Hasta La Gadget!

Oh sure, Acer may have spent the first half of the week convincing us that its newest laptops and netbooks were the sweetest systems around, but now it’s turning the attention to its Gateway brand only tempt us with equally as enticing options. The ID series has been on our radar ever since we saw its blue-glowing touchpad at Computex, and luckily both the 14-inch ID49 and 15.6-inch ID59 will hit US retailers for less than $800 in the coming weeks. The exact configurations are unclear, but they’ll have Core i3 / i5 CPU options as well as NVIDIA Optimus graphics. On the netbook front, Gateway’s bringing out the 10.1-inch LT23, which looks the same as the LT22 we caught a glimpse of a few weeks back. Powered by an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive, the netbook will start at a tempting $329. Check out the gallery below for some shiny press shots and the full press release after the break. Oh and Acer, we’re giving you permission to chill on the new laptops for a bit!

Continue reading Gateway’s glowing ID laptops arrive along with new LT series netbooks

Gateway’s glowing ID laptops arrive along with new LT series netbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We wouldn’t fault you for thinking that’s a first generation ASUS Eee PC what with that iconic fingertip pose and all. But Toshiba’s AC100 is a very modern take on the ol’ Atom-based netbook idea. For starters, this super slim smartbook runs Android 2.1 on a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 250 SoC (built around a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor) capable of about 8 hours of browsing and video playback (and 7 days standby) before needing a recharge. It’s also packing a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G data, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI jack beneath that 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 pixel display. As for software, the AC100 ships with Documents to Go for editing MS Office docs, an email client with POP3, IMAP, and Exchange support, an Opera Mobile browser, and a Tosh media player which should support HD 1080p video playback if it’s taking full advantage of that Tegra 2 silicon. Too bad Toshiba is being quiet about the pricing and availability ’cause this little guy has us intrigued.

Update: Netbooked got its hands on with the Japanese Dynabook AZ twin and received confirmation that it’ll ship in Japan in August for between ¥40,000 and ¥50,000 (about $438 to $548). Video after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba’s AC100 8-hour Android smartbook plays 1080p video on a 1GHz Tegra 250 processor (update: video!)

Toshiba’s AC100 8-hour Android smartbook plays 1080p video on a 1GHz Tegra 250 processor (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen some evidence that Macs running Steam are generally more powerful than PCs running Steam, and it looks like Apple is busily working to make sure that all potential performance is put to good use. As Valve’s Rob Barris has confirmed on the company’s forums, Apple, ATI and NVIDIA are all “involved” in improving Mac gaming performance, and that “performance is going to improve as drivers are updated.” Barris further went on to say that he expects “modest improvements in short term and larger ones in longer term,” but wouldn’t offer any specific dates as to when some of those updates might roll out.

Valve says Apple, NVIDIA and ATI are working to improve Mac gaming performance originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, that’s a pretty loaded headline, but that’s exactly what Toshiba’s new laptops are… loaded. Let’s start with that beauty pictured above — the now fairly familiar and often leaked 15.6-inch Satellite A665. Starting at $1,599, the 3D bad boy boasts pretty much everything you’d want in a mobile gaming rig under two grand, including an Intel Core i7-740QM CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 350M graphics with 1GB of VRAM, a 640GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and a Blu-ray drive that supports 3D playback. It comes with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision kit, which includes the usual active shutter glasses and emitter. But it’s not all about the specs on the A665 — both it and the M645 have been redesigned with chiclet keyboards and a new Fusion X2 finish that combines a glossy and matte coating. Those taken with the A665 but aren’t into the 3D stuff can configure a 16-inch version, which starts at $799, with a choice of Intel Core 2010 processors.

The 14-inch M645 is the smaller version of the A665 and features Core i3, i5 and i7 CPU options as well as AMD’s Phenom II Quad Core processors. On the graphics front, we’re extremely happy to see the line use NVIDIA’s Optimus technology to automatically switch between the GeForce 310M or GeForce GT330M GPU and the IGP. To boot, the systems can be configured with Blu-ray and 7,200rpm hard drives. We should also mention that both the A665 and M645 have Toshiba’s new Sleep + Music capability, which allows you plug a music player into the mic jack and blast out your tunes through the laptop’s Harmon Kardon speakers even when it’s powered down. We told you these machines were loaded. We’ll be bringing you full reviews soon, but in the meantime enjoy the pics and full PR below.

Continue reading Toshiba Satellite M645 boasts NVIDIA Optimus and improved aesthetics, Satellite A665 makes its 3D arrival

Toshiba Satellite M645 boasts NVIDIA Optimus and improved aesthetics, Satellite A665 makes its 3D arrival originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just in case you were wondering where and when you might get a taste of the Optimus elixir, NVIDIA has handed us a detailed list of Computex debutants that will be taking the graphics switching technology with them to retail. A total of sixteen new Optimus machines are on show in Taipei, and although ASUS is still the biggest purveyor (with six SKUs, not counting previously announced products), Lenovo and Acer have also jumped on board, with the IdeaPad Y460 and a pair of Packard Bell EasyNotes, respectively. Notably, the FX700 above from MSI is marked as using an “unannounced” next-gen graphics chip, which we suspect might be the GTX 460M, a mobile GPU that NVIDIA is showing, but not talking about yet. Guess that’ll be slotting in just below the recently unveiled GTX 480M. We’ve got pictorial evidence of the 460M’s existence after the break, along with the full list of new Optimus-ized machines, which you can also scope out in the gallery below.

Continue reading NVIDIA shows 16 new Optimus laptops at Computex, teases GTX 460M GPU

NVIDIA shows 16 new Optimus laptops at Computex, teases GTX 460M GPU originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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