Laptop

Asus has released refreshed versions of the ZenBook 13, ZenBook 14, VivoBook S14, and VivoBook Ultra K14 in India. Both ZenBooks come with Ice Lake CPUs, while the VivoBooks feature Comet Lake processors. The ZenBooks will retail at 79,990 (US$1,068), while the VivoBook Ultra K14 and VivoBook S14 cost INR 39,990 (US$534) and INR 67,990 (US$907), respectively.

More experienced users can do a lot to influence battery life for the better, but less experienced users may not know how to adjust default manufacturer or driver settings.

With its powerful hardware, the Zephyrus Duo manages to display the latest games smoothly on its matte 4K screen (IPS, Pantone-validated, 100% AdobeRGB, G-Sync). There are other great features as well: 2x NVMe SSD (RAID 0), 32 GB of RAM (in dual-channel mode), Thunderbolt 3. Additionally, the package includes many accessories.

Honor, Huawei's subsidiary, is planning to release a brand of gaming laptops. Called Honor Hunter, the series will be built around AMD processors and dedicated GPUs.

The latest portable monitor from Lepow has an FHD resolution and a USB type C input, as does its predecessor. However, this generation covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and an improved brightness level. It also has dual stereo speakers and is sold via Amazon from now.

Samsung's Galaxy Book Ion 13.3 is a decent laptop that needs some additional fine-tuning, particularly regarding fan noise.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced that there will be a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) scheduled for January 2021. However, it will not be held in Las Vegas as usual: instead, an "all-digital" experience is planned to replace the usual physical event. However, the Association is still confident it will be worthwhile for exhibitors and e-attendees alike.

The updated slides show that among the lineups to receive a performance boost are the Zen 4 EPYC "Genoa" server-grade CPUs, the CDNA 2 compute GPUs and the RDNA 3 gaming GPUs. Curiously enough, AMD did not update the desktop CPU roadmap past the Zen 3 Vermeer CPUs launching this year, but there are solid chances for 5 nm desktop variants to be launched by the end of 2021.

Intel is apparently seeking external assistance and it seems like a deal has already been struck with TSMC. With the latest leadership changes taking place at Intel, the chip giant is now looking to outsource part of its 10 nm and 7 nm chip production to TSMC in the next few years, but this will require some redesigning and node repurposing.

Xiaomi has a new “hot launch” in its product pages with the Mi Charger 33 W accessory. The charger can be used with smartphones like the Xiaomi Mi 10, Redmi K30 Pro, and Redmi 10X Pro, and it can be used with iPads and MacBooks. The Xiaomi Mi Charger 33 W is currently priced at 69 yuan (US$10).

The manufacturer offers a wide range of computer accessories and docking stations that might come in handy especially for ultra-thin laptops where port options are becoming increasingly limited.

Both of these competing systems can be configured with up to the same Core i7-10980HK CPU, GeForce RTX 2070 Super GPU, and 300 Hz 1080p display. If you're in the market for a high-end gaming laptop, which one would be the better option?

The laptop is barely a few months old and now Best Buy is trying to get rid of it. Originally an absurd $1700 USD at launch, the system is now down by $400 for a much more reasonable final price.

The optional 4K display for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020 improves the picture quality, but it has massive problems with PWM flickering. The screen also reduces the battery runtime of the mobile business notebook.

Who needs GeForce Super when a regular Max-Q can run just as fast? The GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q in the latest Razer Blade Pro 17 runs over 20 percent faster than the average laptop equipped with the exact same GPU.

The partnership between Slimbook, the Spanish laptop brand, and the opensource KDE project continues with the new KDE Slimbook III. Slimbook has chosen an OEM design that manages to fit H-series Ryzen 4000 processors into a thin and light 14-inch chassis.

Asus promotes the VivoBook S14 as a hip device for active and creative people in any situation. The manufacturer does a lot right with the laptop and only leaves little room for improvement.

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has announced that it is also stepping into the virtual private network (VPN) arena. This new product apparently has over 280 servers in over 30 different countries, and has a no-logging or -tracking policy. However, it will be available in only 6 countries on its launch.

If you've been looking for an alternative to the HP Spectre or Dell XPS, then the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 is now a little bit cheaper with essentially the same or even better processor performance than more popular Core i7 laptops costing a few hundred dollars more.

The 5th generation of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga laptop series offers new Comet Lake U processors, Wi-Fi 6 and brighter displays. With a price tag of 2300 Euros, the convertible is no bargain, but offers a well-rounded packages.

Dell has launched the Alienware M15 R3, G5 15 Special Edition, G5 15, and G3 15 gaming laptops in India. The laptops can be configured with a variety of Intel and AMD hardware. The Alienware M15 R3's price starts at a whopping INR 1,99,990 (US$2,673), while the Dell G5 15 Special Edition retails at INR 74,990 (US$1000). Similarly, Dell G5 15 costs INR 82,590 (US$1,103), and the Dell G3 15 will set you back by INR 73,990 (US$ 998)

Many users have been asking why OEMs are not providing dGPU options above the RTX 2060 for the Ryzen 4000H laptops. Would this latest reveal regarding the limited PCIe 3.0 lane access add to the conspiracy theories? They really should not, as the issue barely affects performance even for more powerful dGPUs. Tinfoil hats aside, AMD is most likely imposing these restrictions in order to keep laptop prices in the US$1,000 range.

Adobe's Premiere Pro 14.2 update added hardware-accelerated encoding support for AMD GPUs. This, as the same chipmaker now claims, can reduce 4K video export times by up to 43% on the Ryzen 4000 H-series platform with Radeon RX 5000 GPUs compared to the CPU in question alone. This may make PCs such as the Dell G5 15 SE more appealing to content-creators

Intel's newest Comet Lake-U processor seems to be good option for "bursty" workloads, but its mediocre Turbo Boost sustainability can make it significantly slower than even the Core i7-10710U based on our Dell sample.

Lenovo's mobile 14-inch laptop scores points with a powerful APU, an NVMe SSD, and a successful keyboard (backlit). The computer doesn't show any weaknesses in terms of battery life either.

The Pinebook Pro is orderable again for US$199.99. The 14-inch laptop is designed to run Linux and comes with a 10,000 mAh battery among other components. The next round of Pinebook Pro units are expected to start shipping in late August 2020.

One of the most convincing trends in PC design these days is the dual-screen notebook. Now, there is evidence that Google is bringing this tech to Chrome OS. This is in line with a leak about a device code-named Palkia, which apparently boasts 2 touchscreens among its input methods.

The ThinkPad T15 Gen 1 did very well overall in our review, even in regard to CPU performance. However, given that Lenovo decided not to offer the T15 with a Ryzen 4000 option it remains slower than it otherwise could have been.

HP has released the Omen 15 and HP Pavilion Gaming 16 gaming laptops in India. Both notebooks can be configured with 10th-generation Intel chips and a wide array of Nvidia GeForce graphics cards. The HP Pavilion Gaming 16's price starts at INR 59,999 (US$ 804) and the Omen 15's at INR 75,999 (US$1,019).

The GE66 Raider from MSI stands out from the crowd not only visually but also in terms of its components. In addition to the LED strip at the front, the huge battery also attracts potential buyers.

It turns out that Dell XPS 17 9700 machines can draw up to 130 W from the wall, after all. Not all units can do so as our tests have confirmed, but these unaffected units apparently cannot always charge at their full capacity.

The Tuxedo Pulse 15 comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu, TUXEDO_OS and other distributions. Windows is an option too, as is an encrypted Linux system. The Tuxedo Pulse 15 comes with either an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H or a Ryzen 7 4800H APU, along with a 91 Wh battery and multiple keyboard layouts.

We have both the Intel version and the AMD version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 1 in house for testing right now. Like with the bigger ThinkPad T14s, the AMD Ryzen 4000 model clearly dominates.

It was supposed to lead the pack of Zen 2 mobile processors and make 8-core/16-thread U-series Ultrabooks a reality, but it is still nowhere to be found as of Summer 2020. Is AMD saving its best for last?