Hasta La Gadget!

Back in May, we caught a glimpse of Acer’s TravelMate 8481, rocking an extra thin bezel and up to 13 nine hours of battery life for the road-weary sojourner. At the time, Acer was touting a mid-June launch, but we’ve just received word that the Core i7-packing notebook won’t make it into carry-ons until late August. As of now, we’ve only got UK pricing — £699, to be exact — leading us to wonder when the thing will make the journey stateside. As per usual, we will keep you abreast of the details as they roll in. Until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow

Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Panasonic unveiled the Toughbook H1 tablet last year, it at least got the tough part down pat. This Windows 7 slate had a magnesium alloy chassis and met the military’s MIL-STD-810G standards for shock, dust, heat, water, and cold resistance — comforting claims for construction workers, soldiers, and pretty much anyone used to working in the wild (or, at least, standing up). The problem was, it ran on a dinky Atom processor, and left the rugged types using it with just one miniature port for attaching peripherals. Clearly, Panny agreed those were some serious shortcomings, because the brand new H2 goes a wee bit beyond mere spec bumps. The latest generation leaps forward to a 1.7GHz Core i5-2557M ULV processor with Intel’s vPro technology, along with USB 2.0 and serial sockets, and space for either a second USB port or an Ethernet jack. At the entry-level (!) price of $3,449, you’ll get a 10-inch (XGA), 6,000-nit display, 4GB of RAM, a removable 320GBGB 7200RPM shock-mounted hard drive, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 radios, and twin swappable batteries that promise up to six and a half hours of runtime. After that, the list of possible add-ons runs long for corporations and government agencies with deep pockets. These include up to 8GB of memory, a 128GB SSD, Gobi 3G or 4G radio (the latter’s coming in the fall), GPS, barcode or RFID reader, 2 megapixel camera, an insertable or contact-less SmartCard reader, or a fingerprint sensor. Good thing the boss is treating, huh?

Update : Lots of you are asking about the weight. Here’s your answer, folks: it’s 3.5 pounds, compared with 3.4 pounds for the last-gen H1.

Continue reading Panasonic intros rugged Toughbook H2 tablet, steps up to Core i5 and full-sized ports

Panasonic intros rugged Toughbook H2 tablet, steps up to Core i5 and full-sized ports originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba just unveiled what it claims is the world’s first glasses-free 3D laptop, the Qosmio F750. It’s a heavy-set beast dedicated to gaming and movies, with a 15.6-inch Full HD lenticular screen that can display 2D and 3D simultaneously in separate windows. It also rocks an HD webcam that follows your movements and adjusts the 3D effect accordingly, so you can peek at the that lovely third dimension from almost any angle you like. Innovative stuff indeed, but we were underwhelmed when we caught a glimpse of Toshiba’s concept model back in January. So, has the technology improved since then? Check out our hands-on impressions and video after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba reveals the Qosmio F750 glasses-free 3D laptop, we go hands on (video)

Toshiba reveals the Qosmio F750 glasses-free 3D laptop, we go hands on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 05:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s so-called Ultrabooks may be a little way off into the distance at the moment, but the company isn’t making you wait until its Ivy Bridge rollout to get a taste for ultraslim laptops with some real power inside them. A trio of new ultra-low voltage CPUs, each rated with a TDP of just 17W, has been added to the company’s catalog, starting with the top-tier Core i7-2677M, whose pair of cores run at 1.8GHz by default but can be sped up to 2.9GHz when duty calls. Then there’s the i7-2637M, which looks to only differ in clock speeds (1.7GHz default, 2.8GHz under Turbo Boost), and the i5-2557M that makes do with a 3MB L3 cache (1MB less than its i7 brethren) and a 1.7GHz / 2.7GHz speed range. All three 64-bit, 32nm processors also integrate a GPU (350MHz base clock, maxes out at 1.2GHz) within their walls, which is what makes their ascetic power consumption all the more impressive. OEMs should soon start splicing these new options into their next generation laptops, and while the obvious speculation centers around a MacBook Air refresh, CNET tells us the Core i5-2557M has already found a home in ASUS’ upcoming UX21, a (purportedly) sub-$1,000 11.6-inch featherweight contender.

Intel adds to ULV processor line with 1.8GHz Core i7 and i5 options, one of them to star in ASUS UX21 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We got acquainted with Acer’s new Aspire Ethos 8951G and 5951G laptops a week ago, and told you all about its hot hardware and its £999 price in the UK. Well, now these marvelous multimedia machines have journeyed across the Atlantic and brought their nifty detachable touchpads, which double as multimedia remotes, with them. The North American versions (named AS8951G and AS5951G) also pack the same 18.4-inch and 15.6-inch HD displays and USB 3.0 ports as their British counterparts. There’s Core i5 and Core i7 Sandy Bridge silicon and GeForce GT 555M graphics to give you plenty gaming grunt, and to ensure that the sounds match the visuals, both models pump out 5.1 channel surround sound. Low end audio in the AS5951G comes courtesy of a bass booster, while its big brother has a small subwoofer stuffed in its underside. So, what’s the damage to your wallet for these two black beauties? The AS5951G and AS8951G run $1,400 and $1,600, respectively, here in the States, while prices start at $1,200 and $1,500 CAD for our friends in the Great White North. Interested parties can find the full nitty gritty in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer unveils Aspire Ethos laptops built to please eyes and ears in the US and Canada

Acer unveils Aspire Ethos laptops built to please eyes and ears in the US and Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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