The Sony VAIO Pro 11 and VAIO Pro 13 are being hailed as the lightest ultrabooks with a touchscreen in their respective classes, with the smaller unit weighing about 1.9lbs and the larger weighing about 2.3lbs. Both are constructed from carbon fiber, adding an element of durability to their svelte frames. As with the VAIO
Dell is taking a low-key approach to Computex this year, with a key product to cut through rivals’ bloated ranges. This time around, it’s the Dell XPS 11, an 11-inch hybrid that’s fronted by a 2,560 x 1,440 touchscreen, and which can fold around fully to make it a tablet. In case you hadn’t spotted it already, it’s something of a riff on Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga 11 we played with last April.
Like the Yoga 11, the XPS 11′s raison d’etre is catering to those mobile users who want the tactile convenience of a relatively compact touchscreen form-factor, but who also demand a proper keyboard occasionally. Well, although we say “proper”, in fact Dell has taken some liberties to get around the feeling of a wobby keyboard constantly at your fingers when you’re holding it in tablet mode.
Instead of regular notebook keys, then, the XPS 11 has a flat, touch-sensitive ‘board, which both Engadget and The Verge compare to the TouchType add-on keyboard for Microsoft’s Surface tablet. That means no typing feedback, and Dell also deactivates the keys altogether once you fold the screen more than 180-degrees around.
Dell isn’t confirming final specifications, but the XPS 11 will have an Intel Core i5 Haswell processor – from Intel’s 4th-gen line-up – along with an active stylus for sketching and handwriting recognition; that’ll slot into a holder clipped to the Kensington lock port when not in use. Ports include USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and an SD card reader, though there’s no telling what RAM, storage, and wireless connectivity will be; Dell will confirm those closer to launch, which is expected sometime around the holidays.
Overall, the final notebook is expected to come in at under 2.5 pounds and be less than 15mm thick, and despite this being a prototype, first impressions on build quality are positive. Carbon fiber and metal abound, and the quality of the screen – particularly its broad viewing angles, with colors staying almost consistently vivid from no matter where you look at the display – also gets the thumbs-up.
We’ll know more when Dell gets a little less tight-lipped closer to the XPS 11′s release.
IMAGE: Engadget
Dell XPS 11 tackles Lenovo Yoga with bendy-flexy ultrabook is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While Acer is pushing forth several machines this week that take on the mantel of an entirely new design in and of themselves at Computex, the Acer Aspire S7 looks, on the surface, to be the same machine as it was earlier this year. Under the surface though is a reboot that means more than just accepting the 4th generation of Intel Core (Haswell) processors. Included in this reboot of the Aspire S7 is 2nd generation Acer TwinAir cooling, new electroluminescent (EL) backlit keyboard technology, and a new option for a display sharper than its already-1080p-wielding predecessor.
Though it seemed almost over-the-top seeing 1920 x 1080 resolution on this notebook earlier this year – see our Acer Aspire S7 review to see what we mean – this new iteration of the machine will have a 2560 x 1440 pixel option. That’s WQHD on a 13.3-inch display, using IPS LCD technology on what’s also the first display to be both WQHD and 10-finger touch for Acer.
This notebook – this Ultrabook, rather – works with an ever-so-slightly thicker body at 12.9mm (where the original was 12.5mm) and remains light enough to compete at 1.3kg. Both sides of the lid (the top and the display) are covered with Gorilla Glass 2 while the bottom bit is made with a single block of aluminum.
NOTE: Above and below you’re seeing the original Acer Aspire S7 – the reboot appears in the gallery below, and is essentially identical save its optional WQHD display.
Acer employs dual-array microphones with this machine with Acer’s own PurifiedVoice technology. This aims directly at making the computer understand, transmit, and record – where necessary – your voice for voice recognition (hello Google) and VOIP applications in as “crystal clear” a manner as Acer is able.
The display’s ability to pull back 180 degrees – flat, that is – allows for more multi-user capabilities as well. “Touch-and-show sharing” they call it, with a hotkey combination flipping the orientation of the display at will. Aside this machine’s 4th gen Intel Core processor is a RAID 0 solid state drive for silent operation and quick read/write times and wakeup from sleep.
Intel’s Haswell generation of Core processors work here to bring on Intel WiDi technology so that this machine can extend or mirror its display to a TV or otherwise big screen monitor wirelessly. Intel’s technology is also implemented here to improve battery life, coming in at 7 hours according to Acer, that ending up bringing a 33% improvement over the original.
At the moment Acer notes that this update to the Acer Aspire S7 will be available in the third quarter of 2013. Pricing and more specific release information will be appearing soon.
Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook gets Haswell reboot with optional WQHD is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This week Acer has appeared at Computex with several next-generation computers, the largest of which is a 23-inch display-toting all-in-one PC with ultra HD resolution, this machine called the Aspire Z3. This PC’s 23-inch screen works with 1080p Full HD LED-backlit LCD technology and 10-point touch, made for families and multi-person working environments with its 178-degree viewing angles. Inside users will find an Intel Core processor (which generation we’ll find out soon) as well as Intel HD graphics.
This machine is the first All-in-one made by Acer to work with Harmon Kardon speakers – these speakers work with Dolby Home Theater v4 technology to delivery “world class” sound while the Aspire Z3 interacts with a variety of machines via its many ports.
Around this computer you’ll find inspiration from the original Acer M5 desktop machine, here grouping “frequently used” I/O ports in what Acer calls a “capsule-shaped” area up front: onscreen display buttons, USB 3.0, an SD card reader, and a 2-in-1 combo audio jack can be found here. Elsewhere on this machine can be found two more USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI input, and of course a power-in port.
Acer notes specifically that the HDMI input “turns the Z3 into a brilliant display for game consoles.” This along with the machine’s adjustable webcam up top make for a unique combination that allows the unit to serve more purposes than the average all-in-one.
As it is with the Ultrabooks announced today, pricing and sale information will be announced at a later date – at the moment it would seem that this all-in-one machine will be available by the end of the month, but final word at the moment is not entirely solid. We’ll know soon!
Acer Aspire Z3 All-in-one PC tunes up touch with Full HD is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Today at Computex Acer has revealed several products in the Windows 8 arena, coming in with a tablet that’s made for a single hand, as they say, with the Acer Iconic W3. This machine is the first 8-inch tablet to have been introduced with full Windows 8 aboard, also working with an Intel Atom Z2760 processor to assure proper processing power for the full Windows 8 experience. This machine was also introduced with the 2013 Microsoft Office Home & Student suite installed out of the box, this bringing on apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
The Acer Iconia W3 works with an 8.1-inch display to be precise, this working with LED-backlighting technology and 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, able to deliver 720p videos on the go. Though the tablet is presented as a stand-alone unit, there’s also a unique full-size Bluetooth keyboard that holds the tablet upright and “docks to the tablet” for screen-protected travel. There’s also, of course, an on-screen keyboard as comes standard with any Windows 8 device.
Acer suggests that this machine works with up to 8 hours of battery life, at the moment says they’ll offer a wi-fi-only iteration of the unit with 802.11b/g/n, and of course assures us there’s Bluetooth technology onboard as well. This device will be offered in two storage size options, either 32GB or 64GB (internal), with a microSD card slot included with both that’ll allow 32GB more with your own microSD card.
This 8-inch tablet works with a micro-HDMI port, microUSB port, and two cameras – one on the front, the other on the back, both of them coming in at 2 megapixels. This device will be available for MSRP $379 USD, but as pre-sales begin, final pricing may be different (possibly even lower).
It’ll be interesting to see this machine work with the Office family now that the whole bunch is updated for touch – especially since this will likely be the smallest display they’ve been used on thus far. Acer is also bringing on a collection of other devices like the Liquid S1 phablet, Aspire S7 and S3 Ultrabooks, and more – all of them working with touch, all of them appearing at Computex this week.
Acer Iconia W3 is industry’s first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dell may already have a 23-inch multi-touch display, but if you’re looking for something a little smaller and cheaper, then we have good news for you. The company informed us of its new model named “S2240T,” a 21.5-inch touch monitor with the same 1,920 x 1,080 resolution as its larger sibling. It also stands on a sliding base that can tilt as much as 60 degrees, but unlike the other model this one can’t lay flat. Other features include HDMI, DVI and VGA ports, as well as a relatively efficient power consumption of just 20W. Dell’s already offering the S2240T on its website for $399.99 — quite a drop from the S2340T’s $699.99 price tag. Hit the source link for more information.
Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Dell
Source: Dell
We have recently spent some time working (and playing) with the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart notebook computer. Specifically, we have been using the 15-4010nr Ultrabook model. This is a Windows 8 machine and it happens to be sporting a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display and as implied by the TouchSmart in the name — this one is a touchscreen notebook. The notebook looks good, feels solid and has specs to match. Of course, on the flip side of that, the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart isn’t the lowest priced notebook on the market. The pricing starts at $1,399.99 and while we cannot say whether this notebook will be needed by all, we can share some opinions that will help you answer that question for yourself. With that, read on for our full HP Spectre XT TouchSmart 15-4010nr Ultrabook review.
Before we get into the specs of the notebook, lets first talk bout the notebook itself. The TouchSmart looks really nice, albeit a bit similar to the HP Envy Spectre XT, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. HP has the TouchSmart decked out in an aluminum and brushed silver finish. The lid of the notebook has a shiny silver HP logo and there is also the “Hewlett Packard’ branding on the side. While the outside is pretty muted in terms of brands and logos, the inside has a little bit more going on. That is not to say HP went overboard, but there are two Beats Audio logos and two HP logos on the inside.
Otherwise, the notebook has what you want and need and it has all the items in places that seem to make sense. You have the standards such as the keyboard and trackpad, however the speakers, power button, air vents and all ports are nicely placed. And in the case of the ports, they are nicely laid out for easy access. Take for example, we found it a plus to have USB ports on both sides of the notebook.
The keyboard itself was nicely spaced and to be honest, rather comfortable to type on. The keyboard is also backlit. The same can be said about the trackpad (which happens to be glass) as it just worked nicely. The trackpad performed well for everything from scrolling to Windows 8 gestures and it even has an integrated left and right click option. Of course, while the trackpad can be used for gestures and scrolling — this particular notebook does ship with a touchscreen display.
In this case you will be getting a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Touching (pun intended) a bit on the display, while we are not fully convinced of the need for a touchscreen display on a notebook, it did manage to get quite a bit of use during our testing.
In fact, after using the HP Spectre TouchSmart for a while, we found ourselves reaching up to touch other notebook displays. Basically, this notebook proved comfortable and powerful enough for our everyday needs. In fact, the power was probably a bit overkill for our use case which consists mostly of web browsing, documents and some light image and video editing.
Looking at the notebook you will see the webcam sitting centered above the display. Specifically, the webcam is an HP TrueVision HD webcam with an integrated dual array microphone. Shifting to the sides of the notebook and you will find Ethernet, full-sized HDMI, Thunderbolt and pair of USB 3.0 ports on the left side with a full-sized SD card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, one USB 2.0 port, charging connector and a Kensington lock slot on the right hand side.
Shifting over to the software and we start with a 64-bit edition of Windows 8. That of course is to say that you will see the now familiar array of tiles. In this respect there isn’t much in terms of surprise, the notebook has the usual array of shortcuts such as Games, Music, Video and Camera as well as Internet Explorer, Mail, Messaging, Calendar, SkyDrive and the Store. Plus, you will find some third party goodies including Netflix, Kindle, eBay and a few others.
Perhaps the nicer part here is the additional software that has been installed. HP ships the Spectre XT TouchSmart with the full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premier Elements. Users will also be able to find help in the form of the HP Support Assistant app, which is a default tile.
Otherwise, there is a trial version of Microsoft Office. Norton Internet Security is also included, and free for the first two years. Basically, there is Windows 8 with the expected goodies as well as a few extra perks for those looking to do some image editing or movie creating.
In terms of the performance — the keyboard feel solid, the trackpad was smooth and the display is bright and crisp. There was also Beats Audio along with those previously mentioned four speakers. As far as the sound quality, while the sound certainly was not what you are going to get from a full set of desktop speakers, we would describe it as being above what we would consider good for a laptop.
| Manufacturer | Hewlett Packard | Product Type | Notebook |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit) | ||
| Motherboard | Hewlett-Packard 1886 | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3517U | ||
| Processor ID | GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9 | ||
| Processor Frequency | 2.39 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 | 7.90 GB DDR3 SDRAM 799MHz | FSB | 99.8 MHz |
| BIOS | Insyde F.04 | ||
Along with, the Spectre XT TouchSmart ran rather nice to use day to day. Our unit was equipped with a 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB (5400RPM) hard drive and Intel HD Graphics 4000. Looking at those specs and we probably would have been more surprised had the notebook not run smoothly. Our usage included everything from streaming a movie from Netflix and some television with Hulu Plus, to watching a movie stored locally, to some music and audiobooks and of course, web browsing. Plenty of web browsing.
There was also a little bit of light video editing and plenty of image editing. Battery life on the other hand felt lacking. We were able to get a few solid hours, but it seems to be short as compared to some of the other currently available notebooks.
| Section | Description | Score | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit) | |||
| Integer | Processor integer performance | 6188 | 8357 |
| Floating Point | Processor floating point performance | 11274 | |
| Memory | Memory performance | 7591 | |
| Stream | Memory bandwidth performance | 7271 | |
Aside from the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart’s battery life, the overall experience was rather pleasant and comfortable. Not only did the notebook perform well, but it did so looking really nice — both in terms of the exterior casing and the quality of the display. While we wouldn’t hesitate to offer a recommendation, we could see the price being an issue for some. That is not to say the Spectre XT TouchSmart isn’t worth what HP is asking, but just that there are plenty of less expensive options to choose from.
HP Spectre XT TouchSmart Notebook Review is written by Robert Nelson & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This week SlashGear is having a peek at the Acer Aspire R7 notebook – that rather unique piece of machinery you saw advertised last month aside teasers for the newest Star Trek movie. It’s no surprise that this device was chosen to take on that role as its mysterious – and here we find rather enticing – abilities allow it to look like a rather familiar starship. With Acer’s “Ezel” hinge, the Aspire R7 can take on several shapes – including that of the Kirk-captained Enterprise.
Up in front the user will be working with a 15-inch display at 1080p resolution, this run by an 3rd generation Intel Ivy Bridge processor – we’ve got i5 but you’ll have the option of i7 as well, depending on when you check the device out. Inside is Windows 8 right out of the box, and the display has 10-finger touch sensitivity.
Also inside you’ll find 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, not to mention a 24GB solid state drive as well. The whole machine weighs in at approximately 5.5 pounds, which is right there on the edge of “this is kind of heavy” and “oh this isn’t as heavy as it looks”.
Under the machine you’ll notice some rather sizable bumpers. These pieces of rubbery material hold the notebook hybrid in place while you’re swiveling your display around and offer a bit of a bump so your speakers can blast out the bottom and the sides. You’re also working with some Dolby technology there for sound – and we’re already sure it’s loud.
As it was with the Star Trek Into Darkness film, so too was this machine available starting on the 17th of May. It’ll run a prospective owner $999 USD, and we’ll be letting you know if it’s all worth it soon – stay tuned for SlashGear’s full review!
Acer Aspire R7 Hands-on: Spock’s Choice is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
HP has a lot of laptops these days, and they all have their own unique look, but the company never really has had a signature style these past few years. However, they refreshed their line of desktops and laptops today for 2013, and while school just let out for the summer, it’s never to late to begin shopping for a college laptop for the fall.
One of the most notable new products arriving for the summer is the Envy 14 TouchSmart Ultrabook, which comes with a 14-inch display at 1366×768 by default, but can be immediately upgraded to a more feasible 1600×900. Furthermore, though, you’ll be able to upgrade to a whopping 3200×1800 resolution sometime this summer, all of which is touchscreen-equipped.
The laptop has a modest starting price of $699, but that won’t get you the high-resolution display sadly — you’ll most likely have to hand over more cash in order to enjoy the 3200×1800 resolution. There’s no word on what hardware the new laptop is running, but we’re guessing Intel’s new Haswell architecture is tucked neatly inside, waiting for an official unveil next month during Computex.
The New Envy 14 TouchSmart looks to take on Google’s Chromebook Pixel and Apple’s MacBook Pro Retina-equipped laptops. However, Samsung is also in the running, as they recently announced a laptop of their own that packs a 3200×1800 display. What we once thought was insanely high-res, is now playing catch-up with HP and Samsung. Who would’ve thought?
HP also showed off their other refreshed laptops, such as 15-inch and 17-inch variants of the Envy line, as well as new Pavilion 11-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch laptops that include a mixture of Intel and AMD processors, as well as NVIDIA mobile graphics. Furthermore, the company added on five new desktops that pack Intel’s new Haswell chips. You can grab one for as low as $289 for the HP 110, although you’ll have to cough up more for a robust machine.
VIA: Engadget
HP Envy 14 TouchSmart Ultrabook packs a 3200×1800 display is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Touchscreen laptops appear to be rising in popularity as the newest data from market research firm DisplayBank says that touchscreen notebook shipments have jumped 51.8% during Q1 2013 compared to the previous quarter. A total of 4.57 million touchscreen laptops were shipped during the quarter, making up 10% of all notebook shipments during Q1 2013.
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