Laptop

LG's display division has just released its financial performance figures for the third quarter of 2020 (3Q2020). It has posted a net profit of about US$9.7 million, whereas it reported losses in 2Q2020 and in 3Q2019. There are also year-on-year (YoY) and quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) gains in revenue and operating profits in this new report.

Microsoft's latest laptop is both a great netbook and a terrible Ultrabook. If you're thinking about spending $900 on the Surface Laptop Go, then you may as well just consider the more capable 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 3 instead.

With the Yoga Slim 7 14, Lenovo offers users the choice between AMD and Intel processors. We have tested both versions.

Finding a decent laptop for under $500 USD is like walking into a field of landmines as OEMs will often cut deep corners or hide important drawbacks from potential buyers. This IdeaPad S340 15 deal isn't perfect, but it's one of the better laptops you can find for under $500.

According to a recent leak, NVIDIA is prepping multiple mobility-focused Ampere graphics cards. These include, among others, the GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q, GeForce RTX 3070 Max-Q, and GeForce 3060 Max-Q. Questions remain, though, about performance and power consumption.

Eve Devices is adamant that it should not ship its upcoming Spectrum monitor "until it is ready". To this end, it has revealed that the shipping date for its QHD/240Hz and 4K/144Hz SKUs has been pushed back to February 2021. This, apparently, will give it time to iron issues with its production out.

Intel CEO Bob Swan has confirmed that the first dedicated Xe graphics chip is now shipping and should be delivered before the end of the year. Its gaming desktop counterpart, the DG2, will not follow for a few months, though.

Lenovo is now introducing Ryzen 4000H APU options for the world's lightest gaming laptops featuring RTX 2000 GPUs. The new Legion Slim 7 models can be equipped with up to a Ryzen 4900H APU coupled with up to 32 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, up to 2 TB of NVMe SSD storage and up to an RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU. Users can also choose between 60 Hz / 144 Hz FHD displays and even a 60 Hz 4K HDR screen.

Lenovo has had to remove almost all its products from its German website, because of a patent dispute with Nokia. The Chinese company has supposedly been violating H.264 patents that Nokia holds, resulting in the Finnish company taking out an injunction to freeze Lenovo's online sales.

Dell's compact business-oriented 13.3-incher offers long battery life, a good keyboard (backlit), and a fast NVMe SSD. An LTE modem is optionally available.

Usually, we prefer a laptop with good maintenance possibilities. But with the Dell Latitude 15 5510, an M.2 drive and a sata drive are mutually exclusive so only one port can be used at the same time.

The all-in-one RGB-enabled docking station promises up to 3000 MB/s read and 2600 MB/s write rates all via Thunderbolt 3.

Acer has teamed with Porsche Design to offer the Porsche Design Acer Book RS with a carbon fiber lid and a premium unibody design. The Acer Book RS is powered by the Intel Tiger Lake Core i7 processor and comes with 16 GB RAM and optional GeForce MX350 graphics. Acer is also making available a Porsche Design premium Travel Pack RS accessory set, which includes a Bluetooth mouse, mouse pad, and an ECCO Palermo XA leather travel bag.

Finally, the Windows 10 fall update is here, better known as the October 2020 update or Windows 10 20H2. The new update remains a free one for all existing Windows 10 licenses and features a host of changes, including a new start menu, settings improvements and better Microsoft Edge integration.

Despite the hardware from the gaming entry-level, you don't have to worry about the performance. The Legion 5 brings all the current computer games smoothly to the matte screen (Full HD, IPS). However, the highlight of the laptop is the excellent battery life.

In order to bring the total weight down to 643 grams, Fujitsu had to reduce the number of components, replace the metallic upper cover with carbon fiber and redesign some of the ports and internal circuitry. The UH-X / E3 models are powered by the Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU and includes a small 25 Wh battery, but Fujitsu also offers the slightly heavier UH90 / E3 models with 54 Wh batteries and the UH75 / E3 models powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 4700U APUs that weigh just under 1Kg.

Acer is targeting mobile content creators with the Swift 3x. The Acer Swift 3x is powered by the latest Tiger Lake processors and features the Intel Xe Max dGPU, formerly known as DG1. The Swift 3x also sports a vibrant 14-inch FHD display with a 72% NTSC coverage and will be available from December starting from €899.

Acer is releasing an updated mobile workstation: The ConceptD 7 Pro combines the Quadro RTX 5000 with Intel Comet Lake H. As a variant, the ConceptD 7 contains the GeForce RTX 2080 Super instead of the ISV-certified Quadro.

The new Travelmate models come in slimmer yet sturdier chassis made of an aluminum-magnesium mix. Upgrades include the latest Tiger Lake CPUs with Xe iGPUs, up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, up to 1 TB NVMe SSD storage, a Thunderbolt 4 connector and a larger battery that can last up to 15 hours.

Acer has redesigned its convertible Acer Swift 3 with a new 16:10 WQXGA (2,560x1,600) touchscreen. It also features Intel's new Tiger Lake processors and comes with an upgraded battery. The notebook will be available for purchase in January 2021 for €999 (US$1,181)

Acer has released an updated version of its Spin 5 convertible notebook with 11th-generation Intel processors. It also comes with a 3:2 screen protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. Prices start at €1,099 (US$1,300) for the base variant, which will be up for grabs in December 2020.

Today (October 21, 2020), Acer has unveiled its latest gaming monitors. The Predator X34 GS is the likely headline here, as it combines a 34-inch 1900R panel, a UWQHD resolution and a new stand type in one. Then again, the 24.5-inch XB253Q GW is the one with the highest (280Hz) refresh rate here. There is also a new Nitro XV272U KV which offers some attractive specs for a decent price.

A new software tool from Parallels, the Parallels Desktop for Chromebook Enterprise, allows certain Chromebooks to natively run Windows apps alongside Chrome OS apps, no Internet required. The software seamlessly integrates Windows into Chrome OS, allowing shared use of system functions like the clipboard, network connections, and more.

The Covid-19 pandemic often has connotations of economic downturn and general consumption-insecurity. Nevertheless, the US consumer tech sector is now projected to grow by 18% year-on-year for the final quarter of 2020 (4Q2020), whereas this figure was 4% in 4Q2019. This increase is thought to be connected to the need for remote working and learning equipment, particularly laptops and monitors.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 5000 APU lineup will be a mix of Zen 2 Lucienne (Renoir Refresh) and Zen 3 Cezanne parts probably with the intention of offering more value to OEMs and maximizing the utilization of the 7 nm node. So far, there is no direct way to demarcate both the architectures in the lineup save for the fact that the odd-numbered parts are Lucienne while the even-numbered ones are Cezanne.

Previously known as DG1, Intel's Xe discrete GPUs may first launch with select Tiger Lake laptops. One of these could be the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TP470EZ convertible that is advertised to be featuring the first Xe dGPU named Iris Xe Max. No official specs for this model as of yet besides the 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM, but we are hearing that it may feature a 96 EU G7 chip with higher clocks.

Dell is slashing $50 off the price of its latest entry-level convertible laptop equipped with the Core i5-1135G7 processor and integrated Iris Xe graphics for a final tally of $650 before taxes. However, we recommend upgrading the touchscreen to 1080p or else you'd be stuck with only 768p.

ROG Strix Scar 15 G532, ROG Strix Scar III G531, HP Pavilion 15-cs0053cl, XPS 13 7390, XPS 13 9380, Yoga C930, Yoga Book C930... it's no surprise that even we're starting to get a bit confused at how all these names are structured.

The Dell XPS 13 9310 is here, and its packs Intel's latest Tiger Lake-U series processors. Early performance comparisons show the Core i7-1165G7 to be a decent improvement from its Ice Lake predecessor while still falling short of AMD's Renoir mobile processors. If only Dell offered the XPS 13 with Ryzen 4000 series APUs.

Lenovo's top-of-the-line 10th gen Ice Lake convertible gets another price cut in anticipation for the upcoming 11th gen Tiger Lake replacements set to arrive before Thanksgiving.

Intel-based business laptops still have to make do with Comet Lake. This may not stop business customers from buying, but for many customers, laptops with outdated hardware no longer make sense. The HP ZBook Firefly 15 G7 also shares this fate.

Intel's latest Celeron 6305 and 6305E processors have a number of up-to-date features and specs that may make devices based on them particularly worthy of consideration. There may have a lower base clock here compared to its immediate forebear, but it also supports double the cache, as well as faster memory and graphics. And, of course, Thunderbolt 4 is here in these newer models.

Intel has launched the Pentium Gold 7505 processor, which, unlike its immediate predecessor, has a 10 nanometer (nm) architecture thanks to its place in the Tiger Lake series. It also now has double the cache and supports faster integrated graphics compared to its closest 2019 counterpart - with Thunderbolt 4 on top of that.

MSI has enhanced this series' strengths with the Creator 15. The Comet Lake update offers a decent performance increase while the UHD panel scores points with its high luminosity and vivid colors. Only the battery suffers from this high performance.

If you want to get the maximum performance out of a laptop, the XMG Ultra 17 is the right choice. The massive 17-incher can be equipped with a Core i9-10900K, a GeForce RTX 2080 Super, 128 GB of RAM, and up to four M.2 SSDs.

SMIC's N+1 (7 nm) chips are mostly on par with GloFo's, Samsung's and TSMC's competing nodes as far as scalability and power consumption is concerned, but the Chinese tech is still a step behind when it comes to performance. Next goal for SMIC is to dethrone TSMC in regards to Chinese chip orders.

We recently reviewed the 15-inch version of the ultra light-weight Galaxy Book Ion and were very pleased with it - all except for one major issue. Despite its good connectivity, its driver issues mess with its overall rating. We hope the manufacturer will be sending an update.

Last year, we posed the question to our readers about how they would feel if laptops begun shipping without integrated 3.5 mm audio jacks similar to most smartphones nowadays. Now, it appears that at least one laptop manufacturer is slowly but surely testing this out for themselves.

It's gonna be tough finding another 14-inch laptop with both GeForce MX350 graphics and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity in this price range. One of Lenovo's best 14-inch Ultrabooks is now the cheapest it's ever been complete with a glossy 1080p display and metal chassis.

The Predator Helios 300 can run all current games smoothly. It comes with a 17.3-inch screen (144 Hz, FHD, IPS). Users can install up to three storage devices in the Helios 300.

In this quick test, we attempt to overclock and underclock the Ryzen 5 4600U APU powering a Xiaomi RedmiBook 16 using the new Renoir Mobile Tuning 1.0.0. Underclocking worked like a breeze, but the Renoir-U APU in question shows no overclocking potential. We suspect that the Renoir-H APUs may be more overclocking-friendly.