to just about as standard and basically acceptable place as they possibly could, tagging it with a very suitable $199 pricetag. If you only want to browse the web with your notebook, and that’s it, this machine will serve you well.

Be sure to head to your local large-arena showroom store to check how this machine feels in your hands before you pick it up, then be glad you kept the other $300 you’d have otherwise spent on a notebook full of features you might never have used. Use it to buy a Google Nexus 7 and take your best pal out for a nice supper on top.

Acer C7 Chromebook Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Maingear has added a new gaming notebook to its lineup called the Nomad 15. Last month, the company announced a larger version of the same notebook called the Nomad 17. The Nomad 15 will be lighter and easier to take with you on the go if you’re the sort of PC gamer who always has to have your favorite game ready to go.

The Nomad 15 has lots of hardware options and can be fitted with third-generation Intel Core i7 processors. The machine comes with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M mobile graphics card as the base GPU. That video card can be upgraded to the GeForce GTX 675MX or GTX 680M. All of the GPU options support Nvidia’s Optimus technology for power savings.

The computer also has the ability to overclock the GPU at the touch of a button to increase performance by up to 8%. The machine supports quad core processors operating at up to 3.8 GHz. It can also be fitted with up to 32 GB of RAM and supports a number of storage options, including SSDs, HDDs, and RAID arrays.

Other features of the computer include integrated Killer Networks Doubles shot technology combining Killer E2200 LAN and 1202 Wireless for gaming with less lag. The keyboard of the computer is fully backlit and the 15-inch matte display supports full HD resolution. The trackpad supports gestures, and the machine has USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and eSATA ports. Other features include integrated Bluetooth, HDMI output, and VGA output. The notebook also has an integrated subwoofer. Pricing for the notebook starts at $1549 and goes up significantly with options.

Maingear Nomad 15 gaming laptop aims for mobile gamers is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a move that will certainly have those of you thinking about getting a Chomebook jumping for joy, Acer and Google have announced a new C7 Chromebook for $199. This lovely machine is ready to take on the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook with a price that under-cuts that machine by $50! This machine has an 11.6-inch display and many of the same perks that come with the Samsung machine, starting with 100GB free storage for 2 years on Google Drive.

This machine also has a beastly 320GB hard drive, so you’ll have no worries when it comes to keeping all your media safe. The C7 Chromebook comes with an Intel Core processor for awesome power – here with an 18 second boot-up time, so says Google. This device also comes with all the lovely Google Chrome apps you love – the same as every Chromebook, as it were, since they’re all based in the Chrome web browser.

This device is 1 inch thin and weighs in at 3 pounds. It’s got dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and ethernet access for the web, and both a VGA port as well as a full-size HDMI port for video output. This machine is added to the burgeoning family of next-generation Chromebooks that also includes the Series 3 Chromebook from Samsung and the Samsung Chromebook 550. It’s also got additional bonuses such as 12 free sessions of Gogo Inflight internet – connect up high!

This device is sure to add to the madness that is next-to-free notebook devices, especially and particularly because of it’s $199 price point undercutting the already undeniable $249 of the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook. If you’re thinking about getting a device for web browsing only – this is certainly going to be one of your best bets. Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on the Chromebook universe as it ramps up to the 2012 holiday season.

[via Google]

Acer C7 Chromebook unveiled for $199 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows 8 officially launched last week, which means that a ton of new computers, laptops, and tablets are either on shelves now or coming up soon. By far one of the most interesting new Windows 8 machines is the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, a new convertible that aims to show off Windows 8 in all of its touch-based glory. The major selling point of the Yoga 13 is its 360-degree hinge, which allows you to use the laptop in a number of different ways. It’s certainly cool, if not a little strange at first.

If you couldn’t already tell, I haven’t used very many convertibles. I was never really sold on the idea of a tablet/laptop hybrid, but with what I’ve seen of the IdeaPad Yoga 13, I might be singing a different tune by the time everything is said and done. The Yoga 13 impresses right out of the box – the silver chassis looks sleek, and I was actually surprised by how light it is. I was certainly expecting heavier than 3.3 pounds, though with that weight, the Yoga 13 still has some heft that you won’t find in traditional ultrabooks.

The screen is really nice as well, though again a little unconventional as far as ultrabook screens go. Instead of running at the 1366×768 resolution we’re all so bored with, the Yoga 13′s touch screen is running at 1600×900 resolution. It’s an odd resolution that we don’t see to often in notebooks, but it’s a welcome change. The visuals are sharp and touch is responsive. This plays hand-in-hand with the touch-friendly tiles in Windows 8; even when using the Yoga 13 in notebook mode, I’m finding myself using the touch screen instead of the track pad. I said in my Windows 8 review that the operating system was clearly geared toward touch screens, and the Yoga 13 backs that assertion up.

There are four different “modes” Lenovo has been pushing with the Yoga 13: notebook mode, which is self-explanatory; stand mode, which allows the user to place the keyboard face-down with the screen angled upward; tent mode, which has the user standing the laptop up on its ends like a little mini tent; and tablet mode, achieved by folding the screen all the way around to the underside of the notebook. Tablet mode feels a little strange at first due to the fact that the keyboard is exposed on the slate’s backside, but thankfully the keyboard and trackpad are both disabled when you’re using a mode other than the traditional notebook setup. This means that you don’t have to worry about hitting keys and screwing everything up while using the machine in tablet mode.

On the inside, there isn’t too much deviation from the hardware found in other ultrabooks. We’ve got a third-gen Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz – essentially the industry standard for ultrabooks – working alongside 4GB of DDR3L RAM, making the Yoga 13 quite the little speed demon. That’s all helped along by the 128GB SSD, so if it’s speed you want, the Yoga 13 probably isn’t going to disappoint. On the outside, the pickings are a little slim, as you’ve only got one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port to take advantage of. Those are joined by a 2-in-1 card slot (SD and MMC), a headphone jack, a full-size HDMI port, and of course, the jack for the power adapter.

I’m impressed with what I’ve seen of the IdeaPad Yoga 13 so far. There are certainly aspects that are going to take some getting used to, but I’m looking forward to spending more time with the Yoga 13 and seeing all that it and its 360-degree hinge have to offer. My full review of the IdeaPad Yoga 13 will be coming up shortly, but in the meantime, let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to touch on.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 hands-on and first impressions is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Panasonic introduced last Friday in the US its new 12.5″ convertible with the Toughbook C2. Designed for professional the new C2 comes by default with Windows 8 Pro, a nice 5-point capacitive multi-touch 12.5″ 500 nit LCD IPS display, 4GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5-3427U vPro CPU, USB 3.0, WiFi, Bleutooth, LTE or 3G and a battery life announced for 11h! The Panasonic Toughbook C2 is available this December from authorized Panasonic resellers starting at $2949. The Toughbook C2 …