Hasta La Gadget!

If you haven’t heard, Acer’s gone and (officially) jumped on the Ultrabook bandwagon, announcing the 13mm-thin Aspire S3. We’re here live at IFA in Berlin and just got some much-anticipated hands-on time. At the press conference that just wrapped, we were treated to a raft of promises — seven-hour battery life, 1.5 seconds to resume from sleep, two to connect to a wireless network and “no compromise” performance courtesy of ultra low voltage Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. So did our first impression come anywhere near matching the hype? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on (update: video!)

Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn’t have a great deal of info about this ultraportable when we went hands-on at Computex 2011, but we knew we liked its thin bezel and Air-like (though plastic) design. LG has now revealed the final specs and also announced it’ll launch the P220 in Korea this month and in Europe shortly afterwards. The Core i7 that powered the model we saw previously has been switched out for a Core i5, but unfortunately this doesn’t seem to have done a great deal for battery life, which LG says is around the 5.5-hour mark. In terms of ports, there’s nothing faster than USB 2.0, and the color range will put some people off too: white pearl, pink pearl or blue pearl, and definitely no lobster red. There is some good news though: that slimline bezel surrounds a full 12.5-inch IPS widescreen display despite the smaller chasis, with a claimed viewing arc of 178-degrees. Crucially, weight comes in at just under three pounds and the waistline is a mere 0.82-inches. LG hasn’t revealed pricing yet, but the company will need to keep a close eye on the forthcoming Ultrabook range if it’s to stand a fighting chance.

LG P220 ultraportable specs and shipping date revealed, still no price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We see countless laptops come and go through the seasons, but a rare few have built up something of a following. Make no mistake: the Sony VAIO Z, a skinny ultraportable brimming with cutting-edge technology and powerful innards, is that kind of gem. So when it disappeared from Sony’s online store earlier this year, more than a few techies took note. After all, the Z is part of a small fraternity of notebooks that combine an impossibly lightweight design with performance worthy of a larger system. People who missed out on the last-gen Z wondered when they’d next get the chance to buy, while some lucky folks out there with thousands to burn started itching for something thinner, something lighter, something… better.

Well, it’s here. The 2011 VAIO Z is, indeed, thinner, lighter, and more powerful. It also might not be the Z you were expecting. Whereas the last generation combined it all, cramming in an optical drive and switchable graphics, this year’s model leaves much of that at the door — or, at least, in an external dock that ships with the laptop. This time around, the Z has no optical drive, and packs just an integrated Intel graphics card on board. (Don’t worry, it does squeeze in lots of other goodies, including standard-voltage Sandy Bridge processors and expanded solid-state storage.) If you want that Blu-ray burner or the stock AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics card, you’ll have to plug into the Power Media Dock, an external peripheral that uses Intel’s Light Peak technology.

That’s quite the gamble Sony is taking — after all, the company is essentially betting that you won’t need to do anything too intensive while you’re on the go. On the one hand, this inventive design is sure to intrigue the Z’s usual early adopter fanbase. But will it satisfy those who always liked the Z because of its no-compromise design? And then there’s the issue of that $1,969 starting price, a likely stumbling block for people trying to decide between this and an equally thin, less expensive ultraportable. What’s a well-heeled geek to do? Let’s find out.

Continue reading Sony VAIO Z review (2011)

Sony VAIO Z review (2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like those skinny Ultrabooks Intel was trying to sell us on at Computex will all be hitting the market at roughly the same time. Despite earlier suggestions that HP would beat ASUS’s planned September launch, DigiTimes reports the Palo Alto company’s Air competitor may not actually ship until as late as Q1 of 2012, thanks to LCD supply issues. Those problems scoring enough panels are also holding up similar systems from Acer and Dell. To make matters worse, it seems those promised sub $1,000 price points were a bit optimistic. ASUS told the Taipei Times that its UX line would only be able to hit such a price using slower Core i3 chips — upgrading to a Core i5 and sticking in an SSD would push the price towards the $2,000 mark.

[Thanks, Marco]

Ultrabooks to start arriving in September, more expensive than expected originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There comes a time when that giant, corporate-issued laptop stops fitting into your lifestyle. When dragging around a Kensington roller case just won’t do. When you start to hear the siren lilt of something thinner, lighter, and maybe a bit more alluring. For years the MacBook Air has been that svelte temptress hollering your name, but it’s always been a bit too slow — all show and no go. It didn’t have the power and the longevity to make it a serious contender for your serious affections.

No more. With its latest refresh, Apple has taken what was once a manilla-clad curiosity and turned it into a legitimate machine, not just a sultry looker. Good thing, too, because the death of the plastic-clad MacBook means the Air is now Apple’s entry-level portable. Weary traveler looking for a laptop that will lighten your load and, it must be said, your wallet too? This might just be it.

Continue reading MacBook Air review (mid 2011)

MacBook Air review (mid 2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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