Hasta La Gadget!

Never mind the fact that Intel’s outing a mid-range laptop CPU long after the highest of high-end — the 2.53GHz Core i5-2520M is shaping up to be a lovely option for those who’d prefer a budget choice with plenty of horsepower for churning through HD video. The benchmarking gurus over at Hot Hardware recently grabbed hold of the new silicon, and they noticed an “unmatched performance-per-watt profile for mobile CPUs,” not to mention a robust graphics core, “ridiculously low idle power consumption,” a respectable price point and plenty of power for any software title not named Crysis 2. ASUS’ 15.6-inch K53E was the test machine, and with a starting tag of just $899, it’s definitely a compelling package. Based on their testing, this particular CPU was around 15 to 25 percent faster across the board compared to its previous generation 2.5GHz Arrandale counterpart, and that’s with around the same power draw, too. Hit the source link for more charts than you’d care to see on an average workday, and be on the lookout for this chip to hit a whole slew of new rigs in the coming weeks.

ASUS’ K53E laptop gets reviewed, 2.53GHz Core i5-2520M CPU gets praised originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We suspect that some other laptop manufacturer will be coming out of the woodwork in around 4.98 seconds here to refute Gigabyte’s claim, but as of now, the 15.6-inch P2532 above is the planet’s thinnest laptop with a second-generation (Sandy Bridge) Core i7 CPU. It’s not “ultrathin,” per se, but for packing such a serious amount of horsepower, it’s definitely on the anorexic side of things. Our pals over at TweakTown managed to get their paws on one, and they noted that it was sporting a 1920 x 1080 resolution display, a 500GB (7200RPM) hard drive, NVIDIA’s GeForce GT550M (2GB) with Optimus technology, a DVD burner, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, four speakers, a makeshift subwoofer and more ventilation ports than would normally be considered healthy. The company’s also offering up a smattering of interchangeable lids, with the pastel yellow one in particular catching our eye — can’t say it’s for the right reasons, but we digress. Sadly, there’s no price or release date to share just yet, but there is a hands-on video just past the break. Head on down and hit play, won’t you?

Continue reading Gigabyte’s 15.6-inch P2532: world’s thinnest second-gen Core i7 laptop (video)

Gigabyte’s 15.6-inch P2532: world’s thinnest second-gen Core i7 laptop (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s top-secret prototype labs must be clocking hours like mad, as Sony Insider reports that the company has two more surprises in store — in addition to a PlayStation tablet, dual-screen clamshell and sliding PC, the skunk works has cooked up a Chrome OS notebook, as well as a “VAIO Hybrid PC” that defies any sort of meaningful explanation in just three words. The Chrome OS device is reportedly modeled after Google’s own Cr-48 reference design with roughly the same dimensions and keyboard but an oh-so-slightly smaller 11.6-inch screen, and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 running the show alongside 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash storage. Sony’s also shooting for eight hours of battery life, and a weight of just 2.2 pounds.

All of that pales in comparison to what Sony’s plotting for this “Hybrid PC,” though. The publication says we’re looking at a thin-and-light Core i7 notebook with an incredible 8 to 16.5 hours of battery life, Intel Thunderbolt and an internal SSD, all of which plugs into a dock of some sort that adds a Blu-ray burner and external graphics (by AMD) for gaming and multimedia. We don’t have any pictures or proof at this point, but it sounds like a whopper of a tale, and just the sort of thing that Intel was talking about making possible with the 10Gbps of bandwidth that Thunderbolt brings.

Sony crafting VAIOs with Chrome OS, external GPUs and Thunderbolt tech? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret: if your laptop sits atop your lap for an extended period of time, you’re going to get burned — okay, so maybe not burned, but you’re definitely going to feel the heat. Luckily GE has been working (under contract for DARPA) on a new phase-change based thermal conductor that promises to cool electronics twice as well as copper, at one-fourth the weight. The breakthrough means big things for those of us who’d like to make babies one day, but we doubt that’s why DARPA’s shelling out the big bucks — the new material functions at 10 times normal gravity, making it a shoo-in for on-board computing systems in jetliners. Using “unique surface engineered coatings” that simultaneously attract and repel water, the new nanotechnology could mean not only lighter, cooler electronics, but also an increase in computing speeds. Goodbye scrotal hyperthermia, hello cool computing! Full PR after the break.

Continue reading GE’s new phase-change based thermal conductor could mean cooler laptops — literally

GE’s new phase-change based thermal conductor could mean cooler laptops — literally originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The feature-rich and utterly gorgeous Series 9 laptop from Samsung has just received its US pricing and unfortunately it’s a bit of a whopper: $1,649. For that outlay, you’ll be getting a 13.3-inch screen, an LED-backlit display with 400 nits of brightness, Intel Core i5-2537M dual-core processor running at 1.4GHz, 4GB of RAM, and one super-speedy 128GB SSD. It’s an intriguing proposition, as both price and specs are decidedly high-end, but the decision as to which one wins out we’ll leave up to you. Hit up Samsung’s site below for a list of retailers — the Series 9 is listed for pre-order at the moment, but we doubt it’ll be long before delivery trucks start rolling out with ultrathin laptop boxes in tow.

[Thanks, Dave]

Samsung Series 9 laptop priced at $1,649, makes our wallets gently weep originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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