Hasta La Gadget!

Last time we left off in the tale of Windows 7 tablets, we’d taken a look at Netbook Navigator’s Nav 9 slate, which by review’s end had us not only wanting to send it back as soon as humanly possible, but concluding that something better just had to be on the horizon. Well, as luck would have it, just a few days later CTL’s 10-inch 2goPad SL10 showed up on our doorstep with some very promising ingredients — a capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, front facing camera, and a Win 7 software layer. As we said in our early hands-on, we’ve been more impressed with the $499 (it will go up to $599 in late October) 2goPad than we ever thought we would be, but ultimately its Atom N450 processor and its software stand in its way of being the Win 7 tablet to kill ’em all. You’ll want to hit the break to read all about it in our full review.

Continue reading CTL 2goPad SL10 review

CTL 2goPad SL10 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Panasonic’s Toughbook CF-U1? Yeah, so it’s been a while (2008, in fact) since it was unveiled and then reviewed, which is exactly why Panny thought the time had come to update the rugged UMPC. Its Toughbook U1 has the same magnesium alloy chassis — we’re told it’s still the most rugged Toughbook of them all — but has been updated with “enhanced sunlight viewability.” It’s no PixelQi display, but the TransflectivePlus screen can be cranked up to 6000 nits for checking e-mails and other pertinent information in the bright light of day. Internally, the U1 has acquired a newer 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a larger 64GB SSD with Windows 7. The optional two megapixel front-facing camera has also been tweaked with better auto-focus and white balance features. However, the updates aren’t just hardware-based: screen icons have been enlarged, and there’s a new virtual right click button and larger virtual keyboard with a zoom mode. Of course, military grade doesn’t come cheap — the street price has been set at whopping $2,799. That still makes it one of the most expensive Atom device out there, but then again can you really put a price on something that’s Rammer-resistant? We didn’t think so.

Continue reading Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core

Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boy, did Dell show just off the craziest device on stage at Intel’s IDF 2010 day two keynote. What started as a tablet device converted to a netbook just by opening to the keyboard and literally swiveling the screen from within the frame. This hybrid’s got a 10-inch screen, houses a dual-core Atom N550 and runs Windows 7 Premium. And if it looks at all familiar, that’s because we saw something eerily similar in a leak from April (hello, Sparta). No price given and Dell isn’t providing us any more details, but it should be released by the end of this year.

Update: It ain’t pretty, but we managed to bum rush the stage and get some footage of the Inspiron Duo during as it made its transformations to and from a keyboard-equipped existence. It’s after the break… along with a press photo!

Update 2: And now we’ve got a much clearer video for your enjoyment. Check it out!

Update 3: Dell sent over a pretty hefty press photo, so we decided to break it down piece-by-piece. To the gallery!

Continue reading Dell’s Atom-powered Inspiron Duo: 10-inch netbook / tablet hybrid with a crazy swivel (update: more video and detailed press photo!)

Dell’s Atom-powered Inspiron Duo: 10-inch netbook / tablet hybrid with a crazy swivel (update: more video and detailed press photo!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We realize keeping up with HP’s model numbers can be as hard as keeping tabs on say, Lindsay Lohan’s run-ins with the law, but the 5103 is notable in one major way — it’s one of the first netbooks to ship with Intel’s dual-core Atom N550 processor. Like the 5102, the 5103 is still primarily aimed at business professionals. In fact, HP hardly messed with the look and feel of the aluminum dressed laptop — the chassis and features are pretty much the exact same, although HP did ditch the black lid for an “Espresso” color and preload some new “Day Starter” instant-on OS. Obviously, the big deal here is the new processor and seeing as how we’ve been waiting on Intel to release a dual-core Atom CPU for netbooks since well, the first netbook we were eager to see how much power that extra core adds and if it impacts battery life. Hit the break to see some of the results.

Continue reading HP Mini 5103 with dual-core Atom N550 performance review

HP Mini 5103 with dual-core Atom N550 performance review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s that time of the year again! Yep, the time when most laptop makers start thinking about the holiday season and unleash a massive amount of systems. Samsung’s kicking off its announcements at IFA with the SF and NF Series, both of which have a brand new wave or fin-like designs — they were apparently codenamed “shark” within the company. Beginning with the netbooks, the NF series will hit in the coming weeks and will be available in two skus — the ivory, single-core Atom NF210 will be $379 and the silver NF310 will have a dual-core Atom processor for $399. We got a chance to check them out a few days ago and found the overall build quality to be really solid — we really loved the new chiclet keyboard as well as the swirly pattern on the metal touchpad. Sammy’s also claiming over 10 hours of battery life on them, but we’ll obviously want to test that for ourselves.

On the bigger and badder end is the SF Series. Similar to the netbooks, the mainstream laptops have glossy lids with the new wave like edges. According to Samsung’s global press release, they’ll be available with Core i3 / i5 processors and in three different sizes — there’s the 13.3-inch SF310, 14-inch SF410 and 15.6-inch SF510. The US team tells us the $749 Core i3-powered, 500GB hard drive-packing SF510 will hit the market soon and will be a Best Buy exclusive. We got a peek at that one as well, and similarly love the new chiclet keyboard, though we’re hesitant on this one’s single-button touchpad. Until we bring you some full reviews, there’s additional details in the press release below and some hands-on shots in the gallery.

Continue reading Samsung launches new NF and SF Series laptops with ‘shark’-like designs

Samsung launches new NF and SF Series laptops with ‘shark’-like designs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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