Laptop

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.

Dell has announced a whole range of sales events and deals for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and winter 2020 in general already. They include discounts on some Alienware laptops, desktops and monitors. Some of this hardware will be cut by up to 50% in price during these events.

Dell's end-of-2020 holiday deals have been outlined in good time this year. They are a range of discounts on PCs and monitors for entrepreneurs as well as those looking for gift ideas already. This includes Vostro-brand machines, in addition to the new XPS 13 Touch.

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Only a year after the first-class Jedi Fallen Order, EA sends its next Star Wars epic into the race. Squadrons offers action-filled space fights and turns out to be surprisingly undemanding when it comes to hardware.

The ROG Strix G17 doesn't lower its guard and displays all modern games smoothly on the matte screen (IPS, Full HD, 144 Hz). The individually configurable LED bar on the bottom brings color into play. The laptop can accommodate up to three M.2 SSDs.

Powerful gaming laptops can get very expensive very fast. If you want limit yourself to less than $1,500 you may want to take a closer look at MSI's GF75 Thin 10SDR, a 17-inch laptop with plenty of gaming prowess thanks to its built-in GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

Samsung has launched two new lines of memory cards with compelling speeds and specs. They are the new EVO Plus and PRO Plus series, which both have the full SD form-factor and come in sizes of 32 to 256GB. They are rated for high speeds and for advanced 'sevenfold' durability.

Puro Sound Labs makes personal audio products that, as it asserts, provide a high-end listening experience while protecting the user's aural health. It is known for its PuroGamer headset, and has also just launched the PuroPro active noise cancelling (ANC) "adult" headphones. It has also released UK and US pricing for Amazon's 2020 Prime Day sale.

Lenovo has finally announced the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon, but it will not be making its way to North America. Similarly, the machine may not even be released in Europe. The sub-1 kg ultrabook features a 16:10 QHD display, Tiger Lake processors, a 50 Wh battery and a tonne of memory.

A Microsoft Surface Book user reported that his convertible laptop saved his life after taking a stray bullet. While the Surface Book did not survive encounter, its magnesium alloy chassis delivered on the promise of high build quality.

Chromebooks with Google's ChromeOS have been enjoying some popularity in the education sector. It seems that Google is making inroads in the business sector as well now, as some companies transition to the simpler Google OS. Lenovo's answer to this development: The new ThinkPad C13 Chromebook Enterprise. This 13.3 inch convertible is also the first ThinkPad laptop with a blue chassis.

Not only does the Aorus 5 KB gaming laptop from Gigabyte offer a removable battery thanks to its Clevo barebone but also very good maintenance options. Gamers will also be well served with the built-in hardware.

You're probably going to need a beefy laptop and cooling solution if you want to maximize the performance potential of the vPro Core i9-10885H. The budget Dell Precision 3551, for example, is only able to sustain a clock rate of just 2.7 GHz when the CPU is capable of running much faster.

Any number of products, devices and software included, is showcased on YouTube every day. Now, Bloomberg reports that Google has a new project that involves linking these items to sales pages generated by the Mountain View company itself through the medium of the vlogging site. This, apparently, will allow it to cash in on the prevailing online sales boom.

The Gold P31 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD in particular was the world's first consumer SSD with 128-layer NAND when it launched just over a month ago. Its $110 sale price will net users 3500 MB/s read and 3200 MB/s write speeds instead of the slower PCI x2 speeds commonly found in this price range.

Razer has dipped its toes into the world of toasters, cryptocurrencies, LED credit cards, chairs, gaming tablets, projectors, and now Sneki Snek plushies in the name of trees and wildlife conservation. Because why not.